Dragon*Con Interviews: Faith Hunter + Death's Rival give away

Faith Hunter the author of the Jane Yellowrock and Rouge Mage series.

Book 5 in the Jane series, Death's Rival, releases Oct. 2, 2012. You can read the first chapter here. More recently an ebook anthology plus bonus material set in her world released, Have Stakes Will Travel.

We get the low down about her future plans for the series, her latest sin, Kayaking safety and her tendency to sit on a fence…

Sharon: Tell us about Jane Yellowrock as a character.
Faith: Jane Yellowrock is a Cherokee skinwalker, possibly the last of her kind. In creating Jane, I did a lot of research into the skinwalker mythos because there is different mythos for every different tribe. Almost every ancient society has them and 99% of them are evil, but the Eastern Cherokee skinwalker was actually a benign warrior protector of the people till the white man came, then they became the evil skinwalker, the liver eater, the stone finger. I took that as my turning point for the species. Although they are full blooded skinwalker they are also full blooded Cherokee.

Some children are born one and some are born the other. Jane is the last of her kind so far as she knows and she is the last ‘good’ skinwalker that she has been able to find. Jane also did accidental black magic when she was 5 years old fighting for her life. As a skinwalker they are not allowed to do certain things but to save her life she did. Now she has the soul of a beast living inside her body. That is the Jane Skinwalker character in a nutshell.

Sharon: Book 5 is coming out Oct 2, 2012. Have you had all the book plots planned out since you started writing the series or has the series deviated from your original intentions? How many more to go?
Faith: No. I have a beginning and sort of a muddled way I want to get to the end, but it depends on how well the series does and if the publisher will allow me to take Jane out of New Orleans.
Sharon: But you do know your ending and how many books that will take?
Faith: I do know the end. If they let me take Jane out of New Orleans it will be 15 books. If they make me keep her there it will be 10. My editor and I had this discussion about a month ago and she said “oh, honey take them out of New Orleans then.” So hopefully I am looking at 15.

damn good looking set of books!

Sharon: Do you dress your doggies up in clothes? (she owns rescued Pomeranians)
Faith: NO! My gosh, no! They’re dogs, their fur is too beautiful to be dressed.

Sharon: Ever have a scary kayaking experience?
Faith: No, I am very wise about getting a good teacher, following someone down who knows the river. Now I might be terrified I’m gonna go over, and I am aware sometimes that I might get hurt. Because they will say if you miss your point on this, miss your line on this, you gonna get caught in the curl, you’re gonna flip and you’re gonna get hurt. So you tuck and hold or tuck and get out of your boat fast and swim like hell to the other side of the river. They will be very specific and tell you what to do. I can do small rivers without any problem.

Sharon: Are you a thrill seeker kind of person?

Faith: You know I’m really not, but I do whitewater kayaking. I think it’s about being in nature. You’re in with the water, in woods normally, you’re surrounded by water birds and native plants and trees and it’s just a very natural experience.

Sharon: Of the 7 deadly sins, which one did you commit most recently?
Faith: Gluttony (without hesitation I might add <G>) Every meal since I have been here has been gluttony.

Rapid Fire Time!

Sharon: Monty Python or SNL?
Faith: SNL, I’m not smart enough to get all Monty Python’s stuff, but I get SNL

Sharon: Business man or Cowboy?
Faith: yes…(laughter)

Sharon: Basket of chicks or Basket of snakes?
Faith: (long hesitation) Oh…they both have such wonderful opportunities. I’m sorry, but I am going to have to sit the fence on this with one foot in the basket of chicks and one foot in the basket of snakes.

Sharon: Vampire lover or vampire brother?
Faith: (more thoughtful hesitation) Oh, wow…I can’t answer that one because I’m in Jane’s head right now writing these books, and Jane is very conflicted about vampires. She finds them fascinating, but they do not do good things to her. They are not overly nice to her. So I’m just gonna have to sit on the fence with that one too. You know that is what we writers do. We have to be able to see both sides of the fence and think in the heads of both sides. So I see both, I like both…I’m torn.

Sharon: Hokey Pokey or Chicken Dance?
Faith: the chicken dance

go ahead and click on it, you know you want to...

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*Faith did not offer to do the Chicken dance so no future blackmail opportunities*

It was great meeting Faith. I already got my copy of book #1 Skinwalker and can't wait to start this urban fantasy series.

About the Author:

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Faith Hunter, fantasy writer, was born in Louisiana and raised all over the south. The Skinwalker series, featuring Jane Yellowrock is taking off like a rocket withSkinwalker, Blood Cross, Mercy Blade, Raven Cursed, and Death’s Rival. Her Rogue Mage novels, a dark, urban fantasy series—Bloodring, Seraphs, and Host—feature Thorn St. Croix, a stone mage in a post-apocalyptic, alternate reality, urban fantasy world. These novels are the basis for the role playing game, Rogue Mage (2012).

Under the pen name Gwen Hunter, she writes action-adventure, mysteries, and thrillers. As Faith and Gwen, she has 20+ books in print in 28 countries.

Hunter fell in love with reading in fifth grade, and best loved SiFi, fantasy, and gothic. She decided to become a writer in high school, when a teacher told her she had talent. Now, she writes full-time and works full-time in a hospital lab, (for the benefits) tries to keep house, and is a workaholic with a passion for travel, jewelry making, white-water kayaking, and writing. She and her husband love to RV, traveling with their dogs to whitewater rivers all over the Southeast.

Jane Yellowrock

1. Skinwalker (2009)

2. Blood Cross (2010)

3. Mercy Blade (2011)

4. Raven Cursed (2012)

5. Death's Rival (2012)

6. Blood Trade (2013)

Cat Tales (2011)

Easy Pickings (2012) (with C E Murphy)

Have Stakes Will Travel (2012)

***GIVE AWAY***

A signed bookmark and Jane Yellowrock business card, some Dragon*Con and sheep swag

Just added to the contest! A copy of Death's Rival

To enter:

1. Leave contact info

2. Are you a thrill seeker?

*followers get double entry

Contest ends: Sept 20 at midnight