Interviews

Author Julie Kenner was kind enough to respond to an exclusive interview for SciFiChick.com. Kenner’s latest series, the Blood Lily Chronicles, begins with Tainted, recently released, followed closely by Torn and Turned. Keep reading for more about the author and her latest series.

Can you tell us a bit about the new Blood Lily Chronicles?

Sure! The series centers around about a woman who goes out to murder the man who raped her sister, but is killed in the process. She’s given the chance to come back to earth in the body of another woman to earn her redemption as a demon assassin. But things aren’t always as clear-cut as they seem, and as Lily tries to navigate life in a murdered girl’s body, she has to figure out who her allies and her enemies really are.

Unlike most series which produce new novels each year, Tainted, Torn, and Turned are coming out in quick succession each month. How did that work out?

More and more publishers seem to be doing that lately. As a reader, I think it’s awesome (except, of course, after book 3 you have to start waiting again, and I’m impatient!). The idea is to build excitement and let readers have a chance to really get a feel for the series. I was happy to learn that Ace intended to publish the books that way!

Where do you get your ideas for your characters?

I like to tease and say Wal-Mart, but the more honest answer is that I really don’t know. With Lily, I thought I knew her in the proposal, but after a few false starts, I realized I didn’t know her at all, and the character who ended upon the page is much different from my original incarnation. In contrast, Kate (demon hunting soccer mom) hasn’t changed at all from the way I first envisioned her. As for where they came from, Kate in a lot of ways came from me and my new-mom status. Lily comes from a darker place, and I can’t point exactly to where because I don’t really know. I started with the idea of an assassin, and spun off from there. Characters, to me, are very organic.

Lily is a demon hunter, and so is Kate Connor (from the Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom series). But the Blood Lily Chronicles is much darker than your previous series. What made you decide to go this route?

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Author Nicole Peeler was gracious enough to provide SciFiChick.com with an exclusive interview to talk about her debut novel Tempest Rising (released today from Amazon!)…

Can you tell us a bit about Jane True, and how your idea for her came about?

Jane thinks she’s a human being with a weird secret, till she learns the truth of her supernatural heritage. She’s actually half-selkie, which is a myth about seal-human shapeshifters that comes from Scotland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Ireland. Jane’s pedigree, meanwhile, developed through knowing what kind of protagonist I wanted to write about. I wasn’t comfortable creating an already powerful heroine who automatically kicks butt; I wanted to write about a woman who was vulnerable and very human, despite being supernatural. When I created Jane, I was living in Edinburgh, Scotland, right on the shores of the Firth of Forth, so landing on “selkie” for Jane’s heritage was fairly obvious. And selkies are a perfect mythology for my purposes: they’re tragic, beautiful, and Jane’s hybrid nature was already outlined in the legends of selkie maidens marrying human husbands and then abandoning them for the sea.

Urban fantasy/paranormal novels are popular and widespread right now. What different about the Tempest series that sets it apart from the others?

My book isn’t about a superhero type who goes about singlehandedly saving the world. Instead, Jane is an everywoman who has to step up and meet an unexpected challenge. So the series is more about seeing Jane develop as a character than it is about watching her destroy stuff with a flaming sword.

How many are planned for the series?

We’ve got a contract for three, so far, but I’ve got a six-book arc planned for Jane. I’m also working on a trilogy set in the same world, which stars a very different protagonist in a very different set of circumstances. That’s probably what I’ll start working on next, as the protagonist in question is clamoring to get out. She’s feisty.

Can you talk about what’s next for Jane?

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_{Pictured: Joseph Fiennes, star of ABC’s FlashForward and author Robert J. Sawyer.}

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Author Robert J. Saywer has provided SciFiChick.com with an exclusive interview! Below, Sawyer discusses his reaction to ABC’s version of his novel FlashForward and some of his more recent work.

How involved have you been in the television version of FlashForward?

My contractual position is “consultant.” What that involves varies form day to day, and, frankly, from episode to episode. Today, for example I spent 35 minutes on the phone with David S. Goyer, who is the executive producer of the TV series, and wrote three little memos to him. Other days, I go over script pages, and on still other days I do nothing at all. I’m there to help whenever they need me, but David, Marc Guggenheim, Jessika Goyer, and the rest of the team putting the show together, are, of course, very capable and creative.

I read that you’re on board to write for the show. How was the experience writing an episode?

I haven’t done it yet. I’m writing what’s called episode 117 – first season, 17th episode. I’ll head down to Los Angeles at the beginning of November, so that I can join the staff writers in beating out the episode. FlashForward is a serial – it flows from one episode into the next – so I can’t do mine in isolation. I feel quite privileged, though; I’m the only freelancer getting to write for the show this season; all the other episodes are being written by the staff.

What was your reaction to the new characters in FlashForward?

I think they’re terrific! Remember, the story in my novel is a global event. You could start telling it anywhere: Geneva, as I did in the book, or Beijing, or Nairobi, or Winnipeg – anywhere at all. They decided for practical reasons on L.A. – that’s where they’re filming, after all. Of course, the characters take elements from people in my novel: Olivia and Mark Benford are facing the romantic crisis of Lloyd Simcoe and Michiko Komura from my book; Demetri Noh’s quest to prevent his own murder is the same as Theo Procopides’ quest in my book; and so on. But the new characters are terrific; my own personal favourites of the new ones are Demetri and Dr. Bryce Varley.

What did you think about the decision to change the FlashForward from a 21 year jump to 6 months?

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