Welcome to Worlds of Wonderment, Rebecca. For
those who have yet to hear about your novel, could you tell us about
it?
Sure!
The Flight of Torque is a
paranormal fantasy about a young reporter, Tori, and her guardian
angel, Lucas. Tori is captured by the Nagaran, a sinister cult of
snake worshippers. Lucas, also captive and now seriously injured, is
unable to prevent the cult taking Tori for a ceremony of ritual
sacrifice. Thankfully, rather than dying from the ritual like those
before her, Tori becomes Serpenthropy, a human able to transform into
a giant serpent. Unable to control her serpent form, Tori is taken
over by the creature. It acts from basic, animal instinct and is
prone to violent anger and lust.
The
Flight of Torque explores Tori and Lucas’s experiences and internal
struggles as Tori tries to reclaim her body and find a cure for what
she has become, and Lucas fights a growing sense of helplessness and
failure as a guardian angel unable to protect his charges. The
forbidden bond forming between them complicates matters and raises
the stakes as both realise that they’d sacrifice themselves to save
the other. At every turn Tori and Lucas discover new secrets about
the Nagaran and it’s connection to Tori’s family and the Angel
Hierarchy.
Is
The Flight of Torque part of a series? If so, what do you foresee for
the series?
Yes.
The Flight of Torque is the first in what I currently see as four
books. Book two is actually a prequel that goes back a generation to
follow the experiences of the Sacred Mother, a being worshipped by
the Nagaran as the first Serpenthropy and mother of the Nagaran
Royals, men who go on to father the Children of the Nagaran. While in
book-world-time it comes before The Flight of Torque, it’s intended
to be read after, as some of the secrets revealed in the first book
will be the story and action of the second.
Following
that I’ll be returning to where The Flight of Torque ends (or
shortly after) as Tori and Lucas continue to unravel issues within
the Nagaran and the Angel Hierarchy. I don’t want to spoil the
ending for those who haven’t read The Flight of Torque yet so I’ll
say no more, but I’ve already started to outline that book and I’m
very excited about discovering the story as it unfolds on the page.
Finally,
there will be a fourth book where Zara and Crey are the main
characters. I’m not too sure what will happen there yet, only that
they’re demanding a book of their own.
It’s
possible more books in the world will evolve as I write the sequels
so I won’t say four is it, but it’s definitely more than enough
to be going on with right now. Especially since I also have other
book projects in the works and I coordinate Write
Along The Highway and the OzNoWriMo
Young Writers Program for West Australian writers. There are
never enough hours in the day to write everything I want to write.
Can
you describe your main characters in five words?
Wow,
this one is difficult (mostly because I write long, so boxing them up
into only five words is very challenging).
Tori:
Independent. Passionate. Determined. Courageous. Stubborn.
Lucas:
Compassionate. Loyal. Honourable. Timeless. Wounded.
How
does the fantasy world you've created differ from ours?
Maybe
it doesn’t… At least, I like to think of it that way. Everything
within the world is just like our real world today. There are mobile
phones, suburban houses, sprawling cities, towering skyscrapers,
bustling police stations and news offices, stylish sedans and compact
hatchbacks (including an Easter-egg-style nod to the first car I ever
owned, a little blue Kia). As I was writing it I used a lot of the
real world around me here in Perth, Western Australia, but I also
wanted to make it unidentifiable so that most readers could feel like
it could be an urban environment near their own home.
The
fantasy comes from the presence of angels and serpenthropy. And I
like to think, maybe such things are possible in our real world, like
an undiscovered world of supernatural beings existing under the
surface of what is collectively accepted as normal. Who knows? Maybe
there is a
cult of snake worshippers living in a segregated community underneath
an old, abandoned church somewhere.
Have
there been any authors that have influenced your writing?
The
author who had the most influence on me as a writer is fellow
Australian author, Traci Harding. I read
her
Ancient
Future Trilogy when I was a teenager and was struck by the way
she introduced metaphysical and spiritual concepts through fiction.
She made things that were often considered rather airy-fairy at the
time something that could be embraced.
I
remember reading her book and realising that fiction is a great
medium for introducing spiritual and esoteric beliefs in a way that
won’t cause readers to close their minds to possibility. I decided
that’s what I wanted to do as a writer. I wanted to use my fiction
to explore the wonder and ‘magic’ that exists in the world and
use fiction as a gateway to explore my own beliefs and share those
beliefs with others.
Having
said that, The Flight of Torque is not in any way preachy. The only
truly “spiritual” or religious aspect of the book is the presence
of angels, guardians who watch over and protect mortals. Beyond that
the themes that came out were to do with inner strength, self-love,
and acceptance. I found Tori’s experience with the serpent within
her was almost metaphoric for my experiences with Bipolar and so,
rather than looking at more new-age concepts, I explored the journey
she’d take facing the darkness within.
Where
did the inspiration for the Flight of Torque come from?
Actually,
I owe this book to a cherished friend of mine who I’ve never met in
person. Forge (to whom the book is dedicated) is a fellow Australian
author living across the other side of the country in Victoria. He
and I ‘met’ on Writing.Com
and in December 2006 we decided to co-write a story. The story
evolved through brainstorming sessions via Yahoo messenger and
emails. We wrote alternating scenes and together a basic outline and
few thousand words evolved.
