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Interview: Author Stacia Kane +Giveaway
Filed in Giveaways , Interview , Stacia Kane Posted on May 27, 2010 @ 6:00 am
30 comments
We are so happy to have Author Stacia Kane here today. The first book in her new Chess Putnam Series, Unholy Ghosts was released this week and Stacia is here today, to talk about her new books. Please give her a warm welcome and don’t forget to look at the giveaway at the end.
The Geeky Lover: Stacia, can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
Stacia: Well, I guess it depends on what you want to know! I’ve been writing for about five years; well, I’ve been writing for longer, but I’ve been writing with an eye toward publication for about five years, and I’ve been publishing for about four. I started out writing romance, then erotic romance, but it just seemed like as much as I love the genre, my voice and the kinds of stories I wanted to tell just weren’t quite the right fit. So I started writing urban fantasy, and found that I just loved it!
I’m married and have two little girls, I love to cook, I love to watch The Big Bang Theory, and I’m having trouble adjusting to the new Doctor on Doctor Who.
The Geeky Lover: Describe a typical day of writing? Are you a planner or pantser?
Stacia: Definitely a pantser, but I do usually have a few specific scenes in mind, and I tend to work towards them. And a typical day? My first instinct is to say there really isn’t one, but when I think about it I guess there is. Occasionally I work in the afternoon; my friend Caitlin Kittredge and I will do a word war, where we each write as fast as we can for a set period of time. We usually do thirty minutes at a stretch, and have occasionally done as many as four or five of those in an afternoon, which is great.
Usually I work at night, though. It’s easier for me to get lost in the work if I know I won’t be interrupted. Plus I’m an insomniac, so I’m awake anyway. It gives me something to do!
The Geeky Lover: What do you think is the difference between a reader and a real Book Lover?
Stacia: Hmm. Wow, that’s a heck of a question to ask! I guess if pressed I’d have to say that a reader just reads, and usually just reads whatever is at the top of the bestseller list at any given moment. Whereas a real Book Lover loves everything about books; they love to talk about books, they loan books and get excited about books, and they read all sorts of genres. But I also think any reader can easily become a real Book Lover, and maybe they just haven’t found the right book yet. Real Book Lovers are generally who I have in mind when I write (which isn’t to say that I don’t love “regular” readers just as much, because of course I do!); the people who really love to let everything go and immerse themselves in the world of a book, who appreciate all the little worldbuilding and character points, who follow every plot twist with excitement.
I think anyone who reads is fantastic, no matter what and how much they read. People who don’t read frankly confuse the heck out of me. How can you not read? What do you do with your time, you know? Isn’t life terribly dull without books?
The Geeky Lover: Tell us a bit about your new series (Chess Putnam/Downside Books). What makes this world tick?
Stacia: Back in 1997—the booksare set in about 2020—an event called Haunted Week happened, in which millions of ghosts rose from the grave and slaughtered the human population, leaving it about a third of the size it was before. While this was happening people turned to their government and their religions for help, but of course they couldn’t really do anything. But one small church—really more of an underground magic group than anything else, with a history stretching back to the 17th century—called the Church of Real Truth figured out how to banish the ghosts to an enormous underground cavern, which they called the City of Eternity.
So now the Church is in charge; they’re government and religion all in one, except they’re an atheistic religion. Facts and truth are what they believe in, and the worship of or even discussion of gods is pretty much forbidden. There’s even an issue with names, because so many common names are taken from religion (apostles, saints, prophets, etc.) and while it’s not prohibited, the Church does frown on it, especially for its employees.
Of course, since the Church is in charge because it can banish ghosts, if you have a haunting the Church will pay you a settlement. So a lot of people try to fake hauntings, and that’s where Chess Putnam comes in. She’s a Debunker, and her job is to investigate haunting claims.
It’s a world a lot like ours, except the poor are poorer, luxuries are harder to come by, and there are whole areas of certain cities that the Church doesn’t even pay attention to, like Downside. The people there never had real access to education, never had real access to medicine or healthy food. Some of them have decent jobs but most don’t; those who make money get out of Downside as soon as they can!
Oh, and because so many people died, there’s a huge emphasis in this world on genealogy, and finding family members. People spend a lot of their time doing this, and they’re incredibly proud of their lineages, which of course puts characters like Chess who have no family even more on the outside than they already were.
