Book Chick City: Chat with author Stacia Kane (+ amazing giveaway!)

Chat with author Stacia Kane (+ amazing giveaway!)

Monday, August 02, 2010 | Posted by Book Chick City |

Today I am very excited to welcome Stacia Kane to Book Chick City. Stacia is the author of a fantastic new urban fantasy series, 'Downside Ghosts/Chess Putnam'. She is also the author behind the fun 'Megan Chase' urban fantasy series.

Want to know why I think Downside is one of the greatest UF series out there - then read my reviews of Unholy Ghosts, Unholy Magic and City of Ghosts.

I have three sets of the Downside Ghosts series to giveaway: Unholy Ghosts, Unholy Magic and City of Ghosts - so make sure you enter before you leave!

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Hi Stacia - thank you so much for being here and answering a few questions. I absolutely love the Downside series, so I apologise in advance as there may be a bit of gushing ;)

For those who are unfamiliar with the Downside Ghosts series, can you tell us a bit about the world and the characters who inhabit it?

Basically, in 1997 the dead rose from the grave as ghosts and slaughtered most of the world's population; like two thirds of it. Nobody could stop them except this tiny underground atheistic magic group which called itself the Church of Real Truth. They were able to defeat the ghosts and keep humanity safe, and in return they put themselves in charge, so it's a world run by this totalitarian atheistic government. They protect humanity, and because their power is based on their ability to keep the ghosts locked up underground, they'll pay people a settlement if those people have a haunting in their homes or businesses.

But of course people will fake hauntings to try to get settlements, which is where my heroine Chess Putnam comes in. She's a Debunker, working to disprove claimed hauntings. She's also an orphan and an addict who lives in Downside, which is basically Triumph City's punk-rock ghetto. Chess tries so hard to forget her past and to be strong, and I think she is strong, but she's also very human (at least I hope so), and like all humans she has weaknesses.

In the first book (UNHOLY GHOSTS) she owes her drug dealer quite a bit of money, and he tells her she can "work off her debt" by debunking the haunting of an abandoned local airport so he can fly his drugs in. He assigns his enforcer, this big tattooed greaser named Terrible, to help her out. But of course a rival gang finds out what she's doing and offers her another deal; if she doesn't solve the trouble at the airport they'll give her drugs for free. So now she's working two sides, and her own actual Debunking case for the Church, and all sorts of hopefully scary and exciting and thrilling adventures ensue, and if I've done my job correctly you'll get to see that everyone has other sides and aspects to their personalities, and everyone is worthy of some kind of happiness or hope.

As you know, I am a HUGE fan of Chess & Terrible, so I'm going to begin with them. How did you come up with their names? I think they are brilliant!

Hee, thanks! Chess--Cesaria (Chez-air-ea)--actually came from an old boss of mine's son, whose name was Cesare (Chez-ah-ray). I just thought it was a really cool name, and when I was trying to come up with a name for Chess I remembered it and found the feminized version and there you go. And Terrible... It was partly that I just thought it would be cool, and it was partly that I wanted something that would really label him and set him up in a certain way right from the beginning. And in a world like Downside where people don't generally have "real" names, it just seemed like the kind of thing people would call a drug dealer's enforcer, you know?

Why did you choose to make Terrible unconventional in the looks department (as he's described as "ugly" in the books) and for him to then become the central love interest for Chess? Usually the love interest is described as 'good-looking' or 'handsome' - were you worried about portraying him this way and that he may not be a popular hero because of his looks?

I was, yeah, but I was really excited about the challenge. I love handsome heroes--we all do--but I wanted to try something else. From a writing standpoint, I thought if I can take this big ugly guy and really show what's underneath and who he really is, then I can really feel like I did something, like I stretched myself, if you know what I mean. Being handsome can be such a shorthand for "hero." I wanted to surprise readers. I wanted them to not expect him to be who he is (at least not the deeper good parts), just like Chess didn't expect it.

Terrible melts my heart and I am totally in love with him - I know he kills people and beats people up but he's also very endearing - did you expect him to become such a loved hero?

