Welcome to this week's Coffee Chat!
Let’s get started by meeting our guest author, Katherine Gilbert, who writes “quirkily-humorous paranormal mysteries.”
I can wait to hear about your book, Katherine, but first, what may I get you to drink?
KG: I like coffee, but I'm more into tea, preferably something English Breakfasty with lots of cream and sugar. Give me a nice, full afternoon tea, complete with a tray of sandwiches and little desserts, and I'll be the happiest thing you've ever seen.
Ally: Lol. Well, let's see if I can't make you happy! Meanwhile, please tell readers about yourself.
Let’s get started by meeting our guest author, Katherine Gilbert, who writes “quirkily-humorous paranormal mysteries.”
I can wait to hear about your book, Katherine, but first, what may I get you to drink?
KG: I like coffee, but I'm more into tea, preferably something English Breakfasty with lots of cream and sugar. Give me a nice, full afternoon tea, complete with a tray of sandwiches and little desserts, and I'll be the happiest thing you've ever seen.
Ally: Lol. Well, let's see if I can't make you happy! Meanwhile, please tell readers about yourself.
Bio:
Having grown up surrounded by a house and town so gothic that she doesn't bother to tell the true stories, because nobody would believe them, Katherine Gilbert enjoys spinning tales of far friendlier paranormal beings. When she's not either writing or teaching at a South Carolina college, she's plotting her next adventure with her sister, so they can get together and cackle over having outrun most of their past.
Tell us something unique/unusual that isn't in your regular bio: “It's kind of hinted at in it but isn't really explained: I grew up in a very creepy smallish South Carolina town in an antebellum mansion which was so haunted many people took one look and absolutely refused to enter. They were the smart ones.”
Contact the Author:
Newsletter sign-up form: http://eepurl.com/dCcccL
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Katherine-Gilbert-Author-102573417043950/
FB Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1169120069919462/
Amazon: amazon.com/author/katherinegilbert
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/katherine-gilbert
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18141907.Katherine_Gilbert
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/KGilbertSC
Having grown up surrounded by a house and town so gothic that she doesn't bother to tell the true stories, because nobody would believe them, Katherine Gilbert enjoys spinning tales of far friendlier paranormal beings. When she's not either writing or teaching at a South Carolina college, she's plotting her next adventure with her sister, so they can get together and cackle over having outrun most of their past.
Tell us something unique/unusual that isn't in your regular bio: “It's kind of hinted at in it but isn't really explained: I grew up in a very creepy smallish South Carolina town in an antebellum mansion which was so haunted many people took one look and absolutely refused to enter. They were the smart ones.”
Contact the Author:
Newsletter sign-up form: http://eepurl.com/dCcccL
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Katherine-Gilbert-Author-102573417043950/
FB Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1169120069919462/
Amazon: amazon.com/author/katherinegilbert
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/katherine-gilbert
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18141907.Katherine_Gilbert
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/KGilbertSC
INTERVIEW:
Ally: What inspired you to write your featured book?
KG: I had a dream about the detective characters several years ago and wrote it down because it was all so clear, even if it was just the first scene in a slightly rundown, early 20th-century railway hotel remade into a home for endangered (or endangering) supernatural creatures. It kept nagging at me till I finally got a chance to sit down and write it.
It was only once I did that I realized there were several other things going on, including many scenes in Highgate Cemetery (I have a grand passion for great Victorian graveyards). As I went on, too, I realized that a scene which had appeared very vividly to me decades ago (before I even started writing fiction) fit in here. It had obviously been forming in my unconscious for quite some time.
Ally: Do your characters come to you fully formed with names and backgrounds?
KG: Almost always. Only occasionally do I have to try to figure out what they're named. Often, though, it's only as I'm writing them that they let me know the details of their pasts. I've found myself writing a chapter more than once saying, "Really?!"
Ally: Talk about your main characters. Are they likable? Do they have off-putting flaws or beliefs? Are they “good” people? Is it important for them to be real or relatable?
KG: I love them, but I would, so it's hard to know whether others will find them as lovable as I do. They certainly do try to be good people, and they're very concerned about the welfare of others.
Henry begins the novel very depressed, as humans are turned into werewolves in my universe against their will and under truly brutal conditions. He's got a lot he's trying to work past. Marilyn tends to be very no-nonsense at the beginning, as well. Are those traits off-putting? Not to me, but I can't speak for everyone.
Are they real? Well, maybe--as much as it's possible for a half witch/half incubus and a werewolf to be, I suppose.
Ally: Who is your favorite fantasy writer? Favorite supernatural being?
KG: Terry Pratchett is definitely at the top of my list, although I love a lot of others, too (Diana Wynne Jones, Gail Carriger, Barbara Hambly . . . I could go on). They all have such a wonderful grasp of humor and character as well as fully built worlds you can live inside.
For a favorite supernatural being, I don't know if I could choose one type. I love all of them. Well, except zombies. Zombies and I don't get along.
If I could choose a favorite supernatural character, though, it would probably be (werewolf) Angua von Uberwald from Pratchett's City Watch novels. She's both competent and slightly tetchy. It's possible there's some subconscious influence of her in Marilyn Jaye.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
KG: I'm working on editing a Southern gothic/urban fantasy/paranormal romance called, Moonlight, Magnolias, and Magic. It will go into more depth on how magic works in the universe of my novels.
