Today I'm handing the reins over to author Indi Martin.
Indi Martin | 2/26/2014
An animalistic keening sound erupted, loud and alien. Startled, Gina dropped the phone with a loud clatter, watching helplessly as the battery and backplate skidded across the floor and the comforting screen light blinked out of existence. “SHIT,” she cried, noticing with frustration that her voice had no issues being loud and clear now. The cry sounded out again, a long whine following by an inhuman click-hiss. Gina whipped her head around, scanning behind her for the source of the noise, while her feet propelled her backwards toward the hole.
BAM! She heard the sound and saw the bedroom door reverberate from the force of whatever hit it. BAM! Turning her head, she saw her front door also straining against something trying to force its way in. Her body hit the wall with a soft thud and her fingers ran their way along the portal’s nearest ragged edges. The air beyond the wall was neither warm nor cold, nor thick as she’d expected from the impenetrable blackness. It felt like nothing at all. - Excerpt from Descending, Book Two of the Gina Harwood Series
Gina Harwood is no stranger to unusual situations, having survived the bizarre and life-changing cases in Behind the Veil, the first Gina Harwood novel. This series is a true labour of love for me, having grown close to the characters within. They feel like they have a life of their own, and I’m often left wondering what they get up to when I’m not typing out their stories. Even when I am “in control,” they seem to take on a life of their own, turning corners I didn’t expect them to turn and making decisions that flaunt my carefully crafted outlines.
I particularly love exploring this Lovecraftian urban fantasy world because of my father. An avid reader and author himself, he introduced me to the world of science fiction, fantasy, and horror at an age that most other parents were pushing Nancy Drew and Sweet Valley High, though I enjoyed those as well. Few fathers would hand their ten year old a Robert Heinlein novel, but he understood, even then, that I was yearning for deeper themes and more action in my novels. He helped me through the Lord of the Rings trilogy after I devoured the Hobbit, and together we never looked back. Book after book, series after series, he would wait patiently as I clambered through the pages before excitedly discussing the worlds he remembered. There are so many stories we wish we could read again for the first time, appreciating fully the celebration of discovery and the agony of suspense. I think he relived those first times through my eyes, and much of my adult work I lay at his feet in gratitude.
I’ll be honest, though. As an author, Descending presented me with a problem. I had this massive arc created, but as they seem wont to do, the characters chose their own paths. It significantly changed the storyline I had originally intended (for the better, I believe), and in doing so, meant that the arc needed to extend far beyond the initial outline. Thus, Descending is akin to the Two Towers, or the Empire Strikes Back, and I can’t apologize for that. It’s dark, it’s gritty, I believe it will keep you turning the pages until the end - but Gina chose a path that needed to continue. And what a path it is! I’m deep into the third novel and thankful for the unseen hand that pushed her beyond her limits, beyond even those limits I felt she had as the author of the piece.
I hope you have as much fun exploring the world as I have had in putting the words to paper - I would say, “creating it,” but it created itself. I was merely the medium.
About the author:
A bit more about Descending:
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