• About the Author
  • About the Author
  • Book Trailers
  • City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier
  • Contact
  • Corcitura
  • Deadmarsh Fey
  • Reviews & Critical Praise: City of Lights
  • Vocal Performance

Books In My Belfry

~ A Writer's Life For Me

Books In My Belfry

Tag Archives: Cabarets

Fourteen years ago today…

01 Monday May 2017

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Book Spotlight, Fun Stuff, Missives, News, Updates

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

10th Anniversary, 2003, 2013, 2017, achievement, Anglais, Anniversary, aperitif, Belle Epoque, Bon appétit, Boulevard de Courcelles, boulevards, breathtaking, brushed, burgeoning love, bygones, Cabarets, captured her heart, Channel, chapter two, cheek, chicken, City of Lights, corcitura, Count Rakmanovich, Cuisses de grenouilles, dance hall, dazzling, denizens, devil, Eiffel Tower, eight months, element of surprise, empty, enchantment, excerpts, fair maiden, Falling Even More In Love With You, fate, fear, Film, Fin de siècle, Folies Bergère, Franc, France, Francs, french flag, frogs’ legs, Hanging by a moment, happiness, heart, historical fiction, Ian McCarthy, Ilyse Charpentier, in which a dashing Englishman woos mademoiselle Charpentier, inspiration, La Perle, La Perle de Paris, La Vue Doree, late, lattice ironwork, Lifehouse, lips, mademoiselle, Maurice Charpentier, May 1st, medieval gallantry, melika, Melika Dannese Lux, midnight, mon dieu, monsieur, Moulin Rouge, mouthfuls, movie, Music, news, overjoyed, Paris, Parisian, Pheasant, quick, rose, rouge, rouge-encrusted, Sergei Rakmanovich, sneaky, soaked, soaked seat, sopping wet mess, soulmate, soulmates, soundtrack, stunning, surprise, Tenth Anniversary, The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier, third party, today, Tour Eiffel, tovarich, towel, tricolor, true love, truth, turkey, unwelcome, Video, waiter, walking stick, water, white rose, working, writing, young love, YouTube, zakuski

…I began working on what would become City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier. I can still see myself sitting on the floor in my spare room, rough-drafting the outline of the novel while listening to Lifehouse’s Hanging by A Moment:

*sniffles nostalgically* This song ended up becoming Ilyse and Ian’s anthem to me, and was a tremendous source of inspiration over the eight months I spent writing their story. It is still a huge inspiration to me so many years later, and is probably the most-played song on my iPod till this day.  🙂

Oh, and if City of Lights ever becomes a movie, I am so getting the Lifehouse guys’ permission to use that song on the soundtrack.  😉

Best wishes,

~Melika

 

Advertisement

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Ten years ago today…

01 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Excerpts, Fun Stuff, News

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

10th Anniversary, 2003, 2013, achievement, Anglais, aperitif, Belle Epoque, Bon appétit, Boulevard de Courcelles, boulevards, breathtaking, brushed, burgeoning love, bygones, Cabarets, captured her heart, Channel, chapter two, cheek, chicken, City of Lights, Count Rakmanovich, Cuisses de grenouilles, dance hall, dazzling, denizens, devil, Eiffel Tower, eight months, element of surprise, empty, enchantment, excerpts, fair maiden, Falling Even More In Love With You, fate, fear, Fin de siècle, Folies Bergère, Francs, french flag, frogs’ legs, Hanging by a moment, happiness, heart, historical fiction, Ian McCarthy, Ilyse Charpentier, in which a dashing Englishman woos mademoiselle Charpentier, inspiration, La Perle, La Perle de Paris, La Vue Doree, late, lattice ironwork, Lifehouse, lips, mademoiselle, Maurice Charpentier, May 1st, medieval gallantry, Melika Dannese Lux, midnight, mon dieu, monsieur, Moulin Rouge, mouthfuls, Music, overjoyed, Paris, Parisian, Pheasant, quick, rose, rouge, rouge-encrusted, Sergei Rakmanovich, sneaky, soaked, soaked seat, sopping wet mess, soulmate, soulmates, stunning, surprise, Tenth Anniversary, The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier, third party, today, Tour Eiffel, tovarich, towel, tricolor, true love, turkey, unwelcome, Video, waiter, walking stick, water, white rose, working, writing, young love, YouTube, zakuski, zenith

…I began working on what would become City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier. I can still see myself sitting on the floor in my spare room, rough-drafting the outline of the novel while listening to Lifehouse’s Hanging by A Moment:

This song ended up becoming Ilyse and Ian’s anthem to me and was a tremendous source of inspiration over the eight months I spent writing their story. It is still a huge inspiration to me a decade later. 🙂

As part of the 10th anniversary celebration, I decided to post a special excerpt from Chapter 2: In Which a Dashing Englishman Woos Mademoiselle Charpentier. Come along with Ilyse, Ian—and a most unwelcome third party—and share in an evening of burgeoning love and Parisian enchantment at La Tour Eiffel.

Enjoy! 😀

Best wishes,

Melika

       The dance hall was empty, save for Ian anxiously looking around so as not to miss his date. This is my chance to catch him unawares, Ilyse laughed to herself. The element of surprise was something La Petite Coquette had always thrived upon executing to the best of her sneaky abilities. She slinked across the hall, cast a glance into the bar’s mirror to make certain she looked absolutely dazzling, and tapped Ian on the shoulder.
       “Looking for someone, monsieur?”
       Ian turned and was visibly taken aback. “Il…Ilyse,” he stammered, “You look stunning!”
       “Thank you,” she responded, looking down to hide her blushing face.
       “Oh, I almost forgot.” Ian reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the most beautiful white rose Ilyse had ever beheld.
       “Oh, Ian,” she gasped, “It’s breathtaking!”
       “Yes…breathtaking.”
       Ilyse looked up into his eyes and knew he wasn’t speaking of the rose. “So,” she continued, once again blushing to her ears, “what adventure are you taking me on this evening, Monsieur McCarthy?”
       “Well, my fair maiden,” he said, assuming an air of medieval gallantry, “the chariot awaits, ready to take us to La Tour Eiffel where, I promise, you will enjoy an evening of romance with a very charming Englishman.”
       All doubts that this was mere infatuation had vanished and everything now became so very clear to Ilyse—Ian had won her heart completely. She found it impossible to believe, but it seemed as though she was falling even more in love with Ian than she had thought humanly possible, and the idea that the two of them might actually have a future together made her heart nearly burst with joy.
       “Well, then,” said Ilyse, accepting Ian’s outstretched arm, “we mustn’t keep our chariot waiting any longer. On to La Tour!”
       “To La Tour!” he chimed in. The exuberant pair bolted out of the club and dashed heedlessly down the Boulevard de Courcelles to where their carriage awaited. Casting a last glance at La Perle’s palatial exterior, the besotted couple scurried in and set off, oblivious to everything, especially the fact that a shadowed form had taken possession of the carriage parked directly behind theirs.

