By Myranda Wren
The earthquakes I grew up fearing
In 1906, an earthquake and subsequent fire leveled much of San Francisco. The city rose from the ashes, only to have its foundations shaken again in 1989 by the Loma Prieta earthquake.
Growing up in Northern California, the sudden and destructive nature of earthquakes was always close at hand. It was my childhood fear of them that inspired the backdrop for my upcoming YA historical fiction and urban fantasy novel, "The Nighttimes".
Why would two ghosts be afraid of the dark?
Lilith and Jack first came to me a few months after my son was born. I was very sleep-deprived with a new baby. I was rocking him in the fading sunlight and found myself watching the shadows move slowly across the room.
The way they moved made me think of two ghosts. More specifically, two spirits who, for some reason, were afraid of the dark.
I asked myself: why would two ghosts be afraid of the dark?
As I unraveled Jack and Lilith's identities and wondered how they became spirits, the 1906 earthquake became the natural anchor point for their beginning. From there, "The Nighttimes" was born.
One city, two earthquakes, and the ghosts between them
"The Nighttimes" follows two sibling spirits who have lingered in San Francisco since becoming ghosts in the aftermath of the great 1906 earthquake. Bound to the city by the bay and unable to move on to the hereafter, they live an unusual afterlife together as the city grows and changes around them.
Then the safety of their world shifts. Dark spirits begin to plague the city. Spirits start disappearing as a creature emerges, bent on destroying the barrier between the spirit world and the living.
With his sinister spirit force, the creature sets in motion another disaster from which Jack and Lilith may not escape. Descending deeper into the city to flee, they encounter a living child named Charlie who can communicate with them.
Together, they uncover a bond that just might be what they need to stop the creature from destroying the very fabric of time.
A ghost story about staying connected
Balancing historical fact with urban fantasy and fiction, we observe San Francisco through the eyes of the main characters as it grows and changes, often leaving ghosts and bones in its wake.
Although the story begins with the tragedy of the 1906 earthquake and ends with another quake in 1989, it is a celebration of existence. Through family - both found and the family we are born into - "The Nighttimes" explores how we remain entangled across time and space with those closest to us.
Tonally, I see it alongside "The Graveyard Book", "The Girl Who Drank the Moon", and "The House in the Cerulean Sea".
I wrote their voices. Then I got to speak them.
Before writing and narrating under the pen name Myranda Wren, I spent two decades working in entertainment. Industry downturns forced a career pivot and gave me the opportunity to turn my early-morning writing hobby into a published book.
For a moment on this journey, I landed a writer's ephemeral golden ticket: a reputable book agent. But after my agent lost her position, I decided to take the storytelling skills I had learned in another medium and produce my titles myself.
There was a steep learning curve. My greatest joy was discovering how much I loved narration.
I can't wait to write the next installment of "The Nighttimes", if only to have the chance to speak on behalf of Lilith, Jack, and Charlie once more. I hope you enjoy listening to their journey as much as I enjoyed bringing their story to life.
"Hold my hand, so we don't get lost." - Jack
Find The Nighttimes
- The Nighttimes on Spotify
- The Nighttimes on Goodreads
- Myranda Wren's website
- Myranda Wren on Instagram
About Myranda Wren
Myranda Wren grew up in Los Gatos, California, went to school in Berkeley, and has always held a love for San Francisco and the Bay Area. Her favorite time to write is just before dawn, when the spirits are at their strongest and her children are still sleeping.
A recent career pivot allowed her to turn an early-morning hobby into what she had always dreamed of: publishing a novel. Wren currently lives in Los Angeles. "The Nighttimes" is her first novel, inspired by her love for gothic historical fiction, urban fantasy, and the Bay Area, as well as her childhood fear of earthquakes.
