Interview with Christina Herny and Giveaway!!!

Hello my dear readers!

Today is the first day of my special event Santa´s Book Bash!

So for today I´m having Christina Henry over, author of one of my most favorite Urban Fantasy books this year, “Black Wings”. Please help me welcome Christina Henry!!!

Welcome Christina and thank you so much for stopping by for this interview!

Thanks for having me here, Christine!

For all my readers who haven´t heard about “Black Wings” yet, could you sum up the story in your own words?

Maddy Black is an Agent of death. It’s an inherited job with no pay. She’s broke, she’s stressed and she’s got to rent the apartment in her building if she wants to have some income. She takes on a new tenant who winds up bringing a whole host of new supernatural problems with him. She’s also got a very mouthy gargoyle with a bad popcorn habit who loves to express his opinion on everything.

What inspired you to write about Fallen Angels?

I originally had an idea to write a story about the Grim Reaper. As I started writing and working out the mythology for the Agency I decided I could work in the Fallen – it seemed like a natural fit. Plus, at the time there weren’t really any fallen angel books out on the market and I wanted something to distinguish the book from all the vampires and werewolves (not that vampires and werewolves are bad – I just wanted to do something a little different).

You book also deals with a corporate side of death. Is the way souls are handled in your book something you wish to be true?

No, I just really thought it was funny if death was a giant bureaucracy. I also wanted the job to be something Maddy couldn’t wriggle out of. I don’t think it’s a job that anyone would volunteer for so I wanted her to be locked in to a set of responsibilities. Then when all the monsters start showing up she’s got to do her job and deal with this new set of stressors – just like everyone else who has to juggle their work life and home life and so on. Even though she has a supernatural job I wanted her to be relatable.

Speaking of managing death, J.B. was one of the most interesting characters in this book and he really surprised me in the end. Can you tell a bit more about him? Do we get to see more of him in “Black Night”?

J.B. is definitely going to play a bigger role in the next book. You also get to meet his mother - he has a cryptic comment about his mom in Black Wings that I never expanded on. His mother is a major player in the world of Black Wings and both J.B. and his mom will be around for the foreseeable future. I can’t tell you too much more than that without giving away some of the twists in the sequel.

The world you created is very detailed, rich and vivid and the fallen angels very different from others you read about. Besides Christian mythology, is there anything else that influenced you story?

I didn’t really consult too many existing mythologies. I went to Wikipedia and looked up some angelic names and then I checked out the existing definitions for nephilim and the Grigori. After that I tried to stay away from research because I wanted to mythology of the story to be totally my own.

How many books have you planned for the series? Or rather, how many books would you like to write? Do you have the story planned for more than two books?

Right now there are three books planned for the series. I’d like to do a couple more after that but it will probably be up to the publisher! :)

How does your typical writing day look like? Do you have a special routine?

I don’t have a special routine but I do try to hit a certain page count each day that I write. At the beginning of the book I write 5-8 pages per day. As the book progresses I try to write 8-10 pages per day.

I usually try to get the bulk of my writing done while my son is at school. He’s at preschool only 2 ½ hours a day right now so some days it’s a challenge to hit that page count. If I can’t hit my page count for the day I finish up my writing day after my son goes to bed, but it’s definitely harder for me to write in the evening. I’m a morning person!

Tell us something about your favourites:
Favourite authors?

Some of my favorite writers are Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Neil Gaiman, Jane Austen, Richard Russo, and Stephen King.

favourite paranormal creature?

Even though my book does not feature them I am really partial to stories with werewolves.

favourite all time hero/heroine?

Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy from “Pride and Prejudice”!

favourite villain?

Guy of Gisborne from the BBC’s “Robin Hood”. I love Richard Armitage!

Which one do you prefer, book or e-reader?

I definitely prefer books. I’m very analog :) I like the feeling of a book in my hand.

favourite holiday?

It’s probably a UF stereotype, but I love Halloween! I just love the autumn weather and spooky stories.

Due to a recent event with my own laptop during NaNoWriMo: did you ever have a major computer catastrophe/problem during writing? And how many back-up copies do you usually have?

Luckily I’ve never had a major catastrophe (knock on wood). I usually have two external drive back up copies when I’m working on each book, and I try to print out a hard copy every 100 pages or so. If all else fails then I would at least have the hard copy.

Is there a book you love above all? One that had a great influence on you or your life?

The book that had the biggest influence on my life was probably J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”. I read it when I was twelve and decided then and there that I wanted to be a writer.

What are you reading at the moment/planning to read/waiting for to be released?

I’ve really been in the mood for cozy mysteries lately, so I’ve been discovering some series that have been out for a while and starting from the beginning. Right now I’m reading Cleo Coyle’s Coffeehouse Mystery series – it has a great narrator and a wonderful NYC setting.

And finally: Is there anything you want to say to your/my readers?

Thank you so much for checking out the interview, and I really hope that you enjoy Black Wings!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!

And now for the fun part:

I´m giving away a copy of “Black Wings”! To enter, fill out the form below and leave a comment if you want to!

It´s open internationally (or wherever Book Despository ships), no double entries and it´s open until the next giveaway!