Charlie Kenmore, author of “Earth Angel”

What is your book about?

CK: There are seven parallel worlds known as the Seven Realms which are separated by a Veil. Six are inhabited by all manner of entities, some natural, some not. That may not be the case for much longer. The first portion of the High Sidhe Prophecy of the Sevens has been fulfilled. The Anarch, who is one with the Veil, has escaped. If she chooses, she can part or drop the Veil or she can lift the Veil in its entirety. The Seven Realms will converge. The laws of physics and magic will collide head on. Unless she is stopped, there will be nothing left.

Queen Amura has called for an assembly of the signatories to the High Sidhe’s Second Accords, a multi-realm peace treaty to consider how to deal with the threat of the Anarch. An Earthside TechnoWitch and other dark forces also are seeking to control the Anarch. Prince Dzhok (Jack), High Sidhe Ambassador Salash (Jack’s oldest friendand lover), and Valkyrie Brunhilde set out to find and befriend the Anarch before all is lost.

What inspired you to write this particular story?

CK: My significant other, D. Alexx Miller (a/k/a Alexx Mom Cat) is an avid paranormal romance reader. With three months to go before her birthday, I thought, Why don’t I write her a paranormal romance for her birthday? I barely finished book one in time.

How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in the book?

CK: Some people see a lot of me in Prince Dzhok (who goes by “Jack” when Earthside). With the other characters, not as much.

Tell us a little about your main characters. Who was your favorite? Why?

CK: Prince Dzhok of the Qpiad (commonly misspelled as “Cupid” in Earthside English)– Jack and I have an affinity. What red blooded (or green blooded for that matter) male wouldn’t want to be a Qpiad Prince? While much stronger and faster than any human, the Qpiad are not a particularly powerful race as far as physical strength is concerned among the signatories to the High Sidhe’s Second Accords (an inter-realm peace treaty). Jack’s strengths are his compassion and leadership qualities.

Salash—High Sidhe Ambassador to the Qpiad. Jack’s oldest friend and lover, the mother of twenty-two of his two thousand nine hundred eighty-seven children.. Pound for pound, one of the deadliest fighters in the Six Inhabited Realms. She can put her fist through the armor plating on a tank. Razor sharp analytic skills, iron discipline (until her family and friends are threatened), volcanic temper when the discipline fails.

Brunhilde—One time captain of Odin’s Valkyries, she was responsible for letting the Chosen escape, and has been on a quest to find her ever since (now in her eighth millenium).

TechnoWitch—A human body stealing witch. Has managed integrate her id with her computers. Has her eye on the Anarch for her next body switch.

Anarch/Queen Angel– Once an intended sacrifice to maintain the Veil that separates the Seven Realms, she escaped but ended up caught in the Veil. Her release from the Veil marks the fulfillment of the first part of the High Sidhe’s Prophecy of the Sevens. She has the power to take down the Veil.

Who is your most unusual/most likeable character?

CK: Unusual—Pelactere, the Goddess of Rage. Fire courses through her veins. She has translucent skin, and a 24/7 temper.

How long did it take you to write your book?

CK: Five months, in fits and spurts.

Did you do any research for the book? If so, how did you do it? (searching Internet, magazines, other books, etc.)

CK: I drop shipped my research as I need it. When I needed the specifications for a gun, I hit the internet.

How (or when) do you decide that you are finished writing a story?

CK: Without meaning to sound flip, when a story line reaches a logical (within the context of the story) conclusion, then it ends. I don’t write from an outline. Sometimes I’ll just take a story line and see where it leads. Other times, as with Earth Angel, I have a climax in mind, and have to write a story to fit it.

What challenges did you face as you wrote this book?

CK: I had written numerous short stories, a novella, and a number of screenplays. Everything I ever wrote prior to Earth Angel, I finished in a matter of minutes up to a couple of weeks. I had never attempted a project that took several months.

What was the most difficult part about writing the book?

CK: Lexicon. I like uncommon words. I choose my words for their connotations as well as for their meanings. Sometimes, however, I get carried away with word play. Earth Angel opens with “Blinding coruscations in utter darkness. Deaving thunder in complete and total silence.” To deave means to deafen. But it also means to stupefy with noise. That is the flavor that I wanted. My editor suggested changing “deaving” to “deafening”, but that wouldn’t convey the “stupefying” nature of the thunder. She gave in on this one, but held the line in other places. Perhaps someday I’ll publish “The Unexpurgated Earth Angel”.

How does your environment/upbringing color your writing?

CK: I rely heavily on my environment. In the sequel to Earth Angel, The Flow of Magic, I introduce the family pet, “Mowth” a miniature, color changing, button nosed Adpagian Eathcrak. This creature came from a loose button on my desk, the local Ad Pages, and an empty box of Wheat Crackers. You can see Mowth in action in “Saving Kiefer: A Power Pack Girls Adventure” at the Seven Realms Earthside Communications Center, http://charliekenmore.blogspot.com/2011/10/saving-kiefer-power-pack-girls.html.

Do you have a favorite snack food or favorite beverage that you enjoy while you write?

CK: Ice tea is a must. For longer grind sessions, dark chocolate is preferable.

What are you working on right now?

CK: I’m working on a science fiction story about an off-world human female detective who finds the head of her perspective non-human client in the ally behind a strip bar. She immediately becomes a target. She has to get off-world and figure out who her client was and why she would have been hired before she is killed because of it.

What was the first story you remember writing?

CK: In the fifth grade, I wrote a twenty page story about a subterrean society that collected humans for its zoo. My classmates liked it. The teacher thought it was a bit dark for a fifth grader. There’s no accounting for taste.

What is the most difficult part of the whole writing process?

CK: Revisions. My deal with Muse is that she is supposed to give it to me straight the first time.

What advice you would give to an aspiring author?

CK: Keep writing. Get the story down. You can always go back and revise. Do not be discouraged by rejections. Earth Angel was rejected several times with nice personal comments from the publishers that it was well written, but not for their markets.

What words would you like to leave the world when you are gone?

CK: “There’s been a mistake.”

Have you written any other books?

CK: There are two more Seven Realms novels and two novellas under submission. My darker and naughtier alter ego, Ken Charles, has “The Mercies of Cinderella” (Feb. 2012) and “The Naughty Ladies of Cotton Glen” (April 2012) coming soon.

Where can people learn more about your books?

CK: Purchase Links: http://www.damnationbooks.com/book.php?isbn=9781615724840
(you have to register-free) http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Angel-ebook/dp/B005KMQAA2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315450669&sr=1-1

http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-earthangel-599934-140.html

Click here for an interview with: Queen Angel, Hero of “Earth Angel” by Charlie Kenmore