Behind the scenes: Touched by Magic

Curious to hear how brought together a tiger shifter, a witch, and a long-lost Monet? Read on to learn all about “the making of” Touched by Magic, Book 3 in the Château Nocturne series.

THE STORY

Writing a story is a little like freestyle baking. Instead of starting with a recipe, you look through your kitchen for ingredients and then start figuring out which work best together. In the case of my Château Nocturne series, that means pairing a long-lost artwork with interesting characters that can both clash and mesh, as well as exciting action scenes and evocative locations. That’s exactly what I did in plotting Touched by Magic. Once I decided which characters to focus on (see next section, below), I could move on to picking an artwork to focus on.

(Un)fortunately, there are lots of real-life artworks to choose from, because so many went missing during WWII (mostly by plundering Nazis or Soviet “trophy bridgades”, but also by American GIs who came home with “souvenirs” of Europe). I narrowed the list down by looking for a painting by a famous artist that has an especially interesting subject or backstory. So, Monet’s Manet painting in Monet’s Garden fit the bill on both counts. I love the fact that Monet, Manet, and Renoir all painted together in Monet’s garden at Argenteuil, and I love how this particular artwork shows one subject (Manet) who deflects the focus to a second subject (Camille and Jean, who were being painted by Manet at that moment). It was also a great choice because it allowed me to bring in other Monet paintings, such as The Poppy Field and Woman with a Paarasol.

How did I learn all that? Well, one of my research tools is a deck of cards from the Monuments Men Foundation (founded by the author of the book which was made into the movie with George Clooney, Matt Damon, etc). The foundation has merch including the “WWII Most Wanted Art” deck of cards. In their own words, “Determined to continue and complete, the mission of the Monuments Men and Women, we have created a deck of playing cards featuring the most wanted works of art and cultural objects still missing since the end of World War II.” So, all I have to do is shuffle through the deck and look for an artwork that looks interesting. Then I follow up with an internet search. It’s super interesting if you happen to be a history and art nerd. :) But back to writing the story…

Book 1 of this series featured an art heist from a private location, and Book 2 centered around a black market art deal. So I wanted something different for this story, and that is what led me to develop the idea of the theft and subsequent auction of a hidden artwork. That also ticked another box – namely, building up the mystery around Gordon, which will be resolved in the last two books in the series.

As you can see, there’s a lot to weave together in book 3 of a 5 book series!

THE CHARACTERS

Touched by Magic is book 3 in the series, so readers already have a sense of Roux, the tiger shifter, from books 1 and 2. But we only really get to know him here in Book 3 – even me, the author! He finally gets his turn to shine and show readers what makes him tick.

The question was, who to pair him with? I was undecided about that for a long time. Making Gen and Bene a couple seems most natural, because they’re both fairly carefree, impulsive types. But I went for Gen & Roux because of the awesome opposites attract tension between them.

Writing Roux, a highly principled, uptight, ex-military tiger shifter was easy. It took a lot more thinking to figure Geneviève out and especially, what kind of magic she wields. I have no idea how the idea of “hearing” paintings popped into my mind, but I love it, and her shadow wielding comes in very handy too! But what I love most about Gen are her “ordinary” human qualities, such as the compassion she shows for Claudette and her ability to admit to her mistakes.

I didn’t set out to write a character exactly like Gen. I started with a vague idea and she kind of revealed herself to me in the course of writing the story. And I love that Gen came out being tough and sensitive, and confident yet modest, all at the same time. She’s a woman of contradictions, which makes her a fun and fascinating character – and a perfect match for Roux! While they’re opposites in many ways, they share core values. Oh, and the handy thing there is that those values provided the theme of this story – what it means to be principled in a world where issues are never as clear-cut as they seem.

ON LOCATION IN PARIS AND SWITZERLAND

I love writing romance stories with an element of armchair travel to them – hence a series set around a château in Burgundy with action that moves around great locations in Europe. Touched by Magic revisits Paris and moves on to a new location in the Swiss Alps. I was actually leaning toward setting the latter scenes of the book in Berlin. Why? Well, it’s a fascinating, vibrant city with a rich past. It’s also linked to the Monet in this story, which was last seen in Berlin before it disappeared in 1944. So, it would have made sense to pick up the trail of the missing painting there.

Ultimately, though, I decided to contrast the Paris scenes with a more “countryside” setting - and you don’t get more spectacularly “countryside” than the Alps! Setting is a great way to set the tone for a story, so the Alps helped in that respect too - the mountains are beautiful, but they can also evoke danger, especially in a blizzard at a warlock’s mountainside retreat!

I also happened to spend three weeks in Switzerland while I was writing the closing scenes of Touched by Magic, in the beautiful small town not too far from Lucerne with a hotel called Hotel du Lac. So that definitely inspired me! It’s also close to the real-life house that inspired Grepper’s villa. I actually spotted the building years earlier in an episode of The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes, which I re-watched to get the details of the warlock’s home. It’s a close match to the real home, right down to the Porsche collection in the subterranean garage!

So, that is how the choice of settings came about. And if you’re interested in Berlin, I plan to set a future story there, so stay tuned!

MY FAVORITE SCENE

Some of my favorite scenes in this book are where Gen and Roux bicker early on as well as the banter between the whole gang. For example, Chapter 14, where everyone gets a first impression of Henrik’s apartment in Paris, and Chapter 4, where Roux insists on accompanying Gen to Paris. I still laugh myself silly when I read those!

I also enjoy the bittersweet, nostalgic moments, such as in Chapter 3, when Gen relives the memory of one of her grandmother’s grand parties with the help of a painting she is able to “hear.” Similarly, I love the scene in the Musée d’Orsay, when Gen reveals her ability to hear paintings to Roux. I love the little “tour” that provides the reader with of one of my favorite art museums, and I love that Roux is open-minded and respectful enough to take Gen seriously when she suggests a detour there. The man is definitely a keeper, don’t you think?!

How about you? What’s your favorite scene?

BIGGEST CHANGE from early drafts to final edition

I’m more of a plotter than a pantser (a person who writes by the seat of their pants), and I usually don’t start writing a story until I have a pretty good idea of what will happen (or might happen). In the case of Touched by Magic, I only had a very bare bones outline with no idea about the details, so I developed those as I went along - especially the auction and the confrontation at Grepper’s villa. But, whew - I think I managed to tie up every loose end within the plot while leaving a few tantalizing tidbits open for books 4 and 5. I hope you agree!

So, there you have it — a “behind the scenes” look into the evolution of Touched by Magic! I hope you enjoyed this “making of” and that you’ll go on to the next books in the Château Nocturne series. Happy reading!