What prompted you to write urban fantasies centered around the Oracle of Delphi?

Delphi’s Daughters, a matriarchal society comprised of the descendants of the Oracle of Delphi including Tara, is a group of very talented woman that can harness what could only be described as magic. Tarot card divination, pyromancy, geomancy, scrying – and the list goes on. Why this correlation between oracles, more specifically the Oracle of Delphi, and these elementally talented women?

The Delphic Oracle is probably the most famous oracle of the ancient world. The priestess of the Temple of Apollo, the Pythia, wielded a great deal of political influence over leaders who sought her advice and the priestesses who served the temple.

I was intrigued by the idea of an order of women exerting subtle and powerful influence over the ancient world. I wondered what would happen if that order of priestesses went underground and survived to the modern day. What would their role in world events be? In my ORACLE books, the title of Pythia is handed down through generations of women, all oracles with their own unique talent for foreseeing the future. Delphi’s Daughters are a secret organization, nudging world events and gathering information through vast networks of helpers. Their behavior is sometimes sinister, sometimes pure, but always secretive. No one but the Pythia herself knows how the puzzle of world events fits together, and her priestesses are often left in the dark, guessing at her motives.

In the ORACLE world, the current Pythia is a pyromancer. She sees the future in dancing flames. The heroine of the story, Tara Sheridan, is a cartomancer who uses Tarot cards to create criminal profiles. Other characters have abilities with scrying, astronomy, and geomancy. Delphi’s Daughters come from all walks of life: they are physicists, soccer moms, artists, farmers, and dancers. They are women just like women you know and walk past on the street. But they are women with a secret.

Given all the ways your oracles used to foresee the future, why did you choose Tarot Cards?

I’ve been reading and collecting Tarot cards since I was a teenager. I love the art…and they make excellent story prompts! I wrote both ORACLE books with a deck of cards at hand. Whenever I got stuck on a character or plot point, I picked a card at random and ran with it.

Have you had your cards read/or do you read Tarot cards?

I go to the local Renaissance Festival every year and get my Tarot cards read by the same card reader. Lots of fun.

I putter with the cards once in awhile for myself, but would never consider myself to be a professional reader by any stretch of the imagination.

You featured radiation exposure in both your stories (a little eerie given the aftermath of the Japanese Tsunami), why did you pick such an unusual element? And did the Soviet government really tell people to drink vodka and milk?

Yes, vodka and milk, of all things.

One of my childhood fears was Chernobyl. I was in middle school when the news reports began to filter in that something terrible had happened in Europe…that a Soviet reactor had melted down, breached containment in fire and invisible poison. The Ukraine seemed a thousand worlds away. And I was less than a bystander, an ordinary kid on an ordinary street in the U.S.

But something about the story captivated and frightened me. Every so often, I take my shovel to the forgotten stuff in the back of my brain and see what I can unearth. And this was one of those things that stuck with me.

Can you tell us a little bit about your latest release?

My latest release is ROGUE ORACLE.

Tara Sheridan is the best criminal profiler around – and the most unconventional. Trained as a forensic psychologist, Tara also specializes in Tarot card reading. But she doesn’t need her divination skills to realize that the new assignment from her friend and sometime lover, Agent Harry Li, is a dangerous proposition in every way.

Former Cold War operatives, all linked to a top-secret operation tracking the disposal of nuclear weapons in Russia, are disappearing. There are no bodies, and no clues to their whereabouts. Harry suspects a conspiracy to sell arms to the highest bidder. The cards – and Tara’s increasingly ominous dreams – suggest something darker. Even as Tara sorts through her feelings for Harry and her fractured relationships with the mysterious order known as Delphi’s Daughters, a killer is growing more ruthless by the day. And a nightmare that began decades ago in Chernobyl will reach a terrifying endgame that not even Tara could have foreseen…
ROGUE ORACLE is available now from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

Do you plot your stories out or do you just start writing?

I’m one of those dreaded plotters. Nothing intimidates me more than the blank page, so an outline is something of a security blanket for me. I start out with a two or three page synopsis. It’s really more of a skeleton, but I know the general arc of the story. As I progress, I put more flesh on that skeleton and start playing with note cards. I find that outlining helps me in my revision process – I like to have a visual of where I’ve been before I start taking apart the machine and moving around the gears.

What was the funniest thing you learned about your heroine from writing their story?

Tara has a cranky cat named Oscar, who she adores. As I wrote Oscar, I realized that he was one of my current cats. I also worked a Labrador into the story who was the bridesmaid at my wedding. Animals always creep into my stories, and they are often very true to my life.

Which of your characters is most like you and which is least like you?

I think Tara is probably most like me. She’s introverted, pretty self-contained, and she follows her intuition. My professional background is in criminology, so I had a few tools to lend her.

