Today we welcome Cecilia Robert, author of Homecoming the first book of the intriguing and creative genre crossing Cloaked Devices series. I’ve asked Cecilia to share with us the background of her story and about the blend of genres it represents. So without further ado…
Homecoming is set in Anndesia, a fictional world populated by both shifters and humans. Long before WWII, shifters lived amongst humans on earth–but still had their own world they could returned to. Then during the war, human scientists working with some politicians, invented bacteria to ‘scare’ the population, try to sway them. Unfortunately, it turned into a plague. Luckily, the shifters brought the surviving humans to Anndesia through a portal and healed them by mixing their blood and injecting them with it. And there emerged humans with different powers.
I’m a huge fan of novels that feature shifters in paranormal romance, which was also a motivation to write about them. The customs in Anndesia, for example the mating ceremony, are something that I came up with. In our world, we have weddings to celebrate a man and woman’s reunion. I wanted something similar yet different. Also, I didn’t want to follow the usual ‘fight or kill to acquire the Alpha title’ route. In Anndesia, the current Alpha has the right to choose the next clan leader, and no one will oppose him– in the case of the duke Czedar choosing his reluctant daughter and training her to take over from him. In other shifter races in Anndesia, some Alphas nominate who they think would make a great leader for their clan and toss them in a ring to fight. Whoever wins becomes the leader. Some of these practises are featured in later instalments of the Cloaked Devices series.
Then we have Varselles. I had so much fun ‘building’ this city. It’s so lively and dangerous and fascinating a place anyone can hide and never be found. When creating a fictional world, I usually look at the world around me and decide what I can add to make a story more lively. I love carnivals, and that’s how the carnival scene came about. Imagine tossing in something like a carnival in a city teeming with Outcasts, people who don’t live by any rules!
The steam punk angle: I’ve been intrigued by the steam punk world for a while now and always wanted to write in this genre. Homecoming isn’t heavy on steam punk. Anndesia is still a developing world, readying itself for this era and integrating it with the powers some of the humans possess. The fantasy part of the story where the humans have elemental powers was partly inspired by the Nickelodeon television series Avatar: The Last Air bender. The first time I watched this on TV, I ordered the DVDs immediately on Amazon so I could watch them anytime, study how the creators of this show weaved in the story together with the world they created. The world building is spectacular and so are the characters.
The full-length novel will concentrate more on the Cloaked Devices journals, and the inner workings of this society (as well as follow our couple Levian and Sera as they get accustomed to each other and their environment after what happened in Homecoming).
Thank you so much for hosting me, Sophia Rose. 🙂
You’re very welcome, Celilia! Thank you for stopping by to visit us at The Delighted Reader.
Shari
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I’m adoring the cover…very sexxy. Besides that I’m loving shifter reads right about now and with this one having the steampunk elements to it…you can’t go wrong with that 🙂
Nope and this one takes place on another planet full of shifters who brought the humans to their world to rescue them before earth was destroyed so its Sci-Fi a bit too. I think this cover has pop too.