***

The boulevards of lamp-lit Paris were alive with the bustling of street vendors, ladies of the night, and pleasure seekers all rushing toward their respective destinations. As the carriage wound its way down the crowded streets, Ilyse found herself realizing for the first time how wondrously grand and beautiful the city seemed once daylight had been extinguished. She laughed at the peddlers trying to sell over-priced wares to unwitting tourists, and thumbed her nose at the saucy behavior of the rouge-encrusted harlots. Paris was buzzing with excitement, but all thoughts of the denizens of the City of Lights vanished when Ilyse beheld the majesty of the Tower—the lattice intertwining of its ironwork, the awesomeness of its form against the star dotted sky, and the French flag flapping in all its tricolor glory at the tower’s zenith.
       “Oh, Ian,” Ilyse gasped, taken aback by the grandeur of the tower. “It’s magnificent!”
       “Wait a minute,” he said, staring at her with a puzzled expression. “Do you mean to tell me that you live in Paris and you’ve never been to La Tour?”
       “Guilty.”
       “Well, who’d have thought you’d have to wait for an Anglais to travel all the way across the Channel to take you?”
       Ilyse couldn’t help laughing at the absurd truth of this statement and saw that her mirth amused Ian. The infatuated Englishman clasped Ilyse’s hand and the two excited lovers rushed into La Tour, ready for an evening of romance and enchantment.

***

A rickety carriage pulled to a halt at the foot of the Tower. Seconds later, its door was forced open and a tall, Slavic-looking man dressed in black from head to foot stepped out. The stranger was just about to run for the hydraulic lifts when he was detained by his enraged driver.
       “Just a minute, you!” the driver shouted as he stepped in front of the foreigner to block his path. “That’ll be fifteen francs.”
       The stranger drew himself up haughtily and glared at the driver in disgust. “I will not pay that exorbitant sum. If you value your life, you will let me pass.”
       But the driver would not be dissuaded.
       “Don’t you threaten me. I’ll call the police, you lousy cheat!”
       The stranger tried to remain calm but was finding it impossible to control his mounting rage. “Do you have any idea whom you are talking to?” he sneered.
       “You could be the devil himself for all I care, now give me my francs!”
       A smile flickered across the stranger’s lips. “Your assumption is not inaccurate, tovarich. I suggest you take your leave before the situation becomes unpleasant.”
       “The devil, I will!”
       And with that, the driver lunged at the stranger and immediately found himself flattened upon the pavement. “Come at me again,” the stranger barked, brandishing his walking stick in the terrified driver’s face, “and you’ll be meeting him sooner than you’d like!” Without saying another word, the stranger straightened his top hat, spat at the disoriented driver’s feet, and made for the lifts.

***

The interior of “La Vue Dorée,” the Tower’s most affluent restaurant, was bathed in gold. Gilded bas-relief angels adorned its walls and every chair in the opulent dining salon boasted plush, honey-colored cushions.
       Ilyse and Ian were sitting in an intimate corner of the restaurant and had been admiring the Palais du Trocadéro through the Tower’s panoramic windows. They had placed their orders some time ago, but try as they might, every time they succeeded in sparking a conversation, the innumerable officious waiters came poking in and extinguished the fire. Garçons are supposed to be attentive, of course, but how many times does one need to be asked if the baguette has been baked to satisfaction? It was infuriating! It seemed as though the waiters were deliberately trying to ruin the young couple’s chances. The evening was threatening to become a complete romantic waste, and Ilyse realized she had better speak up before the nosy waiters intruded once more.
       “Ian,” Ilyse began, “thank you so much for bringing me here. I’ve been wanting to come for the past five years, but have never been able to, and now I know the reason why.”
       “And why’s that?” he inquired.
       “Promise you won’t laugh?”
       “I promise,” he said sweetly.
       “I believe it was Fate. I wasn’t meant to come with just anyone. I was meant to come with you.”
       Ian remained silent.
       “Oh, listen to me rambling on,” Ilyse chuckled, trying to dispel the awkward silence that had fallen upon them. “Fate and all, really.” But no matter how much Ilyse tried to resign her feelings to superstition, the more she thought it over, the more convinced she became, and it was obvious that Ian had started to believe it too—their meeting had been no mere coincidence.
       Ian suddenly clasped Ilyse’s hand and leaned in to kiss her, but their intimate moment was broken by the thrust of a plate between their faces.
       “Steak au poivre for you, Madame,” the waiter merrily chimed, “and the house specialty for you, Monsieur. Bon appétit!”
       “Well, then,” Ian muttered, annoyed at the waiter’s untimely entrance, “shall we?”
       “Bon appétit!” Ilyse mimicked. The pair chimed their champagne glasses and began to take part in their highly delectable yet ill-timed meal.

***

“Your aperitif and one plate of zakuski, Count Rakmanovich.” The waiter placed the refreshments upon the stranger’s table and gazed expectantly at his customer.
       “Do not call me by that name in their presence,” the stranger growled. He trained his glare upon Ilyse and Ian and sipped his aperitif, although he had no interest in the drink. “Why are you still standing here? Can’t you see that they’ve started talking again? Get over there at once!”
       The waiter shifted nervously and fiddled with his apron. “With all due respect, sir, I’m afraid I cannot intrude anymore.”
       “And why is that?” the stranger demanded, his face enflamed.
       “Because I have already interrupted them fifteen times and if I do it again, I’m afraid the monsieur won’t think too kindly of me when the check arrives.”
       The stranger reached for his walking stick and would have brought it crashing down upon the waiter’s head, but he suddenly thought of the spectacle such a violent display would cause, and relaxed his grip upon the object. “Do not fear what the monsieur will think,” he said menacingly. “Fear me.”
       The waiter was terrified by the stranger’s threatening manner and fearsome expression. “Very good, sir,” he quavered, and set out to once again intrude upon Ilyse and Ian’s evening.

***

“You know,” Ian said between mouthfuls, “I’ve never liked French cooking, but this isn’t that bad. I wonder what it is?”
       Ilyse took a sip of champagne and forced herself to swallow the piece of steak she had nearly choked upon. Try as she might, she could not smother the giggling fit that had come upon her and placed her hand over her mouth in an attempt to decorously stifle her laughter.
       “And what exactly is so amusing, Mademoiselle Charpentier?” Ian demanded playfully, looking up from his unknown feast.
       “Do you mean to tell me you ordered that without knowing what it was?”
       “Of course,” he said confidently. “I wanted to be adventurous and try something I had absolutely no clue about. So I opened the menu, closed my eyes, and chose the first thing my finger fell upon. I showed my selection to the waiter and ordered the dish without even reading what it was. I still can’t for the life of me figure out why that idiotic garçon went off laughing like a hyena.”
       “Well, all right, then,” Ilyse snickered and returned to her meal.
       After a few minutes of blissful munching, Ian’s curiosity finally got the best of him. “So what exactly is the house specialty anyway?” he asked, still thoroughly enjoying his mystery meal. “Pheasant, turkey, chicken…”
       “Cuisses de grenouilles, commonly known as Frogs’ Legs.”
       Before Ilyse could blink, Ian had spat the delicacy onto his plate and now had his hand wrapped around his throat. “Waiter!” he gasped. “Water! Quick!”
       The waiter who had been conversing with the menacing stranger seized a glass carafe, dashed to Ilyse and Ian’s table, and was so rattled to see the young man apparently choking to death that he poured the entire decanter of water down upon Ian’s head.
       Ian shot up from his seat, a dripping wet mess, and glared at the mortified waiter.
       “Oh, monsieur,” the waiter shrieked. “I…I’m so terribly sorry! Please…I was so… You seemed to be… I can’t believe… Oh, mon Dieu! I’ll never forgive myself!”
       “No, no,” Ian said, finding it difficult not to chuckle at the waiter’s overly dramatic ranting. “Just bring me something to dry myself off with, all right?
       The waiter apologized profusely and bustled off to find a towel.
       “So you let me order frog’s legs,” Ian said to Ilyse as he sat down upon his soaked seat.
       “Well,” she said with mock pomposity, “I thought that a mature traveler such as yourself, who’s had such wonderful experiences in France, you know, meeting men without trousers and things of the like, would certainly know better than to take liberties with unfamiliar cuisine. I had no idea you were conducting a dinner experiment! I mean, if I were in a foreign country, and I…”
       “All right, Coquette,” he interrupted, pretending to be annoyed, “I know when I’ve been outdone.”
       The waiter returned with the towel and check and helped Ian out of his soppy dinner jacket. Ian pulled a wad of francs from his pocket, smoothed some bills, and handed them to the waiter. “I’m in a merry mood, ol’ duck. Keep the change and let’s let bygones be bygones,” he said, winking at the befogged garcon, and throwing the towel about his drenched shoulders. The young lovers bid adieu to the astonished, overjoyed, and well-compensated waiter and looked fondly back upon their intimate little corner of the world as they made for the lifts.

