Interview with Tracy Deebs

How did this idea for this book come to you ?  Why this topic and do you have a favorite character ? 

 

First off, thanks so much for having me here today J  I appreciate it.

The idea for Doomed came to me in a couple of different steps.    I’ve always loved the Pandora myth and have always wanted to write a book from her point of view because I think she got a bad rap (as women tend to do in mythology).  The original Greek myth has Pandora created from clay as a punishment for Prometheus for stealing fire from the gods—so she was specifically created to bring trouble to him and to do exactly what she did, so I find it very hard to blame her for that.  Prometheus, of course, knows Zeus is unhappy with him and knows he wouldn’t be sending him a gift without strings attached, so he refuses Pandora.  He warns his brother, Epimetheus, to do the same, but Epimetheus is less of a planner and much more impetuous than Prometheus.  He accepts Pandora in what is one of the first love triangles ever and the rest is history …

I wanted to bring those aspects of the story to Doomed, so I created Pandora, Theo (Prometheus) and Eli (Epimetheus), as well as Pandora’s father who is directly  responsible for the evil that Pandora unleashes.  But I had originally planned to set the story in New Orleans and have her accidentally open a crypt in one of the cemeteries which would bring down a bunch of natural disasters, plagues, etc.  Then, one day at the very beginning of the planning process, my agent asked this fateful question: “What if she opens an attachment instead of a box?”  The idea fascinated me and in the next few weeks, I worked like a crazy woman putting together a synopsis for Doomed that included a Stuxnet type worm that brings down civilization as we know it, an MMO called Pandora’s Box that starts it all, a countdown to nuclear annihilation (Fukishima, the Japansese power plant that had a meltdown was going on at this time, with its inability to deliver electricity that caused the leaks and just fit perfectly into the book), and a real-life scavenger hunt for Pandora to go on to try to stop the destruction of the world as we know it. 

I didn’t want her to be alone, as the mythological Pandora wasn’t alone, so I created my own versions of the Titans Prometheus and Epimetheus to go along with her.  Theo, like Prometheus, is wicked smart, talented, strong, a careful (sometimes too careful) planner and willing to sacrifice himself for the cause. Eli is a total charmer. He’s fun, exciting, impetuous (often too impetuous) and is the life of the party. 

Like the characters from the Greek myth, all three of my main characters make mistakes, but all three also have a lot of redeeming qualities about them (at least I think so).  I love Pandora, but feedback from my editor, agent, copy editor, friends, fans and just about everybody, seems to have Theo way out ahead in the whole favorite character game, and I have to admit I love him, too.  But then, I also really like Eli, so, hmm, maybe I have three favorite characters from this book …

Thanks again for having me!!!

Thanks so much Tracy for being here and my Review will be up next