The Qwillery

Please welcome Karina Cooper to The Qwillery! Karina is the author of the Dark Mission series and the upcoming St. Croix Chronicles.


TQ:  Welcome back to The Qwillery!

Karina:  I love this place. Thanks so much for having me, Qwill! I'm delighted to be back.

TQ:  What do you wish you'd known when the 1st book, Blood of the Wicked, came out that you know now?

Karina:  Oh, wow. So many things. For starters, I should have made a reference of every name, hair- and eye-color, place, clue and tattoo placement back when I was only one book in. I can't tell you how many times I open an older document to find out what color something is, or where I'd placed it. I can't even decide if "seal" is capitalized when I'm talking about the missionary tattoo. Where was this when I could have used it?

TQ:  What is the most challenging thing for you about writing?

Karina:  I'm a budding workaholic. I love writing; really, very much adore it. I can't imagine myself doing anything else. The problem is that I work 9 in the morning until midnight, with the occasional 2-hour TV break in there somewhere. It's very easy for this job to overwhelm a person. There's a lot to do—marketing, publicity, writing the words, revising them, copy edits, page proofs, cover proofs, Twitter/Facebook, social media, emails, interviews, and so on. It all needs to get done, so I tend to simply do it as it comes in—or develop a system that lets me get to it in order.

The hardest thing is remembering that I have (and enjoy!) a life outside of this. It does me no good to burn out on working too hard, because burn-out leads to an unhappy outside life as well as a creative drive that gets all jammed up. Everything in moderation, and that includes writing!

TQ:  Please tell us about All Things Wicked, the third novel in your Dark Mission series.

Karina:  The third full-length title in the Dark Mission, All Things Wicked tells the somewhat darker story of Caleb Leigh. If you'll recall, Caleb is Jessie's brother, and the villain of her book, Blood of the Wicked. I enjoyed this book, one part because it's a quasi-redemption story. Caleb made a lot of mistakes on the way, made choices that any sane person might consider off his block, but now they're all coming back. Not just to haunt him, but to destroy the one woman he'd sworn to protect.

TQ:  Which character has surprised you the most in the Dark Mission series so far?

Karina:  Jonas Stone. When I first wrote him in Blood of the Wicked, I figured he'd pop up as a blast from Silas's past and leave it at that. He's since appeared in every Dark Mission novel since, and has only grown by increments. I never realized until much later how close he plays his hand to his vest, how much the face he shows isn't really the face he is, and I'm totally looking forward to writing more about him as we go

TQ:  Barring paranormality, which character in the series is most like you?

Karina:  That's a hard one. I think out of everyone, I'm probably more like Matilda than anything else. I have a tendency to do a mysterious stranger routine—ask questions until people come to the conclusion that I want them to come to. It drives my friends and fellow LARPers bonkers!

On the other hand, I do have a tendency to mother people like Jessie does, and really try my best to get them to do what I think is right. Well, right for them, which isn't always right by morals.

TQ:  What appeals to you about writing paranormal romance?

Karina:  There's a certain end of the world pressure to paranormal romances. Preternatural threats are bigger than humanity can usually cope with, forcing a kind of mounting pressure to the subject. I like dealing with creatures that aren't completely human; or with monsters that are more human than we're comfortable with. Romance maintains that spark, that connection, complete with my version of happily ever after. I'm a sucker for those.

TQ:  What's next?

Karina:  End of June, I'm taking a foray into historical urban fantasy. I'm debuting a new series called The St. Croix Chronicles. Featuring Cherry St. Croix, well-to-do heiress by day and bounty hunter in by night, this series takes place in a Victorian London lightly colored by Steampunk aesthetics. It's a departure from paranormal romance and my usual style, so I'm very excited to debut it!

In Fall 2012, Sacrifice the Wicked will be released into the wild, to graze among its fellows in the Dark Mission series. This book will continue the mystery from All Things Wicked, explaining more about the tattoos that have Caleb and Juliet so mystified. It'll be a rousing good time in politically dangerous topside New Seattle!

TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Karina:  Thank you, Qwill! I had a blast, and I'll be glad to answer any other questions anyone might have. XOXO from the all-too-rainy Pacific Northwest!


The Dark Mission Series

Dark Mission 3
Avon Books, January 31, 2012
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 384 pages

Juliet Carpenter thought of the coven as family, but when she falls for a man who betrays them all, she’s left alone and desperately searching for a reason why. Caleb Leigh has spent the past year in hiding, unable to escape his demons. When Juliet finds him again, her need for vengeance clashes with the hunger still burning between them.

It’s a fight born from the embers of a half-forgotten attraction and the wounds of a past too raw to ignore. With enemies circling and secrets threatening to consume them, Caleb has no choice but to fulfill a promise made long ago—protect her, save her. Even if it costs him his blood, his body . . . and what’s left of his mind.