Not at ALL! I loved him so much, and I really hoped readers would, but I am completely blindsided by how much people have taken to him. It's incredible, it really is. I just wanted him to be someone they would accept and even like, that I could do a good enough job of writing him to make the relationship understandable. That was what I hoped. So the reaction has been just so far beyond anything I'd ever dreamed, seriously.

There has been a bit of controversy about Chess and her drug use - personally I think it gives her character amazing depth and I just love this aspect to the story - did you originally set out to make Chess such an addict or did she just evolve that way?

No, she was from the beginning. I wanted to write an addict. I wanted to write someone with real problems, who made serious mistakes. And again from a writing standpoint it was kind of irresistible; she wants to be strong and independent but is so vulnerable because of this incredible weakness she has. And it traps her, and she knows it, but it also gives her some freedom. Getting to write that kind of contradiction was really exciting to me. It's always been the weaknesses of a character that draw me to them, and make them people I can understand and relate to and put something of myself into.

I did very consciously decide not to make her an IV user, or someone who smoked crack or something. I wanted and needed her to be functional (just like millions of adults in the world who are functional addicts just like Chess); I wanted and needed her weaknesses to be understandable and not graphic or gimmicky or just something for shock value. That really was not what I was trying to do; of course whether I succeeded isn't up to me, but I tried my best.

The intense, emotional scenes between Chess and Terrible just about did me in - were they difficult to write and did you feel emotionally drained after writing them?

Oh, man. When I finished writing CITY OF GHOSTS it was like one in the morning, and after I wrote THE END I wandered around my house sobbing for almost an hour. Seriously. I'd never done that before; I'd never actually made myself cry like that. Chess and Terrible both took a lot more out of me than any other characters I've written; they're easy books to write for me--the stories flow and I know the characters so well--but at the same time extremely exhausting emotionally and mentally.

But that crying spell really shocked me.

I totally get it - I blubbed like a baby when I finished City of Ghosts! Okay, onto a few general questions about Downside. How long were you mulling over ideas for Downside Ghosts series and how long did it take to write all three books?

I got the idea for the actual plot while writing DEMON INSIDE, around, um, late August or early September 2007 (I'd been wanting/planning to write an addict for a few months longer). And it just sort of all came together, to be honest. I started writing the same night I finished DEMON INSIDE in October, and the first draft was done eight weeks later (although due to travel and illness it was actually only seven weeks of writing time). The first draft was like 83,000 words; when my agent signed me for it we added another twelve thousand or so in pre-submission revisions, including the epigrams.

UNHOLY MAGIC took about nine weeks, and CITY OF GHOSTS about the same, but I really wasn't happy with CoG and asked my editor last year if I could rewrite it. So I ended up adding another 40k words to that and cutting about 15 or 20k within three weeks or so.

Why was the decision made to release all three books in quick succession rather than wait the normal 6-12 months in between books?

For the kicks! Ha. No, they originally wanted to do the releases that way when they bought them, but the slots weren't available, and then they were. We were just all really excited at the idea; everyone at my publishers and my agent and me. And Harper UK, bless them, stuck to the US (Del Rey) schedule, basically, which was amazing of them. They were just really excited about the books, I guess. Or they just wanted to get rid of me quickly. I'm not sure which but I hope for the former.

I love the way you describe all the ingredients needed for Chess to cast her spells etc, how did you go about researching this and for the Downside world generally?

Most of the magic is based on British Traditional Witchcraft, and on folklore/legend. It's something I've studied and been fascinated by for years, actually, so I already had a lot of that and knew I wanted to use it; the world--or at least the Church--developed around the magic system rather than the other way around. Like the psychopomps, which aren't British Traditional Witchcraft--they're older than that even--but have always fascinated me.

I really just kind of threw in whatever I thought made sense to me and would be cool, to be honest.

The street speak or "Down-Speech" as you call it in Unholy Magic is just brilliant - can you describe how you created it?

