Magic Binds: An Interview with Ilona Andrews

#1 New York Times bestselling authors, the husband-and-wife team writing under the name Ilona Andrews, have kept us entertained and thoroughly invested in their stories for many, many years. Now that their latest book, Magic Binds, has hit the shelves, they kindly stopped by to answer a few questions.

Dear Ilona and Gordon, welcome to The Nocturnal Library. Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. I solemnly swear never to ask you about writing together.

The world of Kate Daniels is built on an interesting premise of magic and technology coexisting and constantly trying to balance each other out. Plenty of urban fantasy series had their rules changed along the way, but you’ve never done that. Kate’s worldbuilding has been rock solid from the start. Did you ever wish to have done something differently or needed something (for the plot) that the world just couldn’t provide?

A)    Thank you.  We’ve tried to be consistent.  In the beginning I don’t know that we really had all the rules worked out.  Once we did, probably by the second or third book, I think it actually made it easier for us.  We knew what was possible, what we could get away with and what was impossible in that setting.  One thing we have to watch is the magic waves, sometimes when writing a scene, we have to figure out if the magic is up or down.  The closest we’ve come to bending or breaking the rules was Magic Slays where we introduced a technology capable of permanently removing magic from the land.  We had to decide if such a thing were possible and how it would affect magical beings living in the area.

Your books leave no doubt about the amount of research you put into them. World mythologies seem to be your playground and you always introduce at least one obscure mythological creature for Kate to fight. How do you choose them? Can you explain the process and the criteria?

A)    We started with what we were already familiar with.  That’s why it’s Slavic myths in Magic Bites and Celtic in Magic Burns.  Ilona being Russian knows all the old fairy tales and we’d never seen an Upir in contemporary English fiction so we thought it might be interesting to have one.  Being giant fans of both the comic character Slaine and David Gemmell’sRigante series we wanted to play a bit with Celtic legends.  For Magic Strikes, Rakshasas seemed like a good choice of villains, they’re shapeshifters but not like ours who are infected by a strain of lycanthropy.  What few people know though is that an early version of Magic Bites had a dwarf in it.  Like a full out D&D, Tolkien type dwarf.  Or that one of our first books, one that will never, ever be published, had hobbit ninjas.  We just thought it was cool.  I wish I could say there was more to it than that but most of the time we put in things we would like to read about that we don’t see a lot of.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever googled during research?

A)    Lord, so much.  Now we have to look at our search history.  Ummm, poisoning, kidnapping, evil names, a lot of Fallout 4 settlement stuff.  Here’s the weirdest, probably “Governors who’ve been assassinated?”  That was for the Hidden Legacy series.

You are known for your strong online presence and for being extremely good to your fans? Is that a double-edged sword sometimes? It’s impossible to keep everyone happy and people can be rather vocal. How do you handle complaints and/or various requests? Were there any weird interactions you’d be willing to share? 

A)    Let me preface this by saying that 99.9 percent of our fans are great.  They’ve supported us from the beginning of the series and stuck by us through it all.  However, as you’ve stated, you can’t please everybody.  All we can do is write the book we want to read and hope people like it.  The most common complaints we hear are about the covers, which personally, I’ve almost always liked, or the price of the books.  In both cases, we can honestly say we have little to no control over those things.  We don’t sell them, we just write them.

Let’s talk about Magic Binds. First of all, I can tell you that I’ve already read it twice and that it surpassed my wildest expectations. It’s an amazing book and perhaps my favorite thus far. Which of the nine was the hardest to write? And do you have a favorite?

A) Thank you so much, we’re glad you liked it.  Maybe Magic Burns because we didn’t really expect there to be a second book.  What if we were afflicted by the sophomore slump curse and it sucked and they didn’t want a third?  I think the conversation went along the lines of they’re publishing the first but they want a second.  Oh man, what are we going to do?  It has to be better than Magic Bites and the final battle has to be bigger.  Maybe also Magic Rises because we took Kate and the gang out of our usual setting.  We had to decide who would go, what the world outside of Atlanta or even the US was like, and most importantly we decided to kill off Aunt Bea.  That was a hard conversation to have.  As I recall, we were loading the dishwasher and as the debate raged, things were loaded with increasing force.  It was probably the closest we’ve come to having a fight over the books.  Well, a disagreement, not a knock down drag out row.

For me, Magic Binds was about characterization, or more specifically, the shades of gray in Kate’s family. We finally understand a bit more about the worldview of someone who’s been around for millennia. But even Kate undergoes major changes. Was it hard to put her through that? Change some parts of her character that we’ve started taking for granted?

A)    Yes, but we felt it was necessary.  Even as recently as Magic Breaks, she wasn’t ready to fight Roland head on.  She knew that.  To even begin to rival him in power she needed to stop holding back and embrace her magic.  The risk with that of course is the temptation to become like him.  She had to find her own way to deal with it.  She also needed some training, which is a part we really enjoyed putting into the book.  I guess we had to decide how dark she would get or far we could let her go before we pulled her back from the edge.

It’s so hard to understand Roland, and even harder to figure out his endgame. Magic Binds clears out some of the fog, but there are still so many questions. Did you ever change your mind about his intentions and motivations or was he clear to you from the start? How do you think he sees Kate?

A)    I think he evolved over time from an idea to a fully realized character.  For the first few books, all we know of Roland is what Kate was told of him. That he killed her mother and wanted to kill her. All of which is true. What we didn’t know was how very much he loved them both.  More than the he has loved anyone or anything.  From the beginning we knew who he was, historically, but not much else.  I think the image of the long suffering father of a rebellious daughter, which of course is how he seems himself, came later.  He is proud of her, of all that she’s accomplished on her own, but in his mind she’s had her fun and now it’s time to come home and take her place in the family business.  If he has to kill every single man, woman and child in Atlanta to make her understand this, he will.

By far the most interesting and morally challenging part of Magic Binds are the sahanu. What can you tell us about them (and what inspired them) without it being spoilerish?

