Guest post from Natasha Larry, author of ‘Darwin’s Children’

About Natasha

Natasha Larry resides in Huntsville, Alabama with her daughter and fiancé. She graduated from Tusculum College with a B.A. in History and is currently working on getting her certificate in education. Apart from writing, she is a self-proclaimed comic book nerd and urban fantasy junkie. Her poetry and short fiction has appeared in publications such as Writing Edge magazine and Escaping Elsewhere. Darwin’s Children is her first work of novel length fiction.

For more information please visit http://www.natashalarry.com

Guest Post

One of the questions writers are most often asked is, “Where does your inspiration come from?” Everyone wants to know why writers write what we write.

For me, the answer is completely dorky. I started the Darwin’s Children series because of my total obsession with comic books, my desire to create my own super heroes and (maybe) even have characters at comic-con one day. A girl can dream, can’t she?

My love of comic books began with the X-men; more specifically, with The Dark Phoenix Saga. I fell in love with the character of Jean Grey and dove into the Marvel Universe with an enthusiasm that was quite scary. My second love was Wolverine, whom I believe to be one of the most unique comic book heroes ever written.

Since then, I’ve become more of a DC chick because of Batman. Before I knew any better, I thought Batman was just some man in tights that liked to see little boys in tights. Thank God those days are over. Now, I have a thing for Frank Miller’s Batman and I sort of want to marry Bruce Wayne.

I started brainstorming the Darwin’s Children series two years ago and, at first, it wasn’t looking so hot. It started as an adult series, but I couldn’t make the character’s work. Then, it evolved into a teen series after a daydream that eventually became the prologue of the first novel and it is still going strong.

At first, I didn’t want to publish it. The reason for this is, ironically, because I’m a comic book nerd. I hold a great deal of respect for the incredible writing and art in all my favorite comic books, and was afraid that all I had done was rip off the X-men. This was not something I was comfortable with… at all.

I decided to publish this series because I believe that while yes, there are some similarities to popular comic book lore, Darwin’s Children is unique enough in plot, characterization, and explanation of super hero abilities that I don’t think people will compare it to the X-men or popular shows like Heroes.

I put a lot of thought into many things, such as John Gramm’s Amygdala Pulse theory, and I believe I managed to respect the comic book world by not totally ripping anyone off, and by providing a realistic explanation based in science. I hope readers enjoy this new, and according to one of my reviewers “wholly unique” paranormal series.

About Darwin’s Children

Life can get pretty complicated for any seventeen-year-old girl, but for a home-schooled telepathic black girl trying to survive in a prestigious private school in small-town Jonesborough, Tennessee, it can be maddening – especially when her telepathic father keeps eavesdropping on her thoughts!

Jaycie Lerner’s family isn’t the usual mom-dad-kid setup. Jaycie’s mom’s MIA, but Allison, her personal live-in ‘trainer,’ is more than a mom, with her own special abilities, like being able to lift cars and run incredibly fast. And Jaycie’s godfather John is more than persuasive – he can literally convince anyone to do anything.

As far as the rest of the world’s concerned, Jaycie’s on the outside looking in. The townsfolk love Jaycie’s pediatrician father, but she doesn’t fit in with ‘normal’ kids, and she doesn’t really want to. Most of her free time is spent training to keep her telekinetic and telepathic powers under control. But there’s one thing she can’t control – and that’s her feelings, especially when her best friend Matt is nearby. If only he knew what she was truly capable of…

Everything seems to be status quo for Jaycie until she receives a cryptic message from a stranger and meets a very unusual girl new to Jonesborough. Then all hell breaks loose!