INTANGIBLE by DELSHEREE GLADDEN

I just love the cover of this book. Today PLP is 

introducing  Author DelSheree Gladden 

and her YA Fantasy novel, Intangible,

Book Two in the Aerling Series.

This tour is brought to us by

Turning the Pages, YA Book Tours.

We have a guest post today from our author titled, 

Blending Facts and Fiction…a good read for anyone 

interested in the behind the scenes of writing a series 

such as this. So enjoy your visit here with us today,

at PLP, and remember we love comments,

it lets us know you've been here.

BLURB: 

Mason is not imaginary.
He's not a ghost, either.
And he's most definitely not a hallucination.

Mason is an Aerling, and the Sentinels' number one target.

Separated to keep each other safe and alive until Mason's eighteenth birthday when Olivia is expected to guide him back to the world of the Aerlings, neither one was prepared to be stripped of their best friend, of the person they love most. The pain being away from each other causes is the least of their worries, though, as the Sentinels intensify their search for Mason and bring the threat of danger to a whole new level.

HERE'S BOOK ONE IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!

BLURB:

Olivia’s best friend is not imaginary. He’s not a ghost, either. And she’s pretty sure he’s not a hallucination. He’s just Mason.

He is, however, invisible.

When Olivia spotted the crying little boy on her front porch at five years old, she had no idea she was the only one who could see him. Twelve years later when new-girl Robin bumps into the both of them and introduces herself to Mason, they are both stunned.

Mason couldn’t be more pleased that someone else can see him. Olivia, on the other hand, isn’t jumping at the chance to welcome Robin into their circle. Jealousy may have something to do with
that, but honest fear that Robin’s presence will put Mason in danger is soon validated when a strange black car shows up outside Olivia’s house.

The race to find out what Robin knows in time to protect Mason from whatever threats are coming becomes Olivia’s only focus.

GUEST POST:

Blending Fact with Fiction – Guest Post from DelSheree Gladden (Intangible Blog Tour)

For anyone who has read my other books, they know how much I like using actual mythology and legends in my writing. Twin Souls delved into Native American mythology. Escaping Fate explored human sacrifice and the Aztec gods. Even though Wicked Hunger is largely invented mythology, it was influenced by well-known mythological beings. Intangible was no different. 

The Aerling Series focuses on Mason, an invisible boy who has no idea who or what he really is when readers first meet him in Invisible. By the time they pick up the story again in Intangible, Mason and Olivia are determined to uncover the truth about his past, and it leads them to a few interesting places. 

The Greek and Roman myths were my first stop. Most people know of Zeus and his lightning bolts, but since I don’t like to use mythology that is well known, I refined my search to those stories only dealing with air specifically. What I found were stories of the anemoi, wind gods who used their powers to control the weather, but they weren’t quite what I was looking for. 

I turned to the Egyptian gods Amun and Amunet, next, and I came closer to what I needed for this story when I learned about their connection with air and invisibility, but again, the stories didn’t give me a strong enough base to capture the beginnings of an entire world. 

When I stumbled upon the Māori story of Tāwhirimātea, a god who fought his brothers using his connection to air and weather, I was intrigued. At first, I only planned to use the Māori story as another clue for Mason and Olivia. When I dug a little deeper into the story and realized the battle between Tāwhirimātea and his brothers wasn’t the beginning of the story, I knew I had found what I needed. 

The Māori creation story had everything. Conflict deep enough that I could carry it through an entire series. Emotion that pushed the players to make choices they might not normally make. A desire for revenge that had the potential to be so consuming it could change an entire groups’ future. Now I just needed to make it my own. 

Blending real stories into fiction can be a challenge because you want to leave enough truth in the story for readers to believe it, but it also has to merge into a fictional story so it doesn’t read as a Wikipedia snippet. I kept the basic structure of the legend, but bent the smaller details just enough that it suited my purposes and allowed me to carry on the battle between the Māori brothers into an epic confrontation. 

For Intangible, this is what worked, but with some of my other stories, I’ve done the opposite; changing the core of the myth, but keeping the details. Every story is different. There is so much in history and mythology to draw inspiration from. Take as little or as much as you need to really develop the story you’re writing. They key to making it work is to blend fact with fiction in a way that your characters truly become part of the myth, not just a couple of kids doing research. 

What myths and legends have always interested you? 

About the Author

DelSheree Gladden lives in New Mexico with her husband and two children. The Southwest is a big influence in her writing because of its culture, beauty, and mythology. Local folk lore is strongly rooted in her writing, particularly ideas of prophecy, destiny, and talents born from natural abilities. When she is not writing, DelSheree is usually reading, painting, sewing, or working as a Dental Hygienist. Her works include Escaping Fate, Twin Souls Saga, The Destroyer Trilogy, and Invisible. Look for, Wicked Power, the next book in the Someone Wicked This Way Comes Series, and Soul Stone, book two in the Escaping Fate Series, coming 2014.

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