Kat Parrish's Blog, page 21

Christine Pope's UNQUIET SPIRITS

Christine Pope, the USA TODAY bestselling author, has just released the first in a new series and it's a bit more urban fantastic than her usual PNR. Unquiet Souls: Project Demon Hunter book one is a great introduction to a new set of characters running around Southern California, a landscape the California native knows well.

The premise is simple--a demon hunter teams up with a psychic for a reality television show that gets just a little too real--but the characters are complex. Both Audrey and Michael harbor secrets underneath the incendiary sexual attraction they have, and the revelation of those secrets leads to a terrific finale that leads right into the next book.

Pope has clearly done her homework when it comes to demonic infestations, hauntings, and things occult, and there are some genuinely creepy moments as the heroine and hero confront the forces of darkness. The pair are a refreshingly non-cliche cople. He's not an alpha-hole and she's no shrinking violet. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.

Witchy Book Giveaway

The weather is gray and drippy where I am right now, which means it's a perfect day for reading. (Let's face it, most days are perfect for reading as far as I'm concerned.) If you're looking for something to read without spending any money, check out this giveaway of urban fantasy and paranormal fiction. A little magic, a little mayhem, a little romance. There's something for everyone. Click here to start downloading books.

Summer Solstice is here!

Nicole Morgan's limited edition romance collection SUMMER SOLSTICE is now available for pre-order at all your favorite ebook retailers. Click here to snag yours for just 99 cents. This is paranormal romance with the sensuous summer solstice as a focal point. My fairy romance novelette, Soul Kiss, is in the collection and I'm excited to read everyone else's story.

February Book Fair

Celebrate the month of love by going to a virtual book fair. Click here to see what's on offer, including the upcoming boxed set GUARDIANS. (My novelette REZSO is in the set.)

Stephen King Giveaway

Click here for your chance to win a paperback copy of The Gunslinger (first in the Dark Tower series) and a $10 Amazon gift certificate. I don't know about you, but I can do a LOT of damage with a $10 gift certificate.

Interview with Berkeley Hunt

Photo by Joanne Renaud
Berkeley Hunt is a freelance writer and story analyst specializing in horror.  She has 15 years' worth of experience under her belt working on such films as Looper, The Reaping and Ocean's 11.  She is based in North Hollywood, California, home of the Academy Of Television Arts And Sciences and the infamous Circus Liquor, home of the towering neon clown.   Her story "Camel Jockeys'" appears in Strangers in a Strange Land: Immigrant Stories , published last week by Down and Out Books.
.        What inspired your Strangers in a Strange Landstory “Camel Jockeys?”    I stumbled across a documentary while surfing YouTube and was enthralled by the subject.  I described it to my editor, who immediately told me to write it.

      Did you do a lot of research for it?   Oh, yeah.  Everything from camels’ names to one sheik’s announcement that from now on, only robotic jockeys would be used in racing.  Additional research showed that hasn’t been the case, as natives of and tourists are still reporting seeing child jockeys. 


Photo by Einar Einarsson Kvaran for Our Lady of the Angels School Fire, sculpture by Corrado ParducciYou have a knack for writing horror. Are you working on a longer piece? It’s stalled but yes, I’m plotting out a novel inspired by the 1958 Our Lady Of Angels school fire.  My school is—let’s say haunted—by the past transgressions of a number of teachers and students.   That’s vague, I know; it’s just that sometimes talking about a story robs the writer of the need to get it down on paper. 

 Did you ever write a fan letter to a writer you admired? If so, did they respond?  After I read The Murder Of Tutankhamun I sent a fan letter to author and Egyptologist Bob Brier.  He sent back a really nice thank-you on university letterhead. 
6.       What’s on your TBR pile?  I have a stack.  I’m halfway through Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, A Brief History Of Humankind.  To Be Read are Eric Larson’s Dead Wake, about the sinking of the Lusitania and Lyle Blackburn’s The Beast Of Boggy Creek, about the Bigfoot sightings in rural Arkansas.  Plus eight or ten more books on my Amazon Wish List.
7.       What is the first book you remember reading? I don’t remember.  The first book I read in one day was Harriet The Spy by Louise Fitzhugh.  Interestingly, I didn’t learn to read until I was ten but was reading at college level by age twelve.  
8.       What piece of your work are you most proud of?  I wrote a story for Astonishing Adventures called “Felis Dirus.” It was inspired by the true account of a nursing home cat who would select a resident to sleep with overnight.  Invariably, it turned out to be the last night of the person’s life.  I still like the twist at the end.  
9.       Have you ever used people you know as characters? Based stories on real things that happened?  Oh, you betcha.  I used my bullying, late brother for the kid in “The Mother Of Crawly Things” and at some point I plan on using a horrible ex-boss; I just have to find the right story.  
       A lot of your stories could be categorized as horror. What’s your favorite horror movie?   I love-love-LOVE the original Omen, Alien and Aliens. 
1    Have you ever read a horror novel or “true horror” story that actually scared you? Yes.  I plead the young age at which I read The Amityville Horror, which I bought entirely. I now know that it’s no more true than Lorraine and Ed Warren’s account of “possessed” doll Anabelle, but it scared the crap out of me at the time. 
1Have you ever written a story that you wouldn’t want your family to read? Nope, sorry.  But then my surviving brother is unflappable and besides, I have yet to write any steamy sex scenes.  