Federal Agent Harry Li is Scully to her Mulder. He’s the rational, pragmatic guy who believes in only what he sees. I think that I’m probably least like Harry.

Can you describe your office or where you normally write?

My office is a former guest room. It gets a lot of morning and afternoon sun. I made a desk out of an old wooden door and a couple of file cabinets. I put some old glass on the top of it, so I can keep photos that inspire me underneath the glass. I keep a bulletin board with note cards of my latest project above the desk. And…my Wonder Woman collection is nearby, interspersed between books on my shelves.

Which came first the plot or the characters?

I’d been wanting to write a story about a heroine who uses Tarot cards for years. For DARK ORACLE, the inspiration for Tara was the Queen of Swords card from the Tarot deck. It shows a resolute woman staring off into the distance, holding her sword as if she’s cut herself. I’ve always loved that card, and wanted to build a heroine from that archetype.

Have you ever gotten stuck while writing a scene or chapter? How did you overcome it?

I think that the only real solution to writer’s block for me is the butt in chair method. I may do some brainstorming, doodling, or play with picking cards at random, but I ultimately have to power through it.

Tarot cards are a neat way to get the imagination juiced up. When I get stuck, pulling a card or two and taking my characters in that direction often helps me work back into the bigger picture.

What is the wackiest thing that’s ever happened to you since you started writing?

Having more than one name is a bit weird. I also write urban fantasy as Laura Bickle. I sometimes forget who I’m supposed to “be” and answer to the wrong name. It also makes for very long conference badges!

What words of wisdom can you offer other aspiring writers?

I suggest that everyone try National Novel Writing Month (www.nanowrimo.org) at least once. NaNoWriMo taught me the some techniques that really helped put me on the road to being published. Both DARK ORACLE and ROGUE ORACLE are NaNoWriMo books.

First, NaNo helped me integrate writing into my daily life. NaNoWriMo requires that one keep a pace of around 1600 words a day. It became easier and easier for me to fold that into my life, to keep the momentum going.

I also learned how to suspend the dreaded inner editor. My inner editor can become quite vicious. NaNoWriMo allows me to hold her at bay for weeks, allowing me to get the skeleton of a story down on the page.

NaNo taught me to finish. Completing a manuscript is the most important thing that a writer can do to further her career. And doing it again. And again.

What can we expect next from you?

I’ve got a couple of fun projects in the hopper at the moment. More news soon!

Delphi’s Daughters, a matriarchal society comprised of the descendants of the Oracle of Delphi including Tara, is a group of very talented woman that can harness what could only be described as magic. Tarot card divination, pyromancy, geomancy, scrying – and the list goes on. Why this correlation between oracles, more specifically the Oracle of Delphi, and these elementally talented women?

The Delphic Oracle is probably the most famous oracle of the ancient world. The priestess of the Temple of Apollo, the Pythia, wielded a great deal of political influence over leaders who sought her advice and the priestesses who served the temple.

I was intrigued by the idea of an order of women exerting subtle and powerful influence over the ancient world. I wondered what would happen if that order of priestesses went underground and survived to the modern day. What would their role in world events be? In my ORACLE books, the title of Pythia is handed down through generations of women, all oracles with their own unique talent for foreseeing the future. Delphi’s Daughters are a secret organization, nudging world events and gathering information through vast networks of helpers. Their behavior is sometimes sinister, sometimes pure, but always secretive. No one but the Pythia herself knows how the puzzle of world events fits together, and her priestesses are often left in the dark, guessing at her motives.

In the ORACLE world, the current Pythia is a pyromancer. She sees the future in dancing flames. The heroine of the story, Tara Sheridan, is a cartomancer who uses Tarot cards to create criminal profiles. Other characters have abilities with scrying, astronomy, and geomancy. Delphi’s Daughters come from all walks of life: they are physicists, soccer moms, artists, farmers, and dancers. They are women just like women you know and walk past on the street. But they are women with a secret.

Given all the ways your oracles used to foresee the future, why did you choose Tarot Cards?

I’ve been reading and collecting Tarot cards since I was a teenager. I love the art…and they make excellent story prompts! I wrote both ORACLE books with a deck of cards at hand. Whenever I got stuck on a character or plot point, I picked a card at random and ran with it.

Have you had your cards read/or do you read Tarot cards?

I go to the local Renaissance Festival every year and get my Tarot cards read by the same card reader. Lots of fun.

I putter with the cards once in awhile for myself, but would never consider myself to be a professional reader by any stretch of the imagination.

You featured radiation exposure in both your stories (a little eerie given the aftermath of the Japanese Tsunami), why did you pick such an unusual element? And did the Soviet government really tell people to drink vodka and milk?

Yes, vodka and milk, of all things.