The Geeky Lover: The world in your new series really focuses on Magic. How did you research that? Was a personal interest or just for the books?
Stacia: The magic in the books is largely based on British Traditional Witchcraft, which is something I’ve studied for years. I just find it fascinating and had always wanted to use it in a book. It’s a very earthy magic, magic of blood and bone and horns and toads. There are also a lot of sigils and runes involved—not just the Norse runes, but special Church runes—and herbs, and things like spiderwebs and Hands of Glory and mandrake and chunks of snake. It’s really exciting and fun to write.
I also use psychopomps, which are animals who act as couriers or escorts, taking souls from the living body and into the afterlife. The idea of psychopomps has been around since ancient times, and it’s fascinated me ever since I learned of it. My psychopomps aren’t living—they’re skulls, and during the ritual the living body grows back around the skulls, which I hope readers will think is kind of neat and different—but the concept is the same.
The Geeky Lover: Tell us a bit about Chess, your heroine.
Stacia: I wanted to create a character with real problems, someone who had genuine weaknesses and not the “job interview” types of weakness, where they’re too perfectionist or too hard a worker or whatever; someone who was strong and tough but who didn’t run into every situation with all guns blazing, and she certainly fit the bill! Chess is a functional drug addict with a responsible Church job. She’s a Debunker, as I said above, and a witch; she’s a strong and talented witch, but of course not omnipotent by any stretch (nor does she increase and increase her power with every book). At work she’s required to face terrifying ghosts and delve into the secrets of her investigation subjects, yet she can’t deal with the horror of her own past as an abused foster child and keeps many secrets of her own. So on the one hand her job is to expose lies, but on the other are the lies she has to tell every day, the lie she lives, which I think adds a really interesting contrast and a lot of tension.
She’s a very tough girl, Chess is, and hopefully a genuinely likeable one as well; she’s not really bitchy, she’s not really mean; she’s just tough, and a loner. Chess doesn’t let anyone get close to her—in fact, she actively works to keep that from happening, and to keep large parts of herself and her life private. She doesn’t even really recognize love or have any idea how to handle that sort of thing; she can’t or won’t be intimate with people she cares about, for example. But beneath that toughness, and that determination to be strong and independent and not need anyone, there is the fact that she is essentially a slave; she wants to be in total control, but her addiction makes her vulnerable to being controlled. She’s independent and strong, but at the same time she has this terrible, almost fatal weakness. So it really makes her interesting, and fascinating—to me, anyway—and a lot of fun to write about.
The Geeky Lover: What about the names of your characters? Did you search for unique names or do you have a habit of collecting exceptional names like J.K. Rowling?
Stacia: Most of the names just came to me, really. Like I said above I wanted to have names that weren’t related to saints or prophets or apostles, in order to strengthen the worldbuilding and feeling of cohesiveness. So a lot of the names—the names of the people in Downside, certainly—aren’t really what we think of as names. They’re adjectives, or nouns, or combinations of the two.
Church employees also have unusual names—some of them, anyway—but they’re real names! And of course the people Chess investigates have what we think of as normal names; they’re normal people, after all. So like many other things—and like they are to an extent in our world—names are an indication of socioeconomic status.
The Geeky Lover: What I wondered while reading Unholy Ghosts: weren’t you afraid that some people would assume you are trivializing drug abuse? Not that I am. I can totally see how “great” her life is but you know how some people are.
Stacia: I was worried, yes, and I’m really glad you asked me that question. I know the drug use is going to be a problem for some people, and I appreciate that it’s not always an easy thing to read about. And I certainly hope that people will see that, like I said above, as much as Chess wants to be free and in control and in charge of her own life, her addiction prevents that from ever fully happening.
I really did try, and I hope I succeeded, in showing the ways that it inhibits her and causes trouble for her. Of course, since the series is written from Chess’s POV, and Chess herself doesn’t see her addiction as a real problem, I had to be very careful how I did it; it had to be true to the character, and non-preachy.
I feel pretty confident, though, that readers are smart enough to see what the real message is, and will know that I wasn’t trying to glamorize drug use, but to show the problems it causes.
