Apr 26, 2010

Nicole Hadaway - Guest Blog and Giveaway



It is such a pleasure to welcome author Nicole Hadaway to PVN. Her novel Release is set in Europe during the final days of WWII. Vampires are involved of course but so are fallen angels and their progeny the Nephilim. Today Nicole discusses that aspect of the back-story for Release. [see contest details at end of post]




Angels, Angels Everywhere!

No doubt about it – vampires have now come out of cult classics and into mainstream culture, and audiences are discovering what we vamp fans have known for a long time – the supernatural is very, way cool. With the advent of our fanged friends (or foes!) into popular books, movies and TV shows, other supernatural creatures are now entering the spotlight.

Zombies were all the rage in 2009, and it seems that 2010 is shaping up to be the Year of the Angel.   From television and Supernatural to the film Legion, to the novel Angelology, angels are cropping up everywhere, and I thought I’d take this time today to share with you some of what I learned about researching angel lore for my own novel, Release, which I started writing in Fall ’08 and finished in Spring ‘09.

Release is meant to be a ‘vampire novel’, though when I asked myself the question, “But where do my vampires come from?” I found myself drawing largely from Judeo Christian texts and legends. Stuff not in the Bible, but very interesting (perhaps because it wasn’t in the Bible? ;-). While writing Release, I thought it would be fun to for my vampires to have demon friends, and that lead me (again) to angel lore, in particular, the Nephilim.

The Nephilim do make an appearance in the Bible, though not too much is said about them, just this:

“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days – and also afterward – when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”  (Genesis 6:4).

The Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilees (both apocrypha, i.e., Dead Sea Scrolls not in the Bible) delve into the creatures in much more detail. Quite a story it is, worthy of the best daytime soap opera!

Sometime after Adam and Eve got kicked out of Eden, but before the Flood, About 200 angels were sent to Earth by God to watch over humans. These angels were termed ‘Watchers’ or ‘Grigori’, and they watched the mortals, a little too well! The sons of God (angels) found the daughters of men (human women) to be very beautiful, so much, in fact, that the angels took the women as wives and had children with them – these children were called Nephilim. Unfortunately, the Nephilim were ravenous giants who proceeded to devour every living thing on earth, including most of the human population.

As if marrying mortal women (angels were heavenly creatures and were complete in and of themselves, without the need for wives) and producing Nephilim giants who terrorized the earth wasn’t bad enough, the Grigori also decided to share their angelic knowledge with humans. Azazael taught men how to make weapons and jewelry, and he – gasp! – taught women how to wear eyeshadow and eyeliner. The angels Semjaza and Aramos taught how to use herbs and roots to make spells; Baraqijal and Kokabel taught astrology and constellations, whereas Ezequeel showed his knowledge of the clouds; Araqiel taught the signs of the earth, Shamsiel the signs of the sun, and Sariel the course of the moon.

When God looked down upon the earth and saw the Nephilim eating the mortals, not to mention women wearing eyeliner, He decided at that point that it would be better to start the whole process over after a nice, cleansing flood, leaving a few chosen humans (Noah and his family) to repopulate the earth. I’m thinking that God’s relaxed his ways a lot since we still have weapons, jewelry, and even guyliner on earth today and he’s not freaked out – at least, not yet ;-).


So what happened to the Watchers who started all this nonsense? Well, they got theirs – Azazael got in trouble the most (even though it was Semjaza’s idea to take the mortal women as wives) and for that he got chained to a rock and covered in darkness; the rest of the Watchers were bound and placed in a valley of the earth until Judgment Day.

But what of the Nephilim? They couldn’t help the fact that they were born as ravenous giants, right? God was planning on having them fight each other until the Nephilim were no longer, It was here that Enoch interceded and begged God to show mercy on the giants.  God decided that since the Nephilim were being born from angels, spiritual beings, that 10% of their spirits should be allowed to roam the earth and cause trouble for mortals. (see the Book of Jubilees).

Whew! And you thought the Greek and Norse myths had drama!

Of course, there are discrepancies – The Book of Enoch makes no mention of the percentage of Nephilim spirits allowed to roam the earth, whereas the Book of Jubilees, gives the 10% number. All in all, from these stories I think you can see that angels and their lore are fascinating and make for great characters in novels, movies, and shows.

If you’re interested in checking out how I blended vampires with Nephilim, Fallen Angels, and the world at war, then you can buy a copy here: http://ebookundead.com.



Author Bio: Nicole Hadaway is a former lawyer who now spends her time writing and taking care of her family in Texas. She is the author of the literary paranormal novel, Release, which features vampires in a World War II setting, as well as the short story New Orleans, 1842, a short story about a vampire tangling with voodoo in early 19th-century Crescent City. Ms. Hadaway is currently working on the sequel to Release entitled Return, which takes place during the fall of 2001 in New York City. She blogs at http://nicole-hadaway.blogspot.com and at http://doubletoilandtrouble.blogspot.com



 
 CONTEST

This contest is closed.

Two lucky readers will win an ecopy of Release. Contest is international!

*To enter:  Nicole would like an answer to this question: "What's your favorite angel in film and why?"

You may also:

*Link to this contest on any of the social network sites, including Twitter, or your own web page. Let me know the url:  One chance for each link.
 

*If you are a Google follower (see sidebar on right): One chance
 

*If you are a member of the PVN Facebook page: One chance
 

*If you are an email subscriber: One chance

*If your email is not associated with your ID, please put the address in your response.