***

The wind was whistling violently through the lattice ironwork of the Tower and the air was filled with the scent of lilacs. Midnight was drawing near, and as the lift began to rise, Ian suddenly turned to Ilyse and took her arm. “Let’s not rush off just yet. I know the perfect way to dry off.”
       “And what might that be?” she questioned, gazing lovingly into his eyes.
       “A trip to the top.”
       Ilyse was horrified. I get dizzy just standing on the second story balcony of Manon’s apartment and now he wants me to go to the top of La Tour? she thought to herself. I’d never make it through alive!
        “No, Ian,” Ilyse protested, “I can’t go up there. Besides, it’s getting late and I…” “Please, Lyse,” he whispered, pressing her hand to his heart. “Don’t be afraid. Just trust me. I’d never let anything happen to you.”
       Ilyse stared at him for a moment, unsure of whether or not to give in. But upon seeing the love and sincerity in his eyes, all her doubts and fears were destroyed. “Take me up.” Ian clasped her in his arms, ushered her into the lift, and watched the diminishing sights of Paris as they shot to the top.

***

“Isn’t it beautiful, Ilyse?” Ian gushed as he stepped out onto the platform. But Ilyse couldn’t budge. She was frozen with fear and stayed inside, clinging to the lift’s rail, silently refusing to take another step.
Suddenly, a light dawned in Ian’s mind. He reentered the lift, and clasped Ilyse by the hands. “Come on, I have an idea.” He led the frightened girl out onto the platform, and, placing his hands over her eyes, slowly guided her to the edge. “All right,” he coaxed, “now grab onto this here.” Ilyse did as instructed and grasped the iron bar, still not having the slightest idea where he had led her.
       “Now, look!”
       He let his hands fall and Ilyse grabbed her heart in amazement. There, from what felt like the top of the world, the sheltered young woman beheld the most magnificent view of Paris imaginable. Everywhere she gazed, her eyes caught sight of winding gas-lit boulevards and magnificent monuments bathed in moonlight. Exhilarated, she leaned over the railing and waved down to the people onboard the boats steaming across the Seine, not caring that they would never be able to see her from such a great height. Overjoyed, she turned to Ian and threw her arms around his neck.
       “Thank you so much,” she whispered into his ear.
       “For what?”
       “For showing me how to live again.”
       She released herself from their embrace but was immediately drawn back by Ian. His lips brushed against her cheek as he took her face in his hands. Ilyse wanted to share his kiss more than anything, but the thought of what consequences such a relationship might entail suddenly burst upon her mind and she pulled away. “I can’t.”
       “Why not?”
       “This is all happening so fast and there’s something I must tell you.”
       He stared at her worried face and drew her back into his arms. “No matter what you say, nothing in this world will ever change the way I feel for you.”
       Ilyse caressed his cheek and reluctantly pulled away from him. She walked over to the edge of the platform, and, looking out into the beautiful star-glittered sky, began to reveal her tortured past to the man who had captured her heart.

©2005, 2013 Melika Dannese Lux and Books In My Belfry, LLC. Unauthorized use or reproduction of this excerpt without the author’s permission is strictly prohibited.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Last day of City of Lights Tour: Interview at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

12 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Fun Stuff, News

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

1894, 2002, 2003, 2013, 25 of our 50 states, addiction, affinity for the islands, Agatha Christie, Air Jaws, Alexandre Dumas, Amy Bruno, and Hungary, and Sarah Rayne, Austria, background, Belgium, Blog Tour, bloggers, blood, Books In My Belfry, breaching, breaching great white, breaching sharks, brilliant, brutal and lawless world, C. S. Lewis, Cabarets, Camille, Can-Can, Caribbean islands, Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, Cecil B DeMille, Charlotte Bronte, children's performing group, City of Lights, city of lights: the trials and triumphs of ilyse charpentier, classical, classically trained, Colette, corcitura, Count Sergei Rakmanovich, Creative, Currer Bell, dance of romance, Daphne Du Maurier, demimondaine, director, Discovery Channel, Downton Abbey, dystopian, email, England, entertaining, Eric Bradburry, Erin Al-Mehairi, Facebook, family saga, female vampires, Fin de siècle, first novel, Florida, forbidden love, fourteen, France, Friendship, Galop Infernal, genre hop, Georgette Heyer, Germany, Goodreads, Great White Sharks, Greece, Hanging by a moment, Hawaii, Hawaiian, Hawaiian blood, historical fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tour, Home Rule, Hotmail, hybrid vampires, Ian McCarthy, Ilyse Charpentier, Incisive, Insightful, inspiration, Interview, Ireland, J. R. R. Tolkien, Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, JAWS, Jean Plaidy, Jurassic Park, King of Kings, life, life interruptions, Lifehouse, London, Louisa May Alcott, Magical, Manon Larue, marine biologist, marine biology, Maurice Charpentier, Meg Giry, Melika Dannese Lux, Mr. Whitey, Music, musical, Nigel Marvin, novels, obsessed, Oh for the hook of a book, operetta, original, Orpheus in the Underworld, P. G. Wodehouse, parents, Paris, personality, Phantom of the Opera, piano, Pic 'n Save, play, posters, POVs, Prague, pure magic, Quint, riveting novels of psychological suspense, Romania, Romanovs, Russia, Sea World, Sergei Rakmanovich, setting the scene, Shannon Hale, Shark Week, Sharks, shattered innocence, siblings, singers, soprano, South Africa, species name, St. Augustine FL, steel helms, Stefan Ratliff, stratified society, Switzerland, T-Rex, the Czech Republic, the inside story, The Painted Girls, Tollers and Jack, true love, Twitter, undead, unusual sharky abilities, Upyr, vampires, Venice, VHS, Victorian, Victorian literature, Violin, Vladec Salei, Vrykolakas, Wales, werewolves, wild card, Wilkie Collins, Wordsworth, writing, youth symphony orchestra, Zigmund Fertig

Morning Everyone!

Our whirlwind tour for City of Lights comes to an end today…with a bang! 😀 Many thanks to the multi-talented Erin Al-Mehairi of Oh, for the Hook of a Book! for featuring me and City of Lights on her blog, and for asking such incisive and awesome questions! 😀

Best wishes,

Melika

Exclusive and Magical Interview with Talented & Creative Melika Lux on Much More than Her City of Lights Novel

Today, we have a special treat because we have an exclusive interview with a very talented and sweet person, author Melika Lux. You can read my review of Melika’s book by clicking CITY OF LIGHTS. Our interview is VERY in-depth and you will marvel at Melika’s original personality, including how a trained stage soprano has such an addiction to Great White Sharks!!

I am pleased to have you stop by for a visit today, Melika! You sound like a fabulously creative person. How are you? Melika

Melika:  I am great, Erin, and thrilled to be here!  

Erin:  So happy!  Let’s move on and learn more about you and your writing! Q:  When did you first begin to write? What gave you the inspiration?

