Kat Richardson Speaks

I found a note of this article over at Kat's LJ site and decided to post it here, for inspirational purposes. I think sometimes that authors overlook what is right under their noses and find the way she came up with the ideas that work through Underground brilliant.

Underground Digs Up Myths

Fantasy author Kat Richardson told SCI FI Wire that her new novel, Underground, grew out of her desire to write a "monster in the sewer" book.

"There's just no setting as perfect for a tale of ghosts and monsters eating unsuspecting people than a condemned and abandoned city hidden under the streets," Richardson said in an interview. "So I took my monster out of the sewer and let it run amok in the crumbling streets of buried Seattle. It was ridiculous amounts of fun to write."

In the book, something is eating homeless people in Seattle's Pioneer Square and leaving the gnawed remains lying in and around the underground city.

"Harper Blaine's friend Quinton fears he'll be associated with the deaths, so he convinces her to look into the situation, and they soon discover that they're up against a creature straight out of local Indian legends--and it's really hungry," Richardson said. "They'll have to get a lot of help from their friends as well as the local Indians to put a stop to the monster and its master before it makes them the next item on the menu.

"Underground is based largely in the history of Seattle's downtown and the legends of local Native American groups. "Both of which are topics that have often been ignored or marginalized," Richardson said.

"Through the Seattle Public Library, I discovered a book of local Indian legends collected and translated by a Seattle settler named J.G. Ballard and several books on the redevelopment of Pioneer Square after the Seattle fire of 1897, which was the cause of the underground city.

Online newspaper sources connected me to some examples of spoken Lushootseed--the language of the local Indian tribes--and information on the distribution of the language and people throughout the Pacific Northwest."

The head historian at the Seattle Underground Tour was another terrific source of information and a wonderful storyteller himself, Richardson said. "I also spent a lot of time walking around, looking at the historic district--and under it--and asking really strange questions of people who were mostly very gracious about answering them," she said. "I'm a sucker for weird tales from history, and the book required a lot of digging in that field, which was fascinating and fun." --

Article written by John Joseph Adams over at Sci Fi Weekly .

Free Swagg!

Remember the pic I took of Cassandra Clare's new book?

It all started off because of her LJ where she mentioned that selected Starbucks branches have free introductory copies of various books to give away, as part of the National Year of Reading campaign. I ran up to my Starbucks on Piccadilly but they didn't have any copies of these so I came back to the office and rang up their head office to find out which branches had them in stock.

I got to chat with the most amazingly helpful chap who listened to me witter on about books, Cassandra Clare, the site etc. and somewhere along the line he decided that the easiest way to shut me up was to send me whatever I wanted. So behold this morning I received bucket load of book related swagg!

We have taster copies of the following three books, all published by the amazing Walker Books:

• The Knife of Never Letting Go, by Patrick Ness


• City of Ashes, by Cassandra Clare


• The Penalty, by Mal Peet

Please email me over at myfavouritebooksatblogspot@googlemail.com and I will send you a copy of each of these, along with the amazing postcard advertising Kat Richardson's book Underground, illustrated by the the talented Chris McGrath.

I do have a limited amount of these to send out - so please note that it will be a first come, first served basis. But please, I don't want to not send these out, so even if you are in the outer reaches of Mongolia, I'm prepared to post them onto you for reading enjoyment.

Kat Richardson Competiton Ends

Congrats to the winners of the Kat Richardson contest! Your books should arrive with you very shortly.

Ailsa from Argyll
Sophie from London
Julie from Twyford
Elaine from Wolverhampton
Rachel from Chesterfield

Thanks to Piatkus for allowing me to run this and thanks to Kat for writing such roaringly good books and for agreeing to do the interview. I look forward to Underground and to number 4!

**Kat Richardson - Competition Time!**

Pic courtesy of Kat Richardson's website

When I chatted to Kat about the competition she said: "Make them work for it. All the information about me is available on the internet."

So I poked around a bit and came up with three questions which I am sure you'll be able to track down.

Five lucky winners will win copies of both Greywalker and Poltergeist! So, hop to it, grasshoppers!

Competition rules:

UK residents only

Email me via the email addy on the right hand side of this page.

All three questions to be answered correctly within the email.

Email to contain your NAME and POSTAL address.

Questions:

Kat has written a short story for an anthology coming up for the holiday season towards the end of this year. Find the name of the anthology. Other authors, amongst others, include Rob Thurman, Simon R Green and Kim Harrison.

Name two of Kat’s fabulous author friends who had signings recently in Beaverton, Oregon whilst Kat was hobnobbing in London-town.

