Alma Katsu is in the HOUSE!!
Alma Katsu is in the house and answering questions about her hot new supernatural book, The Taker. If you haven’t read this book (read my review here), then you need to put everything down and get a copy today. It’s good, it’s different and she doesn’t pull any punches.
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Describe your book in five words.
Epic, dark, dangerous, tragic, and sexy. What would your five words be?
Scott Westerfeld said of The Taker, “…thinking person’s guilty pleasure.” You have some pretty high praises from some amazing authors, plus The Taker got a starred review from Booklist. Seriously, what was going through your head when you read all those reviews?
At first, I thought they either wrote that out of pity or were kidding with me. Seriously, when I read the good stuff, it seems to be about someone/something else, like I’m distanced from it, but the bad reviews hit me like a line drive to the gut. Weird, isn’t it? And what you hear people say–you can have all good reviews and one bad one and that’s the one you remember–is true. And I’m getting my share of really mean, snide reviews, like everyone else. I’m working on thickening my skin.
YOU WENT TO COMIC-CON AND WERE ON A PANEL!!! Were you freaking out? How was it rubbing elbows with Michael Cassutt, Heather Brewer and Drew Magary? Were you in just complete awe?
Luckily I was heavily medicated so I kept it together. (I had a bout of vertigo so I was actually medicated.) I was so grateful to be on that panel and every one else on it was so generous to me, the newbie, I can’t tell you. Maryelizabeth Hart, co-owner of Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore and moderator of the panel, is like a god to me now. She did fifteen panels in three days, didn’t miss a beat, kept everything flowing perfectly. I also got to meet the author Rachel Caine, who is a consummate pro and so generous. Yes, I was in complete awe of everyone. Add to that, the people who attend Comic-con are so nice. I had lots of great conversations with readers who stopped by the Simon & Schuster booth, standing in lines, sharing tables in the food court. And I’ve watched G4′s Attack of the Show coverage of Comic-con for a couple years now, so I hung around the G4 booth like a total fangirl. I’m sure they were wondering why this middle-aged woman was stalking them.
The next book in the series is titled The Reckoning, is there anything you can share with us? Maybe share some Lanny and Luke insight??
Many characters from The Taker are back in The Reckoning–even some you might not expect. The Reckoning is poor Lanny’s worst nightmares come true, but there’s one character who gets treated even worse than Lanny, is really made to run the gamut of emotions. I hope it’s half as much fun to read as it’s been to write. We don’t have a pub date yet for either the US or UK, but hopefully will soon.
How many books will be in the series? Please say a million. Or five. Five works too.
You are too kind! Right now there are three books planned (the third one is titled The Descent, at least for now.) There’s also a spin-off book that’s half-written but I haven’t talked to my publishers about it yet. If The Taker trilogy does well, maybe it will see the light of day. I have ideas for some non-Taker books, too. I’m lucky in that I haven’t had a problem yet with writer’s block.
We love to know what authors are reading (especially ones we love to read!); it helps us determine our STACKS. So, what are you currently reading?
Since I’m on deadline with The Reckoning, I’m not reading as much as usual (sadly.) I’m about one-third into THE HANGMAN’S DAUGHTER by Oliver Potzsch. It reads like a fairy tale-murder mystery, very fun. After that I’m going to read THE NIGHT COUNTER by Alia Yunis, my roommate at Squaw Valley writers conference. The excerpt she read at the conference was so sharp, so witty, and so well done, I can’t wait to read the entire book. My TBR pile is about 20 books high right now, and growing.
what? I was at Squaw Valley the same time the authors were there! Bummed I didn’t meet you!