Prophecy Child Series
Katie Epstein is an author of paranormal and fantasy romance novels from the United Kingdom. Her new book will be released in September this year. We have conducted an interview with her.
What makes you suited to write in the paranormal and fantasy romance genres?
My imagination. It has to be. It is something that both entertained and terrified me as a child—depending on what popped into my head—and it seemed to have no limits. When characters form in my mind they come as they are with no apologies for their background, challenges or species. They have a story to tell and there are times when I have no choice but to tell it. Paranormal and fantasy romance genres give me more leverage to do this, and broaden the scope of worlds and adventures those characters can escape into. It’s interesting to form new societies, worlds or relationships, and see them have the same challenges and issues we boring old humans have from time to time. There are also a lot more sides you can add to a character when you have the additional artistic license these genres give you. Plus, I love to read a lot of books in these genres. That kind of helps!
Who are your personal favourite authors as an avid reader?
I am an avid reader. Too avid at times. It’s hard to nail down a specific author because sometimes it’s just about the book, and sometimes there are way too many to mention. Nora Roberts is a great inspiration to me though. Her books draw you in like a movie would and that’s perfect for the kind of reader I am. She can transcend to any genre and pull it out of the bag, and you can always relate to her characters one way or another. I also love Amanda Quick for her historical romances, Dannika Dark for her Mageri Series, and Stacey Marie Brown for her Darkness series. I didn’t move much during those reads. Not to forget Amanda. M. Lee. Her books have made me laugh out loud many times. I’ll stop there because as I said above, there can be way too many!
What are you writing at the moment?
I have just finished book one in the Far Far Away series that will be released during the fall. It’s a fantasy romance that is loosely based around a lot of the fairy tale characters we know and love. Strike at Midnight will be the first to get the party going, and this one is about a woman called Rella Rosewood who is a renegade hunter with pink hair, a filthy mouth and a glass slipper that can be used as a convenient weapon when needed. The series will follow on as stand alone books, but all characters will intermingle with each other’s stories. This will be aimed at adults because sometimes we need a fairy tale too!
Have you ever ‘negotiated’ with the characters you have crafted in your own novel? If so, what was the negotiation about?
I have negotiated with them. Quite a few times actually. I wrote a blog entry about this recently called ‘Character Whipped’. It spoke very much about how the characters have their say most of the time, and if you try to go against what they’re telling you then it’s like putting on a dress two sizes too small. It won’t fit right. At the end of the day, they’re the experts and I listen to what they want most of the time. There has been debates about making a guy the villain in one of the stories, but this character was having none of it. He definitely wanted to maintain his ‘white horse’ status as a good guy, so we left it at that. Let’s just say there were tears at one point.
What books do you have out at the moment?
The Prophecy Child series is a paranormal romance that follows the trials and tribulations of Macey Jennings and her friends. She is an ex-demon slayer who has served her time, but who now runs a nightclub for friendly demons with a bounty hunting service on the side. She crosses paths with a Private Investigator who has followed the trail of a human case to her club, and she joins up with him to find a missing girl when she senses demon activity involved. It goes on to something bigger and there are currently four books out at the moment.
What is your favourite quote?
I’m not sure who wrote this particular quote, but it’s become a fast favourite: “Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about un-becoming everything that isn’t really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.” It says it all about how life can be sometimes, and how we all try to fit into something that isn’t right for who we truly are. When we step away from everything around us and look inside, that’s where we find the magic.
