Evette Davis's Blog, page 3

Here’s to Scary Monsters and Super Creeps

Happy Halloween, almost. It’s astonishing that this year is nearly over.  Time has been simultaneously dragging on and flying by as we grapple with the horror of a global pandemic and the terrible loss of life. We’re almost two years into what would normally be considered the stuff of a cinema blockbuster: a fast moving virus, inept governments, a race against time for a cure and the heros who save us, oftentimes from ourselves. 

Halloween is the perfect holiday for the moment we’re in because in its original form, Samhain, was a holiday to mark the changing of the season and honor the dead as the days got shorter and the line between darkness and light diminished. From the start we’ve had an uneasy relationship with death and the dead. Let’s face it, we’ve been a superstitious group from the beginning. We can’t see what lies on the other side of life and it vexes us. Prior to the arrival of religion, civilizations hedged their bets with the afterlife by honoring the dead in order to keep them happy so as to avoid being haunted by malicious spirits that could damage their crops, harvests or entire villages.  Costumes and disguises were to help avoid being kidnapped by a wayward fairy or nymph. 

There are times in life when the dead seem more powerful than the living and if you don’t believe me, pick up a novel by Bram Stoker, Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelly or Stephen King just to name a few of my favorite authors who’ve covered the topic.  As humans, we often yearn for things that ought not to be in our grasp. Classic horror fiction, regardless of the era, highlights humanity’s limits and the perils of exceeding them. Here’s to scary monsters and super creeps and how their stories teach us about the corrosive nature of hysteria, prejudice and superstition. 

It seems fitting given the times we live in to revisit some of these classic stories, and remind ourselves of how fragile civilization is. Perhaps this year we can take a traditional view of  Halloween and honor our dead, paying tribute to the multitudes who left this world too soon. 

New Blog Post

New post alert!! This week’s post talks about the thing that people love to read about, but don’t necessarily want to talk about. Have any guesses on what it could be? See if you were right…

Let’s Talk About Sex

Years ago, my husband informed his aunt that I’d written a novel. “Does it have sex in it?” She asked. “People like to read about sex.”

His aunt was right of course. Many readers do like to read about sex. Today, thanks to self-publishing and e-books, readers have a wide range of choices that run from tasteful to swaddling your lover in a diaper like a baby. Not my cup of tea, but obviously there is somebody out there who likes that kind of thing. 

I did have a moment of pause before adding sex to the books in the Dark Horse Trilogy. Mostly because there is still a bias that books with sex are not of consequence. It’s not as if I was expecting a National Book Award for WOMAN KING, but I did want people to take the books seriously. In the end, I realized what matters most, is that readers enjoy the books and find the characters interesting. 

Vampires? It’s practically the law that they be attractive, seductive creatures! Olivia is a woman in touch with her sexuality. Her father is French. The French invented the art of seduction, which applies to many things in life beyond just sex. A voila! You can see why things needed to get spicy in my novels. But, like so many things in life, writing a good sex scene is not as easy as it looks. We’ve all read passages in a book that captivated our attention and we’ve read clunky, awkward sex that made us cringe. Recently I read a scene where the male character calls the woman “babe” in lieu of her name the entire time they’re in the bedroom. 

“Bob!”

“What is it babe?What do you want?”

“You know what I want!”

“No babe, you have to say it. Do you want this?”

“I want it all.”

At which point, I said, “see you later babe,” and returned the book to the library.  ATTENTION: in order to draw the reader in, you need the characters to have good chemistry, an electric spark and an air of inevitability. There must be tension and a buildup that makes everything satisfying when the metaphorical dam breaks and they can no longer fight their attraction. 

Funny enough, William and Olivia don’t have sex the first time they spend the night together. Olivia would have in a heartbeat, but William puts the brakes on to keep her from doing something she might regret later. In many respects, he is an old southern gentleman courting his beloved. Their relationship is much more modern and sexy, but the point is, he’s not in a hurry. When they finally do come together, William’s kidnapped her and they’re skinny dipping in the subterrain pool at Hearst Castle. It’s love at first bite and the rest as they say, is history.  

