Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf: Day 12

Don’t Look Behind the Bookshelf

What are you doing here? Did you not see the letters in huge red script?! It told you not to look behind here--and you did. Now you have no choice but to pry your eyes open and be exposed to yet another day of Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf. (You can see yesterday's interview here.) Today features an author whose books are about creatures a lot like werewolves, making them just right for the Halloween season. Kirkus called her most recent novel "an enjoyable, mystical coming-of-age, complete with quick getaways, [and] motorcycle chases." Please stay in your human form and welcome...

Karen Kincy

Trick or treat?

Trick. Shenanigans are so entertaining.

Truth or dare?

Dare—I dare you to guess how many books I have on my to-be-read list right now.

Best Halloween creature?

Werewolves all the way! Just look at Bloodborn. Also, werepuppies, which are even cuter. Though I do have an undying love of zombies. (Pun intended.)

What’s your most memorable Halloween costume?

Well, there was that time I was an Orion green-skinned lady from Star Trek. That involved hellacious amounts of green face paint and a lot of strange stares on the bus. I did get to wear that costume to a Star Trek party where they were serving Romulan ale and Klingon bloodwine.

I’ve also been a zombie. I love zombies.

(Yes, both photos are in the same spot, my college apartment. Many escapades began there.)

Best movie to watch for Halloween? Best book to read?

It’s not actually supposed to be a Halloween movie, but when I watched Black Swan at the eleven o’clock showing at night, I remember being so creeped out by the horror scenes that I didn’t want to go to the bathroom alone in the nearly abandoned theater…

As for books, have you read House of Leaves? I had to read it for class back in college, during fall quarter, which was of course around Halloween. That book is super creepy and will make you not want to stay in your own house, especially alone in the dark.

If you could go back in time and rewrite the legend of a monster/creature, which would you choose?

I would rewrite the legend of vampires, just to see how Twilight would come out different.

How do you celebrate Halloween?

By buying as many pumpkins and pumpkin-flavored edibles as humanly possible. So far I’ve had pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin ravioli, and pumpkin bread. I also love to butcher pumpkins, bake them in the oven, and concoct pie from scratch. And yes, I realize this makes me sound like a vegetarian serial killer.

[Beauty and the Bookshelf adds: Have you tried Dreyer's pumpkin ice cream? It's amazing.]

It’s Friday the 13^th, you’re home alone, and it’s dark. Simultaneously, the phone rings and you hear somebody upstairs. What do you do?

Friday the 13^th is my lucky day, actually, so I’d assume the phone call would be my agent telling me fabulous good news, and the noise upstairs was just my bratty 13-pound black cat.

If you were in a horror movie with a classic killer what would you do to survive?

Well, since I’m a blonde, I’m either a ditzy bimbo doomed to die in the beginning, or I’m going to survive all the way until the end credits. Since the second option sounds better, I’d probably find myself a nice high perch somewhere and wait for the killer to blunder past, then drop something heavy or acidic or molten on his head.

If some of your characters were going to dress up for Halloween, what would they dress up as?

I have a feeling Gwen, Brock, and Tavian wouldn’t dress up as any sort of paranormal creatures—consider how they are a pooka, a werewolf, and a kitsune—but instead would go for more mundane costumes. Gwen would be a pirate, or maybe Amy from Doctor Who since she has the red hair to pull it off; Brock would be a Roman solider or something equally macho; Tavian would probably be ironic and parody a hipster.

What are five facts about yourself?

-I can be bribed with cute little houseplants. Or chocolate. Or both.

-My eyes are listed as hazel on my driver’s license; they shift between green and amber.

-I can speak French and Mandarin conversationally, and a smidgen of German.

-I once worked as a carnie, enticing guys to play a (rigged) basketball game.

-I have the ability to cross my toes.

Using the letters of KITSUNE, please describe your novels.

Karen has an author’s crush on Tavian, since he’s a foxy fox-spirit.

In Foxfire, there are faceless ghosts, mysterious temples, and dangerous secrets.

This means the book is awesome. You should read it.

Seriously.

Unless you are allergic to awesome.

Not sure I can help you with that.

Evidently I have a knack for annoying acrostics.

What’s next for you in your writing career?

I have several Super Secret WIPs in the works! One of them is a middle-grade historical fantasy involving cake-eating zombies; one of them is a Steampunk Book of Awesome co-authored with Chelsea Campbell; and one of them is a really secret book I won’t tell you anything about.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

If you want to poke me online, I can most often be found on Twitter! (@karenkincy)

Karen Kincy (Redmond, Washington) lives among countless trees, some of which—her pet kumquats and oranges—have lovingly invaded her apartment. Unlike her characters, she has never been on the run from the law or bitten by a werewolf, though she has been known to howl at the moon. Karen has a BA in Linguistics and Literature from The Evergreen State College, and is studying toward a Master’s in Computational Linguistics.

To learn more about Karen Kincy, please visit her website, Goodreads, and Twitter. Also, be sure to check out the first book in the Other series, and if you've already read it, there's now a third--Foxfire!

Publisher: Flux

Publishing Date: July 1, 2010

Pages: 336

Gwen Williams has been hiding a strange and fantastic secret: she's a shapeshifter. Although society may tolerate vampires, centaurs, and "Others" like Gwen, there are plenty of folks in her small Washington town who don't care for her kind.

When a new werewolf pack moves into the area, tensions rise—and Others start showing up dead, including someone close to Gwen. Despite the methodical murders, the police are ignoring evidence that suggests a serial killer. In the midst of terrible loss and danger, Gwen—along with a mysterious and sexy guy who happens to be a Japanese fox spirit—risks her life to find the murderer. But Gwen is already the killer's next target . . .

Publisher: Flux

Publishing Date: October 8, 2012

Pages: 312

"The kitsune legend has never looked so good. Tavian is one sexy fox."--Julie Kagawa, New York Times bestselling author of the Iron Fae series and the Blood of Eden series

Tavian and Gwen race to find a magical cure in the third thrilling Other novelTavian has never forgotten his real mother, a shapeshifting Japanese fox spirit like himself, who abandoned him. On a trip to Japan, his homeland, he discovers that she's alive. But a faceless ghost warns Tavian to stay away from her. Even worse, Tavian's magical fox powers have vanished. Finding his mother in Tokyo's seamy underworld may be his only chance to beat back the vicious dog spirits stalking him and his girlfriend Gwen--and to recover from a fatal magical illness eroding his human side.

Karen Kincy gets brownie points for being a local author, and her books are some you definitely don't want to miss--they take an interesting spin on werewolves (we need more of those in YA books!). Be sure to return to Beauty and the Bookshelf tomorrow (and through October) for the rest of Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf--fourteen days, thirteen authors, one giveaway.