Popular character returns in zombie novel
Author compares writing process to setting up and executing science experiment
Vancouver scientist and fantasy writer Kristi Charish has brought back to life Kincaid Strange in the new book Lipstick Voodoo. In this second novel the voodoo loving Kincaid has a lot on her plate, including some murders and a roommate who comes home tied to a dead body. What’s a girl to do? Pick up the book and find out.
Charish, who has a PhD in zoology from UBC, recently took some time to answer a few questions about her fiery protagonist and what it means to be a “pantser.” Q What was it about Kincaid Strange that made you want to revisit her world? A
Kincaid is an interesting woman and I enjoy developing her on the page. The novel also centres around a version of the Seattle Underground city the dead inhabit which means I get to play with west coast frontier history. From shanghaied sailors to drugged and drowned victims left under the pier, the West Coast of the 1800s was peopled with a damnable creative bunch. Q: How does your Ph.D in zoology help with your novel writing? A: Designing experiments and plotting a novel share more in common than you’d think. They both require logic and a process of elimination. In fiction, my hypothesis is what I think it’s realistic characters will do. The writing is the experiment, and if I’m right, (i.e., the result) people keep reading. A PhD also doesn’t hurt when I’m writing about murder and (occasionally) zombified bodies. Q
Why are zombies such a thing? A
It’s a bit of a misconception that the Kincaid series is about zombies, in part due to our current obsession with the mindless horde. We’re surrounded by a mindless zombielike horde 24/7 — a crowded coffee shop, a packed bus, constant social media updates. But though there are zombies in my Kincaid Strange books, the series is more focused on the land of the dead. I’m drawn to the question of what happens to a character’s development when the thing we’re almost universally terrified of — death — happens. We obsess over bills, clothes, cleaning, work, chores, TV, celebrity entertainment, debt — and they’re the things people ultimately
regret worrying about at the end. I like working with dead (or undead) characters because the obsession with life is out of the equation. What do they do in their afterlife? Do they finally concentrate on the important things they avoided while living or do they just find more mundane things to fill the void? It’s an interesting question. Q What is the appeal of urban fantasy? A
The appeal? Urban fantasy (fantasy in a world very much like our own) often uses a hidden supernatural underworld running beneath polite society in lieu of the criminal underworld. It adds a layer of escapism. It’s easier to discuss troubling topics in a setting where things aren’t quite ‘real,’ and it gives the writer license to treat the topics with more lightness and add a spin of dark humour. It makes the real topics we’re discussing less threatening and, for a lot of fans, an enjoyable escape to another familiar but different world. Q
What do you look for in a good female protagonist? A
Unlikability. Women are under a tremendous amount of pressure to be feminine, caring, sympathetic, nice — and that’s before you add the physical expectations. Likable is a cage, and I love the women who are bucking the trend.
I find Wynona Earp and Jessica Jones fascinating and very watchable ‘unlikable’ women. Q
You have a lot going on in this book, many storylines. When you
sit down to write something new do you have a complete outline? How do you approach a new project? A I’m what you call a ‘pantser,’ meaning I tend to write by the seat of my pants. That doesn’t mean I’m writing without any anchor — the method that works best for me is to write three chapters to start my novel off and then write the last chapter and epilogue. It gives me a start and a finish line, and I can fill in the blanks with more agility than if I had a detailed outline. Q What did you read when you were a teenager? A
I had very eclectic tastes. Tamora Pierce’s Alanna fantasy series was incredibly influential as well as everything by James Clavell (King Rat and Taipan were my favourites). Q You did four books in your Owl series and now this is the second Kincaid Strange book. First off, will there be more Kincaid Strange? Second, what is it about a series that you enjoy? A
There is one more Kincaid Strange book, Voodoo Shanghai. Once I’ve created a world and the characters that inhabit it, it’s fun to revisit. Characters grow and develop, and there’s something comforting about returning to a place where I make up the rules. It’s not unlike tuning into a favourite TV procedural. Q
Do you start out thinking about a series? A
I write a first book as a standalone but leave the ending open for a series. It gives me and publishers options. Q What are you working on now? A I have a few novels on my plate — something a little more thriller, something I hope channels my love of Carl Hiaasen, and a fantasy or two. There are also the edits for Kincaid 3 that need attending. Q Do you have any advice for surviving a zombie apocalypse? A
Firearms look great in a video game but they’re noisy. And whatever you do, make sure you keep a pinball machine with all its distracting bells and whistles close.