by Syrie James
Answer: Music plays a big role in this novel, and one of the great pleasures of writing it was finding the right pieces of music to include, both to showcase the theme and the characters’ emotional state. At different points in the story, Michael and Nicole each sit down at the piano and play pieces that are difficult and dramatic, emphasizing the frustration they feel at the time. Their shared love of music and the piano is one of the many things that draws them to each other. The title of the book is both a tribute My Luve is Like a Red, Red Rose, represents the theme of the story: that Michael’s love for Nichole is everlasting, and like Michael himself, it will last till all the seas go dry and while the sands of life shall run.
4. Question: How much research into the medical profession and into details about blood transfusion did you need to do to write Nocturne? And Nicole’s passion for pediatric oncology is fascinating. Why did you decide to make both characters healers at different points in their lives?
Answer: I interviewed a pediatric oncology nurse who specialized in blood transfusions, and both she and several doctors reviewed those chapters for medical accuracy. I loved the idea that Nicole worked with blood, which is so vital to a vampire’s survival, and serves as such a core element of the story. Because Nicole and Michael spend such a brief but intense time together—for the story to work, they had to fall in love almost immediately—I wanted them to have a great deal in common. Their mutual passion for healing the sick is just one of the many things that brings them together.
5. Question: Ironically, it is the devastating attack at the climax of the book that actually finally heals Nicole and gets her over her deep, emotional fear of blood. Why did you choose to set this cathartic moment in Nicole’s life during one of the most terrifying times in her life?
Answer: When a person suffers from a deep, emotional wound, it often takes extraordinary circumstances to draw them out of their shell and cause them to face their fears—which they must do if they are to learn and grow and move forward in life.
Because Nicole’s fear of blood was the very antithesis of Michael’s basis for survival, it set up an interesting disparity between them. I wanted her to deal with and overcome her fear in a way that was exciting and dramatic, and served to remind her of her own special skills, while at the same time allowing her to save Michael’s life, just as he had already saved hers so many times.
6. Question: Is there significance to your use of the apple Michael hands Nicole after the attack to help her get her strength back?
Answer: Interestingly, the forbidden fruit mentioned in the Book of Genesis is not identified, although popular Christian tradition holds that it was an apple. Magical, golden apples are featured in both Greek mythology (as growing on the Tree of Life) and Norse mythology (they keep one young forever), and they appear frequently in fairy tales such as the poisoned apple in Snow White. I had all this in mind when Michael hands Nicole that slice of apple. It’s a symbol of all that he is: the forbidden fruit, a combination of poison and youth elixir, whose very bite could kill her yet make her immortal. At the same time, the apple is a source of life: the nourishment she needs to recover and survive.
7. Question: In the novel Michael says the worst kind of pain is hurting one you love most. When Michael loses himself in the cougar blood frenzy, he calls Nicole, the person he loves most, “the creature.” How do you use this lack of identity to reinforce danger and obsession?
Answer: I was very particular about which parts of the book were told from Michael’s versus Nicole’s point of view, and that scene—the cougar attack—simply had to come from Michael. I felt it was important for the reader to get inside Michael’s head to understand the transformation he goes through when the beast within him takes over. Only by seeing him truly become a wild animal
8. Question: Your description of Michael’s indoor garden paradise is fantastic. Do you have experience gardening yourself? What is it about this greenhouse that fulfills such a special need for Michael?
Answer: I have a beautiful garden, a koi pond like Michael’s, and a fondness for plumeria trees and rose bushes. Although I don’t have time these days to maintain the garden myself, I’ve enjoyed many wonderful hours in the past planting and pruning, and I love strolling through my yard and watching the butterflies flit from flower to flower. Michael’s greenhouse fills two very special needs for him: the need to be surrounded by nature, which is difficult for a being that must avoid direct sunlight; and the need to nurture things and make them grow, which serves as a daily reminder that he is rising above the monster inside him—because he can create life, rather than destroy it.
9. Question: Michael is an author in this novel and draws inspiration from his past lives. What inspired you to write this novel?
Answer: In Dracula, My Love, I thoroughly enjoyed exploring a new, more sympathetic version of Dracula—a man who was a good person in his human life, and has spent an eternity struggling against the evil inside himself, on a determined quest to improve his mind and talents. A union between a vampire and a human is fascinating and compelling, yet so problematic—and as I wrote, I fell completely under its spell. When I finished the novel, I was eager to write about another such vampire, and another such relationship—but this time, I wanted to invent my own characters from scratch.
I’ve noticed that, when reading some novels, I sometimes skim the subplot and jump ahead to the parts that interest me the most: the parts that focus on the main, romantic characters. I wondered: was it possible to write a book that focused entirely on the hero and heroine, and didn’t include a single other character? The challenge inspired me, and this novel was born.
