Interview: Kelly Meding

Next week one of my most anticipated novels of the summer comes out. As Lie The Dead by Kelly Meding follows up the events of the previous book, Three Days To Dead.

Blurb:
Evangeline Stone, a rogue bounty hunter, never asked for a world divided between darkness and light…

…or the power to die and live again in someone else's borrowed body. After a murder plot meant to take her out leaves an entire race of shapeshifters nearly extinct, Evy is gnawed by guilt. So when one of the few survivors of the slaughter enlists her aid, she feels duty-bound to help—even though protecting a frail, pregnant shifter is the last thing Evy needs, especially with the world going to hell around her.

Amid weres, Halfies, gremlins, vamps—and increasingly outgunned humans—a war for supremacy is brewing. With shifters demanding justice, her superiors desperate to control her, and an assassin on her trail, Evy discovers a horrifying conspiracy. And she may be the only person in the world who can stop it—unless, of course, her own side gets her first.



Kelly was nice enough to agree to do an interview for this blog. I want to thank her for her time and answering all my questions!

Warning - If you haven't read Three Days to Dead yet, you may read spoilers in the interview.



- Hi Kelly, thanks so much for being here today.

Thank you for having me!

- Do you have a specific time & place for writing?

Not at all. The closest I come to either is my laptop/desk, where I do the majority of my writing. Sitting down at my desk gives me a feeling of "time to work now." But I do write whenever I can squeeze out a few minutes, whether it's on my lunch break, in a car (as the passenger), or in a waiting room. My Day Job work schedule changes day to day, so I don't have any sort of real schedule to work around there. If I go in at night, I write in the morning, and vice versa.

- What do you do when you need to disconnect?

Pick up a book and read. Veg out in front of the television, usually with the Food Network or HGTV. Sometimes I'll go on YouTube and watch videos of old shows, or fan vids of favorite shows. I also like to cook, so puttering around in the kitchen is a great way to relax (unless I'm hosting Thanksgiving, because that's a completely different kind of stress).

- Which have been your favourite books of this year?

I haven't read as many this year as I should have, for a variety of reasons. But I enjoyed TALK ME DOWN, by Victoria Dahl. It's contemporary romance and just very witty and funny. I also loved THE DARKEST PASSION by Gena Showalter, which is book five in her Lords of the Underworld series (very, very sexy and great world-building). I'm also reading an ARC of a book by debut author Kevin Hearne, who I think will be someone to watch next year.

- If you could hang out with one of your characters, which one would you pick?

I think I'd pick Tybalt Monahan, a Hunter from Gina Kismet's Triad. He's introduced at the end of THREE DAYS TO DEAD, and is featured in a short story I posted on Suvudu.com last fall. He becomes a larger character in later books, and his backstory is really a lot of fun. He's much like Evy in many ways, and yet still very different. But I think he'd be fun to hang out with.

- What are you working on right now?

Right now I'm working on Dreg City #4, which is odd to think about sometimes, because #2 hasn't released yet. But there it is. Lot of big twists and turns ahead for Evy and her friends.

- What can you tell us about your next book, As Lie The Dead?

It definitely ups the stakes for everyone in Evy's orbit. We get to meet the survivors of the Owlkin massacre, as well as get a peek into the inner workings of the were society. Lots more backstory on Wyatt Truman, and his beginnings with the Triads. Evy has to really look at herself and her ingrained beliefs and decide if the world is quite as black and white as she once believed it to be. Plus gremlins, explosions, a rooftop greenhouse, betrayal, smoke inhalation, and skeletons coming out of the closet….

- Is Evy going to start to have problems the longer she stays in Chalice's body?

That depends on what you mean by problems. But yes, being in Chalice's body will continue to create challenges for Evy, both physical and emotional. One particular challenge shows up in AS LIE THE DEAD. Her new body, with its healing ability, teleporting powers, and emotional imbalance, is a huge obstacle for Evy in and of itself, and I plan to use that to its fullest potential (*insert evil laughter*).

- What can you tell us about the Owlkins?

Not too much that you won't find out in AS LIE THE DEAD. They are a Clan of shapeshifters who shift into various birds-of-prey, including eagles, falcons, osprey, kestrels, hawks, and different kinds of owls. They are also nearly extinct now. They are extremely family oriented and Clan loyal, which is why they chose to inhabit a single apartment complex (insert nesting jokes here). One little tidbit I'll share is that they are one of the oldest existing Clans, and there is a very good reason why they chose, many centuries ago, to live peacefully among humans.

- Are we going to find out what happened with the hybrids?

Oh yes. They'll be mentioned in AS LIE THE DEAD, and we'll hear much more about them in Dreg City #3. The hybrids were such a fun idea, creatively, that I definitely wanted to address their existence in a big way.

- One of my favourite characters is Rufus. Are we going to see more of him?

Yay! I'm so glad you like Rufus. I'm fond of him, as well. Yes, his participation in the slaughter of the Owlkins is a huge part of AS LIE THE DEAD, and he'll be called to pay the price for that. You'll have to wait and see if Evy can save his life.

- Are all the books going to be from Evy's point of view?

As of right now, yes. I've toyed with the idea of a Wyatt-centric book, but that's just dreaming right now. Dreg City is very much Evy's story, so it's likely the series will continue from her Point of View. However, I've been lucky enough to expand the scope of the series a bit through short fiction. I published two short stories on Suvudu.com last fall—one from Hunter Tybalt Monahan's perspective, and another from the perspective of Ash Bedford, one of Evy's dead Triad partners. I hope to do more stories centering around different characters, whether I post them online or sell them to anthologies. Dreg City is just full of fun characters with their own stories to tell.

- Thanks again and good luck with As Lie The Dead.

Thank you so much for having me!


You can learn more about Kelly and her books at her site: http://www.kellymeding.com/