In August 2007, my first book (Angels Come to Visit) came out from Torquere Press. They invited me to be a Featured Author on their bookstore, and interviewed me for the spot. That interview is no longer available online, so I’ve gone ahead and posted it here.
Tell us about your story Angels Come to Visit. What inspired you to write it? How long did it take you to write it?
The first draft of Angels Come to Visit was written over about a month, after Anah Crow dangled a writing challenge in front of my nose and I couldn’t resist attempting it. The main character, Keir, had been percolating in the back of my head for a while, a variation on a character I’d written for an unfinished story I’ve been working on with Anah for… a really long time. I’d wanted to explore what life would be like for an incubus, what would be expected of him, how he would cope with love, that sort of thing. Keir was my experiment in that regard.
What is your favorite genre to write in? To read?
My favorite genre to write in is definitely speculative fiction – science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, all of that. My favorite genre to read… that’s a lot harder to answer. I read a lot of non-fiction (my current book du jour is an oral history of punk music), but I also read fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and pretty much anything else. I also have a super secret (or at least it was secret before this) addiction to Harlequin-style romance novels.
What’s the best part of writing? What’s the hardest thing about writing?
The best part of writing is looking at something I’ve written – usually a sentence, maybe a paragraph – and knowing I got it right, knowing that every word is the best word that could be there. The hardest thing is finding those words.
What comes first, character or plot?
Character, almost always. I usually start with a character and build my plot out from there, figuring out what the character wants most and what I can put him or her through in the process of getting it.
What kind of characters appeal to you the most?
I like the dichotomy between what someone appears to be and what they really are, whether that’s someone who presents as sweet, but is really manipulative, or someone who presents as arrogant, but is really uncertain about his or her own worth. I have a particular weakness for characters who aren’t as sure of themselves as they seem.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on a couple things, but the story that has most of my attention is a science fiction setting in a not-so-distant future in which Earth has built colonies at the LaGrange Points and on the moon. I’m having a lot of fun working with the characters, and with Anah Crow, my writing partner.
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