I am very pleased to be welcoming Rachel Vincent again to the blog. Rachel visited BCC last October for my All Hallows Eve event and it’s great to have her back! Rachel is the author of the very successful ‘Shifters’ series about a pride of werecats as well as the young adult series ‘Soul Screamers’ which she is here to talk about today. The first book in the series, ‘My Soul To Take‘, is released here in the UK this month by Mira Ink.
I also have a fantastic international giveaway of ‘My Soul To Take‘, so don’t forget to enter at the end of Rachel’s post!
So, without further ado, please welcome Rachel…
I did a lot of research into what I could find of the original Irish bean sidhe lore, and similar Scottish and Manx folklore, and I used most of what I found in the books, in one way or another. Kaylee’s last name, Cavanaugh, for example, comes from the Kavanaugh family, one of the five great families whose deaths are said to be mourned by the bean sidhe in Ireland.
Honestly, though, I wound up with more questions than answers after reading the folklore. But in fiction, that’s a good thing. Unanswered questions are an opportunity for me to make things up and expand upon what I found. Which is where most of the worldbuilding in the Soul Screamers series comes from.
I made up answers for why bean sidhe wail, what their wail is actually doing, why there’s no male of the species (in my world, there is!), how they inherit their abilities, and how being saddled with abilities like Kaylee’s can shape a girl’s adolescence.
Why do I think bean sidhes are cooler than other creatures, like vampires? Well, I don’t know that I think any one creature is cooler than any other. (Except for reapers. I think my reapers are pretty cool.) But for me, the advantage bean sidhes have over your typical vampires and werewolves is they’re largely unknown. You go into a vampire book knowing what to expect. Biting. Drinking blood. Lots of night-dates. And probably an older (waaaay older) man. But most people go into the Soul Screamers books not knowing what to expect. And in case you’re one of those, here’s a hint:
Mysterious deaths. Scary abilities. Kissing. Evil soul-stealing hellions. Sarcastic reapers. Kissing. Netherworld addictive substances. Lies and secrets. Kissing. Insanity. Things crawling through the shadows. And did I mention the kissing? ;)
GIVEAWAY!
[Now Closed]
I have FIVE (5) shiny new UK copies of ‘My Soul To Take‘ to give away to FIVE (5) lucky winners courtesy of Mira Ink!
All you have to do to enter is the following:
1. Read Book Chick City’s giveaway policy
2. Fill out this form
3. Leave a comment for Rachel
4. Only one entry per person
This giveaway is for UK Residents and ends Sat 15th Jan!
GOOD LUCK!
31 Comments
Wow, I've never heard of the bean sidhe before. Sounds really interesting!
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Great interview !!!!
kat
kittee_cat@bigpond.com
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I love the Shifters series so looking forward to reading some more of Rachel's work.
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I have never read a Rachel Vincent book but I would like to start!
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I would love to start this series. New Year, new characters. Love the cover!
Thanks!
mrsderaps @ hotmail . com
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Rachel Vincent has been on my list of want to read authors for some time – thanks for this comp.
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Fabulous! I have yet to get to Rachel Vincent's books, but I adore fae and similar themed fantasy series. For the reason Rachel said. It's different. More perception flexibility. Great interview.
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Finally a post that convinced me to buy Rachel's books!:D Since I am International, usually it's not that easy for me to get books, so I'm a little selective with my fiction books. But I eyed Rachel's series for a while and now I'll add her to my wishlist for sure! Thanks for the great interview!
Xo.
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Im not in UK and Im not entering but I love Rachel Vincent and absolutely loved her soul screamers books! Great guest author spot.
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nice post!
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I loved the Shifters books, so I am so very curious about these YA books.
Cool UK cover btw
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Something other than vampires makes a nice change, and a creature of folklore I've never heard of so it'll be interesting to find out about it!
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Rachel… Loving the cover and I'm looking forward to the 'Soul Screamers' series
I've never heard of a bean sidhe before, but I'm looking forward to your take on it/them!
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Love the shifter series and have been desperate to get hold of a copy this series. So happy it's out in the UK at last!
Curious to know if it's in the same world as Faythe and the prides…?
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Great to see Rachel entering the YA market. Can't wait to read it.
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Heard so many great reviews about this series, I would love to get my hands on a copy. This sounds like a really interesting and new idea for a series- plus the cover looks great!
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Ohhh, sounds like a really good idea for YA. Hope it goes well Rachel.
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Congratulations on getting such wonderful cover art! It's beautiful, and such a nice font! I'm looking forward to reading something a little bit different, seems like the bean sidhe's might be it!
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My favourite bean sidhe (or banshee if you prefer) is Brother Ixolite from Terry Pratchetts Discworld books. I love the idea of a banshee who is so self conscious they write notes instead of screaming.
I love finding books that have creatures/beings in that are not well known. Like C.E. Murphys Shaman in her Urban Shaman series.
I'm looking forward to reading these books to see how the author integrates the bean sidhe myth into the story.
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The shifted series is one of my all time favourite series, I am gutted it has ended:'( and so would love to read Rachel's other works. The Soul Screamers series sounds really intriguing and the cover is to die for…seriously proud that its the UK cover:) Great interview!
holz_twilight@msn.com
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Soul Screamers sounds fantastic!
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I totally loved the Shifters series and hate that it is over. Come on Rach say you'll do any arc with some of the other characters or the thunderbirds. Pleeese!
This series was onje of only about 6 that I had on my auto buy list, I never worried that I'd be disappointed in the stories.
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The cover is absolutely brilliant and the book sounds great. I''m glad that we now have Mira Ink in the UK, it looks like we will get some really good titles from them.
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It's always great to see a new twist on a successful theme – and that cover is amazing! Good luck with the book!
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i love reading about more books i can potentially fall in love with! adding to my wish list!
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I'm such a huge fan of Rachel Vincent so I'm really looking forward to reading this series.
I also found sidhe folklore very interesting, so I bet the research for this book was fascinating
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I love celtic folklore (I'm from the Isle of Man!) and so I am definitely looking forward to seeing how Rachel works that in. I've never actually read one of her books but I am going to start with this one!
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I'm really enjoying the Shifter series, I'm on Shift (book 5) at the moment so it's not going to be long before I've finished the series. Can't wait to read this book!
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I just finished Alpha which was amaaaaazing! I can't wait to read more of Rachel's work…they're brilliant reads!
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I haven't tried the Soul Screamers books yet, just the first 2 (and a half) of the Shifters books.
I love how more books are looking at fantasy creatures other than vampires and werewolves. I loves vamps & weres, but it is good to read something different occasionally.
I will definitely be going to put the first Soul Screamers book to my 'to buy' list!
~Ailsa
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Still haven't tried the series
I love the US covers, but the UK cover is just WOW 
I don't know which one to get 
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