Thank you! It was kind of like the names, really; I wanted something that would emphasize how different Chess's two worlds are, and to make that world as realistic as I could. Poor people or uneducated people don't always sound like educated people, you know?

But I didn't want to use an existing slang. This was a different world, and I didn't want to try to co-opt or steal from an existing culture. And I had this dictionary of archaic slang, stuff from Georgian and Victorian eras, which I loved. The book was actually envisioned as a Georgian historical for about twenty minutes, because I wanted to use those amazing words so bad. But I figured why not? That's where the Puritan imagery came from, actually, too. I gave it a try and it was an absolute blast to write.

Were you self-conscious about the "Down-Speech" and worried that people wouldn't understand it or like it? Accents of any kind are hard to pull off in my opinion, but I think you nailed "Down-Speech" it's just so unique.

Thank you again! I was quite nervous, yes, because accents and dialect can be tough, so I tried to keep it as simple as possible. It's really just some pronoun changes and words used a little differently or in a different pattern. Like, Bump's dialect is so thick my BFF (who beta reads all my books, she is the most awesome best friend in the world) told me that a few times he was almost unintelligible in my original draft. Lex uses way more of the archaic slang, and Terrible's speech is fairly slang-free, it's just a different rhythm. The goal is for the reader to know who's speaking without being told; for everyone to have a unique voice.

I have read that you are writing books 4 & 5 *I can't wait!!* but can you give more details?

Ha! I can't wait either, to be honest, although I am freaking terrified that you guys won't like them, that I won't be able to do a good job with them. They were easy to write when the only person who expected anything from them was me, you know? But the thought of letting down all of these other people is so scary I can't even think of it.

I can tell you that Chess and Terrible will have some growing pains, and that I really want the 4th book to be Lex's book; I'd wanted to do that with UNHOLY MAGIC but it just didn't work out. I feel like Lex got kind of short shrift, and I feel bad. But there will be some HUGE changes for him which will of course make things waaaaay more complicated for everyone. Heh heh.

Now for some non-Downside related questions...

Name the book that's made you laugh?

THE SEX LIVES OF CANNIBALS made me laugh; it's a memoir about an American who spent a couple of years living in the Equatorial Pacific. That's the most recent one. Florence King's MEMOIRS OF A FAILED SOUTHERN LADY made me laugh a lot; I bought it years ago but it still makes me smile on re-reading. Mark Henry's Amanda Feral books are hysterical; HAPPY HOUR OF THE DAMNED is the first one, and I think they made me laugh harder than any novel I ever read.

Name the books that's made you cry?

GONE WITH THE WIND makes me cry. And oh, man. I bought Marian Keye's IS ANYBODY OUT THERE, because, you know, Marian Keyes is funny, right? Um, no. I was practically hysterical when I finished that one. I've only re-read it once and I sobbed just as hard the second time. It's a lovely book but fucking brutal.

I generally avoid books/movies that make me cry, to be honest. I don't mean to sound all Artistically Sensitive but life is painful enough, you know?

Favourite ice-cream?

Mint chocolate chip, and it has to be green, not white or brown. Mint with chocolate, not chocolate with mint. But Ben & Jerry's, I think, has a Cinnamon Buns ice cream that is just amazing. I recently discovered it.

What are you reading at the moment?

I am reading an ARC of Cherie Priest's BLOODSHOT. Cherie is a fantastic person--I adore her--and an amazing writer, so I am enjoying the hell out of it. I've also just started Rebecca James' BEAUTIFUL MALICE; I've known Rebecca a bit for years, so am very excited, and it's an incredible book.

Favourite author?

Oh, I have a few. I love Tana French's mysteries. I love Caitlin Kittredge, of course, and am lucky because she's my good friend too, so I love her and I love her work (she has a YA coming out next year that is just unbelievably incredibly stunningly good). I love Andrew Vachss with a passion. I love Barbara Michaels. I love Herman Wouk; THE CAINE MUTINY is my favorite novel ever. And Poe, of course.

Who has inspired you with regards to your writing?