A)     Well, Roland is a paranoid megalomaniac with god-like power, it makes sense that he would have his own cult of killers.  We watched a lot of Ancient Assassins and we both thought, wow, that seems like something he would want.  We should put some of that in the book.  I don’t think that’s too spoilery.

The mystery of Christopher is finally unraveled in Magic Binds. I don’t think anyone could have guessed his origins. Without actually revealing it, did you know when you put him in that cage and on Kate’s path? Or did he develop along the way?

A)     We didn’t know who he was, or even what he had done to anger Roland.  We only knew that he had once been immensely powerful and now he was broken.  The old saying is that if you have a gun in the first act, it has to go off in the third, so that’s what we did.  We knew that he could fly, just that he had forgotten how. I don’t know if anyone got it but it’s also a nod to the late Douglas Addams who in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy said "There is an art to flying, or rather a knack. Its knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. ... Clearly, it is this second part, the missing, that presents the difficulties."

With nine books behind you and only one more to go, what are your thoughts on the series? Did you accomplish everything you set out to do?

A)     A mix of sadness and relief.  I hope so because we have no idea what to do in the next one.  We have to give it a satisfying ending but leave the door open for a spin off series.  What I can say is that it will be a proper ending, no cliffhangers, no ambiguity.  Kate and Curran will get their happily ever after.  They’ve earned it.

Finally, I have to ask: is there any chance for more Kate books or is book 10 definitely the last we’ll see of Kate and Curran?

A)    Oops, may have answered too much of this in the one above.  Book 10 will be the last Kate book but if there is a spin off series they will appear.  It won’t be their book but they will be in it.  We want to do a Hugh book and of course we’ve talked about continuing the series with an older Derek and Julie.

Thank you once more! Thank you for having us.

Every little blogger dreams about interviewing his or her favorite author. For me, that was always Ilona Andrews, and my day has finally arrived. I'm pretty much done now, I can retire and read the 1852938593 books on my tbr list in peace. 

Learn more about the Kate Daniels series and other Ilona Andrews books at www.ilona-andrews.com.

You can order your copy of Magic Binds on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, The Book Depository and pretty much everywhere else.

Thank you for stopping by!

LGBT Monday: The Queen and the Homo Jock King

Author: T.J. Klune
Series: At First Sight, #2
Released: February 29th 2016
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Length: 350 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: Dreamspinner Press
         Amazon

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Sanford Stewart sure doesn't. In fact, he pretty much believes in the exact opposite, thanks to the Homo Jock King. It seems Darren Mayne lives for nothing more than to create chaos in Sandy’s perfectly ordered life, just for the hell of it. Sandy despises him, and nothing will ever change his mind.

Or so he tells himself.

It's not until the owner of Jack It—the club where Sandy performs as drag queen Helena Handbasket—comes to him with a desperate proposition that Sandy realizes he might have to put his feelings about Darren aside. Because Jack It will close unless someone can convince Andrew Taylor, the mayor of Tucson, to keep it open.

Someone like Darren, the mayor’s illegitimate son.

The foolproof plan is this: seduce Darren and push him to convince his father to renew Jack It’s contract with the city.

Simple, right?

Wrong.

What on Earth did I just read? I swear my head is still spinning…

The Queen and the Homo Jock King was one of those sequels that I’ve waited a very long time to read, and that I finally picked up with no small amount of trepidation. You see, the first book, Tell Me It’s Real, is one of the funniest, most endearing books I’ve ever read, and writing something that could at least come close was likely very difficult. However, it would appear that TJ Klune was more than up to the task. The Queen is hilariously funny, and as usual, TJ had me laughing myself into stitches mere minutes after I started reading. Seriously, I almost died laughing. He named a drag queen character Sofonda Cox, for heaven’s sake. And that was one tiny detail of many.

However, if you pay attention, The Queen and the Homo Jock King is a pretty serious book underneath – admittedly far, far, far underneath. But TJ manages to slip in loss and grief, deep insecurities and even increase awareness about drag queens. He does it all in his typical way, with much humor and by refusing to pull back punches. Avoidance of issues isn’t in his repertoire. He pushes them right in your face and makes you deal with them… with style.

In terms of plot, QATHJK leaves a lot to be desired, only you don’t desire it in the least. When you think about it with a cool head, you realize that it’s just a flimsy excuse to push our protagonists together, a romance cliché if there ever was one, but while you’re reading, you simply don’t care. Besides, TJ made even the cliché his own and he hid several small surprises within.

If I have to point out one objection to this book, I’d say it’s a tiny bit too long. You just can’t laugh that much at once so it must be read in smaller doses, which isn’t something I normally do. Every concession is worth it, however. This book is a treasure, just like Tell Me It’s Real before it. Read it and enjoy.

A copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher for review purposes. No considerations, monetary or otherwise, have influenced the opinions expressed in this review.

Chatterview with Leta Blake and Indra Vaughn

Hi everyone!

What happens when your two favorite authors decide to write a book together? Well that's easy... a lot of awesomeness ensues. It happened to me just recently: the wonderful Leta Blake and the ever-amazing Indra Vaughn, both among my favorite M/M fiction authors, decided to write Vespertine, in which the worlds of priests and rock stars collide.

Can a priest and a rock star obey love's call?
Seventeen years ago, Jasper Hendricks and Nicholas Blumfeld's childhood friendship turned into a secret, blissful love affair. They spent several idyllic months together until Jasper's calling to the Catholic priesthood became impossible to ignore. Left floundering, Nicky followed his own trajectory into rock stardom, but he never stopped looking back.
Today, Jasper pushes boundaries as an out, gay priest, working hard to help vulnerable LGBTQ youth. He's determined to bring change to the church and the world. Respected, admired, and settled in his skin, Jasper has long ignored his loneliness.
As Nico Blue, guitarist and songwriter for the band Vespertine, Nicky owns the hearts of millions. He and his bandmates have toured the world, lighting their fans on fire with their music. Numbed by drugs and fueled by simmering anger, Nicky feels completely alone. When Vespertine is forced to get sober, Nicky returns home to where it all started.
Jasper and Nicky's careers have ruled their lives since they parted as teens. When they come face to face again, they must choose between the past's lingering ghosts or the promise of a new future.

