Under The Influence

As I kick off the Weaver Saga blog tour, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss what some of my influences for the Saga were and weren't. Since launching the first book in the series, Weaver, last August, I've had several people compare it to James Patterson's Maximum Ride series. While I'm deeply flattered to be compared to an author of Mr. Patterson's prestige, the fact is that any resemblances you see are purely coincidental. As of this writing, I have never read the Maximum Ride series -- though I certainly intend to now.

The initial inspiration for The Weaver Saga was a real person -- specifically, an old college friend of mine. One of the many remarkable things about her was that every night, she had incredibly vivid, detailed zombie dreams. When she awoke, she took great pleasure in regaling us with the story of the previous night's adventure -- I believe she once said that it was like getting to see a free zombie movie, every night. One day, as I was waxing nostalgic about those good old days, I thought -- what if there were someone like that whose dreams came true the next day?

Thus began The Weaver Saga.

Of course, the idea of psychics and superpowered children is hardly a new one, but I like to think I've added some unique touches to my tale. In fact, I would say that, when writing The Void (Weaver Saga, Book 2, which launches May 12!), my biggest influence was The Godfather, Part II. This may seem strange, for a book with two female protagonists and which is, in some ways, designed to appeal to female readers (though there's plenty here to keep male readers interested, as well), but it's true.

At its core, the story of The Godfather is a family story, and so is The Weaver Saga. The Xorda and the visions and the chases and the soul-sucking are window dressing -- the meat of the story is about the Cronlord and McBain families, and also about the impromptu family that Alex, James, and Moira form. But more specifically, The Godfather, Part II is a generational story, tracking the parallel movement of a father and son as they are confronted with similar choices. I don't want to say too much to avoid spoiling the novel, but The Void follows a similar narrative arc: two of the novel's central characters are confronted with parallel sets of circumstances, and the audience gets to see the choices those characters make -- and the effects those choices have on the characters.

And the Wells Society is kind of like a mafia, too, I suppose. (Maybe I should write that horse's-head trick into one of the remaining books. I can totally see Ainsling doing it.)




Remember that Weaver, the first book in The Weaver Saga, is now free everywhere but Amazon, which hasn't gotten the hint to price match yet. I'm hoping they will soon.

Also, I'm holding a giveaway for two free advance copies of The Void. The giveaway is open until the stroke of midnight tomorrow night. To enter, just leave a comment on this blog entry. I'll pick the winners at random and they should receive their copies on May 9th. Be sure to enter for a chance to be among the first to read this exciting new book!


Launch day is May 12! Soon you, too, can learn the identity of The Stitch-Faced Man!