An Oro-what?

There are many kinds of characters in my books, so to make it a little easier to tell them apart, I've decided to break them all down into a basic list.  The characters listed below all make their way into the first book.  The only beings not listed are the gods.  I'm saving them for a list of their own, which I'm sure I'll need by the end of the series.  So, here they are!


Dark angels:  The Dark Angels of Sark are central to the story.  They each hold unique abilities that they   use to help humanity fight the darkness of The Shadow.

Light angels:  Light angels are creatures that bring light into the world, but they are more vulnerable than dark angels, and can often be led astray.

Orostiro:  These are children of the god Saigolai.  They are high ranking Dark Angels.

Werewolves:  These are both human and wolf.  They were given their abilities by the god Khanhine.  The reason the powers were given is still disputed.

Nephilim:  The nephilim are creatures who were never meant to exist.  They can only be born when an Orostiro mates with a human.  Since such unions are forbidden, nephilim are accidents, and often exiled.  They are naturally good with weapons and fighting.  They are tall and slender, often thought by humans to be half-giants.

Humans:  In Sark, there are three different tribes of humans, and then there are the townsfolk.  The tribes are the Astrids, Wards, and Quinlans.  The hunters are townsfolk, but they often make do for themselves in the wilderness, except in the extreme cold of the winter when they find residence in The Howling Wolf Tavern.

Elves:  Elves reside between the worlds of Sark and Shea.  They are the only ones who are allowed to pass through doorways.  Even the gods must have elves present to shift between worlds.  There are different races of elves known to exist throughout Shea.  They were the first soldiers created by Saigolai to defend the light and innocence of Shea.

Trolls:  Trolls are large creatures made of rock and stone.  They have wiry hair and they adorn themselves with permanent paintings and they carve ceremonial symbols into their skin (which doesn't hurt, since their skin is like rock).  There are two types of trolls, mountain trolls and forest trolls.  Forest trolls are brightly colored, Mountain Trolls are often black and Grey.

Fairies:  Fairies cannot always be seen with the naked eye.  They are spirits that waver in and out of the physical and spiritual worlds.  They can be as small or as large as they choose to, and their main concern is seeing that nature continuously flourishes in Shea.

Gnomes:  Gnomes are forest creatures that often live in holes near patches of mushrooms.

Pselbdes:  Pselbdes are from the futuristic land of Tahln.  They traveled to Shea accidentally, and are on a quest to stop Shekley and the Mahldrusecs from spreading the darkness that has devoured their homeland.  Pselbdes are psychic beings.  Each possess a unique ability.

Mahldrusecs:  These are creatures created by Shekley and the Shadow.  They are made to be soldiers, a mixture of human, and machine.  Once they have been changed, they are controlled by the Shadow, and are powerless to stop their own actions, even if they want to.

This is the basic list of character types for the Angels and Shadows series.  If I find that others become central to the story, I will add them at that time.  I hope this helps break things down for you, and that you'll continue to check my blog for more updates on this series.  

            

incident in an elevator (blogging challenge)

I have joined a blogging challenge, and I hope that it helps make this blog more entertaining for you, my readers.  Today's challenge is to make an elevator pitch.  So imagine that we are in an elevator (in the city of Trost if it helps your imagination), and you're asking what my blog is about.  I would reply:

K. L. Stewart's Dark Angels is a blog about the characters, worlds, and inspirations behind the Angels and Shadows series that I am writing.  If my book was a movie, this blog would be the special features included in the DVD package.  Through it, I hope to entertain, connect, and interact with my readers.

"Unfortunately, this is my floor...thanks for listening."  The floor number is highlighted and the doors open. You notice an edge of flaming red hair start to slide out of the black hair, but I'm gone before you can do a double take to verify what you think you just saw.  It's the beginning of another strange day in the city of Trost.

Light Angels

Light angels are rare.  They must be bred of two dark angels, and from that union comes creatures of rare gifts.  Angelik, daughter to Victor and Celeste, is one of these creatures.  She weilds the power of innocence, which when used right can be very useful to the inhabitants of Sark.  She begins the tale in Shea, where she was born.  She must journey to her true home of Sark, discover her gifts, and begin learning what it means to be an angel of light. 
It almost seems natural for an angel of innocence to be born in Shea.  After all, Shea is the land of innocence.  Perhaps if she was born in Sark her gifts would have been different, and she would maybe have been the angel of purity, the angel of kindness, or the angel of hope. 
She was born in Shea, and that may very well have a great impact on the rest of her life...we'll see what the future books hold!

For now, I want to share some of the many thoughts on her gifts.  First of all, she absorbed winter when she came into Sark.  This will come into play later in the books.  For now though, the idea is that innocence is in a way ignorant.  She knows nothing.  She is like a blank sheet of paper, waiting to be written on.  There is nothing until the story is created by others.  This is what makes her the most vulnerable, and that is why Slatkin tries to protect her from the hunters.  Who knows what would happen if the hunters were to capture her...

There are lights that give comfort and help us see...then there are lights that blind us, and burn us!

To read more, keep checking this blog, and get your copy of "Angels and Shadows" available at http://www.reimannbooks.com/, amazon.com, and The Book Exchange on Western Blvd. in Jacksonville, NC.

Dark Angels

Imagine what it would be like to feel the suffering of others, and still have to manage and live your own life.  What would you do?  How would you cope?  Would you see this as a curse, or would you turn this into something good, and try to end the suffering of the world?