Forbidden Blog Tour: Q&A with Cathy Clamp

These days, good urban fantasy is hard to find, but luckily for us, there are still many well-established authors willing to use their considerable experience to give us exactly what we want to read. Cathy Clamp might be better known for all the books she co-authored with C. T. Adams, but hers is a name you'll be hearing often for years to come. Cathy's new book, Forbidden, starts a new, spin-off series in her well-known Sazi universe. It was released by Tor on August 18th 2015.

USA Today bestselling author Cathy Clamp reboots the Sazi universe in Forbidden, a tightly-paced, high-tension urban fantasy thriller.

Ten years have passed since the war that destroyed the Sazi Council and inflicted a horrible "cure" on thousands of Sazi, robbing them of their ability to shapeshift.

Luna Lake, isolated in Washington State, started as a refugee camp for Sazi orphans. Now it's a small town and those refugees are young adults, chafing at the limits set by their still-fearful guardians. 

There's reason to fear: Sazi children are being kidnapped. Claire, a red wolf shifter, is sent to investigate. Held prisoner by the Snakes during childhood, Claire is distrusted by those who call Luna Lake home.

Before the war, Alek was part of a wolf pack in Chicago. In Luna Lake he was adopted by a parliament of Owls, defying Sazi tradition. The kidnappings are a painful reminder that his little sister disappeared a decade ago.

When Claire and Alek meet, sparks fly—but the desperate race to find the missing children forces them to set aside their mutual attraction and focus on the future of their people.

Interview with Charlie Cochet, Author of the THIRDS + Giveaway

I am finally back from my vacation (best vacation ever, Sarajevo I miss you so!), and just in time to share with you my Q&A with the marvelous Charlie Cochet, author of the THIRDS, North Pole City Tales, A Little Bite of Love series and the newly released novella, Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts. 

TNL: Hi Charlie! Thank you so much for agreeing to answer my many, many questions. I’m having a major fangirl moment right now, I just hope I’ll manage to be coherent as opposed to just rambling excitedly and wasting this opportunity to pick your brain. 

CC: Aw, thank you so much for having me! It’s such a treat to be here. Ask away!

TNL: It’s been just over a year since Hell & High Water was first released. You’ve published four more THIRDS books since then and there’ve been other books in between, so it’s safe to say it’s been a pretty intense year. Did you learn any new things about yourself during that time? How much did your life actually change?

CC: Everything’s changed, in a good way. Hell & High Water officially kicked off my full-time writing career, and it’s been non-stop since. At the time, I had an idea what it might be like as far as the workload, yet at the same time had no clue. I was already aware of certain aspects of writing full-time, but until the THIRDS series started releasing and I was faced with a full schedule of writing, editing, promoting, marketing, conferences, workshops, and everything else under the sun, I had no idea how intense it would actually be. 

I’ve learned how incredibly important it is to multi-task. I’ve always been good at it, but this required a whole other level of multi-tasking. I also learned that anything and everything that can pop up while you’re trying to make a deadline will. Like any writer going full-time for the first time, I was pretty terrified (still am!), it’s only been a year, so there’s no telling what happens next, but I hope to give it my all.

Q&A with Sean Kennedy, Author of Tigers on the Run

Hey, everyone!

Today, I am beyond thrilled to welcome Sean Kennedy to The Nocturnal Library! Just last week I reviewed Sean's new book, Tigers on the Run, the third in his wonderful Tigers and Devils series. These books are my all-time favorites, which makes this opportunity to chat with their author a truly special experience for me. It's Christmas in July!

Welcome to The Nocturnal Library, Sean. This is such an honor for us. (Wow, that went well. You can’t even tell that I’m having a total fangirl moment, right? Right?!) 

Hi, Maja! Um, I’m so not somebody to fangirl over.  I’m sitting here in my trackies and waiting for Coronation Street to finish downloading.

Before we even begin talking about Simon, Dec, and Tigers on the Run, let me ask you this: how do you usually describe your series to potential readers or just people wanting to know more about what you write?

I guess you could reduce it down to a scintillating expose of the relationship between fame and privacy, and the compromises that occur when one has to navigate between two very different worlds… or, you can just say that it’s about two likeable guys who are lucky enough to find one another and find that they complement each other and are very happy about it.  It’s probably much more likely the latter.

You are famous (oh, all right, infamous) for not keeping up with your blog, which can easily be forgiven if you’re actually spending that time thinking or writing about Simon and Declan. Or if you send us chocolate. Yeah, that should do the trick. But tell us this: who is Sean Kennedy? What do you enjoy doing, or even reading, in your spare time? 

Tracer Blog Tour: Q&A with Rob Boffard

Hello, hello, my favorite nocturnal readers! 

The heat wave has been getting the best of me for days now! If you don't hear from me, it's likely that my head overheated and exploded all over the place. And now that I've put that amazing picture into your heads, I can safely introduce my guest today. 

According to both Orbit Books and yours truly, Tracer is the most exciting thriller set in space you'll ever read, and it's only Rob Boffard's debut novel. He set the bar sky high with this one, my friends! I was so excited about this chat with Rob that it took me a week to come up with somewhat coherrent questions. I wanted to know everything there is to know about him and his amazing novel.

Interview With Kaje Harper, Author of Life, Some Assembly Required

Hello, my nocturnal readers!

Yesterday I reviewed Life, Some Assembly Required by Kaje Harper. It was a book I'd waited so long to read and it did not disappoint in the least. But even without this latest book and the continuation of John and Ryan's story, Kaje had already given me so many characters to love, so many hours of joy and so many sentences to swoon over. Even my black, cynical heart can't stay cold when exposed to one of her stories, and it is with great delight that I welcome her to The Nocturnal Library.