Thank you Gillette!!

I was brought up by a father who was way ahead of his time. A fifties father, he celebrated and supported me in every way possible. My younger brother turned into a really good guy himself. My best friend is the kind of man every mother would be proud to have birthed and every person would be proud to know.

I know that a lot of people--a LOT of people--have not been as lucky. The Gillette ad that's runing? That's got people talking boycott? What are they afraid of? It really doesn't bash men--there are positive images of men and boys throughout. That ad made me cry. there's a moment where a guy puts his hand on a wman's shoulder and "mansplains" her views to a room full of people. I have so been there. And out in the real world, I've heard "Boys will be boys" used to explain all sorts of behavior.

If you haven't seen the ad, take a look at it now. This is a transformative moment and Gillette has nailed it.

Interview with James L'Etoile

1.Author James L'Etoile's crime fiction work has been recognized by the Creative World Awards, Acclaim Film and the Scriptapalooza Television Script Competition. Bury the Past was a 2018 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award finalist for best procedural of the year. Specializing in gritty crime fiction, his complex, edgy stories are fueled by two decades of experience in prisons and jails across the country. Realistic crime fiction requires an eye for detail while immersed deep within the darkest criminal elements. James brings these stories to life with his background in probation, parole, investigation and prison operation. An experienced Associate Warden, Chief of Institution Operations, Hostage Negotiator and Director of Parole, James is unique among crime fiction authors.
Major social themes weave through his work, including the world of human trafficking and future releases include stories set around black market organ transplants, homelessness, domestic terrorism, political corruption and the pharmaceutical industry. James is represented by Elizabeth K. Kracht, of the Kimberley Cameron & Associates Literary Agency.Follow James.
What is the first piece of writing you ever sold and do you remember how much you got paid for it? Technically, the first paid crime writing gig was preparing pre-sentence investigations. As a probation officer, I would pore over the police reports, talk to the investigators, get victim statements, and interview jailed defendants, all to pull together a “crime story” and a recommendation for the judge. I didn’t know it at the time, but it prepared me for becoming an author. There will never be a critic of your written work, more vocal than a public defender with a client looking at 25 years to life. The first piece of commercial fiction sold was a human trafficking themed thriller, Little River, to a small press in 2013. I didn’t receive an advance for that sale and I donated a portion of the royalties to NotForSale.orghttps://www.notforsalecampaign.org/about-us/, a not-for-profit organization devoted to the fight against human trafficking.

