The Story is About   +  novel

Karen Kincy

Books:

• Other
• Bloodborn

  

Brock Koeman had always loathed werewolves and Others like them. Then, while tracking a werewolf suspected of murder, he and his brother Chris were bitten—and infected with the very disease they despised. Chris is now fighting for his life in the hospital, but Brock faces another kind of battle: stifling the fierce urge to transform into a beast.

When werewolves kidnap him and the girl he loves, Brock discovers what it means to be Other—the thrill of unearthly powers, overshadowed by unrelenting danger. Brock begins to see the life that awaits him, but he must accept his new identity… before the wolf within kills him.

“With Bloodborn, Karen Kincy opens a frightening new chapter in the werewolf legacy. Brilliant, dark, and filled with haunting images. Highly recommended.” — Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Rot & Ruin and King of Plagues

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 BA in Linguistics and Literature from The Evergreen State College, and is studying toward a Master’s in Computational Linguistics.

Transformation, werewolves, wilderness.

I loved seeing how Other was connected to Bloodborn! Did you always intend for the books to have reoccurring characters?

Yes, I always intended Bloodborn to be a companion novel to Other—and also the third book, Foxfire (Fall 2012). I love exploring characters both externally and internally. In Other we see Brock through the eyes of Gwen, who thinks he’s little more than a prejudiced brute. She watches Brock and his brother get bitten by a werewolf, but doesn’t know how this changes him—besides him being infected, of course, and doomed to change.

In Bloodborn, Brock goes from antagonist to protagonist, and we see how he’s more than just the guy who hates and hunts werewolves. He has a dad who can’t stand to see what his son has become; a brother who was also bitten and fights for his life in the hospital; an ex-girlfriend who’s only heard rumors that he’s become a beast.

In Other we see prejudices against those that were mainly from outside sources, why did you choose to have a main character that possessed those prejudices?

Of all the secondary characters in Other, I thought Brock had the most potential for growth, which is why he got his own book. In Other, he’s defined by little more than his hatred for Others—who he calls “gicks,” short for “magicks”—but in the end… well, I don’t want to give away the end, but let’s just say I wanted to see how a person who was so consumed by hatred would cope with becoming the very thing he hated. What can I say? I’m an author. I like to put my characters through the wringer. Bloodborn would be a pretty boring book if Brock got bitten by a werewolf and instantly realized the error of his ways.

What was easier with the second book? What was harder?

I didn’t have a complete synopsis before I wrote Other, but I did for Bloodborn, so it was much faster to write the first draft—I did it one summer while I was in college, when I went from zero words to a whole novel in about three months. The first draft of Bloodborn also felt a lot more coherent and polished than the first draft of Other had, because I’d learned so much about writing and editing between books. The hardest part of Bloodborn was making sure it stayed true to the themes of Other, since it does feature a cast of mostly new characters, and it leaves the setting of Klikamuks, Washington behind for towns across America. Both books do still focus on issues of prejudice and changing identities.

Do you think you'll always want to write stories that have supernatural elements? Why or why not?

Believe me, I’ve tried to write stories without supernatural elements before, but something always creeps in. Three sisters? Why not make them werecats? That city sounds cool, but I think it could be cooler with a hefty dose of steampunk. That sort of thing. I’m a supernatural, paranormal, anything-magical junkie. Can’t help it!

What can we expect from you in the future? (aka can you tell us anything about Foxfire!)

Foxfire will be awesome, just like the first two books. Perhaps even more awesome than the first two books added together, times infinity. Okay, okay, so you want details. Well, Foxfire stars a certain fox-spirit. I won’t tell you the name of this fox-spirit so Other isn’t spoiled for those who haven’t read it yet. But anyway, this certain fox-spirit goes to Tokyo and uncovers a lot of secrets that range from dangerous to deadly. Also, runs into gangs of Japanese dog-spirits with a fierce hatred of foxes. If you liked the serial-killer creepiness in Other and the action adventure in Bloodborn, you won’t be disappointed by Foxfire. And personally, I can’t wait to see all three books on a shelf together.