Stopping by today is Gabriella from the Timeless series by Laura Kreitzer. You can read my review of the first book in the series, Shadow of the Sun, here. My review of the second book, Soul Stalker, will be up on February 13th! I was lucky enough to get her to answer a few questions:
Elizabeth: Your life has changed so much in such a short period of time, but you seem to take everything pretty well. What is it that keeps you so together?
Gabriella: I was looking for an adventure—my “divine intervention.” My whole life, that I can remember, I’d always wanted the paranormal to be real. Of course, I was kind of hoping for the amazing side and less of the dramatic, but I guess a world like this was bound to have as many wars, political issues if you will, and problems of their own. What I wasn’t expecting was to be this chosen one, immediately thrown into what feels like the Twilight Zone. One thing I have noticed with this world was nothing as it seems, so it keeps me on my toes and, surprisingly together. I work well under pressure. And I guess there was always a part of me, deep down, that knew I was different. Beyond my IQ there was always something else pulling me to this world. I was meant to be here, through all the drama and pain. And I will do whatever I have to do to protect both worlds I walk in; my new immortal, angelic life, and my old human self.
E: I found your job as a supernatural specialist to be extremely interesting. What kind of training/ qualifications do you need to be a supernatural specialist?
G: I’d say that the minimal requirements would be a PhD in a field pertaining to anatomy. A medical doctor down to an anthropologist. When I was in school, I studied cellular and molecular physiology and biomedical sciences at Yale. My training was more concentrated on what makes a body tick. Or my personal agenda of finally discovering that one thing that would change my world. That was why Darren Halistor hired me. I’m sure rumors of the weird girl in school echoed through the grapevine, because he was the one who contacted me.
E: As you grew up, did you always suspect you were different from your peers?
G: Ah, see the first answer above. Maybe it wasn’t always suspect; maybe it was just the fact I was so different and such an outcast that I wished it to be true. As a scientist, I'm a true skeptic—it took a man saving me from a crashing plane for me to finally believe in the supernatural (which I'm still trying to figure out how it crashed . . . or who helped it along). But now that I look back on my life, I know this was the part missing all along. My true self so deeply hidden in the red blood of a human that I couldn’t see my true nature.
E: What is your favorite thing about being an angel? What is your least favorite thing?
G: My favorite thing, besides Andrew and my Angels that have become my other family, is my powers. My least favorite is my powers. Hah hah. It’s been an uphill battle as I’ve tried to figure out my whacky powers. Really it all stems from my emotions that I still haven’t learned to tuck away. One day I will.
But really . . . Andrew. Sigh. He’s extraordinary. Words can’t even begin to explain what he does to me, what he is to me. Instant love sounds so strange and . . . unrealistic. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to happen though? All I know is now that I have him and the others in my life, I never want to be far from them again.
E: I know that you have read many supernatural books. Which one is your favorite?
G: I must admit I enjoy this series where the main character was hit by lightning and can now feel a dead person’s emotions from the last few moments of their life. She can tell how they died, just not who killed them (if they were murdered). It’s the Harper Connelly series by Charlaine Harris. Ironically enough—I’ve got lightning at the tips of my fingers.
E: How does it feel to be the Illuminator?
G: Scary and thrilling. How many people can say they have a predestined journey that includes saving the Angels? But at the same time I’m frightened I won’t accomplish all that everyone thinks I will. People have faith in me, some willingly sacrificing their lives so I can fulfill my destiny. If I fail it will all be for nothing. So it’s the scariest thing you could think of, but the most rewarding. I get to bring light to the Shadow of the Sun, and can help save the Angels from a life lived in darkness. With every Shadow I Illuminate, my heart grows even larger, just like the Grinch.
E: How did you wrap your head around being dead and coming back to life?
G: I’m still not certain what happened. When I woke up in the morgue . . . it was . . . words fail me. I felt petrified, grateful, mystified, joyful, and depressed all at once. A part of me did die that day—and I always said it was the Illuminator in me and all that was left was Gabriella. In fact, it was the opposite. The old Gabriella is gone; her ferocity is still there but I’m not the same, nor will I ever be the same.
Oh, and I’ll let you know when I wrap my head around it, because I still haven’t! According to Zola, things happened while I was dead that I don’t remember. Makes it even more difficult to comprehend.
E: There have been so many things you have had to do ever since you knew you were an angel. What has been the hardest thing to do?
G: Besides burying a loved one, seeing my Angels and family mourn me when I was still alive was brutal. Jenna’s little speech, Andrew’s tears spilling onto a coffin that was empty. I’ve been killed, abused, locked up, been on the run, lost people I loved, and the worst was thinking I had lost myself. That I had let all of those people down in my life by not being this person they all suspected. By letting my adoptive parents and my sweet sister, Jenna, going through pain that was unnecessary. Though, really it was. To keep them all safe. Too bad it all ended up being in vein.
E: Is there anything you would like to add?
G: Just that I am excited to continue my journey into the Abyss with my Angels. I hope that everyone will continue with me on my journey into the unknown. You can read the next chapter of my story on March 31, 2011!
You’ve been a wonderful interviewer, Elizabeth, and I hope you have a brilliant day!
To follow the rest of the Timeless series blog tour, you can check it out here. You can read my review of the first book in the series, Shadow of the Sun, here. My review of the second book, Soul Stalker, will be up on February 13th!
Swords are for fighting,
We were in the same third grade class, and we both really sucked at sports. And when I say sucked, I really mean it. I tried to learn to do headers in soccer and ended up taking a ball to the face. So we always got stuck way in the outfield during kickball and stuff, and we bonded over it. We might have sucked, but we sucked TOGETHER. And we’ve been friends ever since.
