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Hey everyone! How are you all doing this lovely Tuesday?
I am so happy to say that I have one of the the nicest and sweetest authors I’ve met to date. Not only that, but she also writes great Urban Fantasy books, is there any doubt as to why I’m her fan?
There is also a great Signed Book Giveaway, the detail are au the end of the post!
Sparks is Coming out TODAY! Check out my review of Sparks HERE!
My review of Embers HERE!
Enjoy…
When did you first start writing?
I’ve been writing as far back as I can remember, scribbling down stories or drawing pictures of different worlds. I had a pretty magical childhood – my mother was a school librarian, so I spent summers in a sunshine-filled nook in the back of the library. I read about mythology and legends, dragons and things that go bump in the night. I wanted to create something that would speak to other people like those books spoke to me.
As an adult, I kept scribbling. I was initially pretty shy about submitting my work, but I gradually discovered that other people were enjoying what I’d written. It’s a wonderful affirmation of that childhood dream.
Have you always enjoyed Fantasy?
When I was a kid, I read Robin McKinley's HERO AND THE CROWN and THE BLUE SWORD. I'd never read any fantasy before with strong female heroines, and I was instantly in love with the genre.
Why writing Urban Fantasy?
I love the idea that there's something beneath the everyday world, something invisible and magical. Writing about the supernatural is a way to touch that unseen world, to imagine what our reality would be like if there were just a few different rules, and magic was the hidden law.
Were there any Books, Movies or Writers that have inspired you?
Many...Patricia McKillip, Wonder Woman comic books, Peter S. Beagle, Robin McKinley, Forever Knight, C.S. Friedman...
Tarot cards are a big inspiration for me, especially for my work as Alayna Williams. I literally wrote DARK ORACLE and ROGUE ORACLE with a deck in hand for story prompts.
What is your favorite subject in the Urban Fantasy Realm?
Lately...dragons. I picked up a new Tarot deck, the Celtic Dragon Tarot, that has whimsical dragons on all the cards. I've been inhaling all things dragon for the last couple of months.
How did you come up with such a fresh "species" of supernatural being?
I try to approach myths in ways I haven't seen before. For example, I use fire salamanders as familiars in EMBERS and SPARKS. There's not much to find about salamanders in the literature, beyond their origins. They're rumored to be capricious, destructive, and unpredictable as fire itself. That made a salamander a perfect sidekick for Anya, the arson investigator heroine of EMBERS and SPARKS. And Sparky hopped out onto the page, wiggling his tail and looking for trouble.
Writing as Alayna Williams, I used the myth of the Oracle of Delphi to create a society of oracles in DARK ORACLE and ROGUE ORACLE. I wanted to write about a criminal profiler who uses Tarot cards to solve crimes, and the old myth of the priestesses of Delphi provided an exciting history for a modern oracle.
I really enjoy seeing Anya and Brian together, is a Happily Ever After is the cards for them?
One of the things I find most exciting about Urban Fantasy is that a Happily Ever After isn't guaranteed. I'm quite fond of Brian, because he's an ordinary guy, a computer programmer who happens to love a woman who sees ghosts. As a nerd, I'm a big fan of geek love.
However, just because Brian is human doesn't mean that he doesn't have a dark side. We get an inkling of that in SPARKS. My lips are sealed on the future, though!
Favorites:
Favorite Paranormal themed Movie?
Constantine
Favorite Paranormal themed TV Show?
The X-Files
Favorite Paranormal themed Book?
Robin McKinley's SUNSHINE
Favorite Author?
Robin McKinley
Favorite Paranormal Romance Author?
I have a lot of favorites...it's impossible to choose just one! Some of my favorites include Ann Aguirre, Linda Robertson, Stacia Kane, and Jeri Smith-Ready.
Favorite one of your Books?
SPARKS is my favorite. It'll be released by Pocket-Juno Books in August 30. In SPARKS, Anya’s investigating a rash of spontaneous human combustion cases. With the help of the ghost hunters and a soul collector from the Underworld, she must track down the supernatural source of the fires and keep her fire salamander familiar's newly-hatched newts safe from a malicious psychic. Chaos ensues - and I love writing chaos.
Who is your favorite of your own characters?
Sparky, Anya Kalinczyk's fire salamander familiar in EMBERS and SPARKS, is my favorite character. When he's taking a nap or disinterested in Anya's work, he's housed in a salamander-shaped torque she wears around her neck. When he's feeling peevish, or in the presence of danger or ghosts, he's unleashed from the necklace. Most often, he takes the form of a five-foot speckled hellbender. Only Anya and ghosts can see him, but he makes his influence felt in the physical world: he can disrupt electrical fields. He's prone to chewing on cell phones, shorting out fire alarm systems, blowing up microwaves, and wreaking havoc on nearly anything he can get his paws on. He's not a bad salamander...he just manages to find trouble, wherever he goes.
Which was the hardest to write?
