‘Etiquette & Espionage’ Finishing School #1 by Gail Carriger

Received from the Publisher 

From the BLURB:

It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to finishing school.

Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners-and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's young ladies learn to finish. . . everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage - in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.

Some people see a dumbwaiter – Sophronia Temminnick sees a means to spy on her mother and the mystery lady called Mademoiselle Geraldine whom she’s taking tea with. And in the course of her spying, Sophronia learns that the entire Temminnick has had its fill of her wild ways and tomboyish tomfoolery – now they are desperate for her to go away to a finishing school. And there is no finer school than Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is being carted away to become a lady – a thought she finds absolutely abhorrent. But from the moment she climbs into a beautiful carriage, she begins to suspect that she’s going to get a very different education to the one she, and her mother, initially thought. . . 

She is introduced to fellow schoolmate, the dainty Dimity Ann Pllumleigh-Teignmott who has a family legacy at the Academy. Along for the carriage ride to school is Dimity’s younger brother, Pillover – who attends a Boys' Polytechnique where he’s training to be an evil genius. And then there are the unplanned travel companions - the Flywaymen who attack from above. They demand something called “the prototype”, and in the course of a quite vexing combat, Mademoiselle Geraldine is revealed to be not the actual Mademoiselle Geraldine but an Academy student sent on assignment called Miss Monique de Pelouse. 

With the help of three novice students, and thanks to Sophronia’s ingenious, the Flywaymen are fought off and the foursome continues on to school . . . but the damnable Flywaymen are not forgotten, nor is this ‘prototype’ they were willing to die for. 

When Sophronia gets to the Finishing Academy, she finds it is in fact a floating dirigible – constantly moving and requiring the help of a leaping werewolf (also a teacher at the school) called Captain Niall to board. 

Now begins the real adventure – for this finishing school is unlike any other. Sophronia meets her roommates - Sidheag and Agatha, and unfortunately the senior student Monique de Pelouse who takes it upon herself to become Sophronia’s nemesis. Academy teachers include werewolves and vampires. And lessons include; History of social discourse, dancing, drawing, music, dress and modern languages, Fine Arts of Death, Diversion and the Modern Weaponries, the proper way to flutter eyelashes and the art of fainting. 

When Sophronia manages to sneak her (steam-powered) mechanimal pet, Bumbersnoot, onboard the floating school, his dietary requirement of coal has Sophronia venturing into the belly of the dirigible and meeting the ‘sooties’ – including one handsome boy called Soap and his little friend, Vieve (short for Genevieve Lefoux!) who is mechanical-obsessed. 

It’s a good thing Sophronia is learning a lot at this Finishing Academy (like a proper curtsey and how to fall into a pretend dead-faint) because the Flywaymen are back, and when Sophronia and her friends find out exactly what the ‘prototype’ is . . . she realizes they really will do whatever it takes to find it. 

‘Etiquette & Espionage’ is the first book in Gail Carriger’s new young adult steampunk series, ‘Finishing School’, which is a spin-off and set in the same universe as her adult ‘Parasol Protectorate’ series (and includes a few lovely cameos for real crossover-power!). 

I was a couple of pages into ‘Etiquette & Espionage’ when it hit me that this book reads exactly like Carriger’s adult series . . . and how absolutely wonderful that is! I think it’s the highest compliment to pay an adult fiction writer who crosses-over to the young adult readership, that their books lose nothing of the flavour and sass of their adult series – it’s a sign that they’ve dumbed nothing down, have retained their distinct voice and proven the versatility of their universe. Of course, I can imagine younger reader having to look up words like ‘dirigible’ and ‘prevarication’ – but, in all honesty, when I first started reading the ‘Parasol Protectorate’ series I had to get used to the steampunk-lingo and look words up too! The highfalutin language is intricate to Carriger’s steampunk world of Victorian England, and if kids have to look up words in a dictionary – that’s a good thing, not a hindrance!

Carriger’s language and narrative voice is as scrumptious as ever in this new series. She’ll throw out passages like this one, that are just melt-in-your-mouth perfection; 

‘Whot, whot?’ the man muttered, as if hard of hearing. 

He was very pale and boasted an unassuming moustache, which was perched atop his upper lip cautiously, as though it were slightly embarrassed to be there and would like to slide away and become a sideburn or something more fashionable. 

That level of characterisation and description is perfect in a young adult series, and it really brings this world to life. Everything from the floating dirigible school to mechanimal Bumbersnoot is intricate and fabulous – setting up a fascinating stage. 

Sophronia is one of the best new female protagonists on the young adult scene – hands down. She’s rough and tumble, loyal and inquisitive – and has so much room to grow as a fourteen-year-old sleuth-in-training. Although ‘sleuth’ isn’t quite right – in fact, the girls training at Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality can be anything they want, so well-rounded is their training. 