One of my childhood fears was Chernobyl. I was in middle school when the news reports began to filter in that something terrible had happened in Europe…that a Soviet reactor had melted down, breached containment in fire and invisible poison. The Ukraine seemed a thousand worlds away. And I was less than a bystander, an ordinary kid on an ordinary street in the U.S.

But something about the story captivated and frightened me. Every so often, I take my shovel to the forgotten stuff in the back of my brain and see what I can unearth. And this was one of those things that stuck with me.

Can you tell us a little bit about your latest release?

My latest release is ROGUE ORACLE.

Tara Sheridan is the best criminal profiler around – and the most unconventional. Trained as a forensic psychologist, Tara also specializes in Tarot card reading. But she doesn’t need her divination skills to realize that the new assignment from her friend and sometime lover, Agent Harry Li, is a dangerous proposition in every way.

Former Cold War operatives, all linked to a top-secret operation tracking the disposal of nuclear weapons in Russia, are disappearing. There are no bodies, and no clues to their whereabouts. Harry suspects a conspiracy to sell arms to the highest bidder. The cards – and Tara’s increasingly ominous dreams – suggest something darker. Even as Tara sorts through her feelings for Harry and her fractured relationships with the mysterious order known as Delphi’s Daughters, a killer is growing more ruthless by the day. And a nightmare that began decades ago in Chernobyl will reach a terrifying endgame that not even Tara could have foreseen…
ROGUE ORACLE is available now from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

Do you plot your stories out or do you just start writing?

I’m one of those dreaded plotters. Nothing intimidates me more than the blank page, so an outline is something of a security blanket for me. I start out with a two or three page synopsis. It’s really more of a skeleton, but I know the general arc of the story. As I progress, I put more flesh on that skeleton and start playing with note cards. I find that outlining helps me in my revision process – I like to have a visual of where I’ve been before I start taking apart the machine and moving around the gears.

What was the funniest thing you learned about your heroine from writing their story?

Tara has a cranky cat named Oscar, who she adores. As I wrote Oscar, I realized that he was one of my current cats. I also worked a Labrador into the story who was the bridesmaid at my wedding. Animals always creep into my stories, and they are often very true to my life.

Which of your characters is most like you and which is least like you?

I think Tara is probably most like me. She’s introverted, pretty self-contained, and she follows her intuition. My professional background is in criminology, so I had a few tools to lend her.

Federal Agent Harry Li is Scully to her Mulder. He’s the rational, pragmatic guy who believes in only what he sees. I think that I’m probably least like Harry.

Can you describe your office or where you normally write?

My office is a former guest room. It gets a lot of morning and afternoon sun. I made a desk out of an old wooden door and a couple of file cabinets. I put some old glass on the top of it, so I can keep photos that inspire me underneath the glass. I keep a bulletin board with note cards of my latest project above the desk. And…my Wonder Woman collection is nearby, interspersed between books on my shelves.

Which came first the plot or the characters?

I’d been wanting to write a story about a heroine who uses Tarot cards for years. For DARK ORACLE, the inspiration for Tara was the Queen of Swords card from the Tarot deck. It shows a resolute woman staring off into the distance, holding her sword as if she’s cut herself. I’ve always loved that card, and wanted to build a heroine from that archetype.

Have you ever gotten stuck while writing a scene or chapter? How did you overcome it?

I think that the only real solution to writer’s block for me is the butt in chair method. I may do some brainstorming, doodling, or play with picking cards at random, but I ultimately have to power through it.

Tarot cards are a neat way to get the imagination juiced up. When I get stuck, pulling a card or two and taking my characters in that direction often helps me work back into the bigger picture.

What is the wackiest thing that’s ever happened to you since you started writing?

Having more than one name is a bit weird. I also write urban fantasy as Laura Bickle. I sometimes forget who I’m supposed to “be” and answer to the wrong name. It also makes for very long conference badges!

What words of wisdom can you offer other aspiring writers?

I suggest that everyone try National Novel Writing Month (www.nanowrimo.org) at least once. NaNoWriMo taught me the some techniques that really helped put me on the road to being published. Both DARK ORACLE and ROGUE ORACLE are NaNoWriMo books.

First, NaNo helped me integrate writing into my daily life. NaNoWriMo requires that one keep a pace of around 1600 words a day. It became easier and easier for me to fold that into my life, to keep the momentum going.

I also learned how to suspend the dreaded inner editor. My inner editor can become quite vicious. NaNoWriMo allows me to hold her at bay for weeks, allowing me to get the skeleton of a story down on the page.

NaNo taught me to finish. Completing a manuscript is the most important thing that a writer can do to further her career. And doing it again. And again.

What can we expect next from you?

I’ve got a couple of fun projects in the hopper at the moment. More news soon!

http://www.salamanderstales.com | http://www.salamanderstales.blogspot.com