The Geeky Lover: Also your picture of the church is really inventive in my eyes. Why did you choose a faithless religion?
Stacia: Thank you! Originally I was going to have the religion based on the old gods of British Traditional Witchcraft, but decided that since I was using bits of other magic’s and cultures as well that wouldn’t quite work. Then I actually made up a god—for about fifteen minutes—before I decided I didn’t like that idea so much.
But when I thought of having a secular religion, one that believes in magic and what it can see and feel rather than gods, I realized how well it fit and how great it would be to write about. It creates challenges in writing, certainly—aside from anything else, writing an entire series of books in which no one ever says things like, “God, you scared me!” or “Jesus, don’t do that!” is interesting.
Plus I think in some ways this seems to be the natural direction in which the world is moving, away from gods and organized religion and into alternative belief systems or simply a belief in nothing. And I liked the idea of exploring what a world like that might be like.
The Geeky Lover: Tell us a bit about your street team “The Downside Army”. What is it about?
Stacia: It’s mostly just an email news group, really. When I have news they generally hear it first; they see covers before anyone else and/or get special excerpts. I offer the first five chapters of UNHOLY GHOSTS on my website as a PDF download, but Downside Army members got it emailed to them the week before it went on the site. And I have a few DA-only contests I’m planning as well.
In exchange I mostly just ask that they talk about the books if they like them, and tell their friends. I encouraged them to pass the five-chapter PDFs to as many people as they could, to print them out for people who didn’t want to read onscreen, really anything except putting it on filesharing sites or offering it as a download from their own sites.
The Geeky Lover: If you had to choose a favorite, which secondary character of yours would it be?
Stacia: Oh, definitely Terrible. I think he’s everyone’s favorite, isn’t he?
I also love Edsel, though, and Elder Griffin. And Bump is an absolute riot to write; I think he’s the most fun character I’ve ever created. He’s just so sleazy and manipulative and creepy and over-the-top…but even he has a soft spot, and if I get to write more of the books readers will get to see it eventually!
The Geeky Lover: If you could choose to be one of your characters who would it be?
Stacia: Oh, wow. That’s a really difficult question, considering what rough lives my characters have. Probably Chess though, to be honest. Despite her problems, I’d love to be as skilled and talented a witch as she is, and I’d love to know some of the people she knows.
The Geeky Lover: Give us 3 reasons why people should read your books?
Stacia: Oh, wow. Because I ask them to very nicely, and I’m a nice person who loves all readers and I really want to write more of these books because I love them so much?
No, that’s really not a good reason. Sigh. Okay.
1. Because I really think—and the majority of reviewers so far have agreed—that Chess is a special and unique character, one readers really identify strongly with, one they like and care a lot about in spite of her faults.
2. Because I believe the world is very different, very dark and dangerous, and because I’d really love to know what people think about the questions about human nature and faith that world raises.
3. Because—again, I think, and the majority of reviewers have agreed—that it’s a hell of an exciting book, with lots of twists and turns, a lot of action, and some things you’ve probably not seen before. I didn’t hold back in this series, and so far most people seem to really appreciate that!
The Geeky Lover: Do you plan to write something outside of the urban fantasy genre? YA perhaps?
Stacia: I’m toying with/working on a YA at the moment actually. I also would love to do something like a paranormal women’s fiction type of novel. And I have another little project on the fire as well, but it’s so early on I don’t really want to talk about it yet.
The Geeky Lover: What is next on your schedule?
Stacia: Next? More panicking about how these books are going to do! And that’s a lot of panicking, because the releases are so close together: May 25, July 6, and July 27. And the dates in the UK/Aus/Eire are only a few days behind. So that’s going to keep me very busy, because not only are we doing the back-to-back releases—which is amazing, I’m thrilled that Del Rey and HarperVoyager in the UK are so committed to and excited about the series, and are going out of their way to give it such a big launch—but as a thank you to people who buy UNHOLY GHOSTS I’m offering a free PDF download of the first three chapters of UNHOLY MAGIC, the second book in the series. And I may be offering a few other little things as well.
After that…I have a short story due in a month and a half or so, and hopefully more Downside books, in addition to the other projects I’m working on. So it’s going to be a very busy summer.
The Geeky Lover: Thanks so much for taking the time to answer our questions.