Gates of Thread and Stone: Q&A With Author Lori M. Lee + Giveaway

Hello, everyone!

Today I have the great honor of hosting Lori M. Lee on my blog. Lori is the author of a fascinating debut, one I'm sure you've already heard very much about, and probably even read. If not, you can learn all the important details here and maybe even win a hardcover copy of the book.

Here are a few details about the book first:

Author: Lori M. Lee
Series: Gates of Thread and Stone, #1
Published: August 5th 2014
Publisher: Skyscape
Format: Hardcover, ebook
Buy: Amazon

In the Labyrinth, we had a saying: keep silent, keep still, keep safe.

In a city of walls and secrets, where only one man is supposed to possess magic, seventeen-year-old Kai struggles to keep hidden her own secret—she can manipulate the threads of time. When Kai was eight, she was found by Reev on the riverbank, and her “brother” has taken care of her ever since. Kai doesn’t know where her ability comes from—or where she came from. All that matters is that she and Reev stay together, and maybe one day move out of the freight container they call home, away from the metal walls of the Labyrinth. Kai’s only friend is Avan, the shopkeeper’s son with the scandalous reputation that both frightens and intrigues her.

Then Reev disappears. When keeping silent and safe means losing him forever, Kai vows to do whatever it takes to find him. She will leave the only home she’s ever known and risk getting caught up in a revolution centuries in the making. But to save Reev, Kai must unravel the threads of her past and face shocking truths about her brother, her friendship with Avan, and her unique power.

Review: Banishing the Dark (Arcadia Bell, #4)

Author: Jenn Bennett
Series: Arcadia Bell, #4
Published: May 27th 2014
Publisher: Pocket
Format: Paperback, 384 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository

In this new installment in a beloved urban fantasy series, gutsy renegade mage and tiki bar owner Arcadia Bell faces the last danger standing between her old identity and a new future she desperately wants: herself.

After surviving a supernatural battle with Hellfire Club leader Ambrose Dare, Cady and her demon boyfriend, Lon Butler, journey across California to find the source of her mysterious Moonchild origins. But the further they travel, the stranger the revelations about her parents’ past occult lives. Can Cady keep what's rightfully hers, or will she have make the ultimate sacrifice to stop her murderous mother from crossing the planes?

Guess what? Finding out that you’re holding the last book in a beloved series just as you finish reading the epilogue pretty much sucks. Banishing the Dark is our good bye to Cady and Lon, and I didn’t even realize it until I reached the ending, after which I frantically tweeted at Jenn asking for confirmation. I was blindsided, unprepared to part ways with these characters! I was not ready to let go.

And yet, with this spectacular series finale, Jenn Bennett turned saying goodbye into a wonderfully gentle experience, a tiny bit painful, sure, but satisfying and exciting, too. A part of me is glad she didn’t allow the series to drag and die a slow and painful death. It takes a whole lot of courage to end something when it’s at its peak, while the interest is still sky high and the fans are a million miles from any sort of disappointment. Jenn Bennett is that courageous, my friends, and while I can still taste the disappointment, I can’t help but admire her as well.

A few short chapters from Jupe’s point of view were added to this novel. Urban Fantasy authors seem to be doing this a lot lately, and while I’d normally object since dual POV goes against the rules and confines of the genre, when it’s Jupe we’re talking about, all the rules in the world go right down the drain. I’d never dare to write from a teen boy’s perspective, especially one as hyperactive and talkative as Jupe, but Jenn Bennett knows her characters well, and the whole thing went rather smoothly.

Lon and Cady are their usual brave and loyal selves, even when facing the worst enemy of them all, Cady’s horrible, murderous mother. Their relationship is a thing of beauty and they always do things together and rely on each other, even when facing insurmountable odds. I’ll admit I wasn’t Lon’s biggest fan in the first book, but it quickly became clear that there’s a lot more to the silent photographer than it first seemed. As for Cady, one can’t help but admire her, and I’ll miss her terribly.

Here’s to hoping that we’ll revisit these guys somewhere down the line – perhaps with a novella, or better yet, a spin-off centered around Jupe.

A copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher for review purposes. No considerations, monetary or otherwise, have influenced the opinions expressed in this review.

Q&A With Swati Avasthi, Author of Chasing Shadows

Today I am extremely proud to welcome the lovely Swati Avasthi to my blog. In 2010, Swati surprised us all with the insightfulness and unflinching honesty she showed in her debut novel, SPLIT. Now she's back with yet another gorgeously written and wholly original story, CHASING SHADOWS. 

When a chance to ask her a few questions about her new novel presented itself, I was excited beyond words. Here's what Swati shared:

1. How is Chasing Shadows different from your first novel, Split? What else can you tell us about it?

First, thanks for having me!

SPLIT is about what happens after you get out of an abusive household and how Jace fears he will bring that cycle of abuse along with him into every relationship he has. Having suffered chronic violence, he has learned the pattern, knows it by heart, and has to unlearn it if he’s ever going to move on.

CHASING SHADOWS is about what happens after violence erupts unexpectedly and fractures the lives of Holly and Savitri, two best friends.  In CHASING SHADOWS, Holly, Savitri, and Corey are fearless freerunners who leap from one roof to another, who do handstands on top of a roof, who flip over parapets and who feel invincible.  Until Corey is shot and killed.  And everything changes.  Maybe even their friendship.  This is a story of how a friends struggle to survive after violence.

2. One of your two points of view slides in and out of the graphic format. I don't think anything similar has ever been done in YA. How was this idea born?

Part personal experience and part intellectual.

PERSONAL:  When I was 18, I found out on the news that a friend I had had in middle school had been shot and killed.  Though we had been close in middle school – sleepovers, birthday parties, and I had a crush on her older brother -- we hadn’t spoken in four years since she and I went to different high schools.  It was a visceral moment – one in which my words left me.

I wanted to capture that feeling – when words fail us.  And of course, if I was using prose as my only medium, it was going to be a struggle.

