Interview With Shirin Dubbin

Dreams Dark Kiss is an amazing, unique novella that made me laugh, but at the same time made me think of experience in my life and how they shaped me. There are parts of this story that are dark and gritty; not for the faint of heart, but there is also romance and humor. It almost has a feel of a horror tale, but with the action and magic of an urban fantasy. The romance is what made me smile the most, and the quirky characters, whom I loved.

As soon as I finished reading Dreams Dark Kiss I emailed Shirin begging for an interview so I could pick her brain. She graciously agreed to answer my questions, which are below.

Brenda: I have to ask you first how and why you decided on A Hawaiian hero? I loved Keoni, especially his sense of humor and the banter between him and Ciaran. I think he might be the first Hawaiian hero I've run across in a book.

Shirin: Oh, I luv Keoni too. All the credit for his sense of humor and sexiness goes to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. =dreamy sigh= I’ve been hoping he’d do a romantic comedy for years. With nothing like that on the horizon I had to write my own version of him. The Hawaiian part (The Rock is of Samoan descent) came about when I envisioned Keoni as a surfer and knew he had to be from famous surfing waters.

Brenda: Mmm...I love Dwayne Johnson and yes, I did use this interview as an excuse to put a picture of him here for us. Dreams' Dark Kiss is such a unique story; a little bit horror, urban fantasy and some very steamy romance too. Did you have a certain genre in mind when you wrote the story, or did the words just flow that way?

Shirin: A few people have mentioned horror elements in Dreams’ Dark Kiss, which is hilarious because I am an absolute wuss when it comes to scary stuff. If you tried to touch me with the DVD for a horror movie I’d run screaming. =giggle=

Perhaps those dark moments came out of my desire to build real nightmares for my h/h to overcome (or maybe I’m as obliviously dark and twisty as my friends suggest). I’m not sure, but I did set out to straddle the line between urban fantasy and paranormal romance. Since then one of my favorite writers, Ilona Andrews, created the term romantic urban fantasy and I’ve adopted it for myself.

Brenda: Ilona is one of my favorite writers too:) There were some very cool side characters in Dreams' Dark Kiss, will you be writing any more stories in this world?

Shirin: I’m glad you liked the bachelor squad! Who’s your favorite?

Brenda: I loved them all, but I was pretty fascinated with Archer. Bossy, but damn, he sounds hot.

Shirin: Ah, a Lords of the Dreaming series? I’ve been meditating on a story for Jay but it hasn’t fully materialized yet. In the meantime, I’m writing an urban fantasy set in the same universe as Dreams’ Dark Kiss. It deals with the souls who slip through the psychopomp’s (soul conductors) fingers and remain in the waking world. Somebody has to clean up the mess and that’s when psychomancers (soul charmers) come to play. It’s a cool story. Think Supernatural meets Dreams’ Dark Kiss with hints of Ghost Busters. LOL. Or… Nah, that’s pretty much it.

Brenda: You're really an eclectic writer; graphic novels, screen plays, urban fantasy and you're a graphic designer too! Dang. Is there one of these you enjoy more than the others? I know for me, I write nonfiction to pay some of the bills, but love writing fiction. Will we be seeing more fiction from you?

Shirin: I’m addicted to storytelling and each of those is a form of it. Graphic Design tells stories in fonts and shapes, screenplays in moving images and sound, and so on. I’m happy when I’ve got a tale to tell so I adore them all. And I have news, my urban fantasy retelling of Goldilocks, CHAOS TRYST, is set to release from Carina Press in the fall. It’s romping action—featuring a chaos-magic Goldilocks and a Russian shape shifting bear.

What genres of fiction do you like writing best?

Brenda: I love paranormal romance and urban fantasy, and I can't imagine now having some type of magic or power in the stories I write. Plus, it's just so cool. Oooh, a shapeshifting bear. I'm so there...

I see from your website that you are a comic and graphic novel fan and writer. What movie made from a graphic novel are you looking forward to this year and why?

Shirin: I’m behind on which books are being adapted…but I can share my dream project. I’d luv to see HBO take on 100 Bullets by Eduardo Risso and Brian Azzarello. 100B is a grippingly original take on crime drama and HBO knows what to do with a series. Ooh, or a film version of Scalped by Jason Aaron, also because of it’s singularity (I think I just drooled a little bit.) ^_~

Brenda: It's okay to drool, I do it a lot:) Thanks for chatting with me.

FINDING SHIRIN & DREAMS DARK KISS
About the book:
Dreams' Dark Kiss
Author: Shirin Dubbin
Publisher: Carina Press
Released: 12/20/2010
Available for the Kindle

They’ll come for her tonight…
The ankou. A legion of nightmares, fugitive from the Dreaming, have set their sights on Ciaran Letang. She is the key to their darkest purpose. But Ciaran has been used before, and she won’t let it happen again.

Keoni Maka patrols the dreamscape, keeping humankind safe. When he senses Ciaran’s distress, he offers to fight by her side—forever. She accepts, but she has vowed not to let a man invade her heart, not even this man.

Read an excerpt here: http://fan-fatale.com/2010/12/dreams-dark-kiss/

You can find Shirin here: http://fan-fatale.com/

~Brenda