Author Interview with Tate Hallaway

This week author Tate Hallaway celebrated the release of her fifth Garnet Lacey book, Honeymoon of the Dead. Unfortunately it is also the last in the series and I have to say I will miss the witch and her goddesses!

Anyway I caught up with Tate to find out more about Honeymoon of the Dead and what she is up to next! I hope you all enjoy getting to know the author and if you haven't already tried her books that you decide to pick them up!

Enjoy!

-------------------------

Amber - Welcome to Amberkatze's Book Blog! It is great to have you here as a guest again! Could you start things off by telling us a little bit about your Garnet Lacey series and what has happened so far?

Tate - Garnet Lacey is a witch who, in order to protect herself from Vatican witch hunters, bonded with the dark goddess Lilith. To try to escape detection, she moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where she met the handsome, mysterious Sebastian Von Traum. Over the course of several books, they’ve had adventures and hilarious hijinx.

Amber - I have Honeymoon of the Dead, the newest installment, here ready to read. What can I expect from this fifth book in the series?

Tate – You can expect the sort of crazy adventures that Garnet tends to get involved in. Last book, it was the wedding from hell. This book, it’s the honeymoon.

Amber - How do you pick the names for your characters? Do they have any special meanings?

Tate - Garnet clearly does. She’s named after the semi-precious stone, but there probably isn’t anyone in fiction more unlike the solid, earthy-ness of her namesake. Sebastian is a name I’ve had floating around in my head for years. I’ve told myself stories about a version of Sebastian since high school.

Amber - Will there be more Garnet books? And I saw on Amazon that you have another vampire series coming out??

Tate - Alas, the publisher has decided that Honeymoon of the Dead will be the last in the Garnet Lacey series. BUT, Tall, Dark & Dead will be coming out from Berkley Sensation in mass market paperback format in late 2011.

I have a young adult novel coming out in August that's the beginning of a new series. It's called ALMOST TO DIE FOR, and I'm hard at work on the second one already. :-)

Amber - Garnet has seen a lot of paranormal action so far. How do you decide what to throw at her in each book?

Tate - Honestly, I think about all the books I like to read and think, “what would I do if I could play around with that kind of paranormal creature?” I’d been planning one with fairies, which will have to be shelved for now, because I’ve read a bunch of fairy books and I’d love to add to the oeuvre.

Amber - I am sure that being an author has its ups and downs. What experiences have you had so far?

Tate - Probably the most difficult was becoming Tate. I used to be a science fiction writer, you know. Science fiction is a much tougher sell, so when my editor and I brainstormed about the next project he suggested a genre and name change. I find that my science fiction colleagues are a lot cooler to me now that I’ve established myself as a romance writer. I struggle with that a lot because science fiction is still my first love. But, as Tate I continue to be very successful, so I’m _so_ not complaining!

Amber - Honeymoon of the Dead has a new cover style. What happened there? How much say do you have in the book publishing process?

Tate - Very little. I’m sometimes asked for a scene that I might think would make a good cover, but I don’t sit in on cover committees, so, in the end, it’s more like: “Here’s the finished product! Hope you like it.”

I’m a bit disappointed that my publisher decided to try something new for the cover of the last book in this series. I don’t know about you, but I like it when I can instantly tell if a book is part of a series, the same package. The cover for Honeymoon has its lovely points, but I would have liked to see the same look all the way through.

Amber - Alot of authors have 'soundtracks' for their books. Is there any music that influenced your books?

Tate - I’m not one of the cool kids. I actually tend to write to silence or an approximation there in, like the white noise of a busy coffee shop. If I listen to music at all, it will be a single song, on low, on a continual loops so that I’m not tempted to stop and sing along.

Amber - What books do you enjoy reading? Do you have any favourite authors/series?

Tate – Currently, I’m really enjoying Lilith Saintcrow’s Dante Valentine series. The first one being Working for the Devil. I also just finished Caitlin Kittredege’s first Black London novel, Street Magic.

Amber - There are a lot of online sites taking up people’s time lately. Are you on Facebook or any other sites? Do you think the sites are useful or do they just take up too much of your time?

Tate - I’m on them on, and I blog in a couple of places too. Are they time wasters? Sure, to some extent, but I also think readers expect to connect to authors on these kinds of social platforms. It’s just a new reality in the business. I’ll admit, however, that I’m probably too old to properly utilize Twitter. I find I like Facebook and blogging, but for some reason I’m still kind of baffled by Twitter.

Amber - If you could be any paranormal creature, what would you be and why?

Tate – Shape shifters have their appeal, but perhaps one of the faerie one’s, like a puca, perhaps, because I’d like to be immortal. I think some days I _am_ a zombie, but that’s only before I’ve had my first caffeine of the day!

Amber - Thank you for being a guest on Amberkatze's Book Blog again! I hope you will come back again!

Tate – I’d love to. Thank you for having me.