Welcome to Smugglivus – Day 30!

Throughout this month, we will have daily guests – authors and bloggers alike – looking back at their favorite reads of 2009, and looking forward to events and upcoming books in 2010.

Today’s Guest: Today we bring you our interview with Nancy Holzner, author of new Urban Fantasy novel Deadtown (reviewed yesterday by Thea HERE).

Please give a warm welcome to Nancy!

The Book Smugglers: First and foremost, thanks for taking the time to “chat” with us! Your new novel Deadtown is a gritty urban fantasy, set in an alternate version of Boston. Can you tell us a bit about your book, and why you chose Boston for your paranormal setting?

Nancy: Thanks so much for inviting me! I’m excited to be here, and I’d love to say a few things about my novel. Deadtown is Boston’s paranormal-only district, home to vampires, werewolves, two thousand zombies—and Vicky Vaughn, Boston’s only active shapeshifter. Vicky is one of the Cerddorion, a race of Welsh shapeshifters who trace their origins back to the goddess Ceridwen. Vicky exterminates people’s personal demons for a living; she spends her time dealing with demon-haunted clients, putting up with a pain-in-the-neck teenage zombie apprentice, fending off a research scientist who’s a little too interested in what makes her tick, and trying to squeeze in an occasional date with her kinda-sorta boyfriend, workaholic werewolf lawyer Alexander Kane. When one of her clients is murdered by a Hellion, Vicky must face the demons of her own past—before that Hellion destroys the city and everyone in it.

I chose Boston because I lived there for several years and know the city pretty well. I also liked playing with the idea of how a relatively compact city like Boston, one that has a reputation for being intellectual, liberal, and full of history, would deal with a plague that sweeps through the downtown and creates a couple thousand insta-zombies.

The Book Smugglers: Urban Fantasy is a genre that has been experiencing crazy growth over the past few years – every month it seems there’s another badass heroine with a flaming sword (or gun, or lasso, etc.) taking the paranormal world by storm. Why did you decide to write an Urban Fantasy novel (series)? Are there any UF authors in particular that you admire?

Nancy: I’d been reading urban fantasy for a few years, ever since a friend recommended Kim Harrison’s Hollows series and I quickly started hunting for similar books. I loved the genre’s inventiveness and sheer imagination; it’s so much fun to read. It wasn’t long before I was coming up with ideas for my own urban fantasy world. There are a lot of authors I admire: Kim Harrison, Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, Devon Monk, Charlaine Harris, Rachel Caine, Jon Levitt. Those are the ones who come to mind immediately.

The Book Smugglers: Your heroine, Vicky, is a demi-human shapeshifter and demon slayer with n intriguing mythological background. You have a PhD in English and according to your biography you began your career as a medievalist. How much of a role did your educational background play in writing Deadtown? Did you do any additional mythological research for your universe?

Nancy: Well, you can take a scholar out of academia, but you can never entirely take academia out of the scholar; that’s why I call myself a “recovering academic.” I spent a lot of years studying and analyzing and teaching literature, and that remains a big part of who I am and the way I approach a project. I enjoy research, for example, and can get sucked into that phase of writing a novel for months if I let myself. For Deadtown, I reread the Mabinogi, the collection of medieval Welsh legends that inspired the background mythology for the novel, but I didn’t let myself go overboard. I didn’t, for example, spend time reading scholarly articles about that text, because I wasn’t trying to understand it in light of its historical context or contemporary literary theory—I just wanted to use it as a springboard for my novel. It’s possible to overdo it with research, with the result that you either straitjacket your own story or end up trying to cram in way too much of the cool stuff you discovered.

The Book Smugglers: Speaking of your heroine, her full name is Victory “Vicky” Vaughn – which has a lovely pulp-noir-ish ring to it. You also happen to be an author of traditional mystery…coincidence? Or fiendish plot? C’mon and spill – are you a Raymond Chandler fan?

