AletheaKontis.com

A featured guest in my Year of Steves, Steven Saus is a writer, non-traditional student, nuclear medicine technologist, and fairly snazzy guy. He has a story in the Timeshares anthology out from DAW this week, so I put on my Genre Chick hat and poked him to see if he wouldn’t mind answering a few [...]

Bienve Prieto has a gorgeous Peter S. Beagle fanblog that he hosts from Spain: http://petersbeaglefanblog.blogspot.com/

Bienve asked if he could translate my recent interview into Spanish. I was honored.
Click here to read the interview, en español. Gracias, Bienve!

Alethea Kontis: You call yourself an “occasional musician.” How much do you play/sing anymore?
Peter S. Beagle: I don’t have any regular gigs now, as I used to when I lived in Santa Cruz. I haven’t really had one for well over 20 years. So I sing on occasion, when I’m asked. A couple of weeks [...]

I’m honored to be part of the newest issue of Shimmer magazine: The Clockwork Jungle Book. Inside are twenty fabulous steampunk fables by some of the hottest names in SF:
Shedding Skin; Or How the World Came to Be, by Jay Lake
The Jackdaw’s Wife, by Blake Hutchins
The Student and the Rats, by Jess Nevins
The Mechanical Aviary [...]

When I met Daniel Waters at the Southern Festival of Books here in Nashville this year, he had no life. Specifically, his one-line bio was something along the lines of “Daniel lives in Connecticut with his family.” Outraged at the oversight (and a little frightened of meeting a person who really had nothing more to [...]

Sarah Pinborough, the British Grace Kelly of the horror genre, is riding high–having just won a British Fantasy Award for her short story “Do You See”–and in a few weeks she is up for the World Fantasy Award for her short “Our Man in the Sudan.” Anyone who follows her on Twitter knows that she’s [...]

I got a copy of THE DREAMER graphic novel from IDW and immediately fell in love (Click on the banner above — you can check it all out online!). So much so that I contacted Lora Innes — the comic’s dynamic and fabulously talented writer/illustrator — to see if I could do an interview with her. [...]

Cherie Priest is a displaced Tennessee Gal–she may live in Seattle now, but she was born & raised in the South, so we still claim her as one of our own. Similarly, the setting for her new steampunk novel Boneshaker is the Pacific Northwest, as opposed to the Southern settings of Four and Twenty Blackbirds [...]

I came to call on Miss Leanna Renee Hieber on a breezy afternoon in early summer. We had been informally introduced through a mutual acquaintance, but someone’s whose judgment I trusted implicitly, and so I took to Miss Hieber immediately. She received me in her impressive library, pretty as a picture, her deep burgundy skirts [...]

Alfred & The Princess at the 2009 Audie Awards
Alfred Martino is an author very near and dear to my heart–not only because he writes engaging sports stories aimed at reluctant middle grade readers, but because he is the co-founder of Listen and Live Audio. At this most recent BEA, Listen and Live’s production of L.A. [...]

Happy Release Day  Diana Rowland!
Detective Kara Gillian is both a cop and a conjurer of demons, accidentally conjuring sexy  angelic Rhyzkhal during a routine spell. Now she needs his help to catch a deadly serial killer–The Symbol Man–who’s back in Beaulac, Louisiana on a killing spree after a three-year hiatus. There’s also that handsome-yet-disapproving FBI [...]

I’ve found that in the genre world the friends of my friends are some pretty cool people. And so, based on the compliments of author Jim C. Hines, I liked Charlie Finlay long before I met him. Already a noted historian, C. C. Finlay is taking the speculative fiction world by storm this summer with [...]

David MacInnis Gill and I first met at Orson Scott Card’s week-long literary writing boot camp back in 2003. As an assignment, we all had to write a story in 24 hours. Mine was about a magical society of Victorian Lady Etchers. David’s was about space crabs. He won all the points for originality.
I can’t [...]

Southern gentleman and fellow convention-goer J.F. “Jeremy” Lewis has a thing or two to say about vampires…but he wouldn’t want to be one. In a recent chat with Genre Chick Alethea Kontis, he opens up about writers groups, SF and comic conventions, and the details of his recent excommunication from church as a result of [...]

Find out which superpower author Nick Mamatas wishes he had, and whether or not he’s ever eaten a cockroach in our interview below.
Bonus Material:
Nick has a new short story out in the flagship issue for flash mag Brain Harvest: read “Patmos Like Pink Elephants” here.
If you’re hip with the genre, you’ve already heard of Nick [...]

