An interview with Tori Ridgewood, author of the paranormal romance Wind and Shadow, published by Melange Books.
Hi Tori! Welcome to Zigzag
Timeline. Can you tell us about your background as an author? What got you into
writing?
I’ve always been an avid reader and a storyteller. When it
came to telling tales from my own imagination, all I needed was an audience,
even if it was only myself. For example, when I was eleven, I had to be told to
stop talking during a ski lesson, as my stories were holding up the instructor.
And when I was a teenager, I often entertained myself on my newspaper route and
walks to school by quietly narrating romances and ghost stories to myself,
complete with dialogue. I was thrilled any time something I’d written made it
into print -- poetry chosen for a school anthology, or articles written for the
student section of the local newspaper -- and created my own storybooks for
pleasure. I found a reflection recently that I’d written at at 13 in which I
expressed my goal of being a published author. I find it very satisfying to
create imaginary worlds, people, and situations that carry my readers away from
the ordinary world.
What inspired you to
write “Wind and Shadow”?
I was always fascinated by disasters when I was growing up,
and when I was an adolescent, my family lived near a community that had
experienced a minor event: a sinkhole had opened up in the pavement of a
street, large enough to swallow a car. It was the result of an old mine shaft
under the town -- one of many -- collapsing as its timber framings rotted.
Until it was fixed, it was billed as the world’s largest pothole by enterprising
citizens of the area. My family eventually moved away from the area, but the
imagery stayed in my mind. After I married and returned to the region, I really
wanted to write a story based around the collapse of the street. What else
might have caused the sinkhole? Could it have been a vampire? And how would it
have been trapped there? While I was on maternity leave with my daughter, I
started shaping my novel around those questions, drafting and revising, until I
found a plot and characters that worked.
In addition to the sinkhole, I wanted to write a novel that
expressed my love for vampire fiction, both text and film. Much of my vampire
mythology is inspired by Stephen King, Anne Rice, Bram Stoker, and films like
“The Lost Boys”, “Daybreakers”, “30 Days of Night”, and “Van Helsing”. I often
feel as though Wind and Shadow is an homage to those pieces of vampire pop
culture. I’m a fan of all things paranormal, and I’m both a Wiccan and a witch,
so I also wanted my book to include witchcraft in a gritty, but positive way.
Much of my inspiration for the magick in the book is due to fiction such as
“Practical Magic”, “The Craft”, and some works by Nora Roberts.
Among your
characters, who's your favorite? Could you please describe him/her?
It really depends on my mood. They all rather take turns!
Malcolm de Sade, my primary antagonist, is an old-school
vampire who enjoys his malevolence and is an expert at stalking his prey. I
find his honesty refreshing -- he doesn’t pretend to be anything other than a
killer and a libertine. He takes great pleasure in finding the weaknesses in
his targets and wearing them down, and he fancies himself to be rather
invincible as he’s managed to avoid being destroyed by vampire hunters for the
last three hundred years. He’s both a talented lover and a bloodthirsty fiend,
his handsome features morphing into those of a demon when he’s feeding. I find
him utterly fascinating.
Opposite de Sade is Rayvin Woods, my protagonist. A curvy,
petite redhead in her late 20s, she’s my favourite most of the time because
she’s so gutsy, intelligent, independent, and yet also vulnerable and rather
lonely. She’s had a hard life, having lost her mother at a young age and never
known her father, but she’s never given up on herself. She’s not so proud that
she can’t ask for help when she needs it. She’s also very talented at magick,
knowledgeable about witchcraft, and struggles to control her telekinetic /
psychic abilities. I love her sense of style, her self-awareness, and that she
has a good heart. She’s learned to get along without many friends, but it would
be nice if she had more positive individuals in her life.
My third favourite is Rayvin’s love interest, police officer
Grant Michaels. Rayvin refers to him most often by his surname, because they’ve
never seen quite eye to eye in spite of their obvious attraction to each other.
Grant is tall, dark, handsome, and very capable, as comfortable collecting
samples of herbs from the bush as he is fishing. He’s a natural leader and
authority figure, loyal to his friends and his community, but he’s not without
his faults. He’s incredibly stubborn and rather insensitive. He doesn’t react
the way I expect him to in certain situations. I like that.
What's your favorite
scene from your novel? Could you please describe it?
There are two that come to mind, competing for attention:
First, I love the build to the climax, when Rayvin is
preparing a powerful ritual with a sex-powered spell to curb the vampire coven
that de Sade is forming until more help can arrive. Without revealing spoilers,
I can say that when I had originally envisioned the final rise to this pivotal
moment, I saw it happening much differently. I even had it sketched out in
preliminary notes, but when the final draft came together, the characters took
over and made it their own. I enjoyed setting up this scene with visuals, as
Rayvin chooses her ritual jewelry with care, creates her sacred space for the
working of magick in her own backyard, and mentally prepares herself for the
casting. I especially liked the way she broached the topic of sex magick to
Grant, and his reaction.
My second favourite scene is midway through the novel, when
Rayvin and Grant are resolving some of their issues. Their conversation is so
honest, and they lay to rest a few misunderstandings, but more complications
arise when their quiet evening is interrupted by a vampire attack. Then, they
draw strength from each other, and sharing the conflict leads to an even
greater connection between them. I love the environment of their conversation
-- the candles in the fireplace, the floor-picnic with a comfortable quilt and
cups of tea, the emotion of the moment as both individuals attempt to bare
their souls, but can’t quite communicate. It’s poignant and sweet.