And final question: what are the two ferrets called that Kat and Mr. Kat share their sailboat with?

Many thanks to the rushed-off their feet wonderful people over at Piatkus who granted the permission to have this fab competition.

You can buy both Greywalker and Poltergeist from Piatkus via the Little Brown website.

Kat Richardson Interview and Competition News!

I am genuinely pleased to present a fun interview with Seatle-based supernatural cross-over genre Kat Richardson (yes, that same Kat I managed to hold captive for two hours over at Murder One when she made a flying visit to London and the UK).


Kat's first novel, Greywalker has been received by readers with enthusiasm and the follow-up Poltergeist, has been recently released to the hungry hordes fans. Underground, the third in the Greywalker series will be with us very shortly (yay!). Kat's visit to the UK was both fun and business, having come to do some research on the fourth Greywalker book...so, without further waffling from me, here's the interview!

(Competition news at bottom of the page.)

Q: What is your day like as a writer?

A: It's quite a bit like any at-home job. I get up and manage chores and errands and take care of the pets, then get to work on the paperwork and things that have to be done during “office” hours, such as business correspondence and mailing materials out. Once that's done, I do whatever writing or editing I have on top of my queue--usually this happens after 2 p.m and can last 4-10 hours. Sometimes its the fun stuff--writing something new--sometimes it's the necessary stuff--proofreading or editing. I generally write 2,000 words a day on average Monday through Friday and take the weekends off for personal stuff or promotional things. Occasionally I get to take myself on field trips to do research, which is tons of fun.

Q. Do you frequent coffee shops and what other writerly “habits” do you have (as you already have the grumpy cat!)?

A. Mostly I work at home. I never feel comfortable working in cafes or the library for long when I'm doing the actual writing; I can't pace around and talk to myself or play with my ferrets or turn up the stereo really loud. I'm more of the “hermit” type of writer. But I do like to hang out with some of the other local writers and talk shop--folks like Cherie Priest and Richelle Mead live close enough to hang out over lunch or happy hour drinks on short notice. Alas, our grumpy cat died last year, so the ferrets now have to fill in. (The cat was very old indeed and we miss him, but no plans to replace him right now.)

Q. Do you ever stop working, i.e. not write or think about writing?

A. Not much. Everything is grist for the writer mill, so even when I'm “off” I'm usually thinking about writing or noticing neat stuff I can use in the next book or story.

Q. Where did your ideas for Greywalker originate? Was it a dream, an experience or an idea that stuck and wouldn’t go away?

A. This is going to be a long answer, so bear with me, since it was quite a few things that came together in a good way.

I'd written a fragment of the idea while I was in college, but it wasn't very good and not much is recognizable now: the main character was male; he had a contact in the realm of the dead who passed him in and out of the “aether” through a magical doorway but couldn't do it on his own; it was set in Los Angeles; and was a lot “wittier”--though it was probably not so witty in retrospect. It was a lot more like the noir parodies that have come out since the 1990s. I don't think it was very good, really, and I didn't work on it for 10 years. I just stuck it in a drawer.

When we moved to Seattle, things started to come together. The weather here produces strange fog during the fall and early winter that often seems to move in disconcerting ways--especially around the old Pioneer Square district where the narrow streets, brick and stone buildings, and proximity to the water keeps the ground and air cold and wet. And that of course made me think of ghosts and creepy things of that sort.

I was also reading a lot of particle and quantum physics at the time and that got me thinking about the possibility of energy states that can be shown to exist can't be directly observed by humans. So there's the basics of the Grey there: physics and fog in Seattle.

I was also a big fan of the original Randal and Hopkirk, Deceased (starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope). I liked the idea of a detective who could talk to ghosts, although what I ended up with was a far cry from the adventures of Jeff and Marty. I didn't think I could write a believable male protagonist in the midst of so many other complications, so I made the main character female. She was still in the hardboiled mode, though.

And that's where it came from. Back in 2000 I had very little to do for a few months while my husband was working out of state, so I started writing and the first draft of Greywalker was the result.

Q. Is Harper Blaine, probably one of the most capable heroines I’ve seen in a long time, anything like you?

A. Thanks, that's nice of you to say so. I wish I could say we're alike, but alas, I'm a bit of a ditherer and not very athletic--though I have done some dancing and running and so on. Harper is very driven and I'm very lazy. She set out to build her life to a specific shape and purpose and I seem to have gotten wildly lucky in getting to do what I enjoy instead of the usual office job. And much as I wish I had her ability to see a clear course and pursue it, I frankly wouldn't want to live her life.

