Natalie-Nicole interviews Daniel Tremont from SEE ME

Natalie-Nicole interviews Daniel Tremont from SEE ME

I’m thrilled to send some time with Daniel Tremont, hero of my paranormal romance, SEE ME, available from Leap of Faith Publishing.

NNB: Daniel, it’s rumoured that you have eternal life. Can you tell me how this happened exactly?

DT: A long time ago, 1896, I was the unfortunate victim of a lumber mill fire—I was burned beyond recognition. I don’t really remember much except for waking up on an embalming table with the most beautiful brown eyes staring down at me. That’s only the beginning of it all, though.

NNB: Did you recognize these beautiful brown eyes?

DT: Of course, it was Charlotte Hopkins, daughter of the local undertaker. She was more than just a beautiful pair of brown eyes, she was…magic. What she did for me that day, was love.

NNB: Is it true that you are a Funeral Director?

DT: I have been, and I will be again. I’m much better with the dead than the living.

NNB: So, you’ve been in love with Charlotte all of these years?

DT: I always loved Charlotte—well, she’s Carly now—but it’s far more complicated than you can ever imagine. That day of the fire, I don’t think Charlotte knew of her power, and when she resurrected me, well, she was more than just a little bit spooked. She ran away and I never saw her again for a very, very long time.

NNB: How did you know you would never die?

DT: I knew I was different after the fire, but to what extent I wasn’t sure. I knew I was a healer, but I always tried to convince myself that I never really died in the fire, that I was just very, very ill and imagined everything. When I was forty, I thought I was just lucky. When I was fifty, I sort of knew. All of my friends were aging and I looked the same.

NNB: It must be very difficult to retain friendships when your friends are aging and you’re not.

DT: It’s definitely one of the worst aspects of being eternal. Through no real fault of my own I have to walk away from friendships when people start asking too many questions.

NNB: In the past, have your friends asked one too many questions about your uniqueness?

DT: I live a much regimented life when it comes to dealing with people. There’s too much of a chance of my getting tripped by questions about my past. I’ve learned over the years to basically keep to myself.

NNB: Have you ever resurrected anyone?

DT: Almost…once. You need to understand that I have always loved Charlotte. But I was extremely lonely as well. In the end, I didn’t do it, and I’d prefer not to talk about it. That was a very dark time of my life.

NNB: Understood. What can you tell me about Charlotte, who now goes by the name Carly?

DT: She is the love of my life. I will never be complete until I am with her forever. And it will happen, sooner or later, one way or another.

NNB: You sound very determined, very sure.

DT: What I know, is what I know, that’s all. Until it happens, I’ll do what I must to get by.

NNB: Are there other eternals out there like you and Charlotte?

DT: There’s an eternal named Xander Elliott. He also loves Charlotte, but he’ll never have her. He’s cursed by his former lover, Embree. Embree, by the way, is the eternal who resurrected my Charlotte. I’m sure there are others as well.

NNB: There sounds like there could be more stories in the future involving Xander and Embree.

Many thanks, Daniel, for trusting me enough to share a tiny bit about yourself and your outlook.

To read more about Daniel and Carly, look for SEE ME, available at Leap of FaithPublishing, or visit my blog at: www.natalienicolebates.com

Carly Anders  is hearing voices in her head. Another one of her kind is trying to contact her. She knows of the malevolent freaks—others who are eternal like her and seek out the weak to inflict pain upon. For years, Carly has held up huge protective walls to keep herself and her secrets safe. Now, physically and mentally exhausted, Carly needs protection and rest.

She accepts the invitation to visit an internet friend who needs help appraising a collection of antique photographs.  The situation is not ideal, but Carly hopes a male presence in her life will deter the determined suitor who haunts her thoughts and dreams.

Daniel Tremont is not what Carly is expecting.

The former funeral director has a secret of his own. Not only is he eternal like Carly, he is her creation from all those years before—her abomination she thought she killed.

Daniel has been searching for Carly for years. He knows she is the piece of his life that he has been missing for so long. Now that he has found her, he has no intentions of letting her go.

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The Allure of the Short Story by Natalie-Nicole Bates

The Allure of the Short Story

By Natalie-Nicole Bates

Since the release of my short story, Antique Charming, I have been consistently asked the same question—Why did I opt to write it as a short story versus a full-length novel?

The answer is actually quite simple. From the start, Antique Charming was always intended to be a short story. It was meant to be six hours in the life of Lizzie Morton. A sensual, delicious little bite to leave the reader asking questions, especially, just who or perhaps better…what exactly is Adam Nichols?