INTELLECTUAL: When I read The Invention of Hugo Cabret,  I was fascinated by how time worked differently in pictures, particularly the part where the train is approaching Hugo and he is stuck on the tracks.  I had such a visceral response to the images. In words, to demonstrate the terror of a train bearing down, a writer might slow time down deliberately, like Stephen King does in “The Body.” It’s a great moment – well written, managing time beautifully -- but it has a very different affect on the reader.

And I wanted the visceral affect, to evoke in the reader Holly’s experience. So I went to pictures.

3. Could you share a bit about your collaboration with the illustrator, Craig Phillips?

I’ve never sent or received any direct communication to or from Craig; we communicated entirely through our editors and through the original script.  A lot like any other comic book writer, I wrote the script from panel layout to panel content to the text/dialogue. Unlike a typical comic book writer, I didn’t write in the angles or the shots, leaving that to Craig, figuring he would have a better sense of how to do that than me; he’d have a better-trained eye. 

Craig figured out the angles, made a few changes, and worked out a knotty problem for me here and there. He has an excellent sense of how to realize a vision.  At one point, I remember saying to my editor that one of pages I had described in just short sentences turned out exactly the way I’d pictured it.

This is what I mean. I wrote something like this: panel one: ½ page panel, cage of souls where the bars are made from live snakes. Panel two: ¼ page panel: close up on the snakes. Panel three:  Corey is trapped inside.  Corey: Holly?)

  

As for communication: he sent sketches to his art editor, Sarah Hokanson, who passed them on to my editor, Nancy Siscoe, who passed them to me. I made notes, gave them to Nancy who gave them to Sarah who gave them to Craig.  Nancy was very generous with her time. We spent countless hours on the phone talking through notes, rearranging panels, and answering questions.

 

While it sounds cumbersome, I think it was the best way to go so that Craig had only one person giving him notes, instead of three people.  And so in the end, what I had envisioned for the story was what we had on the page. 

4. What was the biggest challenge you faced in writing Chasing Shadows?

So many.  It’s hard to pick one.

Perhaps the biggest challenge was born from my own fears: could I write a second book? Why was it taking so long? Couldn’t I have tried something that wouldn’t result in every critique starting out with “This piece is really ambitious” which felt like the rest of the sentence was “and you don’t have the chops to pull it off”)? Would I ever find Savitri’s voice? Who was in control of this ship anyway?

My inner editor (who is a die-hard, whip-cracking perfectionist, the kind who makes edits after the book is published (yes, I confess, I do)) was on overdrive. The biggest challenge was getting the inner editor to step aside and just create.

At one point, I went on a retreat and wrote 135 pages in three days.  It was some of the best writing I did for the book.  I just outraced the inner editor.

I suppose I could try what Kate DiCamillo does.  She says she writes between 5-6 am because her inner editor likes to sleep in.  But no… the whole of me –writer, editor, professor, mother -- likes to sleep in way too much. 

Thank you so much, Swati! 

Chasing Shadows was released on September 24th 2013 by Knopf Books for Young Readers. Make sure to get a copy, you'll be surprised by the originality of this novel.

Thanks for stopping by, everyone!

Review: Biting Bad (Chicagoland Vampires, #8)

Author: Chloe Neill
Series: Chicagoland Vampires, #8
Release date: August 6th 2013
Publisher: NAL
Paperback, 350 pages
Buy: The Book Depository

Merit has been a vampire for only a short while, but she’s already seen a lifetime’s worth of trouble. She and her Master, centuries-old Ethan Sullivan, have risked their lives time and again to save the city they love. But not all of Chicago is loving them back.

Anti-vampire riots are erupting all over town, striking vampires where it hurts the most. A splinter group armed with Molotov cocktails and deep-seated hate is intent on clearing the fanged from the Windy City come hell or high water.

Merit and her allies rush to figure out who’s behind the attacks, who will be targeted next, and whether there’s any way to stop the wanton destruction. The battle for Chicago is just beginning, and Merit is running out of time.

After a few rather disappointing installments, I’m happy to report that the Chicagoland series seems to have taken an upward turn. A significant improvement was noticeable in House Rules, but with Biting Bad, we’re right back on track. This eighth installment is just as good as the first two and it decidedly proves that the series has a lot more to give.

In terms of plot, Biting Bad offers more of the same, but it’s a recipe that undoubtedly works. Merit and Ethan face enemies both human and vampire, all equally dangerous. There is no downtime, no rest for the Cadogan house, and consequently, no time for our favorite couple to just enjoy each other’s company. They have to defend against everything from bombs to power plays, but at least they do it together.

It was strange, but oddly comforting to see Merit bested by a much older and much stronger vampire. Urban fantasy heroines tend to win against all odds, which can be almost ridiculous sometimes, but Chloe Neill steered clear of that trap while keeping her heroine strong and believable at the same time. I found myself smiling at Merit’s defeat and her need to be rescued by her liege because all of the sudden, I wasn’t seeing a UF protagonist, I was seeing Merit in flesh and blood, strong but vulnerable, smart but not all-powerful.

In addition, Neill finally took this where Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews went before her: there is no more unnecessary tension and second thoughts between Merit and Ethan. They face challenges together, and they do it wonderfully, as a real couple should. It’s them against the world and it works so well, it almost brought me to tears.

The only thing I find odd at this point in the series is the short time span in which these eight books happened. Ten months seem ridiculously short when one remembers everything that happened to Merit and Ethan, and with this detail in mind, their relationship and Merit’s strength lose some of its value and plausibility.

If you decide to start this series, or just catch up, forgive Neill and Merot for those two weaker installments. Keep in mind that things get infinitely better and just keep reading until they do. Chicagoland deserves your patience.

Bronze Gods by A.A. Aguirre Cover Reveal, Interview and Giveaway

Today I am honored to be able to share with you the cover of Bronze Gods, the first installment in the Apparatus Infernum series by Ann and Andres Aguirre. I've spent a lot of time staring at this cover and admiring it and I really hope you guys will like it as much as I do. 

