Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Interview and Giveaway: Patricia Briggs and Night Broken!


I had the honor of interviewing one of my favorite authors...

Patricia Briggs! 

Patricia is a special author to me because her Mercy Thompson series was one of the very first urban fantasies I ever read and my love for that series what one of the major things that pulled me into the world of UF and PNR fiction and book blogging!

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, #1) Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, #2) Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, #3) Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, #4) 
Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, #5) River Marked (Mercy Thompson, #6) Frost Burned (Mercy Thompson, #7) Night Broken (Mercy Thompson, #8)

Check out my interview with Patricia below, and then enter to win your own copy of NIGHT BROKEN on the Rafflecopter below!


Thank you for allowing me to ask you some questions, Patricia! I’m a huge fan of your Mercy series!

1. When you began writing Moon Called, what came first: Mercy’s character or her supernatural designation? 

Aha. A chicken and the egg question. I decided that she was a coyote shapeshifter and mechanic – and the rest of her character fell into place (and is still falling into place) out of that. 

2. What kind of research have you had to do to write Mercy’s background and the shifter/walker mythology? 

My mother was a children’s librarian in Montana—which meant I had a lot of Native American stories to read when I was growing up. My favorite comic book was Werewolf by Night (which were in my sister’s comic book collection). I read a lot of fairytales, mythologies and legends. So really, I had done the research for Mercy’s background before I ever wrote a novel. I have, since then, reread a lot and searched out stories I was not familiar with. For River Marked I lucked into a Native American storyteller who retold the Coyote story about She Who Watches on Youtube. I love rummaging through old books, searching the Internet and begging friends for stories. I never know when some tidbit will be useful—it’s all part of the fun . 


3. Mercy is one of my favorite fictional heroines because she is such a strong and independent woman but she still makes connections and relationships with those around her. Who are the fictional heroines you admire? 

Mercy says, “Thank you!” Meg Corbyn in Anne Bishop’s new series that began with Written in Red is a terrific character. She has that innocence paired with a steel plated backbone that Anne Bishop does so well. Love Kate Daniels (Ilona Andrews) because she’s tough, loyal to the bone and intelligent. She’s damaged, but still able to love and connect with the people around her. 


4. What made you decide to give Adam an ex-wife and a child? Had you always planned for him to have a previous family or did it emerge as you wrote him? 

It emerged as I wrote him. He didn’t seem to be someone who ran from life—and he’s a lot older than Mercy so he’s experienced more. It also seemed to be an interesting thing to put into the life of a man born to protect the people who are his. Jesse was a bonus, because I didn’t want a world peopled with only adults. 


5. Daniel Dos Santos’ covers are absolutely gorgeous! Is his version of Mercy the same as the one in your head or do you imagine her differently? 

I saw the sketches for the cover of Moon Called while I was still writing the book—and after that I pictured that person in my head as I wrote. That’s absolutely who I have in my head when I write Mercy (though I think Dan’s Mercy is prettier than Mercy thinks herself to be). 


6. What can we expect in the future for Mercy, Adam, Jesse, and the rest of the gang? 

This fall Ace is publishing Shifting Shadows, a collection of all the Mercy world stories that have been published and four more—for a total of ten stories. We’ve thrown in a couple of outtakes, one from Silver Born and another from Night Broken. 

I don’t have a date on it yet, but Dynamite and I are also putting together another original story for Mercy called Hopcross Jilly. We’re going straight to graphic novel format (not bringing out comic books) and I’m really excited about how well it’s going so far.


Thank you SO much for answering my questions Patricia!


Now enter to win your own copy of NIGHT BROKEN by Patricia Briggs! 

This giveaway is international as long as you live somewhere The Book Depository ships!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

34 comments:

  1. I've been reading paranormal / scifi stories for so many years, I can't even remember that far back. I remember reading Nina Bangs' books in the 90's, and then the first great series I read was Lynsay Sands Argeneau series.

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  2. The first Briggs I read was The Hob's Bargain - it took me a while to warm up to her urban fantasy. I do enjoy it now though, and am definitely looking forward to Night Broken - it's be fun to win, but I'll be reading it regardless.
    I was surprised by the comment on the covers, though - Mercy herself, and her attitude and body language, are great, but he puts way too many tattoos on her. She's only got the one... (canon, though I don't recall from which book).

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  3. Harry Potter, if you can believe it. After Harry Potter, I was desperate to find more books with complexity and supernatural elements. I discovered Meg Cabot's Mediator series soon after and that led me to urban fantasy. I discovered Patricia on a used book cart and was hooked with the first paragraph of Moon Called.

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  4. I'd have to say Sookie Stackhouse series got me started. Really looking forward to Night Broken!! Thank you for the giveaway! :)

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  5. What book(s) brought YOU into this genre?