Anya, the heroine of EMBERS and SPARKS, can be emotionally difficult to write. Anya has her roots in the myth of Ishtar. Ishtar was the Babylonian goddess of war and sex. Anya has a very strong dark side to her personality. When she's possessed by a demon, that dark side is given free reign.
What would you be if not a writer? Why?
I've worked a day job in and around criminal justice since 1996. If I could choose anything else...I'd be a veterinarian. I've got hopes of someday owning a feral cat ranch or otter sanctuary. Weird, huh?
Maybe I could be a veterinarian for dragons...
If you Could be a Paranormal Being, Which one would you be?
Most paranormal beings have pretty extensive drawbacks, as part of the price of magic. I suppose that if had to choose, I'd want to be an elemental. Salamanders seem to have the most fun, and usually have the advantage of immortality.
Or a dragon. Yeah, a dragon. I like shiny things, and dragons get to hoard a lot of loot.
If you could meet any Urban Fantasy Character, which one you'd like to meet?
Though it's not strictly Urban Fantasy, I'd love to meet Don Simon Ysidro from Barbara Hambly's THOSE WHO HUNT THE NIGHT and TRAVELING WITH THE DEAD. He's my favorite vampire. She used a very subtle touch to humanize him. One of the most unforgettable scenes she wrote was about Don Simon in his nightshirt late at night, feeding the neighborhood cats scraps of meat from butcher paper. That scene still sticks with me as an example of how a master writer creates a character.
Quickies:
Coffee or Tea?
Tea. I never developed a taste for coffee! But Coca-Cola in the morning is my all-time favorite.
Up or Down?
Up. Down would probably make me motion-sick!
Virtual or Real?
Virtual
Right or Left?
Right
Day or Night?
Day. I can't get enough sunshine.
Here or There?
There. I'm always thinking about the next thing.
Sooner or Later?
Sooner. I'm an impatient girl!
Light or Dark?
Dark. Dark shirts don't show spaghetti stains.
Fast or Slow?
Slow. Savoring is good.
Vampires or Werewolves?
Vamps. I don't know that a were would get along with my cats.
Angels or Demons?
Angels. They're more of a challenge. ;-)
Lanterns or Ghosts?
Lanterns get indigestion while digesting ghosts, but they're pretty tenacious. Lanterns.
Reading or Writing?
Writing
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
Editing. Yeah, I know that's perverse, but I get a sick sense of accomplishment from it.
What is your least favorite part?
Staring at the blank page. It's intimidating as hell.
The Anya Kalinczyk Series in your own words?
By day, Anya Kalinczyk is an arson investigator for the Detroit Fire Department. By night, she's a ghost-hunter who uses her powers as a medium to devour malicious spirits. With the help of her fire salamander familiar, Sparky, and an eccentric team of ghost hunters, she must face dangers from Detroit's hidden supernatural underbelly.
Any plans for more Books in the series?
I'd love to do more books, and have plenty of notebooks full of ideas. Time will tell if they come to fruition!
You also write the Oracle series as Alayna Williams, Why did you decide to write that series under a pseudonym?
Same genre, and the release dates were close together – hence the use of a different name! DARK ORACLE has a slightly different tone. Tara Sheridan swore off criminal profiling after narrowly escaping a serial killer who left her scarred for life. By combining Tarot card divination with her own intuition, she must help an intense federal agent find a missing scientist who has unlocked the destructive secrets of dark energy. The agent, Harry Li, draws her out of her self-imposed exile and back into the world.
What is coming up next for you?
I'm finishing up on copy edits for ROGUE ORACLE, the sequel to DARK ORACLE. ROGUE will be out in 2011, under my Alayna Williams pseudonym. In ROGUE ORACLE, Tara’s destiny becomes further enmeshed with Delphi’s Daughters, and ancient secret society of oracles. With the help of federal agent Harry Li, she’s trying to stop a Chernobyl survivor from selling nuclear secrets on the international black market.
What are you working on right now?
I've got a couple of projects I'm working on at the moment, also in the urban fantasy genre, but pretty far off the beaten path. I've also had a yen to do an epic fantasy for awhile...we'll see how the cards fall!
Do you have any advice or tip to those like me that want to become a published Author someday?
I always suggest that writers try. National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo challenges participants to write 50,000 words in a month. I highly recommend the experience for all writers – it really tests the boundaries of what you think you can accomplish. It helped me integrate writing into other aspects of my life, and definitely made it a priority.
The single most important step along the path to getting published is finishing. The next step is having the discipline to do it again. And again. Wash, rinse, repeat. It’s the whole learning-by-doing thing.
Anything you would like to say to your fans out there?
Thank you so much for giving my books a try. I know that there are a lot of choices in the urban fantasy section of the bookstore, and it means a lot when folks take a chance on me.
Thank you so much for being here!
Thank you very much for having me!
Find Laura Online:
Website | Blog
Buy Laura’s Books:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble| Book On Board
Win a SIGNED Copy of “Sparks” by Laura Bickle!
Book #2 in The Anya Kalinczyk!
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