As to the Southern gothic, if you read the above, you'll see I have a lot of experience with creepy old Southern houses, and that definitely will come out here. It's a lot spookier than most of what I've published so far (although there's still some quirky humor too), so I'm hoping to release it in October as a bit of a Halloween treat.
Ally: So which of the short answer questions did you pick to answer?
KG:
Ally: What inspired you to write your featured book?
KG: I had a dream about the detective characters several years ago and wrote it down because it was all so clear, even if it was just the first scene in a slightly rundown, early 20th-century railway hotel remade into a home for endangered (or endangering) supernatural creatures. It kept nagging at me till I finally got a chance to sit down and write it.
It was only once I did that I realized there were several other things going on, including many scenes in Highgate Cemetery (I have a grand passion for great Victorian graveyards). As I went on, too, I realized that a scene which had appeared very vividly to me decades ago (before I even started writing fiction) fit in here. It had obviously been forming in my unconscious for quite some time.
Ally: Do your characters come to you fully formed with names and backgrounds?
KG: Almost always. Only occasionally do I have to try to figure out what they're named. Often, though, it's only as I'm writing them that they let me know the details of their pasts. I've found myself writing a chapter more than once saying, "Really?!"
Ally: Talk about your main characters. Are they likable? Do they have off-putting flaws or beliefs? Are they “good” people? Is it important for them to be real or relatable?
KG: I love them, but I would, so it's hard to know whether others will find them as lovable as I do. They certainly do try to be good people, and they're very concerned about the welfare of others.
Henry begins the novel very depressed, as humans are turned into werewolves in my universe against their will and under truly brutal conditions. He's got a lot he's trying to work past. Marilyn tends to be very no-nonsense at the beginning, as well. Are those traits off-putting? Not to me, but I can't speak for everyone.
Are they real? Well, maybe--as much as it's possible for a half witch/half incubus and a werewolf to be, I suppose.
Ally: Who is your favorite fantasy writer? Favorite supernatural being?
KG: Terry Pratchett is definitely at the top of my list, although I love a lot of others, too (Diana Wynne Jones, Gail Carriger, Barbara Hambly . . . I could go on). They all have such a wonderful grasp of humor and character as well as fully built worlds you can live inside.
For a favorite supernatural being, I don't know if I could choose one type. I love all of them. Well, except zombies. Zombies and I don't get along.
If I could choose a favorite supernatural character, though, it would probably be (werewolf) Angua von Uberwald from Pratchett's City Watch novels. She's both competent and slightly tetchy. It's possible there's some subconscious influence of her in Marilyn Jaye.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
KG: I'm working on editing a Southern gothic/urban fantasy/paranormal romance called, Moonlight, Magnolias, and Magic. It will go into more depth on how magic works in the universe of my novels.
As to the Southern gothic, if you read the above, you'll see I have a lot of experience with creepy old Southern houses, and that definitely will come out here. It's a lot spookier than most of what I've published so far (although there's still some quirky humor too), so I'm hoping to release it in October as a bit of a Halloween treat.
Ally: So which of the short answer questions did you pick to answer?
KG:
- a. favorite book: The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett. Vampires, werewolves, some mystery, and romance--what's not to love?
- b. an author (living or dead) you'd love to take to lunch: Agatha Christie! Not only is she the greatest mystery writer of all time (I don't think there's a mystery twist since her which isn't a derivative of one of her inventions), but she just seemed like a thoroughly fascinating person, as well.
- c. favorite accessory: I have both a necklace with a black cat charm on it and a pin in the shape of a cat. I love those things--and they assure me of hearing "I love my cat!" stories from pretty much every person I meet.
- d. favorite song: Probably the Goo-Goo Dolls' "Iris." It's just beautifully romantic.
- e. What comes to you first - character or plot? Character, absolutely. I discover the plot when the characters deign to tell it to me.
Unearthly Remains
Genre: Quirkily-humorous paranormal mystery/urban fantasy/paranormal romance
PG-13
A werewolf, a witch, and a vampire walk into a murder scene . . .
Sgt. Marilyn Jaye of Supernatural Oversight (the investigative unit for all things which bump a bit too much in the night) is having a frustrating day. What should have been a simple case of a murdered ghoul has spun entirely out of control. It's bad enough that she's getting distracted from her investigations by her unreasonable attraction to Henry, a young werewolf with a terrible case of PTSD (Post-Turn Stress Disorder), especially since every Tom, Fang, and Hairy (previously known as her sensible friends) tells her she's destined to be with him. Worse, her distraction allows a second murder victim to turn up, one of the gentlemanly Victorian vampires who lives in Highgate Cemetery. If that isn't enough, the vicious werewolf who attacked and turned Henry is still on the loose. London's creatures of the night seem to be in trouble, and it's her job to protect them.
Marilyn is determined to find the killer and the rogue wolf, but she'll need a lot of help. That will include her friends, Hanover (Henry's handsome Alpha and Marilyn's ex-lover) and Julius Beer (a vampire who watches over his distressed comrades in Highgate from his ornate mausoleum). Also alternately helping or annoying her are the other members of the S.O., including her powerful sorcerer boss, the eternal spirit of Romantic poet William Blake, her ex-NYPD partner, a pool (yes, an actual pool) of secretarial sirens, and an imp who's in love with a cat. Even Henry has to tag along. And they better solve the case soon, because the killer has made it clear that she's the next target.
Buy Links:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PJM9B45/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130937720
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/unearthly-remains
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/931259
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