Nancy: Most things I do are part of a fiendish plot, but I can’t really talk about that in public. I do like reading mysteries—I have ever since a grad-school friend got me hooked on Victorian detective fiction and Agatha Christie. Now, I’m a huge Donald E. Westlake fan, and the novels he wrote as Richard Stark have a strong noir feel to them. I’m also a fan of Victor Gischler, whose Gun Monkeys is brilliant neo-noir pulp, (and I’m excited because I just found out he wrote a vampire novel—I haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my TBR pile.) If you’ve read either of those authors, you’ll know I like a little humor mixed in with my grit.

The Book Smugglers: The concept of “Deadtown” – a cordoned off area of Boston following a freak airborne viral mutation that instantly killed all humans in the area – is pretty cool and original (kind of like an inner city enforced ghetto for supernatural creatures). What inspired this idea? Do you think the supernatural community of shapeshifters, vamps, werewolves, zombies, assortment of demons, etc would have come out of the closet (coffin, whatever) had it not been for that plague?

Nancy: In the case of a plague like that—immediately deadly and unlike any known pathogen—the first thing the city would do would be to set up and enforce a quarantine zone. And then when events got even stranger, when the previously dead (or seemingly dead) victims started to rise, there’s no way that those victims would be allowed to leave that quarantine zone. No one knew whether they were still contagious. No one knew, exactly, what they’d become. Instead of working to integrate them back into society, the impulse would be to keep them contained.

Before the plague hit, Kane had been encouraging the supernatural community to come forward. He was recruiting paranormals to an activist group that was supposed to show the humans that the “monsters” were friendly to them and could be trusted, that they could live side by side. But on one hand, many paranormals weren’t interested, and on the other, a lot of humans thought that Kane and his group were crackpots. When the plague hit, paranormals (who were immune to the virus) helped to manage the quarantine zone. Not only were the humans forced to acknowledge that paranormals were real, they also reacted with the same fear they felt toward the zombies. All residents of Boston were genetically tested; anyone not human had to live in Deadtown. Some cooperated; others left the state or went into hiding. But human society had to recognize paranormals officially—whether either side wanted that or not.

The Book Smugglers: One of the main characters in your book, werewolf lawyer Alexander Kane, is a passionate fighter for civil rights. In your estimation as their creator, do the undead/non-human inhabitants of your world (or, as Kane would say, “Paranormal Americans”) deserve the same rights afforded to humans?

Nancy: That’s a tricky issue, because many of the PAs (those Paranormal Americans) represent a real danger to humans. They’ve been operating under the radar for centuries and many of them chafe at the restrictions humans place on them now. Humans are right to fear them; some of these creatures mean them harm. Kane’s strategy is to try to put PAs and humans on an equal footing legally, but he’s a true believer in concepts of justice and fair play that many PAs don’t share. Although the zombies want and deserve equal rights, some other types of paranormals would rather be invisible predators living outside of human rule. The humans would be smart to treat the paranormals as a powerful but not-entirely-friendly nation rather than trying to control them.

The Book Smugglers: In Deadtown, bad dreams are often demon infestations, and we love the breakdown of different types of demons you cover in the book. Similarly, your take on zombies is refreshingly different too. What inspired your spin on these classic horror monster icons? Do you have any favorite zombie or demon movies and/or books?

Nancy: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was the original zombie novel, and it’s still my favorite. Victor Frankenstein’s monster is an intelligent creature who’s trying to understand his place in the world and is angry with the creator who brought him into being and then rejected him. Although my zombies are plague victims, not the result of an overreaching scientist playing God, there are some parallels. They want to be accepted and allowed to get on with their existence, but their unnaturalness provokes fear and a desire to control. They raise questions about what’s “human.” For example, Tina (Vicky’s apprentice) is in many ways a typical teenager. But she’s also a zombie. Her character calls into question both what’s normal and what’s monstrous.

As for the demons, they represent those things that bedevil us. Where do they come from? In thinking about that question, I decided that there are two main kinds of demons: those that have no independent existence and come into being through strong human emotion—fear, guilt, anger, hatred—and those that do exist independently and operate on a larger scale. The first type of demon torments individuals, and these are the personal demons that Vicky fights for her clients. The second type is destructive on a much larger scale, hostile to humans in general, not just a particular individual. They represent Evil-with-a-capital-E.

The Book Smugglers: What writing projects do you have on the horizon? And when can we expect the sequel to Deadtown?

