When I first met Lori Devoti, she liked to tell people she had come over to writing from the Dark Side: advertising. One could believe that, as her first two books were smart, snappy romantic comedies. But in her latest incarnation, Lori has found an even darker side of herself, one that plays with "trolls, dwarves, giants, and corporeal undead." Um, yeah, just a bit different than comedy!
They are sexy as hell, though, and I was a fan from the first page of Unbound, which came out this past summer. This month and next her second paranormal romance based on Norse mythology comes out, and she was nice enough to stop by and chat about it. Welcome, Lori!
Caroline: You laid a lot of groundwork for Guardian's Keep in Unbound, but oh, my…Kol. Just…wow. I love that your heroes are truly torn and tormented, pulled between loyalties tied up in who (and what) they are, and then their more equivocal human desires. When did you decide Kol would be the guy for Kelly, and how did that shape his character? (since Kelly played such a large part, although often indirectly, in Unbound)
Lori: Actually, I knew Kol was going to be the guy for Kelly while I was writing Unbound. It's what I always planned. In some of my other books (ones coming later) it wasn't as clear to me, but Kelly and Kol always were. I don't think knowing that, though, changed how I built Kol. He just came out the way he came out. I will say that a pet peeve of mine in romances are heroes who think they did something horrible, thus their torment, but later we learn they REALLY weren't responsible for whatever it was: "How silly of them to even think that—hugs, hugs, kisses, kisses." *grin* People do bad and questionable things—it doesn't mean they are evil. I try to really let my characters have made the bad choices, then deal with them.
Caroline: Kelly makes some bad choices that, at times, make her a tough character to empathize with. Anything you'd care to share about her character and what made her so fiercely independent? She's really unlike her sister, Kara.
Lori: I knew all along Kelly was going to be hard to write as a romance heroine. She's tough which is easily read as bitchy. In fact, on my agent's first read, she referred to Kelly as a bit of a "pill." Uh, yeah, we know what that means! I tried to soften her some without losing her edge, and I let her use her weaknesses—her desire to do things on her own, to be the strong one—to get her into some bad situations, because, honestly, isn't that what many people do? Plow ahead because "they can do it" even though they would be much better off asking for help? When was the last time you got lost with your husband? Or the dishwasher broke and he insisted on trying to fix it? That's Kelly.
Caroline: Yep, she's a tough one, all right. One plot line I really liked was actually the villain's. Are Aesa and Fenrir going to be back, and will you give any hints about their fates?
Lori: Now this is part of the story I didn't intend to be as big as it was. I wrote it and didn't really think of it as a major piece of the book. My editor, though, really liked this plot line and she's the reason there is a prologue and epilogue that goes deeper into it. She also suggested more on Aesa and Fenrir in a later book.
Caroline: Hurrah! They were fascinating to me.
Lori: I always thought Terje (their son) would be a good hero to explore. So, who knows? Right now I don't have anything in the works, though. Each book I write, I discover new characters with great stories to tell. It's hard to pick whose to tell next.
Caroline: There are some spooky, strange beasties in your books. What's drawn straight from Norse mythology and what did you add?
Lori: They all are except the feil, which guard Lyngvi. Those came out of my own little head. I put my own twist on most of the others too though.
Caroline: Really. Makes one wonder why Norse mythology hasn't been used more often; those draugrs were something else.
OK, then is there any particular guy who might give us a mental image of your hero, Kol? That is one intense dude on the cover.
Lori: When I first started planning Guardian's Keep I imagined a model named Donny Lewis, but with blue eyes. But the cover works for me, too. I love the cover.
Caroline: Yeah, I bet it does! So what's next, and when will it be out? Are you going to continue writing Norse paranormals in the same world for a while?
Lori: My next Nocturne is scheduled for June 2008. It's Venge's (Risk's son from Unbound) story and I introduce two new Norse beings (new to my books), Norn and Valkyries. Right now the title is Wild Hunt, although I don't know if that will stick. I've also completed a proposal for a fourth Nocturne which is Leifi's story (leader of the rouges in Guardian's Keep). And I'm working on a three book trilogy proposal which will probably be about Norns, but I'm also toying with bringing back Lusse from Unbound. So, yeah, I plan on writing them for a while—at least as long as they let me. :)
Caroline: That is most excellent news. Bring on the Valkyries! Oh yeah, and the Norn (whatever they are).
You can pre-order Guardian's Keep right now in print, or download it today as an e-book from eHarlequin. Unbound is available in print and for download as an e-book as well.
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