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Guest Blog: Caitlin Kittredge
Aug. 23rd, 2011 03:50 pmOK, one of my vows over the summer was to try to do more guest blogs from SF&F authors when their new books come out, since blogs are one of the only ways to find books in this ever changing publishing world. I know I can't find all the stuff I want by going to the bookstore anymore, since there's no guarantee that it will be on the shelf. And since bookstores seem to be fading. And I can't find anything I don't already know is coming out at the online sites. The art of browsing the shelf and finding that unknown author or great book you've never heard of is becoming harder and harder to practice.
So, guest blogs to the rescue! Today, we have Caitlin Kittredge, here to tell us about the inspiration behind her latest book Devil's Business. Check it out!
Caitlin Kittredge speaks:
I get this question--I think all professional authors do--a whole lot: where do you get your inspiration? I don't hate the question, but I do hate that I can't answer it. Inspiration comes from everywhere. Authors owe it to themselves to be open to all sources. It's an impossible question, but since I've been talking up my new book, Devil's Business, nonstop for the past month, I thought I'd take a break and figure out what did, well, inspire me.
I've always been a true crime aficionado--I read The Stranger Beside Me when I was 11 or 12, and as much as I'm fascinated with (and write about) mythological monsters, the human ones fascinate me even more.
One big element of Devil's Business was the mythology of serial killers. Specifically, American serial killers, the kind that worm their way into our cultural lexicon. Americans may not know all the details of Teddy Roosevelt's presidency, but you can bet they know all about Ted Bundy. Jeffrey Dahmer can invoke shudders quicker than any horror movie slasher. John Wayne Gacy single-handedly ruined clowns for all future generations (with a little help from Stephen King.) One of the best stories in the Sandman comics is about serial killers. They're a bigger cultural boogeyman than any supernatural monster.
Of course, that didn't stop me from throwing in a dash of the paranormal, because that's what I write. I needed a backdrop of true weirdness for the story, and naturally, Los Angeles was the place. Where better to showcase a standoff between an errant mage and a group of demon spree killers? Charles Manson, the Night Stalker and the Hillside Strangler all called the place home. LA is an inspired location, soaked in the glitter of the film industry and the dark magic of glamor gone wrong.
So those were two of the major elements, but only two out of dozens--I also drew on the cult of Santa Muerte, old Hollywood and its fading film stars (very Sunset Boulevard), real-life occult artifacts and the strange, strange subculture that thrives on collecting them, and some good old-fashioned noir punch-ups and double crosses.
I'll never complain about getting asked about my inspiration, but I hope at least in the case of Devil's Business, you can see where it came from.
Author Bio: Caitlin Kittredge writes speculative fiction for both the adult and YA market. Her Black London series is a regional bestseller and her Iron Codex novels for young adults have been described as "the next Hunger Games." Caitlin lives in Massachusetts, where she plots, schemes, and tries to keep her cats from knocking things off her bookshelves. You can follow her on twitter via @caitkitt.
So, guest blogs to the rescue! Today, we have Caitlin Kittredge, here to tell us about the inspiration behind her latest book Devil's Business. Check it out!
Caitlin Kittredge speaks:
I get this question--I think all professional authors do--a whole lot: where do you get your inspiration? I don't hate the question, but I do hate that I can't answer it. Inspiration comes from everywhere. Authors owe it to themselves to be open to all sources. It's an impossible question, but since I've been talking up my new book, Devil's Business, nonstop for the past month, I thought I'd take a break and figure out what did, well, inspire me.
I've always been a true crime aficionado--I read The Stranger Beside Me when I was 11 or 12, and as much as I'm fascinated with (and write about) mythological monsters, the human ones fascinate me even more.
One big element of Devil's Business was the mythology of serial killers. Specifically, American serial killers, the kind that worm their way into our cultural lexicon. Americans may not know all the details of Teddy Roosevelt's presidency, but you can bet they know all about Ted Bundy. Jeffrey Dahmer can invoke shudders quicker than any horror movie slasher. John Wayne Gacy single-handedly ruined clowns for all future generations (with a little help from Stephen King.) One of the best stories in the Sandman comics is about serial killers. They're a bigger cultural boogeyman than any supernatural monster.
Of course, that didn't stop me from throwing in a dash of the paranormal, because that's what I write. I needed a backdrop of true weirdness for the story, and naturally, Los Angeles was the place. Where better to showcase a standoff between an errant mage and a group of demon spree killers? Charles Manson, the Night Stalker and the Hillside Strangler all called the place home. LA is an inspired location, soaked in the glitter of the film industry and the dark magic of glamor gone wrong.
So those were two of the major elements, but only two out of dozens--I also drew on the cult of Santa Muerte, old Hollywood and its fading film stars (very Sunset Boulevard), real-life occult artifacts and the strange, strange subculture that thrives on collecting them, and some good old-fashioned noir punch-ups and double crosses.
I'll never complain about getting asked about my inspiration, but I hope at least in the case of Devil's Business, you can see where it came from.
Author Bio: Caitlin Kittredge writes speculative fiction for both the adult and YA market. Her Black London series is a regional bestseller and her Iron Codex novels for young adults have been described as "the next Hunger Games." Caitlin lives in Massachusetts, where she plots, schemes, and tries to keep her cats from knocking things off her bookshelves. You can follow her on twitter via @caitkitt.