What's your favorite
part of writing? Plotting? Describing scenes? Dialogue?
I think it’s both describing scenes and writing dialogue. I
love creating word pictures, sketching an image in my mind and being able to
relate it clearly to a reader. It’s very satisfying to be told someone could
see what I was seeing, or to be told that my description of a specific place
reminded others who’d seen it also, and brought them back to it.
At the same time, writing believable, meaningful dialogue is
rewarding in its own way. I love acting, so writing words as spoken by others
gives me that fun of playing a part. I’m such a big kid at heart, I have a lot
of fun speaking in another’s voice, even if it’s a villain. I get to “say”
things I’d never be able to put into words in real life.
How long does it take
you to write a book? Do you have a writing process, or do you wing it?
I’m able to write a book in two months, though not
consecutively. Between the demands of work and children, “Wind and Shadow” was
written over the course of seven years, but the sequel, “Blood and Fire”, was
completed through two Novembers, in 2011 and 2012 as part of NaNoWriMo.
I do have a process -- I prefer to make notes ahead of time,
so I have a general idea of where the book is going. I’ve found, though, that
it’s not necessary to follow it religiously. The best moments in my writing
have come when I’ve let the characters take over and followed the twists as
they’ve presented themselves in the plot.
Why did you choose to
write paranormal? What is it about the genre that appeals to you?
I love the unknown of it -- that there are aspects of our
world that science, physics, and biology cannot yet explain. I’m fascinated by
our need (past and present) to fill the darkness with strange creatures. I
believe that there is more to our world that is not yet discovered than we
realize, and paranormal novels help to explore that world by showing us all its
possibilities. It gives me shivers, and feeds my imagination.
There are all kinds
of "rules" out there about writing - show don't tell, no dialogue
tags, etc. What's your opinion on them? Do you heed them? Bend them? Ignore
them?
I generally try to follow them because I find it very hard
to let go! At the same time, I’m looking forward to experimenting with the
rules, one day. You have to tell the story the way it wants to be told, and if
you’re going to bend or ignore conventions of writing, be prepared to defend
the concept. But that also requires a strong vision, and I don’t have one yet
to accompany such a divergence.
Did you ever surprise
yourself when you were writing “Wind and Shadow”? Characters who took on lives
of their own? Plot elements that took unexpected turns?
Absolutely. Jason Lucas, a minor protagonist in Rayvin’s
life, became much more important to the plot of the trilogy as a whole by the
end of the first novel. And I was surprised when the climax changed on me,
sending the plot into a direction I hadn’t expected. It opened up a whole new
world of possibilities for the second book, as well as the third.
What’s next? Are you
working on anything new? Where can readers keep up with you online (include any
websites or social media links for yourself or your book)?
I’m currently working on “Crystal and Wand: Book Three of
the Talbot Trilogy”, in which the conflict between the agents of the Light and
the followers of Evil reaches its zenith. I’m looking forward to writing
through November again, in my third year with NaNoWriMo.
Thanks so much for having me on Zigzag Timeline!
ABOUT TORI'S BOOK:
Tori L. Ridgewood’s new book Wind
and Shadow: Book One of the Talbot Trilogy, published by Melange Books,
was released on June 20, 2013.
After a series of misadventures including being accused of attempted murder in
high school, Rayvin Woods, a photographer and natural witch, left her hometown
of Talbot in Northeastern Ontario, hoping to start her life over and never
return. Ten years later, circumstances force her back to face her past and her
former crush Grant Michaels.
Malcolm de Sade, a cunning vampire, escapes from an underground prison looking
for vengeance. His accidental release unleashes his hunger and ambition on a
small, sleepy town. Rayvin’s power is all that stands between de Sade and his
domination of Talbot, and beyond.
Grant Michaels, a police officer, thought Rayvin was a murderer. He will do
whatever it takes to protect the community he loves from danger... but will he
learn to trust his heart, and the word of a witch, before it's too late?
Rayvin didn't count on rekindling a lost love or battling a malevolent vampire
and his coven for her life when she came home to Talbot. Facing the past can be
a nightmare… It’s worse when a vampire is stalking you.
ABOUT TORI
After her first heartbreak, Tori found solace in two things:
reading romance novels and listening to an after-dark radio program called
Lovers and Other Strangers. Throughout the summer and fall of 1990, the new kid
in town found reading fiction and writing her own short stories gave her a much
needed creative outlet. Determined to become a published author, Tori amassed
stacks of notebooks and boxes of filed-away stories, most only half-finished
before another idea would overtake her and demand to be written down. Then,
while on parental leave with her second baby, one story formed and refused to
be packed away. Between teaching full-time, parenting, and life in general, it
would take almost seven years before the first novel in her first trilogy would
be completed. In the process, Tori finally found her stride as a writer.
At present, on her off-time, Tori not only enjoys reading,
but also listening to an eclectic mix of music as she walks the family dog
(Skittles), attempts to turn her thumb green, or makes needlework gifts for her
friends and family members. She loves to travel, collect and make miniature
furniture, and a good cup of tea during a thunderstorm or a blizzard. Under it
all, she is always intrigued by history, the supernatural, vampire and
shapeshifter mythology, romance, and other dangers.
Tori L. Ridgewood’s new book Wind and Shadow: Book One of
the Talbot Trilogy, published by Melange Books, was released on June 20, 2013.
For more information, visit http://torilridgewood.wordpress.com/.
LINKS
