Kate Johnson interviews Cat Marsters

Or: Advanced Schizophrenia 101.

KJ: Hey Cat. You're looking very pretty today.

CM: Thanks, Kate. May I return the compliment? That holey sweater is particularly fetching.

KJ: Thanks. I borrowed it from you.

CM: Do you think we've done enough of the talking-to-ourselves bit yet?

KJ: Yes. Yes, I think we have. Okay. First question. You've got a new release out in a couple of weeks, haven't you?

CM: I certainly have.

KJ: Care to tell us about it?

CM: Sure. It's called Naked Eyes, and it's an erotic novella from Changeling Press.

KJ: Erotic, eh? Full of all the naughty stuff?

CM: Stop leering, Kate. Yep, it's got lots of sex in it--lots and lots--but it's also got plenty of plot. It's actually the start of a new series I'm co-writing with Amelia Elias. I'm writing the first book, she's doing the second, and we'll take it in turns from there.

KJ: Cool, I love Amelia's stuff. What's the series about?

CM: It's about superheroes! Who doesn't love a superhero? We're creating a whole new set of supers, with a whole new myth.

KJ: A whole new truck of radioactive waste hitting a whole new busload of people?

CM: Cheeky. Actually it's an electrical storm which hits a transatlantic flight. At least, they think it is. The passengers and crew are affected in different ways: in Naked Eyes, it's the co-pilot and a stewardess who wind up with an extra ability or two.

KJ: Such as?

CM: Well, Jack can fly for real, like Superman. And Laura has Second Sight: she can see ghosts, tell when someone's lying, see the future, that sort of thing.

KJ: Cool. So their superpowers are related to their jobs?

CM: Well, in this case they are.

KJ: How on earth did you come up with an idea like that?

CM: What, like it's hard? Heh, actually we were on a plane at the time. Our flight back from Dublin was delayed, and delayed, and delayed, and to pass the time we may have had a few bevvies. After the ones we'd had at the Guinness Brewery, of course. And not counting those wee baggies of gin that came with the tonic once we'd boarded...

KJ: Oh, good grief, another tale of drinking from Cat and Amelia. Just like all those escapades in Reno and Atlanta at the RWA conference, eh?

CM: Shut up, Kate, you beer monster.

KJ: Fair enough. So, okay. Aside from Naked Eyes, what else do you have in the pipeline for Changeling?

CM: Well, I've just had the green light from my editor on the next Sundown International story. It's called Duty and the Beast and is about an elf with enormous sexual magnetism and a very buttoned-up werewolf detective, tracing a vampire murderer. The problem is that she refuses to believe in the supernatural.

KJ: Excuse me? She's a werewolf who doesn't believe in the supernatural?

CM: It's called denial.

KJ: It sure is. Wow. Okay, and what else? You write for Ellora's Cave too, right?

CM: Yep, and my first book with them, Almost Human, will be out in print later this year. I'm also working on an untitled follow-up about the shapeshifter from Almost Human, Chance's cousin, Kett.

KJ: The mildly psychopathic bitter hag from hell?

CM: That's her. So sweet of you to remember.

KJ: What sort of unfortunate guy gets her?

CM: Someone just as mad as she is. Or maybe madder. Bael is a Nasc Mage--you remember the Nasc, the species Dark was king of in Almost Human?

KJ: How could I forget?

CM: Quite. Well, Bael is Nasc, only he keeps that a secret as much as he can. And he finds that Kett is his mate, which doesn't really please either of them. Bael's not really the settling-down type; in fact, he's more the roam-around-stirring-up-trouble type.

KJ: Sounds spine-tingly-dingly. Well, that's all we've got time for today, Cat. One last question before we go?

CM: Sure.

KJ: What books are you looking forward to the most over the next year?

CM: Easy. Amelia Elias's Guardian's League series. They're vampire books, very sexy, very smart, and very funny. The first, Hunted, will be her first paperback, in September. The second, Outcast, is out in e-format a week Tuesday. I read these books way back when Amelia and I were both struggling wannabes, and I was just amazed at how talented she was considering they were her first books. When she sold them to Samhain, I was as happy as she was! Well, nearly.

KJ: They sound very cool. I love me a good vampire book. But aren't you forgetting something, Cat?

CM: Hmm? Oh, yes. Of course, I'm looking forward to your first books, Kate. When is I, Spy? out?

KJ: 6th March, thanks for asking. And the second book in the series, Ugley Business, is out 8th May.

CM: Can't wait. Okay, deal: I'll buy yours, if you buy mine?

KJ: Deal!