Mayra Calvani writes non-fiction and fiction in a variety of genres, including horror and paranormal romance. I’ve just finished reading her latest book, Dark Lullaby, and would like to welcome Mayra to Paranormal Watch.

1. What fascinates you about the paranormal? What are your favorite subjects within this genre?

The paranormal fascinates me because it’s a mystery, it represents the ‘unknown’, and it’s something that cannot be explained by the established laws of science. But this fascination pretty much ends with my writing and love for paranormal fiction. To be involved with the paranormal beyond this ‘safe’ ground, I would find frightening.

Within this genre, my favorite subjects are vampires and ghosts. I love strongly atmospheric supernatural fiction that is deep in characterization and can offer the reader something beyond a mere scary read. Since this is the type of fiction I enjoy reading, it’s also the type of fiction I try to write. I detest gore, but love the unusual and bizarre.

2. I liked the way you wrote from a man’s perspective. Was that challenging?

It was the first time I did that and I found it very interesting. Since my brother, who happens to be an astrophysicist just like my protagonist, was my model, it wasn’t as difficult as I originally thought it would be. I just kept thinking, ‘How would he react to this situation?’ Of course, because of plot purposes I went a step further and drove the protagonist to extremes, but having someone I actually know as an inspiration helped a lot.

3. When I first started reading Dark Lullaby, I expected Kamilah to be a vampire because it seems that everyone is writing about them these days. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that she was something else. What interests you about Turkish folklore?

Yes, I think that when people start reading Dark Lullaby they make that assumption—to tell you the truth, I did that partly on purpose to mislead the reader up to a point. I thought this way the ending would be more surprising. Certainly some of the passages in the story–Gabriel’s disorientation after ‘kissing’ Kamilah, his helplessness under her power, her alluring beauty and psychic ability, etc.—could be mistaken to be vampire related. Kamilah acts in many ways like a vampire. Since you’ve read the novel, you probably know what I’m referring to—I don’t want to give away any spoilers! The way she ‘feeds’ could be described as a form of vampirism, though not in the regular sense.

I lived almost five years in Turkey, so this was a big influenced on me. There I heard many stories about the cin (pronounced jinn). The whole idea fascinated me. And what’s even stranger is that many, many people believe in these supernatural beings. The cin has similarities to what we call ‘fairy’, but it’s something very different. For the Turkish people, a cin is a being that originates from the forests, though it may appear to people in the cities as well. It is volatile, childish, easily angered, and delights in playing pranks on its victims. These pranks can be from harmless to fatal. They eat the liver of humans (nobody really knows how) and they have backward feet. The image haunted me for a few years before I was able to actually sit down and write the story.

In Dark Lullaby, I used all this folklore but took it a step further, creating my own mythology of the melinka as the souls of aborted infants. So the melinka don’t exist in reality; they were my creation.

I’ve always loved to add an exotic element to my fiction. In my first novel, Embraced by the Shadows, for instance, the vampire was Turkish. The novel I’m working on now, a paranormal thriller about wolves, is set in the French countryside. I’ve always loved to add that foreign element to my work.

4. I almost felt like I was there when Gabriel was running through the Turkish forest. You described it so well, especially one scene that had an interesting take on what happens to the souls of aborted babies. What inspired that scene?

Thank you. I’m glad you liked that scene, because that’s my favorite scene in the whole book. I think it’s by far the creepiest segment as well. I don’t remember exactly what inspired that part. In Turkish folklore, the cin live in trees. I think the idea of the faces on the bark of the trees came to me spontaneously as I was writing. Trees can be beautiful but if they’re huge and in a dark dense forest, they can be eerie too. It felt so right to write that scene, though, as if everything had fallen into place. It made sense.

5. What other books have you written that my readers would be interested in?

My first paranormal novel, Embraced by the Shadows, was published last year. Though there are elements of romance, it’s not a standard romance novel per say. I think mainstream paranormal would be a better way to describe it. Readers may find out more about it on my website, www.MayraCalvani.com.

6. Are you currently working on any future books within the paranormal genre? If so, when will they be released and where?

As I mentioned, I’m currently working on another paranormal novel set in the French countryside. It is about wolves and about a strange cult of wolf-people. I’ve tried to create my own werewolf mythology. Wolves are amazing animals and I intend to put wolves in good light. I have done a lot of research this past year and I’m appalled by the crimes committed against them, especially in France. I even adopted a baby wolf earlier this year! Her name is Chito and you can see her pictures here: http://www.everythingwolf.com/gallery/gallerysearchresults.aspx. My aim is to deliver a good story but at the same time bring the wolves’ situation into the minds of the people. Hopefully, the book will be out in the fall of 2008.