Ask the Author: Gini Koch
Answered Questions (28)
Gini Koch
Kill me now but I'm still working on the rewrite. I really hope to have excellent news soon, but life has been a super duper rollercoaster and it's slowed me down. But slow and not moving are not the same thing, so hopefully I'll know something I can share sooner as opposed to later!
Gini Koch
I'm hoping that Skyboat ends up doing the entire series. BUT, that all depends on how well the Touched by an Alien audiobook does. If it sells well, then we get Alien Tango, if that sells well, then Alien in the Family, and so on. So, digits crossed that the first audiobook does well enough to get us the second, and so on!
Gini Koch
Well, when I wrote it, it was like Kitty was sitting next to me, telling me what went on, so it definitely felt channeled. Most of the series does, since I'm an extreme linear writer. But I'm curious about your question, so now it's your turn! Why are you asking? :-D
Gini Koch
Hopefully. It's a long (behind the scenes) story about why they aren't out in audio yet. But hope springs eternal and we are not giving up. So, yes, somewhere in the future, I hope to have the whole series on audiobook. :-D
Gini Koch
Hey Jori,
Since the last quarter of 2016 life has just been pounding at my family and moving across the country was only part of that. I've been buckling under the pressure. Plus, Aliens Like Us wasn't done and needed a lot of work to be the book in my head that I've described to my editor. We made the hard choice to pull it off the schedule so that I could do a reset and feel the joy, versus the pressure, of writing. Aliens Like Us WILL be done and back on the schedule once I finish it, but I needed to admit that I couldn't keep up the pace after the last couple of years. So, Kitty will be coming back, just a little slower than originally planned.
KOBO should have Books 1-16 available. Let me know if they don't, because there's no reason they shouldn't.
Since the last quarter of 2016 life has just been pounding at my family and moving across the country was only part of that. I've been buckling under the pressure. Plus, Aliens Like Us wasn't done and needed a lot of work to be the book in my head that I've described to my editor. We made the hard choice to pull it off the schedule so that I could do a reset and feel the joy, versus the pressure, of writing. Aliens Like Us WILL be done and back on the schedule once I finish it, but I needed to admit that I couldn't keep up the pace after the last couple of years. So, Kitty will be coming back, just a little slower than originally planned.
KOBO should have Books 1-16 available. Let me know if they don't, because there's no reason they shouldn't.
Gini Koch
A little bit but not really. I used existing pics of "other ships" that I cribbed from, basically. :-D
I tend to draw fight scenes, or scenes with a lot of active characters, so that I know where everyone is, but that's stick figures and lines. LOL
I tend to draw fight scenes, or scenes with a lot of active characters, so that I know where everyone is, but that's stick figures and lines. LOL
Gini Koch
Yes, there will (I swear, there will LOL). I'm about halfway through Night Music, which is book 2, and I have 7 books planned in the series at this time. I just got hit with a lot of "life" things in the past few years that pub me WAY behind schedule on almost everything and my contracted works, especially for the Alien series, take precedence. But there WILL be more stories about Victoria and her team coming!
I will have a prequel short story set in the NEF universe and starring Victoria coming in the Cackle of Cthulhu anthology, coming out later this year, so a tiny fix is on the way. :-D
I will have a prequel short story set in the NEF universe and starring Victoria coming in the Cackle of Cthulhu anthology, coming out later this year, so a tiny fix is on the way. :-D
Gini Koch
Katherine "Kitty" Katt and Jeff Martini, because they gave me my career. :-D
If we mean couples I didn't write (and I'm betting we do, LOL), then I think my favorite romantic couple is Meg and Calvin from A Wrinkle in Time, because the smart girl got the cool boy who was also smart. My favorite non-romantic couples are Holmes & Watson and Granny Weatherwax & Nanny Ogg from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, because friendship matters as much as romance, and sometimes it matters more, and I love the interplay between these two particular sets of friends.
If we mean couples I didn't write (and I'm betting we do, LOL), then I think my favorite romantic couple is Meg and Calvin from A Wrinkle in Time, because the smart girl got the cool boy who was also smart. My favorite non-romantic couples are Holmes & Watson and Granny Weatherwax & Nanny Ogg from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, because friendship matters as much as romance, and sometimes it matters more, and I love the interplay between these two particular sets of friends.
