What
Inspired this Story….
This may sound
weird, but one year before I wrote the first word for As Cold As Thorns, I had
first created the cover. Back then I created it as a portfolio piece, since I
work as illustrator and need to constantly to have something new to show the
industry. I also wanted to experiment with a new digital brush I haven’t worked
with before. The illustration itself had no specific “story”, I wanted to
create a visual dark fairytale, where the character would be very beautiful and
sensual and equally evil.
So after the
illustration was done and shared that character lingered in my head and I began
imagining lose scenes with her, here and there… I became aware that I could
make a whole story based on her, and that got me thinking, and soon I had other
characters interacting with her in the back of my mind. I would think about
them on moments of mental stretching, between jobs, between house chores of
before falling asleep. I kept thinking and developing the characters in loosen
interactions in my mind for about another year, that’s because I have always
disliked writing and would delay doing so as much as possible. Until… I could
delay no more. I had a very basic idea for the story and I could develop a plot
and the characters further by committing to write a novel, which I did since
this year’s summer.
The funny thing
is that even though I was in love with the mysterious woman you see in the book
cover – before it became a book cover – it was another I chose to be the real
protagonist, the male lead Henrique. That’s because this woman – whose identity
I cannot disclose, yet ^.^ - is a supernatural being while Henrique is human.
The very humanity of Henrique, the young tailor/artist, gave me way more
possibilities to develop a much more complex, deeper role for him as character.
As such I became then far more interested in him as author and creative.
Other things
which inspired the story at later stages, were classic Gothic books and
screenwriting. The first have always been my idyllic and sacred muses, while
the latest has always got my attention to its clever ways to unfold
storytelling. I am not a tv person, but my husband and I watch a series episode
when we have diner, it has become a tradition at our home, since neither of us
has time to watch anything apart from when we seat to eat. And it has been at
least a couple of years that I no longer watch a series or movie as an
spectator, but as student. I analyze the plots, characters, dialogues, etc. Not
to mention that as an artist, I analyze the lighting, palette and composition
of the scenes ^.^ These two elements have inspired me not through a particular
character, storyline or film – rather on the “how to”, on the structural part
of the development of the book.
~ * ~
Title: As Cold As Thorns
Author: Isis Sousa
Series: Standalone
Genre: Dark Fantasy/Gothic/Paranormal/Dark Fairytale
Publisher: Tragic Books
Release Date: Nov 28 2016
Edition/Formats: eBook & Print
Blurb/Synopsis:
When lust and vanity consume a humble young
soul, nothing is left but a faint flame in the darkness of the void.
The solace and contentment of Henrique’s
simple life as a small-town tailor’s apprentice vanish when his ambitions turn
him overnight into one of the most powerful and influential personalities in
early-1800s Europe. His quick ascension to the upper echelons of the leading
Iberian Empire reveals a man torn between the pure heart he once was, and the
grim shade of what he has now become: a spirit obsessed with expensive material
possessions and the urge to acquire the unattainable.
Henrique succumbs to the ever-growing
desires and beguiling passions tormenting his mind, causing a rupture between
reason and a desolate world of ice and snow where pain is the key to salvation.
Will he survive his encounter with the colossal emptiness and find the
righteous path to lead him out of his agony?
Come and indulge yourself in this startling
tale of coldness and wonder.
Book Links
Excerpt
Henrique reached over to the end table by
the couch for the bottle of red wine, which had been put there in the first
place for this very moment, this instant of half-victory. He filled his glass,
swirling gently the red liquid while indulging in its scent. He felt peace; he
felt as if all that thick layer of foggy stress was finally beginning to
dissipate. In its place, a shower of loneliness and emptiness poured over him,
all at once. The world these days was too wild for him to bear and he had no
one with whom to share his misery. Henrique only had the company with which to
share shallow smiles and the vile conquests of his expertise and brilliancy in
fashioning the finest costumes the world had ever seen.
Catelyna was someone he could open up with,
sometimes. Her youth and good looks brought happiness to his days, and dressing
her of late… arose in him such a fire, made him feel alive, or rather like he
was dying to have a taste of her
someday. Someday – a bittersweet word for that thought, which would be properly
replaced with impossible, he knew.
Henrique kept drinking. He stared at
Catelyna’s portrait positioned on the wall to the left of the mirror. Tears of
frustration and grievance poured down his face. He sobbed. He cursed. He hated
that night. He hated that her face was staring back at him, worst of all,
mocking him. The only things he loved right now in his life were his gift and
his art.
“Farewell, Catelyna.”
He finished the glass, throwing it away
against the marble floor with all his rage. Then he grabbed the bottle and
drank from it, gazing back at the limbo in Catelyna’s portrait.
Author
Information
I am an artist; illustrator
and graphic designer who writes on my free time. But with all the imagination I
have running lose, there came some stories… And there came some books!
I am born and
grown up in Brazil, however I live in Mid-Norway with my beloved husband, in a
tiny valley surrounded by mountains and with very few neighbours.
When I’m not doing
artwork and illustration for clients, I’m doing woodcarving, painting
ornaments, painting artworks for myself, and so on. Love Arts, History and
Metal.
Author Links
Blog
Tragic Books
Blog
Darkest Soirée
Twitter @tragicbooks
For your chance to win 1 of 15 coupons to download your free copy of As Cold as Thorns, just click the link below and leave an entry on the rafflecopter. Good luck!
Dear Elizabeth, I just wanted to say hello and thank you for the amazing opportunity of this guest post on your blog! :D Keep up with the great writing & beautiful book covers!
ReplyDeleteHello Isis, it's always a pleasure to have you over and feature your work. I think I have said this a million times, but I really do love the book cover for As Cold as Thorns. It is stunning. Congrats on your release. I wish you many sales! :) xx
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