2.       Do you write both fiction and non-fiction? Fiction and poetry? All of the above? If so, what’s different about writing different kinds of things? I write primarily fiction; procedurals and thrillers. I am in the very early stages of pulling together a proposal for a true-crime project. Fiction work, for me, is rewarding, liberating and cathartic—I get to blow off some psychic steam from working in prison for twenty-nine years. With true-crime, there is a sensitive balance to displaying the crime without it turning into splatter-porn. There are real victims out there…
3.       Do you have a writing ritual? A schedule? Or do you just grab the time where you can, shove #NotMyCat off the keyboard and get to it? My most productive writing is done in the mornings. After coffee with #NotMyCat, I’ll park at the keyboard for four to five hours. I don’t really stick to a word count, I’m more of a finished scene writer. When that scene, or chapter is done, then I can move on. When I have a deadline, that’s when I can count on #NotMyCat to camp on the keyboard. (photo)
4.       Do you tend to stick to a genre or do you branch out when you’re writing? Is there a genre you’d like to try? Procedurals and crime fiction thrillers are my mainstay. But, I’ve got the bug to do something a little different and I’m outlining a new thriller with a paranormal twist. No sparkly vampires, sorry.
5.       Did you ever write a fan letter to a writer you admired? If so, did they respond? I haven’t written a fan letter, but attending conferences like Bouchercon and ThrillerFest, I’ve been able to personally tell an author that I liked their latest book. Most seem to appreciate it. I know I appreciate hearing that from someone who’s read my stuff. Hell, even if they didn’t like it—at least they gave it a look.
6.       What’s on your TBR pile? I’ve been piling up the reading list. I’ve got the latest Harlen Coben, Run Away, The Witch Elm by Tana French, The next Orphan X installment by Gregg Hurwitz, and My Darkest Prayer, by Sean Cosby lined up.
7.       Do you ever re-read books? I do re-read some, but it’s different now. It’s more of a reference thing. I’ll pick up an Elmore Leonard book to really pick at the dialogue and look at the nuts and bolts of the thing.
8.       What is the first book you remember reading? The first books I really remember were in junior high; Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Orwell’s Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and Bram Stocker’s Dracula.
9.       How were you taught to read? Phonics? See-say? Some other method? Do you see an advantage to whatever method was used? Phonics—definitely phonics. We do a reading therapy program for kids and we use therapy dogs for the kids to practice their reading skills. I remember reading out loud in class and it was terrifying. The read to a dog programs let kids practice and read to a non-judgmental dog. And it seems like phonics is making a comeback.  (photo)

10.   Are there some things you write that you wouldn’t want your mother to read (if your mother is still alive)? My mother lived in her own little bubble and if she read my work she’d close her eyes, mumble a quick Hail Mary and go light a candle.
11.   What piece of your work are you most proud of? That’s hard to say. I’m proud of all of it, but Little River was the first commercially published, At What Cost was the first book with a significant advance, and "When the Music Stops" was the first published short story in the Betrayed anthology.
12.   What’s next for you?I have two standalone thriller manuscripts that are ready to shop. My agent has a third she’s looking over and I’m revising a couple of others. And I have that paranormal thriller that I’ve been itching to get to. Busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

James L'Etoile's story, "A Deal with the Devil," appears in Strangers in a Strange Land: Immigrant Stories (Down and Out Books, January 25, 2019).

The Inspiration for Secret Hexe

As you all know by now, I am part of a boxed set of novels and novellas (Rite to Reign) that's about royal witches. The stories are an eclectic collection--a retelling of the "Little Mermaid," an intriguing take on a familiar Oz figure. The minute i heard the theme of the boxed set, I knew I wanted to write a story about the German princess who became Catherine the Great.


My interest in the empress was partly kindled by Eva Stachniak's wonderful historical novels about her.  But I also have a long-standing fascination with Russian popular culture. I love that beautiful




folkloric art that's all reds and golds. I did a lot of research on the Russian space program for a film project and discovered all kinds of weird and strange facts. (True story:  Unlike American astronauts who "splashed down" on their way home from space, Russian cosmonauts landed on the ground. And once, during a Siberian landing, the cosmonaus found themselves chased by wolves.

Wolves figure large in Russian mythology. But so do bears. the national symbol of Russia is the bear. In Secret Hexe, I have a Russian Count who is also a werebear and he's one of the few individuals at court who know Catherine's secret--that she's not just a little princess from a small realm in Germany, she's actually the product of a long process of manipulating events.  Yes, I was inspired by the Bene Gesserit of Dune.

In Secret Hexe, the young princess--named Sophie--is initiated into the witchly mysteries by he nanny, Babette. (that was actually her name. I played fast and loose with the magic, but the history is ALL accurate.)  It was a lot of fun coming up with magic that would make sense to a little girl and also lessons that would be visceral enough to be memorable.

The first scene literally came to me in a dream. And that NEVER happens to me. I almost never remember my dreams. (And wouldn't I like to follow in Stephenie Meyer's footsteps and dream up something like the wildly popular Twilight saga?) But vampires don't really interest me and witches do. So...Secret Hexe is an "origin story" of sorts. I hope you'll read it. I hope you'll enjoy it. I had a blast writing it.

You can find it here at your favorite digital bookstore.

Cover Reveal...MotherNature

This cool apocalyptic cover was created by A.S. Oren of Glass Crocodile. She also did the covers for my "Artifacts of Chaos" series and also my "Mortal Cravings" vampire series. I love what she does with saturated color. You can find Glass Crocodile on FB here.