I am delighted that the story has sparked debate among its readers, even controversy. This was my intent. As a writer, it’s very easy to stick to a formula where all of the storylines are neatly tied up with pretty little bows by the end of the story. The curtain falls, all questions answered. But why is this an absolute necessity? Of course it brings a sense of closure for the reader. 

But why shouldn’t the reader be able to speculate her own conclusion to the story?

So, just how did Antique Charming come to be, and from my perspective, exactly what is Adam Nichols?

I am an avid collector of Victorian and Edwardian-era photographs. To me, there is much beauty in these black and white stills. Last spring, I found a photograph from an online seller that completely captivated me. The size of a postcard, but printed on a much thicker stock was the image of a funeral home (I come from a long line of folks in the funeral care business). Outside, a very handsome man stands proudly with his hands clasped in front of him, most likely one of the owners at the time. Although the photo is slightly faded, you can still clearly make out the reflection in the glass of a black funeral carriage tied with elaborate ribbons. The back of the photo reads in very elegant script, Week of Oct-11-1896.

Although the photo was pricy, I splurged and bought it for myself.

When I finally held it in my hands, I was in love. It was then that an idea occurred to me. What if a very lovely lady who is just starting out in the funeral business buys this particular funeral home, determined to restore it to its former glory. And what would happen if one night this woman was visited by the very handsome man in the photo who claims to still own the funeral home?

To me, the idea seemed like a good one. He wasn’t a ghost or a vampire. The closest I could describe him is as a dybbuk. In Jewish folklore, the wandering soul of a dead person that enters the body of a living person and controls his or her behaviour. But even is dybbuk isn’t quite accurate.

At the end of the day, it is you, the reader, who will decide just what Adam Nichols really is. I never expected so many readers to write and ask me for a full length novel. Perhaps at some future time I will speak with my publisher about turning it into a full novel. But for right now, my photographs are beginning to speak to me again and just maybe inspiring a few more paranormal spins.

Antique Charming is available from Books To Go Now Publishing.

My Inspirations for writing Back To You by Natalie-Nicole Bates

My Inspirations for writing Back To You

By Natalie-Nicole Bates

First and foremost, Back To You is a romance. It follows the relationship between Lynsey Reznor and Nick Lincoln. Two basically polar opposite characters who have been in love with each other since they were teenagers.

I wanted to write a story with a true love never dies kind of theme, and explore the situation of dating again after the demise of a long-term relationship, which is difficult to understand unless you’ve actually been through it. It becomes even more complicated when your new partner’s ex is deceased. She goes up on a pedestal, and you are often looked at as a pariah.

But there is also another reason I wrote Back To You, but unfortunately, it got a little mixed up along the way.

For those of you familiar with me, you know I have another Unity-based story called Change of Address. Change of Address was released before Back To You. In reality, Back To You is actually the first story in the Unity series, not Change of Address.

But that is life, that is publishing.

When I envisioned the series in my mind, I saw Lynsey Reznor as the central character. Through Lynsey, the reader would be introduced to the town of Unity, and the characters who live there.

In Back To You, I introduce the reader to the most eligible bachelors of Unity. As Lynsey looks for love, she encounters a number of potential suitors.

We meet Evan Monroe, who is perfect marriage material. We find out he has recently been in a serious accident, and is still recovering. He’s an absolute doll, but Lynsey never felt an instant chemistry with Evan.

Lynsey then reacquaints herself with Owen Mitchell. Lynsey jokes that she met Owen over an open grave. Owen is an extremely complicated man. I call him a provocateur. He also has a very shocking, heartbreaking past which is not explored in Back To You, but the reader knows there’s more beneath the skin of Owen Mitchell, not just the mercurial persona he presents to the outside world.

And then there is Caleb Smith. The gregarious, larger-than-life man that the women love and the men despise. Like Lynsey, Caleb is looking for love, and it’s hinted that Lynsey and Caleb had a relationship in the past. Caleb is Nick’s greatest completion for Lynsey’s heart.

We also briefly meet Ryan Maine, but Ryan is off limits ladies, he has eyes strictly for Amii Sloane, and he’ll do whatever he must do to have her—whether Amii wants him or not.

By the end of Back To You, the reader has a pretty good idea of what might be coming in the future. We have bachelors looking for love and just waiting for their stories to be written.

I hope you enjoy Back To You and Change of Address. Look forward to Amii and Ryan’s story in Amii’s Angel, the next Unity story coming soon.

Back To You is available from Amazon through Books To Go Now as a single release and as a collection featuring BONUS stories Antique Charming and Remember The Stars, in both ebook and paperback format!

