Uvi Poznansky Asks Me About "The Realms"

I see that recently you have stepped into a new genre, paranormal. Tell us what you are up to?

Last Christmas I was approached by another author who wanted to get four or five authors together to write different books with some cross-characters, but all set in the same location. The idea was to write something like the Star Trek book series, where we could always return and create something new knowing the parameters of our setting. There were five of us who brainstormed over hundreds of emails to come up with ‘The Realms’ a parallel dimension hidden between Minneapolis and St. Paul where creatures, humans think of as only mythical roam free.

Could you give us some more information about The Realms? It sounds fascinating.


The Realms is a living world. It takes on the characteristics of its current ruler. Right now The Realms is ruled by Raven, a vampire. Therefore, everything is gothic with cobblestone streets and English gardens. But, if Raven was to be overthrown and replaced by an Egyptian God then The Realms would morph and you would have a place with pyramids and lots of sand with tents. Or if a Fairy Princess took over then you might have unicorns and giants in The Realms. They are all there currently, but they live in the world Raven rules.

Which characters did you contribute and how did you come up with them?

I wanted something a bit different from vampires, so I came up with Cody. He is a shape shifter from our world that has escaped into The Realms after a particularly nasty event took place. The humans in The Realms are either born there or they serve the vampires. Some do both. Cody finds a place working at Raven’s estate on his ground crew. Only one person knows Cody is a shape shifter and he won’t tell, so all the humans around him think he is human.

And I suppose that is where the problems arise.

Indeed they do. Cody falls in love with Simone, but Simone is older and though kind, she does not have any interest in Cody as a human, however, she loves him in his wolf form. All the events in the two novellas are seen through Cody’s eyes. As a writer I really enjoyed crawling into a wolf’s skin and seeing it from his perspective.

I have created a small group of humans that are challenged by a life that is ever changing and often frightening in The Realms. Cody keeps an eye out for his friends and protects them as any good alpha wolf would protect his pack.

You say there are two novellas thus far in the series. Will there be more?

Yes, hopefully many more. I want to experience the change of setting when someone overthrows Raven and the world morphs. How would my little band of humans cope with their environment going from gothic to Egyptian, or Aztec, or American Indian, or even Fey. A world filled with beasts from the Greek’s time or even something as odd as our own seasonal myths as if Santa or the Easter Bunny came into power. It would be a challenge worth seeing and experiencing through their eyes. And, there is ever the chance that Simone might change her mind about Cody, or that Cody’s ‘shifting’ secret might be revealed.