She had to give her teachers credit: they were right to insist all pupils carry scissors, handkerchiefs, perfume and hair ribbons at all times. At some point she'd learn why they also required a red lace doily and a lemon.

The book-cover quote is from Marie Lu, who calls it “the perfect steampunk version of Harry Potter” – which irks me a tiny little bit. I know people have just replaced ‘magic’ with ‘steampunk’ and said it’s Hermione instead of Harry – but Gail Carriger has such a unique voice (and is a steampunk predecessor!) it’s just sort of insulting to reduce her to a JK Rowling writealike. 

This is a refreshing new series with a female protagonist young readers can cheer on and look up to – she comes with a cast of fascinating friends who will no doubt keep this universe extremely colourful and interesting. ‘Finishing School’ is set 25-years before Carriger’s original adult ‘Parasol Protectorate’ series, but both new and old fans will want to leap onboard this new thrill-ride! 

5/5 

Interview with Simmone Howell, author of 'Girl Defective'

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This week my copy of ‘Girl Defective’ arrived and I consumed it in one train trip (this is like an informal rating system for me: read in one train trip = one amazing book). Simmone Howell definitely delivers on the YA benchmarks she set with her debut ‘Notes from the Teenage Underground’ and ‘EverythingBeautiful’.

‘Girl Defective’ is the Something Wild with Street Crazies, and it’s Some Weird Sin how much I loved this book ;)

P.S. – if you want to know what the animal-head pictures are all about . . .  get to the mess and read the book! 

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Q: Are you a ‘plotter’ or a ‘pantser’ - that is, do you meticulously plot your novel before writing, or do you ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ and let the story evolve naturally? 

I am a bit of both. I always have an idea of where I want the story to go and I'll have a few key scenes in mind when I start, but if I go off track I don't mind because that's usually where the story gets more interesting - I think of it like a discovery walk where you know the start and finish but how you get there can change because of a road accident or a whim ...

Q: How long did it take you to write ‘Girl, Defective’, from first idea to final manuscript? 

I had started a St Kilda novel (called for a long time St Kilda novel) which was a version of Notes from the Teenage Underground back in 2004 - so some seeds were planted then... but GD has pretty much been at the forefront of my consciousness since 2008 where I wrote the first chapter that featured Sky and Nancy on the rooftop looking at the palm trees and throwing food at passers-by.

 

Q: Where do story ideas generally start for you? Do you first think of the character, theme, ending? Or is it just a free-fall? 

Character and situation. But it is a free-fall too. And sometimes the characters you think are going to be important become less so and vice versa. My themes don't change too much from book to book (I think. Generally.) With GD I wanted to try and write a crime novel but it quickly became obvious that my inner writer didn't want to be tied to crime-writing conventions, so there was a battle of wills for a while there. 

  

Q: Why do you choose to write young adult fiction? What is it about this genre that you love? 

I love writing young characters because I feel like they have more dreams and possibilities. I know this isn't actually true, but it's always a starting point. I also think a lot about what makes people the way they are, and my characters are kind of a study of humanity (on a very small scale). I don't think too much about the genre as I'm writing. Labels work when they work. But I do read a lot of YA and my favourite books could easily fit into this genre if you skewed the definition a tad.

Q: So, I see from your bio that among the many casual jobs you’ve worked in your life (portable animal farms among them?!) you also once worked in a record shop. Sky, the protagonist of ‘Girl, Defective’ works in her family record shop. How did you go drawing on your own record shop-girl experiences for this book – and have you had this story fermenting in your mind since your shop days? 

I have worked in lots of record shops -  old fusty ones and shiny desperate ones -  and I have always wanted to write a novel set in one. I love the reverence of vinyl fans and the humour and the strange combination of irritation and fondness you can have for the more challenging regular customer. My first proper job was at a second-hand record shop. I had dropped out of uni but have to say I got a better education at the shop than what the course would have offered me. 

Q: You’re a Melburnian, and ‘Girl, Defective’ is set in St. Kilda (Sky’s record shop being on Blessington Street – one of the best named streets in Australia!). All Melbourne locals know that St. Kilda holds special affection and fascination (with a nefarious) history. When I first read the synopsis for ‘Girl, Defective’ and read about the St. Kilda setting – I was thrilled and totally got the appeal. But can you explain the appeal of St. Kilda for those who don’t know the area – explain why you wanted your story set in this suburb? 

