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Katie MacAlister Q&A: Dark Ones, sexy vampires and a dragon fix

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Much Ado About Vampires by Katie MacAlisterKatie MacAlister writes about sexy vampires… and sexy dragon shifters… and her characters have a wicked sense of humor. (You quit reading after “sexy vampires,” didn’t you?) I love her sense of humor and her ability to keep the wry wit in her paranormal novels. With her ninth Dark Ones novel Much Ado About Vampires just hitting shelves, it was time to corner the super busy author and get a few details on the latest vampire hero, his conflicted beloved and just what’s next in the series.

Vampire Book Club: Thanks for joining us, Katie! We love the sexy Dark Ones series. For the uninitiated, what makes the vampires in Dark Ones different?

Katie MacAlister: I twisted the basic vampire lore around a bit to accommodate the things that I really love, such as a need for one particular woman to redeem the Dark One’s soul, the ability to go out into sunlight without bursting into spontaneous combustion (although they still get burned), and of course, a wicked sense of humor. I just love a man with a sense of humor, and it struck me that any man who was doomed to wander the earth without a soul or someone to save him, and yet still had a sense of humor, was someone I wanted to write about. 🙂

Vampire Book Club: You’ve given us many a gorgeous vampire. What makes Much Ado About Vampires’ Alec so special (and irresistible)?

Katie MacAlister: Alec has a unique perspective in my books because he found and lost his Beloved many centuries before. So everything he did was tainted by the knowledge that he would never know happiness or real love, and never escape the perpetual torment that was bound around him by the loss of that woman.

And yet despite that, he continued on. He was a man of honor, even if he performed some dishonorable acts in his time, he was comfortable with himself, and he truly valued those friendships that he had established over time.

He is also sexy as hell, has the requisite sense of humor that I insist on in all my heroes, and he’s very, very noble. He will do whatever it takes to protect the love of his life, and he doesn’t care who knows it.

Vampire Book Club: Cora, the heroine in the latest Dark Ones novel, has a past-life connection to her vampire. Would Cora have been open to loving a vampire if she didn’t learn she’d done it before?

Katie MacAlister: I think Cora’s reluctance to accept vampires stems a lot from her religious upbringing, so she probably would still have had some issues to overcome. However, she has a loving nature, and I have no doubt that as soon as she met Alec, she would have started working through her issues to realize that he wasn’t the demonic being that many people think of when they dwell upon vampires.

Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie MacAlisterVampire Book Club: You write a crazy number of books (and we thank you). Do you work on multiple projects at once, and if so how do you manage to flit between Dark Ones and, say, a historical?

Katie MacAlister: I always write one book at a time, but usually when I’m writing one, I have to do edits on another book, and be promoting a third. Luckily, I’m comfortable enough in all the genres I write so my brain can switch gears pretty easily.

When I go from writing one genre to another, I find that some preliminary research helps get my mindset where I need it. So if I’m switching from a paranormal to a historical, I’ll devote some time to doing historical research just to get my brain on the correct setting.

Vampire Book Club: We first met Alec back in Zen and the Art of Vampires. Any hints as to who might pop up again in the series and get his HEA?

Katie MacAlister: The next Dark Ones book will feature Ben’s dad (from In the Company of Vampires) as the hero, which is hugely exciting to me for a number of reasons, mostly because I’ll be incorporating time travel elements into the book. But after that one…I’m not sure what Dark One will pop up to claim his happy happy, or whether it might be someone knew. We’ll just have to wait to see what the muse produces.

Vampire Book Club: While it’s the Vampire Book Club, I can’t help but like the Light Dragons series. Which is more fun for you – vampires or dragons?

Katie MacAlister: I really love writing both. I like the vamp books because I like exploring new elements of the Otherworld in relationship to the vampires, and also because the books are as connected as I want them to be—sometimes they follow a definite story arc, and other times, they’re very stand-alone.

But that said, I also love the dragons for the fact that they have a huge story arc that covers multiple books. But the most fun I have with them is the complex politics that goes on in weyr, and how the septs interact with each other.

Luckily, I can pop between the two series and get my vampire and dragon fix as needed. 🙂

Vampire Book Club: Now that Much Ado is hitting shelves, what books are up next for you?

Katie MacAlister: I’ve just finished a novella featuring the Guardian Noelle, who has appeared in numerous of my books, and will be starting the tenth Dark Ones book. After that…gah. My brain doesn’t want to think that far ahead. If I get the vamp book done early, I may use some time to write a book that’s not on my schedule. I have a list of books I want to write: more steampunk, another historical, another Karma Marx book…it just depends on how much free time I have, and what deadlines are looming on the calendar.

5 Responses to “Katie MacAlister Q&A: Dark Ones, sexy vampires and a dragon fix”

  1. ChandraGay says:

    Sssssssssssizzle upon the chest

  2. love that commemt , me wanna hav

  3. Viki S. says:

    Oh I think I’ll be reading another dragon book soon :).
    vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com

  4. Great interview! I am currently reading the Aisling Grey series at the moment and I am totally in love!

    Suzanne

  5. I read all of The Dark Ones series and loved the sense of humor. The sexual tension is always there but, she puts in her own twists that make it worth reading. This book Much to do about vampires was interesting to read. I enjoyed Alec and his past makes him who he is and Cora comes to terms with his past. Good series for the lighter side of paranormal romance to begin with.~

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