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Friday, August 23, 2013

Guest Post by Solstice High Author Ardash Vartparonian



Why did you choose to give your characters the superpowers that you did?

I’d have to say that when I created the characters in my head they came sort of pre-packaged- as in, with their powers already, but I definitely had a specific reason for combining powers with the kids’ personalities.

Matt, for example, was always the ‘weakest’ out of the four; not just physically but emotionally as well. Because he’d always been bullied and has really low self-esteem, I wanted to mix that up by giving him something empowering. His ability to mimic certain animal features, such as wings and claws, and have a sort of primal ‘alter-ego’ inside him is a direct contradiction to the meek and insecure aspect of Matt. I thought, this is a kid who’s never been strong in any way, and now suddenly he can probably overpower anyone who crosses him. What would that feel like? Obviously it would be liberating, it would taste like relief at first because strength can trump fear, but what happens when his animalistic side takes over? Matt is suddenly stronger than others, but at the same time he needs to be strong with himself, he needs to impose his own will over his primitive urges and instincts that are sometimes overwhelming him. All of the characters have to struggle with their powers, but I wanted Matt to struggle the most to show that he could actually accomplish it, that his own will as a human being was stronger than this new side of him. I also thought that it would be an interesting metaphor for his sexuality; Matt isn’t in the closet, but the reader can assume that at one point in his life he was, and having Matt guard himself so closely in order not to slip up and let the ‘animal’ out is something gay people can relate to. It’s challenging, having to always be on guard, and being scared of the consequences of what could happen if you slip up, but the balance Matt achieves by the end of accepting his animal side makes him all the more powerful, just like many people feel when they come out of the closet.

Rochelle was interesting because I thought, here’s a girl who has everything and can do anything and basically get away with murder because of her looks and charms and dominating nature. What if I give her more power? I gave her telekinesis because I thought it would be interesting to sort of super-size Rochelle. It would kind of blow her up to larger-than-life proportions, but the consequence of this is that she would have to learn to restrain herself, something she never really gave much thought to before having powers. So, basically, this is a seventeen-year-old spoiled princess-type who has to figure out on her own that she has way too much power on her hands, and how easily she can abuse that power. At first Rochelle thinks it’s all fun-and-games, but she does come around when she realizes that with her power, being able to move things with her mind, she could, for example, stop a beating human heart if she wanted to or break a spine. She can’t afford to be out of control anymore; she can’t afford to do whatever she wants because she’s basically too powerful. I wanted Rochelle to suddenly become this warrior of epic proportions but then make her own way down from the pedestal she’s been so used to ruling from her whole life.

Giving Daphne pyrokensis, being able to generate fire and cause things to explode was a bit of an aesthetic choice (red-headed girl with bright green eyes with flames running down her body), but at the same time, it fit with her personality. Daphne is probably the least emotionally stable of the four characters, and in a way that’s like fire, because you never know when things can blow up or how close you can get to a flame before getting burned. If Matt is the low rung of the emotional ladder and Rochelle is the top, then Daphne would be running up and down constantly. She’s not completely unpredictable like Rochelle, but when she does explode she’s probably the fiercest and scariest out of the four, and I thought this worked nicely with fire. Also, like Matt and Rochelle, Daphne would have to learn that her outbursts have really damaging consequences, probably more so than Rochelle even. A small thing might trigger Daphne, and this might set her on fire, and while Rochelle’s power is invisible Daphne’s isn’t. It’s fire. It isn’t a joke. If you can’t control a fire it will keep spreading until there’s nothing left to burn. Also, because Daphne is probably the most repressed character out of the four, she’s kind of like a ticking time-bomb, and with the power she wields you just know that’s not a good thing. Repressing feelings can only go on for so long; at some point you reach a breaking-point, and I wanted to see what would set this girl off, what would make her blow up (and literally blow up the things around her).