I grew up in the outer east and St Kilda was always this mythical dreamland to me. It is a place that's already full of stories and I guess I wanted to add to the layers. It has a reputation of being a place of edges and art and criminal activity and because it has a transience, the mood is always shifting. It seems to me to be like a place where people come to rather than from ... It has a well-documented history (and I recommend the St Kilda Historical society's walks - they are fascinating) and I love all the metaphors of it beginning as a swamp, then becoming a rich person's playground, then falling into disrepair and then becoming gentrified. Back when I lived there I was in a duplex that had a Sai Baba devotee on one side and  lunatic living in the shed out the back. PLus it's physically beautiful - the sea and the wide streets, the Spanish houses & the eerie canal!

Q: Family is quite a focus in this book – between Sky’s patriarch and her brother – the intense focus is beautifully summarised in the synopsis; ‘Family Rules’. So often in YA books, family units are pushed to the side and are non-existent or cardboard cutouts. In young adult literature it’s usually the friendship family that is the real heart. Why was family an important exploration for you in this book, and for Sky? 

I think the relationships in the book are a mirror of the important people in my life at the time of writing. I wanted to explore the themes of how families can stay together when they are so challenged, so at odds with their environment...

 

Q: What are you working on right now, and when can we expect it to hit shelves? 

I am writing a story about a Fitzroy witch. I have no deadline!

  

Q: Favourite author(s) of all time? 

  Carson McCullers, Barry Gifford, Gavin Lambert. 

Q: Favourite book(s)? 

 The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers, Wild at Heart by Barry Gifford, The Slide Area by Gavin Lambert

 

Q: What advice do you have for budding young writers?

My best advice is stolen from Ben Okri's poem. he says 'Read the World' ... 

'Girl Defective' by Simmone Howell

Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

We, the Martin family, were like inverse superheroes, marked by our defects. Dad was addicted to beer and bootlegs. Gully had "social difficulties" that manifested in his wearing a pig snout mask 24-7. I was surface clean but underneath a weird hormonal stew was simmering...

It's summer in St Kilda. Fifteen-year-old Sky is looking forward to great records and nefarious activities with Nancy, her older, wilder friend. Her brother – Super Agent Gully – is on a mission to unmask the degenerate who bricked the shop window. Bill the Patriarch seems content to drink while the shop slides into bankruptcy. A poster of a mysterious girl and her connection to Luke, the tragi-hot new employee sends Sky on an exploration into the dark heart of the suburb. What begins as a toe-dip into wilder waters will end up changing the frames of Sky's existence. Love is strange. Family Rules. In between there are teenage messes, rock star spawn, violent fangirls, creepy old guys and accidents waiting to happen. If the world truly is going to hell in a hand-basket then at least the soundtrack is kicking. Sky Martin is Girl Defective: funny, real and dark at the edges.

Mia Casey’s graffiti face with blackened tears watches over Bill's Wishing Well record shop. Mia was a real girl who died a few months ago, found face-down in the river and thought to be a ‘party-girl’ – no investigations are underway.

Skylark ‘Sky’ Martin thinks about Mia, even dreams about her. But Sky has enough to worry about without deluding herself into thinking she knew a dead girl . . . 

For one thing, her dad is the Bill who owns Bill's Wishing Well record shop. Her dad can polish off a whole slab in a single sitting and long ago accepted his alcoholism as a permanent character flaw. Then there’s Sky’s little brother, Gully, who never takes off the pig-snout mask their mum sent him for his last birthday. And speaking of Sky’s mum – what’s the point? She changed her name to Galaxy and breezed off to perform installation art in Japan, and now she’s just a voice on the end of the phone.

But life isn’t all bad for soon-to-be-sixteen Sky. There’s Nancy; their failed cleaner turned only best friend Sky has ever known. Nancy is older and wilder; she’s a dream of a girl who can pull of wearing the vintage clothes Sky’s mum left behind and causes eyes to bug out of people’s heads. 

Home is Blessington Street in St. Kilda – where tourists outnumber locals and nobody but Sky and Gully are born and bred St. Kildans. Locals are a colourful bunch and frequent the record shop – there’s the Weird Sisters and The Fugg (a poet), Steve Sharp (once famous, now sober) and Mystery Train.

It’s Mia Casey’s graffiti face that ignites everything – or so it seems. She’s plastered on the wall and suddenly bricks are flying, mysterious white vans are peeling away and a pretty newbie called Luke is hired at Wishing Well. Suddenly Sky’s life becomes full and messy – and glorious. 

‘Girl Defective’ is the new young adult novel from Australian author Simmone Howell. 

It has been too long since we’ve had a Simmone Howell novel. ‘Everything Beautiful’ was her last, and that was 2008. The moment I started reading ‘Girl Defective’ and Howell’s cracking voice rang out from the page – that was when I knew something (or, rather, someone) had been sadly missed on the Aussie YA scene. Howell writes such sharp characters and dark edges with a wry humour that’s wholly unique and breathtaking. Reading her latest offering is like gulping air you didn’t know was cut off – and I hope we never have to go so long between instalments from Ms Howell. 

