Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Guest Post: Katherine Harbour + The Night And Nothing Series


I'm so pleased today to welcome author Katherine Harbour back to the blog to talk a little bit more about her Night and Nothing series. I'm a huge fan of all things fairytale or mythology related, so I was thrilled when Katherine was more than willing to tackle that topic and give us all a few goosebumps by discussing things with teeth. Take it away Katherine!

There’s something almost supernatural about teeth. Teeth remain after we die. Teeth are alive although they appear lifeless. Teeth in mammals contributed to the success of human evolution. (In Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, teeth are used to resurrect an entire race of beings.) Children’s teeth, lost naturally, were once given to Norse warriors as amulets and believed to bring good fortune in battle. In some cultures, children’s teeth were destroyed or hidden as a preventative against their being used for malevolent purposes.

For most children, losing a tooth is an unpleasant experience—a piece of them is falling off, there’s blood. But it’s a rite of passage, a first step toward adolescence. In J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, Peter is described as “a lovely boy, clad in skeleton leaves and the juices of trees, but the most entrancing thing about him was that he had all of his first teeth. When he saw she was a grown-up, he gnashed the little pearls at her.” On the other hand, the title character in Graham Joyce’s The Tooth Fairy is a disturbing presence who ushers the protagonist into adulthood.

And what does the Tooth Fairy do with all of those teeth she collects? The Tooth Fairy goes rogue in Gregory Maguire’s children’s book What-the-Dickens. In Zenoscope’s graphic novel series Grimm Fairy Tales, the tooth fairy is a sexy dentist by day and a bloodthirsty monster at night. The sinister aspect of this childhood icon, established in the twentieth century, has been the source of horror films such as Darkness Falls, in which the tooth fairy becomes a vengeful entity, and The Haunting of Helena, where she’s portrayed as a terrifying spirit with a bloody history. In Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy movies, the tooth fairies are as vicious as swarming piranhas.

Teeth become terrifying when in the mouths of monsters, alluring (to some) between the lips of (attractive) vampires. In my dark fantasy novels Thorn Jack and Briar Queen, the supernatural Fatas use human teeth as currency, as weapons, but, to the protean Fatas, who can sometimes shift into monstrous shapes and who are really the formless children of nothing and night, we are the things with teeth.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by Katherine! And I just want to add that the movie Darkness Falls traumatized me. It said it was rated PG-13 and I was all "I'm an adult, I've got this, how bad could it be?" and then I nearly died of terror. Just saying ;-)

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THORN JACK


Finn Sullivan has lost her older sister to suicide. Fleeing the memories left in San Francisco, she and her father move to an upstate New York town filled with socialities, hippies, movie and Theatre folk, where every corner holds possibilities and mysteries. As she settles in and begins college at the local university, HallowHeart, she discovers her sisters journal, filled with ominous musings on otherworldly beings.  She also meets the devastatingly handsome Jack Fata—and the rest of the enigmatic Fata family. 

As Finn’s fascination with Jack and his family deepens—and theirs for her does the same—she learns that they and the rest of the town denizens are far more than they seem, both for good and evil. Her sister’s journal suddenly seems much more menacing and realistic than she could ever have imagined.

Soon Finn learns that attention from the Fatas brings dangerous consequences. To free herself and save her friends and her love, Finn must confront the Fatas and unravel the secrets surrounding her sister’s death.

• • • • • • • • • • • 

BRIAR QUEEN


Serafina Sullivan and her father left San Francisco to escape the painful memory of her older sister Lily Rose's suicide. But soon after she arrived in bohemian Fair Hollow, New York, Finn discovered a terrifying secret connected to Lily Rose. The placid surface of this picture-perfect town concealed an eerie supernatural world--and at its center, the wealthy, beautiful, and terrifying Fata family.

Though the striking and mysterious Jack Fata tried to push Finn away to protect her, their attraction was too powerful to resist. To save him, Finn--a girl named for the angels and a brave Irish prince--banished a cabal of malevolent enemies to shadows, freeing him from their diabolical grip.

Now, the rhythm of life in Fair Hollow is beginning to feel a little closer to ordinary. But Finn knows better than to be lulled by this comfortable sense of normalcy. It's just the calm before the storm. For soon, a chance encounter outside the magical Brambleberry Books will lead her down a rabbit hole, into a fairy world of secrets and legacies . . . straight towards the shocking truth about her sister's death.

Lush and gorgeously written, featuring star-crossed lovers and the collision of the magical and the mundane, Briar Queen will appeal to the fans of Cassandra Clare's bestselling Mortal Instruments series and Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely.

• • • • • • • • • • •

KATHERINE HARBOUR


Born in upstate New York, Katherine Harbour is now a bookseller in Sarasota, Florida living with a tempestuous black cat named Pooka and too many books. She has been writing since she was 15 and has had several short stories published. THORN JACK is her first novel.

17 comments:

  1. Those books sound so intriguing!

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  2. Wow, I never thought that much about teeth

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  3. That certainly freaked me out a little! Teeth are fascinating, but so creepy.
    This was a great guest post, Jenny. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. I AM INTRIGUED. I just finished Daughter of Smoke and Bone last month, so the issue of teeth used in various ways is still fresh in my mind. Totally adding these books to my TBR. :D

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  5. I so love the sound of this series!! I have Thorn Jack already on my shelf just waiting for me to pick-up (soon hopefully) and I thrilled there's more in Briar Queen. And the teeth - eeek!

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  6. I loved Thorn Jack and I am looking forward to reading Briar Queen. It was delightfully creepy. I do remember you watching Darkness Falls!! :) I am not so sure about the teeth thing! Eek

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  7. I never gave so much thought to teeth and their significance! Excellent post! I too watched Darkness Falls, several years back and it was definitely creepy!

    Btw, Jenny thanks to your comment on my review I corrected a mistake in my review! It was 80-85% before we got to the truth. That's what happens when you finish a review late at night *sigh*. Thank you! :)

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  8. Didn't either your mother or mother in law review the first book? I remember it and I swear I have it in my TBR. Loved all this teeth stuff.... I worked in a dental office for years :)

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  9. Oh gosh a monster for a tooth fairy is a bit terrifying! I love the concept though, definitely intriguing! I think I need to pick up the first book for sure Jenny!
    Wonderful thought invoking guest post!

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  10. The tooth fairy as a monster is a myth that has always scared me :) Irrational, I know, but... Lovely post.

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  11. Anything that has to do with teeth freaks me out a bit. I don't know why, lol but this was a great guest post Jenny :)

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  12. Oh you have me so curious. I'm a wimp when it comes to horror, but I seem to be able to read it (YA anyway) and be okay. LOL Oh and teeth are so visceral. Will have to check these out!

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  13. I would have to agree, teeth have quite their own history themselves. In fact, when I started reading this guest post all I could think of was vampire teeth for some reason, because that is just what pops into my mind when I think teeth. Great guest post, and I love the covers to her books!

    Check out my recent post: http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2015/06/simplistic-nail-art-designs.html

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  14. Now I will be dreaming of teeth..lol Thanks for introducing me to these novels and author.

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  15. Thorn Jack and Briar Queen are two of the best books that I have read in a long while. I am so very attached to the characters. I know she is writing more Night and Nothing stories, but I am not sure if we get more from these characters. All tat I can say is WE BETTER because that ending HURT! Love these books so very much! Katherine Harbour is incredibly talented!

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  16. What an amazing guest post! So intriguing how teeth can have so many meanings and how the Tooth Fairy can be changed and twisted around into something terrifying without all that much effort!

    I really need to give this series a try soon, it sounds so fascinating!!

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