Below you'll find a short interview with Ann and a giveaway, and make sure to visit the book page on Ann's website where she'll soon post the first chapter.  

Expected publication: April 30th 2013 by Ace

Danger stalks the city of steam and shadows.
Janus Mikani and Celeste Ritsuko work all hours in the Criminal Investigation Division, keeping citizens safe. He's a charming rogue with an uncanny sixth sense; she’s all logic—and the first female inspector. Between his instincts and her brains, they collar more criminals than any other partnership in the CID.

Then they’re assigned a potentially volatile case where one misstep could end their careers. At first, the search for a missing heiress seems straightforward, but when the girl is found murdered—her body charred to cinders—Mikani and Ritsuko’s modus operandi will be challenged as never before. Before long, it's clear the bogeyman has stepped out of nightmares to stalk gaslit streets, and it's up to them to hunt him down. There’s a madman on the loose, weaving blood and magic in an intricate, lethal ritual that could mean the end of everything…

Click on the cover to enlarge...


What was it like collaborating with your husband?

It was the best partnership I've ever had. It's fantastic because when one of has an idea, the other is right there to talk it through. Due to other deadlines and his work load from the day job, we ended up rewriting the manuscript in about a month--and let me tell you, that was stressful. But we buckled down and got it finished... then we ended up doing another round of revisions after that. But the finished book is quite wonderful. I can't wait for everyone to read it!


What do you think about the cover? How did it come together?

I've had many lovely covers from Ace over the years, but this is my favorite. I love it SO MUCH; Andres feels the same. These are the characters we've been carrying around for years now.

My editor, Anne Sowards, asked for a great deal of input regarding what we thought it should look like, so Andres and I found some examples of steampunk covers we truly admired, included those, plus detailed descriptions of the leads, ideas for the background, and then we also put Cliff Nielsen on our short list of dream artists. To our utter delight, they ran with our concept and they contracted Mr. Nielsen to do the cover. He brought our vision to life so beautifully that I can't even articulate it. I'm thrilled!


What should readers know about the series? And why steampunk?

Like all my books, there are compelling characters, but readers should know that my husband is especially meticulous about world-building. He comes to it from a gaming perspective, so he's got incredibly detailed charts and graphs. He's working on maps, too, both of the island and the city. Our goal is to offer enough source materials that people could set a roleplaying game in Dorstaad. The writing is also more descriptive and lyrical; and that's Andres's influence as well. Our editor actually commented on how lovely the writing is, which is pretty cool.

I'd call this steampunk noir, actually, because it is, essentially, a detective story set in a neo-Victorian world. There are steampunk elements, but there's also magic, darkness, romance, and action. I hope you'll all check it out!

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And because Ann is amazing beyond words, she will pre-order three copies of Bronze Gods for you guys at The Book Depository. My copy is already pre-ordered and I'm insanely excited about it. All you need to do to enter is fill out the Rafflecopter below.
Good luck!
EDIT: If the Rafflecopter isn't working AGAIN, just leave a comment about the cover and mention that you're entering the giveaway. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience! 

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Something Wicked Comes: Interview with Ann Aguirre + Giveaway of Outpost

It's no secret how much I love and admire Ann Aguirre, author of Enclave and Outpost (and so much more). She's the one author I can always count on to impress, entertain and cause some serious heartbreak. A few months ago, I'd invited her to answer a few of my questions, and she graciously agreed. You can find that interview HERE. 
Today, we went with something different. Instead of the usual chat about characters and worldbuilding, we talked about zombies and Halloween traditions. 

Hi Ann! Thanks for agreeing to do this Very Serious Interview about all things creepy and gory. Let's get the most important thing out of the way: how do you think you would fare during a zombie apocalypse? You seem very resourceful to me – do you think you'd be among the survivors, or one of the first to fall?

That depends. Are they slow zombies or fast zombies? There's no way I could outrun anything fast, but I'm a pretty good hider. If my survival hinges on bunkering down, being quiet, and occasionally unloading with a shotgun, I'd say my survival chances are excellent. I spent some time on the firing range in Vegas, and I blew the face off a zombie clean with a 12-gauge. I did well with a rifle, too, less impressive with machine gun or handgun.

Your books often have some kind of flesh-eating monsters, and although they're never traditional zombies, they are always both terrifying and disgusting. This led me to conclude that you're not especially squeamish, but we all have our limits. Where do you draw the line? Do you remember a scene from a book, or even a movie, that you found particularly repulsive? While we're at it, what is your favorite zombie book/movie of all time?

I find vomit scenes utterly disgusting. Blood bothers me less, actually, though I think wood chipper scenes like you find in Fargo and Tucker & Dale vs Evil are too far and quite revolting. As for my favorite zombie movie? Easy. 28 Days Later.

Zombie-human relationships are becoming increasingly popular. It started with Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies, and in YA, Lia Habel's Dearly series is certainly worth mentioning. As a true romance reader I know you to be, how do you feel about this new rotting hero?

I haven't read either of those books, and I'm not on board with zombies being love interests. I think that's super gross. I also am opposed to vampires as love interests, frankly, but I know I'm alone in this. But look, dead is dead. I don't want to date anyone who might be tempted to eat me. That's a mood-killer if you ask me. 

What is more creepy:

Zombie humans or zombie animals?

Both are creepy. But there's just something about a zombie dog...

Traditional zombies or voodoo-type zombies?

Tradition.

Zombies or ghosts?

Ghosts.

Do you have some Halloween traditions you're willing to share? How does Halloween in Mexico differ from Halloween in the United States?

We don't celebrate Halloween too much, overall. The kids have outgrown any desire to trick or treat, and frankly, my son never had any desire to put on weird clothes and "go begging", as he put it. When he was maybe seven, he said to me, "Mom, can't you just buy me candy if I want some?" I was like, "Of course." And that was the end of costumes.