The novel is set in St. Kilda, Howell’s stomping ground. For those who don’t know, St. Kilda is a suburb of Melbourne and is one of the city’s more colourful areas. It has quite a past – back in the 1880’s the area experienced a land boom and because St. Kilda is overlooking Port Philip Bay, it became a seaside destination. But the depression bought a sharp decline to the area, and for many years it was a place for crooks, prostitutes and general low-lives. It was only in the 1990s that the area experienced a gentrification, and as ‘Girl Defective’ is set in the present, Sky observes that: “These days the red light still glowed but only faintly.” So St. Kilda is a real dichotomy – some areas are still imprints of the suburb’s seedy past, but there are oak-lined streets that are beyond posh and full of million-dollar properties. 

I love the St. Kilda setting; for one thing it becomes a distinct character within Sky’s story, and for another it seems to be a reflection of the Martin family and associates. Father Bill is definitely living in the past (encapsulated in his record shop’s motto – “nothing after 1995”) while Sky’s best friend, Nancy, is determined to look forward and keep her eyes off the rear-view mirror. And as for Sky . . .  well, she seems to be caught between the vibrancy of those around her. With a post-punk father and mother called Galaxy, a brother who is a detective-in-training and constantly snouted, not to mention Nancy’s silver magnetism – Sky constantly feels like the odd one out. She’s mostly friendless at school, prefers masculine clothing and is quietly observant. It’s no wonder that amidst so many fiery characters and temperaments, Sky doesn’t quite know where she fits in, what her ‘thing’ is or who 'her people' are. I love her. Quiet she may be, but Sky is wicked smart and eloquent. She’s such a wonderfully relatable character; constantly feeling like the sidekick or back-up singer is something many, many people can relate to. And Howell has given Sky quite a voice – I adore how she describes her tinging jealousy of Nancy’s shine; 

I don’t know why it had to hurt, the way she dialled the world with her little finger.

Howell’s writing is magnificent – and my copy of ‘Girl Defective’ is peppered with markers to remember all the fine lines that caught me unawares. Howell’s similes alone made my knees weak;  

My heart beating like a bird in a box

Not to mention;

Pheromones fizzing like fireflies around us.

This is, ultimately, a book about relationships. There’s a focus on family – of the parents who vamoose and those who stick around. Little brothers we want to cradle and protect, and the sisters we let slip away. The flimsy friendships we hope to blossom into permanency, and the tentative lust that catches us unawares. And then there’s the relationship we have to music – what Sky calls her ‘valve’ on life. Music is an outlet, a private ceremony and those in the book feel a deep connection to the soundtrack of their lives; 

‘Put something on. Whatever you like.’ 

To some eyes this could look like a test. The first track a newbie played might set the tone for his employment. Luke was right to look uncertain. He wandered around the aisles for ages, coming back with Simon & Garfunkel. 

I snorted. Even Gully shook his head. 

‘What?’ Luke asked. 

‘That record doesn’t tell me anything about your inner emotional landscape,’ I told him. 

Luke stayed poker-faced. ‘Don’t have one of those.’ 

‘Bullshit.’ 

‘Sky – don’t psychoanalyse the new guy.’ Dad turned to Luke. ‘Gully reads faces, Sky reads records. We, the Martins, have superpowers.’

Simmone Howell slays me, every damn time. I didn’t want this book to end, and now that it’s over I just want to climb back into Howell’s world and re-read her words all over again. ‘Girl Defective’ is a book about the moment when everything changes, when you lose some and get some and the world falls into place (if, a little crookedly). Everyone has to read this, it’s good for the soul.

5/5 

Interview with Phillip Gwynne, author of 'The Debt' series

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Phillip Gwynne has been a staple of the Aussie young adult scene since the 1998 release of his debut novel, Deadly, Unna? which still remains one of the (sadly) few Australian YA books with a focus on indigenous culture and characters (something I'm quite passionate about).  

So I was thrilled at the chance to interview Mr Gwynne about his new book series, The Debt  

This series is hot news right now, and an interview also appears into today's The Age. So jump on-board this new thrill-ride, and meet the man behind these books...

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Q: How were you first published, agent or slush pile?

The slush pile, god bless it. I sent the ms for Deady Unna in to Penguin and they accepted it. It was only after I had a deal that I thought about getting myself an agent.

Q: How long did it take you to write ‘Catch the Zolt’, from first idea to final manuscript?

The whole series took about three years to write, which averages out to 6 months per book!  At one stage Catch the Zolt was the second book in the series, but for reasons which I will talk about later it became the first.