Dark Mission Novella
Avon Impulse, November 22, 2011
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 128 pages

New Seattle is changing. Witches and witch hunters have become allies, and the holy order’s grip on the city is slipping. But they won’t go down without a fight . . .

After the disastrous end to their last mission, Jessie, Silas, and Naomi regroup at their sanctuary far beneath New Seattle. But their brief rest is shattered when Jessie “sees” two of their own attacked topside. Dodging bullets and black magic, they risk it all on a treacherous rescue mission. They’re already stretched to the limit, and danger waits in unexpected corners. If the Order finds them, the team is as good as dead. But they can’t hide forever . . .

Dark Mision Prequel Novella
Avon Impulse, July 26, 2011
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 144 pages

In America, they didn’t care about witches. But all that was about to change.

Katya Zhuvova fled a country that feared her gifts, but her escape to Seattle left her at the mercy of a ruthless man. With no one left to turn to, Katya hatches a desperate escape plan. Undercover Detective Nigel Ferris is determined to bring down a prostitution ring, whatever the cost. In order to get the answers he needs, he attempts to win the trust of one of the prostitutes involved —but one look at the deceptively sultry Katya and the cool, objective cop disappears. Before either can put their plans into place, Mother Nature shrugs: a cataclysm rocks Seattle, and life is turned upside down.

Brought together by chance, Nigel and Katya are in the fight for their lives. Surrounded by death and fear, shattered by immeasurable loss, they have only a bond forged in fire to cling to as they struggle to survive in a world gone straight to hell.

Dark Mission 2
Avon Books, June 28, 2011
Mass Market Paperbook and eBook, 384 pages

Naomi West was plucked from one prison and placed undercover in another: the gilded cage that is Timeless, New Seattle's premier spa and resort, where owner Phinneas Clarke—the most seductive man Naomi has ever met—may be hiding a killer. She's an agent of the Holy Order, trained to hunt the guilty and render justice. But while she's tracking down a rogue agent on a killing spree, Phin is determined to uncover her most damning—and dangerous—secrets. Whatever the cost. 

Dark Mission 1
Avon Books, May 31, 2011
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 384 pages

When the world went straight to hell, humanity needed a scapegoat to judge, to blame . . . to burn.

As an independent witch living off the grid, Jessie Leigh has spent her life running, trying to blend in among the faceless drudges in the rebuilt city. She thought she was finally safe, but now she's been found in a New Seattle strip club—by a hard-eyed man on a mission to destroy her kind.

A soldier of the Holy Order, Silas Smith believes in the cause: trawling the fringes of society for the murderous witches who threaten what's left of the world. Forced into a twisting web of half-truths and lies, he has to stay close to the most sensuous and electrifying woman he has ever seen and manipulate her into leading him to the witch he has to kill: her brother. Silas doesn't know that Jessie's his enemy, only that he wants her, needs her, even as he lies to her . . . and must protect her until his final breath.

About Karina

After weaving happily ever afters for all of her friends in school, Karina Cooper eventually grew up (kind of) and fell in love with writing. She broke into the scene with her gritty Dark Mission series, introducing a world that RT Book Reviews calls “an electrifying start”.

One part glamor, one part total dork, and all imagination, she writes dark and sexy paranormal romance and Steampunk-flavored historical urban fantasy. When she isn’t writing, Karina is an airship captain’s wife and Steampunk fashionista. She lives in the beautiful and rainy Pacific Northwest with a husband, four cats, two rabbits, the fantasy of a dog and a passel of adopted gamer geeks.

Karina's Links:

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter

Please welcome Karina Cooper to The Qwillery as part of the 2011 Debut Author Challenge interviews.


TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Karina:  Well, let's lay this out: there's interesting annoying-quirk, and then there's interesting addict-quirk, and then there's interesting quirk-quirk. The former involves saying each line aloud as I type it. Really, no one can write in a room with me. Can you imagine reading every word aloud as you're clattering your keys? It helps me with dialects, accents and speech-patterns, but nowadays, it's mostly just because I can't get enough of the sound of my own voice. (This is a joke. Which means it's only partially true.) My interesting addict-quirk ties into the concept that every writer has a vice. Some involve booze by one's elbow, some involve cigarettes clenched tightly between two fingers as nicotine enhanced authors type with eight. Mine involves a hot drink: I absolutely must have a hot cup of something -- coffee or tea or chai or hot chocolate -- near at hand. I may not drink it right away (I have a hot plate just for mugs), but it has to be there, at my beck and call. You know, just in case I have this undeniable urge to quaff back some caffeine and replenish what brain cells I may have wrung dry.

