I Was An Aerial Acrobat...Well, Sort Of

As I mentioned in my secrets of Strange Luck post, I love learning secrets behind a book, like where an author got a particular idea or wrote their story. It really adds something to the whole experience. I thought long and hard about some interesting tidbits I could share about The Nightmare Birds and this is what I've come up with. I hope you enjoy them. :D

1.   I took the title ‘The Nightmare Birds’ from a poem I had written 10 years ago. It was about nightingales in my neighborhood that were chirping all night and driving me crazy. Here's a pic of my journal with the poem:

2.   While writing this book I took aerial acrobatic lessons to get a better sense of what it was like to be a circus/theater performer. It was a lot of fun, but I wasn't very good at it. Here's a goofy pic of me striking a pose:

3.   One of the working titles for this book was ‘An Evening at the Theater of Secrets.’ I didn’t want to lose that name completely, so I used it as the title of the mysterious book in the story.
 
4.   Christine is actually based on a German foreign exchange student who lived with me when I was in high school. Just like the character in the book, her real name was Christine and she was kinda odd. She would always suddenly leave the room while you were talking to her, and she was obsessed with anything orange.

5.   My real-life interest in existentialism trickled into the story, especially Daisy’s fascination with Simone de Beauvoir and Friedrich Nietzsche. They are some of my favorite philosophers.

6.   Originally the “nightmare bird” was a nightingale (like in my poem), but I've always liked owls more, so I changed it.

7.   I wrote The Nightmare Birds as a standalone title years ago and worked closely with an agent to develop it. Per the agent's guidance, the story ultimately went a direction I didn't like, so the relationship dissolved and I decided to go my own way. I wrote Strange Luck next, then decided to adapt The Nightmare Birds as the sequel.
 

8.   In the original story, the protagonist's name was 'Rune.'

9.   The reference about people who voluntarily lived in caves without light and lost all track of time is based on a real (and super scary) experiment. Look it up.

10. Arianrhod (Daisy's mom) is based on a Goddess from Welsh mythology. The Goddess shape-shifts into a wise owl which enables her to see into the dark depths of the human soul.

I hope you enjoyed learning more about The Nightmare Birds. Don't forget to check these out too:

• 10 Things You Didn't Know About Strange Luck
• Meet the Characters of The Nightmare Birds
• Visit the Real Theater of Secrets
• Read An Excerpt

Strange, Rare, and Dark Things - The Peculiar Antiques of Strange Luck

"Oddities—strange, rare, and dark things, especially things claiming to be haunted—were the Darling family specialty and legacy. People came from all over to visit our little red shop that 

looked like a barn at the end of the dusty road."
~Chapter 1 of Strange Luck

In a recent interview I did with J.D. Estrada, he asked me questions about the peculiar antiques sold in the Strange Luck shop, like what would be the most expensive item and why. This really got me thinking, so I decided it would be fun to share what I envision some of the haunted antiques would actually look like. Here we go...

 ~ Conus Gloriamaris aka Tell Shell ~

"There’s a legend that a collector purchased one at auction in 1792 only to destroy it to maintain the value of one already in his collection…The legend says these rare shells will only reveal your fortune once if you hold your ear up to the opening on your birthday.”
~Chapter 1 of Strange Luck

~If I had to pick, this would probably be the most expensive item in the shop due to how rare it is and how high it is on the haunted scale. 

Fun Fact: This item is based on a real shell of the same name, which at one time was the most valuable in the world. A collector did in fact purchase one at auction and then destroyed it.

 ~ Old Pete ~

“The bird had been cursed and would come alive every year on Halloween to ask a new riddle…The legend is that if you answer the riddle correctly the raven will tell you the combination 

to a safe full of money.”
~Chapter 7 of Strange Luck

 ~ Enchanted Love Stamp ~

"If you write the names of two people on a sheet of paper and mail it to yourself with the 

Love Stamp, you’ll be together forever—sealed in love."
~Chapter 26 of Strange Luck

 ~ Haunted Owl Clock ~

“The owners who sold it to us claimed it rarely hooted, unlike a regular cuckoo clock,
but when it did, it would rain.”
~Chapter 1 of Strange Luck

Fun Fact: I love owls! My upcoming book, The Nightmare Birds, actually centers around a
mythic owl cult. I'm also a big fan of cuckoo clocks, so I absolutely had to incorporate the two. :)

  ~ Cursed Geisha Fan ~

“The most beautiful woman in the world would appear behind it once every thirteen years and whoever saw her would immediately fall in love with her, but she would disappear shortly after and the heartbroken lover would have to wait another thirteen years to see her again.”
~Chapter 25 of Strange Luck

 Learn more about these peculiar antiques and discover new ones in Strange Luck.