{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Angels, Demons and Detectives","description":"Lee Driftwood joins the Connecticut Book Festivals podcast to talk about his dark urban fantasy series, Forgotten Flame, and the unforgettable city that shapes it\u2014New York. Lee shares how, as a third-generation former New Yorker, he couldn\u2019t imagine setting his fantasy anywhere else. For him, the city is more than a backdrop; it\u2019s a living, listening character that\u2019s always present in the story. We learn about the first two books in the series, When She Walked In and What Was Lost, and meet the central duo: Michael, a private investigator, and Gabby, an NYPD detective who shows up at his door with a life-changing secret\u2014she\u2019s lost her memory. While angels and demons lurk in the shadows of this world, Lee explains that they\u2019re really a metaphor for the spectrum of human nature, not literal supernatural beings. Lee talks us through his decision to craft a five-book arc, inspired by Roger Zelazny\u2019s Nine Princes in Amber. He planned Michael and Gabby\u2019s journeys in advance, but let secondary characters surprise him\u2014some he meant to \u201cknock off\u201d ended up surviving and thriving because he liked them too much to let go. We also hear about Lee\u2019s roots in corporate satire, how frustration with corporate life pushed him to write his first book, and how that experience rekindled his passion for fantasy. Away from the noir-tinted streets of New York, he\u2019s a dad of eight-year-old twins, dreaming up a photography book for kids and wrestling with the challenge of introducing them to classics like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. ","author_name":"Connecticut Book Festivals Podcast","author_url":"https:\/\/sites.libsyn.com\/558800","html":"