Author Interview with Valerie Storm - Author of The Demon Storm Series #YAFantasy #Fantasy
Can you tell readers a little bit aboutyourself and what inspired to write in this particular genre?
I’mValerie Storm! I’ve been writing for 20 years, and have always been heavilyinspired by video games and anime. That was what started me in Young AdultFantasy – I was always drawn to fantasy stories, especially involving demons orsupernatural dark forces (Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Disgaea). The veryfirst story I ever wrote was a fanfic of Kingdom Hearts wherein my friends andI got elemental swords and were sent off to save the world, usually from other videogame characters.
Young Adult has alwaysbeen a special place for me as a reader; I loved reading even at a young age,but, as with many, many others, my life changed when I read Harry Potter. Iwanted to replicate that kind of world-breaking story, and I wanted to do itbetter (especially when I got older and realized just how much retconninghappened). Now, here I am: on the third out of eight books for my Demon Stormseries!
What inspired you to write thisbook?
The StormDarkens was purely inspired by my love for villains, body possession, andhopelessness. I always loved when villains knocked the heroes down to the dirtin the most despicable ways. In a way, this described most of the books in myseries, for that matter.
In particular, for The Storm Darkens, I think ofInuyasha: Affections Touching Across Time, where Kagome loses control of herbody and is forced to attack Inuyasha. I LOVED that as an idea, and so TheStorm Darkens grew into existence…though I won’t tell you who’s attacking who, orjust how it goes. In the end, I think The Storm Darkens was a way for me toflex Raven’s powers, malice, and cruelty, while also expanding on her as acharacter in a way I didn’t get to in Storm and Shadow.
Please tell us about your latestrelease.
The StormDarkens is the third book in my Demon Storm series. As usual, it follows Kari andAri, freshly reunited after the events of Birth of the Storm and Storm &Shadow. However, the villain Raven – who attempted to turn Kari’s attentionsaway from love and toward power – is back and ready to try again. The StormDarkens, perhaps as evident by its title, is definitely a turning point towardthe dark.
For a long time, thiswas one of my stops in my writing career. I got to a certain point and had noidea where it needed to go – I only had the vibes of Raven’s dastardly plans togo off of. Within the last ten years or so, I broke that slump and did so muchmore with this book than I had ever hoped. I hope readers will see that andlove this book as much as I do now.
Do you have a special formula for creatingcharacters' names? Do you try to match a name with a certain meaning toattributes of the character or do you search for names popular in certain timeperiods or regions?
Thisvaries on my intent with the character. A side character – Julia – was named aftera Julia in Okage: Shadow King that I hated SO DEARLY, I made my own Julia justto make her miserable (at least, that was my intent in the beginning).
Other times, I’ll lookat name meanings that match the attributes of the character. Sometimes this can besimple things like storm, evil, lightning, shadow…I’ve used mishmashes of Latinwords to make character names (a prequel character’s last name is Luxalba,something like “white light”). OTHER times I use Fantasy Name Generator. It justreally depends on the vibe I’m going with, how fast I need the name, and howimportant the character is going to be. I’ve named several characters off thecuff (Telda, Roland, Linus, all Raziac Village folk), but had to sit andbrainstorm for others (Velthas, a character who gets namedropped in The StormDarkens, was named when I looked at the Zelle app on my phone!)
Was one of your characters morechallenging to write than another?
Anyonewho knows me knows my hardest character to write has always been Ari. I lovehim, Kari loves him, but good gods above, I could never quite get the right vibefor him. Was he angry, rude? Certainly not. But he should be sometimes – he goesthrough hard things, especially with Kari in his life. But he doesn’tinternalize that, nor does he hold a grudge. He’s tough, but only when he needsto be. He can be soft and caring, but he's also very much a leader.
Having always lovedvillains, I struggled with Ari being a hero. I could not properly write thisguy who always wanted to do the right thing and had no flaws. How could he beKari’s shining knight, always? I think I grew tired of the idea. Partially,that was where The Storm Darkens saved us both. Ari learns the hard way thatthe life he has chosen (and he has very much chosen it, having chased Kari andaccepted her back into his life) isn’t going to be an easy one. He will havehis own trials and hardships, some separate from Kari’s. They’ll have to saveeach other. And I think, finally, that was what made me connect with Ari.
Is there a character that youenjoyed writing more than any of the others?