A:  My love for writing grew out of an early love for reading.  I think what led me to this point, what essentially caused the inspiration to germinate, was that my mother started reading to me when I was in the womb, and my father told me wild, not-exactly-verifiable tall tales while I was still in the cradle.  I remember writing little stories and vignettes when I was a very young child and also staging my first play (an adaptation of King of Kings) when I was eight years old.  The budget was nonexistent, so my family was conscripted into the production, with my dad and mom playing six parts each.  I think that was when the writing bug first reared its head and bit me squarely on the heart. I felt a little like Cecil B. DeMille after that.  There is a VHS of the play floating around somewhere.  It is one of my first memories of writing.

One turning point I can recall was when I was about eleven or twelve.  I wrote a very short story along the lines of Jurassic Park.  It was about a brother and sister being chased to the edge of a cliff by a T-Rex.  The kids gave the Rex the old “one-two-jump!” fake out and the dinosaur tumbled over the cliff.  End of story—happily ever after for everyone except the Rex. But the point was that it was fun! I had actually finished something I’d set out to write! It was great, even though it was only six pages long! You have to start somewhere, right?

Q:   What inspires you currently in your overall writing?

A: What began to stand out more and more to me as the years wore on, and what I think was the real reason I truly grew to love writing so much, was the freedom it gave me to be able to get lost in a different world.  I love creating characters and their individual stories.  Everything that a person experiences in his or her life affects the person they become and how they react to situations, so being able to explore this with my characters is something I am always eager to do—uncovering what motivates them, what drives their worldview, why they would make a decision in a particular situation, what makes them tick, etc.  It is thrilling when characters develop so fully that they essentially start to write the stories themselves.

Currently, I’m most interested and inspired by trying out different storytelling mediums and POVs. My preferred method of telling a story is first person, but in my latest works, I’m using third person limited and also third person omniscient, which presents a whole heap of challenges! I’m also experimenting with short stories. You would think this would be easier, but I’m finding it an exciting challenge to tell a complete and gripping story in 40 pages or less rather than having a broad canvas (my last novel, Corcitura, was 700 pages long) on which to paint, essentially, the characters’ lives.

My last two novels were primarily historical fiction, City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier being an historical fiction/family saga set in Paris in 1894, and Corcitura  being an historical fiction/supernatural thriller, complete with hybrid vampires, which takes place over the years 1888-1895 in locales across Europe and in Gilded Age New York. I have felt very comfortable writing in this era due to the fact that I read a tremendous amount of fantastic Victorian literature during my high school and college years and fell in love with the period. However, I am now transitioning into dystopian, horror, comedy, and fantasy. Talk about freeing! I no longer have to worry about when a word came into the vernacular! Huzzah! Besides that added bonus, I love to genre-hop and not confine myself to one particular time period. It keeps thinks exciting.

Q:  Did your musical background play any part in your writing? Also, explain your musical background for our readers.

A: Definitely. I’ve been surrounded by music since I was born and have been singing, dancing, and playing the violin and piano since I was three years old. I was part of a children’s performing group for most of my childhood and was also a member of a local youth symphony orchestra from the ages of 8-18. In addition to singing throughout my community and state, I also performed the role of Meg Giry in a college production of The Phantom of the Opera. What a blast!

In regards to my writing, I draw a lot of inspiration from certain pieces of music, especially movie soundtracks and instrumental numbers, which I love to have playing in the background as I write. Currently, for the dystopian/fantasy novel I’m writing, I keep epic music/soundtracks looping at a low volume in my ear buds. It really spurs my imagination and helps when trying to strike the right mood in battle and intense scenes, especially when there are “creatures” involved.

For City of Lights, Hanging by a Moment by Lifehouse was a huge inspiration and a song I kept looping in the background as I wrote the novel:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESWjziG5B54

To me, this song epitomizes Ilyse and Ian’s love story, and remains a favorite of mine to this day.

Q:  Have you ever danced or been on the stage? If so, explain and if it helped in the writing of your book. What inspired you to write about a Parisian chanteuse in City of Lights?

A: Yes! As I mentioned above, I was part of a children’s performing group from the ages of 3-11. Additionally, I am a classically trained soprano. My most recent performance was in February 2012, at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, FL. You can view the entire concert or excerpts of my solos by clicking on the following link: https://booksinmybelfry.com/music/

Music has always been inextricably linked to City of Lights. The entire novel was actually inspired by a song. One night in December 2002, I was puttering around in my room when I suddenly started singing verses of a song I had made up in that moment.

“Tonight’s the last time that I’ll see your face, my love. This dreadful moment has finally come to be. Tonight the passion ends for you and me, my love. I’m traveling to a place where life will be hell for me…good-bye.”

My mind exploded with questions. Who was this girl? Why was she being forced to give up her love? Why would her life be so awful?

From that song, City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier was born. The song became Tonight, the lyrics directly inspiring the novel and making their way into a pivotal scene toward the end of the book. Now, the only thing remaining was a setting. I’m a singer, a Francophile, and a devotee of fin de siècle culture and literature, so the idea of Paris, a cabaret, forbidden love, and the added tension arising from my heroine being estranged from her brother (her only living relative) was too exciting not to pursue.

My grand plan all along was (and still is) for City of Lights to be a musical.  In addition to Tonight, I wrote eight other songs that inspired further chapters and the overall story arc, the lyrics of those songs also being adapted into dialogue and scenes. Even though the musical is still on the distant horizon, the spirit of the songs thread through the entire novel. And in case you were wondering, the recordings are securely stored in an undisclosed location, waiting for the day when they will see the light once again. 

In May 2003, at the age of eighteen, I began writing Ilyse’s story. Eight months later, City of Lights was complete, and another four years later, it was published. Now, it has been given a new look and is being made available to an entirely new readership!

City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier

Q:  Myself, I love books and information on the late 1800s to early 1900s in Paris. The entire ballet scene and its behind the scenes drama can be an infuriating tale to tell. Apparently, women still endure the dealings of men pulling their strings so to speak. What interests you most about this time period? Any further thoughts on the performance industry?

A: I’ve been interested in the fin de siècle for as long as I can remember. I think I first became cognizant of how exciting this time period was when I was about 8 or 9 and had just learned to play Orpheus in the Underworld with my local youth symphony orchestra. The Galop Infernal in that operetta became, of course, the Can-Can theme. That piece stayed with me over the years and led me to do research when I got older. As I learned more about France and the culture surrounding the cabarets and dancehalls, I was hooked and became a confirmed Francophile. Since writing City of Lights, I have become increasingly interested in that whole milieu and have since read Camille (A brilliant and tragic novel about the lives of the demimondaine—highly recommended!) and a few novels by Colette. I’m always on the lookout for new reads from or about that fascinating time period when securing the right patron could either make you a star or confine you to the gilded cage, as was the case with Ilyse.  

As for the performance industry, the main facet that I culled and incorporated into City of Lights was favoritism. Ilyse, although she is talented and the best singer to have graced the Parisian stage in years, is Sergei’s favorite. He “plucked her from obscurity” (a fact he never lets her forget) and made her a star. Without him, she most probably would have starved or been forced into a life of squalor, but given how controlling and suffocating Sergei’s hold over her is, accepting his patronage is a choice Ilyse regrets almost immediately.

Q:  I read the biography on your website and laughed to myself because in high school I decided I was either going to school to be a writer or a marine biologist (same as you)!!! I decided I was not cut out enough for the math and just loved the ocean and animal cause, so I went to college for Journalism instead so I could write all about all the many things I love. I came away also with English and History degrees. That all said, besides being afraid of sharks, what really did pull you towards your creative pursuits as compared to science? How do you feel about your decision?