We do still carve a jack-o-lantern, but otherwise, Halloween isn't a thing here. Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is celebrated in Mexico. You can find more information about it  HERE. I love the pan de muerto (bread of the dead), which is a lot more delicious than it sounds. It's a light, sweet pastry with dried fruit and covered in sugar; you can only get it in the month preceding the holiday. There's also las Catrinas (a skeleton in a pretty dress), sugar skulls, and all kinds of cool stuff. Mostly, though, it's about honoring—and thinking about—the loved ones you've lost. I find it's a lot more meaningful than Halloween, too.



Aaaaand it's time for our giveaway! Enter the Rafflecopter to win a copy of Outpost, the second book in Ann's Razorland series. The giveaway is international, of course, anywhere The Book Depository ships. Now, if for some (crazy) reason you still haven't read Enclave, you can opt to win that book instead. 
Have a great Halloween, guys! 

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Tim Marquitz presents the Fading Light anthology (part 2)

Hello, library members. 

Today we're continuing the interview with authors of Fading Light, a horror - science fiction - fantasy anthology.  Tim Marquitz, one of my favorite authors, interviewed them all for us. I had so much fun reading this, I hope you will too. 

Fading Light collects 30 monstrous stories by authors new and experienced, in the genres of horror, science fiction, and fantasy, each bringing their own interpretation of what lurks in the dark.

Contributors: Mark Lawrence, Gene O’Neill, William Meikle, David Dalglish, Gord Rollo, Nick Cato, Adam Millard, Stephen McQuiggan, Gary W Olson, Tom Olbert, Malon Edwards, Carl Barker, Jake Elliot, Lee Mather, Georgina Kamsika, Dorian Dawes, Timothy Baker, DL Seymour, Wayne Ligon, TSP Sweeney, Stacey Turner, Gef Fox, Edward M Erdelac, Henry P Gravelle, & Ryan Lawler, with bonus stories from CM Saunders, Regan Campbell, Jonathan Pine, Peter Welmerink, & Alex Marshall.

1. Given the opportunity, is there any one author you’d like to write a story with? What would you write about?

Ryan Lawler: I would love to write a story with Sir Terry Pratchett. I have no idea what it would be about, but it would probably start out as some sort of screwball comedy fantasy and evolve from there.

TSP Sweeney: Honestly, as great as it would be to team up with one of my (deservedly famous) idols, I think I would most like to work with my buddy Tristan Foster, who is a fantastic author whose literary work is always incredibly interesting and challenging.

I’d love to team up with him to work on something outside of both of our comfort zones, like a cyberpunk thriller or an erotic musical or something crazy like that.

2. Do you work in any other creative mediums besides writing? What are they?

TSP Sweeney: I used to do some work as a journalist and critic, but otherwise writing fiction has always been my creative medium of choice.  I enjoy building models or miniatures and painting them, I find it is a good way to clear my mind when I’m struggling a bit with writing.

Carl Barker: No. I love the similarities between music and writing though: there’s a melody and a beat, which you can either write with, or against.

3. Any tidbits of advice you can give aspiring authors?

Jake Elliot: Don’t self-publish. There is a reason your book isn’t finding an agent or a publisher. Figure out that reason and fix it, then try again. My first book––what a nightmare and complete failure. It was a first person narrative from the perspective of an elf.

Creative, eh? No one would touch it because it was bloated with backstory and the narrator whined too much. From its failure came ‘The Wrong Way Down’ which also failed to capture an agent, but it did find a publisher.

With ongoing experience I now know why I couldn’t find an agent. Book three is turning out better than anything I’ve yet written, and maybe it is now time to find an agent. Writing is a game of perseverance and patience. Get a guitar if you want instant gratification – you’ll get laid more too.

4. How has the current publishing atmosphere affected you and how you approach your work?

William Meikle: There's been a fair bit of doom and gloom in genre forums these past months about the death of print.

We live in a technological society these days. Things change fast and there's no denying that the industry as a whole is changing. Those that don't adapt, won't survive, it's that simple. Those that embrace digital wholeheartedly will prosper I believe.

To me, it's just another way to get a story in front of a reader. I've got work in print, audio, e-book and film and I'm sure when the time comes that stories can get beamed straight into reader's minds I'll have work ready to go there too.

I'd hate to see the small press becoming purely a limited edition niche market though. I have fond memories of saddle-stapled pamphlets and photocopied covers. To me that's what the small press is for... amateurs and enthusiasts finding a way to express

Ed Erdelac: I’m seriously considering going the self-publishing route for one book. You’ll have to get back to me later on that. I’m sort of new to the publishing world, so I don’t really know how it was before.

5. What books have you read recently? Any new authors you’re impressed by?

Gef Fox: The most recent book I read was Carol Weekes' short story collection, The Color of Bone. A talented-as-heck writer who co-wrote my favorite novel of 2009, Ouroboros.

New authors that have my attention, to name but a few, are Adam Cesare (Tribesmen, Bone Meal Broth), Lee Thompson (Before Leonora Wakes, Nursery Rhymes 4 Dead Children), Kelli Owen (The Neighborhood, Waiting Out Winter), Cate Gardner (Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits, Theatre of Curious Acts) and Ian Rogers (Felix Renn, Every House Is Haunted). A not-so-new author I've only recently discovered and enjoyed immensely is Weston Ochse (Blood Ocean, Multiplex Fandango).

Ryan Lawler: I’ve just finished The Hollow City by Dan Wells which is one of my favourite reads this year. The Merkabah Rider by Edward Erdelac (also in this anthology) and Redshirts by John Scalzi are also right up there as very impressive reads.

Angry Robot Books and Strange Chemistry have put together a roster of very impressive new authors who have plenty of cool ideas and are full of enthusiasm. Adam Christopher and Gwenda Bond are two authors you should be watching out for in the future.

TSP Sweeney: I finished marathoning the Song of Ice and Fire books by George R. R. Martin recently, which I enjoyed quite a bit overall despite some pacing issues.  I’m now moving on to the Zombie Survival Guide, which I’m hoping might get me in the mood to finish a story I had begun working on quite a while back that I never finished due to overwhelming zombie fatigue.

