Ravens

P.T. Michelle has stopped by the blog today to tell us a little about her choice of Ravens in her Brightest Kind of Darkness series.  Here’s what she had to say: 

Why did you feature ravens in your BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS series?

I’ve always been fascinated by ravens, by their perception in society and the fact they’ve been depicted in old drawings and stories since the beginning of time.

In researching ravens, I fell in love with their duality; every culture has a mythology about ravens. Some associate ravens with evil, believing them to be a witch in another form, others believe them to be the devil’s minions. Then there are the cultures that feature the raven either as the creator of their world or as having had a hand in it’s creation like creating the sun or finding water. Other cultures see ravens as tricksters with the talent to predict the future and the ability to bring messages to the gods. Ravens were also considered birds of war by some, who watched the ravens and used that knowledge to help predict a battle’s outcome.

While ravens feature in just about every culture, their roles spanning from one extreme or the other, one aspect is definitely true in every culture; their presence is never innocuous. It always means “something”! :)

And this is why I choose ravens. They have such a rich and varied mythology. I wanted to put my own spin on it in BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS.

Raven Facts: Wiley, Smart, Opportunistic, Loyal, Territorial, Playful and Affectionate

• Ravens can solve complex problems, like figuring out how to add rocks to a deep jar in order to raise the water level so they could get to the meat floating in the water. Ravens are called “wolf birds” for a reason. They’ve been known to lead wolves to injured (potential) prey so that they can also share in the feeding. Ravens have worked together as a team. One pulls on the dog’s tail and gets the dog to chase after him, while the other raven raids the dog’s bowl for kibble.
• Ravens mate for life and hold funerals for their dead.
• Ravens can mimic human speech and other bird calls.
• Ravens can live in extreme temperatures from the tundra to the desert.
• The oldest raven in the wild lived to be 17. The oldest raven in captivity lived to be 44. He was a Tower of London raven.

Ravens in Action

How to tell a raven from a crow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guBwMUAWAJI&NR=1&feature=endscreen

Ravens are much bigger than crows. Here you can see a raven and a crow side by side to see the difference in their sizes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZyBNWVD70w&feature=related (around 2:38-2:40)

Ravens can be very playful and gentle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAj_SkR8lJY&feature=channel&list=UL

Ravens can talk in various voices: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GusdG_SSWw&feature=relmfu AND http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA9KTw07Ax0&feature=relmfu

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BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS, BOOK 1

Nara Collins is an average sixteen-year-old, with one exception: every night she dreams the events of the following day. Due to an incident in her past, Nara avoids using her special gift to change fate…until she dreams a future she can’t ignore.

After Nara prevents a bombing at Blue Ridge High, her ability to see the future starts to fade, while people at school are suddenly being injured at an unusually high rate.

Grappling with her diminishing powers and the need to prevent another disaster, Nara meets Ethan Harris, a mysterious loner who seems to understand her better than anyone. Ethan and Nara forge an irresistible connection, but as their relationship heats up, so do her questions about his dark past.

Read an excerpt

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LUCID: BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS, BOOK 2

Once Nara combines her prophetic ability with Ethan’s power to outsmart Fate at his own deadly cat-and-mouse game, she’s more determined than ever to help Ethan learn the meaning behind the raven sword tattoo that suddenly appeared on his back after their confrontation with Fate.

During her quest to uncover the tattoo’s secrets, Nara enlists the help of some new friends and discovers her own surprising connection to Ethan.

While Nara digs deeper into the mystery, her desire for answers leads her down a dangerous path full of powerful and ruthless enemies. Swept into an age-old battle, Nara quickly learns that keeping one’s enemies close can be a necessary evil, making an intangible enemy she can control far more preferable to the human enemies she can’t.

Read an excerpt

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ABOUT P.T. MICHELLE

P.T. Michelle is author of the young adult series BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS.
When P.T. isn’t writing, she can usually be found reading or taking pictures of
landscapes, sunsets and anything beautiful or odd in nature.

LINKS: Website |
Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
| Pinterest | Newsletter

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