A: Haha, what a coincidence!!! I’ve been obsessed with sharks from a young age. I remember going to Sea World as a three-year-old and spouting off names of all the sharks in the little pond outside the Shark Encounter ride. I also literally started watching Shark Week at the age of two during its inaugural season 26 years ago (dating myself here ;) I still remember them flashing the poster of an enormous Great White shark with a Bermuda-shorted surfer inside its gaping mouth. Fun stuff! 😉     

Then came Jaws—the movie, not the book. Let’s not even go there in regards to the book. I’ve never been more disappointed with a reading experience in my life! But I digress… I became fascinated with Jaws around the age of five when I went to Pic ‘n Save and saw the movie poster. What is it with me and posters? Anyway, I now make it a point to watch the movie twice a year, once on my birthday and once on the last day of Shark Week.  You probably wouldn’t want to watch the movie with me because I know practically all the lines and usually say them in the same voices the characters use. My favorite, obviously, is Quint. “I’m talkin’ about sharkin’!” I sing his little sea shanties with him, too. 😉 

What made me consider a career change, however, probably had something to do with Nigel Marvin and the premiere of Air Jaws around the year 2000. The fact that sharks could rocket out of the water was a paradigm shift for me and sort of tilted my world off its axis. Breaching sharks! It was a literary goldmine! Not to mention that it scared the wits out of me to think that I could be quietly minding my own business in a nice safe boat when Mr. Whitey would suddenly decide to go airborne and take me along for the ride. So that was when I knew I’d have more fun writing sharks into my stories instead of sharing the water with them. Strangely enough, though, a small insane part of me would still love to go cage diving with them in South Africa. We’ll see…

As far as creative pursuits in comparison to science, I still love the minutiae of marine and ocean studies, but I now find it much more exciting to be able to do the research or incorporate what I know about sharks and their behavior into my writings. In the dystopian epic I’m working on, white sharks play a huge role as one of the main antagonists (technically, a race of antagonists, because there are a lot of them!) of the story. They have their own species name, stratified society, unusual sharky abilities, and rather wicked roles to play in the oppressive world I’m creating. They are the toothed enforcers of the realm and have a symbiotic relationship with the undead soldiers who train them. They also get to wear steel helms and are so fierce you honestly can’t help thinking they are just a little bit awesome, as all Great Whites generally are. If I say any more, I’ll be giving away the plot, but suffice it to say that sharks are fascinating in real life and in literature, so I’m having a tremendously fun time giving them their own personalities and storylines and writing about their undeniable appeal in the new book. By the way, I’m a bit of a shark snob, so pretty much the only species of shark I’ll ever write about are Great Whites—my favorites. I tend to view every other shark as a poser. 😉 

As a side note, I recently took the Discovery Channel’s shark personality quiz and was matched with, you guessed it, Carcharodon carcharias. I always had a feeling… 😉  

Q:  What do you feel was an interesting or important point in history in regards to women and women’s history?

A: I’ve often wondered how I would have fared as a woman writer if I had been born a few centuries ago. When I think about this, the person who always comes to mind in regards to the restrictions on women and how they were looked down upon for being writers (as were women who chose to go on the stage; the horror! Remember the scandal with Nell Gwyn?!) is Charlotte Bronte and how she originally signed her name to Jane Eyre as Currer Bell. I know the novel had been rejected many times and she was listening to the advice of Wordsworth and others, who claimed that “novel-writing wasn’t the proper pastime of a lady,” but it must have been infuriating to not be able to lay claim to your own work, especially a work as brilliant as Jane Eyre. It’s infuriating to me nearly two centuries later! In my own writing, particularly in the first book of my fantasy duology, I have a character who looks down on his fiancée because she reads too many novels. Can you imagine that kind of attitude today?! So, as far as women’s history goes, I believe that when we started to take charge of our writing careers and not care what men and other women (who could be just as spiteful and controlling, if not more so) or society thought of our chosen profession, this was a giant leap forward and an important advancement, at least to my thinking, for the suffragette movement and ensuring the right to vote.

Q:  Do you feel women should “schedule” time for themselves as writers? Do women sacrifice too much instead of pursuing the muse inside them?  How do you make time for writing?

A: I think it depends on your situation in life. If you’re single, of course you should have more time to write, or at least I would hope so! If you have family and job obligations, however, it becomes much more difficult to carve out pockets of time, but still not impossible. If you’re driven enough and passionate about your writing, though, you can find time to write in just about any instance, even if it’s only a few seconds to scribble down ideas on the corner of a napkin. I’m speaking from experience here. 😉 

I do think, however, that women should try to set aside some quiet time (easier said than done!) where they can be alone and just let inspiration flow onto the page. I have a friend who designates specific days during the week where she will not take any phone calls or make appointments and just dedicates those set times to writing, so you can make it work; you just have to be creative about it. I try to carve out writing time at least every day. Sometimes I’ll have a span of maybe four or five hours in the evening, and sometimes weekends are totally devoted to writing. It depends on family obligations and other things that are going on, those so-called “life interruptions” that can be so detrimental to letting the muse have its day!

Q:  Where are some grand places you’ve traveled, or would like to travel? And why?

A: To date, I’ve been to Switzerland, England, Wales, France, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic (visiting Prague was a great help in setting the scene for the latter part of Corcitura), Austria, and Hungary. In addition, I’ve been to several Caribbean islands and 25 of our 50 states, my favorite being Hawaii, which I had the opportunity to visit eleven years ago. I do not have an ounce of Hawaiian blood, but my first name is Hawaiian (it means Melissa), so I’ve always felt an affinity for the islands.

I would love to visit Ireland and also Russia one day—Ireland because my paternal grandmother’s family is from there and I’ve always been fascinated by the country (most recently by the entire Home Rule debate—thank you Downton Abbey! 😉, and Russia because I’ve been a Russophile since I saw the animated movie Anastasia when I was twelve. The viewing of that film also engendered in me a fascination with the Romanovs that continues to this day.

Q:  Do you have some favorite authors? Some authors who have mentored your thoughts?

A: Yes, several! Some of my particular favorites would have to be P. G. Wodehouse, Jean Plaidy, Georgette Heyer, Daphne Du Maurier, Agatha Christie (I can never get enough of her mysteries! So entertaining!), Alexandre Dumas, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, and Sarah Rayne for her riveting novels of psychological suspense! Wilkie Collins is my wild card in there, too, and I also love everything I’ve ever read by Shannon Hale. Her novels are pure magic. 

As far as mentoring, it would have to be Dumas for his amazing ability to write action scenes, Wodehouse for showing me the trick to making people laugh in fiction, Jane for the effortless way she writes the “dance of romance,” and Tollers and Jack (Tolkien and Lewis) for being the standard by which I measure all fantasy and motivating me to always be original.

Q: What other writings have you done? What’s next for you?

A: My latest novel, Corcitura, was published last year. Here is everything you need to know about the novel in a nutshell: Two vampires…one victim…endless trouble. Beginning in London in the year 1888, Corcitura tells the story of best friends Eric Bradburry and Stefan Ratliff, two eighteen-year-old Englishmen who are experiencing their first taste of freedom by setting out on a solo, grand tour of Europe. But what begins as the adventure of a lifetime, quickly explodes into a twisted untangling of centuries-old secrets as our protagonists are forced to flee from people who turn out to be much older—and somehow possess alarming otherworldly powers—than they originally appear. I am talking, of course, about vampires, and the two progenitors of the Corcitura are the stuff of nightmare: a half-wolf, half-vampire Vrykolakas and a five-hundred-year-old Upyr with an uncontrollable desire to create a hybrid creature to use as his own personal agent of destruction.

