Author pimping: Kelley Armstrong

[pith]

Kelley Armstrong currently has 5 novels published in her Women of the Otherworld series. Each book uses 1st POV, but the protagonist changes from book to book. The first two, Bitten and Stolen, were centred around Elena Michaels, the only known female werewolf in the world. The third and fourth novels, Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic centre around Paige Winterbourne, a hereditary witch. The fifth, Haunted, centred around Eve Levine, a powerful mix of supernatural critters (yet miraculously is NOT very Mary Sueish.)

What I appreciate about KA most is her loyalty to the world and those in it—meaning both her characters and her fans. She doesn't "force" her characters to fill a certain role; they evolve naturally, slowly. Yeah, there are sex scenes, but they're generally short, subtle, and cannot double as juvenile anatomy lessons. But the characters are actual people, not just stock symbols or monsters: they all have their own strengths and weaknesses, loves and hates, lives and issues. She's also great with her fans: she participates on her forum, still answers her own email (to my knowledge), and is very down-to-earth.

The movie rights for Bitten were acquired by Warner Brothers, with Angelina Jolie slated to play Elena, but no new news has been heard for a while.



Broken, in which Elena returns, will be published in Spring 2006. Kelley is starting a new series of thrillers as well about "an ex-cop turned ethical hitwoman", and is slated to have work in a few upcoming anthologies; she contributed "Plan B" to Like a Charm: A Novel in Voices.

She also has lots of free e-fiction available on her web site. This year, she's working on a novella; she posts a new installment on the 1st and 15th of every month. Last year, she posted a short story each month. There are other free works on the site as well, the majority of which are Otherworld-based. Through her forum, she often lets fans vote on the subject of future e-stories. And she actually appreciates—and, GASP!, incorporates—fan feedback/CC.

Web sites
The official web site is http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com. She posts journal entries there every month, has contests to win signed books, and has an extensive forum—on which she participates. She also offers free signed bookplates for fans who can't get to a signing. You just have to pay for postage.

On the 8th of every month, Kelley also posts in the communal horror/dark fantasy writers' blog at http://www.storytellersunplugged.com

I run stonehaven, a Kelley Armstrong based community. We're pretty quiet at the moment, but feel free to join and stir up some discussion. People will usually post whenever there's a new Kelley offering to be enjoyed.

And here's some random quotations from Kelley, about her stance on genre and writing and all sorts of fun stuff:

"When a writer in a sub-genre launches a more mainstream series, it's often considered a step 'up', as if the sub-genre series was just a stepping stone to the bigger market of mainstream thrillers, and will be abandoned if/when she sees success in the mainstream world. That's not the case here. The Otherworld is my first love and it comes first. Consider this second series a 'bonus', not a replacement. Honestly, I'm more interested in snagging new readers from the mainstream series to the Otherworld than vice-versa."

"As a writer, I like [sci-fi/fantasy/horror] because it offers unlimited possibilities. If I can think it, I can write it, and I never have to worry about someone saying 'that would never happen with real werewolves', the way I would if I wrote about police, lawyers etc."

"When people learn what I write, the number one comment I get is 'But you seem so normal!' No moldering Victorian mansion. No black lipstick and talon-length nails. No homicidal glint in my eye. I'm such a disappointment. I think that's the biggest misconception: the idea that you can pick the horror buffs from a group of writers. In my experience, they look and act just like everyone else. What I find does distinguish a horror writer is a macabre turn of mind. Give them an ordinary set of circumstances and they can imagine the worst possible scenario."

"My experience with writing to suit a trend has been 100% disastrous. While I was writing Bitten, I was also writing more mainstream fiction, with a distinct eye toward marketability, and I was absolutely certain that if I ever published anything, it would be that mainstream stuff. Werewolves were not 'in', and never really had been, so I assumed I was writing Bitten purely for my own enjoyment. Well, it was that 'unmarketable' werewolf book that broke me in, and my mainstream fiction is still on my hard-drive, where it will stay. You can't worry about trends because by the time you get your book published, the trend will probably have passed. Instead, you have to write what you want to write and trust that whatever drew you to the story will draw readers as well."

"With modern media, we see the problems of every corner of the world in Technicolor (crime, war, disease, natural disaster, famine, etc). Sometimes, you just can't help but feel overwhelmed and powerless to help. Supernatural fantasy lets us, for a while, escape into a world where evil flourishes, but good usually triumphs, and no one is ever powerless. Perhaps more than that, though, this genre is just entertaining fun, combining nearly every other genre (action, adventure, mystery, romance, drama, comedy, fantasy & horror) in a form of storytelling that rarely takes itself too seriously."

"Subgenres wax and wane. The craze for paranormals will pass. But when it wanes, I'll kiss my good fortune goodbye, say "thanks for the ride," and keep writing—writing the same stuff, for a much smaller audience, to be sure, but telling the stories I love to tell, and still having a blast."

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_shadowstalker_/]

This is all good and well, but Kelley Armstrong's books suck. There, I said it.

agreed

[naeko.livejournal.com]

I've only read the first, because it sucked so hard. Elena was totally a mary-sue and it seemed like the author couldn't hold onto the damn plot to save her life. It kept veering to angsty or romantic or dramatic character scenes. I only finished it because I had nothing else to do on a plane ride.

[harpergrey.livejournal.com]

I found that while Elena certainly had the potential to be a Mary-Sue -- being the only female werewolf and all -- she never ended up being one. She isn't perfect, she doesn't have all the men clamouring for her, other characters don't always agree or bend over backwards to cater to her... Yes, she is unique, but this is not the be-all and end-all of the character. There is a distinct person underneath the uniqueness. And the same can be said of Armstrong's other female protagonists, Paige and Eve.

I far prefer a story which is character-driven, and I find that Armstrong's work is most definitely that. She's one of the few authors whose hardcovers I have no problems shelling out for, and I am very much looking forward to the new novel due out this spring.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

She responded to an e-mail from me on the same day that I send it :)


And her novellas on the early romance of Elena and Clay, and the one on Clay's early life, can give people a taste of her writing and whether it appeals. I printed out the Clay story to read at work :D