The
alternating scenes technique we used as co-writers was actually what
lead to the alternating point-of-view (POV) in The Flight of Torque.
When we co-wrote, I wrote POV Tori and Forge wrote POV Lucas. The way
the story unfolded from two points of view, with the opportunity to
experience both Lucas and Tori’s inner thoughts and feelings, was
something I was very strongly drawn to and I continued that when I
wrote The Flight of Torque. As you read you’ll find some scenes are
written in Tori’s POV. The reader experiences some of Tori’s
thoughts, internal dialogue (when she’s arguing with the serpent
form), and her feelings. In other scenes readers experience what
Lucas thinks and feels. It gives us a greater sense of connection
with the main characters and allowed me to do things within the story
that I could not have otherwise done.
In
early 2007, Forge found he couldn’t continue with the project it
idled for a long time, but I found myself constantly drawn back to
it. The characters wanted their story told. Many months (possibly
years?) later I contacted Forge to find out if he would mind if I
continued to develop the story as a solo author. I had no idea how
far the story would diverge from its beginnings.
The
original story Forge and I outlined together had dragons, and stolen
eggs, and sonic weapons, and an epic adventure up a mountain, and
lots of cool stuff that never made it into the final book. In fact,
almost nothing remains of that original outline, but it was the seed
that would, over the eight years that followed, evolve into the Blood
of the Nagaran series.
Having
said, “almost nothing remains”, there are two sequential chapters
in the book that remain from the very first pages written way back in
2006. I rewrote the Lucas scenes so it had my writer’s voice rather
than Forge’s, but the actual story elements are very similar to the
original draft. Early readers have mentioned that they absolutely
loved these chapters and found them the most effortless and enjoyable
to read. I wonder if any readers can guess which chapters they are?
Drop me an email
or catch me on Facebook
or Twitter to let me
know which chapters you think they are.
If
you could choose anyone to portray your characters, who would they
be?
I
always pictured Tori as Jessica Alba, particularly from her role as
Max Guevera in the T.V. series, Dark
Angel.
While
I was writing the book, Lucas was played by Paul Walker. After Paul
Walker’s death in November 2013 I had a short bout of writer’s
block as I struggled to recast him in my mind. Then I was watching
Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant on Fiction
Unboxed as they talked about casting their characters. They cast
based on roles rather than the real life actor. So, they might cast
Sean Connery, but a young Connery like in his James Bond days rather
than the older actor he is today. This idea of casting to the role
they once played rather than who they are today helped me get past
that block and keep writing. Still, when a big production company
buys the rights we’ll need to find someone for the role and I still
haven’t recast him, so I’d love reader’s suggestions for who
they’d cast as Lucas in The Flight of Torque movie.
Crey
de Luca Vento is Orlando Bloom as Will Turner (Pirates
of the Caribbean); Zara is Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen
(Hunger Games);
Tempany is Kate Hudson (the glamorous, elegant Kate we see at award
ceremonies rather than the rather aggressive and very modern female
heroine she often plays in romantic comedies); Michael is Hugh
Jackman as Leopold in Kate
& Leopold (but more sullen and aloof); and Marlena is
Michelle Trachtenberg as Georgina Sparks in Gossip
Girl (but older and with a wash of crimson hair dye).
I
actually have photographs in my Scrivener file (I use Scrivener
for Mac but you can get Scrivener
for Windows too). I like to pick out pictures that have the look,
hairstyle, makeup, etc. that I feel most closely represents the
characters in my mind. It helped to have that tangible reference to
come back to because sometimes I’d take long breaks from the book
and it became fuzzy/blurry in my mind; the photographs helped ground
me back with the characters. One of the first things I did in July,
when I began preparing the outline for the sequel, Birth of the
Sacred Mother, was cast my characters and add pictures to their
character profiles.
Thanks so much for
giving me an opportunity to talk about The Flight of Torque. I’ve
enjoyed sharing my experience and loved running with the questions
you’ve asked, Jo-Anne. I hope we’ll have a chance to do this
again some time. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from readers.
I’ll hang out in the comments but also invite conversation on The
Craft of Writing Fiction on Facebook.
Rebecca
Laffar-Smith is a science fiction and fantasy novelist. Her debut
novel, The Flight of Torque, is available now as eBook and Paperback.
You can try before you buy with a Free
Flight of Torque Sample copy on your choice of eReader device or
app.
FYI: Some of the links
included in this interview are affiliate links. All products are
honestly recommended by Rebecca but in the honour of being open
she would like to acknowledge that she will receive a small
commission on any sales made following these links.
When investigative reporter, Tori, chases the story of an underground smuggling network, she stumbles into something significantly more sinister. Instead of the illegal trade of exotic reptiles, she finds a temple of devout snake worshipers. Taken by the cultists, Tori is subjected to a savage ritual and irrevocably transformed. Now something dark and primal slithers within her.
Lucas, charged with Tori’s protection, struggles against an overwhelming sense of helplessness. He should be stronger, faster, and more powerful than any human, but in the past twenty years all of his charges have been murdered. Their deaths and his failures linger in his nightmares. They writhe in his mind like the chilling sense of brooding hunger that floods Tori’s thoughts.
Filled with violent rage and dark jealousy, the cult’s High Priestess rears up between Tori and the truth. The only thing protecting Tori from the long, cold embrace of death is the darkness within and the tingling warmth and light of her guardian angel.
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