Guest Post: I’m a fangirl by Christi J Whitney

I was intrigued by the Christi J Whitney’s description when I signed up to participate in the blog tour for her novel, Grey, and jumped at the chance to host a guest post from her . . . I should, perhaps, acknowledge that I’m a Whovian, too – read on to find out more from Christi J Whitney. . . .

I’m a fangirl.

The truth is, I was a fangirl before the terminology was even a thing. When I was in middle and high school, it was tough enough being a girl. Tougher still when you were a girl who also happened to be a geek. And I don’t mean the ‘good at science’ kind of geek – although I was an honor student and all that. I mean the ‘oh, I didn’t know you were into that kind of stuff’ kind of geek.

We live in a glorious world in 2016. It’s become chic to be a geek – to be into superhero films and sport all kinds of fandom t-shirts. But when I was a teenager, I downplayed my love for fantasy novels, comic books, and sci-fi quite a lot. I was a drama kid, so I was already ‘artsy’ and ‘creative’. I didn’t feel comfortable adding more to that. If I could change anything about my teen years, it would be my confidence.

I was bitten with the fantasy bug when I was eight years old, and I read The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis. It opened my eyes to the sheer awesomeness that was fantasy world building. Tolkien fueled the flames, and from there, I devoured all kinds of fantasy series, including the Dragonlance and the Shannara series.

I stumbled upon reruns of a weird British science fiction show one night when I was twelve years old. This crazy guy with a long scarf kept running around the universe in a big blue box. I immediately fell in love with the Doctor, and that hasn’t changed (no matter how many regenerations I’ve gone through with the Time Lord). Doctor Who remains my favorite television series of all time.

But if I had to choose the one genre that really captivated me, if would have to be urban fantasy. I love the idea of extraordinary worlds existing right alongside ours.

At the heart of all these stories, however – whether science fiction or fantasy – was the thing I really fangirled over, though.

Characters.

I’ve never really been one for the dashing hero. I swoon over them, of course, but they aren’t the ones I’m really drawn to. I’m not really into the ‘bad boy’ character, either. I like my heroes to be intelligent, witty, and compassionate. But if I have to honest, I mostly find myself fixated on the sidekick. I think it’s because they are often the outsider. Slightly awkward. Funny. Flawed. Sweet or goofy. Basically average. And there’s something compelling about that. I have so many favorites, spanning all kinds of genres – from Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings to Simon Lewis in The Mortal Instruments. I also love the character who has something thrown at him, something he can’t control. He didn’t ask for it, and he doesn’t want it. But he has to figure out how to come to terms with what’s happening to him.

I’ve always wanted to write that type of character.

For me, writing The Romany Outcasts Series was my chance to fangirl in another way. I was able to take those qualities I love in characters from all my favorite fandoms and make them my own. Sebastian Grey will always have a special place in my heart as an author. He’s an average teen whose supposedly normal life is interrupted by something life-changing, something completely out of his control. His struggle to navigate his way through those changes has been a blast to write, and I love every minute of it.

Like I said, I’m a fangirl.

So am I – thank you so much for your guest post! I’m also a great fan of Christi’s novel, Grey, go check out my review and the blog tour for it here. It includes an excerpt from the novel to whet your appetite and a rafflecopter giveaway where you have the chance to win yourself an e-copy of Grey or its sequel – Good luck!

Many thanks to Christi J Whitney for her post and to Bewitching Book Tours for organising this post and the tour.