Raven willalways be my answer to this question! I LOVE writing her. I love hersemi-tragic backstory, her cruelty, her plans, her flaws…I could write thiswoman forever, which makes The Storm Darkens so perfect for me. While Storm& Shadow is probably my favorite of the whole series, especially in termsof Raven’s actions and dialogue, in The Storm Darkens, Raven gets to play moreof her hand. She COULD absolutely be Kari’s ally, but she’s played the gamealready. She tried to do it the nice way. Now Raven is ready and willing to ripaway everything Kari has until Kari has no choice but to relent and do whatRaven has always wanted from her – awaken the Catalyst.
What is your favorite scene from thebook? Could you share a little bit of it, without spoilers of course?
This istricky; my opinion changes all the time, lol. I’ll share part of this scene:Kari and Ari have gone to hunt a demon who is attacking Raziac Village, mostlyin the name of luring Kari out (for Raven!), and Kari loses control:
She can die now. There’s no point to hermisery. She has nothing more to give me.
The thoughts that weren’t hers made herbrows crease, but the uncertainty was drowned in a swirl of rage building deepin her belly, making her heart pound and her muscles loosen.
Why did she care what happened to thispathetic demon? She was a threat. Kari could remove her.
She squeezed Malice’s throat. Malice’seye bulged, her wordless gasps pitiful. She flailed her legs, thumping againstthe ground.
The rage clawed Kari’s insides, claimingsmall parts of her as it went. Her arms and hands trembled, making erraticsparks dance and fizzle in the air. Her jaw clenched, and her lips twisted intoan imitation smile.
“Die,” she grunted.
Those soft, musical notes vibrated inher ears, mutating her thoughts with madness. Beneath her fingers, a bone inMalice’s neck snapped. Soft defiant laughter spilled free from Kari’s mouth—
“Kari.”
Her head snapped around. Ari crouched onhis knees several feet away, hand pressed against his side; fingers stained incrimson.
The sword lay beside him, Kari noted.Well within reach. Though she couldn’t connect why that mattered.
“I’m going to kill her. I’m going to endthis.”
With the book being part of aseries, are there any character or story arcs, that readers jumping in somewhereother than the first book, need to be aware of? Can these books be read asstand alones?
Unfortunately,these books wouldn’t be very good as standalones. I like to think I address theprevious books’ happenings well, but there are always going to be thingsreaders won’t understand if they never read Birth of the Storm or Storm &Shadow.
If I had to try to explain,I’d say: Kari has lost so much in her life, and finds it hard to rely onothers. Ari has changed this a lot for her, becoming a place of light when shefeels herself falling to darkness – on the other hand, he has given her more tolose. Kari WANTS to have a home, a place where people love her and accept her,but fears this can never be.
When Kari learns from Raven that her lightningpowers – an impossibility; demons should not have any sort of magic typeabilities – hint at something greater, Kari struggles with the possibility thatshe is too dangerous for this world, for her loved ones; for Ari.
Where can readers find you on theweb?
Mostly I’m on Twitter,@Valerie_Storm! Sometimes I grace Tumblr and Instagram, but not terribly often(@valeriestorm & valeriestorm_author, respectively)
Would you like to leave readers witha little teaser or excerpt from the book?
Sure! Here’s a bit from aroundthe quarter point of The Storm Darkens, where Kari returns to her mentor, Zina,to go over the events of Storm and Shadow:
Zina paused beside the long table. “Isense your news is not favorable.”
“You’d be right.” Kari was surprised tosee an unusual number of books and scraps of parchment cluttered the usuallyclear table.
“What happened?” Zina bent over an oldbook that looked to be someone’s personal written notes, the writing uneven andillegible in places.
“The gem broke,” Kari muttered.
Zina straightened and faced her with anuncharacteristic frown. “How?”
“Ari. I think his power...blasted Raven’ssoul out, or something. The gem cracked.”
“The young lord. You reunited with him?”
“Yes.” Kari steeled herself for abarrage of scolding.
“Interesting,” Zina said instead. “I didnot imagine such blessed power would be capable. And Raven?”
“Shesurvived. Escaped.” Kari fidgeted. “Zina, I want some answers.”
Zina tilted her head. “What did she say?”
The directness of Zina’s question—andthe lack of even a hint of surprise in her expression—almost made Kari forgether thoughts.
“A lot. You killed someone important toher. You threw me into a Binding with her without telling me anything abouther. You know...”
Kari bit her tongue before she couldmention the Catalyst.
Zinawouldn’t hurt me. She wouldn’t imprison me. Raven was a liar.
And yet her mouth would not work.
Zina leaned her hands on the tablebehind her. “Raven was not wrong. How does that make you feel?”
Kari did not need to search to find theanswer. “Angry.”
Zina watched her, expressioninfuriatingly masked. “There are things I have not told you. I did not believeit was yet the right time.”
Kari’s legs shook, carrying her a stepcloser. “And now?”
“What else transpired? You’ve changed.”
Kari balled her fists. “I...met Ari.”
That truth she couldhandle speaking.
Zina exhaled a low, unamused chuckle. “Soyou said. You are reacquainted with the young lord. And?”
Kari hated the shame that tickled. As ifshe had disappointed Zina. “We have reconciled. The village accepted me back.”
“I know it is foolish to warn you thatthe past may only repeat itself. And I do hope you understand the deal we madeis off the table. I will not call Riniko here. If she returns on her own afterrealizing you have chosen to remain—”
“She only would if you told her!” Karisnapped. “Right, Zina?”
Zina’s lips twitched into a smile thatcould cut. “Raven did get under your skin.”
The Storm DarkensDemon Storm Book ThreeValerie Storm
Genre: YA FantasyPublisher: Shadow Spark PublishingDate of Publication: 04/13/2023ASIN: B0BY5RSVTPWord Count: 92210Cover Artist: Ginkahederling
Tagline: Ancient power wrapped in ancient secrets.The power to rend the world and save her loved ones, unless it devours her first.
Book Description:
Evil never really dies. It rises, again and again.
Now—Kari knows it’s rising inside her. After barely defeating wicked Shadow Witch Raven, the wolf-demon knows her turmoil is far from over when her vanquished foe invades her dreams. And a new power stirs within her: thanks to Raven’s cunning, Kari’s potential as the Catalyst has awoken. A conduit for a terrifying, world-cracking force—one that could open at any moment. Kari has resisted this new temptation thus far. But Raven again forces her hand, unleashing a demonic abomination to draw her prey out—a deadlier foe than any Kari has faced before. If she taps into this dark new power, she could become strong enough to defend the people she cares about. But the Catalyst has bloodthirsty designs of its own… If she submits, what new horrors will be inflicted on the world Kari’s come to love? And when the Catalyst is finished with her at last—what will be left of Kari?
Availableon Amazon https://amzn.to/3TfPTaH
Excerpt
Again, Kari thought of thepurple-skinned mutation that had chased her and Vivianne.
“So there were others?”
Raven sneered. “Failures, yes.” Sheraised a hand, but Kari grabbed her by the wrist.
“What failures?! Did you send thelong-armed mutation that killed my friend?!”
Raven’s emotionless eyes made herheart drop. “I have done so much worse than send one beast out into the world,Kari, but I did not imagine we were here to talk about that.” Raven twisted herhand, tangling Kari’s wrist in long fingers. “Shall I show you every life lost,every drop of blood spilled? Not merely for my own pleasure, but because ofyou?”
Captain Gorn and his men fromFlatcairn, bloodied and broken. And…a field of purple-blue flowers becoming theeternal grave of a young blonde girl.
“Raven…” Kari’s voice hitched,threatening a scream.
Raven laughed, derisive and cold.“Focus, Kari. You know better than to lose yourself to grief, don’t you? Youknow what is at stake now, in the present.”
Kari wrenched away, eyes wild. Whenshe did, the image of the desolate city wavered and was replaced by ashimmering vision of a dark room. Cages lined the walls, each one filled with ahuddled group of monstrous beasts; neither human nor demon, they sported extralimbs or other grotesque developments. Eyeballs protruded from sockets, tongueslolled from the side of mouths, and tumors grew from faces, stomachs, andchests. Their groans and screams filled the space, echoing through a long, dankhallway.
“Stop!” Kari screamed, and the imagefaded to Raven standing in the middle of a body-ridden street. She stepped awayfrom the witch before stumbling, landing hard on her backside.
“Why are you doing this?”
Raven approached, carefully steppingaround the gore and bodies. “This? This is the cost of knowledge. I had to dothese filthy, disgusting things to become who I am now.”
She stopped in front of Kari andknelt. Despite the darkness of her eyes, they gleamed with untold levels ofcruelty. Kari had always seen such evil inside of Raven, yet she had never imaginedthings like this.
“I want you to ask a differentquestion, Kari. I want you to ask yourself, what are you going to do to stopme?”
About the Author:Valerie Storm was raised in Tucson, Arizona. Growing up, she fell in love with everything fantasy. When she wasn’t playing video games, she was writing. By age ten, she began to write her own stories as a way to escape reality. When these stories became a full-length series, she considered the path to sharing with other children and children-at/heart looking for a place to call home.
Twitter https://twitter.com/valerie_storm
Blog https://rantsofawriter.home.blog/
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/valeriestorm3135/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/valeriestorm_author/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082414584775
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