Guest Post & Giveaway with EMBRACE Author Jessica Shirvington

Welcome to the next stop on Jessica Shirvington's official Get Ready To EMBRACE Blog Tour!  Since I love looking at the mythology an author creates when building the world of a book, I was so excited to take part and share Jessica's guest post on angels with you.  In addition, you have a chance to win a finished copy of this hot new title!

Jessica Shirvington lives in Australia, where the first three books in THE VIOLET EDEN CHAPTERS (Also called THE EMBRACE SERIES depending on what region you live in) are already in print.  

The first book in the series, EMBRACE, has just landed in the US.  The second book, ENTICED, will arrive in the US in September 2012.  The fourth book in the series, ENDLESS, will hit Australian bookshelves in October 2012.  

Jessica can be found at her blog and on Facebook. 

Angels Have A Pecking Order
by Jessica Shirvington

Researching for EMBRACE, I discovered the entire subject of Angelology to be truly fascinating. In the end, I chose to go with the most popular theory, that there are 3 choirs of angels and within each choir, 3 ranks.    At the top of the angel hierarchy sit the Seraphim. They are the angels that are supposed to burn with an all-consuming white flame and who perform the all-important role of maintaining the source of Existence within the physical world.    Following the Seraphim come the Cherubim, and Thrones. I always like the descriptions of the Thrones – bringers of justice. 

In the second choir are Powers, Dominations and Virtues. And in the third choir – Principalities, Archangels and Angels (guardians).    In writing EMBRACE, discovering each of these ranks and their purpose on earth was what led to the development of my characters powers. Each character is specifically placed within a rank of angels and then given powers accordingly. For example: Griffin is parented by a Seraph angel, meaning he is a leader and his unique power is a mind power (that of reading and delivering truth) to correlate with the description of the Seraphim’s function in the universe. It is a great way of keeping order to the power pool!    Each angelic rank also has a different appearance and different color that represent them and I found this really interesting. Any time I describe an angelic image, it relates back to this research in some way. Additionally, combining this research with things like the Chakra has led me to the use of color as a representation of power and also gemstones as a link to old mythology. For example: Phoenix’s hair is like opal – so black that it shimmers with purple and it catches the light exposing streaks of dazzling silver. First, I loved the idea of his hair being different, but also, it linked to the significance to his power, and his heritage in the story.    Basing the story around the bones of angel mythology and hierarchy gives me a solid structure to use as my foundation. It anchors the story and gives me direction any time I think the story might be straying.    Also, it allowed me to develop one of the big mysteries within the series: what rank is Violet from?

Check back soon for my review of EMBRACE!
And now, a giveaway!!

Enter to win your own copy of EMBRACE by filling out the following form!

Contest ends March 31st, 2012!