Sara Curran-Ross Guest Posts about Knight of Swords, and Her Inspiration.

INSPIRED BY THE TAROT: KNIGHT OF SWORDS

I had a lot of fun writing Knight of Swords. I had wanted to write a vampire story for a long time but after many false starts I decided that I didn’t have the confidence to finish one. It wasn’t until I began looking into tarot cards that I found the inspiration for Knight of Swords.

As the title suggests, my novel is based on the tarot card, Knight of Swords. I’d had a couple of tarot card readings and this one kept coming up in the spread. There were also a few others that persisted in appearing, usually swords, which meant I was facing some kind of challenge in my life. They all began to play upon my writer’s imagination. After all, there are many characters and stories in the tarot. My emotions and quite often frustrations at the continued manifestation of these cards in my readings began to form into a story, giving me the ability to express the meanings I have personally attached to them. If you read Knight of Swords you will find many scenes and characters that resemble the tarot cards.

When I write I see my story visually. I often think of it as a movie that gradually develops providing me with scenes that I will eventually link together in a coherent piece of writing. Knight of Swords and my main character Nathan were very vivid in my mind. At times I felt as though I was inside my movie watching and recording all that transpired. I felt the snow on my face and loudly heard the clash of swords around me in the battles and duels Nathan fought to save his Queen of Swords.

I was still in the middle of writing my book when I went on holiday with family to a cottage in Exmoor in the UK. The whole holiday and picturesque area with its rolling hills, jagged coastline, sea caves and quaint old nineteenth century villages brought more scenes for my movie thick and fast. The images became intense and more vivid. One early morning my husband and I decided to walk the dog at Saunton Sands. The moment I stepped onto the beach I was treated to a vision of a large group of sleek black horses charging across the sand out of the blue haze towards me. All of their swords were drawn and Nathan was at the front leading his men into battle. I could almost feel the rush of air as they passed by me and faded into the distance.

Another huge inspiration for Knight of Swords was the music I listened to when I wrote. I can’t seem to write without music. It always helps to conjure up images, scenes and more importantly a character’s feelings and emotions. I couldn’t stop playing 30 Seconds to Mars and their ‘This Is War’ album. In particular, my favourite tracks, ‘Hurricane’ and ‘Stranger in a Strange Land.’ It was ‘Hurricane’ that helped me write down the scene with the charging horses. Their music and words just seemed to fit Nathan’s emotional temperament and the mood I wanted to create in Knight of Swords.

Quirky stuff, I know, but writers end up doing all kinds of strange things to stimulate the muse. Looking back over the story I can’t help wondering if it isn’t a personal tarot reading for myself, and not just the influence of watching too many dodgy black and white swashbuckling movies with Errol Flynn in them as a child. I recently went to see a very good tarot practitioner who told me I was writing from a very deep place and that it was no wonder I felt a strong connection with my characters, I had known them all before in past lives!!!

Scary! But there are stranger things in heaven and earth…. Let’s just hope they weren’t vampires as well.

Very interesting, Sara! Love the gorgeous and picturesque setting that brought KNIGHT OF SWORDS to life! Thank you so much for being here today! 
For more information on Sara, you can visit her at her website, or her blog. You can also view her previous guest post on Lost For Words here.

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Lord Nathan Valancourt is stinking rich, a darling of London's social set in 1893 and a notorious womanizer. He had never believed in the supernatural but when a vampire killer masquerading as a clergyman begins haunting his dreams and forcing him to endure visions of the murder of his previous female conquests, Nathan determines to amend his frivolous ways.

When the killer turns his attention to Nathan's beautiful ward, Juliet, Nathan is anxious to protect her. As they battle the monster, Nathan and Juliet gradually realise that they share a psychic connection. This close bond triggers the discovery of their true heritage as descendents of human-vampire unions and leads to the gradual revealing of powers beyond their imagination that offer them hope of victory.

Synopsis taken from goodreads.

Female Characters are Tough. Fact or Fiction? - Sara Curran-Ross

Female Characters Are Tough. Fact Or Fiction?

Recently I had a discussion with a friend about the attributes of a good female lead character in a novel. Many female characters are often depicted as weak minded women calling for male help as often as Penelope Pitstop when in a rut. Then there are those who allow the male lead to overpower them. After that, we have women who are super human, indestructible loners who spit on the very idea of needing a man’s help or even one in the their life. So which one is the most realistic? Which one can you identify with? Neither? Me too....

I loved Twilight but I have to say I wasn’t very keen on Bella. I found her miserable and weak when it came to her relationship with Edward. I was actually concerned about my daughter reading it for fear she would get the wrong idea about being in a relationship. Bella offers little resistance to Edward when he stalks her and prevents her from seeing Jacob. She also completely falls apart when Edward leaves her in New Moon to the point her whole life is affected. Hardly a good role model for young women. She also allows Jacob to emotionally manipulate her in Eclipse threatening her with his death if she does not love him. The character lacks strength and determination to remain her own woman in a very powerful relationship.

Then there is the other extreme. Some novels contain tall, high kicking, impossibly thin women who knock down tough male opponents like skittles in a bowling alley in their quest to save the world. Hmmm, nice thought that would be but not very realistic. These characters are often more male than female. They leave me feeling despondent that the writer couldn’t find any female qualities for the heroine to use. Instead they found it necessary to make their character an honorary man to help them win the battle.

So what has happened to authentic, realistic girl power in novels? The whole point of reading a romance, erotic novel, thriller or otherwise with a female lead is to be able to identify with her. The thrill of reading a story is to be able to put yourself in the position of the heroine as she makes her journey through the book. That isn’t possible unless she strikes some common ground with us as a woman.

There has to be a balance between acting tough and retaining femininity. A female lead character doesn’t need to be screaming for the hero’s assistance every time she runs into trouble. Neither should she be giving in to him left right and centre. She can use her intelligence, guile, determination and her own skills to get herself out of trouble. There are different ways for a female protagonist to be tough that are equally as valid as a man’s physical strength. Not to say she can’t engage in a small amount of hand to hand combat and spoil the fun but let’s be realistic. She isn’t Lara Croft. Nor should she bother trying to be. I’m not sure most men could ever attain Lara Croft status.

All I am asking is that we have more female characters who aren’t afraid of being a woman. We aren’t as physically strong as a man but then we aren’t helpless either. In a novel’s often violent world, chances are the heroine is going to need help from the hero but equally there are many ways she can ride to his rescue. After all he isn’t superhuman either.

I have tried to achieve this balance with my journalist character Rebecca Eaton in my thriller novel, The Organ Grinder and in my Victorian vampire work, Knight Of Swords with Juliet. It’s not easy to achieve. I would be interested to learn if anyone believes I have done it well. But one of the best characters that has tackled this feat successfully is Sookie Stackhouse. I love her straight talking no nonsense, fearless attitude. She isn’t afraid of anything and commands  respect from the men around her.

Let’s have more realistic female leads who aren’t afraid of being a powerful woman. It would also be great to see a hero admire them for it. What do you think?

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Sara Curran-Ross is the author of The Organ Grinder and the soon to be released Knight of Swords. You can find Sara at her website. You can also find her at her blog, linked here. Information about The Organ Grinder can be found on her Solstice Publishing book page.

Thank you so much for being here today, Sara! What a great topic for discussion!