Wednesday 13 July 2016

Author’s Inspiration ~ Charissa Dufour @CharissaDufour


Ancient Greek Gods and Vampires?
Today I welcome author, Charissa Dufour, on to the blog to talk about her inspirations behind her fabulous series.


*This is a finished series* 

Struggling vampire romance novelist Ashley Hawn was living her dream. By day she worked as a clerk at a local grocery store, and by night she immersed herself in the imaginary world of sexy vampires, shirtless men, and endless parties. Between work, her writing, and her best friends- Chloe and Jordan- life was good. She was even dating a mysterious and sexy man (or so she thought) by the name of Isaac. Then in a flash, her whole world changed and she discovered herself turned. 

Quickly she finds that life as a vampire is less sexy shirtless men, endless parties, and is more running for her life as she tries to dodge the attacks of every mythological creature in the area.

Author Inspiration
While my Series that Just Plain Sucks has everything from vampires to dragons, perhaps my favorite mythological creatures are the faeries. I created them based off of the ancient Greek gods and characters. I skipped over the big dogs like Zeus and Aphrodite. Instead, I used lesser known characters such as Periphetes, Hephaestus, and Mnemosyne.
As I built my own characters within my series, I borrowed from the old stories. For example, the Periphetes of old was a club-wielding cyclops who robbed travelers and the son of Hephaestus. In my stories, Periphetes was a mysterious cat-bugler, with a fae-made eyepatch that would make him invisible to the human eye. He was still the son of Hephaestus, but they were estranged.
Hephaestus is perhaps the most well-known Greek character to feature in the series, though he is only “on screen” briefly. In the Greek stories, Hephaestus is the god of blacksmiths, craftsman, artisans, etc., and a son of Zeus and Hera, thereby a prince in the Greek hierarchy, but scorned by his mother for his limp and rejected from Olympus.
Like in the old stories, Hephaestus was once banished from the fae courts, though during the time of the books, he has found peace with the winter Queen. His reunion with the courts causes his son a great deal of doubt and conflict. To know more, you’ll have to read the books.
Perhaps one of the most difficult to set to modern fiction was Mnemosyne who came with her own circus. In the mythology, Mnemosyne came from the pairing of Uranus and Gaia, making her a Titaness. After sleeping with Zeus nine nights in a row—talk about stamina—she gave birth to nine Muses: Calliope (Epic Poetry), Clio (History), Euterpe (Music), Erato (Lyric Poetry), Melpomene (Tragedy), Polyhymnia (Hymns), Terpischore (Dance), Thalia (Comedy), Urania (astronomy). Translating these nine muses into mystical creatures was perhaps one of the hardest difficulties of my career to date. They ended up being a minotaur, Cerberus, a gryphon, a sphynx, a cyclops, Pegasus, harpies, a chimera, and a typhon respectively.
This is just a small sample of the characters that were born from the rich history of Greek mythology. To enjoy more of their antics, check out Sucked In, book one of the Series That Just Plain Sucks, available at these fine retailers.
 


Where can I buy this fabulous book?

About the author


My journey to become a writer began in 8th grade, when I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and pulled from school to recover. During this time, I was left alone for hours on end and it was then that I discovered new friends within the pages of books. I also learned the blessing of creating my own friends by writing down the stories that plagued my lonely mind—as demented as that sounds. Therefore at the ripe age of fourteen, I wrote my first novel. It sucked! But I kept going and now I am an Indie Author with numerous books out. I never imagined that first horrible novel about a man who crash landed on his long-lost home world would turn into a lifelong passion.
I now live in Chicago, IL with my amazing husband and two rambunctious cats, Groot and Rocket. 

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See you on your next coffee break!
Take Care,
Mary Anne xxx