Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Q & A: Jennifer Fales

Jennifer Fales's new novel, Sleight of Hand: Shadow Games, is the sequel to the award-winning novella Shadows and Fire.

A brief Q & A with the author:
How would you complete this line: "You might well enjoy my book if you like..."?

You'll probably enjoy my book if you like Game of Thrones, Once Upon A Time, Continuum or Hunger Games. Reaching a little farther back, I'd include Firefly and Serenity. Sleight of Hand: Shadow Games has a dystopian edge to it. The setting is a future world where a species of human/animal hybrids known as supernaturals live in domed cities. The species divide themselves into two unequal classes - ruling predators and lesser prey. There is growing political unrest and escalating conflicts/violence. Humans are property of dominant predator houses, like the dragon house the main character Lilith belongs to. Lilith's DNA is a blend of human and supernatural. She has a psycho twin brother obsessed with her and some remarkable but completely unpredictable powers she's struggling to learn how to control. The story kicks off with a bomb ripping apart one of multiple pods on an IDT (Intra Dome Transport) line and Lilith having a vision linked to the desperate suicide bomber.

If they make your book into a movie, who should direct it?

Joss Whedon (Serenity, Cabin In the Woods, The Avengers) is my first choice for director. He has a gift for delivering multidimensional, quirky characters and relationships you absolutely love wrapped up in amazing adventures on the big screen. I'd think he'd be perfect for this book and my style in general. My second is Guillermo Del Toro. The man has such an incredible eye for images - I love Hellboy and Pan's Labryinth just blew me away. My hybrids have as much animal (wolf, dragon, swan, etc) as they do human in them. Guillermo would get that and do it justice.

For the record, I'd also want a strong, beautiful woman with a heart- shaped face who can kick butt and be vulnerable and strong to play Lilith. My first choice is Jenna Coleman (Dr. Who). The second is probably Lily Collins (The Mortal Instruments).

What is your second favorite art form?

My second favorite art form ... hmmm ... that's a coin-toss decision between cinema and music. I think of chapters as movie scenes - all the sights, sounds and smells, all the action. Under the right conditions the imagination becomes a theater and you feel and see what you're reading. As for music, that's my muse - you'll find me on the train at 5:30 weekday mornings with my laptop and earbuds, typing away to Metallica or really intense Classical music.It has to be driving and intense to spark my imagination and get the creative juices flowing. You'll get some of that flavor in the book too - Lilith does her martial training to Metal.
Visit Jennifer Fales's website, blog, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

--Marshal Zeringue