Stacia: Thanks so much for having me! It’s been a real pleasure!
~*~*~Giveaway~*~*~
Thanks to Random House we have one copy of Unholy Ghost for one lucky commenter.
Just ask Stacia a question or leave a comment about the interview on this post.
For an extra entry you can also leave a comment on the review of Unholy Ghosts here.
Giveaway is open to everyone and ends Saturday June 5th. I will announce the winner on Sunday.
Good Luck
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Hi Stacia,
You are a new for me Author. I would love to read this book 🙂
– What's your favorite scene(s) on this book ? did you find it difficult to write it ?
– i comment too in the review 🙂
uniquas at ymail dot com
What is the most unusual thing that has happened to you personnally, and did it influence your writing?
I would love to read this book.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com
Hola! Great interview you guys =)
I'm really excited about this series and would love to get my hands on a copy ^^
See you at the Paranormal Summer Fest Stacia <3
TyngaUF(a)gmail.com
Hi Stacia- What do you think the problem was with the romances you were writing? Was it just that you wanted to concentrate less on the romance aspect of the story and more on the paranormal?
Can't wait to read the book.
jen at delux dot com
Hey Stacia. What influenced you to start to write urban fantasy? And do you believe in ghosts?
Charchelar@aol.com
I'm very excited to read this! I enjoy characters that are far from perfect and that have demons. It makes them more human. What kinds of research did you do to understand Chess's struggles and will this be ongoing for her?
Can't wait to read this! I know this is going to be an amazing series!! So glad we don't have to wait long between each book 😀
Littopandaxpress(at)yahoo(dot)com
Thank you for sharing the interview. I think you cover just about everything. The story, world and heroine sound awesome. I cannot wait to try it.
Congrats on the release and thanks for sharing today. It sounds like a great start to a new series and I am really looking forward to it.
bacchus76 at myself dot com
I enjoyed the interview and the chance to learn more about Unholy Ghosts, which sounds like a fantastic book.
Great interview. I will be putting this book on my wish list! Oh, and I love Big Bang Theory too! 🙂
Hi Mariska,
Oh, gosh, my favorite scene? I don't think I can really pick one, to be honest! But I love the first scene with Lex, the scene in the bar with Terrible, and most of the ending. 🙂 And none of it was really *hard* to write, but it was kind of scary and intense; I tried to dig as deep as I could, and it took a lot out of me.
Hi Debbie! Oh, wow, the most unusual thing that's ever happened to me personally? I think my life, like everyone else's, is so full of different and unusual events I couldn't really pick one. As far as funny unusual though, I did have some friends a long time ago who had a pet pig, and the pig escaped, and I had to go find it and bring it home (they had work, but I had that day off). So that was different. 🙂
Hi Tynga! Looking forward to it!
Hi JenM, yeah that was basically it. I didn't want to have to solve all of the problems and issues at the end of one book, and I wanted to tell different kinds of stories with characters that wouldn't necessarily be accepted in romance. I wanted to go a lot darker, too. Thanks!
Hi Charchelar. Hmm, what made me write UF? It just felt right, really. I've always loved fantasy. I love writing an action-oriented plot in a fantasy world. I like the way you can create so much and use that to examine so much, really.
And yes, I absolutely believe in ghosts. 🙂
Hi Joder. Thanks! I didn't really do a lot of research as far as Chess herself, but I did a LOT of research on functional addiction and addiction in general. There's a lot of very interesting information out there, and I found a lot of it really fascinating.
And yes, it is ongoing; no instant fixes for her (no pun intended). I want to tell a realistic story, and to do that you have to let some time pass, and things often have to get worse before they get better.
Thanks van_pham! Yeah, I was really thrilled when I found out Del Rey was planning to do the back-to-back releases, and when HarperVoyager followed suit that was even more exciting. I love being able to say to readers that they won't have to wait forever to really get into the story.
Thanks Robin, I hope you like it!
Thank you Donnas and Barbara E., I hope you like the book(s)!
It's such an awesome show, isn't it, Melissa? And I can't WAIT for next season, did you see the finale on Monday night?
Great interview. I have heard so many wonderful things about this book. I have found myself looking for more imperfect heros and heroines in fiction lately. Sometimes I don;t want an HEA. This sounds perfect.