I met Ken Scholes in 2006 at the World Fantasy Convention in Austin, Texas. My first impression was that of a pleasant man in an elbow-patched corduroy jacket; turns out he’s a great singer, storyteller, and someone I’ve since been honored to call friend. One year later, at the same convention in Saratoga Springs, we [...]

A fairy tale girl at heart, I was ridiculously excited about literary jester Jim C. Hines’s new young adult series. The Stepsister Scheme can be best described as Disney princesses crossed with Charlie’s Angels.  The story is a whole new take on what happened to Cinderella and her prince after the wedding. No… what really [...]

Two for the price of one! This month, Genre Chick Alethea Kontis sits down with dynamic publishing duo Ann and Jeff Vandermeer. Ann is the fiction editor for Weird Tales magazine; her husband Jeff is an award-winning author. Together they often join forces and co-edit some out-of-this-world anthologies. 
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Alethea Kontis: What are the biggest challenges [...]

It may be Hotter Than Hell but the Dark Side has cookies! This month, join Genre Chick Alethea Kontis as she shares iced tea in the summer heat with sweet and spicy romance author Jackie Kessler. Enjoy!
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Alethea Kontis: What exactly are succubi and incubi? What drew you to write about them as opposed to the [...]

In October of 2005, Orson Scott Card launched Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show—an online magazine featuring spectacular science fiction and fantasy tales, gorgeous professional artwork, and an original story from Card’s Ender universe in every issue. Less than a year later, he named SF bad man Edmund Schubert editor of the now-quarterly ‘zine. A [...]

Ironman, Batman, Hellboy, Hulk–it’s certainly a splendid summer of superheroes at the cinema! Are your young adult readers hungry for more? Check out Chance Fortune and the Outlaws (The Adventures of Chance Fortune)
–a superhero cut from a slightly different cloth. Join me as I infiltrate the lair of creator Shane Berryhill to find out more [...]

Sarah Addison Allen’s debut novel Garden Spells was one of my all-time favorte books. I was pleased to find that her sophomore effort, The Sugar Queen, was equally delicious and her characters just as memorable as they were colorful.
There’s Josey, the rich girl with a closet full of romance novels, a secret cache of sweets, and a [...]

Who wouldn’t want to know more about a man who visits you every day and hangs out in your kitchen? This month, I cozied happily up to Stephan Pastis, fellow Greek and supertalented creator of the irreverently hilarious comic strip Pearls Before Swine.
I had the hardest time trying to find a conference room in [...]

Shannon Butcher’s contemporary romance novel No Regrets
debuted last winter. Its follow-up, the sexy thriller No Control
, has just released, and it is already a favorite in the Secret Inner Circle of Ingram’s genre book club. Join me as I talk to Shannon about the Delta Force, chasing tornadoes, and life with her husband, author Jim [...]

If you were a superhero, who would YOU be? I found the answer from Tennessee local Hillary Robson, co-editor of Saving the World: A Guide to Heroes, an in-depth essay book about the hit TV show Heroes.
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Alethea Kontis: Tell us a little bit about Saving the World. How did it come about? How did you [...]

For a change of pace, my fellow Genre Chick Janet turned the tales and did a fun little interview with *me* about Sherrilyn Kenyon and my work on The Dark-Hunter Companion.

In 1985, Robin McKinley won the Newbery Medal for her novel The Hero and the Crown. In just a few decades, she has traversed the world of legends from fairy tales to elementals to vampires. In her latest novel, Dragonhaven, she explores–you guessed it–dragons. Ever a lover of girls with swords and magic that turns [...]

If you like to sleep at night, stay away from this book!  Jeff Carlson’s pulse-pounding debut novel, Plague Year, has turned the world of science-fiction thrillers completely upside down. The undaunted and unafraid Genre Chick Alethea Kontis dons her hazmat gear and gets extreme with the Bionic Man.
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Alethea Kontis:  Plague Year has one of the [...]

The reigning Grand Dame of Science Fiction, Anne McCaffrey is known to many as “The Dragonlady.” To me, she is the permanent resident of at least two entire bookshelves crammed full of cherished (and often re-read) titles. I leapt at the chance to interview this fascinating woman who has done more in her 81 amazing [...]

his month, Genre Chick Alethea Kontis puts on her best cowgirl hat and learns how to wrestle sandworms from real-life superhero Kevin J. Anderson. Whether master of ceremonies, mentor, or writing machine, this “Mister Anderson” is always at the top of his game.
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New York Times-bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson is a fantastic guy and a [...]