6. You’re drunk at a karaoke bar: what one song will get you up and wailing?

CM Saunders: Journey – Don't Stop Believing!!!

Ryan Lawler: Anything 70’s and 80’s rock. If I had to pick one song, it would be More Than a Feeling by Boston.

Carl Barker: ONE song?! If I’m drunk enough to get up, you’re not getting me down again without a fight.

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A big thank you to Tim Marquitz and all these authors for their willingness to be interrogated here at The Nocturnal Library. I hope you enjoyed the interview and that you'll consider getting a copy of Fading Light. I'll be reading as soon as I can.

Have a great Wednesday, people!

Interview and Giveaway with Cassie Alexander, author of Nightshifted

Hello, honorary librarians!
A few months ago, I was checking out something extremely important (read: wasting time) on The Book Depository, and I accidentally discovered Nightshifted. I've been thinking about it ever since and I even chose it for my first Waiting on Wednesday post. When I got a chance to review it, I was truly giddy with excitement. I liked it a lot, so imagine my joy when Cassie agreed to do an interview here at The Library! We had a lot to talk about, I hope you'll enjoy reading our chat. 
Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Hi, Cassie! Thank you so much for agreeing to stop by our blog and talk to us about your upcoming debut, Nightshifted. I have to say that I recently finished your book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I always get so excited about a fresh new voice in urban fantasy. Could you tell us a little bit about your book?

Nightshifted is about Edie Spence, a nightshift nurse who works on a ward for supernatural creatures. I happen to be a nurse in real life, so the medical stuff is as real as it can feasibly be when vampires are involved.


Characters like Kate Daniels and Mercy Thompson, who are powerful and special in one way or another, dominate the genre, and yet Edie is just a very lonely girl who works by night and sleeps through the day, deals with a brother addicted to heroin, and has reduced her social life to a series of nameless one-night stands. She has no special skills or powers. Do you think it was risky to write an anti-heroine in a genre so full of kick-ass heroines?

I hope not! But I get what you’re saying.
I’d been reading a ton of urban fantasy, I do enjoy the genre quite a bit...but I felt distanced from the characters in those novels. I was going through a rough time, starting out in my job. Being a new nurse is scary, disgusting, and hard. You love it, or you wouldn’t be there, but it definitely does not love you back for awhile. Years, maybe. Your patients and other staff can be abusive, often without consequence, there’s a continual (reasonable!) pressure to not fuck up, and the things you’re seeing at work no one else wants to hear about at home. It’s almost like PTSD. And nurses that have been around awhile already know how to cope, but they can’t give that knowledge to you, because it’s something you have to earn with experience and time.
So reading urban fantasy about people who were naturally super special and kick ass and fantastically pretty was lovely escapism for awhile...but then I started to feel like those books didn’t apply to me. Those heroines weren’t people I could relate to. I wasn’t special. I was spending my nights cleaning up blood and shit. I was so scared I was going to screw up and hurt someone, some shifts I could hardly breathe.
Since I was a writer before I was a nurse, it felt natural to try to write it out. So in long-winded response, I wrote Edie for me. I didn’t really think about marketing stuff. I just wanted to see someone who was finally like me on the page.

As you said, you are a nurse yourself. I won’t ask how much you relied on your experience while creating Edie’s world because I’ve noticed so many details only a nurse could know, but how do you mantain the balance between your day (or night?) job and writing? What does a normal day in your life look like?

I sleep in till 2-5 PM depending on if I worked the night before. Then I get up, try to go to the gym so my back won’t hate me, and hang out with my husband or write. I write on break at night at work, or while everyone else is asleep when I’m at home. (I’d like to point out in the first draft of this interview, I was writing it at 5:30 am...but this time around, it’s merely 4:04 am, ha.)

It’s really hard to maintain a balance, but my husband is incredibly supportive of my career and respectful of my time, and I’ve accepted the fact that it may be another month until I see season two of Game of Thrones.

On that note, working nights in hospitals seems incredibly dull. Edie spent her entire shift on pediatric ward browsing the Internet, at least until the dragon showed up. Since there are no real dragons to make your life more interesting, is a nurse’s job really that slow and uneventful?

When you’re lucky, it’s that slow. Not on every floor, every shift, but yeah, there are some nights you’re just being paid to stay awake. Sometimes there are demented people who just need someone to sit in the room and make sure they don’t get out of bed and the hospital gods bless you and they actually stay asleep. Some nights, you can even read a book!
(I did try to get super accurate a few times about the Life of a Nurse in the book, and almost always had to delete those scenes later as too technical. I also had a ton of extra patients and care situations, and my agent wisely told me to reduce their number, because it they were distracting from the plot. So that’s why Edie isn’t as busy as I was last night at work, ha.)
Usually it nursing is busier, although my floor’s really good about keeping breaktime sacred. And sometimes it’s so busy and awful that you finish up two hours into dayshift and come home and have dreams you’re still at work, hanging up infinite IV bags.
On night shift you really have to form a cohesive team -- you’re there without any ancillary staff, doctors are never happy to be woken up, and sometimes it feels like you’re the only one there with the patient’s best interests in mind. I’m lucky to work with some of the most amazing women I know. We have each other’s backs in a way that I think only people in combat could understand.

What comes after Nightshifted? Could you tell us about the rest of the trilogy and possible other projects?

Moonshifted is the 2nd book, and it’s out on 11/27/12. It’s more werewolf focused, and also on Y4. Shapeshifted is the 3rd book, and it’ll be out next late-May, early-June, and it’s set outside the hospital, but still preoccupied with health care.
I’m interested in writing further books, but I swear each of them have full endings. I’ve also got a few ideas for related novellas kicking around in my head, but we’ll see if I ever have any free time. Season two of Game of Thrones isn’t going to watch itself ;).

Thanks so much, Cassie! Good luck with the rest of the trilogy and happy book release!

Thanks Maja! I appreciate it! :D

Fill out the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win a copy of Nightshifted. The giveaway is international, anywhere The Book Depository ships. 

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