C.E. Lawrence: August 2010 Archives

Recently, I sat down with Kelly Gay to talk about her new novel, The Darkest Edge of Dawn.

Have you always been interested in fantasy as a genre?  Do you have any early inspirations of fantasy writers you especially liked?

Fantasy has always been a part of my creative process. Some of my earliest memories are of my grandmother and mother telling me stories about faraway lands or pointing out places in the woods were fairies made their homes. I was brought up on fantasy and it comes very natural to me. I couldn't imagine writing without this element. My earliest inspirations were Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Mary Stewart.

In fantasy, so much of the landscape is spun out of whole cloth, as it were.  Do you use anything from your own life, such as cities you've lived in, or is it totally from your imagination?

Oh, most of it is definitely from real life. The landscape of urban fantasy relies heavily on the modern world, on places and cities we all recognize and/or know. The back drop is very real in that sense. And it's often a case of the paranormal existing in secret within this normal landscape or the paranormal existing out-of-the-closet, in tandem with the world around us. (Think TV shows like TRUE BLOOD, CHARMED, FRINGE, HEROES, or SUPERNATURAL). Most urban fantasy authors set their work in major cities, in modern day times, and with many of the normal things you would recognize. The difference being is that the supernatural exists and intertwines with the normal world.