Characters

Sam Roth
For Sam, Mercy Falls is a place that only existed in summer, when the cold couldn't touch him. As soon as the temperature dropped, he was driven into the house owned by Beck, his foster father, and there he found solace in books and music. He reads Rilke, Mandelstam, and Yeats, and listens to indie rock (hear more of that on the MUSIC page). He composes lyrics in his head and music on his guitar.





Grace Brisbane
Grace, on the other hand, was impervious to the whims of weather and so she spent every moment she can outdoors. Reading on a tire swing, walking in the woods, researching her beloved wolves. There is in fact a real population of wolves in Minnesota, which is one of the reasons I set Shiver there. Real wolves rarely come into conflict with humans, however, only making headlines when livestock farmers further west are affected by their hunting. Find out more about the Minnesota wolves Grace loves at the International Wolf Center's website.



Mercy Falls
Mercy Falls, Minnesota, the epi-center of the Shiver Trilogy, is the third character. The weather and personality of the place is just as important to the Shiver as Sam and Grace's love. Mercy Falls is an imaginary town (well, it's as real as Sam and Grace). In my head, it is located at the edge of the Boundary Waters, near the real town of Ely, Minnesota. Just south of the Canadian border, Mercy Falls, like Ely, is cold—with an average high temperature that never breaks 80 degrees Fahrenheit.