Ancient Greek Gods
and Vampires?
Today I welcome
author, Charissa Dufour, on to the blog to talk about her inspirations behind
her fabulous series.
*This is a finished
series*
Struggling vampire romance novelist Ashley Hawn was living her dream. By day she worked as a clerk at a local grocery store, and by night she immersed herself in the imaginary world of sexy vampires, shirtless men, and endless parties. Between work, her writing, and her best friends- Chloe and Jordan- life was good. She was even dating a mysterious and sexy man (or so she thought) by the name of Isaac. Then in a flash, her whole world changed and she discovered herself turned.
Quickly she finds that life as a vampire is less sexy shirtless men, endless parties, and is more running for her life as she tries to dodge the attacks of every mythological creature in the area.
Author Inspiration
While my Series that Just Plain Sucks has everything
from vampires to dragons, perhaps my favorite mythological creatures are the
faeries. I created them based off of the ancient Greek gods and characters. I
skipped over the big dogs like Zeus and Aphrodite. Instead, I used lesser known
characters such as Periphetes, Hephaestus, and Mnemosyne.
As I built my own characters within my series, I
borrowed from the old stories. For example, the Periphetes of old was a
club-wielding cyclops who robbed travelers and the son of Hephaestus. In my
stories, Periphetes was a mysterious cat-bugler, with a fae-made eyepatch that
would make him invisible to the human eye. He was still the son of Hephaestus,
but they were estranged.
Hephaestus is perhaps the most well-known Greek
character to feature in the series, though he is only “on screen” briefly. In
the Greek stories, Hephaestus is the god of blacksmiths, craftsman, artisans,
etc., and a son of Zeus and Hera, thereby a prince in the Greek hierarchy, but
scorned by his mother for his limp and rejected from Olympus.
Like in the old stories, Hephaestus was once banished
from the fae courts, though during the time of the books, he has found peace
with the winter Queen. His reunion with the courts causes his son a great deal
of doubt and conflict. To know more, you’ll have to read the books.
Perhaps one of the most difficult to set to modern
fiction was Mnemosyne who came with her own circus. In the mythology, Mnemosyne
came from the pairing of Uranus and Gaia, making her a Titaness. After sleeping
with Zeus nine nights in a row—talk about stamina—she gave birth to nine Muses:
Calliope (Epic Poetry), Clio (History), Euterpe (Music), Erato (Lyric Poetry),
Melpomene (Tragedy), Polyhymnia (Hymns), Terpischore (Dance), Thalia (Comedy),
Urania (astronomy). Translating these nine muses into mystical creatures was
perhaps one of the hardest difficulties of my career to date. They ended up
being a minotaur, Cerberus, a gryphon, a sphynx, a cyclops, Pegasus, harpies, a
chimera, and a typhon respectively.
This is just a small sample of the characters that
were born from the rich history of Greek mythology. To enjoy more of their
antics, check out Sucked In, book one of the Series That Just Plain Sucks,
available at these fine retailers.
Where can I buy this
fabulous book?
About the author
My journey to become a writer began in 8th
grade, when I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and pulled from
school to recover. During this time, I was left alone for hours on end and it
was then that I discovered new friends within the pages of books. I also
learned the blessing of creating my own friends by writing down the stories
that plagued my lonely mind—as demented as that sounds. Therefore at the ripe
age of fourteen, I wrote my first novel. It sucked! But I kept going and now I
am an Indie Author with numerous books out. I never imagined that first
horrible novel about a man who crash landed on his long-lost home world would
turn into a lifelong passion.
I now live in Chicago, IL with my amazing husband and
two rambunctious cats, Groot and Rocket.
Check me out at http://charissadufourauthor.com/ and https://www.bookbub.com/authors/charissa-dufour
Useful Links
No comments:
Post a Comment
See you on your next coffee break!
Take Care,
Mary Anne xxx