Underground Angels

FAQ

FAQ:

When/how did you come up with the idea for Underground Angels?

When I was quite young, actually. This was before Percy Jackson came out, and I had a class on Greek mythology, and we looked at Cassandra the Seer. Obviously my teacher left out the rape bits, but I thought it was really cool. I then had the idea of what it would be like to be a descendant of Cassandra, or the kid of a God. I think I went to a festival around that time, and that's how I came up with the idea of a festival for demigods and creatures. I wrote it down and came up with Noel and Stephan and Constantine first, actually. Gabriel and Lola I came up with later. Around this time Percy Jackson came out, so whoops. I held onto the idea though, and came back to it in August of 2013; I was vacationing in Greece, and I was compelled to begin. And here we are.

Are you like Noel?

In some ways, hell yes. Others, nah. I can't tell the future, for one. But I do love Harry Potter and Star Wars, but I don't really wear a lot of merch. I can't quote Star Wars, but I can mouth along to all the Harry Potter movies. She also dresses cooler than I do. I also don't have a demigod boyfriend who has a nice car. Mine has a cat, which makes me sneeze. I do however have a black and white postcard collection, which I started before the above-mentioned vacation in Greece. We'd be buds I think.

Character full names?

Noel Olive Lewis, Gabriel John Darcy, Stephan Isaac Ballard, Constantine Tarek Shaw, Lola Dawn Hughes, Corrine Sarah Noble, Edward (Ned) Richard Walker.

What does everyone do after UA?

Noel does a major English lit, specializing in fantasy and myths. She then writes books that become cult classics, and spends a lot of time folded away in her office writing. Constantine becomes a teacher, teaches biology to high school students. Gabriel becomes a social worker, but eventually becomes a lawyer to make more of a difference. Stephan becomes and engineer and designs super fucking awesome cars. Lola becomes a journalist and does a lot of travelling, writing about the badass stuff she does (a lot of cliff jumping, sky diving, eating really, really spicy food, etc). She eventually settles in New York though.

DO NOEL AND GABRIEL GET MARRIED? DO THEY HABE BABIES? WHAT ABOUT CONSTANTINE AND VERITY? WHO GETS TOGETHER? WHO HAS KIDS? WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES? (Verbatim an actual private message I have received haha)

Yes! Noel and Gabriel don't actually get married until after they've had their daughter, Salome (sah – loh – may). She was sort of planned? Lola adopts three kids from the boarding house between 2026 and 2034, and later meets her husband Nigel in 2037. Everyone was born in 1996, so add 3 years onto each year if you want to know how old they were when the kiddos were born/adopted.

Noel Lewis & Gabriel Darcy

Salome Elizabeth Lewis-Darcy – 2027 (sah – loh – may)

Ruben Oliver Lewis-Darcy - 2031

Verity Ramsey & Constantine Shaw

Ianthe Ramsey-Shaw – 2026 (eye – an – tha)

Linus Ramsey-Shaw – 2029

Jule Iro & Stephan Ballard

Adelaide (Addy) Ballard – 2032

Maude Ballard – 2036

Lola Hughes

Eugene Hughes – 2026 (Adopted from the boarding house at 8 in '34)

Kenneth Hughes – 2031 (Adopted from the boarding house at 5 in '36)

Georgia Hughes – 2034 (Adopted from the boarding house at 4 in –'38 )

Why did you call the book 'Underground Angels'?

Three-ish reasons, for the angle bit. One, Gabriel calls Noel 'Angel'; two, Gabriel is an angel in the bible, who delivers explanations for Daniel's visions, and in Islam Gabriel is an archangel whom God is believed to have sent with revelation to various prophets; and three, Gabriel looks like a fucking angel. He's beautiful. As for the underground part – well, Gabriel is kept in the underworld.

How did Gabriel and Lola first meet? (and the rest of the gang) Some back story on the Gabriel/Lola thing?

They met through the demigod parenting group! Tarek Shaw told Elizabeth Darcy about it, and all the kiddos met there. Lola really liked Gabriel, as we all know, and a few months before his mother died she just couldn't hold it in any longer and blurted it out – he was completely surprised, but both Constantine and Stephan were all "duh, dude. She's pretty obvious". Anyway, he let her down gently, cause he sees her as a sister. Lola was pretty prickly for a while, but mostly got over it, though her crush didn't really fade.

Can you give us some backstory on Gabriel's mom, Elizabeth Darcy?

Elizabeth was a nurse in the Navy, where she met Tarek Shaw, Constantine's father. They kept in touch over the years, and it was Tarek who told her about the Demigod parent support group. Elizabeth decided to move to New York to give Gabriel a community of people like him, as there was none in Aytonville.

Why Hades was drawn to Elizabeth is rather unclear. She dealt with death and illness, but fought it rather than benefited from it; perhaps Hades was curious about that. They met in Spain, when Elizabeth was on break. He was in 'disguise' as a war journalist, and they hit it off. It was a bit of a whirlwind, they spent three weeks in Spain, and Elizabeth realized she was pregnant the day before she was supposed to return to the Navy. She told Hades, and he confessed to being a God and split pretty quick. He was kind of an ass, and Elizabeth knew he was just with her for a fling, but she didn't want to abort or give up her baby. So she kept it, and moved back to Aytonville with her mother.

Will there be another book, or a short story on Constantine?

Uhhh, no other book with Noel, but maybe a short story about Constantine. I never got to put it into the book, it just didn't really come up, but he's bisexual, and there was some discovery before he met Verity that I'd like to write. He ends up with a girl, but he is attracted to both sexes equally.

Any new books coming up?

Yes! My new series Dawn is being put together. The prologue is up, so check that out – if you liked this, you'll really like Dawn. The main character, Ollie, is ½ faerie ½ human, and she has lots of mystical friends! (including a two trolls, another ½ faerie, a holder, and a selkie). Its going to be a good time.