I never thought I would be a word quota sort of guy, but I realised that the only way  I was going to hit my deadlines was to instigate some sort of discipline, so daily quotas it was.

In the beginning it was 1500 word per day, which became 2000, which became 3000, and then 5000 words for the last book!

Q: Are you a plotter or a ‘pantser’? – That is, do you meticulously plot your novel before writing, or do you ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ and let the story evolve naturally?

Historically a ‘pantser’ but with The Debt I did a lot more prior plotting. It would be interesting to see how much the final product deviated from this plotting though  I think the way it works for me is that I have to totally write myself into the moment before I know what my characters are going to do, and often what they do is completely surprising,

Q: Where do story ideas generally start for you? Do you first think of the character, theme, ending? Or is it just a free-fall?

I’m always fascinated by this question, and probably still haven’t managed to give it the answer it deserves. So here goes another – honourable, I hope - failure.

I think story ideas can start from something as seemingly trivial as a smell or a fleeting glance.

That fragment of experience lodges in your brain, and for some reason, unlike the countless other fragments that lodge in your brain every day, this one refuses to budge. 

And every now and then your brain, your thoughts, return to it, worry the hell out it.

And it accrues material, the same way that a grit of sand in an oyster accrues material.

Until, eventually, the only choice you have is to prise it out, and turn it into a story.

Okay, that’s one place were stories can come from, but there’s also…

Q: Why do you choose to write young adult fiction? What is it about this genre that you love?

To tell the truth, initially I didn’t choose to write it at all. When I wrote Deadly Unna, my first novel, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as Young Adult literature.  When Penguin told me that Deadly Unna? was a Young Adult novel I didn’t really know what they were talking about. And, yes, I have written several Young Adult novels since. But I have also written picture books, and younger readers, and adult novels, and screenplays. I really don’t like to be pigeon-holed as this type of writer or that. I’m just a writer. Full stop.

Q: You’ve been part of the Aussie YA scene for many years now – you could say that your 1998 novel ‘Deadly, Unna?’ helped shape Australian YA into the vibrant and highly-acclaimed readership it is today. What have you noticed are the biggest changes to Aussie YA since you first debuted? How do you see the readership has evolved over the years?

Well, that’s a lovely complement, though I’m pretty sure YA literature was in good shape before I came along!

I think the thing about Deadly Unna is that because it was based on my life, the voice is an authentic voice. And it’s also not a very polite book, in some ways, which is why kids relate to it, even when they have to write essays about it!

 But this is probably a better question for a teacher of librarian. I just write the books, send them out there, and get along with writing the next one.

I don’t really engage that much with the YA world except for this. Not that I don’t think it’s a wonderful world, full of wonderful people. But I’d rather be home writing than in the public eye, being a writer, if you know what I mean.

Q: Your latest endeavour is a six-part thriller YA series called ‘The Debt’ – which follows fifteen-year-old Dom as he fulfils six Herculean tasks for a secret organisation. He’s doing this to repay a family debt, and to ensure he doesn’t lose a pound of flesh. You’ve set up this very Shakespearean and mythological task for a young character – but injected a bit of ‘Bourne Identity’ (for the younger set) into it. What sort of research did you do for this high-octane thrill-ride? And are you living out some secret-espionage boyhood dream by writing this adrenaline-fuelled series?

I did a lot of research – you wouldn’t believe the stuff I had find out about. How do you hotwire a bulldozer? Tick! The history of the Coliseum? Tick! What are the 12 Labors of Hercules? Tick. Thank heavens for Google, or I would’ve been in trouble, especially as I wrote most of it while living in Bali where public libraries are unheard of.

I think most boys have secret-espionage dreams. Actually, so do most men! But what I kept thinking of when I wrote this book, is that I didn’t want to give any kid the excuse to put it down and go and play computer games instead. The greatest compliment you can have as a writer is one somebody tells you they couldn’t put the book down.

Q: A six-part series seems like such a big task, and the books are coming out in quick succession. How did you cope with this massive over-arching series; from connecting plots to deadlines and cliff-hangers? 

I’m not actually sure I have! But you’re right, it was a massive undertaking.

The series was probably influenced more by TV than other books, and more specifically those great American series like the Sopranos, Deadwood, Breaking Bad.

Sometimes I’d think I was all over it, other times I’d just despair – what in the hell have I got myself into!

About half way through writing the series, when we’d already edited the first three books, Anna, my brilliant publisher, came up with an absolute ripper idea.

I resisted for a while, as you do when somebody comes up with something far cleverer than what you have, but in the end the better idea won, as it usually does.

But in order to incorporate her idea, I realised I had the first two books in the wrong order.

