- Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Casting Shadows?
The main character, Alex, recently discovered she’s part fae,
but is keeping it secret from the authorities. A good plan considering the
rising persecution those of mixed descent are experiencing. Her good friend
Emma recently registered as a practitioner (a human who can perform magic) and
has since been disowned by her mother, had her workplace vandalized, and blames
herself for the abduction of her little sister--the catalyst that kicks off the
story.
Alex’s romantic interest, James, plays a greater role in this
book as Alex opens up more about both her hopes and her fears for the future.
This book also explores the past of one of Alex’s enigmatic
sidekicks, Chase, a fae who can change shape between human and a small gray
cat.
- What is your favorite part of this book and why?
My favorite part of this book is probably the interaction
between Chase and Haru, who have a mountain of unresolved issues between them
centered around tragedy and abandonment--both issues Alex also struggles with.
I found their sub-plot engaging both because they’re snarky characters who tend
toward cutting remarks, and because of the parallels I could draw between Chase
and Alex regarding the merits of confronting and moving on from your past.
Their story was both a good echo of the lessons Alex was learning and provided
a number of entertaining exchanges.
- If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be? And what would you do during that day?
There’s a character in Casting Shadows named Morgan who has
the ability to walk into a shadow and walk out of any other shadow in the
world, thereby traveling great distances in only a few short steps. I would
love to spend the day with her, traveling all over the world. With her help, I
could cross every country off my bucket list in a day!
- Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?
For the most part I’ve got a pretty good handle on my
stories. Sometimes scenes move around, and sometimes they take me in unexpected
directions, but I always find my way back to somewhere near where I thought I’d
be. The one place where my characters get free reign is in dialogue. Sometimes
while I’m writing, I’ll find my characters have started chatting, or arguing,
or they’ve gone off on some tangent, and I have trouble figuring out how to get
them back on track.
- If your book had a candle, what scent would it be?
Cinnamon spice.
- What was your hardest scene to write?
The hardest scene for me to write in this book was Alex’s naming
trial. I needed to balance having her revisit events from her past, and
therefore from the three previous books, without the encounters becoming boring
or repetitive for the readers who may have just read those stories. I also had
to make significant challenges for Alex to overcome while keeping her success
believable. I ended up writing the entire ordeal twice (not including smaller
re-writes), with her facing different challenges each time.
- What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I loved finding ways to make the sup-plots of the secondary
characters mirror issues that the main character, Alex, was dealing with. For
example, Jynx and Ava deciding to get married despite the fact that one is
immortal and the other isn’t played right into Alex’s worries about the future
of her own relationship. And Chase’s difficulty in working with Haru because he
can’t let go of the past reflected Alex’s trial, which forced her to revisit
and overcome her own ghosts.
Born and raised in Colorado, award-winning author L. R. BRADEN makes her home in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with her wonderful husband, precocious daughter, and psychotic cat. With degrees in both English literature and metalsmithing, she splits her time between writing and art.
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