And then lastly, there's my interesting quirk-quirk: I never read my sex scenes until I'm doing revisions. When I write them, I write it all in one go, never even so much as read up a line, and hurriedly move on to writing the next scenes. I have no idea how good or bad or muddled or hot or shameless my sex scenes are until I've completed my first draft and am now working on my edits. Sometimes, I'm pleasantly surprised. Sometimes, I find jaw-droppingly embarrassing errors. It's great fun. And I always blush.

TQ:  Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

Karina:  My two favorite writers in the whole world are, interestingly enough, British. Perhaps this says something about me. Neil Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchett both have influenced me as a writer, although I couldn't say either influenced my writing. I look up to both men with equal respect-slash-stalkery, and Mr. Gaiman has miraculously managed to shape who I want to become in this career, all without actually meeting. It's complicated. I'm a little bit ion love with the man, but only in that "far away" sort of way that insures a) his wife will not come after me with a flaming ukulele, and b) if I ever do meet him, he won't have a restraining order in hand.

Cherry Adair and Chuck Wendig are two more writers that I have so much respect for, and both have helped to influence me greatly as a person. I'm not sure I could point to anyone as to who helped influence my writing... I read so much -- so much, y'all -- that I can't think of anyone off hand who shaped my voice more or less than the others.

TQ:  Are you a plotter or a panster?

Karina:  I used to be a pantser! But here's my fun little secret that I'm oddly yet abashedly proud of: I have 138 unfinished projects in a folder I call "Grab Bag" but which should probably be called "Crap I'll Never Touch Again". ...Can I share that? (Dear Publishers: I finish books, I swear!) The thing is, until I learned how to plot in a way that actually worked with me (Virgo/Libra, folks, line up to pity the fool), I had the devil of a time completing anything. Within, literally, one day of learning how to plot from Cherry Adair's workshop, I had a full book plotted out. Within three months of that, that book was done, and is now on sale as Blood of the Wicked. Since learning to plot, I have never, ever looked back, and I'm in the process of teaching a friend how to do the same!

TQ:  Describe Blood of the Wicked (Dark Mission 1) in 140 characters or less.

Karina:  Is it bad I had to alt-tab over to Twitter to make sure I got the characters right? Okay, here we go: A hunter is forced to use a woman as bait to complete his mission. A secret witch, she'll do anything to save her brother from death.

TQ:  What inspired you to write the Dark Mission series?

Karina:  Supervolcanoes. Seriously! I was watching the Discovery channel and they had a segment on the supervolcanoes of the world, and as I was watching, I started to feel the gears of creation winding up. Next thing I knew, I was researching subduction zones and mapping out a fictional city built on the ruins of the city we know now. It was eerie. I was also sick out of my mind, but I got over that bit.

TQ:  What sort of research did you do for the the Dark Mission novels?

Karina:  I became a geologist! Okay, not really. But I did have to do a lot of research into the various tectonic zones and volcanoes around the Pacific Northwest. I also did a lot of looking into what areas of the world are plagued by what disasters. You don't hear a lot about the rest of the world in the Dark Mission series -- that may or may not come later, ahem-hem -- but I did learn that even places we don't hear about a lot have these epic disasters once every few centuries or so. Did you know that the Pacific Northwest has a truly massive quake -- like the kind that hit Japan -- every 200 to 900 years? It's a pretty random spread of numbers, but look at it this way: The last one was in 1700... 300 years falls firmly between 200 and 900, doesn't it? Something to think about!

TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in the Blood of the Wicked?

Karina:  Oh, my. My favorite scene of all in Blood of the Wicked is close-ish to the end. Silas has just learned something that Jessie deliberately didn't tell him and his reaction is so intense and visceral and raw that my stomach twisted up even while I was writing it. They share a kiss that is as vivid in my mind as if I was the one who experienced it (don't worry, my faithful Freud types, I didn't!), and as negative as the whole scene is, I love it to bits.

TQ:  Who was the easiest character to write and why? Hardest and why?

Karina:  The easiest character to write is Silas -- he's really not that complex. He's basically a giant teddy bear with fists of iron. All he really wants is to get the fuck out of the city (pardon my language, darlings, but this is Silas we're talking of) and go somewhere sunny and isolated and nurse his bum knee and fish for the rest of his life. He's tempered by his job as a witch hunter, so his inner squishiness is a little crusty around the edges, but he's still pretty matter-of-fact.

The hardest character to write was... Well. I'll say "the villain". That man is so ridiculously complex. He says up when he means down, can't be buggered to explain anything, and has the worst martyr complex I've ever in my life had to tolerate. Seriously, I loathe him. I mean, I love him, but really. I loathe him.

TQ:  How many books are planned for the Dark Mission series?

Karina:  At the moment, there's three planned -- Blood of the Wicked (available May 31st), Lure of the Wicked (available June 28th, 2011) and then All Things Wicked (which will be available... um... sometime... ish). But the world is so ripe, and the characters so freaking busy sticking their noses into everyone else's business, that there could be more in the future. Who knows? Stay in touch, and I'll announce everything as it happens.

