Demon Storm Book Three
YA Fantasy
Date Published: 04-13-2023
Publisher: Shadow Spark Publishing
Evil never really dies. It rises, again and again.
Now—Kari knows it’s rising inside her.
After barely defeating wicked Shadow Witch Raven, the wolf-demon knows her turmoil is far from over when her vanquished foe invades her dreams. And a new power stirs within her: thanks to Raven’s cunning, Kari’s potential as the Catalyst has awoken. A conduit for a terrifying, world-cracking force—one that could open at any moment.
Kari has resisted this new temptation thus far. But Raven again forces her hand, unleashing a demonic abomination to draw her prey out—a deadlier foe than any Kari has faced before. If she taps into this dark new power, she could become strong enough to defend the people she cares about. But the Catalyst has bloodthirsty designs of its own…
If she submits, what new horrors will be inflicted on the world Kari’s come to love?
Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?
I think a common message I go for in all of my
books is something like “even if the darkness is all around you, find your
light.” This rings particularly in The Storm Darkens, where Kari is giving
multiple chances and even reasons to reach toward the “darkness,” i.e., leaning
on her inner rage to solve her problems.
As someone who
grew up with a lot of anxiety, which sometimes manifested as violence, I want others
to see that there is peace and calm, the storm isn’t always dark;
sometimes you just have to look a little harder.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
I always struggle with rewrites/edits. Perhaps it’s
because my series is so long, but sometimes the worst part is jumping from one
book to another and struggling to get the tone and consistencies nailed down. Sometimes
I will be writing a later book and have to go back and search an older one to
make sure I’d laid enough threads to make future events make sense!
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
I’ve written more than twelve books! Eight are
for the Demon Storm series, four are for the prequel series, and there are
various shorts I’ve written. My favorite bounces quite often depending on my
mood. Generally, it sticks around Storm & Shadow (book 2), Heart of the
Storm (book 4, soon to come!), and Value of Life, which will be the second
prequel story. These three have some of the best villains in all of my writing,
so I often flit back to them when I just want to read those characters.
Without
Raven, Valeris, and Jact, I wouldn’t be having even half as much fun as I do!
If You had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?
Oh, this is tricky. One of my favorite actresses is Jennifer
Lawrence, and I LOVE how she was as Katniss in Hunger Games, though I don’t
know that she would be interested in doing an anime-style story! If she was,
though, I think she’d be my go-to. I love her voice, her acting, and imagining
her playing Kari could be so cool.
When did you begin writing?
I started writing when I was ten (about twenty
years ago now). It started as silly video game fanfics before I watched
Inuyasha and really wanted to make my own version of the anime. When Kari was
created, my whole life changed! It took me something like ten years to get back
into writing for her seriously and finding my own path (Indie publishing), but
now we’re here, on her third book!
She’s
a solid embodiment of me, and we’ve come so far together.
How long did it take to complete your first book?
Oh, so long. I finished my first draft of Birth
of the Storm when I was around 10-12 years old. Though there was a brief spell
in which I didn’t do much writing at all, when I did return to Birth of the
Storm and start fixing it up, I was around my early 20s. It took several more
years after that of editing, beta readers, to be able to call Birth of the
Storm “complete.” It officially published on 6/13/2022, roughly 19 years after
I wrote the first draft.
Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?
I read a lot of Harry Potter, Magic Circle, Percy Jackson, and Songs
of Eirren in my youth, and in some way or another, ALL of these authors inspired
me. I wanted to write a long series like Harry Potter (but with less plot holes
if I could), I wanted my characters to be as loved and the story to be as
dramatic and tricky as Percy Jackson, and I wanted bits of that calm, quiet
vibe interspersed with action that Songs of Eirren inspired in me. The Magic
Circle books really fueled my love for close connections and “family not by
blood” that tracks a lot in my stories.
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
My favorite part of writing is just the
writing. Even when rewrites drive me nuts, I love when I can create a new scene
and go back and enjoy it. Particularly I love seeing how much growth Kari and I
have had together, how much more she is willing to lean on her close ones, and
how much better I have gotten in fleshing out those pesky side characters she
loves so much (including her beloved Ari, blast him).
Describe your latest book in 4 words.
Evil never really dies.
Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the
future for your writing?
Right now, I am doing some major rewrites
on book 7 of the Demon Storm series (currently titled Shadow, Storm, &
Souls). Once upon a time, there was a whole “damsel in distress, kidnapped!”
vibe that just doesn’t work for ANY of us (me, Kari, Ari, or anyone else). Now
the first entire half of the book needs to be written fresh from the ground up.
It’s giving me a hard time, but it’s also a lot of fun to make such a huge (and
lighter/happier) change right before the series finale!
About the Author
Valerie Storm was raised in Tucson, Arizona. Growing up, she fell in love with everything fantasy. When she wasn’t playing video games, she was writing. By age ten, she began to write her own stories as a way to escape reality. When these stories became a full-length series, she considered the path to sharing with other children & children-at/heart looking for a place to call home.
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