Blurb:

On the surface, Lynsey Reznor seems to have it all. She is beautiful, brilliant, and a successful true-crime writer who has been living the past decade in Miami. But what Lynsey lacks is what she needs the most—a family.

After the death of her mother, and yet another failed relationship, Lynsey makes an impulsive decision to return to her hometown of Unity. But Unity will present its own bittersweet memories, most notably, her first love, Nick Lincoln.

Twenty years ago, Nick broke teenager Lynsey’s heart when he decided to marry another. He had his own private reasons—reasons he never explained to Lynsey. Now she is back, along with a chance to reclaim her love. But Lynsey wants answers from him that he may never be able to give out of duty and guilt.

Buy Links:

Back To You (single release)

Back To You (collection)

Change of Address

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Love Triangles – Tara Fox Hall and her novel Taken in the Dark guest bloggers @LallaGatta Blog - LallaGatta

Love Triangles – Tara Fox Hall and her novel Taken in the Dark guest bloggers @LallaGatta Blog - LallaGatta

Inspiration for SEE ME (Part 2 of using early photography as inspiration for your next novel)

Inspiration for SEE ME…

By Natalie-Nicole Bates

Last week, I discussed the different types of 19th and early 20th century photography. Today, I'll put that into action.

I did not begin as a writer. For many years I was simply a book lover who turned reviewer. About two years ago, I decided to start writing my own novel. A year later, I was a happily published author of two contemporary romances.

I was always fascinated by paranormal romance. But as a reviewer, I watched the paranormal market literally explode. Vampires, werewolves, shifters, even zombies were making appearances at an alarming rate. Writers were writing these markets and writing well.

So what to do?

Inspiration came fast. I am an avid collector of Victorian-era photography. To me, there is much beauty in these old photographs, and to my delight—much inspiration as well.

My first published paranormal short story, Antique Charming, was centered on a cabinet card from 1896 of a man standing outside of a funeral home.

                1896 cabinet card from my collection

Antique Charming was successful, but could I write a paranormal that would be a longer length than Antique Charming?

Once again, I returned to my photographs. I had recently bought a Carte de Visite (1860’s) of a beautiful little girl about age 3, her photo surrounded by a memorial wreath. In my mind, Baby Charlotte was born.

                        Inspiration for Baby Charlotte from my collection. Carte de Visite mentioned in SEE ME

SEE ME begins in 1896, where we meet sixteen year old Charlotte. Charlotte always knew she was special, but never knew why. She believed it all stemmed from a near drowning incident when she was three. An incident her family members refused to speak of.

Her hunch comes true one day in 1896 during a lumber yard fire when her true powers reach fruition.

One very small photograph from the 1860’s suddenly became one huge idea for a novella.

I then went in search of my Daniel Tremont, the hero of SEE ME. Daniel’s inspiration is a magnificent 1860’s Daguerreotype of a young man. The matt on this photograph is purple, which is usually the colour of significance for mourning, which means this young man probably passed away young. He was perfect.

Sometimes what you know well can be a powerful ally. In writing, this is so true. I took my love for Victorian photography and turned it into a plot for a novella that combines romance, paranormal, and a touch of my beloved horror.

                    Inspiration for Daniel Tremmont

                    Daguerreotype from my collection

                 Full case-note the purple mourning matt

I hope you will read SEE ME, now available at Leap of Faith Publishing. To view the photographs that inspired both SEE ME as well as Antique Charming and a small sampling of my collection, visit my new blog Ghosts and Phantoms at: http://ghostsandphantoms.blogspot.co.uk/

Buy Links:

SEE ME is available from Leap of Faith Publishing and Amazon.

Antique Charming (short story) available through Books To Go Now Publishing.

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A Brief History of 19th Century Photographs (Part 1)

A Brief History of 19^th Century Photographs for Historical Writers (Part 1)

By Natalie-Nicole Bates

For historical writers, the various types of photography available in the 19^th century can be a valuable resource.  My short paranormal, Antique Charming is centered around a Victorian-era cabinet card. My paranormal romance novella, SEE ME, is also inspired by 19^th century photographs. Getting your terms right is essential for any writer interested in using photography in their historical manuscript. It’s more interesting to say your heroine in 1850 was holding in her hands a beautifully encased Daguerreotype of her beloved, rather than just a simple photograph.

Let’s begin with the earliest form of photograph and my personal favorite-

The Daguerreotype-The first successful photographic process made on a light sensitive silver coated metallic plate. The surface of daguerreotype is mirror-like and unstable. You must tilt the image to view it properly. Daguerreotypes are most often displayed in thick glass covered cases. Daguerreotype photography rapidly spread throughout the United States in the early 1840’s.