Nancy: Deadtown’s sequel is currently with my editor and will be out in about a year. I’m working on proposals for more books in the series. I also have an idea I’m playing with for a contemporary fantasy set in the Catskill Mountains. It’s a wonderful setting for a fantasy, an eerie land that’s home of Rip van Winkle, the Headless Horseman, Native American legends, stories about witches and gnomes . . . I’m having fun playing with the possibilities.

The Book Smugglers: In the spirit of Smugglivus, can you share with us your favorite books of 2009? Are there any books you are looking forward to reading in 2010?

Nancy: Some of my 2009 urban fantasy favorites:

Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre

Skinwalker by Faith Hunter

On the Edge by Ilona Andrews

Magic in the Shadows by Devon Monk

Three Days to Dead by Kelly Meding

In 2010, I’m looking forward to the next books in the Kate Daniels and Allie Beckstrom series. I’m also looking forward to Sean Cummings’ Shade Fright, which I was lucky enough to read early. It’s got a heroine who likes opera and still kicks ass—that’s my kind of book.

The Book Smugglers: ARGH! Human blood’s been spilled and the ravenous, unstoppable zombie horde is coming! You can save ONE book, ONE movie, and ONE TV show – QUICK! What are they?

Nancy: Oh, no! Years ago I gave up watching TV to find time to write, so can I sacrifice a TV show and save two books instead? Okay, I’ll play by the rules. My husband wisely advised me to save The Zombie Survival Guide, but before I could act on that the medievalist in me rushed forward to grab the book and the movie.

Book: The Riverside Chaucer, which is the complete works of Chaucer in one volume. Chaucer’s got everything—sex, humor, piety, science, allegory, romance, philosophy, war. His writings are endlessly fun, except maybe for the “Treatise on the Astrolabe,” but that might come in handy if I had to lead a band of survivors away from the zombie infestation (and assuming I, um, had an astrolabe). It’s also a massive book that could double as a weapon in a pinch.

Movie: Ingmar Bergman’s 1960 film The Virgin Spring, which is based on a 13th-century Swedish ballad. The first time I saw this film, I was blown away by its unsentimental depiction of the contradictions of life in the Middle Ages: beauty and harshness, love and despair, brutal violence and deep faith—faith that persists in the face of evidence that suggests an absent or hostile God.

TV show: Hmm . . . are you sure I can’t swap this one for another book? Well, I’m a crazed opera fanatic, so for myself I’d save the PBS series Great Performances at the Met. But my daughter has some favorite shows, so for her sake I might save 30 Rock or Mad Men.

The Book Smugglers: We Book Smugglers are faced with constant threats and criticisms from our significant others concerning the sheer volume of books we purchase and read – hence, we have resorted to ’smuggling books’ home to escape scrutinizing eyes. Have you ever had to smuggle books?

Nancy: Not into my house. My husband buys at least as many books as I do. We’ve got overflowing bookcases in almost every room of our house, and even so we still have books stacked up in piles everywhere. We live in constant danger of getting buried under a “bookalanche.” We’re probably good candidates for ebook readers at some point in the future, but we both really like physical books. (Although now that I think of it, when the zombies attack I could grab my ebook reader and save my entire library! For some reason, that’s suddenly become a major temptation.)

The Book Smugglers: Thanks again for your time, Nancy, and we wish you all the best with your release of Deadtown!

Nancy: Thank you! I enjoy your site and look forward to reading your reviews, conversations, and posts in the coming year.

Nancy Holzner grew up in western Massachusetts with her nose stuck in a book. This meant that she tended to walk into things, wore glasses before she was out of elementary school, and forced her parents to institute a “no reading at the dinner table” rule. It was probably inevitable that she majored in English in college and then, because there were still a lot of books she wanted to read, continued her studies long enough to earn a masters degree and a PhD.

Nancy lives in upstate New York with her husband Steve, where they both work from home without getting on each other’s nerves. She enjoys visiting local wineries and listening obsessively to opera. There are still a lot of books she wants to read.

You can read more about Nancy online at her website HERE.

