I've just finished the second draft of the new novel, Medium Dead, the first (hopefully) in a new urban fantasy series.
It's weighed in at just under 96k words and I'm thinking of putting out a call for beta readers. So, if you'd like to read a fun fantasy drop me a line at chris(dot)dolley(at)worldonline.fr
Warning: there is some strong language and there are positively NO vampires or werewolves. But there is plenty of magic, mystery, humour and shapeshifting.
Here's a brief synopsis:
Medium Dead is the first in a crime fighting fantasy series chronicling the adventures of Brenda, a reluctant medium, and Brian, a self-styled Vigilante Demon.
Brenda Steele is smart, funny and out of her depth. A magical being wants her to find murdered spirits and help him track down their killers. But Brian doesn't just catch criminals he likes to play with them first and make the punishment fit the crime. As he tells Brenda, 'if all you did was turn up, capture the bad guy then leave - century after century - you'd die of boredom.' But he's also reckless – his last partner died during one of his take downs.
And here's a snippet:
Brenda managed to pick her way through the opening chapters of Strong Poison but even the imminent entanglement of Harriet Vane and Lord Peter failed to engage her as much as it usually did. Only a jaw-dropping instalment of The Rich, The Spoilt, and the Surgically Enhanced managed to snap her out of her growing lethargy.
Celeste, the drama queen's drama queen, discovered she had a brain tumour. Apparently it was pressing on the part of her brain that controlled the buttoning and unbuttoning of her tops. Brenda marvelled at the wealth of medical information one could pick up from quality TV. With Poor Celeste staring at a future of worsening décolletage she was rushed to see the world's top neurosurgeon, Storm Canaveral, a former pro linebacker who'd taken up medicine in an effort to cure his own football related brain tumour. Storm took one look at Celeste's cleavage and whisked her away to his own private hospital yacht moored in the Med. But had he left it too late? The episode ended with Celeste flat on her back – a position not unknown to Celeste – but this time she was complaining of a headache. And that was a first.
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Well this time the Astraldome leaves its walls unhosed down, its drains blocked and a film of scary ectoplasm moistening its drapes ... because (cue Vincent Price at the organ) it welcomes Cherie Priest - ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) cmpriest and Mistress of the Southern Gothic.
So, same format as before, with the help of two mediums strapped to a supercomputer we are going to astrally project Cherie from her office in a Seattle graveyard to a place very close to your computer screen. Remember, there may be ectoplasm and if any gets on your keyboard - don't let your cat lick it up.
Ready? Okay, Windows ESP is loading and the quantum computer has flipped through to its spin cycle. Now concentrate on Cherie's picture below. Will her across the astral plane. And hold that image, even if it takes a scary form. The astral plane is a slippery place and Cherie's spectral image might snap back.
Can you see it? Cherie's spectral form? Then let the interview commence...
Q1. Do you think that you'll continue to set most of your novels in the South? Or has moving to Seattle nudged your writing axis?
Well, I spent most of my life in the south so it's the region I know best -- but I'm already planning to rework one upcoming project to be set in Seattle. It's simply easier to write about a location that I know very well and/or have easy access to.
Q2. If you were given a government grant to design the ultimate scary chimera. What animals would you borrow from and for which parts? And would it start with the face of a sloth?
Hmm .... let's see. Face of sloth, yes. Hands of sloth too -- they look like lobster claws with fur. Maybe mouth of those bitey fish that have the glowing lures on their heads. Legs of kangaroo ... because what could be scarier than a hairy lobster-clawed sloth beast with big teeth LEAPING TOWARDS YOU?
(long pause) ... Interviewer stands back for next question, sneaking worried glances over left shoulder whilst listening for Slobbo, the were-skippy.
Q3. If you had (pauses for another look over shoulder) the opportunity to spend the night in the haunted location of your choice - anywhere in the world - where would it be? Or would you pass?
I wouldn't pass so long as I'm not alone. I wouldn't do it by myself, that's for sure. But with company? Holy crap. So many options! I've always wanted to go to Waverly Hills, in Kentucky. It's an old sanitarium (what IS it about me and old sanitariums? I tell ya ...) , fearsomely haunted, and I think that Ghost Hunters on the SciFi channel even did an episode there. Really, I'd be game to go just about anyplace, so long as I was assured (a). that I wouldn't be alone, (b). some good recording equipment and (c). somebody else would be paying my traveling expenses.
Q4. If a friend with a time machine gave you the chance to go back in time and alter something from your writing past, what would it be? Telling your 15 year-old self to burn that first novel? Or would you say 'forget it' and take the machine back to watch an early Bowie concert?
Bowie. All the way. I've made a lot of mistakes, but I've learned from them -- and it's worked out fairly well so far. So yes. Let's say "Bowie" on that one. Or let's just say "Bowie" a lot anyway. Bowie Bowie Bowie ...
Q5. You receive a phone call from a serial killer. He asks you the same question he asked his previous victims. "You have 150 words to sell me your book. 150 words exactly. If I like what you write I'll buy the book. If I don't you die." What would your 150 words be?
Which book? I've got this stack of them, see ... But okay. Let's take Dreadful Skin (since that's the next one out). Dreadful Skin is a trio of stories about a little Irish nun who hunts werewolves with a silver-bullet-loaded Colt. The first story, "The Wreck of the Mary Byrd," is my werewolf/steamboat/disaster novella; the second one, "Halfway to Holiness," has the nun infiltrating a traveling Pentecostal camp meeting (in search of werewolves); and the third, "Our Lady of the Wasteland," features our nun-hero hunting werewolves in [cue Jack Palance voice] the ooooold west.
Is that less than 150 words? Cripes, I hope so ...
