Kim Gravell

Kim Gravell

The Demon’s Call is a paranormal adventure set in present day mid-Wales. Beyond the boundaries of our own Mortal World lies the Unseen Realm - a supernatural domain inhabited by entities that prey on humans. Mankind knows them as demons and when the barrier between the two worlds is weakened they can manifest, wreaking chaos and destruction.

Aidan Morgan doesn’t believe in the supernatural but, following his best friend’s suicide, he begins to question the truth behind the ancient folklore. Convinced that something compelled John to take his own life - and afraid that he will be the next victim - Aidan knows of only one person he can turn to for help, but doing so means confronting his own past. Meanwhile the demon’s influence is spreading…

You have a lifelong fascination with the supernatural which sparked at a young age -what can you tell us about your experience?

I’m convinced that the spirit continues to exist in some state after the death of the physical body. This wasn’t something I was actively taught to believe as a child but for as long as I can remember I’ve always held it to be true. After my father’s death I would get a strong sense of his presence accompanied by the smell of aftershave. Thinking about it now the curious thing is that I don’t recall ever really noticing the smell of his aftershave when he was alive. I would say to my Mum, “Dad’s here again”. Thankfully she took it in her stride. I also witnessed things moving, jars falling off shelves for example, for no apparent reason; that sort of thing. It was never scary, or hugely dramatic, but it was odd.

You have already written the sequel to this book called Child of the Covenant, can you give us an insight into this?

Child of the Covenant completes the story started in The Demon’s Call. Aidan, Gwyn and Eldritch have formed an alliance. Using Eldritch’s link to the demon they work out where it will break through from the Unseen Realm and plan to stop it by strengthening the boundary at this point. But the stakes are raised when it becomes apparent that someone else is working to bring about the demon’s manifestation and that they are prepared to kill in order to do so. With one of the trio critically injured the other two face a terrible choice if they are finally to defeat the manifesting demon.

 You are a marketing manager for a large company, how do you find the time to write alongside your other interests and your busy job?

It can be a struggle!  I’m lucky in that I enjoy my writing so it’s a pleasure for me to sit down and immerse myself in my characters’ adventures. You’ll often find me with a laptop or notebook in hand, jotting down ideas or polishing a story. I’ll use any spare time – train journeys, waiting for appointments – you name it, I’ll make use of it. I’m also fortunate in that I’ve been able to take advantage of IBM’s flexible working policies to further my writing. I work “condensed hours” which means I fit my working week into four calendar days. By working longer hours on these days I have a “day off” which I use for writing. Before switching to this flexible working pattern I would try to get up early and put in an hour or so of writing before work, but I find having a concentrated chunk of time works better for me. Having an understanding husband also helps!

Please tell us about the characters of Aidan, Gwyn and Eldritch that feature in the book

At the start of the book Aidan is very much a normal twenty-five year old. He runs a small Outward Bound-style training company, which he loves, he’s fit and active and likes to round off his week with a pint in the local pub with his friends. He’s totally unprepared for what happens when the supernatural crashes into his life in the wake of his best friend’s suicide.

Gwyn has shared history with Aidan. She was a close friend of his mother and someone Aidan looked up to throughout his childhood. Once a powerful healer, she’s the only person Aidan knows of who genuinely believes in the supernatural, but he blames her for his mother’s death and hasn’t had anything to do with her in years.

Eldritch is the most complicated of the three main characters and in many ways my favourite. When we first meet him it’s not clear whose side he’s on and he retains that ambiguity throughout much of the novel. He thinks nothing of manipulating people and he’s certainly not a team player. He also has his own intensely personal agenda when it comes to the demon.

Why was the landscape of the Cambrian mountains so inspirational for you and your writing?

When I first started thinking about The Demon’s Call one of the pivotal scenes was the confrontation between the demon’s avatar and a wizard (the character that became Eldritch). I needed a remote setting so that it wouldn’t be easy for the wizard to get to safety; that surviving the aftermath would be as much of a challenge as surviving the initial encounter. I could have made the location up but to ground my story in the real world I wanted to know I had set it somewhere that existed – even if I then tweaked a few details. Also, I wanted somewhere that the idea of an ancient entity would make sense. Geologically speaking, the rocks of the Cambrian mountains are amongst the oldest on earth. It’s a little fanciful perhaps but you could think of them as being the bones of the earth. At the same time there are all these abandoned lead mines running through them. Like Tolkien I found the idea of foul things lurking in the deep places of the world fitted very well with the story I wanted to tell.

What is next for you?

I’m working to get Child of the Covenant ready for publication. Depending on how the two novels are received I have some ideas for a third which explores what happens when a very personal piece of Eldritch’s history catches up with him. I’m also keen to write some more short stories, some of which may link into the Dark Places sequence. I certainly won’t be giving up writing any time soon.

 


by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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