With three years of experience directing musical theater under Isabelle’s belt, the world has invariably become her stage. It’s a strange, twisted little place, though it never lacks interesting characters. Granted, not everyone lives the Tony award winning musical that’s in her head. In an alternate life, Isabelle may have been an Art History major, or perhaps even a museum curator.Living on the New England coastline, her favorite time of day is midnight, with a Vanilla Creme in her hands and the glowing light of the computer screen shining in the darkness. That’s when the world is quiet, except for the occasional sound of rain falling on the skylight of her loft apartment.
MMC: Do you remember the first paranormal romance you ever read?
Isabelle: *dreamy sigh* Absolutely, it’s been permanently embedded in my mind. The book was Beyond Forever by Debra Dier, about a ghost who needs the heroine's help in saving his son and preventing his own premature death. It was my mother's—one of those books with a 'typical romance cover': man and woman in a tight embrace, his shirt ripped open, her boobs hanging out of her dress. I didn't expect much going into it so you can imagine my pleasant surprise at finding a time travel romance so achingly beautiful, I've actually reread it close to five times.
MMC: When did you first become interested in writing paranormal romances?
Isabelle: Fantasy, science fiction and paranormal have always been staples in my choices for entertainment. The books I read, the shows I watch, the stories I write. My very first novel was high fantasy. And almost everything I've written since has been touched by some form of the fantastic or paranormal. I'm just much more interested in the way those genres complicate the lives of ordinary people. And even though my first contracted books are considered contemporary because of the time frame (1950s), anyone who has read them can see they have more of a historical flare, giving them that magical, far off feel. I have no idea what it is. I've been forever ruined for modern contemporary romances.
MMC: Who influenced you the most in your writing?
Isabelle: Karen Marie Moning has been a huge influence on me. I read The Dark Highlander and fell head over heels in love with the dark, brooding, and tortured paranormal hero. And in her recent Fever series, I love that the stakes are so high that the fate of the very world rests on the shoulders of the heroine. It makes for some seriously obsessive reading.
MMC: When and where do you get your best writing done?
Isabelle: Late at night! I'm a total night owl. For about two years, I could not write a single word until the clock struck midnight. I used to call it my magic hour. ;)
Then, I started working early shifts at my job, having to open shop at 7am. Getting to bed at three or four in the morning stopped looking so appealing. I learned to get my 'creative' time under control. I still write best at night, but now I can at least start at 8pm or so.
MMC: How much time do you dedicate to research for your stories?
Isabelle: I do an insane amount of research for nearly every story I write. I have files full of what others may consider useless information that I have either used or plan to use in the near future. A lot of it is based on mythology, the use of plants and herbs in oils, potions, poisons, serums, ancient religions, foreign customs, even some of the most current findings in physics and time travel. Because you never know when your characters might need to build a time machine. Ha ha.
MMC: Can you tell us a little about your latest book, Surfacing?
Isabelle: Surfacing—it's so difficult to explain how Surfacing was born. Believe it or not, its first incarnation was in fanfiction. It was an unconventional story in terms of the characters, mostly because I expelled more personal demons than anyone has the right to on paper. Really major changes were happening in my life that I didn't know how to deal with and my only release at the time was writing.
I tortured the characters mercilessly and got seriously flamed for it. But—in the end, I realized that I'd touched something in the people whose poor fan hearts I'd broken. I'd stirred emotions that ran pretty deep which told me that maybe there was something more to the story than I anticipated.A few years later I was struck by a vivid scene of a teenage girl and a boy with silver eyes giving her a journal. When she opened it and I peeked at what was inside, it sparked an entirely new backstory/mythology that I realized fit the mold of what Surfacing once was at its core—the story of a woman willing to toss off a life of comfort and security for a chance to live the dream, the fairytale, an epic soul-shattering romance. But at what cost? In the end, will the sacrifices made be worth it? And so, Surfacing, as it now exists, was born. :)
MMC: How much of your life becomes incorporated in your novels?
Isabelle: I think there's a little bit of me in every story I write. Whether it's corny little isms that I add to a story that my closest friends pick up on or serious emotional baggage that I mold to fit my character's specific situation. I think you have to be able to truly live and breathe and feel what your characters are experiencing in some way to make it believable to your readers. Granted, its fiction, but if it can make you, the author, cry or laugh, then likely, it'll have the same effect on your readers.
MMC: Do you have any favorite past-times or hobbies when you're not busy writing?
Isabelle: Karaoke! *blushes* I'm such a karaoke dork, it's actually kind of embarrassing. I've entered 3 contests, won one, and placed rather well in the others. I go all out—costumes, crazy hair, glitter makeup and I rock out to the likes of Pat Benatar or Pink. My family usually makes an event of it and they all come to drink and cheer. It's an insanely good time.
MMC: Do you have any advice for our readers who aspire to become published authors?
Isabelle: READ. I can't possibly stress that enough. There is so much about writing that I learned through reading. I analyzed books the way students analyze text books. What about this works? What doesn't? Why am I drawn to it? Is it the characters? The plot?
Learn your strengths and weakness by writing every day (or at least as often as possible depending on your circumstances). The truth is, the more you do it, the more comfortable you'll become and there's nothing more spectacular than the moment you find your 'voice' and you're telling YOUR story with YOUR characters. Granted there's always more to learn, but...
MMC: Do you have a newsletter, blog, or website where fans can read about you and your books?
Isabelle: My home on the web is Twisted Fairytale
http://twistedfairytale.net
There you can find information on all of my current releases, upcoming projects, and even some bonus materials like playlists and deleted scenes.
I also try to post regularly on my blog:
http://twistedfairytale.net/blog
Topics range depending on the day and the mood, but it's a fun way to communicate with authors and readers from all around the US and even overseas! I've met some great people blog-hopping so I'm pretty fond of it. Come on by, I'd love it if you stopped on in. :)
Surfacing
by Isabelle Santiago
Paige Jacobs lives the perfect life with her fiancé, Ryan, but the memory--or fantasy--of a gorgeous boy with silver eyes consumes her. Her sister Aimee, the only one who knows the dangerous secrets of her past, refuses to talk about them.
Feeling very much alone and obsessing over the haunting memories, Paige decides to write a book in hope of finally dispelling the precious memories so she can move on. Every chapter she writes brings her closer to the boy she'd loved so much in her youth. Then one morning in a coffee shop, she encounters a man with silver eyes.
Has she crossed the line between reality and fantasy?
For more information about Ms. Santiago's book, check out her publisher's page.
~Contest Time~
How would you like to win a copy of Surfacing?
Leave a comment now and you'll be entered to win a copy of Ms. Santiago's book!
Leave a comment now and you'll be entered to win a copy of Ms. Santiago's book!