Q. How much research do you do for your writing on the supernatural?

A. More than I'd expected to, to be honest. A friend of mine in the MWA (Mystery Writers of America--I'm on the Northwest Chapter board) said I had it easy since I could just make things up. But actually I read quite a bit on the topic and spend a lot of time looking for stories about hauntings and history that I can use. I also try to get an idea of what is “common knowledge” or accepted fact among people who study these fields or collect information on it and use that or break it deliberately. I don't always think it's true, but I try to give it some respect and treat it thoughtfully.

And right now, “Team Seattle”--a group of my local writing friends--is thinking of doing some urban exploration when we all have some time (exploring some of the abandoned or freaky sites around Western Washington) for research purposes. Creepy old places are usually full of good ideas for settings and ghost stories. And let's face it: that sort of thing is just plain fun.


Q. Has anything startling, in a supernatural way, ever happened to you personally?

A. I'm not sure. Odd things happen and I've certainly had episodes of deja vu, strange sounds, things almost seen, the sense of something “out there,” but with the exception of one creepy experience that might have been swamp gas--or might have been a ghost--and some really weird dreams, I can't say positively that I've seen a ghost or witnessed anything paranomral. Not for sure.

Q. What are your influences? Favourite authors, TV shows and movies etc.

A. Aside from my Dad--who was an English teacher--and my stepmother--who got me started reading adult mysteries, the big influences on my writing have been writers like Hammett and Chandler, Madeline l'Engle, Kenneth Graham, Jane Austen, Mark Twain (to whom I'm very distantly related) and later writers like Neal Stephenson, Richard K. Morgan, Patricia McKillip, and Neil Gaiman.

I also started reading comics and graphic novels a while ago and wish I could emulate the pacing of some of the writers I admire in that field: Alan Moore, Brian K. Vaughan, Warren Ellis, Ed Brubaker, and Frank Miller.

Movies are a bit harder for me to give a list of favorites (without running on forever). I tend to like one or two films, but not one particular filmmaker. I like noir films and the “screwball comedies” of the 1930s, like Bringing Up Baby. I like modern films that have similar feelings and pacing. Gotham (Ghosts Can't Lie) is one of my favorite “weird' movies (and had some influence on Greywalker). I also liked Memento, had a lot of fun with the recent Iron Man, Equilibrium, Serenity, still love Raiders of the Lost Ark out of all proportion, and Chocolat by Lasse Hallstrom. I'm a guilty fan of James Bond films--although the Pierce Brosnan ones were a big disappointment. Daniel Craig is getting much better material--and I loved him in Layer Cake. I like crime films like that and Guy Richie's london crime flicks. Acutally... I like caper flicks a lot--The Thomas Crown Affair, Topkapi, Ocean's Eleven, the Sting.... Oh, and I'll go see anything by Pixar or Studio Ghibli. The more adventurous or fantastical the film, the more I'll like it, I suspect.

Q. How would you sell your published books to someone should you be made to work in a bookshop for a week?

A. First I'd have to discover if the customer liked both Mysteries and Fantasy or ghost stories. If they don't, they probably aren't going to like the book. But if the customer did like all of that, I'd tell them there were some good novels over here about a Private Eye who works for ghosts and monsters. Of course, I'd also know they were potential Harper Blaine readers if they were interested in Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, John Meaney, Tanya Huff, Charlaine Harris, or Laurell K. Hamilton and ask if they'd tried the Greywalker novels yet.

Q. Do you ever have days where the words just don’t come and if so, what do you do?

A. Oh yeah. What I do depends on how close I am to the deadline. If it's really close I just sit down and force myself, but if I have more time, I usually cut myself a mental break and go out for a walk or do additional research. If the problem is that I've come up against a dead end, then I assume I've made a wrong turn in my plot and I fall back and look over my outline until I identify where I made a mistake that forced me down the plot-road that died. Then I back up and figure out how to avoid that problem while heading in the direction I prefer. I'm not a very good “seat of the pants” writer; I usually work from a detailed outline. When I don't, I'm more likely to need to tear something out and re-write.

Q. Looking at your writerly bookshelf, can you name ten books or magazines or websites that you can’t do without relating to your writing?

Maybe not ten, but a few important ones. I can't do without the basic references like Chicago Manual of Style, Merriam Webster Online, and wikipedia (as a starting point). I also use The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits by Rosemary Guiley a lot. I use the Historylink.org site as a starting point into Seattle history very frequently. I also use my local library catalog online to find books on various topics and, of course, Google.

Q. Do you ever fully plot and plan your storylines or do they grow organically and you find your characters do their own thing?

