Big 4 with Bec: Karen Mahoney

Karen Mahoney is the author of THE IRON WITCH, the first book of a trilogy that continues in 2012 with THE WOOD QUEEN. She has also published stories about a kick-ass teen vampire called Moth in THE ETERNAL KISS and KISS ME DEADLY. Karen is British and currently lives in London, though she dreams of one day living in Boston in the USA. She doesn’t mind if you call her Kaz.

Q. 1 Your debut novel, The Iron Witch, will be published in 2011 (Congrats!). Can you tell us a bit about it and what the journey through to publication has been like for you?

Thank you! The Iron Witch is the story of 17-year-old Donna Underwood, born into a secret society of alchemists in the modern world, and sworn to keep those secrets – even from her best friend, Navin Sharma. Donna has magical iron tattoos on her hands and arms that give her super-strength, and keeping things like that from the regular people in her life is getting harder. When Navin is abducted by the dark elves (the life-long enemy of the alchemists), Donna has to decide what she’s willing to sacrifice in order to save him.

The journey to publication seems short, on the surface. Three years between finishing the first draft of the book to actually seeing it on shelves in three countries, but I’ve been writing (on and off) since I was 12. It’s something I always wanted to do, but I gave up in my late twenties and honestly thought it wasn’t going to happen for me. I realized, however, that I’d made a mistake with the kind of writing I was doing – I kept trying to write literary fiction, but as soon as I embraced my true love of all things genre (and especially urban fantasy), I found my writer’s voice.

Q. 2 Karen, there’s really been an explosion in urban fantasy over the past few years. Where do you see it heading?

That’s such a good question, and all I can really say is that I certainly don’t see it going away any time soon. I think that the current boom in urban fantasy, and all things paranormal, will continue, though of course it will drop back to a less overwhelming level. I hear some people saying that it’s ‘over’ or whatever, but I honestly don’t think that’s going to happen – it’s too popular and has almost become a ‘true’ genre in itself, rather than just a sub-genre. I think it will change and develop, sure. And editors will become more picky with projects they take on. But the demand from readers will continue. How do I know that? Because, first and foremost, I’m a reader of UF and love it – I never want to stop reading it! 🙂

Q. 3 You’re an avid blogger & Tweeter. How important is social networking to you? Before blogging, did you always keep a journal?

I love blogging and now I love Twitter! I’m not on Facebook (I’ve tried it, but just don’t… ‘get’ it.) Personally, I don’t like the term ‘social networking’ – though I know that’s the term people give it, so it’s fine. For me, though, when I first started blogging at the start of 2007 (on LiveJournal, though I’ve moved to WordPress since then), it was simply a means to making writing friends and finding information about the publishing industry. Being based in the UK, but trying to break into the US market, it was important to me to find US-based friends who I could share my experiences with and learn from.

Four years ago, I didn’t know what social networking was! I was just journaling my ‘journey’ towards publication. Now, of course, the fact that I’ve been active online for so long has really helped me to get the word out about my writing, but I didn’t set out that way – and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Maybe people have responded positively to my online presence because I’m just being myself and genuinely have no ‘hidden agenda.’ I think those things are easy to pick up on, you know? I think people should blog if they enjoy it, otherwise what’s the point? Do the things you’re good at/have fun with. Twitter is fun and fast, and also easy to do while you’re out-and-about thanks to the Blackberry and iPhone.

Yes, I’ve always kept some kind of journal – right back from when I was a young child. And in my late twenties, when I gave up writing for 5 years (!!), the one thing I DID do was to keep a diary. I wrote all about how I WASN’T writing fiction. It was cathartic, if not exactly productive. 😉

Q. 4 Which of all your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

Much as I love my characters in The Iron Witch – and I really do, especially my main character Donna – I still have a soft spot for my teen vampire, Moth, from the short stories published in The Eternal Kiss and Kiss Me Deadly (both by Random House Children’s Books in Australia). If anyone burns bright, it’s my Moth. I hope to publish a novel about her, one day, but vampires aren’t the easiest to sell right now. She’s such a contradiction, though: an undead 18-year-old who is so full of life – I want to give her the chance to shine so that more people can meet her.

Thank you very much for having me!

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Visit Kaz’s website/blog

Check out the Deadline Dames

Tweets away!… Twitter: @kazmahoney (http://twitter.com/kazmahoney)