But vampires are just one facet of this story. Not only are the vampires horrifying, and their trickery something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, but they have fascinating backstories that are inextricably linked with one of the main protagonists and his family—especially his sisters, who have a crucial role to play in how this story works itself out. If you love seeing female vampire protagonists having a major role in the outcome of the story, then you will love the two in this book. Let’s hear it for the girls! They have enough history and chutzpah to fill volumes more—which is my intended plan. They also happen to be werewolves. And if that duality doesn’t intrigue you, I don’t know what will!

My current project is the book with the sharks that I was talking about before. It is a complete revamping and reworking of my original first novel that I began at the age of fourteen, but abandoned for school, life, and other projects. I have been working on it since July of 2012 and have been totally transforming it into a dystopian epic set in a brutal and lawless world. The entire theme and outcome of the story have changed drastically (the sharks were always there, although they are a much bigger part of the story now), but all the exciting bits (mythical beasts, hidden identities, battles, political intrigue, and some truly horrifying and treacherous villains) are still part of the fabric of the story. With the passage of years, however, everything within the story seems to have more meaning and gravitas to me now. It is definitely not the same book I would have written as a fourteen-year-old, so I am very happy I put the novel on hold.

Additionally, I am mapping out and reworking my fantasy duology (which I’ve also been writing since 2003—that was my banner year for creative ideas, it seems!) and am currently finishing up a collection of short comedy/fantasy/horror stories set in Eastern and Northern Europe in the 1800s. It has been an exciting challenge to essentially create mini-novels in 40 pages or less for this collection.   

Q:  How can readers connect with you?

A: I would love for readers to connect with me on any or all of the following sites:

My website:  http://www.booksinmybelfry.com/

Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/950456.Melika_Dannese_Lux

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/BooksInMyBelfry 

And if you want to contact me directly, here is my email: booksinmybelfry@hotmail.com

Erin:  Thank you so very much for sitting down and talking with me today. We wish you much continued success in all your creative pursuits!  It was so nice to get to learn more about you.

Melika:  This has been so much fun, Erin! Thanks for letting me share a bit of myself and my work with you and your readers! 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

City of Lights Tour Day #3: Review at Oh, For The Hook of a Book!

10 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Fun Stuff, News

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

A Bookish Affair, Amy Bruno, April, bloggers, Book Tours, cabaret in 1800s France, Cabarets, City of Lights, City of Lights by melika lux, City of Lights Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier, city of lights: the trials and triumphs of ilyse charpentier, Count Sergei Rakmanovich, Denise, Erin Al-Mehairi, Fin de siècle, France, Friendship, Germany, giveaways, Goodreads, Guest post, historical fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tour, Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tours, Ian McCarthy, Ilyse Charpentier, Interview, Let Them Read Books, Manon Larue, Mary L. Simonsen, Maurice Charpentier, Meg, Melika Dannese Lux, Melika Lux, Music, novels, Oh for the hook of a book, Paris, Phantom of the Opera, post-revolution France, promotion, Review, romance novels set in historic France, Sergei, Sergei Rakmanovich, shattered innocence, siblings, singers, So many books so little time, The Maiden's Court, The Painted Girls, Tours, true love, turn of the century France, Unabridged Chick, Vasily Markolovick 1894, villains, women writers 2013, writing C. W. Gortner

Hi Everyone!

What a fantastic way to start the day! 😀 Please stop by at Oh, For The Hook of a Book! to read Erin’s review of City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs Ilyse Charpentier.

http://hookofabook.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/city-of-lights-by-melika-lux-sets-the-stage-for-intrigue-drama-love-and-triumphs-in-historical-france/

Best wishes,

Melika

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

City of Lights Tour Day #2: Author Interview and Giveaway at A Bookish Affair and Review at So Many Books, So Little Time

09 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Fun Stuff, News

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2013, A Bookish Affair, Amy Bruno, April, bloggers, Book Tours, Cabarets, City of Lights, city of lights: the trials and triumphs of ilyse charpentier, Count Sergei Rakmanovich, Denise, Fin de siècle, France, Friendship, Germany, giveaways, Goodreads, Guest post, historical fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tour, Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tours, Ian McCarthy, Ilyse Charpentier, Interview, Let Them Read Books, Manon Larue, Maurice Charpentier, Meg, Melika Dannese Lux, Music, novels, Oh for the hook of a book, Paris, promotion, Review, Sergei, Sergei Rakmanovich, shattered innocence, siblings, singers, So many books so little time, The Maiden's Court, Tours, true love, Unabridged Chick psycho, Vasily Markolovick 1894, villains, writing

Greetings Everyone!

Exciting things are happening on day two of the City of Lights tour! Visit A Bookish Affair today for a chance to win a signed copy of the novel and also to read a guest post about what inspired me to become a writer and how that led me to the creation of City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier.

http://abookishaffair.blogspot.com/2013/04/hf-virtual-book-tours-guest-post-and.html

Then, stop by So Many Books, So Little Time to read Denise’s review of City of Lights!

http://somanybookssolittletimeblog.blogspot.com/

Finally! Someone who appreciates Sergei for the lovable little psycho he is! 😉

See you tomorrow! 😀

Best wishes,

Melika

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

City of Lights Tour Day #1: Review at A Bookish Affair

08 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Fun Stuff, News

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2013, A Bookish Affair, Amy Bruno, April, bloggers, Book Tours, Cabarets, City of Lights, city of lights: the trials and triumphs of ilyse charpentier, Count Sergei Rakmanovich, Fin de siècle, France, Friendship, Germany, giveaways, Goodreads, Guest post, historical fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tour, Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tours, Ilyse Charpentier, Interview, Let Them Read Books, Manon Larue, Maurice Charpentier, Meg, Melika Dannese Lux, Music, novels, Oh for the hook of a book, Paris, promotion, Review, Sergei Rakmanovich, shattered innocence, siblings, singers, So many books so little time, The Maiden's Court, Tours, true love, Unabridged Chick, Vasily Markolovick 1894, writing

Hi Everyone,

Today kicks off the virtual tour for City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier. Head on over to A Bookish Affair to read Meg’s review of COL!

http://abookishaffair.blogspot.com/2013/04/hf-virtual-book-tour-review-city-of.html

See you tomorrow at our next stop! 😀

Best wishes,

Melika

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Melika Dannese Lux on tour for City of Lights, April 8 – 12

03 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in News

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

1894, 2013, A Bookish Affair, Amy Bruno, bloggers, Cabarets, City of Lights, city of lights: the trials and triumphs of ilyse charpentier, Count Sergei Rakmanovich, Fin de siècle, France, Friendship, Germany, giveaways, Guest post, historical fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tour, Ian McCarthy, Ilyse Charpentier, Interview, Let Them Read Books, Manon Larue, Melika Dannese Lux, Music, novels, Oh for the hook of a book, Paris, promotion, Sergei Rakmanovich, shattered innocence, siblings, singers, So many books so little time, The Maiden's Court, Tours, true love, Unabridged Chick, writing

Tour Banner

 

Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Monday, April 8 Review at A Bookish Affair

Tuesday, April 9 Review at So Many Books, So Little Time Guest Post & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair

Wednesday, April 10 Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Thursday, April 11 Review & Giveaway at The Maiden’s Court

Friday, April 12 Review at Unabridged Chick Review & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books Interview & Giveaway at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

I hope to see you there! 😀

Best wishes,

Melika

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Enter for a chance to win a signed copy of City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier!