                                              Example of a Daguerreotype from my collection

Because of its instability and labor-intensive process, the daguerreotype was quickly replaced in 1854 by

The Ambrotype- This photographic process was done by imaging a negative on glass, backed by a dark surface. The ambrotype was much less expensive to produce and lacked the shiny surface of the daguerreotype, but the general consensus was the ambrotype was visually unappealing.

By the mid 1850’s, the ambrotype was supplemented by

                                                     Example of an ambrotype from my collection

The Tintype- Introduced in 1856, the tintype was a positive photograph made directly on an iron plate varnished with a thin sensitized film.  Tintype “film” is the same as the final print, so the image appears reversed (left to right) from reality. Compared to earlier techniques, the tintype is simple and fast to process, which made it a hit at carnivals and fairs. The photographer could prepare, expose, and varnish tintypes within a few minutes and have it ready to present to the customer. There is no actual tin used in the process. Like the daguerreotype and ambrotype, tintypes were often cased.

The Carte de Visite is a photograph the size of a visiting card and became enormously popular around 1854 when they were regularly traded among family and friends. It was usually made of an albumin print, which was a thin paper photograph mounted on a thicker paper card. By 1870, carte de visite was supplemented by the popular

                                                  Example of Carte de Visite from my collection

Cabinet Cards- which is essentially the same process as carte de visite. The main difference is the cabinet card is larger and usually included the photographer’s logo and advertised their services on the reverse side of the photo. Around 1880, the cabinet card displaced carte de visite.

For approximately three decades following the 1860’s, the commercial portraiture industry was dominated by carte de visite and cabinet cards. However, the public was soon clamoring for outdoor and candid photographs as well as varying sizes of photos which could be enlarged or small enough to collect in scrapbooks. 

With the affordable Kodak Box Brownie camera introduced in 1900, the public rapidly began taking their own photographs and led to the decline of the cabinet card.

I hope this brief history of 19^th century photography will spark your interest and inspire you to look to the beauty of vintage photography when planning your next historical novel.

NEXT UP: Putting these inspirations to work for your next novel.

Bio:

Natalie-Nicole Bates is a book reviewer and author.

Her passions in life include books and hockey along with Victorian and Edwardian era photography and antique poison bottles. Natalie contributes her uncharacteristic love of hockey to being born in Russia.

She currently resides in the UK where she is working on her next book and adding to her collection of 19^th century post-mortem photos.

Visit Natalie online at www.natalienicolebates.com

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Obligatory New Year's post ;)

Happy New Year! So far, I seem only to be missing a resolution.

But we're in the third day. As of yet, I have no complaints, and the year is certainly looking more kindly upon me than last year.

New Year's Eve was spent with dozens of friends that filled the walls of my small-ish town house almost to bursting, but everybody seemed to have fun. We put the kiddly-winks up to bed at about 8.30pm, but I think we all knew they were still up closer to ten.

The night flew by with cheese and dips and more sugar than we could actually consume, and then somebody was suddenly running around yelling that it was only ten minutes till midnight.

Which was around the time we realised someone local had fireworks and was letting them off behind our back fence. While we oohed and ahhed about that, the time grew ever closer to midnight, and then there was the countdown, and then there was a lot of kissing. I was incredibly lucky this year. I got to spend New Year's Night with all but three of my very favourite people in the whole world.

New Year may not have brought around much in the way of resolutions for me (yet, but I reserve the right to make them, even as late as February!) but it has prompted a bit of a spring clean and adding of material to this humble little site. I now have three new tabs across the top bar, posting a little about me, the various places to get hold of me around the net and one of my up-coming projects.

I've also been reading and thoroughly consumed by the Puzzle Quest game (which is actually eating into quite a bit of my reading time...). The books I'm reading are The Secret Life of William Shakespeare, a historical fiction by a writer I'd never heard until I happened across the book in my local library. Jude Morgan also writes historical fictions based on the friendship between Byron, Mary Shelley and Percy Shelley, and also about the Bronte sisters that are now on my to-be-read list, and, of course, my other novel is an old favourite: Kushiel's Mercy from the series by Jacqueline Carey that I don't think I'll ever get sick of.

Lastly, I have a couple of chats coming up this month, on the 19th and 26th of January with Coffee Time Romance, where I'll get to talk about my novel Gothic and maybe a little bit about my upcoming novel Revelry, too. More information about those soon.