Graylin Fox's stop on the DP YA Blog Stomp

Graylin, dear, it seems like forever since I met Tessa, Kyl and family, and of course, Jasper. When did you first write Contagion, and what inspired it?

I wrote Contagion in September of 2010. I had just finished Coming Home and was inspired to write another fae story. I write poetry about vampires, dragons, werewolves, gargoyles, and knights, but nothing hits closer to home than something that is actually possible. I work in medical settings and the genuine fear I saw on parents faces when their child had to be hospitalized for the flu, started my wheels turning. 

This time I created a group of friends to go through adventures together. Contagion is a novella beginning to a series. It's an apocalyptic story about what I thought would happen if someone decide to "help" the yearly flu virus along. It does appear that when I write, people die, and I attribute that to being in a work setting where people die every day. It's a part of life that changes us the most and we talk about it the least.  

How much of you is in Tessa? How about the world of the woods and the cabin? I love the setting for this book! It doesn't have a real post apocalyptic feel, although that is the setting.

A LOT of me is in Tessa. I tend to speak without the filter of an edit or mute button. My mother spent more time rolling her eyes at me than anything else. My life hasn't been easy, I've lost loved ones and been betrayed by people I've trusted, have survived personal violence. Those losses and betrayals rebuilt me stronger even though I didn't recognize it at the time. And neither does Tessa. She is gaining strength even as she feels like her world is shattered and unrecognizable. 

I wanted to place this story in a contemporary setting but one that would leave her isolated from civilization. Every apocalyptic story I've read shows you the loss by taking you through the changes in a large city. I want the readers to feel the loss through Tessa. Her pain at losing her family and unwillingness to even watch the news because she doesn't want the images in her mind anymore. It also helps to place the portals to the Otherworld in areas of the United States where they could be and no human would notice them.  

What have you been suprised to hear about the book from reviewers and readers? Is there anything you'd change, looking back?

I've been very flattered by the reviews. The criticisms I've seen are centered around the length and brevity given the number of characters and revelations. So, yeah, if I knew then what I know now - Contagion would be the first 2-3 chapters of the first book. But when I started it, it was to be a small short story about survival. It evolved over rewrites and edits but never grew to the potential I now see in it. I'm hoping to remedy that in sequels. 

This means for me, this short story now is a wonderful introduction to this cast of characters and shows us how, and why, they met. They also save the world. There is that part. :) 

 Between Coming Home and Contagion, it's clear you have more than a passing interest in Celtic mythology. How did this start, and do you have plans to pull on that world in future works?

I'm half Irish. Belief in the supernatural is part of who I am. My father's Swedish side also has a strong belief in the power of myth,legend, and nature. I love writing with mythological creatures. Giving a dragon allergies still makes me giggle, although I'm sure Jasper would complain. 

I love mythology and blending it with contemporary settings. After all, if I can have an iPhone why can't I call a fairy, or Skype a demon, or find the twitter account of a wizard? The possibilities make me giddy. 

What are you working on now?

Contagion is the start of a series and I'm writing the next one, Interwoven, now. I love revisiting these characters and the convoluted, tangled, relationships they all have in the Otherworld is pushing the story into areas that surprise me daily.

I also have a science fiction story in the works about plant based beings escaping their planet because their sun is going supernova. It needs a lot of work but I'm hoping to submit it this fall. It's tentatively titled Deadly Beauty. 

And I have a werewolf love story on the back burner. It yowls at me from time to time and I'm hoping to have it ready for submits this fall as well.   

Graylin Fox is a science fiction, fantasy, and thriller author and poet. She began writing poetry in 1993 with her first poem published in 1995. In 2008 her characters demanded a larger format and she began to expand her talents into the short fiction market.

Decadent Publishing published her short story, Coming Home, in January 2011. Her short story series, Summer Fae, began with Contagion in April 2011. July 15th 2011, Decadent Publishing released Your Biggest Fan, a psychological thriller.

Her poetry can be found both in print and electronically. There are a handful available as free reads on her website. Lessons will be published by The Stray Branch, #8, Fall/Winter 2011. Unconditional Love published by Moon Washed Kisses in their debut edition. Dark Encounter was published in Strange, Weird, & Wonderful Summer 2010 Issue. Folded In Darkness was published by Dark Horizons. Issue 57, September 2010. Blood Bound was published by House of Horror, Issue 17. It was chosen to be in House Of Horrors 2010 Anthology.

Graylin can be found at http://www.GraylinFox.com

Spotlight Sunday with...

Graylin Fox!

Happy Sunday! I’m Graylin Fox and today we delve into my twisted little writers mind.

Has someone been instrumental in inspiring you as a writer? Yes, my mother was the first person who encouraged me to be published. Although, at the time I was strictly a poet I took that encouragement with me when I began to write longer stories. Then, as my mother has passed now, my father took over. He wants copies, large copies, of every book cover I get! He is a great friend and reliable cheerleader. Here we are just starting out. Knowing my mother, she read to me that night. After all, she bought me Harlequin romance novels in high school. How’s that for setting expectations for love?

Has someone mentored you in your writing career? Yes, I can start by acknowledging Kristine Kathryn Rusch. I may have gotten to this point without her but it would have taken longer. See, around November of 2009, Kris asked someone to create a blog about Science Fiction and Fantasy, akin to Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. I volunteered because at the time I had barely stretched beyond my poetry in public and thought it would be a great experience. It was. Knowing my blog posts would be read by Kris and Chris (Christina F York) made me edit my work carefully and helped hone my presentation. Now our blog didn’t last a year. It turns out we were too busy with our careers to keep up a blog. But the experience is with me forever. I still write to Kris when I have questions about writing and she always responds with encouragement and no BS answers.

Do you have critique partners or beta readers? Yes, I have one of each sometimes two CP’s if the story needs major revisions. After I complete a story and have it perfected, I send it to my critique partner. She irons things out, points out POV problems (I have a lot of those - I tend to wax poetic over scenery), and corrects things I didn’t know where there. Then I go through all of her corrections and we chat about how I can make things better. When that edit/revision is complete, I send it to my beta reader. She checks to make sure the changes didn’t leave holes or gaps in the story, or create new problems. Only after incorporating her edits do I submit the story.

Do you use a pen name? Yep! I made it up! I’m sure other writers may have wonderful stories about how they picked their pen names. I really don’t. I went to a name site on the web. One of the many that give you names to use for characters. I just kept hitting “more” until I had a combination I liked. That is how Graylin Fox came to be. Now all of my social media sites are in that name. It allows me the freedom to interact with other writers, fans, and friends without compromising the confidentiality of my psychology clients.

If I were to write a series of novels? Funny you should ask that! Contagion is going to be a series. It was definitely not the plan when I started the story. But as the story took off, I fell in love with these characters. It’s an ensemble group of Otherworld beings just trying to get by and survive. I put snark and wit into them because I need that for me to stay interested. That way the smartass comments you and I would have in the situation actually do pop out of someone’s mouth!

Describe my writing style. Hm. I have the idea for each story before I ever put a word on paper. Different scenarios play out in my imagination until I feel that “click.” Then I hook up my microphone and start to dictate/describe/narrate the scenes playing out in my head. The story falls out of my mouth at this point. I don’t think about anything other than getting as much detail into words as possible. The editing process will cover the POV, flow of story, and removing the ‘babble.’ This way I can write the first draft to a story in a matter of hours. That is after I thought about it for a couple of weeks!