Jonas was the most intriguing I think because while the other three have an offensive power, Jonas has a defensive one. And he hates that. Jonas is the sort of guy who would jump in front of a bus for his friends without a second thought, and now suddenly, when he’s used to being on the frontlines, he’s stuck at the back because he can only heal himself. I thought it would be interesting to give such a selfless character a, as he himself describes it, ‘selfish’ power. Also, I wanted to shake things up a bit with a sort of gender-bender. The two girls and the gay character are the ones at the front now, leading the attack, while the straight boy, who is normally in other literature and media the one in that position, is now stranded at the back despising himself because he can’t ‘attack’ the way his friends can and can only defend himself. I wanted to explore ideas of masculinity and what it meant to Jonas to have a defensive power; would he feel like less of a man or would it hurt him because he just wants to protect his friends, regardless of his sex?


I’m not sure if readers can pick up on all the reasoning and thoughts I had for giving the characters the powers I did, but it definitely made it more interesting for me as an author to flesh the kids out and bring them alive in my mind’s eye. Their powers were not randomly chosen and are more than an extended side to them; in some ways they reflect the inner personas of these kids.

Solstice High Web Friendly Tour Schedule
So Many Precious Books July 3 Review & Giveaway
Shelf Addiction July 5 Review, Interview , & Giveaway
Heck of a Bunch July 8 Review
Jessabella Reads July 8 Guest Post  &  Giveaway
Saving for 6 July 9 Review & Giveaway
Romance Bookie July 15 Review
Cmfg! Books July 16 Review
Cmfg! Books July 17 Guest Post  & Giveaway
Ordinary Girlz July 18 Review A Walk on Words July 19 Interview
Little Lovely Books July 23 Review Little Lovely Books July 24 Guest Post
Ja čitam, a ti? Jul 25 Review & Giveaway
In This of World of Books July 26 Review
Sammy the Bookworm July 29 Review
JC's Book Haven July 29 Review
Teen Blurb July 30 Review
Teen Blurb July 31 Guest Post  & Giveaway
Cozie Corner Aug 1 Review
Every Free Chance Aug 5 Review & Giveway
Dab of Darkness  Aug 6 Review
Little Book Star Aug  7 Review
Laurie's Paranormal  Aug 8 Interview
Between the Lines  Aug 12 Review
Sweeps4Bloggers Aug 13 Review & Giveaway
Synchronised Reading  Aug 15 Review & Guest Post
Book Mark Belles Aug 19 Review
Book Mark Belles Aug 20 Interview
Serendipity  Aug 20 Review
Serendipity Aug 21 Interview
Networking Witches Aug 21 Review & Giveaway
Manic Mama of 2 Aug 22 Review
Moonlight, Lace, & Mayhem Aug 23 Guest Post
Up In the Bibliosphere Aug 26 Review
Up In the Bibliosphere Aug 27 Guest Post  & Giveaway
Icy Cold Reads Aug 28 Review
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ardash Vartparonian was born in London but raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the age of 18 he began his debut novel, Solstice High, and continued writing throughout his last year of school and first year of university, where he moved back to the UK to study English Literature at Edinburgh University. Now a fourth year student, Ardash enjoys going out with his friends, watching horror movies and reading fantasy book while trying to keep up with his university work. Find out more at http://sbpra.com/ardashvartparonian/ 

Ardash on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SolsticeHigh?ref=hl 
Google+: https://plus.google.com/100558471915520443621/posts?hl=en

6 Moonbeams (comments):

Teddy Rose said...

Thanks for taking part in the tour and hosting Ardash!

cherly said...



