Photo from National Bookstore Facebook page
“I THINK that magical realism is kind of the grandparent of paranormal romance,” said best-selling author Lauren Kate during her visit to Manila recently. “The way that things happen in (Gabriel Garcia) Marquez’s books, without explanation, is just something extraordinary. I think it’s a very gutsy way of writing and I really admire that.”
Lauren also revealed that critically acclaimed novels “The Great Gatsby” (F. Scott Fitzgerald) and “One Hundred Years of Solitude” (Marquez) are two of the books that she found the most inspiration in writing “Fallen.”
Lauren’s books explore the paranormal romance genre but instead of vampires, she opted to have angels and demons as main characters. “Passion” is the latest installment in her “Fallen” series. The cover may give something about what’s in store for the readers: there is a glimpse of Luce’s (protagonist) face.
“This is the book where Luce begins to see a lot more of her identity so in some ways it makes sense to show more about her,” Lauren said.
In the earlier book (“Torment”), Luce wanted to know more about her past life because something about it hinders her happiness with Daniel.
As the title suggests, the book is teeming with passion and love between Luce and Daniel. And Lauren is also excited of the revelations in the book. “It’s going to be a big moment for her and I’m so proud of how she handled that.”
In effect, Lauren is the god of all these characters having created them with her imagination but still “they surprise me with each new book,” she said. She confessed how she struggled with Luce in the beginning but Lauren also grew with her protagonist.
But how does she keep her characters interesting? “The writer has to care about and believe in them,” she explained. “It’s not that hard because (for me) they come alive so when they surprise me, I know they are interesting.”
And has Luce surprised her in this book? “At this point, they (characters) are writing themselves and their (Luce and Daniel) relationship is really inspiring for me.”
“Passion” is more like a “prequel” as the story goes back thousands of years spanning different countries. It tells of Luce’s “reincarnations” through time and how those lives affect her destiny.
The “Fallen” series was borne out of curiosity with a single verse in the Bible. She related that during her graduate studies in Creative Writing, they were required to read the Bible as a narrative. One part on the Book of Genesis, specifically about angels being attracted to women, piqued her interest. As a writer, Lauren saw that the plot of angels giving up their immortality for human love would make for an interesting read. And her judgment didn’t fail her as proof of the audience’s response to her books.
This early, Lauren is excited about the last of the series, “Rapture.”
“If ‘Passion’ is the most romantic, ‘Rapture’ is the greatest adventure,” Lauren said. “There are more at stake; the most will be revealed and it’s going to be interesting the way the characters will come together in this book. There’s a real unity even among the angels and demons in a refreshing new way.”
“Fallen” ranked No. 3 in The New York Times Bestseller’s List just a few months after its release. The success of “Fallen” spilled over to the second book, “Torment,” as it debuted in No. 1 on the same list.
It was her second visit to Manila following a successful book launch at National Bookstore in November last year.
“Passion” is available at National Bookstore and published by Random House Inc.
Published in Philippine Daily Inquirer, July 29, 2011
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