Oh, it sounds really dorky, but J.K. Rowling. because she was just a mum who wanted to write, and so did I. And while of course I could never hope to achieve even a microgram of her success, her story really did inspire me. And all of the authors above. A lot of musicians inspire me (I mention most of them in the Downside books).

Where do you write and do you have a favourite time of day to write?

I write on the couch, and I usually write at night--late at night--although I sometimes have a burst of creativity in the late morning/early afternoon, or later afternoon. But normally it's nighttime.

Thanks so much Stacia - I hope the questions were ok.

They're awesome! Thanks so much Carolyn!

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Okay, so on to the giveaway!

I have three sets of Downside Ghosts series to giveaway to three lucky winners, courtesy of Harper Voyager.

All you have to do to enter is fill in this form!

This giveaway is open to UK Residents only (publishers request) and ends 7th Aug.

Only one entry per person please - duplicate/multiple entries will be disqualified.

GOOD LUCK!

Labels: Author Interviews, Giveaways, Stacia Kane

15 comments:

Bella said...: I dont think there's anything dorky about J K Rowling being an influence, lol
I think she influenced tons of people and will for some time, as the Harry Potter is so epic.
Awesome giveaway btw! though im not a UK peep; 2 August 2010 08:08
Mardel said...: I love the Downside books too. I also love that all the characters are a bit shady - shady with feelings, but that's just like everyone in the world. Stacia did a great job with these books.; 2 August 2010 10:06
prophecygirl said...: Well Carolyn, you and Stacia have now REALLY made me want to read this series. I don't think I've ever actually read a proper UF book, but I'm going to give it a go. :)

Thanks for a great interview!; 2 August 2010 11:57
A Buckeye Girl Reads said...: I just love this series, and it surprised me because Chess and Terrible so aren't your typical heroine/hero. Wonderful interview!!; 2 August 2010 13:36
Bells said...: What a wonderful interview! I am also totally in love with Terrible and didn't expect to feel the way I did about him.

I gotta say this is one of the best interviews I have read. Each question was thoughtful and each answer was filled with so much great information.

Can't wait to read the rest of the series. Thanks Stacia for giving us characters who we can't seem to get out of our mind. :D

*not eligible for giveaway*; 2 August 2010 13:48
tori aka ggs_closet said...: Wonderful review. This has been one of the most thrilling & emotionally exhausting series I've ever read. I adore it. :) How refreshing to have such flawed characters as the "heros".
And I like JK Rowking's books; dorky or not.; 2 August 2010 14:41
Olya said...: Great interview! Wish I was eligible for the giveaway, but alas I am in the USA ;(; 2 August 2010 19:28
Laura Summers said...: What a great interview!
I really enjoyed it.

These books are creeping higher and higher up my tbr list they look fantastic. As soon as I a gap in my other reading lol I'll be devouring them I'm sure.; 2 August 2010 20:35
Beverly said...: Awesome contest - I loved the interview - wow, do I want to read these! Thanks for hosting.; 2 August 2010 21:27
Alexia561 said...: Excellent interview! I keep hearing amazing things about these books, so finally bought one. Really looking forward to getting to know Chess and Terrible!; 3 August 2010 01:20
Book Chick City said...: THANKS FOR THE LOVELY COMMENTS EVERYONE - I'M SO PLEASED YOU LIKED THE INTERVIEW! :); 3 August 2010 06:21
SusanKMann said...: Fantastic interview. I love Chess and can't wait to read the rest of the books. I have only read the first one. xx; 3 August 2010 22:11
Aleksandra said...: Great review! Still haven't read the series, but it's on my must-read list :) I'll have to get them soon :D; 4 August 2010 16:31
Aleksandra said...: Lol, instead of interview, I wrote review :D; 4 August 2010 16:31
MissBohemia said...: Fab interview with Stacia!

I can't wait to find out more about Terrible (and Chess too)& read the series!

So glad that I can enter this (UK) giveaway!

p.s. nothing wrong with being influenced J K Rowling, I'm a big fan :-); 6 August 2010 03:15