04 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Fun Stuff, News

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

1894, 19th century, 2013, April 2013, April 8-12, Blog Tour, brothers and sisters, cabaret, Cabarets, City of Lights, Count Sergei Rakmanovich, divas, family saga, Fin de siècle, France, giveaway, Goodreads, historical fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tour, Ian McCarthy, Ilyse Charpentier, Manon Larue, Maurice Charpentier, Melika Dannese Lux, novel, Paris, romance, secrets, shattered innocence, siblings, signed copy, singers, the Paris stage, true love, Virtual Blog Tour, writing

To coincide with the April 2013 Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tour for City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier, a signed copy of the novel is up for grabs starting today! Enter by April 8, 2013, for a chance to win, then join me for all the fun and excitement as City of Lights tours the blogosphere.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

City of Lights by Melika Dannese Lux

City of Lights

by Melika Dannese Lux

Giveaway ends April 08, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Check back in the coming weeks for more details about the tour.

Best wishes! 😀

Melika

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Why should I read City of Lights?

30 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Fun Stuff

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

backstage, brothers and sisters, cabaret, Cabarets, captive muse, choices, City of Lights, city of lights: the trials and triumphs of ilyse charpentier, clash of cultures, Count Sergei Rakmanovich, dance hall, decisions, defiance, divas, enchantment, family, family saga, France, French, French wine, Germany, gilded cage, glamour, glitz, greasepaint, Guinness, happiness, Ian McCarthy, Ilyse Charpentier, La Perle de Paris, life and death, Love, Manon Larue, Melika Dannese Lux, Munich, Music, Paris, Parisian, patron, romance, sacrifice, siblings, true love, Vasily Markolovick, wine, writing

Journey back in time to fin de siècle Paris, those heady days when dancehall divas captured everyone’s imagination. Glitz and glamour dripped from every corner of these clubs and their clientele, but backstage, the reality was entirely different. When the greasepaint came off, there was nothing but emptiness and the oppressive, ever present patrons who stifled your very essence, micromanaging your every move—choosing what you wore, whom you associated with, and even if you should associate with anyone at all. This is the world of Ilyse Charpentier, and after five years, she has grown tired of living a lie. She has fame, glory on the stage, but something she has always yearned for is missing: love.

And then one night, she meets her soul mate, Ian McCarthy, and experiences the giddiness of first love—the carefree euphoria, the “there is nothing in the world but you and I” freedom. This is different, this is real, and Ilyse is prepared to fight to claim what she has been denied for so long. But in her bliss, she has forgotten one thing. Casting aside a patron like Count Sergei Rakmanovich is not as easy as she first assumes. After all, this is the man with a boundless desire to control the lives of others, the man who went so far as to bestow a new identity on Ilyse to make her more appealing to the Parisian populace. At this point, the idea that City of Lights is simply a romance ceases, for giving up a life of privilege as the count’s captive muse has now become far more serious and consequential than Ilyse could have ever imagined, especially when the one thing she holds more precious than her own life becomes a pawn in the Count’s sadistic game: her estranged brother and only living relative, Maurice.

But although the struggles in this story are titanic and seemingly insurmountable, there must be laughter, which is provided by many characters, but most noticeably by Ian, for how can there not be mirth in a novel where an Englishman comes to Paris and falls in love with a French girl? Not only do we have the intrigue provided by the intertwined destinies of Ilyse, Maurice, Ian, and the Count, but we also have the clash of cultures as Ian tries to adjust to expatriate life in France. The battle is launched almost immediately during a very heated argument with a nationalistic French waiter over the merits of Guinness versus the vaunted wine of France—Ian’s foreign ignorance being, to the waiter, tantamount to a guillotining offence. This thread continues throughout the novel and serves to lighten the mood by offering moments of laughter and glimmers of hope to Ilyse for the future she and Ian might share, if only she is willing to grasp for it.

From the glittering palace of music and enchantment where Ilyse reigns supreme, to a fogbound train station in Munich, Germany, where only death awaits, you are taken on a whirlwind ride through the life of this young girl whose only wish was to believe that the City of Lights would hold some magic and romance for her, too. Yet although this is Ilyse’s story, everyone in her orbit is vitally important to bringing this saga to a close: ever faithful Manon, her best friend and confidante, whose bubbly exterior masks deep scars from her own ordeal at the hands of the count years before; Count Sergei Rakmanovich, the “cause of it all,” who will stop at nothing, not even murder, to have Ilyse for himself—as if controlling her every move for the past five years weren’t enough; Vasily Markolovick, Sergei’s lackey, who has always carried out his precious master’s wishes, until now; Maurice, too selfish to see his sister’s anguish, too stubborn to understand that he has abandoned her when she needs him most; Ian McCarthy, passionately in love with Ilyse and wildly different from anyone in her stifling world, a man for whom she would willingly flee the gilded cage.

And lastly, there is Ilyse, who is faced with an earth-shattering decision. Her choice will decide who lives and who dies. After being enslaved for so long, can she really give up her one chance at happiness to save the brother who loathes her?

Would you?

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

City of Lights Excerpt: Diva in the Wings

04 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Excerpts, Fun Stuff

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

1894, Cabarets, city of lights: the trials and triumphs of ilyse charpentier, Dancing, Excerpt, Fin de siècle, France, Friendship, Ilyse Charpentier, Manon Larue, Melika Dannese Lux, Paris, singers, writing

(For future reference, this excerpt will be permanently housed under its corresponding tab.)

Taken from City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier, Chapter 1, A Chance Meeting