Gini Koch
Wow, Goodreads says that this question is 10 months old...and yet, I only saw it today. Ah, the interwebs. And sorry for the extremely slow reply!
At any rate, yes, alt.sherlock.holmes is out in all formats now. http://amzn.to/2bMWZmc
At any rate, yes, alt.sherlock.holmes is out in all formats now. http://amzn.to/2bMWZmc
Gini Koch
In no particular order: Terry Pratchett, Robert Silverberg, Charles Dickens, Robert Benchley, Dave Barry, A. Conan Doyle, O. Henry, P.J. O'Rourke, Mark Twain, Madeleine L'Engel... and then every other author I've ever read. I think we're influenced by everything we read, watch, etc. So everything I've ever read influenced me in some way, whether I loved it, loathed it, or didn't care much about it.
Specifically, O. Henry taught me how much can be done in a short story, A.Conan Doyle created my lifelong love of mysteries, Robert Silverberg showed me that you can write anything and everything and sound different while doing it, Madeleine L'Engel (and all those who wrote Nancy Drew mysteries, too) showed me that girls could be the heroes, Mark Twain showed how to do social commentary in an entertaining way, Dave Barry and P.J. O'Rourke make me laugh while still having something to say, Charles Dickens is a literary god for a variety of reasons, and Terry Pratchett taught me everything there was to learn about mixing humor into novels and still being able to hold a meaningful mirror up to society while writing an ever-growing, long-running series while at the same time creating a giant cast of indelible and beloved characters.
But Robert Benchley showed me, when I stumbled onto his humor collections decades after he was gone, that good humor is timeless. And for that I may love him most of all.
Specifically, O. Henry taught me how much can be done in a short story, A.Conan Doyle created my lifelong love of mysteries, Robert Silverberg showed me that you can write anything and everything and sound different while doing it, Madeleine L'Engel (and all those who wrote Nancy Drew mysteries, too) showed me that girls could be the heroes, Mark Twain showed how to do social commentary in an entertaining way, Dave Barry and P.J. O'Rourke make me laugh while still having something to say, Charles Dickens is a literary god for a variety of reasons, and Terry Pratchett taught me everything there was to learn about mixing humor into novels and still being able to hold a meaningful mirror up to society while writing an ever-growing, long-running series while at the same time creating a giant cast of indelible and beloved characters.
But Robert Benchley showed me, when I stumbled onto his humor collections decades after he was gone, that good humor is timeless. And for that I may love him most of all.
Gini Koch
Hey Heather!
I'm so glad you're enjoying the books! Right now I'm contracted through Book 15 for the Alien series, but my hope is to get to 16-20, and maybe beyond. :-D (Kitty assures me things will never be dull for her for a long time to come. LOL)
As for Night Music, which is Necropolis Enforcement Files #2, it was supposed to be out earlier this year, but I gave myself a concussion in October (by slamming my head onto the top of the inside of the fridge...don't ask, it's just part of the Magic that is Moi LOL) and that put me back 8 weeks. The contracted books need to come first, so I had to put Night Music aside, but it IS coming and I'm hopeful that I'll get it done this year.
In the meantime, I have lots of short stories in various anthologies out and coming out, and will have a novella follow up to my short story in the Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets anthology out this summer, along with re-releases of the first two installments of the Martian Alliance Chronicles and the brand new third installment as well. So, keep your eyes peeled here and at my website (http://www.ginikoch.com/bookstore.htm). :-D
I'm so glad you're enjoying the books! Right now I'm contracted through Book 15 for the Alien series, but my hope is to get to 16-20, and maybe beyond. :-D (Kitty assures me things will never be dull for her for a long time to come. LOL)
As for Night Music, which is Necropolis Enforcement Files #2, it was supposed to be out earlier this year, but I gave myself a concussion in October (by slamming my head onto the top of the inside of the fridge...don't ask, it's just part of the Magic that is Moi LOL) and that put me back 8 weeks. The contracted books need to come first, so I had to put Night Music aside, but it IS coming and I'm hopeful that I'll get it done this year.
