Today we welcome Skyler White to FanLit! Her debut novel, and Falling, Fly (reviewed by me) hit the shelves in March, and her second, In Dreams Begin, will be released in November. Comment below for a chance to win a copy of and Falling, Fly. Ms. Skyler will personalize and send a copy to two lucky FanLit readers!

KELLY: On your website, you mention that you're involved in ballet and have a master's degree in theater. Have your experiences on the stage (and backstage) affected your writing? If so, how?

SKYLER WHITE: I started taking ballet when I was really young, as an antidote to a ridiculous level of childhood energy which would now almost certainly be diagnosed as ADHD. Wish I�... Read More

Recently I had the opportunity to chat with Skyler White about her latest novel, In Dreams Begin, which tells the story of a modern woman, Laura, who is channeled into the body of Maud Gonne and falls in love with W.B. Yeats . She is also the author of and Falling, Fly (see my reviews of Skyler’s books here). Both novels explore such themes as creativity, body image, and true love — all of which are fertile ground for conversation… Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of In Dreams Begin.

KELLY: Reading In Dreams Begin, I couldn’t help but notice the character of Olivia Shakespear. Between her first name being Olivia and her last name being also a literary name, I was sure you'd put her in there as a manifestation of the Olivia from and... Read More

and Falling, Fly by Skyler White

When I finished and Falling, Fly, the first words out of my mouth were, "Wow, what a mindf*ck." The cover art, while a beautiful example of its kind, seems to imply a fairly standard urban fantasy. and Falling, Fly is anything but.

Skyler White unfolds this story through the eyes of two main characters, Olivia and Dominic. Olivia lives in a world of sensual depravity; she believes she is a fallen angel and a vampire, doomed to spend eternity as a lonely predator unless she finds a loophole in her damnation. Her chapters are narrated in the first person, present tense. Dominic is a neuroscientist who has visions of past lives but believes they are hallucinations or seizures. He seeks a cure for his condition, and later for Olivia's plight; he believes they both suffer from mental illness, not ancient curses. His chapters are writte... Read More

In Dreams Begin by Skyler White

For better or for worse, I have a habit of comparing books to other books. It helps me sort out my own thoughts, and it makes recommendations easier, of the “If you liked X, you’ll like Y” variety. A complex book like Skyler White’s In Dreams Begin is hard to pin down. When a comparison finally did come to me, it was this: Reading In Dreams Begin felt like finishing Robert Holdstock’s Lavondyss and A.S. Byatt’s Possession on the same day, then going to bed and having a strange, sensual dream.

Like White’s previous novel, and Falling, Fly, In Dreams Begin Read More

The Incrementalists by Steven Brust & Skyler White

The Incrementalists is collaboration between authors Steven Brust and Skyler White. I was more familiar with White going in, having enjoyed her trippy novels and Falling, Fly and In Dreams Begin. My experience with Brust’s vast catalogue was sadly limited to having read The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars many years ago while obsessively collecting the FAIRY TALE SERIES. In The Incrementalists, Brust and White team up to create a millennia-old secret society dedicated to making the world better... incrementally.

The novel follows two points of view: Phil, a longtime Incrementalist, and Renee (called Ren), whom Phil has selected as a new recruit. Ren accepts, for secret reasons of her own,... Read More

We often post our chats with authors on Tuesdays, but we're trying something new today. Instead of asking one author several questions, we've asked several authors just one question. Please leave a comment and let us know how you like this format. We'll choose one commenter to win a copy of Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver on audio CDs (or something else from our stacks).

Question: Which speculative fiction writer has had the greatest influence on your own writing style and what, specifically, do you find most inspirational about that writer’s style?

Daniel Abraham / M.L.N. Hanover: Read More