A glance towards the serial killer. He likes the nun, the silver-bullet-loaded Colt brings back memories... But he's not sure about the word count. He's taking off his shoes and socks ... putting down his chainsaw... Oh dear, I knew he should have done that the other way round. But ... here comes the verdict. He raises a thumb - several thumbs, several pieces of thumbs. And it's a many thumbs-up verdict for Dreadful Skin.
Thank you, Cherie. The mediums power down, the serial killer limps off towards a distant alley, and Cherie's ghostly presence returns from whence it came.
Or is it ... BEHIND YOU!
Now, for those still able to read, did anyone see any ectoplasm? Did anyone sober see any ectoplasm? Did Cherie's astral form billow out and grasp a pen? And if it did, did it write anything you can sell on eBay? Enquiring minds need to know.
Meanwhile, Dreadful Skin can be pre-ordered from all good bookshops including Amazon in the US and UK. For those who can't wait,Wings to the Kingdom is out now in the US, the UK and all good bookshops worldwide.
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Following the great success of the inaugural astral interview (i.e. no one died. Well, no one important...) the Astraldome has had its walls hosed down, the drains unblocked and ... welcomes fantasy and mystery author Sarah Hoyt.
Sarah has two books coming out this month. Draw One in the Dark - a shape-shifting urban fantasy - and, writing as Sarah D'Almeida, Death of a Musketeer - an historical mystery starring four very famous musketeers.
So, same format as before, with the help of two mediums strapped to a supercomputer we are going to astrally project Sarah from her home in Colorado to a place very close to your computer screen. Same warning as before. If there is any ectoplasm leakage - which I'm assured there won't be - don't let your cat lick it up.
Ready? Okay, Windows ESP is loading, the quantum computer may or may not be on. Now concentrate on Sarah's picture below. Will her across the astral plane. And keep concentrating. Hold that image. The astral plane is a slippery place to cross - her spectral image might snap back. Or shape shift. We are dealing with an author who uses pseudonyms.
Can you see it? Sarah's spectral form? Then let the interview commence...
Q1. I read in an interview that you've had a crush on Athos since the age of eleven. But why Athos? Wasn't Aramis the Musketeer heart throb?
Oh, probably. But one falls in love with characters for different reasons. Besides, quite frankly, if I met Aramis I'd probably think he was too smooth by half.
Athos is different. Perhaps because of his guilt over his wife's death -- though of course, Milady isn't dead but he doesn't know that -- or because of a strict moral fiber with stoic overtones. The thing is, when Athos -- at the beginning of Monsieur Dumas books -- disciplined himself past physical pain and weakness to make his way to Monsieur de Treville's office to defend his friends, I fell headlong in love with him. There is a self-contained darkness there, a discipline and loyalty that transcends mere physical limits. Hard not to fall in love with, in fact.
Q2. In DOITD Kyrie is a werepanther. Which sounds cool but are werepanthers house trained? If I were to visit Kyrie's home would I find a large litter tray in her bathroom?
Um... I have no doubt if Kyrie saw this she would glare at you. Kyrie only shifts when she wants to or needs to. Oh, one or two accidental shifts might happen when she is stressed or in trouble -- but I have no doubt she takes care of the minutia of daily life in the ordinary way. :)
Q3. Given the choice which animal would you like to shape shift into?
One of my cats. This thing about sleeping all day, eating at will and being adored for your troubles HAS to be a good deal. If something more ferocious were desired, probably a tiger. However, my alter ego in Baen's Bar is an ocelot, and I guess that will have to do.
Q4. You receive a phone call from a serial killer. He asks you the same question he asked his previous victims. "You have 150 words to sell me your book. 150 words exactly. If I like what you write I'll buy the book. If I don't you die." What would your 150 words be?
Well, first of all I would yell at the serial killer for being so uninformed. After all, I have TWO books coming out practically one on top of each other.
So, my first talk would be about Draw One In The Dark --
Draw One In The Dark is hip without being illiterate, edgy without being dry and sexy without being sex laden. It does shape changers as you've never seen them before. They are not the cursed creatures of legend, bound to their unwitting fate. No, rather they are humans -- humans whose inner beast is made visible and external and therefore both harder and easier to control. Their battles with themselves are those we all engage in, only magnified. Besides, it's non-stop rollicking adventure with looming danger and a breath-taking payoff.
A quick pause for a reaction ... he's not sure about the word count - he's had to take his shoes and socks off. But he doesn't like the look of that spectral panther ... so, yes, it's an ectoplasmic thumbs-up from our serial killer. So, on with the next question...
Q5. I heard that "Draw One in the Dark" is diner slang for a cup of black coffee. Are you going to continue that theme for the sequel? Will book two be Draw Two in the Dark or maybe A Blonde with Sand Dragged through Georgia?
The second one, which I'm hoping very much will sell is Gentleman Takes a Chance, old diner slang for Hash, the third one Blonde with Sand and the fourth one Bowl of Red. :)
Thank you, Sarah. The mediums power down, the quantum computer's in a state, and Sarah's ghostly presence slithers back along the plane, pauses at the duty free and disappears.
Now for feedback - did everyone see Sarah? Did anyone sober see Sarah? Did Sarah's astral form billow out and grasp a pen? And if it did, did it sign anything? Enquiring minds need to know.
Meanwhile, Draw One in the Dark can be bought from all good bookshops including Amazon in the US and UK
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Yes, last minute touches are being applied to internationally famous medium Doris Scrote. The Salvador Dali Llama is being greased up and Windows ESP is ... displaying a blue screen and blaming everyone else.
But I'm sure all the kinks - and any other sixties supergroups we find lurking in the astral plane - will be ironed out by tomorrow.
So, tomorrow at the Astraldome - be there or be ... somewhere else. It doesn't matter. An astrally projected author can find you wherever you are.
And this one writes about werepanthers.
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