Angel Dust by Sarah Mussi
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Release date: August 2nd 2012
Ages: 12+Would you move heaven and earth for the one you love?ANGEL DUST is a powerful, gritty and utterly modern tragic love story with a twist. When Serafina, the brightest and most beloved of all God's angels, is sent to collect Marcus Montague - the original badman - and take him to Hell, she finds herself powerfully drawn to him and makes a decision that places her in the middle of a war between Heaven and Hell. Can Serafina fall in love without falling from grace? Can Marcus's soul be saved? And just who is the mysterious and ever-so-helpful stranger Harry?
An interview with Sarah Mussi author of Angel Dust:
Describe Angel Dust in five words or less:
Little Mermaid meets Paradise Lost
Can you tell me about the journey you’ve taken with Angel Dust from initial inspirations to eventual publication?
From the minute Serafina entered my life at New Cross Gate until today (just a few days before she flies off on her own journey into the imagination of readers), I’ve lived and breathed angels and inner cities. Firstly I had to immerse myself in an urban landscape (not too hard as I live in South London), then I had to decide on what type of angel world Serafina was going to represent and build that world. Serafina’s world was not wholly imagined by me, I must add. Heaven exists – at least in the pages of theological texts and probably after death. I didn’t make that bit up. I just had to check out that I was giving a faithful representation of it- as far as we on Earth can. That world was harder to build than the inner city landscape against which the story was to be played out, but not as hard as the philosophical world I had to investigate. Logic (I’ve discovered) is sometimes very hard to follow especially when it comes to ontological arguments for the existence of God or the ‘metaphysical constraint of determinism’ in the ongoing debate on whether free will exists or not!
On the whole I think I took less of a journey and more of an education, during the process of turning a single flash of excitement into a nice chunky novel!
Angels have been a popular theme in YA fiction for a while now. What special something does Angel Dust have to makes it stand out from the other angel-themed books out there?
I don’t know why it is that writers often come up with similar themes all at the same time. Certainly we get inspired by the works of others and in the same way that the renaissance movement in the past featured similar conventions – and admired similar works of art/ processes of thought/ or ideologies – so writers share their fascinations - well up to a point. The thing is it takes a very long time to grow a book. Firstly it sits in the subconscious for years, then undergoes a metamorphosis into the imagination. Then the creative brain must conjure up settings and characters and finally a theme or a message that is to be played out in events on the page. It then has to be represented on paper, to an agent and to editors who hum and reflect over it for months, years even. And this is sometimes before the book has reached its final draft or been edited or given a publishing date.
All this goes on and often you think you are quite alone in this journey. Then suddenly you find out that the self same process has been going on simultaneously in the imaginations of other writers, in the offices of other publishing houses (often in other continents). And they are writing about angels too. It’s bizarre, yet satisfying. Somehow when that happens you know you’ve got it right; that you’ve tuned into the zeitgeist of the moment and are in accord with the great universal imagination. So I don’t want to say that ANGEL DUST has to ‘stand out’ from the other ‘angel-themed books out there’ but rather that those of us who have been moved to write about angels have tuned into a shared universal consciousness and have written enough books about angels to throng a heavenly host and make heaven proud.
And I sincerely hope all those who love reading YA ‘angel-themed books’ will love every single one of them. I know I do.
Can you some other books that readers of Angel Dust might also enjoy?
I think the readers of ANGEL DUST will love all books that have powerful mysteries, dark romances and engaging characters. I know I’m quite an eclectic reader and love stories from many different genres. But for me nothing beats a good thriller and a tragic romance. It would probably be unfair of me to mention particular authors, because I know there are masses of fantastic books out there all waiting to be read.
What was your last five-star ‘so good you couldn’t put it down’ read?
Well Book One of The Hunger Games takes some beating for un-put-down-ability!
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given in relation to your writing?
‘Make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry, make ‘em wait – from that master of suspense and mystery Wilkie Collins!
What are you working on next?
My next book is called SIEGE and will be out March 7th 2012
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