Eden Crowne is from San Francisco, California and in her other life she is an international journalist writing on technology, pop culture, emerging trends, and travel in Asia. She has learned a lot about survival. About coping in strange places. Being the outsider and never having that cloak of anonymity to throw on and hide behind. Those feelings of being on the outside looking in is something she brilliantly recreates in her characters. Wanting to belong and wanting to be left alone all jumbled together in a mix that never seems to make sense. Mythology and the supernatural fuel her interest in the fiction in what she writes and what likes to read. She tries to define her books in a mythological sense, each of them is a classic “Heroes Journey” for the main character.
Now some silly questions;
What is your
favourite sandwich? Drink?
I love chicken salad sanwiches!! Or roast beef au jus. My
favorite drink is double espresso over ice, many of my characters drink that.
Have to have my double espresso AT the coffee place in the morning. I always go
out for it, even if it's to get it to go!
Do you have a
favourite place to write?
Coffee shops. All over the world. That's where I go every
morning. Write for several hours till noon. Not every coffee shop. Certain
coffee places have good energy. The Starbuck's in Jiyugaoka, Tokyo. The
Excelsior cafe there as well. The St. Marc cafe in Meguro, Tokyo. The
Starbuck's in Canyon Del Rey, CA and the Coffe Bean and Tea Leaf in Los Feliz,
CA. Oh, the Sega Fredo in Roppongi Hills.
Who or What is your
personal favourite character/novel?
In my novels??? I would have said Julian Lake in Fear Club.
But now it's Quil St. James in my upcoming YA dystopian novel, Plagued. He
seems so, so real. And dangerous. And complex. My favorite novel of my own is
Deathgods, not released yet. Good things coming.
My favorite childhood book was Weirdstone of Brisingame by
Alan Garner and the sequel, Moon of Gomrath. I think he ifluenced me to bring
myth and magic into our modern world.
My favorite character is not literary at all, it's Dr. Who.
I grew up with Tom Baker as my doctor. The Time Lords were the basis of so many
stories in my head as I fell asleep. I love the reinvention as well and all the
new doctors, especially the tenth doctor, David Tennent. What a magnificient
creation.
If you had a theme
track, what would it be?
Britney Spears', “Work B$$ch”
If you were to write your “memoirs” who would play you and
key members of your life in the televised series?
OMG, so difficult. I am so wacky. Miley Cyrus in her Hannah
Montana character and before she went, well, you know... Or maybe Kat Dennings
from Two Broke Girls. I have a mouth on me.
And back to silly, if
you could have any supernatural power what would it be?
Healing power. Most definitely!
And so on to the review of Dust to Dust; witch you were here!
Ok, lets start with the
bad bits…. This book ended; I was devastated.
This book pretty much
as all the components of a fantastic series, add to that the exceptional
imagination and writing skills of Eden Crowne and you have that fantastic
story.
From witches, spider
witches (oh yes, these are super scary!), demons, vampires, faeries, zombies, demigoddesses
shaped like leopards, sprites, sirens, demon hounds, magic, elementals, dragons
(babies!), necormancers and Soul Eaters. Not forgetting the exceptionally hot sex,
desire and fulfillment scenes certainly had me blushing at times! You have
perfection.
With one paragraph I
was bounced back into the story and the supernatural world of Tamsin, who is still
trying to find the remaining pieces of her soul and the runes needed to bring
it together, each body she inhabits means she gains more magic, spells and
talents, which EC puts to great use with her amazing imagination.
In this
incarnation she is a Charmer, her ability allows her to literally smell of candy
floss, cookies and butterscotch and charm the pants off anyone. Also she has
horns, a sad fashion sense and gets followed by a lot of love struck dogs!
Drake makes a welcome
return as the sexy vampire/Prime, his position of outcast from the Fae realm gives
a whole new twist and story line to this book.
I was glad to see that
the super-sized demon hound that is Desmond, Dez to his friends, had also
returned. It was really great to have Dez playing a bigger, if somewhat mute
role. As Theo, the Sprite, and his Kitty return for the game the humour element
that makes these books so much fun was in place. This humour factor is well
needed in the terror and horror of the game that is occurring.
In the first few
chapters there is an awesome fight scene, there is so much magic being flung around I practically felt my own
hair sizzle, throw in the amazingly hot sexy bits and I was almost on fire.
As the scary plot twists
start showing up I was routed and clicking (yes I have ebooks, shoot me) page
turns faster than I wanted; from previous experience with this author I knew I
should make this book last, but it’s so well written that I just wanted to
gobble it up like a huge bar of Galaxy chocolate.
This pretty much
continues throughout the book, each new twist adding to the fun and mayhem, but
it never grows stale or samey as EC has such an expanse of themes, magical
elements, dimensions, characters and creatures to draw on.
Such in depth, perfect explanations
for all the magical elements and critters that come forth. With so many
characters, game players and fantasy elements going on it would be easy to get
lost in this world, but EC expertly guides you through keeping you focused on
the important bits.
What a spectacular
finale, of magic realms bursting through to human awareness and The Game draws
to a conclusion, which of course leaves the playing field wide open for many
more books.
Wonderful explanation
of Primes and The Game at the end, but was wondering if this should be at the beginning
for those idiots among us that pick up book 2 and wonder what’s going on!
I am always excited
when this author announces a new book, which she does and teases with at the
end of this one. Hurry up and write faster!