10. Question: Though Nicole sees a gentle and kind man in front of her, Michael admits he has killed many times before, and not just because he was hungry. Why does Michael expose this side of his character to Nicole when he could keep the past a secret?
Answer: From the very beginning of the story, Michael’s intent and struggle is to somehow keep Nicole safe. Fearing every moment that his true nature might assert itself, he feels it is his duty to tell her the truth: that he is a monster and she’s better off keeping her distance from him—even though it costs him dearly to admit it, because by that point he’s deeply in love with her.
11. Question: Michael tells Nicole: “Even legend is founded in a kernel of truth.” Do you believe that is true for the most part? Do you believe there is a kernel of truth to people’s superstitions and beliefs in vampires?
Answer: The universe is a fascinating place, full of wonders that mankind has yet to understand, discover, and explore. Many of the advances that modern scientists have made and which we take completely for granted today were once considered impossible—the stuff of superstition—and would have gotten our ancestors burned as witches. It is certainly possible that many things we see as mere superstitions could be true, or founded on a kernel of truth. I believe that anything is possible.
NOCTURNE
by Bestselling Author Syrie James
READING GROUP GUIDE
1. In Nocturne, the two main characters are actually the only two characters in the novel. Why do you think the author chose not to include any other characters in the story? Have you ever read a novel like this before?
2. Why do you think Nicole and Michael argue so much at the beginning of the novel? Have you ever felt attracted to someone and yet felt the need to disguise it with a cold or uncaring attitude? If you did, why did you make this decision?
3. Discuss the many things that Michael and Nicole have in common as well as their differences. What draws them together? How do they complement each other? Do you think that Michael and Nicole are the love of each other’s life?
4. Do you believe in true love? Why or why not?
5. What do you think is it about being injured and snowbound with a dangerous person that piques people’s imaginations? A decade ago, people were compelled and terrified by the block-buster novel and movie Misery. What do you think is
it about the fear of being cared for by a monster (human or inhuman) that fascinates us?
6. Both Michael and Nicole are accomplished pianists. Why do you think the author chose to make music such an important
7. Could you be attracted to someone like Michael, even if you knew how many times he had killed in his life and how dangerous he was to everyone around him? Did you like Michael and find him sympathetic? Why or why not? Have you ever been attracted to a person that your friends or family have thought was bad for you? How did you handle that situation?
8. Nicole and Michael fall in love very quickly. Have you ever had a romance like this where you fell in love so quickly and intensely? Was it short-lived or did it turn into an enduring relationship?
9. Discuss the clues that mount up in the first half of the book before Nicole realizes that Michael is a vampire. How would you feel if you had been in Nicole’s shoes, and that frightening myth had suddenly become reality? Would you have been terrified?
10. Discuss the scenes that explore Michael’s backstory. How do all the parts of his history contribute to the man he is today? Were you surprised to learn he had been a doctor years ago, and that he continued to work as a doctor for many decades after he became a vampire? What does that say about him?
11. If you had an eternity before you, how would you spend it?
12. Describe all the aspects of the property that Michael has built for himself in the Colorado mountains. Why does he call it his “sanctuary”? Did you find it appealing? Why or why not? Do you think you could live in isolation the way Michael does, when the surroundings are so spectacular? Or are you too social?
13. What was your reaction to Michael’s indoor conservatory? What is it about gardening that Michael and Nicole each find so fulfilling? Do you have experience gardening yourself? If so, in what ways does gardening fulfill a special need for you?
14. Forbidden love is one of the most enduring themes in great literature. What other great love stories have you read? Compare and contrast them with Nocturne.
15. Have you ever experienced the kind of loneliness Michael has? How did you deal with it? Has there ever been a time in your life you wished you could just pick up and move away from everyone you know?
16. Discuss Nicole’s emotional growth throughout the novel. How would you describe the crisis at the heart of Nicole’s character? Did you find her to be a sympathetic character?
17. Nicole and Michael make a heartbreaking decision at the end of the book. Do you really believe this is the end for them? How do you think they could make this relationship last if they were to get back together? The more creative answers, the better!
18. The two lovers only spend four magical days together and yet both of them are utterly transformed by their time together. In what ways do they each grow and change? Have you ever had a transformative experience? What was it? Discuss what you learned.
19. If you were Nicole, do you think you could have gotten on that plane and left the love of your life behind you? Why or why not?
Copyright © 2011 by Syrie James
Published by Vanguard Press
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information and inquiries, address Vanguard Press, 387 Park Avenue South, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10016, or call (800) 343-4499.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
James, Syrie.
Nocturne / Syrie James. p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-593-15665-7
2. Vampires—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3610.A457N63 2011
813’.6—dc22
2010030418
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