Demon Storm, Book 4
YA Fantasy
Date Published: 09-13-2023
Publisher: Shadow Spark Publishing
More than night terrors keep Kari awake at night. Ari languishes beside her, broken by the horrors Raven bestowed upon him.
She hopes he heals, and soon.
When a familiar presence and an unexplainable human with magic happen upon their doorstep, Kari and Ari make a decision: leave Raziac Village in search of answers and a new home.
But the heart eater waits for them.
INTERVIEW
Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?
For Heart of the Storm, I want readers to consider their own hardships
and how they face them. Then, I want them to look beyond: how are they relying
on others in their lives? How are they using their support systems? In this
book, Kari faces her hardest challenge yet, and even does some unspeakable
things. Yet she has to go on, she has to lean on those who love her, and trust
that they do love her so she can overcome it.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
When I’m writing, I struggle with writing between-the-action
scenes. When my brother and I wrote Heart of the Storm together, it was so easy
to imagine and flesh out big scenes – Kari meeting Valeris, what they did
afterward, how Ari and new character Guine reacted. But between those moments?
Those are the trickiest ones.
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
I have written more than twelve books, eight of which make up the Demon
Storm series. It’s always difficult to say which is my favorite, because my
opinion and interest in character changes so frequently. Overall, I think book
2 (Storm & Shadow) will remain my absolute favorite. I love my main
villain, Raven’s, introduction, and I love her early banter with Kari.
If You had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?
This is always a tricky question, because I don’t imagine faces
and voices super well! If I had to choose someone for Kari, I usually default
to Jennifer Lawrence. She does that gritty acting style well, and her voice has
a bit of a rasp to it that I think is perfect for Kari.
When did you begin writing?
I started writing when I was 10. I wrote mostly fanfic type
stories, knock-offs of various games I was playing. My first “series” was
handwritten and stapled into books (I wish I still had them!) and were based in
a Kingdom Hearts-esque universe where three friends with magic swords had to
save the world from video game villains.
Shortly after that, I wrote Kari’s first story, which was influenced
heavily by Inuyasha!
How long did it take to complete your first book?
I wrote Kari’s first story, Birth of the Storm, when I was in that
10-11 age range. With youthfulness not making for good writing techniques, and
a long range where I stopped writing entirely, Birth took something like twenty
years to complete to publication. It was written to finish much before that,
but all the editing and rewrites that had to occur to make it good enough took
so much more time.
Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?
I have
been inspired by many writers, particularly J.K. Rowling (unfortunate, now; I
always planned to do better) and Edith Pattou. I loved Edith’s Hero’s Song and
Fire Arrow and wanted to write that same kind of simple yet beautiful fantasy
with characters people could adore.
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
My favorite part of writing is thinking about scenes and how they’ll
play out. Often I’ll be in my car listening to music and a scene will come to
me – that invigoration is inspiring and powerful! I love the passion it burns
in me and inspires me to keep writing and bettering my stories.
Describe your latest book in 4 words.
The heart-stealer is here.
Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the
future for your writing?
I am currently working on editing the final book of the Demon
Storm series, Fate of the Storm. It was written a year or two ago, but now it
needs some heavy rewrites and additions to match it up to all the changes that
have occurred over the rest of the series, as well as to add some girth to it –
currently the book is sitting at 59k out of my 80k minimum goal! I’m hoping I
can beef it up quite a bit.
Eventually, all my Demon Storm books will be published and out in the
world. I think 2025 is the year for Fate of the Storm. After that, I want to
work on the four prequel stories that will give some behind-the-scene info on
some characters who show up in Demon Storm, and also give more background to
the Catalyst and Velthas, the King of Demons!
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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