What can you tell my readers about yourself that they might not know from
looking on your bio or reading in another interview?
That gets harder and harder as the book tour rolls on, so you are going to
get something totally random! I have in recent years developed a bit of an
obsession with gingers. My boyfriend and his daughter are gingers, as well as
one of my favorite friends, a giant of a soccer-playing chemist from Manchester,
England. Possibly it all started when I read OUTLANDER. Or when I went all
fangirl over Irish singer/songwriter Glen Hansard (The Frames, Swell Season).
Anyhow I love looking at photos of gingers, and have learned all sorts of
interesting facts. Such as the fact blue-eyed redheads are the rarest
combination — they’re double-recessives. I also recently wrote a piece of sci-fi
romance flash fiction that features a redheaded paladin.
What do you enjoy doing on your down time?
Time that I can really call my own is fairly rare. I have a 7-year-old
daughter, a relationship, and two jobs (author, and senior editor and partner
for a romance/erotica short story site called SilkWords). So with some of my
free time I attempt to keep my head on straight with a regular yoga and
meditation practice. And my favorite way to totally slack is TV. Some current
favorites are Orphan Black, True Detectives, Mad Men, and Downton Abbey.
What is your Favorite part of writing?
Probably everyone says this, but those times when I’m really in the zone.
That is the true crack of writing. We put up with writer’s block, deadline
anxiety, rejection, and all the rest, for those rare and precious moments of
bliss when the story is flowing through us without effort. When we’re nothing
more than an open channel for creativity.
A close second would be when a reader/reviewer really *gets* one of my books.
Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write?
I never sit down to write without tea or coffee. I almost always drink decaf
these days, so this is more a ritual than a drug habit. I also typically run
some background noise, such as rainycafe.com. And when my own company and my
freaky orange cat start to drive me batty, I pack up and go to a coffee shop.
I’m a serial monogamist with coffee shops. I fall in love with one and go there
every time, no matter how inconvenient the location, until I fall in love with
another one. My current affair is with a place called Neptune. They have very
complicated, highbrow coffee varieties (because Seattle) and the most fragrant
jasmine tea ever.
What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/
Paranormal Genres?
I love Skyler White (AND FALLING, FLY and THE INCREMENTALISTS). Her voice is
lush and amazing. I think she and I were separated at birth; we both write
speculative stories spiced with romance and geeky goodness, and we both have
crazy hair.
I also really like Kat Richardson’s heroine, Harper, (the Greywalker series)
and Darynda Jones’s reaper, Charley Davidson. Darynda and I were both paranormal
finalists for the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award in 2009. She
beat me. But she’s adorable, so it’s okay.
How would you pitch The Ophelia Prophecy to someone who has not
heard of it before?
It’s a post-apocalyptic, fast-paced Romeo and Juliet story with a vivid
setting and plenty of suspense, plus a slow-burn romance with a big payoff.
Can you tell us a little bit about the world that The Ophelia Prophecy
is set in?
The setting is post-apocalyptic Earth. The hero’s race — the Manti,
genetically engineered beings created by man — have unleashed a virus that all
but wiped out humanity. The heroine hails from the last human city, Sanctuary,
located in the Utah desert. The hero hails from the Manti capital city of
Granada, which is culturally rich and fascinating even in the real world, and
really comes alive (literally in some cases) under the Manti’s Gaudi-inspired
enhancements.
Do you have a favorite scene in The Ophelia Prophecy?
I think I’d have to say the opening chapter, because it really sets up the
dynamics between the hero, Pax, the heroine, Asha, and Pax’s sister and pilot,
Iris. We also get a first glimpse into this strange new world, a taste of the
sexual and emotional tension to come, and a sense of the mystery that will
perplex the main characters for the first half of the book.
Which character was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest
to write about?
Asha was the hardest to write. She has partial amnesia for the first half of
the book, and when her memory returns, the way her character has developed in
the meantime has to be reconciled with the person she was before the memory
loss.
I had the most fun with Pax’s sister Iris, who is part human, part praying
mantis, and looks sort of like a futuristic fairy. She’s smart, sarcastic, and
unpredictable. And I LOVED writing
Banshee, Pax’s ship. She’s a blend of
plant and insect DNA and artificial intelligence, and she becomes sentient in
the early part of the story.
What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you?
I have another new book coming out early next year, ECHO 8. Here is an
unofficial blurb from my web site:
The fate of two worlds hangs in the balance as three lives entangle: Jake,
a man shifted to an alternate Earth, where he must drain energy from others to
survive. Tess, the parapsychologist trying to save him. Ross, the FBI agent torn
between duty and his love for Tess.
It’s my first love triangle, and I had a blast writing it.
I’ve also started something new that I don’t want to say too much about for
now. It’s set in Portland and blends art, mythology, physics, and reincarnation.
I’m very excited about it!
Thank you for having me on UFI!
