On the Shelf with Keri Arthur

Keri Arthur is a name you'll want to remember when you're looking in your local bookstore's Paranormal Romance section(trust me,this genre's gathering together
enough writers and readers to make it so). Her new book,Full Moon Rising, is a
hot and spicy mix of science & magic,sort of Underworld with a dash of Serenity.

Full Moon Rising focues on Riley and Rhoan Jenson,twin brother and sister who,in
a world that acknowledges the existence of vampires and werewolves,are especially
unique being Dhampires(hybrid of both races). They both work for the Directorate
of Other Races that governs the supernatural world and keeps the human realm as
safe as can be. When Rhoan goes missing,Riley(who is more wolf than vampire)has
to make unlikely allies and fight her full moon yearnings to rescue him.

Keri is another wonderful Australian import who has won and been up for numerous awards,including the final five in Random House's Australia George Turner Award.
I'm sure that she'll enchant many new readers with Full Moon Rising,which is due
out soon from Bantam. Enough with the intro,I'll let the lady speak for herself:


1)At age 12,you rewrote a book in order to keep a
favorite character alive-who was that character and why did
he/she mean so much to you?


I actually can’t remember the character’s name or even the book title (and the book is now stacked in a box at the back of a cupboard somewhere). I do know it was a side character in one of Elaine Mitchell’s horse books (For those who don’t know her, Elaine Mitchell is an Aussie author who wrote a fantastic series for horse mad teenagers called The Silver Brumby series. It’s all about silver brumbies, and all from the horses point of view.) This particular book wasn’t one of the Silver Brumby series, though. I just remember loving that character and being outraged when he died. You’ve got to remember I was 12 at the time, and horse crazy.:)

2)Full Moon Rising is your North American debut but
you've published twelve other novels back home-are any of the
others connected to FMR?

Actually, all my books are published in North America. I have 12 currently published with ImaJinn Books, a small press publisher in America. Full Moon Rising is my Bantam Spectra hardcover debut.

Full Moon Rising is the first in a completely new series, though the original idea was sparked by a werewolf series I’m writing for ImaJinn.

3)Paranormal Romances are becoming a strong genre with a growing fanbase-what do you think accounts for that?

Because they have extremely sexy heroes and heroines who are not afraid to kick a little ass, perhaps? I think, too, that the popularity of shows like Buffy, Angel, and Charmed have proven to publishers that there is a market for things with a paranormal edge, and as a result, they’re now more willing to take a chance on the books than they were before.

4)You have a mix of science and the supernatural in
FMR's plot-do you tend to favor one over the other when you
write?

No, I normally just go with whatever works for the book. I don’t actually plot as such—I’m a ‘pantzer’, which usually means a fair bit of editing (and in the case of FMR, researching to check my facts) afterwards.

5)Who are your current favorite writers?

Most of my favorites writers don’t actually write in the paranormal genre. I love, love, love Dick Francis, most of Stephan King’s books, and James Herbert’s stuff. I also love the first nine of the Anita Blake series. I’m currently enjoying Kim Harrison’s Dead Witch series and Charlaine Harris’s Sookie books, though.



6)Which do you prefer-vampires or werewolves?

Is both an acceptable answer? I guess if I’m pressed, I guess I’ll have to say I’m really enjoying writing about a werewolf heroine.



7)What's your favorite scary movie?

Alien scared the crap out of me, and it’s still one of my favorites. Though I love Aliens, simply because it has the delish Michael Biehn in it

You can check out Keri's website by clicking the title link above and explore the
many imaginative realms she's created. For now,I intend to add Riley Jenson to my
list of favorite leading ladies,such as Anita Blake,Sookie Stackhouse,Betsy Taylor
and Rachel Morgan-may there be many more like them to keep the fantasy genre alive
and kicking.