Ever the world traveler, Genre Chick Alethea Kontis takes us into the Australian Outback for this month’s interview with New York Times bestselling author Sean Williams. Find out what a cool place Australia is, how fascinating twins can be, and whether or not writing a book is harder than becoming someone’s other half.
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The dashing Sean [...]

She looks like a superhero, she travels all over the world, and her books will seep into your subconscious and make you wonder about your wildest dreams. Meet Genre Chick Alethea Kontis’s new best friend, urban fantasist C.E. Murphy–author of Coyote Dreams (The Walker Papers).
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I met Catie Murphy on a bus. We were both staying [...]

Lettuce, milk, bread, cereal…boys? Yes indeed–that’s what’s on the grocery list of Dafina author Nia Stephens in her new young adult series Boy Shopping. Genre Chick Alethea Kontis met Nia at the mall to ask her about this unique, modern, choose-your-own-adventure series–and to try on some fabulous shoes.
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Nashville’s Nia Stephens and I stroll down the [...]

Who is your favorite author, really? Being a writer can sometimes be better than the Witness Protection Program (or an Internet chatroom). Nora Roberts or J.D. Robb; Jayne Castle, Amanda Quick, or Jane Ann Krentz; Lemony Snicket or Daniel Handler–readers know that a fantastic book by any other name would be just as many hours [...]

He’s a charmed debut novelist who still slaves away at his keyboard like every other writer. He’s a whippersnapper that’s already won two Stokers, a British Fantasy Award, and a World Fantasy Award. He loves his local library, and dreams of haunted houses and owning books that never existed. He’s going to be on television, [...]

Mort Castle is a writer’s writer. He has published novels (including the horror classics Strangers and Cursed Be The Child), non-fiction, poetry, comic books, and hundreds of short stories. He’s been nominated for a number of awards–the Pulitzer Prize, the Pushcart Prize, and the Bram Stoker Award–and has won more than a few–the DeMarco, the [...]

Science Fiction Geeks unite–Doctor Who is back, and he’s better than ever. The BBC has published tie-ins to the popular television show, but did you know that there is another publisher of officially licensed Doctor Who literature? This month, Genre Chick Alethea Kontis spends some time with Big Finish editor Ian Farrington to talk about [...]

In celebration of National Talk Like a Pirate Day, Genre Chick Alethea Kontis risks life, limb, and certain death in Davy Jones’ Locker to bring you this interview with the bloodthirsty Captain Geoffrey Girard, author of this summer’s Tales of the Atlantic Pirates.
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It was with great trepidation that I boarded the ship of Captain Geoffrey [...]

This month, Genre Chick Alethea Kontis connects with one of her favorite romance authors of all time–Jill Barnett. In this very personal interview, Jill discusses the death of her husband, the adoption of her daughter, and The Days of Summer …all at a very early hour.
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Alethea Kontis (8:30am CST): You must be a morning person!

Jill [...]

He’s been a police officer, federal agent, organized crime prosecutor, and private investigator–now he’s an author of young adult historical fantasy. This month, Genre Chick Alethea Kontis interrupts the fascinating Judson Roberts in the midst of writing his debut Strongbow Saga series to talk about book one: Viking Warrior and to pick his brain for [...]

Influenced by such notables as Stephen King, among others, Brian Keene is a horror writer who hopes to bring his readers a release from the horrors of today’s society. His latest book, The Conqueror Worms, is set to release in May. He shares with Genre Chick Alethea Kontis, his earliest memories of horror writing and [...]

Tobias S. Buckell is a Caribbean-born speculative fiction writer who grew up in Grenada, the US, and the British Virgin Islands. He now lives (through many odd twists of fate and strangely enough to him) in a small college town in Ohio with his wife Emily. His short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and [...]

“She was a girl of many half-completed movements.” –the line that made me throw November Mourns across the room because nobody should be able to write that beautifully.
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Alethea Kontis: Tell me a little about how your latest novel November Mourns came about.
Tom Piccirilli: In terms of setting and themes, it’s something of a carryover [...]

An icon in the pop culture world for his work on movie tie-ins and in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe, the true gems of Chris’s bibliography are his original novels. In Strangewood, The Boys are Back in Town, and the just-released Wildwood Road, Chris takes the reader back to a time when a spinetingling, [...]

If you’re a fan of Anne McCaffrey, you should definitely have Sharon Shinn on your shelf. The award-winning author is best known for her tales from the angel-filled land of Samaria–a decadent series that mixes science fiction, fantasy and romance better than rainbow sherbet. More importantly, she brings a valuable wealth of much-needed, butt-kicking heroines [...]