A. I'm a plotter and I don't let the characters off their leashes much--I'm the god in my writing world, so its unusual for the characters to go off in a direction I don't initiate (because if I didn't kick their butts,they'd probably just stay home and eat whatever was in the fridge.)

I start out just writing as it comes, but as soon as I hit the first plot-wall, I go back and write an outline. Usually it takes two or three versions of every novel in outline before I can finish the whole book. I don't outline for short stories or novellas, but I have gotten all the way to the end of a novel-length project successfully without an outline only twice. Neither of those books sold.

Q. How did you get into writing for the games market?

A. I hung out with a bunch of gamers online at the TTLG.com forums and I was one of the handful of people who were always writing “what if” fanfic and original round-robin stories in the forum. When projects came up, I volunteered and ended up doing some work, some of which I even got paid for. It sounds more impressive than it was, though we did have a lot of fun and there were great people at the forum and on the projects--I'm still in touch with a lot of them. But I was pretty green and I think a lot of my work could have been a better. Still, it was great fun, although I haven't done any game work in a while.

Q. What can we expect from you in the future? More Harper after Underground and any more game plotting?

A. I do have US contracts for three more books after Underground and the series is open-ended at this point. I hope the new books will also be picked up in the UK, but that's up to the publisher. I'm starting work on the fourth Harper novel right now and there are a Harper novella and a non-Harper short coming out in the next 12-18 months.

I'm hoping to do an additional series that's more SF than Fantasy, but that's on the back burner until Greywalker #4 is done. At the moment, there're no game projects on the horizon. If I could wave a wand and do any project, I'd like to try graphic novels, but only if I can work closely with the artist--I do have an old graphic novel project in suspension, but, like a lot of other things, the ability to work on it depends on a lot of factors that aren't all up to me.

Q. What do you do to relax and unwind after a day of writing?

A. Play World of Warcraft, read, take a walk, maybe watch a movie with my husband, and play with the ferrets. On weekends we hope to be doing more sailing this year--after all we do live on a sailboat. And go to the gym (yuck!)

Q. And finally, what is the single strangest request you’ve had from a fan?
A. I have never had a really outrageous request from a fan. Well... one does want to be killed--as a character in one of my books, that is. Is that weird?

Competition news!

Kat's amazing UK publishers, Piatkus (Little Brown) agreed to let me run a competition on their behalf. I am pleased to announce that FIVE lucky winners (UK Only) will receive copies of both Greywalker AND Poltergeist!

I am working up some fiendish questions and will post them tomorrow morning (Friday, 30th May). The first FIVE entrants with the correct answers about Kat and her books (and maybe her friends) will win copies of Greywalker and Poltergeist.

Greywalker, Kat Richardson

Kat Richardson pulls off a very credible and well-put together heroine called Harper Blaine in this first instalment of the Greywalker series.

The book opens with a general fantasy no-no - a massive jaw crunching head banging fight where we find Harper giving as good as she gets. But the fight scene works well because it serves to tell us a lot about Harper. She is resourceful, clever, doesn’t give up, she knows when she needs to beat a hasty retreat and to hedge her bets. She makes her escape, but only just. She suffers severe head trauma and dies for just under two minutes. The head trauma allows her to see and step into the Grey, making her a Greywalker, as someone who can move in both the mortal world as well as that of the Grey.

During the course of the book she fights her new perception of the world and it is told in a sympathetic but no nonsense way. The introspection is limited and it works to enhance the strong character of Harper. She does not fall into the arms of the first trendy undead person she meets. She works things through in a very logical and progressive way and it was refreshing to find that Kat did not stick with stereotyping the various characters that Harper meets along the way.

Greywalker is one of those rare books that works well on several levels - as a all round good book to read because the main protagonist is someone who can kick butt and chew gum at the same time and looks good doing it; it is a supernatural mystery with two very interesting cases being worked at the same time. The cast of characters seem to live their lives and isn’t there just to help her out (I tend to call it Living in Pause). Kat’s style of writing is clear and crisp with some excellent one-liners. I really am looking forward to the next book, Poltergeist and will no doubt happily report back once that is under the belt.

Author signing at Murder One

The very popular and succesful Kat Richardson, author of Greywalker, Poltergeist and soon to be published Underground, will be in the UK for a research visit and to sign some books over at Murder One. (Yes, if time allows, I'll put a review up on Greywalker!)

When?!? - May 15th, between 5 - 6pm (and maybe drinks afterwards)

Naturally, yours truly will be there, desperately trying not to be tonguetied. I will try to remember to take a camera this time around and take a few snaps. Of Kat, not me. Of course.