Interview with E.S Moore, author of the Kat Redding series

We’re so happy today to have on the blog E.S Moore, the author of an Urban Fantasy series: Kat Redding. His second novel: Tainted Night, Tainted Blood will be out on July 3rd. If you’re curious to read a review about the first one, you can find it here. We would like to thank E.S Moore for answering all our questions, it was a very interesting interview.
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Q: Can you introduce yourself in a few words?
A: I’m a boring author who spends my time at home. I tend to be shy despite the fact I want to interact with other authors and readers and bloggers. I wrote To Walk the Night, the first in the Kat Redding series and hope to write many, many more books. 
Q: How many books do you intend to write for this series?
A: It depends. If the series goes well, it could go on for quite a ways. I don’t think I’d want to go as many as twenty, but perhaps in the mid-teens. However, if the ideas start to feel stale, I think I would stop it well short of that as not to ruin the series by repeating myself or dragging things out just to have one more book. I think the minimum I would need to tell the story to my satisfaction is seven. Here’s hoping I’m allowed to get that far!
Q: Isn’t it difficult to find your own place in a world where UF authors are mostly women?
A: I don’t really think about it. I’d like to believe most people would look past the author’s gender and read the books regardless. I’ve never been one to care one way or the other, but do know that some do. I can’t change that, but do hope that I’ll fit right in when I get the chance to meet actual readers face to face!
Q: How did you end up writing Urban Fantasy books? Is there any other genre that appeal to you?
A: I read Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series and loved it and thought, “Why not?” I was getting into urban fantasy and wasn’t having much luck with anything else, so I gave it a go and it felt so natural to me, I kept at it. I eventually would like to write a series of unconnected horror novels that are set in the same world, much like Stephen King does with many of his books where characters know of events that happened in other books, though they might not have actually known the people involved. I also wouldn’t mind dabbling in epic fantasy and mysteries. Maybe I’ll just do it all!
Q: How did you end up writing about a woman as a main character instead of a man?
A: I’d written another urban fantasy series with a male lead who was pretty non-aggressive. I decided I wanted to write another series in case the other didn’t sell (it didn’t) and I wanted the voice and character to be completely different. When the idea for Kat hit me, I wasn’t trying to come up with a female character–just something different. I had one of those moments where a scene ran through my head and the lead was female, so I went with it. I never even once considered switching her to male because in my head, it was this strong, but flawed, female character. If I were to change it just because I was worried I’d writer her wrong, then the story would have flopped because I wasn’t being faithful to the character.
Q: Does the inspiration for the characters come from people you know?
A: Sometimes. Ethan has a lot of my qualities. Mikael is mostly a combination of two Swedish people I met in an online game (yes I am a nerd!) Every so often elements of people I know will pop in, but otherwise, the characters are originals. When there are elements of people I know, it is usually a homage to someone, like Mikael.
Q: Is there a character more difficult than the others to write?
A: Usually the side characters are more difficult for me than the main characters. If someone is meant to only pop in and die, or show up one book and never return, I sometimes feel as if I don’t make them individuals as much as I could. The main characters, to me, come before the story, so I tend to mentally flesh them out before I ever write them down, making them far easier to write. 
Q: Was it difficult to write the first book? How long did it take? Did it become easier with the second one?
A: Surprisingly, it wasn’t too hard to actually write the first book, though I wasn’t sure I was going to finish it. Part of me felt that because I was writing someone so drastically different than me, it wouldn’t work. In the end, I guess it did!
It took me about 15 months from beginning to end to finish To Walk the Night, but that was because I stopped early on and abandoned it for months. After I came back to it, it took about two months to write it from the early drafts. The second book took something like four months from first word until last edit. I struggled coming up with a plot because I honestly wasn’t expecting the series to get picked up. I mean, a male writing a female lead…that couldn’t work! I’m happy with how it ended up, though.
Q: Who is your favorite character in the series?
A: That’s hard to say. I think Ethan because he is a lot more like me than anyone else.
Q: Have you already other plans for future series? Or is it top secret?
A: I do and for now, it is my secret! I will say that while it is UF, it is entirely different than the Kat series. I really hope it gets to see the light of day!
Q: Can you tell us a little something about the second book?
A: Kat gets beaten down pretty hard, both mentally and physically! I think she really starts to grow and see how much her actions can impact others…and herself. 
Q: Did you need to do a lot of researches for your books?
A: Depends, really. I try to write in my comfort zone, but some things require a little digging. I’m not a gun person, so for the Kat series, I actually had to look up the gun and hope I didn’t mess it up too much. The same went for her motorcycle. Other than that, I tried to stick with things I knew.
Q: Do you have a favorite author? Or a favorite book?
A: I tend to enjoy mostly everything Stephen King does. The Stand Is the book that really stands out to me. 
Q: Where is your favorite place to write?
A: At home, at my desk. I’ve tried to write elsewhere in the house, but it never feels as comfortable to me as my desk. I’m not sure I could write anything anywhere else anymore.
Q: Because I’m curious: Have you ever been in France?
A: Nope! Never been out of the country, actually. I’ve barely even been out of the state of Ohio! I think I might need to start looking into traveling a bit more.
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Thanks again for everything. If you want to learn more about the series you can check the author’s website: http://www.esmoore.net/

10 thoughts on “Interview with E.S Moore, author of the Kat Redding series

  1. WOW I love the covers for the series 🙂 !!
    Thanks for the intervie Melliane !! I so have to pick up a copy of the first book because it sounds amazing.. Besides I don’t read enough books written by men and I love UF.

  2. “I tend to be shy despite the fact I want to interact with other authors and readers and bloggers.”

    I’m painfully shy to, though I love interacting with my favorite authors and my book bloggy friends.

    And hmmm… I always thought of UF to be male dominated, but I guess there has been quite the shift lately, though I think you’re right, doesn’t matter which gender wrote it as long as it’s good. 🙂

    Fun interview. Love the cover for your book!

  3. Very cool interview!! And comprehensive, I feel like I learned a lot about the author and series. I love UF AND kick butt female leads lol, so I’ll definitely have to check out Kat and “To Walk the Night.” Great title btw 🙂
    Ninja Girl

  4. Great interview – I never think of writers being shy as they have such vivid imaginations! I love my UF – doesn’t matter if it’s written by male of femail writers or who the main character is! 🙂

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