Denise Rossetti

Dear Reader,

I’m not a cruel woman, despite what my children may tell you, but oh my goodness, I do enjoy a healthy dose of angst. Specifically, I love putting my characters through the tortures of the damned. The harder the struggle, the sweeter the final redemption.

What could be more impossible than to be at war with yourself? With your fundamental sense of self, your code of honor. Suppose that any choice you make will destroy you—and there is no other choice but to make a choice?

Ah… Luscious.

I’m a sensate person. When I’m out shopping, I like to raise fruit to my nose for a sniff or stroke dress fabrics on the rack as I pass. So in The Flame and the Shadow I created a man who embodies that internal conflict in an external, physical way. Imagine seeing the worst part of your personality rise up, manifested as a dark copy of yourself. The idea sent shivers down my spine so, of course, I had to write it.

Grayson, Duke of Ombra, is a sorcerer of shadows. He is literally at war with himself, because his shadow, a dark entity he calls Shad, has an independent life of its own. Much more than Gray’s mortal life is at stake. He and Shad are fighting for control of his sanity and his soul. By the time Gray meets Cenda, a fire witch struggling with a crushing burden of grief, he will do anything to win the battle.

Anything at all.

—Denise Rossetti