Hi Stacia,
I've been a fan of yours for some time and I'm really looking forward to reading Unholy Ghosts.
Thanks for a great interview!
Now for the question. When a story isn't coming together, how do you find inspiration?
Hi Stacia, what do you usually do when you're not writing?
– I commented on the review.
aikychien at yahoo dot com
I dpn't think I have read any of Stacia's book at least not for quite a time and from the interview this sounds quite interesting so please enter me in the giveaway.
Thanks
Carol T
buddytho {at} gmail DOT com
Hi Tori! Thanks! Ha, there's definitely not an HEA in the first book, although I like to think it's still a somewhat hopeful ending (for the MC in general, not so much in a romantic vein), and that characters are definitely not perfect. But that's actually kind of the point, for me; I wanted to write about people who may do bad things and may look or seem like bad people, but to show that looks can be deceiving and everyone is worthwhile, you know what I mean?
Thanks Lynne! Oh, hmm. I go for a drive with the music up loud. Or I look at art, fantasy art of gothic-type art. Or I'll watch movies with the sort of atmosphere I'm going for.
If all else fails I'll take a shower. I do often get good ideas in the shower. 🙂
Hi Aik! Not writing? I'm always writing! 🙂 No, I like to cook, or I do things with my family; we run errands or go places or whatever. Just the usual stuff, really. Thanks!
Hi Carol! Thanks, I hope you enjoy the book.
Hi Stacia!!! My question, which was actually asked, was if you were worried how people will react to a main heroine as a drug addict.
I have to say that I love that you took the chance to do something so different. I love UF/paranormal romance, but the world is over-run with vamps/weres. I love to get my hands on something unique. It challenges me amongst the entertainment. I hope the sales rock. I know I want to go buy a copy.
Stacia-
I haven't read your books so far but am going to really soon! I have heard great things about your writing and can't wait to read them!!
Thanks!
bangersis(at)msn(dot)com
Hi Heatwave16! You know, it's funny, but while I expected it to maybe bother some people, I really didn't at all think it was going to be as controversial as it has apparently been. And it's upsetting, really, because it was never my goal to have people buy a book because of controversy; I wanted them to buy it because it looked good and different and got great reviews. All of the anger about it has really caught me off guard.
And I've actually even received some hate mail about it, from people who didn't even read the book but saw the blurb or an interview with me and told me I was disgusting for writing it and that I and anyone who buys and reads it should burn in hell! Which really, really upset me, as you can imagine. So that's been hard to get used to. But luckily, that seems to have died down a bit now that the book is out there. I guess we'll just have to see what happens! 🙂 Thanks!
Thanks Angie, I hope you enjoy the book(s)!
This seems like an interesting series. I don't remember ever reading a book where the heroine has a drug problem.
Great interview especially reading that Stacia likes to cook and is also a Dr Who fan!!
I don't think I have ever heard about ghosts slaughtering mankind before – sounds interesting.
eva.s.black[@]gmail[.]com
I commented on the review
eva.s.black[@]gmail[.]com
Thank you for the interesting post and giveaway! You're a new author to me. I have read a couple of reviews of Unholy Ghost and it sounds great! I can't wait to read it! 🙂
Giada M.
fabgiada @ gmail.com
This sounds like a really cool series. I haven't heard of this author before so this is exciting.
juliecookies(at)gmail.com
This looks like an awesome book! I can't wait to read it!
Thanks!
ftatman5 at yahoo.com
Thanks, Spav, I do hope you like it! You too, Eva SB!
Thanks, Giada; it's been really exciting to see how positive the reviews have been, so I hope you agree with them!
Thanks Julie and Lanae!
Hi Stacia! 🙂
I have seen your book mentioned in the blogosphere in the past couple of weeks and find the whole premise exciting!
I'm obsessed with names and their origins and meaning, can't wait to see the names you came up for your characters! Chess sounds like a cool, unique name! 🙂
I'm also a big Big Bang Theory fan! That show is simply hilarious, love Sheldon, he is unbelievable! 😀
This was a very informative and enjoyable interview, thank you Stacia and Susi, I enjoyed reading it!
I can't wait to read this book. I already have it and hope I can get to it asap. Great interview.