       The balmy night air of August had served to fill the halls of La Perle de Paris to capacity once again. Not a seat was unoccupied, save one quiet table in a secluded, unlit corner of the club—a table that was always reserved. The chants had commenced long ago, a gradual build from a quiet murmur to a dull roar—“Coquette, Coquette, Vive la Coquette!” The raucous mob wanted their star, and in a moment, their hunger would be satisfied.
        “Ten minutes, everyone!” a burly man bellowed, pushing his way through a mass of tulle and silk. He made his way down the backstage corridor until he came upon a solitary girl stealing a peek through the Tyrian purple-hued curtains.
        “Ten minutes, Ilyse, get ready!” he ordered.
        “Yes, Giverne,” she returned, smiling, and watched as he huffed down the hall. In a moment, her olive-brown eyes were once again fixed upon the throng, and she resumed rehearsing her lines. “City of Lights, Paree, do you see?” she sang, “I am the Diva on the stage. Hope—” But her soft chanting was suddenly interrupted by a wild flurry running down the corridor. In an instant, the commotion materialized into a profusion of blonde tendrils, which framed a pleasant round face and a pair of large, over-bright blue eyes.
        “You’re late, Manon,” Ilyse said, trying to sound reproachful as she addressed the frazzled young woman.
       The girl panted stertorously while she tried to straighten her costume and smooth her unruly curls. “Well, you know how it is. Wardrobe problems.”
        “Yes,” Ilyse answered, a knowing smirk playing about the corners of her mouth. “I know exactly how it is … too much chocolat, no?”
       Manon stopped her primping and looked up at her dearest friend. “I can’t help it if I have a sweet tooth!” she blurted out. “Now stop all this nonsense and fasten me up, will you?”
        “Oh, very well,” Ilyse laughed, and abandoned her post to come to her disheveled friend’s rescue. “Now, hold it in.”
        “I can’t,” Manon squeaked.
        “Well, that’s because you’re not wearing your corset.”
        “Never!” Manon retorted as if someone had just accused her of killing Marat. “I can’t wear that monstrous thing. It crushes me terribly. And what’s more, I can’t even breathe with it on.”
        “No one ever said beauty was painless, darling,” Ilyse said, not having any luck in her struggle to hook the fasteners on Manon’s dress.
        “Well, this beauty will go without!”
        “Then it’s hopeless.” Ilyse sighed and released her hold on Manon’s costume. “You’ll have to play ‘Sourd et Muet’ tonight.”
        “Ah, ma foi, such is my fate.”
       For a time, silence reigned, each girl fighting not to be the first to laugh. Finally, as always, Ilyse was the first to break. “Oh, stop playing the martyr, you ridiculous fool!”
       Manon made a lavish bow and struck a theatrical pose. “Don’t you think we should use that in the act?” she suggested, her large cerulean eyes widening expectantly.
        “Oh, most definitely,” Ilyse acquiesced, still laughing. “If only we can get Giverne’s permission.”
        “Forget it, then. Now, enough about Giverne. Is my Marquis out there?”
       Before Ilyse had time to stop her, Manon had pulled back the curtain and poked her head into the hall. “Oh, I see him, the darling,” she cooed, spying her Marquis and flailing her bejeweled hand through the air in a gesture that was meant to be a wave but never amounted to more than a flash of rubies and emeralds.
        “Don’t wave at him, you fool!” Ilyse whispered, and just as she said this, the glare of the candlelit hall vanished and Manon found herself staring at a suffocating wall of purple velvet and her friend’s less-than-pleased face. “Discretion, Manon,” Ilyse reminded, fighting to repress the smile that was threatening to destroy her facade of seriousness, “discretion. We are not to be seen or heard until our grand entrance. How do you expect to keep the Marquis interested?”
        “I suppose that’s true,” Manon agreed. “But I couldn’t help taking just one peek.” Ilyse smiled at her impish friend and noticed that Manon’s irrepressible dimples had appeared—a certain sign of trouble. Whenever those two little indentations arose, Ilyse knew she had to do something to damp Manon’s mischief or there was no telling what social atrocity, however hysterical it might seem in hindsight—and there had been many—her friend might commit.
        “If you’re so interested in peeking, my little sprite, then I have a wonderful surprise for you.”
        “I love surprises!” Manon answered with glee.
        “You’re going to adore this one. Now, if you really want to peek, you must do it like so.” Ilyse took hold of Manon’s hand and drew back a corner of the curtain so that only a sliver of light shone through. “Look who’s here.”
        “Where, where?!” Manon squealed, her eyes roving over the crowded room.
        “Why, there in the back. If it isn’t Gaspard and his troupe of provincial darlings! Oh, what fun it will be for you to dance with them. And look! That fat one in the front has seen you! Oh, wave, Manon, wave and show him your smile! Make that Marquis of yours insanely jealous!” Ilyse uttered a musical little fake-laugh and gave Manon a playful shove.
       Manon let the curtain fall from her grasp as though it had singed her fingers and stared at Ilyse. “I find your humor lacking, Ilyse” Manon said sourly. “The last time I danced with Gaspard’s band of ruffians I couldn’t walk for a week and my feet will never forgive you for pushing me into that rustic’s arms!”
        “Oh, come now, Manon,” Ilyse laughed, “It’s my job to liven things up a bit, too. I can’t let you and your dimples have all the fun.”
        “All right, all right,” Manon said, rising to the challenge, “Well, I saw my Marquis, and I saw Gaspard and his bumpkins, God save my feet, but I didn’t see him.”
       The instant Ilyse heard this word, all her previous mirth vanished and a terrible mix of anger and fear roiled within her. “Sergei?”
        “No…No,” Manon stumbled. “Not him, never him. I meant your ‘one true love,’ of course.”
       Ilyse’s brow relaxed and her lips curled into a faint smile as she remembered the little secret she and Manon shared.
        “Oh, Manon, for the five years we have known one another, you’ve never missed an opportunity of showing me how hopelessly naïve I actually am. Well, who’s to say he’s not out there? What harm is there in hoping, however futile the hope may be? This nightly ritual is my escape. Don’t begrudge me this little reprieve.”
       Manon, usually so effervescent, seemed crushed by her dearest friend’s accusations and blushed with shame. “Ilyse, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I never meant to make light of your feelings. Don’t hold it against me, ma soeur, don’t.”
       Regardless of what had passed, Ilyse was incapable of holding a grudge against her confidant and only friend. “I know you meant no harm, Manon. Forgive me for acting so maudlin, it’s just that I feel as though I can’t keep up this charade much longer. If I didn’t have you to make me laugh and be my one light in this darkness, I don’t know how I could’ve survived all these years. He torments me by day with his ceaseless advances, and at night, even while I’m onstage, he finds a way to invade my peace. He’s always there, waiting for me to give in. But I swear I won’t. I don’t fear him as I did before. My fear has been overtaken by anger and turned to defiance. I hate him, Manon. It sickens my heart terribly.” Ilyse lifted her eyes and saw Manon standing motionless, lost in thought. Though she didn’t say a word, Ilyse knew exactly what was racing through Manon’s mind, for she had heard it all before—the painful memories of the past that bore uncanny similarities to the existence Ilyse had described. But in Manon’s circumstances, unspeakable terror had never allowed defiance to surface. She had been an impressionable young girl, dreaming of stardom, allowing him to lead her down a path from which there could be no return. He had robbed her of her fortune, although he was richer than all the kings of Europe combined, and destroyed everything she held dear. She refused his advances, and when she tried to escape, he committed a crime so drastic that she was forced to keep silent or die. Luc Dagenais had been her one true love, and the innocent Provencal had been murdered simply because he had given her his heart—an unpardonable offense in the eyes of her jealous patron. And so the years passed, and Manon fell out of favor, replaced by Gervaise, Collette, Brigitte, and finally Ilyse, who had become his most favorite of all. She had stayed for her dearest friend, and also because La Perle offered her the only respectable means of survival—a cabaret where she could earn a decent living without selling her soul to the devil himself. So was the fate of Manon Larue.
       And Ilyse knew the vicious cycle would continue until she herself put a stop to it. But those were thoughts for another moment, for the public would not be kept waiting. The crowd was restless. Violent invectives were being hurled, if the mob were not satisfied, chaos would break loose. The star’s time had come.
       Giverne blustered through the line of dancing girls, nearly stampeded Manon into oblivion, and snatched Ilyse by the arm. “You, now,” he boomed, “get onstage!!!” And before she had time to blink, he had already begun to raise the curtain.
        “Bonne chance, Ilyse!” Manon squealed, but her voice was drowned by the crowd’s rabid cries.
       La Petite Coquette had arrived!

©2005, 2013 Melika Dannese Lux and Books In My Belfry, LLC. Unauthorized use or reproduction of this excerpt without the author’s permission is strictly prohibited.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

City of Lights is an IBD Award Winner!!

Buy Deadmarsh Fey from Amazon.com (Click Image)

Buy Corcitura from Amazon.com (click image)

Buy City of Lights from Amazon.com (click image)

Like what you’ve read so far? Then make sure to click below, so that you can get the latest news, updates, and fun delivered straight to your inbox!

Join 248 other subscribers

Recent Posts

  • Meet the Author
  • Deadmarsh Fey Critical Praise: 5 Star Review from Tome Tender
  • About the Author
  • A Very Personal Interview + Book Giveaway
  • 10 Quotes From Deadmarsh Fey

Archives

  • June 2019
  • February 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • August 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • August 2016
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • August 2012
  • April 2012

Categories

  • Articles
  • Author Spotlight
  • Book Spotlight
  • Corcitura Feature
  • Deadmarsh Fey
  • Excerpts
  • Fun Stuff
  • Giveaway Announcement
  • Missives
  • News
  • Updates
February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Jun    

© Melika Dannese Lux and Books In My Belfry®, LLC, 2011-2018. Unauthorized use and/or reproduction of this blog’s content without the author’s permission is strictly prohibited.

Blog Stats

  • 7,977 hits
Map

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Books In My Belfry
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Books In My Belfry
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: