Ciar Cullen, Author Interview
Ciar Cullen, Interview
By Michelle Pillow, www.michellepillow.com
Ciar (pronounced KEER) Cullen hails from Baltimore, Charm City. She’s lived a charmed life as an archaeologist, an editor, and a writer. She lives in New Jersey, but if you call her a Jersey girl, she’s likely to come after you with a sword.
Her newest paranormal/historical title, Lillian Holmes and the Leaping Man released July 2013 through Boroughs Publishing in ebook.
Q: In your book, Lillian Holmes and the Leaping Man, you delve into the topics of vampires, psychics, and morphine addiction. What inspired you to write about this?
Cullen: Sounds strange to say such a story could be autobiographical, but I based this story very much on the legends passed down in my family, and some pastiches of family members. I set the story in 1899 Baltimore. My heroine is a sheltered heiress with a bit of an opiate addiction. She fantasizes she is the niece of Sherlock Holmes. Her taste for adventure gets her into a bit of trouble when she finds her first “nemesis” is actually a vampire. In the forthcoming sequel, Lillian solicits the help of her hero, Arthur Conan Doyle, in all matters of spiritualism. I’m a longtime Holmes fan, and always wanted to write about a female character with “male” aspirations, trapped in a stifling era.
Q: When world building, did you base your story off of known myths throughout history?
Cullen: There are…let’s see…a bazillion vampire books out there, from sparkly modern angsty types to European folklore tales. I think I’ve hit the middle ground, and tried to keep the angst to a minimum! I was much more interested in how Lillian and her beau cross their undead divide, and in the mysterious investigations she undertakes. And of course, breathing some fiction into the real life of Conan Doyle was a lot of fun! I mean, he gave up on Holmes to study the paranormal!
Q: What myths or legends inspired you?
Cullen: I’m fascinated by mythology (well, by religions, which by another culture’s name is mythology). I was an archaeologist for many years, in which I had to have a basic handle on Greco-Roman mythology, but am particularly fascinated by Mayan cosmology. I wove that into my Mayan series, and brought those ancient Mayan Kings to life again!
Q: Why do you think readers, and society in general, are fascinated by the paranormal?
Cullen: I don’t think it’s much of a mystery. My guess is half human psychology (I mean, really, do you want this to be all there is, or believe that those who have passed before you are nothing but dust?) and half a deep knowing that something else is out there.
Q: Do you believe in the supernatural? Or are you a skeptic?
Cullen: I’m a believing skeptic! I think half or more of what we see on TV, etc. is bogus. But…. My mother was truly psychic, and I have a dose of it, although not nearly as much. My mom’s first experience was as a child, seeing the ghost of a grandfather she never knew working at a drawing board in the bedroom. She learned many years later that her bedroom was her grandfather’s architectural drafting room when he was alive. Later in life, she announced to me in the middle of the night that our next door neighbor was dead. I was incredulous and thought she’d lost it. He was no older than 40, apparently in great health. We heard the next morning he’d died of a heart attack in the wee hours. One truly bizarre incident was a dream she had one night that a bunch of “hippies” were wandering in the yard, camping out in tents and talking about their favorite band, complaining they had no place to go. We saw that next day that Gerry Garcia died. That sort of thing. Not too long before she passed, it hit me to ask her if besides her grandfather, if she’d ever seen a ghost. Her answer: “all the time.” I don’t know if I wish I had her gift. Mine is paltry. I get “weird vibes” sometimes when first visiting a place and find out after about incidents in that location.
Q: Have you ever had a paranormal experience?
Cullen: It’s an odd one, so maybe you can help me understand it! I was visiting York, England with my boyfriend when I was about 20. It was dark, and we were under one of the Roman gates. Nearby was a toy store. I stared at that store, not knowing why it called to me. The next thing I knew, I was in the store, no longer female, but a fat baker, in my bakery. I was looking out onto the street, and saw troops in red uniforms marching by. This worried me terribly. The next second, I was standing in the street with my boyfriend, with absolutely no idea what had happened. I don’t care if I’m believed or not. It happened. For years I chalked it up to some psychological or neurological abnormality! Then this thing call the Internet came along! Recently I looked for stories of ghosts in York and was stunned at the number of sightings of Roman soldiers. My husband thinks I fell into a vortex. I think I stumbled down a street where I once lived. Either way, it was a very freaky experience.
Q: What kind of paranormal creatures do you wish you could meet?
Cullen: I would only like to see my family again, although I would like to know that they have passed into the light and are at peace. I figure I can wait til I get there! I think maybe I couldn’t handle a were-anything, honestly. Vampire? Nope. Mermaid/man? No. I’m a bit too chicken.
Q: How would you react if you came face to face with a ghost?
Cullen: I’ve thought a lot about this, as my mom took it in stride. I don’t think I’d be that matter of fact. I would like the experience, just to see! My husband fled a house once in record time after hearing a ghostly wail. So we’re not destined to become ghost hunters, for sure!
Q: Have you ever been to a psychic and/or a past life regression? What did they predict for you?
Cullen: I did go to a psychic, only once. Of all places, on the boardwalk in Wildwood New Jersey. Doesn’t sound promising, right? My boyfriend and I had broken up, and I was pretty devastated. I sat down, and she asked right away “who is Ken?” Yup, that was him. I hadn’t spoken a word to this person, was alone, etc. She also asked if I had inherited any of my mother’s abilities!
You can learn more about Ciar and her books at her website, www.ciarcullen.com.
Sampling of Cullen’s other paranormal titles –
Love’s Alchemy, Samhain Publishing, B002VFPS7M In which the heroine is the reincarnation of Isaac Newton. Sidra Patmos has the ability to see the real underbelly of lower Manhattan—a horrifying world where wraiths, demons and a few quirky mortals battle for supremacy. Desperate, she seeks out a paranormal researcher to tell her why her life is a waking nightmare.
Mayan Nights and Mayan Secrets, B001892DLG, Samhain Publishing, Passion and danger on a collision course with the Mayan Underworld…
The Shopgirl and the Vampire B009AWRWEQ, Boroughs Publishing, At the cusp of the 19th century, a penniless lass learns her dashing guardian angel is actually a blood-sucking devil.
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