As the fourth book of The Maker’s Song, Etched in Bone, is about to be released, I thought it a good time to discuss the city Dante calls home—New Orleans. Dante’s New Orleans (and the city his love Heather is now calling home as well) is a little different from the New Orleans we know, but not by much.
Dante and Heather’s New Orleans pulses with an earthy and passionate rhythm, a city brimming with heart and shadows and dark possibilities. Anything can happen here. Nightkind in the French Quarter, moshing with mortals in Club Hell. A riverboat casino packed with glittering unearthly vampires (nightkind) who watch with hungry gazes as mortals gamble away much more than just money. And perched on top of tombs in the cities of the dead, fallen angels warble haunting songs into the night and searching for the next creawdwr, the only being who can restore a fading Gehenna and weave order out of chaos, a being that hasn’t existed for over two thousand years.
The first time I traveled to New Orleans, I scoured the French Quarter for the perfect place for Dante’s nightspot— Club Hell. Bourbon Street was too frenetic, too jam-packed with happy drunks, way too bright and shrill for a vampire. Royal Street was too high-end and neat, especially compared to the bead, spilled beer, and vomit-strewn pavement of Bourbon Street, and too touristy.
I finally stumbled across the perfect spot on St. Peter Street. A little distant from the madness on Bourbon and a tad shabby, dark. A few blocks down was Jackson Square with the Saint Louis Cathedral. Perfect.
I could just picture Club Hell on St. Peter as I studied the buildings with their wrought iron balconies and green shutters and long shadows.
My most recent trip to New Orleans was during Halloween—an awesome three-day event in that city!—and promptly returned to St. Peter. Still shabby and dark and full of long shadows. Still perfect. As I take the usual tours (again) and always imagine Dante doing the same and the amusement he must feel during the vampire tour. I look at a riverboat and imagine Guy Mauvais and his nightkind household gliding along its deck.
I love visiting New Orleans and hope to live there one day, but I also hope to cross a street there one day—maybe St. Peter—and realize that I’ve walked into Dante and Heather’s New Orleans, a city of mystery and endless possibilities.
--Adrian Phoenix
About the Author
ADRIAN NIKOLAS PHOENIX has had stories published in several magazines and anthologies. She currently lives in Oregon (with three cats, of course), but travels to New Orleans, the city of her heart, whenever possible.
Description:
Amazon.com Review
A Note from the Author
As the fourth book of The Maker’s Song, Etched in Bone, is about to be released, I thought it a good time to discuss the city Dante calls home—New Orleans. Dante’s New Orleans (and the city his love Heather is now calling home as well) is a little different from the New Orleans we know, but not by much.
Dante and Heather’s New Orleans pulses with an earthy and passionate rhythm, a city brimming with heart and shadows and dark possibilities. Anything can happen here. Nightkind in the French Quarter, moshing with mortals in Club Hell. A riverboat casino packed with glittering unearthly vampires (nightkind) who watch with hungry gazes as mortals gamble away much more than just money. And perched on top of tombs in the cities of the dead, fallen angels warble haunting songs into the night and searching for the next creawdwr, the only being who can restore a fading Gehenna and weave order out of chaos, a being that hasn’t existed for over two thousand years.
The first time I traveled to New Orleans, I scoured the French Quarter for the perfect place for Dante’s nightspot— Club Hell. Bourbon Street was too frenetic, too jam-packed with happy drunks, way too bright and shrill for a vampire. Royal Street was too high-end and neat, especially compared to the bead, spilled beer, and vomit-strewn pavement of Bourbon Street, and too touristy.
I finally stumbled across the perfect spot on St. Peter Street. A little distant from the madness on Bourbon and a tad shabby, dark. A few blocks down was Jackson Square with the Saint Louis Cathedral. Perfect.
I could just picture Club Hell on St. Peter as I studied the buildings with their wrought iron balconies and green shutters and long shadows.
My most recent trip to New Orleans was during Halloween—an awesome three-day event in that city!—and promptly returned to St. Peter. Still shabby and dark and full of long shadows. Still perfect. As I take the usual tours (again) and always imagine Dante doing the same and the amusement he must feel during the vampire tour. I look at a riverboat and imagine Guy Mauvais and his nightkind household gliding along its deck.
I love visiting New Orleans and hope to live there one day, but I also hope to cross a street there one day—maybe St. Peter—and realize that I’ve walked into Dante and Heather’s New Orleans, a city of mystery and endless possibilities.
--Adrian Phoenix
About the Author
ADRIAN NIKOLAS PHOENIX has had stories published in several magazines and anthologies. She currently lives in Oregon (with three cats, of course), but travels to New Orleans, the city of her heart, whenever possible.