Today it brings the Sheep great pleasure to share with all of you our interview with UF author Kevin Hearne. His trilogy The Iron Druid Chronicles hit bookstores with a BANG earlier this year! You can find my review for book one Hounded here and book two Hexed here. The final novel comes out today so make sure to run out and grab a copy, you will not regret it. Or stay tuned till the end of this interview for your chance to win a copy of Hexed!
Tempe. Tony Cabin. 2 Sheep and 1 Druid Meet.
Katie: Thank you for taking the time to sit down and chat with us Kevin, can you tell folks a little bit about your Iron Druid seres?
Kevin: It's an urban fantasy series steeped in mythology and earth magic, featuring a 2,100-year-old Druid who's been hiding for a very long time from some Irish gods; the series begins when he decides to stop hiding and realizes the years have made him much more powerful than he thought.
Katie: In total how long did it take you to write this series?
Kevin: Twenty-two months for the first three books. :)
Katie: Atticus and his Irish wolfhound are a great team throughout the series, was he based on a animal you have?
Kevin: Nope—he's based on the animal I wish I had! I've always wanted to be able to talk to dogs, so this whole relationship in the novel is kind of a wish fulfillment thing.
Katie: And what a sense of humor his dog has, the two seem to feed off each other at times.
Kevin: That's just me having conversations with my imaginary friends…
Sharon: Have you ever met an Irish Wolfhound? They are big dogs!
Kevin: Yes, my cousin had a wolfhound named Murphy. Sweetest doggie ever!
Katie: One of the many things I really love in your stories is the comic references, let's geek out a bit if you're ok with that. lol Where does all this nerd passion come from?
Kevin: I was raised on comic books and Hamburger Helper. That explains a lot, if you think about it. I was seven years old when Star Wars first came out, and so I'm part of that first generation of kids who grew up with light sabers and action figures. It's just who I am.
Katie: How did you personally feel about the latest 3 SW movies, or actually that would be the first 3 at a later date. Yikes! lol.
Kevin: I think Jar Jar Binks destroyed all the good karma of the first three films BY HIMSELF. I think Darth Maul looked like a total badass and I wanted to hate him, but because he NEVER FRICKIN' SPOKE I had to conclude that he was kind of cool. It was simply awful characterization. But you know that lizard thing that Obi-wan was riding around in the last movie? I totally want one of those.
Sharon: I was about 10 when the first SW came out! I had a lot of fried Spam sandwiches.
Kevin: My mom tried to shield me from Spam when I was young because she ate a lot of those Spam sandwiches too when she was growing up. I got fabulous casseroles instead. But sometimes they had tuna in them, and I think on those occasions I would have rather had Spam.
Sharon: When you are writing, what kind of atmosphere do you need?
Kevin: NO FRICKIN' DISNEY. Sorry, was that in caps lock? I can write almost anywhere and even with all kinds of distractions in the background, but when Disney is on in the background I tend to lose my mind and leave. The Disney happens sometimes because I have a young daughter and she actually likes some of that stuff. AUGGH! She's growing out of it, thank the gods of twenty pantheons.
Sharon: What? Not a Selena Gomez or Big Time fan
Kevin: GAAAAHH!
Katie: With all the different lore going on in your books, how much research did you have to do?
Kevin: Much of it was absorbed through years of reading and teaching bits and pieces of it to my classes, but the Irish stuff required some research because it's not widely taught in schools. If you want to irritate your teachers, ask why it is only the Greco-Roman myths and smidgens of the Norse get taught in school. Does the rest of the world not matter?
Katie: One of my favorite charters is the Icelandic Vampire Leif, where did you come up with idea for him and will he maybe get his own book at some point?
Kevin: Leif was born because I needed a character who believed in the Norse pantheon who could plausibly wind up in North America fairly early in its history; Iceland suggested itself because of their early exploration of the continent. You'll get quite a bit of Leif's backstory in HAMMERED—he actually narrates a chapter—but beyond that I have no plans to feature him on his own.
Katie: [pouts]
Sharon: I find there is a difference in how men vs women write UF. Do you find there is a difference?
Kevin: I have found the same thing. :) Figuring out why will probably get us into gender issues and sexual politics, and I'm incapable of making myself sound knowledgeable about that because I'm a nerd.
