"Bedtime reading for the brave." - The Times (London)
"Mostert has taken a blend of alchemy, the art of memory, mysticism and high magic a nd created a pageturner." - Time Out
As regular
Vampire Wire readers know, the main goal of this blog is to spread international peace and understanding. With vampires and werewolves and things that go what-the-heck-was-that? in the night. No, international peace and spooky things are not mutually exclusive.
So I'm delighted to extend a
Vampire Wire welcome across the continents to
Natasha Mostert, the author of supernatural suspenses, including the newly released
Keeper of Light and Dust. Natasha, a native of South Africa, now lives in London, and her other novels include
Season of the Witch and
The Midnight Side.
She weaves folklore, magic, science, and modern crime into complex and much praised stories.
Publishers Weekly said
Season of the Witch is a "spellbinding tale of magic and seduction," and
Booklist said "Mostert renders suspense, an atmosphere fraught with eroticism, and compelling characters."
Natasha will be giving away a copy of The Keeper of Light and Dust! To enter the contest, just leave a comment saying what aspect of her book interests you most: eternal life, mummies, martial arts, really hawt scientists, whatever. The winner will be selected at random and the contests ends Saturday night.
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MARTA: Hi, Natasha, and congratulations on your upcoming release, Keeper of Light and Dust. Would you please tell Vampire Readers a little about your next book?NATASHA: Thanks, Marta, I’d love to.
Keeper of Light and Dust is a book about the strongest desire of all: to live forever!
My story opens in the famous catacombs of Palermo, where Adrian Ashton, a brilliant scientist, is a young man at the beginning of his journey. As he stands surrounded by eight thousand mummies, he takes a decision that will take him into the heart of darkness. Calling himself Dragonfly he decides to prey on fighters and martial artists who are blessed with strong chi,(the vital energy that flows through our bodies.) By draining them of their life force, he manages to make it his own.
But the hunter becomes the hunted when my heroine enters his life. Her name is Mia Lockhart and she is a fascinating woman. A martial artist herself, she belongs to a long line of Keepers: women who are warriors, healers and protectors. When Dragonfly targets the man she loves, the stage is set for a violent confrontation.
However, Mia is conflicted: she is strongly attracted to Ashton, which blunts her skills and puts both herself and her beloved at risk. It becomes a fight to the death in which love is both the greatest weakness and the greatest prize.
MARTA: How did you construct your fictional world? Did you draw upon ancient Chinese vampire myths?NATASHA: I did not draw upon ancient Chinese vampire myths, but I did draw on ancient Chinese philosophy. I decided to create a vampire for the 21st century: a man not interested in blood, but interested in energy!
I’ve always wanted to write a book about the concept of chi – the mysterious life force that flows through our bodies and which forms the basis of traditional Chinese medicine. In Keeper of Light and Dust, I created a villain who has devoted his life to the study of chi and who has found a way to feed off the vital energy of his victims. I had great fun adding a modern twist to the archetypal vampire concept.
The other source of inspiration came from legend. I have long been fascinated by the many myths and legends of battle-scarred men who are protected – or cursed – by beautiful, powerful women. And so I created the concept of the Keeper: women who, through the ages, have been healers and protectors of men who are engaged in hand-to-hand combat. I thought it was quite a sexy concept: a fragile woman protecting a strong, tough fighter. Such a set-up also offered good possibilities for physical and mental conflict.
MARTA: You also wrote Season of the Witch, a moody, sensual gothic with an occult plot. What are some themes that appear in your most recent books?NATASHA: All my books have a touch of gothic to them – even
Keeper of Light and Dust. I like my narrative to have that wingbrush of darkness to it. My characters are always larger than life and they grapple with big obsessions: life, death, the power of the human mind to transcend and transform reality. I like to torture my characters and make them suffer greatly – I believe that makes for more interesting stories!
Season of the Witch is a thriller about techgnosis and the Ancient Art of Memory: it just won the
Book to Talk About: World Book Day Award 2009. The book that preceded
Season of the Witch, is
Windwalker, a dark love story of fratricide, redemption, ghost photography and soul mates searching for each other.
MARTA: Would you tell us how you integrate science and scientific theory in your stories?
NATASHA: Science is magic! Science is not dry, dusty and boring. There is so much fantastic scientific research that can be used to create imaginative stories. However, I take care to keep the science in my books very accessible and subtle. My aim is not to educate, my aim is to entertain.
What usually happens is that I will read something that will kick my imagination into over gear. This is what happened before I wrote
Keeper of Light and Dust. I happened to read, quite by chance, a book that introduced me to the concept of biophoton (light) emissions inside the body. The concept took my breath away. Imagine: we all of us have light shining inside our bodies. I never knew this. How wonderful, and what a great idea for a story. Maybe this light is chi, and maybe it is possible to capture the light and gain eternal life…Wouldn’t it be a great obsession for my villain to have?
My books always contain a mystical or supernatural element, but I take great care to embed my story in reality. After reading my books I’d like the reader to wonder: maybe telephone calls from the dead are possible …maybe there is something like ghost photography…or a secret code in music that holds the universe together…or a way in which to capture vital energy and gain eternal life…
MARTA: Do you think your own experience of living in very different cultures influences your writing?NATASHA: I’ve never really thought about it, but it must be true. I grew up in Africa and this is an environment where magic fits in seamlessly with everyday life. If you walk around downtown Johannesburg, you will find muti or medicine shops, which stock everything from monkey skulls to herbs to divining bones. These shops are not curio shops – they are as familiar to South Africans as Walgreens is in the US. Many witch doctors are skilled herbalists and healers.
My nanny was a Zulu woman who was a
twasa – a witchdoctor in training. She made me aware of synchronicities and things that are not easily explained. I always think she is responsible for my believing there is luminosity hiding behind the dusty curtain of everyday living.
MARTA: Why do you choose to write about the supernatural? What does the genre offer an author?NATASHA: As I mentioned above, my interest in the supernatural goes all the way back to childhood. My nanny taught me there is magic lurking in the shadow of the mundane.
It is a wonderful genre for an author because it lends itself so well to lush, descriptive and imaginative stories. In my books, my characters are exceptional people with exceptional skills. This makes their lives very interesting indeed.
Of course, supernatural can very easily tip over into schlock. Just as it lends itself to highly original stories, the paranormal genre can also be a storehouse for purple and overwrought tales. The writer of the supernatural treads a fine line.
MARTA: Quick, name a few non-literary things that influence your fiction.
NATASHA: Chocolate, good South African red wine and kickboxing.
MARTA: Where can readers find out more about you and your novels? NATASHA: Please visit my
website. I should mention that to coincide with the publication of
Keeper of Light and Dust, I will have a game running on my website, which is in the form of a fun personality quiz. Discover if your profile type is a Healer, a Warrior or a Thief! Readers can win gift vouchers from online book stores, signed copies of my book and pink or black boxing gloves. I also have a discussion board on my website and would love to hear from you.
You can also contact me on
MySpace.
Thanks, Marta. This was a fun interview.
MARTA: Thanks, Natasha, for your wonderful answers to my questions. ***********************
If you'd like to enter the contest for a copy of Keeper of Light and Dust, be sure to leave a comment!
