Kelley Grant talks about her book and her cats

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The first time I heard about Kelley Grant was in an email from Caroline Perny, a HarperCollins publicist in New York. Caro said:

I wanted to share a forthcoming Harper Voyager Impulse book with you: DESERT RISING, on-sale 4/21. It’s a really special, entertaining epic fantasy from debut author Kelley Grant. Publishers Weekly recently awarded DESERT RISING a well-earned starred review, praising the Grant for the way she “…draws readers into her unusual setting with lively, well-rounded characters and a satisfyingly twisty plot. Thoughtful worldbuilding adds color and believability. Readers searching for a strong female protagonist and dangerous intrigue in a refreshing fantasy world will enjoy this impressive series opener.” I loved this book—it’s epic fantasy at its finest, with action, adventure, and a multi-layered plot that takes the reader from the inner-workings of a mysterious temple, to a city in the midst of a social uprising, and through a gorgeously drawn desert landscape.

I read Kelley’s novel and enjoyed it (review here). I know cat—human relationships have been done before but I’m a cat person. As I type, Smokey (a Russian Blue) is supervising me from the top of an armchair. We’re in the TV room hiding from our new housemates (2 humans and 1 cat). So you can imagine how pleased I was to interview Kelley and talk cats with her!

The video (MP4) file is below and the audio-only podcast (MP3) is at the top of this post.

You can find Kelley Grant on her website, her twitter and HarperCollins’s website.

Planned questions

You’ve just had your debut novel, Desert Rising, published. What can you tell us about your novel without huge spoilers?

Desert Rising has feli, large cats who are companion animals a little like Ann McCaffrey’s dragons except your feli channel deities. Why did you go down that path?

Religion is a major point of conflict and corruption in Desert Rising and yet you live in a religious country; what influenced you?

Where did your Forsaken come from?

What inspired you to write?

What works influenced you?

Why fantasy?

You’ve had a roundabout path to get here; can you tell us about that?

How does yoga help your writing?

You’re about to attend the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo; will this be your first time?

Have you attended any other expos or conventions?

What is your impression of these events?

Have you seen anyone cosplaying your characters yet?

What is coming next in terms of writing and life in general?

The traditional CJ question. Who would win: Superman vs Spiderman?

SF and Fantasy Author List

Kelley says:

These are authors I follow now or have followed, whose books I own more than two or three of. Some authors I own everything they’ve written. There are a few men in there — I forgot to mention how much I adore Charles DeLint! I didn’t list the single book authors or the non-SFF authors, though there are many more of those. Most of these I’ve reread many times. I realized while looking at them that I haven’t read some in decades! Guess I’ll have to put them on the reread list!