I sent Anna an email telling her this and she replied saying ‘I really hope you’re wrong’.

The next day she sent another email saying ‘oh no, you’re right.’

So we had to swap them around – re-architecture the first three books. This was, without doubt, the hardest, most intellectually taxing, month of my writing life and times I thought my brain would explode.
Fortunately I had a great team, Anna and my editor Rachael, and we were able to get through it.

Q: Favourite book(s) of all time:

The Great Gatsby.
Catcher In The Rye
Catch 22
The Butcher Boy
Grapes of Wrath
Treasure Island (a recent addition – a great influence in writing The Debt)

Q: Favourite author(s)?

Steinbeck
Dickens
Fitzgerald

Q: What advice do you have for budding young writers?

Be a bit crazy, normal people don’t write books.

Interview with Patricia Briggs, author of the 'Mercy Thompson' series

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So, as a book nerd I tend to fan-girl over many series and authors - which is perfectly normal. But if there is one particular series that gets more of my fan-girl obsessive love, it is without a doubt Patricia Briggs' 'Mercy Thompson' urban fantasy series. 

I sweat, I started reading those books about three years ago and they were a revelation - in noir, romance, mystery, fantasy ... I pretty much wanted to rent a soapbox and sing Mercy's praises (and to some extent I do do that - I recommend these books to absolutely every person I know - as well as a few strangers I just met). 

So when the opportunity arises to ask questions of the author responsible for one of my most beloved series OF ALL TIME - I hyperventilate, happy-dance and then I get my questions on. 

With many, many thanks to Hachette Australia for making this happen, and Patricia Briggs for being herself - I give you the interview!

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Q: Are you a ‘plotter’ or a ‘pantser’? That is, do you meticulously plot your novel before writing, or do you ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ and let the story evolve naturally?

A: Mostly a pantser.  I have outlined exactly one book – and the outline took me longer to write than the book.  Worse, once I had the outline, it was tough to come up with the enthusiasm to write the book because I already knew how it ended.   When I started writing I approached every book the same way.  About ten books ago (Frost Burned is my 19th book) I discovered that it was more effective to let each book start where it wanted to. 

Q: Where do story ideas generally start for you? Do you first think of the character, theme, ending? Or is it just a free-fall?

A: When I am not writing a series book – so I only have to live with the decisions I make on the fly for one or two books—I prefer to write free-fall.  Sometimes that means that I am deleting  scenes almost as fast as I am writing them, but it gives the stories an unpredictability that I like. 

Writing a series as long as the Mercy Thompson books, means that I have to plan a bit more.  I want to make sure that each story is fresh and is going somewhere new and different – and driving future storylines.  I’m not to the point of outlining yet, but I’m not freefalling either.

Q: In my review of ‘Frost Burned’ I suggest that perhaps Jesse’s question to Mercy about the possibility of a baby (which is then followed quickly by a head-on collision) was a subtle message to fans that they shouldn’t look too far into the future. Care to comment on that? Or answer Jesse’s question: ‘will Mercy and Adam have a baby together some day?’

A: I would like to think that she and Adam have at least one child—but I’m still trying to figure out how that would work for future stories.  I am a mother – and as soon as my oldest child was born I changed how I lived.  I started wearing helmets when I rode horses and quit jumping them almost entirely.   Associating with vampires and werewolves would have been out.  But I’m not saying never, just that it would be miserably hard on me to make it work.

But, yes, in general, I think it is important to pay attention to what’s going on right now.  That doesn’t mean not to plan for the future – just that worrying too much about it is counter -productive.  No one knows what’s going to happen in the future.

Q: ‘Frost Burned’ follows on quite nicely from ‘Fair Game’ – with regards to an uneasy supernatural/political climate and perilous Fae/human relations. And, of course, we get Asil stepping out of ‘Alpha and Omega’ and into the ‘Mercy Thompson’ world (with terrific results!). Does this all suggest that the time is closing in when we’ll get a crossover book?

A: I used to say never, and the thought of trying to balance a story with Anna, Mercy, Charles and Adam in it makes my head hurt.  But I’m always looking for new challenges.  Let’s just say that it is not happening in the next book and leave it at that.

Q: You’re currently working on a book of ‘Mercy’s World’ short stories. We know you have a story for Samuel and Ben . . . can you give anything else away? Will Asil get a story? Will Ben get a bit of romance in his story?

A: I don’t like to give too much away while I’m still working on something.  Then people will read it and say, “I thought you promised that you were going to do X”.  There will be a Tad story and, though I’m not there yet, an Asil story.  Also I am including a story version of  “Homecoming”.