Thank you freemercifultemple for bringing me back my husband into my life. we were together for more than 8 years and we were always happy with our relationship, i love him so much and also he love me.later he stated to act in a different way he stop calling me and also he told me that he do not love me again. i almost got mad i was frustrate and also sick for more than a month, i decided to contact a spell caster, i was never a fan of the spell casting i just want to try it due to the frustration i was passing through that moment. i contacted freemercifultemple for the return of my husband,they told me that he was with another woman and that she casted a spell on him. then he told me that they have to cast a spell of return back of love on him, they did the spell casting on him.and after 6 days he called me on phone, to forgive him that he still love me and that he did not know what happen to him that he have to leave me, it was the spell i casted on him that brought him back to me again. thank you freemercifultemple for bringing him back to me again.i want you my friends who are passing through all this kind of over problem of getting back their husband, wife , or ex boyfriend and girlfriend to contact freemercifultemple@yahoo.com and you will see
that your problem will be solved without any delay.

cherly said...


i never believe in spell casting, until when i was was tempted to try it. i and my husband have been having a lot of problem living together, he will always not make me happy because he have fallen in love with another lady outside our relationship, i tried my best to make sure that my husband leave this woman but the more i talk to him the more he makes me fell sad, so my marriage is now leading to divorce because he no longer gives me attention. so with all this pain and agony, i decided to contact this spell caster to see if things can work out between me and my husband again. this spell caster who was a woman told me that my husband is really under a great spell that he have been charm by some magic, so she told me that she was going to make all things normal back. she did the spell on my husband and after 5 days my husband changed completely he even apologize with the way he treated me that he was not him self, i really thank this woman her name is Dr Aluta she have bring back my husband back to me i want you all to contact her who are having any problem related to marriage issue and relationship problem she will solve it for you. her email is traditionalspellhospital@gmail.com, she is a woman and she is great


laura said...

I want to say thank you thank you thank you to Ancient ALUTA for everything so far. To everyone who doesn’t believe in spell, I was one of those ones at first. I wasn’t quite sure if I wanted to do this since I’ve tried others so-called spells casters and they did not work and was a waste of my time and money. However, when I read through the testimonials of other people at this website and after I talked ALUTA who answered all my questions and was very nice about everything, I decided to give it a try. I figured it would be my last try to get my guy back. So my story is that I was at my office when the guy I am in love with told me that he wasn’t in love with me and never will be and that he didn’t want to speak or see me again, especially since he was talking to this other girl. When I talked to traditionalspellhospital@gmail.com he let me know which spells would be most appropriate for me and I chose the ones that was to get him back to me and stay with me and want to marry me.As soon as he started on the spells, my guy came back into my life! It was a miracle to me and I’m so thankful for that. Things have been going well, and pretty much according to what Dr ALUTA said would happen. He’s always there when you need him and that’s also after the spell is done. I’m still waiting for the spells to completely manifest, but with all that has happened so far I’m very happy because given only four months ago in March, if you asked me or my friends if I would have anticipated how things were right now…no one would believe it! Laura. contact is email address traditionalspellhospital@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

my story goes to everyone out there that are in the situation that i have also being through. and how i was saved.I have been rejected by my husband after nine(9) years of marriage just because another woman had a spell on him and he left me and the kids to suffer. one day when i was reading through the web, i saw a post on how this spell caster Dr Mlawi Rcum on this Email: spelloflovetemple@gmail.com have help a woman to get back her husband. and i gave him a reply to his address and he told me that a woman had a spell on my husband and he told me that he will help me and after 2 days that i will have my husband back. i believed him and today i am glad to let you all know that this spell caster have the power to bring lovers back. because i am now happy with my husband.his email : spelloflovetemple@gmail.com you can contact him for help and get your problem solved.

Unknown said...



I was Looking for Spells to Stop My Divorce and Save My Marriage, so I requested a spell for love from manifestspellcast@yahoo.com last week. Well, happily I can say today I am living a happy married life and also my marriage life is restored. Manifest Spell Saved My Marriage. my husband is now loving me like crazy and I'm loving it! We are now trying to get some little ones to our family to show our never ending love for each other. his love spells have done wonders in my life. if you have search for a powerful spell caster to restore relationship and they have all failed you then i will advise you to run to this spell caster Dr.Manifest