Hello! I am so excited to be on Fresh Fiction for Supernatural day! I love all things supernatural from creepy, bump-in-the-night things (hence SUMMONER, which is basically a ghost story and love story wrapped up together) to the pretty and fascinating things like unicorns and dragons and gryffins. (Gryffindor represent!)
One of the really cool things about the fantasy genre, I think, is seeing how different creatures have changed in folklore over time, or how they can be different in different works of fiction. I mean, how cool are the flying thestrals in Harry Potter than you can only see if you’ve witnessed a death? What a new take on a normal Pegasus-type of creature?
Those surprises and differences are something that I love as a reader and lover of all things geeky. When I settle down with my popcorn to watch a new show about vampires and learn that they can be in the sun, or the sun does in fact burn them, or they can have magical daylight rings that allow them to walk in the daytime (oh my gosh, early seasons of The Vampire Diaries, anyone? Can I just geek out about that show for a moment!?), I start to love that different fantasy worlds can bend or break or make new rules. And I love it. Because it gives me something new to immerse myself into as I get to know a new world. A new setting.
That surprise within the familiar is something I look forward to in a new story. I have to admit, out of all the creepy supernatural beings, ghosts were never at the top pf my list of things to write about. I mean, I love a good werewolf story and vampires are fun, too. But ghosts are spine tingly in a whole different way. Just the idea of them being connected to the spiritual realm and death. The idea that they are souls with a past. Maybe even a past they miss. A connection to the afterlife.
I’m a very spiritual person, so some of that hit really close to home for me, and it wasn’t necessarily a topic I considered delving into . . . until I did. Because fiction is full of layers. That’s what we connect to, right? I mean, I don’t connect to a werewolf breathing down my neck and chasing me through a dark forest—because it’s never happened to me. But I *do* connect to fear. I connect to the feeling of being lured in by something evil and scary and then regretting that I walked down that path. I swear, sometimes the things that happen in stories full of fantasy and sci-fi ground me more than those based on real life things. Maybe that’s why I’m a proud geek.
I want my stories to have re-readability, and when I started looking into writing about ghosts, and I started to see a story that was about people being haunted not only physically (by a crazy, vengeful ghost—yasssssss!) but also emotionally, I got really excited. This theme of forgiveness and redemption started to blossom out of my plans for this book. And I found it—even in the middle of blood and fear and guilt and creepy hauntings—beautiful. And relatable.
And of course, I fell in love with the world and the idea and the characters and just had to write Allie and Cody’s story.
As an enjoyer of books and movies and amazing stories, it’s that connection to the character that I love most. And, yeah, at first glance, maybe the supernatural elements seem too farfetched to connect to, but that’s because it was only a first glance. And stories weren’t meant for glances. They were meant as something to immerse yourself into. So I think I’m gonna go find an awesome supernatural story and do just that.
SUMMONER by S.D. Grimm
When Allie’s best friend dares their group to play a game in a cemetery—something she calls Dzwitchingdz—Allie never expects what it might mean for her. When she plays, she doesn’t just find bodies, she summons their souls. But one soul wants more than Allie is willing to give.
And the boy next door could be the key to saving her.
Cody Burkhart. Straight from Montana, cowboy hat wearing, and smoking hot, he’s just the thing to help Allie become Dznormaldz again after the death of her mother. And as her newly appointed Guardian, he’s also just the thing to help Allie ward off the vengeful spirit who’s after her soul. Except Cody has his own demons to slay that keep him closed off. But as the full moon approaches, so does their only chance to break the curse, and Cody will have to make the biggest sacrifice of all.
Young Adult Paranormal [Entangled Teen, On Sale: September 4, 2017, Trade Size / e-Book, ISBN: 9781974576883 / ]
Buy SUMMONER: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Ripped Bodice | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About S.D. Grimm
S. D. Grimm’s first love in writing is young adult fantasy and science fiction. That’s to be expected from someone who looks up to heroes like Captain America and Wonder Woman, has been sorted into Gryffindor, and isn’t much taller than a hobbit. Her patronus is a Red Voltron Lion, her spirit animal is Toothless, and her lightsaber is blue. She believes that with a little faith, a lot of love, and an untamed imagination, every adventure is possible. That’s why she writes. Her office is anywhere she can curl up with her laptop and at least one large-sized dog.
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