By the second book, William is MIA and she is alone with Josef who has none of the subtlety of his vampire brother. The sexual chemistry between Olivia and Josef is explosive. She knows he’s bad for her – like cigarettes and ice cream – but she wants him anyway. DARK HORSE, like it’s title, is a far edgier story. Olivia is kidnapped, drugged and tattooed. Josef is haunted by his WWII past. The two of them spend their days sparing to toughen her up. Josef must provoke her to sharpen her fighting skills. They stew in this relentless proximity, until longing and lust win out. But even then, it’s not a traditional seduction. There will be no candlelight and gifts with Josef. The two end up in bed after he stitches her up from a knife fight and laments that he is always the one “who looks but cannot touch.” Ultimately Olivia gives him the physical intimacy he needs to feel loved. 

So where does all this lead in Book 3? Two men, one methodical and confident in his feelings for his lover. The other an outsider who burns for a woman who belongs to another. Does Olivia need to choose, or can she decide that both men have a role in her life? It’s not unusual for romance novels these days to explore triad relationships. I decided it was worth delving into. I mean two vampires in your bed is better than one, right ? 

Now, tell me that doesn’t sound sexy!

New Blog Post

It’s that time of the week again! I have a new blog post out on my website! This week’s takes a look at how one failure can set your path running in the right direction.

Has there ever been something you thought you failed at that then led you to some great success? If you want to share it, email me!

How A Failed Playwright Became a Novelist

There would never have been a Dark Horse Trilogy if I hadn’t been such an utter failure as a playwright. Olivia and her spirit guide Elsa represent the evolution of an idea about a successful female political consultant, who through a series of unforeseen events finds herself marginally employed and halfway to being a full-time alcoholic. One day after going on one hell of a bender, she wakes up to find an ancient female warrior standing in front of her dispensing advice.

What made the story compelling for a play is that only Olivia was supposed to be able to see Elsa. I was intrigued by the visual and dialogue potential of a so-called modern woman being given advice by a witch from the fourth century rocking a dagger on her hip. Luckily for me, the medium held no allure and after several attempts I abandoned the idea of a script and converted my story into a novel.  From the moment I began, the two women came to me clear as day. Eventually, so did The Council and a vision for three books, instead of one. 

What I love about telling this story is how my trilogy was born out of failure. I managed to take an incomplete creative process and convert it into something productive – which is something I want to recommend you try to do as well. Don’t let failure be the last word for your creative endeavors. Take time to view what you’re doing from multiple perspectives and commit to taking a different approach. Out of the ashes of one of your lost projects could be one of your greatest works.

There is a tendency to only pursue creative endeavors if we can be certain that we’ll be good at them. I think that’s the wrong way to view the exercise. We yearn to be creative because artistic endeavors feed the human soul. We can learn about ourselves in failure – sometimes more than when we are successful.  Last week a friend sent me a quote from someone who turned out to be pretty famous, this is his experience:

So there you have it: Kurt Vonnegut and I are both encouraging you to try new things, even if you’re not good at them and look more kindly on your failures, which could lead you to amazing creative breakthroughs. Olivia and Elsa would never have seen the light of day if I’d stopped writing because I couldn’t produce a play. What have you set aside that might be worth looking at through this new perspective?

New Blog Post

Happy Monday!

Check out my recent blog post! This week’s post is a deeper look at what it is like to finish a book series, and the bittersweetness of having to put beloved characters to bed.

Let me know what you think of this weeks post!

Bittersweet Endings: What Happens to the Characters When You Finish Your Novel ?

After eight years, I’ve finally finished the third book in my trilogy. Because I like a challenge, I accidentally on purpose stuck writing another novel in the middle of what was already a long process – nevertheless, a first draft of Book 3 is safely tucked in a file folder on my desk, as I write this post. Now, as they say, comes the hard part: creating a second draft that is coherent enough to warrant the attention of my editor. Cassandra is a saint, but she deserves a well-written manuscript to sink her teeth into. 

