Flurries Unlimited (FU) caught up with jack of all trades author Kat Ross (KR) for a one on one chat about her work, inspirations and plans. Here's what we talked about:
FU: There are so many different genres to choose from, what
inspired you to write in at least three different ones?
KR: As an author, I like trying my hand at different kinds of voices
and stories, and as a reader, I've always loved multiple genres, so it seems
natural to experiment. While I'm a great fan of pure fantasy, cozy mysteries,
alien invasions, etc., genre mash-ups are my favorite right now. Books that may
not be easy to classify (Andrew Smith's Grasshopper
Jungle, for example, or David Wong's John
Dies at the End), but that are so well-written and have such memorable
characters, it really doesn't matter. Both of those books had me utterly
horrified and laughing out loud on the same page. That's where my current
Fourth Element series is headed. Gaslamp mystery with elements of fantasy,
sci-fi and romance—all the best bits!
FU: Which of your
books is your favourite? Why?
KR: Oh, hard question. The two that are out right now are very
different. My first (Some Fine Day) is
pretty straight dystopian, while The Midnight Sea is epic fantasy with an historical twist. In time, they're set
a couple thousand years apart: 2090 versus 330 B.C. Half the action in Some Fine Day takes place deep
underground in a world that's flooded from extreme climate change, while The Midnight Sea is set in an alt
Persian Empire at the time of Alexander's invasion. I did a massive amount of
research for both stories, which fortunately is something I enjoy. And they both
have strong female leads I wouldn't want to get into a bar fight with.
That said, my favorite is probably the one that's coming out
in October. It's called The Daemoniac
and I'm thinking of it as Sherlock Holmes meets The X-Files in Gilded Age New
York, circa 1888. The voice is a bit more sophisticated than my other books,
and I loved going deep into the Victorian rabbit hole of quackery and
spiritualism and bizarre party attire. I'm a huge fan of Caleb Carr's The Alienist, and it definitely inspired
me while I was drafting this book.
FU: You have two books
slated to be released this Autumn less than a month apart. How do you manage such a tight schedule?
KR: It might look like I pound out 10k words a day, but sadly,
that's not the case. I doubt I'll have two releases so close together again,
but I wrote The Daemoniac last year
and then got seduced by the Next Great Idea, which turned out to be The Midnight Sea. So the manuscript sat
for a bit (which is a good thing anyway), while I wrote the first two books in
the Fourth Element series. But I always knew I'd publish it, and once I had the
cover in hand, I couldn't resist scheduling a release date just ahead of
Halloween. It's the perfect spooky tale to curl up with under the covers while
the autumn winds are howling outside…
FU: You have a very
diverse work background. How have your bike messenger, coat-check girl and UN
experiences influenced your writing?
KR: The short answer is everything we do in our lives has some
usefulness in our writing. But I doubt I would have written Some Fine Day if I hadn't been following
the climate debate as a journalist and editor since the mid-2000s. I sat there
watching the predictions of very smart scientists get worse and worse, and
actually start coming to pass.
I'd already decided to write a YA thriller, and there was so
much terrifying stuff in scientific journals that I didn't have to look very
far for a white-knuckle plot. Climate change is different from most other
challenges humanity is facing in the sense that it affects every corner of the
globe and it's basically irreversible. A lot of that carbon will stay up there
for thousands of years. And I couldn't help wondering, what if the worst case
scenarios come true? I'm just naturally optimistic like that.
FU: They say that
every character has some of the author in him/her. Which of your characters is most like
you? In what way?
KR: Honestly, both my protagonists are way, way out of my
league. They're basically James Bond to my Johnny English. Likewise the
villains. I only wish I could be that magnificently evil. So yeah, I'd be one
of the extras. The middle-aged waitress who asks, "How d'ya like your
eggs, sweetheart?"
FU: So what else is on
the horizon for you?
KR: I'll be wrapping up the Fourth Element trilogy this December
with Queen of Chaos. No spoilers, but
the end does leave the door open to the next series, which I'm calling Dominion
Mysteries, after the sort of purgatory where the Undead and other nasty
creatures come from. The books will be standalones, with magic, murder, demonic
entities, tea, consulting detectives, rare books, grave-robbing, cavernous
English country homes and other gothic delights.
I also still want to write the sequel to Some Fine Day, and I've promised fans of
that book that I'll get around to it next year. So when I'm sick and tired of
living in the 1880s, I'll just zip forward a couple hundred years. Writing in
multiple genres can feel a bit like time travel, in the best way.
FU: Thank you so much for chatting with us.
More information about Kat Ross can be found at:
Tumblr http://katross.tumblr.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/katross2014/
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