Sharon: Nice dodge there Kevin
Kevin: OK, that may be true. But I should probably say in my own defense that I will never write the hot stuff for a very good reason. I teach high school for my day job and some of my students might actually read my books, so, you know, just, NO. I'll never pretend that my characters don't have sex and of course they throw a few F-bombs around here and there, but I also don't feel that graphic, play-by-play, bow-chicka-bow-wow advances the plot of my novels, so that's why I don't linger on that and keep things moving.
Katie: *turns to Sharon* huh huh he just said bow-chicka-bow-wow. lol.
Sharon: snort!
Katie: This is a VERY important question Kevin. How many vampires are you acquainted with and are they single?
Kevin: All three of them are single and they're non-sparkly.
Katie: Sweet! *hands Kevin my personal info to pass along*
Sharon: (psst, Katie, ask about shifters too)
Katie: Oh right. So Kevin any hott shifters you may know?
Kevin: My buddy Nick says he can shift from sexy to smexy in three seconds. Does that count?
Sharon: Only if he is covered in fur and can growl.
Katie: Where can folks find you in the coming months?
Kevin: Best place to find me is on my website (www.kevinhearne.com) or Facebook author page, or even on Twitter @kevinhearne. On my website there's a page called Events and Appearances, and I'm scrupulous about keeping it updated. Coming up I'll be in NYC for the release date of HAMMERED, then I'll be at San Diego Comic Con.
Sharon: Where won’t people find you in the coming months
Kevin: Trinidad & Tobago.
Sharon: Don’t forget on a Disney Cruise line
Kevin: Right! Not there either.
Katie: Now we are going to move into our fun Rapid Fire round of questions. Please clear your mind and answer with the first thing that pops up. Ready?……Set……GO!
Katie: Batman or Spiderman
Kevin: Batman
Sharon: Bruce Lee or Jet Li
Kevin: Jet Li
Katie: Mad Max or Blade Runner
Kevin: Blade Runner
Sharon: Yessss! Time to die.
Katie: Soylent Green or Klingon Gagh
Kevin: I'm clueless.
Katie: Really? Wow I though for sure you would know this one….ok moving on. lol
Katie: Coke or Pepsi
Kevin: Either as long as it's cherry!
Katie: Huh…never had that happen before. Okay so a point for each side then?
Sharon: Yin or Yang
Kevin: Yin.
Katie: Red Sonja or She-Hulk
Kevin: Red Sonja.
Katie: Niiice.
Sharon: Pacman or Ms. Pacman
Kevin: Street Fighter
Katie: Twizzlers or Gummy Bears
Kevin: Are you trying to kill me? Goobers.
Sharon: I agree, that gummy stuff sucks!
Kevin: Totally. It's like they give your teeth uncomfortably long hugs.
Katie: Mulder or Scully
Kevin: Oh, damn, please God give me Scully!
Sharon: Polar Bear or Grizzly Bear
Kevin: Grizzly
Katie: Amazon or Desert
Kevin: Desert. Fewer bugs.
Katie: Mint Chip or Rocky Road
Kevin: Rocky Road. Marshmallows rule.
Sharon: Maleficent or Scar
Kevin: I have a scar on my elbow and sometimes it hurts.
Sharon: (wondering if Kevin knows what I am talking about?
Kevin: I'm sticking to my answer. It's a nasty scar.
Katie: Lip singing or Karaoke
Kevin: Karaoke. Won a contest once.
Katie: Thanks again for chatting with us Kevin, would you like to add anything before we wrap?
Kevin: Since you have this cool sheep site, I'll share something with your readers: I think goats are funny. I can't explain why; they just make me laugh. But because of this odd quirk, you will find at least one goat in every one of my books. You probably wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't said anything, but now that I've mentioned it you won't be able to avoid noticing it. :)
Sharon: SNORT! Sheeps rule, goats drool!
Katie: Hear hear! *high fives* He does also write about sheep in Hounded just fyi….
While Sharon and I drag Kevin away to do a little Karaoke for us we will move on to the Giveaway. One lucky winner is going to get a signed copy of Hexed and some fun sheep swag items. To be automatically entered to win please list BOTH things in the comments below.
1. Your Email Address
2. If you could be any character from the lore who would you be and why?
Contest will run until July 10th at midnight!
Double your chances to win by following our blog.
Good luck!