Coming to the end of a novel is bittersweet. The main characters in the story – Olivia, WIliam, Josef, Elsa, Lily and Gabriel – have been living with me for a long time. So much of what I’ve seen has partially been viewed through their eyes. Every walk through Golden Gate Park – from the moss hanging from the cherry trees outside the Shakespeare Garden to the aging patina of the exterior of the deYoung Museum – is a detail I’ve carried in my head to help make the books richer.

My literary journey with my characters has taken me all over the world, as I sought out the places of my imagination and made them real so they would feel that way for readers, too. Although not a complete list, Olivia and I have: walked the streets of Paris and enjoyed drinks along the Canal Saint-Martin. We’ve been inside an orthodox church in Montenegro and visited a castle on the shores of Lake Bled, Slovenia. We also lived in an apartment in Belgrade, Serbia in the dead of winter, which is something I will never forget, surrounding by the inscrutable letters of the cyrilic alphabet, which turned even the most mundane experiences into something more foreboding in the early dusk of December (or maybe I just have a paranormal writer’s imagination).  In March of 2019 before the pandemic took hold, I was in New Orleans, strolling through graveyards and Voodoo museums to help make a strong connection for Olivia in Book 3. The one thing I never got to experience in person was a Duran Duran concert in Serbia, but you never know, maybe my luck will change! 

Every word of the trilogy is hand written in multiple Moleskine notebooks, along with a three-ring binder with pictures and maps, guides to cities and other reference materials I’ve needed over the years to work. Eventually, it will all end up in a box in my garage as I move on to another novel. Sigh. It seems cruel to shut these six away, after the marvelous lives they’ve lived, which is why I am toying with extending their reign through a prequel for Elsa and a new series for Josef where he heads up his own paranormal mystery series. I think the story of how Elsa became an ageless timewalker could be of interest to readers and Josef strikes me as the perfect sleuth to seek out rare and cursed objects for mysterious clients. I look forward to starting work on those stories sometime next year.
Fortunately, I have a little more time with my favorite witches and vampires as I tighten up the first draft of Book 3 and divine a title. Maybe I should be wishing for divine inspiration – either way, I’m glad to have a little more time with characters that have brought me so much happiness.

New Blog Post

Here is some new reading material for the week! Every two weeks a new blog post will be uploaded and a link will be sent straight to your inbox!

This weeks post is very personal to me, as it explains the motivation behind my newest tattoo, so go check it out.

If you ever have ideas for subjects you’d like to see me write about, shoot me a quick email. I’d love to hear from you all.

Send in the Swallows

July was a big month. Not only did I complete the first draft of the final installment in the Dark Horse Trilogy – lovingly called Book 3 for now, but I also completed a second story I’d been working on through tattoos. Brücius von Xylander, the owner and genius behind Black Serum Tattoo Studio, recently finished a swallow on my left forearm. 

Why a swallow?

First, I’ve always loved the look of swallows in photos and old prints. But more importantly, swallows are a symbol of freedom, rebirth and overcoming adversity. Pirates used swallow tattoos to denote their sailing experience and for good luck since the birds return home to the same location every year to nest. They represent constancy amidst chaos. You may recall that in November of 2020, Brücius gave me my beautiful Raven feather on my right forearm. Ravens are misunderstood, often seen as dangerous, but in some cultures, they represent wisdom, affection, healing powers, longevity, death, and fertility.

Are you beginning to see a theme? 

Together, these images tell a visual story of survival and rebirth. When I walk down the street, I feel a bit like Wonder Woman with her magic cuffs that repel danger. After a year of sheltering in place, my entire family catching COVID and my father dying, I felt the need to memorialize my feelings and mark my body with totems that are both symbolic and protective. I gave Olivia a similar experience in Book 3, which I hope to publish by the end of the year. Take a look below and let me know what you think!