This contest closes May 3, 2010.

30 comments:

SandyG265 said...

I can't say that I've seen a lot of angel movies. The only one I can think of is Heaven Can Wait from the 1970s. I liked it because of theinteraction between the characters and the humor.

Unknown said...

I can't say I have seen alot of angle movies. None come to mind that I can think of but I am very interested in reading about angels. Please enter me in contest. Thank you. Tore923@aol.com

Julie S said...

I'm not entering the contest, but I just wanted to say wow about the back story with the angels and their spawn. I had no idea those stories existed, how exciting. Now I want to read this story even more. Can't wait till paperback (and yes I own the ecopy but don't have a decent reader for it and don't want to print it out)! Nicole is awesome. Just sayin ;)

Unknown said...

My favorite Angel is Micheal, from Micheal with John Travolta. He was so funny and very cool in that movie. The dancing scene's were my favorite.

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I stumbled it too.
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Tala said...

Clarence Oddbody from It's a Wonderful Life. He wasn't perfect but still he tried & he made me laugh.

talaminari @ gmail.com

misskallie2000 said...

My favorite Angel is Micheal, from Micheal with John Travolta. I love john Travolta and just loved this movie.

Great Interview..

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Suzanne Johnson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Suzanne Johnson said...

Great post, Nicole! My favorite angels on film are in "Dogma," in which Ben Affleck and Matt Damon play ousted angels trying to find a loophole back into heaven. (And Alannis Morissette plays God, if I'm remembering correctly.)

Boone Brux said...

Hmmm, I guess I'm partial to Gabriel, can't think of the yummy guy that plays him and now plays on Spartacus. Nothing like a tortured angel who needs some comfort.

Boone

Zahir Blue said...

Metraton from "Dogma" played by Alan Rickman. He is my favorite angel in film, not least because he's quietly sarcastic in the face of so much reason for angst and tears.

Mind you, if you check out the special features in "Love, Actually" you'll learn that the Rowan Atkinson character was supposed to be an angel, one quietly acting in tiny ways to make things better. I liked that.

But my favorite fallen angel would have to be Lucifer in "Prophecy" played by Viggo Mortensen--the one who helps mankind defeat the rebellious angels simply because as he puts it 'Two hells is one too many.'

Lisa Richards/alterlisa said...

John Travolta as Michael. He shows the freedom that an angel might command if living among mortals. He drinks, smokes, is after women and in general has a good old time.

I'm a follow on GFC-Lisa Richards

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Laurie T said...

My favorite angel film is Wim Wender's "Wings of Desire." It's artful, shot in black-and-white, and is a love story between an angel and the sad trapeze artist he falls in love with. It's a lovely film.

Honolulu Girl-Suz said...

I am a google follower.
I did tweet your contest. @truebldtwilight

I have no favorite Angel in a movie, but I did like Malchia in Anne Rice's Angel Time.

cullensookie@gmail.com

Unknown said...

Hi Nicole!

Not entering because I've already already read Nicole's book, and it really very good. Character driven, good plot with a twist at the end. Anyone who wins it, is going to enjoy it!

My favorite angel movie (or as close to an angel movie I can think of besides My Date With An Angel) is Over Her Dead Body, lol. He's a vet whose new girlfriend is haunted by his almost wife (squished by the wedding ice sculpture). The almost wife doesn't understand that she needs to see him happy to earn her place in heaven. It was fun, and I love Paul Rudd.

Dottie :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for hosting me today, Patricia -- I very much enjoyed being here. And thanks to everyone who stopped by and told us about their favorite angels!

heatwave16 said...

I loved Dogma. Such a funny film...who doesn't love Alanis as God...just too funny.

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buddyt said...

I am a John Travolta fan so I would agree with the others that his performance as Michael was one that has stuck in my mind.

I suppose in an odd sort of way his character was an attempt to "humanize" angels.

Thanks.

Carol T

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I subscribe to the emails.

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Jack C. Young said...

If I may interject a forgotton angel, I have to vote for the Angel of Death (aka "Prince Sirki") played by Frederick March in "Death Takes A Holiday" (1934).
March really makes you feel the surpassing loneliness of the Last Messenger, who yet draws an innocently spritual young woman to himself, almost in spite of himself.
Awesome picture.
Please enter me in the contest.

EC said...

Great review - learned a few things too. Release is an excellent novel; congrats, Nicole, and best of luck with Return.

Anonymous said...

I really like City of Angels with Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan. Also like Meet Joe Black/Brad Pitt & What Dreams May Come with Robin Williams.

I am a follower - pams00

subscriber - pams00@aol.com

FrankSandy said...

I like the angel in It's a Wonderful Life. He looks like an angel should.

I subscribe by e-mail.

I follow you on Google.

walkerd@primus.ca

dsandyboy said...

I like TRravolta in Michael; he behaves contrary to what an angel should.

I follow you on Google.

dsandyboy@gmail.com

Marilyn Adam said...

I loved Nick Cage in "City of Angels"

Camille said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Camille said...

Is it bad that I can't think of ANY angels films even when I KNOW as a movie buff I have seen a whole heap of them? They all must not have been very well done lol I guess I can conclude that angels are better represented in books & heck, tv with Supernatural, than in Hollywood.

I enjoyed the sombre tone of Meet Joe Black, the romance of City of Angels and the sexy actor in Gabriel lol Though I can't say I've loved any of these films!

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