Q: The ‘Alpha and Omega’ spin-off has been such a success – fans embrace Charles and Anna as they do Mercy and Adam. When did you first suspect that Charles could carry a series on his own? Are there any other ‘Mercy’ characters you’ve day-dreamed about writing a spin-off for (perhaps everyone’s favourite British werewolf!?)

A:  Charles stalked onto the pages of Moon Called fully formed.  At that point, Moon Called had so many characters I stopped typing and told him,  “Really?  Now?  We have to do this now?”  I managed to do little more than hint about him and set him aside with the promise of more later.  When Anne Sowards, my editor, asked me to write a novella, I let Charles out to play.  It was Anne who asked me if I could write a series with Charles and Anna and I jumped at the chance.

Q: Purely out of curiosity . . . will we ever meet Adam’s ex-wife?

A:  Funny you should mention that . . . yes.  Mercy #8 will have Christy Hauptman on stage.

Q: So, we know you’re working on the short story collection. But how many more ‘Mercy’ books are you contracted for, and how many more ‘Alpha and Omega’ books?

A: I have three novels under contract.  Two more Mercy books and another book in the “Mercyverse”.  That other book might be an Alpha and Omega book, or I might pull another character out to play.  That said, I am sure there will be more Alpha and Omega books, I just wanted a little more freedom to explore the world.  I will keep writing both series as long as they continue to feel fresh to me—and readers still like them.

Q: What books and TV shows are you currently loving at the moment?

A:  I love The Mentalist (anything except the Red John episodes.  He doesn’t make sense to me as a character.), Criminal Minds, NCIS (okay, the stories don’t always make sense but . . . Gibbs makes up for it), Warehouse 13, and Haven.  We are watching the DVDs of Game of Thrones. Terrific acting, scriptwriting, story, and the filming is amazing – but I’m a happy ever after kind of person and George Martin never met a character he couldn’t torture and kill.  So “loving” isn’t really the word for my relationship with The Game of Thrones.  Awed, maybe, but not loving.  

Q: What advice do you have for budding young writers?

A:  Read!  Read outside your genre.  Read good books and figure out what you like about them.  Read books you hate and figure out why you hated it.  Then write, write, write and write some more.  And . . . get a day job.

'Frost Burned' Mercy Thompson #7 by Patricia Briggs

 Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

Shapeshifter Mercy Thompson's life is calming down, at least enough that she can focus on mundane matters like Black Friday sales. But on her return, Mercy is unable to contact her mate, Alpha Adam Hauptman, or the other members of their pack. All she knows is that Adam is angry and in pain.

With the werewolves fighting a political battle to gain acceptance from the public, Mercy fears Adam's disappearance may be related - and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outclassed and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from the most unlikely of allies: the vampire seethe.

Coyotes are known for their luck – or, at least, one coyote is known for her luck. But when Mercy finds herself in a car accident with her step-daughter Jesse, she does not understand the full weight of her good fortune . . . until she returns home to find her pack and her husband missing, and signs of a bloody struggle at her friend’s, Kyle and Warren’s, house.

One werewolf remains; Ben is in a bad state, having been tranquilized with silver, he is ranting about federal agents coming in and escorting the entire pack away with lies and badges.

With the recent dire political climate stirred up between the humans and fae, Mercy has few people she can turn to for help – but when her digging uncovers an assassination plot that could shake the tentative human-werewolf alliance to its very core, she knows she will have to do everything in her power to get her mate and pack back, and out of harm’s way. 

‘Frost Burned’ is the seventh book in Patricia Brigg’s ridiculously brilliant ‘Mercy Thompson’ urban fantasy series.

In the opening chapter of ‘Frost Burned’, Mercy is in a head-on collision after Jesse casually enquires over the possibility of her and Adam having a baby together. Perhaps this is Brigg’s subtle way of telling fans that they can’t look too far into the future (without dire consequences). But more likely it’s just a really great way to kick off the high-octane thrill-ride that is ‘Frost Burned’. Though, honestly, it was a good question Jesse asked – because since their mating/marriage, Mercy and Adam have been going on at a steady romantic trot and keeping fans swooning over them. We last saw the pair in 2011 book ‘River Marked’; that sixth instalment had a deliberately depleted cast, and followed Mercy and Adam on their (somewhat disastrous) honeymoon wherein they were the real focus of the book. So it may come as a shock to fans that ‘Frost Burned’ kicks off as a polar-opposite to ‘River Marked’, wherein Adam has been kidnapped and Mercy is left to her own devices to try and find him. 

But, fans should not despair – Mercy and Adam are not completely separated. There is the mate-bond, and two chapters from Adam’s POV (the first ever in the series) – both of which work to show readers how far Adam and Mercy have come in their relationship; how strong they are together, even when apart. While some fans may despair that a physically separated Adam and Mercy will mean none of the lovey-dovey stuff we’ve come to anticipate from them – the romance is actually still here, tenfold even, because we clearly see how much Mercy and Adam have grown from loving each other. We see Mercy tap into a strength (and anger) that we haven’t seen from her since the awful events of ‘Iron Kissed’. 