“Runes. We all need protective runes,” Lily said as she walked over to a nearby shelf and pulled off a book. “Runes are an ancient system of letters and symbols used for protection and divination. Look at this and you’ll see what I mean.” She opened the pages to reveal what looked like a primitive set of stick drawings.

I leaned in closer trying to decipher the markings.  “What do you want to do with these?”

“I want Nadia to paint them on us,” she said.

“Brilliant,” Elsa said. “We can mark our bodies with them to ward off danger.”

“How?” I asked.

            “These symbols can be combined to offer protection, health, safe travel…even courage,” she said. “We need Nadia to paint the entire coven with exactly what you described Olivia, a magical second skin. Between our invisible armor and the other work we’re doing, we ought to be able to keep our teams alive.”

The great hall was aglow with the flames of a thousand candles when I walked in later that evening. There in the center of it all, surrounded by bowls of various ingredients, stood Nadia. She was flanked by Sabine, Elsa and Lily who were helping oversee the ritual. My heart gave a quick lurch at the sight of them. I loved two of the women more than my own family – my two best friends, whose loyalty and courage were indisputable. And now I had Sabine, who was coming to feel like a sister. Where would The Council be without them? Where would we be, I wondered, if my father were orchestrating our responses? I quickly closed down that line of negative thought, knowing it would take me places I didn’t want to go.

            “Hello Olivia,” Nadia said when she noticed me approaching. “Your aura is looking better, but death still follows you.”

            “I’m not surprised given my line of work and the company I keep,” I said. “As long as death follows but does not overtake me, I am content. In fact, that’s why you’re here this evening. Tell us about what will happen.”

            “I’m creating a binding potion for the runes. Once they are drawn on the skin, they must be bound to the person and connected to the rest of the Coven. The magick of the spell is partially derived from a common purpose; that is why everyone must contribute a lock of hair and a nail clipping. The spell operates as a giant energy grid, using all of you as its power source. Once the potion finishes curing we will use special brushes made from the hairs of a rare wild Tibetan horse to apply the symbols.”

            “I want everyone to do this,” I said, catching the eye of my two vampires lurking in the corner. “You won’t always be on assignment and that’s when you’ll be vulnerable. That’s what Stoner does, he comes out of nowhere and attacks from your blind spot. While he practices the dark arts, he is not really a wizard. He does not know magick or respect its traditions. He only knows power and in pursuit of it, he will stop at nothing.”

            I sensed the moment anxiety and fear filled the room and I shut down my senses to avoid being overcome, but I was not immune to their concerns. War was coming and this was the beginning of our preparations. None of us had a choice, least of all me. All I could do was send people into battle with this armor made from our DNA, a raven’s feather and St. John’s Wort. Nadia hovered over the caldron, tossing in the last of the snapdragons.

A ray of light shot out of the caldron, warming the room with a saffron glow. Nadia beamed, a satisfied smile on her face. She ladled the mixture into several stone bowls and handed them to a group of volunteers. Bodies had to be covered from head to toe, so people stepped behind privacy shields to undress. I did the same, feeling the curious tingle as Sabine ran the brush across my limbs. I heard a voice in my head uttering a chant in what sounded like old English and then watched as the drawings began to glow on my body.

“Whoa,” Sabine said. “I’m pretty sure that is not supposed to happen.”

“Keep going,” I whispered, feeling my skin tighten as the final rune was painted on the top of my foot. The chanting grew louder as I stood there, my body an incandescent spell of ancient words and deeds meant to protect and shelter. I knew in my heart that the voices were the dead wishing me a safe journey.

New week, new works

Good morning and happy Tuesday!

I’ve heard from a few of you that you would like the link to my Kindle Vella story 48STATES. Please click here to start reading !

Also, head to this link to check out my latest blog post. Libraries are an important part of cities country wide, but have been closed because of COVID-19. But, there is some good news, so go check out the blog post to see what it is!

Have a wonderful week and happy reading!