That is, in essence, what it is to be a dark angel.  Each one is born a mortal, then they get chosen to be reborn as a dark angel, and their job is to defend and help those who cannot help themselves...those who are in dark places.

Each one must either rise to face the challenge, or be punished...vanquished to a place of nothingness...the void.

Each one posseses unique powers, given to them by the god Saigolai, the god of life.  Victor is the dark angel of Justice.  In the first book, his need to save his wife is driven by his love of her, but also by his quest for Saigolai.  He must see that Kristiniva is held accountable for her crimes against not only the angels, but the people of Sark.  She has not only captured a queen, she has captured and with held love from these people, who need it now more than ever.  Sark has become over run with evil souls, and there is no love to counter the darkness. 
Celeste, the dark angel of love, is on a quest to get home.  She is lost to her people, and she knows that they need her, but is powerless to get back to Sark.  In this way, love and justice work hand in hand in the book.  Their relationship is like scales, balancing.  I did not want to make either Celeste or Victor to seem weak, because both are powerful beings.  Each depends upon the other, though.  Celeste can not give her love to the people without Victor's gift.  Likewise, Victor cannot rule the people of Sark Justly without the reception of Celeste's love. 
Then there is Alexandria, a dark angel who stands independently.  She is the angel of Vengeance.  She hunts down evil souls, and repays them.  An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a death for a death, a pain for a pain.  She is also skilled in spell casting (though this is a learned trade, rather than a gift).  Before coming to Sark she was a knight of Chimrion, highly skilled in combative arts.  Though she is tough, and independent, she is like the other dark angels, vulnerable at times, especially when she is not in control, and has not been given power to overtake her opponents.  The power ultimately comes from Saigolai, not the angels themselves.  It is a gift given to them, but at times, it is taken.  Always with a reason.

To read more about the Dark Angels, order the book  Angels and Shadows.  It is available at http://www.reimannbooks.com/!

My Rampant Imaginings (How the Dark Angels Came to Me)

When I first started writing this book it was supposed to take a weekend, and it was an idea that I got when I was 12 or 13.  The original idea was simple.  I was going to take all the things that entertained me, and put them into a short story.  I would have vampires, werewolves, angels, fairies, and all kinds of mythological creatures, and I would have them fight each other.  This, I thought, would entertain me through an otherwise very boring weekend.  As the short story progressed, I knew that it would not be a short story for very long.  It quickly morphed into a book, so by my eighth grade year of school I was writing a book, and all the other children thought I was weird and crazy.  By this time, I had discovered who my villains were, and an obsession had started.  All my spare time was put into this.  All of my free time in class was devoted to writing, any free time after homework was devoted to putting a pen to paper, and freeing the daydreams that wove their way through my thoughts, harassing me whenever I tried to ignore them. 

By the time I was in high school, it had expanded into a trilogy.  My villain was a little more developed, and I had all kinds of creatures coming to life inside my head, and complicated plots that I imagined over and over.  Maybe I am strange after all, because while other teenagers were discussing who broke up with who, and what so and so was wearing, I was living in a fabulous world of imagination.  No one else got it, but I didn't expect them to.  I just kep writing and believing that one day, I would finish it, and it would be a book that other people would read and enjoy. 

In college, I didn't write as much, and my series took a backstage to all the other things filling up my life.  Life happened.  The tale was progressing in my head, but not on paper.  It was there though, biding its time, and the characters were patiently waiting to be shared with others.  Finally, in 2007, I got married, and became a stay at home writer.  The first book in the series came together, and finally in 2010 it was released.  There are many more books forming in my mind, and I can't wait to share them all with my readers.  The Dark Angel series is expected to be about 7-12 books.  My hope is that others will read them and that the stories that have been developing in my imagination for over half of my life will be read and enjoyed by many.  You can find the books, and order them at http://www.reimannbooks.com/.  Enjoy!

The Land of Tahln

Tahln is a land much like our own.  I imagine it to be like a dark version of our own world.  Our world with psychic beings known as selbdes.  It was once a rich thriving land, where people carried on much like they do in our modern world.  However, it is now a useless desert, with ruins of cities scattered over ashen fields.  It is war torn, and the humans are all but extinct.  It is now a world where resources have been used up either by consumption, pollution, or in some cases, blasted into ash by the weapons of war.  Shekley's city, Trost,  is the only remaining place where anything thrives.  It is a city made of metal, black and towering on the horizon.  It is filled with his workers, or his creations, the mahldrusecs.  The world of Tahln is only briefly in the first book, but it's importance to the series continues throughout all the other books.  Shekley's city, Trost, and the history of Tahln is what the selbdes, and ultimately, the dark angels, are trying to put a stop to.  Shekley must not be allowed to repeat the history of Tahln in Sark and Shea.

new material.

I've been working on the second book of the Dark Angel Wars, and there is a lot coming.  Expect some new characters as well as plenty of the old.  We'll be seeing more of the Mahldrusecs and Selbdes...and advancements in the plot lines still hanging from the first book.  We'll get to meet the Astrids, who were mentioned in the first book, but never introduced.  I don't want to give too much away because it is still very early in my writing process, so things could change at any moment.  I hope to hear from anyone who has read the first book.  Feel free to leave me comments and questions about anything in the series, and keep checking the blog for updates, and background information.  Thank you all for your support, and keep reading!