Vampires, Demons, Angels, Oh My!I love Paranormal and Fantasy fiction. The allure of dark characters has always intrigued me that I can’t imagine writing anything but. I think these fascinating creatures represent the darker side of the human character and that’s why they’re so popular.
In my most recent book, Shadows Of The Soul, I write about fallen angels, demons, a vampire who is part angel, and of course humans. My heroine is an immortal human demon huntress trained in angelic warfare. She also has a very interesting past. Delving into the world of demons, vampires and fallen angels is not just about her job, but it’s partly about who she is.
When creating darker characters I believe what endears them to readers is not just the dangerous façade of fangs, dark wings or super magical powers. I think part of the allure of these beings is the very human side of their character. They face problems and have flaws just like their human readers. We can identify with the challenges are favorite characters face. In Shadows Of The Soul my hero and heroine both faced tragedies in the past, including the loss of loved ones. They also deal with family squabbles, enemies causing chaos in their world and personal demons. But through the challenges they each learn a bit more about whom they are on the inside and they learn that regardless of what obstacles they must face, they come out the better for it.
My question to readers: What makes a character your favorite? Is it strictly the façade of fangs, dark wings and super human powers? Is it the human side of their soul we can all relate to? Or is it a combination of the above?
Thanks for having me! I love to hear from readers, so please visit my website and drop me an email! http://www.angeliquearmae.com/
Angelique Armae
GIVEAWAY:
Readers who comment on this blog post and then email me their name and address will be entered into a drawing for a set of signed collector cards based on Shadows of the Soul. (One winner will be picked at random from those who email me)
(Book 1 of the Paradisian Chronicles)
ISBN: 978-0-9845151-4-1
Available at:
Publisher: Diversion Books
When a Grigori prince and a demon huntress team up to find the antidote to a supernatural disease, the balance between good and evil is forever altered.
Blurb for Shadows of the Soul:
A fallen angel...
A human scholar...
A race against time...
Isabel Godfroie Heart is a Paradisian Scholar-an immortal human trained in the ways of Heaven and Hell-who's suffering from memory loss. During her last battle, a dark force erased specific portions of her past life memories. Now she remembers little of times past, save for the fact she's a demon slayer mentored by the archangel Gabriel. When ordered to a new post to help translate a volume of ancient text from a forbidden verse, Isabel is forced to work with the dark prince Nicolai Valentine, a soul who may or may not be responsible for her memory loss. If only she didn't find the tempting creature so hard to resist...
Born to a fallen angel and a mortal mother, Nicolai Valentine is a prince of the Grigorcov, the children of the fallen sons of God. Searching for the lost chalice that will save his kin from eternal damnation, Nicky unknowingly unleashes the Hadean Virus, a dark entity targeting members of the Grigorcov. Now the entity has been unleashed on man's world and Nicky's in a race against time to find the antidote that will stop this deadly parasite. But in order to keep the Hadean virus from attacking again, Nicolai must enlist the help of Isabel Godfroie Heart, the Paradisian Scholar he was unable to save from the wrath of Hell centuries ago...
Read an excerpt here: http://www.angeliquearmae.com/shadowsofthesoul.php
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9 comments:
I love characters that are supernatural yet display tenderness, love, a touch of humanity (though the whining about boo hoo I am a monster and not human anymore is a turn off).
I love characters that can own who and what they are without completely losing their humanity. It is a delicate balance and when it's done jst right it is breath taking to find a character that displays all of the endearing qualities while owning their "monster" status.
I like the supernatural side. It's more interesting when there's a combination of humanity and supernatural.
For a supernatural character to have believability s/he must have a piece of humanity. Otherwise there is no way for me as a reader to connect.
I agree. A combination of human and supernatural strengths makes for the best characters! I also think there's something sexy about a character who can control the 'monster' inside. They can be very dangerous, but know where to draw the line. And those characters are even better when they do it for love :-)
I love the supernatural part of characters but I like to see a ruthless side with a little bit of tender under it all!!
aliciahall0605(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
This sounds like an interesting book!
I have to like the character's personality. They have to be a good judge of character. I don't mind if they're human, vamp, wolf, witch, ghost, necromancer, demon, slayer, shapeshifter, etc. They can be good or evil, I just want a fully developed character. Someone I can relate to it some mediocre way.
Combing the supernatural and humanity is needed for me in some cases. I want the supe to be connected to humanity some way. Does he hate humans? Why? Does he connect with a select few? Why? I like to know these things, I like to know that the supe has a place with human society even if he doesn't always like all humans.
Same with a human integrating with the supernatural. Why does he/she hate or like supes? What's the reason?
I'm going all over this topic and feel I should stop before I lead myself to another topic entirely! ;)
This book sounds really good. I totally agree with your comment Roxanne.
yadkny@hotmail.com
As a dedicated reader of genre fiction, I'm obviously drawn to the supernatural aspects of this work. But as a constant follower of current events, I'm most intrigued by the setting of this book in Detroit, a city that has caught the brunt of the current economic downturn full-on. This seems to me to be an intriguing marriage of two of my greatest interests.
Sandy Rainey
rrainey@columbus.rr.com
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