    Hard to say, I've read fantasy with "real life" elements, or 'almost real life that wanders off' books for probably 40-50 years. Maybe "The Power of Three" by Diana Wynne Jones? Technically a kid's book, but a nice leader from 'doop doop doo, doing normal everyday things, and then there's an elf in the mix' or - as in "Archer's Goon", normal kid, bratty little sister, comes home for after school snack, and the babysitter (au pair) says "there's a goon in the kitchen, and he says he's not leaving until he gets Archer's 500 from your dad." And suddenly, things have gone left at the morning star.

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  6. Feehan's Carpathian series were probably the first books that got me interested in the paranormal though as a teen I used to read a lot of Gothic horror.

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  7. Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles got me starting in the paranormal/urban fantasy genre. I love Mercy Thompson.

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  8. I can't remember now which book started me off with the genre. For Patricia Briggs I found Charles and Anna first , loved it and then went to read the Mercy books.

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  9. Honest to God truth, Moon Called was, as far as I can remember, the first book I read in this genre, Blood Bound the second. Iron Kissed wasn't out yet by that time but I was hooked and eagerly scouring the internet for recommendations on similar books

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  10. I think for me it was when I read the Riley Jensen series by Keri Arthur. Then I read Moon Called and loved this genre even more. I also am reading Patricia Briggs' Alpha and Omega series which I love. Thanks for the giveaway.

    mythic021@gmail.com

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  11. Moon Called!!!! i was i a really desesperate time of my life everything seemed to go down i hadn't felt like reading for months ( oki more than a year even) and i found moon called ( french edition) i hesitated but indulged and i bought it, discoevring an heroine who knows to be strong and still compasionate, loyal and independdant it was all i needed and my love for books came back full force.
    i love this series ( and the fact the book release each time near my birthday is sucha sweet bonus)

    now discovering we will get an anthology with 10novella *_____* i'm so happy!!!! i wan,t!!!

    thank you so much for the interview and giveaway!

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  12. classic fantasy like anne mccaffrey, then moved onto PNR and UF more recently with Karen Marie Moning's 'fever' series, the Kate Daniels series and of course Patricia Briggs books as my faves. crossing my fingers x

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  13. amazing ^_^ thank you so much for this giveaway and interview *.* Love Patricia
    Raquel

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  14. The series that got me reading again and reading UF/PNR was Sookie, but Mercy was maybe the 4th series I read.

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  15. Wow, hard to remember what brought me into the genre. Laurell Hamilton maybe??

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  16. The Mercy series brought me into the UF genre, based on the cover to Iron Kissed alone. The vulnerable pose combined with the "don't mess with me, I will hurt you" attitude caught my eye. I had to know more!

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  17. For me, I don't remember. I was reading Patricia Briggs before Mercy came out. I loved her since I read Steal the Dragon and When Demons Walk. I bought a lot since I worked at B. Dalton at the time.

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  18. I can't remember my first paranormal/supernatural book.. I think it actually might have been Jim Butcher's Dresden files :-)

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  19. Twilight got me into reading fantasy and then came Vampire Academy and from there it's history C:

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  20. The books by Tamora Pierce eventually led me to find Patricia!

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  22. I can't give you a specific book. I remember as a kid, reading Terry Brooks' Kingdom For Sale Sold series. I've read Fantasy/ Sci Fi since. It hasn't been until recently that I've heard of Urban Fantasy, or Paranormal Romance. The sub genres are actually kinda confusing. A good book is a good book. It's a Fantasy, or Urban Fantasy, really, what's the difference? For 20+ years I've been reading. I can't remember the book that brought me to "Urban" Fantasy, but because of authors like Ms Briggs, I stay with it :)

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  23. I think Karen Marie Moning's Fever series

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  24. I just love this series!
    I can't give you just one book, I do know it started with the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost.
    Then I continued with the Fever series by KMM, Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neill, Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews, Charlie Davidson by Darynda Jones.

    SO many awesome series led me to this one, Can't wait to read this book!

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  25. Jeaniene Frost was the first paranormal author I've read. Thank you for the giveaway :)

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  26. I don't know how many contests I've entered for this book, but I'm ready to buy it. lol

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  27. I read so much I can't remember first anythings. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews was early on as was Moon Called.

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  28. Basically Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews and Kim Harrison - my main favourites ;)

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  29. The first book that got me in this genre was The Last Vampire by Christopher Pike. That was when the book first came out. I was in Junior High at the time. I then became addicted the L.J. Smith books. As I started to get older, I went for the Anita Blake series. Mercy is awesome and I have been reading her books since they first came out. I also read the Anna and Charles books.

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  30. I can't remember whether it was Kate Daniels or Mercy but it was definitely one of them.

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  31. Actually, it was the Mercy series that introduced me to this genre! Love Patricia Briggs' writing style.

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  32. Karen Marie Moning's "Fever" series got me hooked on UF books. I immediately followed that with the "Mercy" series.

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  33. Jeaniene Frost started it off I think.

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