Author Jen Kirchner passed me some tantalizing interview responses just as her new book, The Fourth Channel, hit the presses! Now I, the lucky (and conniving) duck I am, have already read The Fourth Channel, and I can assure you it’s fantastic urban fantasy reading you haven’t seen anywhere before. A necromancer with funny, talking, sacrificial knives? Oh, have I mentioned Kari, said necromancer, doesn’t *kill* anyone? They get better!
Here’s the lovely cover to The Fourth Channel. Ohh and ahh appropriately! Then, check out Jen’s interview and enter the drawing below. In case you don’t win you may want to consider adding it to your shelf on goodreads so you don’t forget about it. (Not that I’m calling you senile, but I know how you get…) Enjoy!
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1. What type of stories do you write?
The main goal of my stories is to make myself, and a few friends, laugh. I have written some very serious material, but I typically aim for slapstick Indiana Jones in an urban fantasy setting. The way I achieve that is by employing the idea of opposites—giving an important character a very negative impediment, as well as an opposing personality trait to combat it. For example, my main character in THE FOURTH CHANNEL is a necromancer. She gains insane magic power through sacrificing people, but she’s a pacifist. It makes defending herself incredibly difficult (and sometimes really funny).
Main characters who have to overcome challenges isn’t just funny, it makes them wonderfully real and three-dimensional. But yeah, your story is pretty darned hilarious. 😉
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2. How do you kick back, relax, and recharge your batteries?
I’m sure everyone expects this answer: I love to read! It’s true, though. I do. I also play a lot of video games. Yeah, I’m one of those girls. Gaming is a big passion for me.
Anyone who reads your blog will discover this, as you do some awesome reviews on games. (Hint to the gamer nerds out there, BTW.)
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3. What’s your favorite wine?
I love reds, especially a great Shiraz.
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4. I’m always searching out music for my playlist. What are you grooving to this week?
Since the winter holiday is upon us and I’m in the middle of planning my big cookie bake, I’m listening to Christmas music. Coincidentally, my absolute favorite holiday song is playing: Marshmallow World by Johnny Mathis. Don’t let anyone fool you with that Dean Martin version. It doesn’t hold a candle.
LOL, noted…
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5. What’s your personal peak of rabble rousing instigation?
I’m not an overt rabble rouser. If anything, I prefer the subtle, behind-the-scenes approach. In fact, you should think of me as a rabble-rousing muse. If something I do or say inspires someone to break out of their box and do something new and brave, my work is done…or has it just begun?
Rabble-rousing muse… I’m loving it! Oh wait, you just planted an #earworm! Look at you go! Grr!
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Here’s the official blurb for The Fourth Channel
For years, Kari Hunter’s fooled the world into thinking she’s just an everyday girl. Sure, she’s the lead singer of world-renowned band Vis Viva, but outside of that, she recycles religiously, is an avid supporter of the environment, and a certifiable coffee addict. But Kari has a secret she keeps from her family, friends, and her fans.
Kari Hunter is a necromancer.
The rarest and most powerful of all magic-born, necromancers are notorious for leaving a trail of sacrifices in their wake. But Kari isn’t interested in hurting anyone. She works hard at being as un-necromancer-like as possible: everyone she stabs gets a bandage and a lollipop, and whenever her sacrificial knives get too excited at the prospect of violence, she puts them in time-out… in her lingerie drawer.
But when an agent of voodoo master Ruairi O’Bryne catches Kari using her powers, her secret’s out. And if Ruairi finds out who Kari is, he’ll stop at nothing to make her his next sacrifice.
Go ahead and enter the rafflecopter giveaway below, add it to your goodreads to-read list, or just go ahead and buy it from Amazon today!
Links to Jen Kirchner on the Web
Blog: http://jenkirchner.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenLKirchner
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jen-Kirchner/496072270406446
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16069007-the-fourth-channel
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Fourth-Channel-ebook/dp/B00AHRWCK2
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a Rafflecopter giveaway
Jen is amazing. That’s really all that needs to be said.
Thanks, Amber. You rock!
I’ve been a fan of Jen’s work for a while now. Fun interview! Looking forward to the book!
Thanks, RPG Guy! You’ve been with me since my early web days, when I was writing VYA’s. Good luck with the drawing!
What would I do to get back at talking sacrificial knives? I would have to go with a two parter… well three really…
1) Use them for cutting/preparing food. Specifically something bad. Braunschweiger perhaps.
2) Run them through the dishwasher with Hello Kitty plates and utensils.
3) Repeat as needed.
Awesome ideas. Especially the Hello Kitty stuff. I’m going to remember that for later. LOL
Let them get rusty!!
Ooh, that’s a good one, Mary! They hate lying around in silk and lace and smelling like potpourri, much less looking bad. They’re so vain. 😛
Hmm that is a tough one (especially since I have not read the book YET). It is on my wish list though.. Hmm maybe make them watch/listen to the old Smurf cartoons?
Hah! Nice one, Jenster! They do love watching TV, though typically something surrounding violence. The Smurfs would probably send them into a crazed rage, which would land them in the underwear drawer for a week!
I like Jen better than any of you. So there.
“Better than any of you *do*” is what I meant to say. I like all of you just fine. But I like Jen more than you do. That’s it. Oh, never mind…
LOL. You’re so cute when you’re overcome with conviction. I totally won’t challenge you on this point…well not right now. 😉
First thought was to threaten to leave them out in the rain, although the “Hello Kitty” idea has merit as well. I’ll go with chopping onions & garlic, and if that fails, cutting potatoes (without washing, leaving them coated with potato starch). As for Smurfs, some things are just too horrible to contemplate;.
I’d first create a magical induction field around them, making them weaker. then, I’d make a potion to restructure the crystals within them. It’d bee like having your skeleton shifted about several times. If they still didn’t talk, then… I’d trace their intellect back to the progenitor matrix.
Congrats to Brendan and Lori who won the giveaway! Woohoo!
Congrats to our winners!