TQ:  What's next?

Karina:  As I mentioned, there's two more Dark Mission books coming out after Blood of the Wicked. However, I'll have another novella out later in the year. It's going to be a Dark Mission one, too, and it might just feature someone you didn't expect to see! I also tend towards a sickness in the head, which means I'm always working on something. Stay close. News is forever streaming through the glistening spam meat that is my Twitter feed!

TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery

Karina:  Thank you ever so much for having me! This was fun -- I hope to come back again, if you ever need a wall of text spam to occupy readers. I'm giving like that. ;)

TQ:  You're more than welcome to visit again!


About Karina's Books
Dark Mission E-novella
(Avon Impulse, May 17, 2011)
In America, they didn't care about witches. But all that was about to change.

Katya Zhuvova fled a country that feared her gifts, but her escape to Seattle left her at the mercy of a ruthless man. With no one left to turn to, Katya hatches a desperate escape plan. Undercover Detective Nigel Ferris is determined to bring down a prostitution ring, whatever the cost. In order to the get answers he needs, he attempts to win the trust of one of the prostitutes involved—but one look at the deceptively sultry Katya and the cool, objective cop disappears. Before either can put their plans into place, Mother Nature shrugs: a cataclysm rocks Seattle, and life is turned upside down.

Brought together by chance, Nigel and Katya are in the fight for their lives. Surrounded by death and fear, shattered by immeasurable loss, they have only a bond forged in fire to cling to as they struggle to survive in a world gone straight to hell.

 Amazon :  Barnes&Noble : Borders

Dark Mission 1
(Avon, May 31, 2011)
When the world went straight to hell, humanity needed a scapegoat to judge, to blame . . . to burn.

As an independent witch living off the grid, Jessie Leigh has spent her life running, trying to blend in among the faceless drudges in the rebuilt city. She thought she was finally safe, but now she's been found in a New Seattle strip club—by a hard-eyed man on a mission to destroy her kind.

A soldier of the Holy Order, Silas Smith believes in the cause: trawling the fringes of society for the murderous witches who threaten what's left of the world. Forced into a twisting web of half-truths and lies, he has to stay close to the most sensuous and electrifying woman he has ever seen and manipulate her into leading him to the witch he has to kill: her brother. Silas doesn't know that Jessie's his enemy, only that he wants her, needs her, even as he lies to her . . . and must protect her until his final breath.

Amazon : Barnes&Noble : Book Depository : Borders


Dark Mission 2
(Avon, June 28, 2011)
Naomi West was plucked from one prison and placed undercover in another: the gilded cage that is Timeless, New Seattle's premier spa and resort, where owner Phinneas Clarke—the most seductive man Naomi has ever met—may be hiding a killer. She's an agent of the Holy Order, trained to hunt the guilty and render justice. But while she's tracking down a rogue agent on a killing spree, Phin is determined to uncover her most damning—and dangerous—secrets. Whatever the cost.

Amazon : Barnes&Noble : Book Depository : Borders









About Karina

After weaving happily ever afters for all of her friends in school, Karina Cooper eventually grew up (kind of) and fell in love with writing. Imagine her surprise to find that it counts as A Real Job. One part romance fanatic, one part total dork, and all imagination, she can’t help but write paranormal romance and obsess over urban fantasy.

When she isn't writing, Karina is an airship captain’s wife and Steampunk fashionista. She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with a husband, four cats, one rabbit, the fantasy of a dog and a passel of adopted gamer geeks. She adores hearing from readers, so visit www.karinacooper.com.

Karina's Links

Website
Twitter
Teatime Iniquity (blog)
Facebook
Photos (Flickr)


The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win a signed copy of Blood of the Wicked generously provided by Karina.

How:  Leave a comment answering the following question:


Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1)  Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2)  Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

3)  Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.

There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. In addition please leave a way to contact you.

Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Tuesday, June 7, 2011. Void where prohibited by law.

Today on her blog, Karina Cooper revealed the cover for Lure of the Wicked, the 2nd Dark Mission novel. It will be published in June 2011.



Blood of the Wicked, the 1st Dark Mission novel, will be published on May 31, 2011.

A witch desperate to save her brother is forced to team up with the witch hunter who doesn’t know she carries the same bloody stigma as the brother he’s hunting.

Prepared to risk everything on a nest of half-truths and lies, witch and witch hunter form an unwitting bond—a bond based on blood, murder and an attraction so devastating, it will put everything they know in danger. In the aptly monikered City of Glass, the once-unbreakable threads of loyalty will be put to the ultimate test. From Karina's website.

Karina Cooper revealed the cover for her debut novel, Blood of the Wicked, at her blog yesterday. I asked permission to post it here. Eye-catching, isn't it?