Get Ben to Samuel, who could treat what was wrong with him.  

Take Jesse and Gabriel to someplace safe. 

Find whoever had taken my mate and get him back. 

Adam’s pain was a roar in my heart, and I was going to make everyone who hurt him pay and pay.It was like triage. Decision one – preserve those who were safe. Decision two – retrieve the rest. Decision three – make the ones who took them regret it. 

And since this book seems to have a theme of ‘two sides of the same coin’, it’s fitting that in ‘Frost Burned’, Mercy is also forced to confront and remember the events of ‘Iron Kissed’ and her rape. Briggs has never let those memories get too far away from Mercy, which is commendable for being so brutally honest – but in ‘Frost Burned’ it is definitely bought back as a solid reminder to Mercy, and readers, that there is no such thing as ‘getting better’ or ‘getting over it’ – which is a bold statement that I’m glad Briggs makes, again and again. 

Readers would know going into ‘Frost Burned’ that this would be a game-changing book, if only because events in Briggs’s spin-off series, ‘Alpha and Omega’, precipitated revolution. In third book ‘Fair Game’, the human justice system all but turned its back on the Fae population – who have retreated into their own world and are still regrouping and thinking on their next move, when ‘Frost Burned’ begins. Readers should know going into this book, that the human/Fae/werewolf worlds are in a great state of flux; while the vampires are trying to keep their existence hidden (and for good reason – they want to see how things turn out between the Fae and humans first!). Ever since Briggs started her ‘Alpha and Omega’ series, and made a central character out of the Marrok’s son and right-hand-man, Charles, her urban fantasy world has been getting ever more complex. Through Charles, Anna and Bran in ‘Alpha and Omega’, Briggs has made us privy to the political goings-on of the supernatural world. Indeed, in ‘Frost Burned’ while the ‘Alpha and Omega’ trio don’t make an appearance, their offside activities with the Fae are mentioned and set up a very intriguing foundation for the TBD 4th book. . . but with the events of ‘Frost Burned’, Briggs effectively expands the ‘Mercy Thompson’ world beyond the Tri-Cities and ensures this series has room for expansion and a foot in the more political supernatural activities. 

I was pretty much in awe of Briggs throughout this book. She has managed to write a cunning mystery, interspersed with political thriller and supernatural noir – all rolled into one, and with hefty doses of romance thrown in for good measure. She brings out some old favourite characters who haven’t made lengthy appearances in a while – Stefan, Ben and Zee among them – as Mercy pools all of her resources and rings in every favour owed to her. And while Bran, Charles or Anna don’t make an appearance from the ‘Alpha and Omega’ world, one secondary character does stroll into ‘Frost Burned’ and I was thrilled to pieces to read about him (especially for his exchanges with Mercy!) –and it just made me long all the more for the book when these two series’ meet at a crossroads! 

This book also made me cry, but that’s too much of a terrible spoiler to go into. 

I am thrilled to know that Briggs is currently working on a book of “Mercy’s World” short stories (as yet untitled, and without firm release date). This will be a collection of short stories from various anthologies, including a few new ones Briggs is writing. She has said there will be a Ben short story – and I can’t wait. Reading about Ben in ‘Frost Burned’ reminded me of what an enigma he is, and how interesting. It also reminded me that I'd love for him to have a happy story (yes, romance!) at some point to make up for his hard life. And I’m also crossing my fingers for a short story about that certain secondary character who strolled from ‘Alpha and Omega’ into ‘Frost Burned’ – because he was a standout in this book; unpredictable, funny and lethal all at the same time. 

I am worried that updates on Brigg’s website mentions she has another ‘Mercy’ to write under contract, and she’d like to write another ‘Alpha and Omega’ and is currently working on a ‘Mercy’ book (so she is definitely contracted for 2 more?). I worry, only because with ‘Frost Burned’ I see no end in sight – I can honestly picture the ‘Mercy Thompson’ series going well into series double-digits. With ‘Frost Burned’ Briggs has expanded her world exponentially – everything is more politicized and on-edge, Mercy has more to lose than ever before and has found a groove in her personal relationships and pack to protect. I don’t want this series to end anytime soon – likewise, I can imagine ‘Alpha and Omega’ becoming more complicated from the events of ‘Frost Burned’ and I’m deliriously excited to see where that leads in a new book. 

‘Frost Burned’ was such an incredible book that dug me even deeper into Mercy’s world, and now I never want to leave.

5/5