Thank you for asking me to be here.
I’m a writer, a poet, a reader, a feminist, a photographer, a dreamer, a cat lover, and a history geek. I love cinnamon more than chocolate, and I’m endlessly curious.
I think of the series as a blend of historical fantasy and mystery that mixes ghosts, magic and murder. Delia has always seen ghosts, Gabe is dedicated to finding justice for those who can’t find it for themselves. The two of them make a perfect team. The fact they love each other deeply is a bonus.The books are also about friendship and loyalty, the family you make always being there for you and having your back, and of course, love. Everything I write is a love story in one way or another.
Who are some of your influences?
Every writer I’ve ever read has influenced me in some way, both good and bad, or taught me something about how to tell a story or use language. Some of those writers are Melanie Rawn, Barbara Hambly, Kate Elliot, Elizabeth Bear, Elizabeth Moon, Ursula K. LeGuin, Ray Bradbury, Robin McKinley, Andre Norton, and Neil Gaiman. There are more, but that’s a good start on a list.
Why did you choose this period for your books?
1915-1919 were interesting and exciting years for a lot of reasons. The war years (WWI) were really the dawn of what we think of as the modern age. New technology, new social attitudes, changing roles for women—all of those things were happening at once, and spreading across the entire country rapidly. It was a challenging time to be alive.
The Great War, as WWI was known at the time, brought changes of its own. Empires fell and vanished, new, horrible weapons were used for the first time. More than nine million men died in that war.
Another major reason was that spiritualism was flourishing between 1915-1919. Not everyone believed in ghosts, but millions of people were convinced that spirits came back from the other side to impart messages to the living. Mediums, such as Delia and Dora, were believed to be the bridge between the two worlds.
It all came together to make this the perfect time to set these books.
What do you think about ghosts? And why use them in your books?
Do I personally believe in ghosts? I’m honestly not sure. The parts of me that are firmly rooted in science, in all the things I can see and touch and prove, don’t believe.
But the dreamer and storyteller in me keeps asking what if? Far, far too many people have seen or experienced things that can’t be easily explained away. Some of those odd things have happened again and again, and people have reported the same stories for generations.
And why not use ghosts in these books? Death is a part of everyone’s life, whether we will it or not. Ghost stories of one kind or another are a part of every culture in the world. Given who Delia and Gabe are, and what they do, ghosts fit.
So Delia, where’d she come from?
One night I had a dream about a young woman standing next to the train tracks, steam from the locomotive billowing around her and mixing with the fog. This woman, who turned out to be Delia, was looking back over her shoulder. She was watching for the person who’d been following her everywhere.
I couldn’t get that dream out of my head. Once I realized Delia was being followed by a ghost the whole book fell into my head.
What do you feel is your strength as a writer/storyteller?
I am my own harshest critic. Readers have told me that enabling readers to see what I saw while writing a scene, and to feel emotion right along with my characters, are two of my strongest abilities. I do the best I can and leave those judgments up to readers.
How many books do you intend to write for the series?
As many as they ask me to write. Delia’s Shadow and A Barricade In Hell are out now; the third comes out in 2015. Time will tell how many more I write.
Did you need to do a lot of research for your books?
Lots and lots of research. A hundred years ago really is an entirely different age. I had to research clothing styles, furniture, cars, social attitudes, news of the day—everything. The world has changed so, so much since the 1910s.
What can you tell about the future books?
The third book, Against A Brightening Sky, is set in 1919. The Great War is over and a peace treaty is being negotiated in Paris. Ghosts—all casualties of the war—fill San Francisco’s streets in vast numbers: European kings and queens, princes and princesses and minor nobility, confused soldiers trying to find their way back home. Shadows of the conflict and echoes of the war’s aftermath reach across the world to San Francisco, and touch Delia, Gabe and Isadora in a very personal way.
Are there any other projects you’re working on or thinking about starting in the near future?
Just as sharks keep swimming, writers keep writing. Since turning in Against A Brightening Sky, I’ve revised a finished novel in another series, A War For Philadelphia, and started something brand new titled A Parliament Of Queens. It’s early days yet, but I have high hopes for both these books.
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About the Author: JAIME LEE MOYER’s Delia’s Shadow won the 2009 Columbus Literary Award for Fiction. Moyer has sold short fiction to Lone Star Stories, Daily Science Fiction, and to the Triangulations: End of the Rainbow, and Triangulations: Last Contact anthologies, and edited the 2010 Rhysling Award Anthology for the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Moyer lives in San Antonio with writer Marshall Payne, three cats, three guitars, and a growing collection of books and music.
Website: http://www.jaimeleemoyer.com
Twitter: @jaimeleemoyer
Delia Martin, Book 2
Synopsis: Delia Martin has been gifted (or some would say cursed) with the ability to peer across to the other side. Since childhood, her constant companions have been ghosts. She used her powers and the help of those ghosts to defeat a twisted serial killer terrorizing her beloved San Francisco. Now it’s 1917—the threshold of a modern age—and Delia lives a peaceful life with Police Captain Gabe Ryan.
That peace shatters when a strange young girl starts haunting their lives and threatens Gabe. Delia tries to discover what this ghost wants as she becomes entangled in the mystery surrounding a charismatic evangelist who preaches pacifism and an end to war. But as young people begin to disappear, and audiences display a loyalty and fervor not attributable to simple persuasion, that message of peace reveals a hidden dark side.
As Delia discovers the truth, she faces a choice—take a terrible risk to save her city, or chance losing everything?
Giveaway:
2 persons will be able to win 1 copy of Delia’s Shadow (trade paperback) and 1 copy of A Barricade in Hell (hardcover). The Giveaway is open to US/Canada only.
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