In the meantime, I have lots of short stories in various anthologies out and coming out, and will have a novella follow up to my short story in the Two Hundred and Twenty-One Baker Streets anthology out this summer, along with re-releases of the first two installments of the Martian Alliance Chronicles and the brand new third installment as well. So, keep your eyes peeled here and at my website (http://www.ginikoch.com/bookstore.htm). :-D
Gini Koch
I have several Alien series short stories available in a variety of anthologies: "A Clockwork Alien" is in Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens; "Support Your Local Alien" is coming in the Unidentified Funny Objects 4 anthology out later this year; "Alien Time Warp" is coming in the Temporally Out of Order anthology (releasing in the next month or so), which is set during Alien Separation. I also have three shorts that were in Penumbra eMagazine, "Alien on the Runway", "Alien Pick-Up", and "Mr. Dash Saves the World".
However, I'm unlikely to do a "day in the life" of Kitty and Jeff when there's nothing going on. It sounds interesting but, in reality, normal life is boring, which is why we don't write about that. LOL
I'll be pulling together a collection of all these shorts along with new ones that will probably release in 2016 or 2017, and there could be a Day In The Life story in that collection. But, otherwise, no plans beyond that for something that isn't action-oriented. :-D
However, I'm unlikely to do a "day in the life" of Kitty and Jeff when there's nothing going on. It sounds interesting but, in reality, normal life is boring, which is why we don't write about that. LOL
I'll be pulling together a collection of all these shorts along with new ones that will probably release in 2016 or 2017, and there could be a Day In The Life story in that collection. But, otherwise, no plans beyond that for something that isn't action-oriented. :-D
Gini Koch
I keep a spreadsheet of the characters -- names, what book they came into the series on, who they're related to, what their talents are, etc. I usually don't have Character A say Character B's lines or do Character B's job. But I do sometimes forget that Characters D and F are in a scene...and then have to go back and ensure they get worked back into the scene smoothly. As for a special technique, I guess it's just all in my head, so it's all in my head, if you know what I mean. LOL
Gini Koch
The same as for all the rest of the series, Dan Dos Santos. He's the greatest artist, isn't he?
Gini Koch
Funny you should ask that. :-D I'll be re-releasing The Royal Scam, and Three Card Monte from the Martian Alliance Chronicles, along with the third installment, A Bug's Life, later this year. More will be coming on the Martian Alliance Chronicles, too, and I'm getting things ready to get The Neighborhood series going out again, as well as The New West series. The three Jemma Chase stories that were at Musa and Penumbra are available now, in a collection with two others: The Disciple and Other Stories of the Paranormal. Up at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U5947VO), Smashwords, B&N, CreateSpace, etc. The Alien series shorts that were in Penumbra will be included in an Alien series short story collection that will be out probably sometime in 2016, though it could be 2017, depending on when the rights to some other stories come back to me. So, long story short (too late), yes! :-D
Gini Koch
1. Yes. LOL
2. Soon. I'm waiting for the final cover approval so I can premiere it but it is A-MA-ZING.
2. Soon. I'm waiting for the final cover approval so I can premiere it but it is A-MA-ZING.
Gini Koch
Well, I live spoiler free, so all I can say is that you need to keep on reading the books. :-D (Book 10/Universal Alien just released in December, so you have lots to catch up on!)
Gini Koch
That depends on sales, and I don't know what they are (may know when royalty statements come in, but I'm not sure how the audiobook company reports, so it's all a mystery right now). Penguin & DAW control that, so, if the sales on Touched were good, hopefully Tango will get its shot. (They make great Christmas gifts...just sayin'. LOL)
Gini Koch
Well, as an author, you go where they pay you and want your stories. :-D The Alien shorts are a prequel and a between-the-books short, so you could read the series without them, but, of course, I want you to read them all. LOL You should be able to find all back issues of Penumbra here: http://penumbra.musapublishing.com/pa... You can subscribe to Penumbra from that page as well. You can also still order a year's subscription for half price for the rest of this month, using the code 2014Gini. Universal Alien (Book 10) comes out December 2, 2014, so not too long of a wait now, relatively speaking. :-D
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