2024 COVERS

2024 covers

Welcome to the Dark Side!

We are writers mainly from Australia and New Zealand who write speculative fiction with romantic elements. Be it fantasy, paranormal, dark urban fantasy, futuristic and everything in between.

Saturday 13 November 2010

Darklight On...Jenny Schwartz: Djinn Whisperer

I'm thrilled to be a Darksider. Speculative fiction is fun. It is a world where anything is possible. Our deepest fears are given form. Our wildest dreams explored.

I write a paranormal romance series for Carina Press. It features angels and sexy djinn, mixing the romantic traditions of Arabia with modern day tensions--and in the second novella, Angel Thief, adding an Australian setting.

I adore storytelling, whether on television, in a book or by a five year old explaining the forbidden chocolate on her fingers. People have an amazing gift for sharing the wonder of life and their experiences through stories.

When Eleni invited me to write this introductory post I thought I'd share my fascination with Australia's unique cryptozoology -- yowies, bunyips, Queensland tigers. The rest of the world has no idea what's lurking in our countryside, waiting to burst onto the paranormal scene. However, I decided it would give people the wrong idea of my personality if my introduction included a chat about bunyips. I'm shy rather than scary and you'll never find me chewing on a stranger's leg at midnight -- no innuendo intended ;)

All that said, I did want to leave you with a rare photo of an Australian Outback monster. Unfortunately, the monster in question was more interested in eating his Aussie hat than in posing properly. In the two second window of opportunity before he snacked on the hat, I snapped this photo -- and don't believe Toby's look of long-suffering. I have photographic evidence of the devilry he was planning!


Angel Thief releases from Carina Press on 29 November.

You can find me blogging at Acquiring Magic, on Twitter and on Facebook (please "friend" me).

8 comments:

  1. LOL Jenny, love the pic. I also like to torture my dog into human-like poses. One of my best was of her reclining on the couch with a pair of sunglasses on.
    Good luck with your upcoming release!

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  2. Sunglasses and dogs go together -- I love the photos of staffies wearing shades. Such cool dudes :) Thanks for the good wishes! and back at you for "Sanctuary". Lots of happy reading for everyone :)

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  3. Hi Jenny :)
    Thank you for the fun post. The dog is adorable!
    I just "Friended" you on Facebook.
    And I already Follow you on Twitter.
    I'm looking forward to your release on the 29th!
    Love & Best Wishes to you & yours,
    Rob

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  4. Hi Jenny,
    I love the title and the book cover of Angel Thief, lovely!!!
    And I'm fascinated by the paranormal creatures us Aussies seem to have in abundance! Not sure I'd actually like to see a Yowie though!!

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  5. Aaaaa Jenny - that picture scared me. A truly frightening beast...no, you don't believe me? I thought not. Toby is soooo cute. I could never get my dog even 1 microsecond with a hat on his head. LOL.

    Congrats on your upcoming release Jenny.

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  6. Love Toby. So cute. Best wishes for your second book with Carina.
    (I'm currently negotiating with some bunyips to appear in Allegra 4. They drive a hard bargain.)

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  7. Hi Jenny. The first short story I wrote with intent to write a short story (er, we won't say how not-short it was) had bunyips as the main characters.

    Australia has some very interesting animals both of the paranormal and normal kind (though how we call a platypus normal the world finds odd).

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  8. Hi everyone! I had a computer-free Sunday (I know, it's enough to get me kicked out of the seriously committed writers circle), I'm only jsut reading your comments, and they're making me smile. Thank you for banishing Monday-itis.

    Rob, thanks for the good wishes and FB "friend" -- Tweeples are wonderful people :)

    Mel, I have my Yowie strategy planned: Run!!!

    LOL Eleni. And Toby sends his thanks, too. He's always wanted to be considered big, bad and scary. Unfortunately, he fails on everything but "big". Even posties aren't scared of him. If he's out the front when they arrive, they give him the mail and he carries it in.

    Oooh, bunyips in Allegra 4. That sounds awesome, Janni. I've heard you can bribe them with rotted prawn heads. Not nice, I know, but if you're desperate ...

    Nicky--another bunyip fan! You have a point about platypus though. Non-Aussies think of kangaroos and koalas, but we have an abundance of weird critters. Personally, I'm willing to give up some of the reptiles. I hate snakes. *shudder*

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