Giveaway Details:

We are giving away one copy of Deadtown, courtesy of the publisher! The contest is open to entrants in the US only, and will run until Saturday January 2, 2010 at 11:59 PM (PST). To enter, simply leave a comment here letting us know what YOUR favorite first book in an Urban Fantasy series is. Good luck!

Title: Deadtown

Author: Nancy Holzner

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Ace
Publication Date: December 2009
Paperback: 336 Pages

Stand alone or series: Book 1 in a planned series

How did I get this book: ARC from the publisher

Why did I read this book: I think I fell in lust with this book as soon as I heard its title and laid eyes on its delightfully over-the-top cover. I mean, look at that flaming sword AND machine gun! Then I read the synopsis, saw the word ZOMBIES, and was instantly smitten. AND when author Nancy Holzner contacted us shortly after we received an ARC from the publisher, we immediately got her to agree to an interview.

Summary: (from NancyHolzner.com)
They call it Deadtown: the city’s quarantined section for its inhuman and undead residents. Most humans stay far from its borders — but Victory Vaughn, Boston’s only professional demon slayer, isn’t exactly human…

But now Vicky’s got bigger things to worry about. The Hellion who murdered her father ten years ago has somehow broken through Boston’s magical protections. The Hellion is a ruthless force of destruction with a personal grudge against Vicky, and she’s the only one who can stop the demon before it destroys the city and everyone in it.

Review:

Victory “Vicky” Vaughn is Boston’s premiere (and only) demon slayer, and she also happens to be a demi-human – a special brand of shapeshifter known as a Cerridorion. Ever since a mysterious plague overtook the downtown part of the city, instantly killing any humans in the vicinity, downtown Boston has become known as “Deadtown” – a quarantined area where all paranormal creatures are required by law to live. Following the outbreak of the plague, the humans that died returned to life as zombies – definitely undead and with insatiable appetites (but for regular food, not necessarily human flesh). The very public existence of zombies also meant other preternatural creatures, like vampires, demons and werewolves, decided to step out of the closet and reveal themselves to the world. While paranormals lack the essential liberties and rights afforded to humans, for demi-humans like Vicky, it also means she can conduct business out in the open. When she’s not helping clients get rid of their demon infestations and keeping Deadtown safe, she juggles a romance with werewolf lawyer and champion for paranormal rights, Alexander Kane. Lately, though, something’s been wrong in Vicky’s line of work – and when the “Goon Squad” (the storm troopers that patrol and are quick to abduct and imprison “the monsters” of Deadtown) pays Vicky a visit and haul her in to Boston Police Headquarters, Vicky knows something sinister is brewing in not only Deadtown, but the entire Boston area. A very specific demon from Vicky’s past, a Hellion known as The Destroyer, is back and it’s killing people. Determined to stop the Hellion once and for all, Vicky agrees to help the police, but this task might prove even too big for Vicky’s ample skills as a deeper plot is revealed – politicians, paranormals, witches and sorcerers all seem to be involved. And Vicky only has a short amount of time to get to the bottom of the mystery, before Boston is torn apart by the Destroyer.

I read a lot of Urban Fantasy, and have a few go-to staples. Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan books, Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson books, Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series, and Ilona Andrews’s Kate Daniels books all top the list as THE best female protag-centered UF to beat (at least, in my opinion).

And wouldn’t you know it? Nancy Holzner and her awesome heroine Vicky Vaughn sure make a strong case to get added to the essentials list. From the second I saw the ridiculously awesome, over-the-top cover for the book, I had high hopes and Ms. Holzner truly delivers with this incredibly solid debut UF novel. Deadtown is told with an authoritative voice starring a great new heroine, and puts an imaginative spin on the usual paranormal suspects; the plotting and worldbuilding are compelling and undeniably fresh.

In short – I absolutely loved Deadtown.

From a writing standpoint, curling up with this book feels like settling down with an old, favorite novel friend – Ms. Holzner writing is snappy, sassy and fast-paced without a single dragging or dull moment. The mystery is a tad on the predictable side (the mysterious bad guy isn’t really much of a shocker), but the pacing and execution of the story are solid and more than enough to compensate for a lack of plotting complexity. In many ways, Deadtown is reminiscent of Kim Harrison’s The Hollows series – both are adrenaline-fueled reads, both share the idea of supernatural creatures living in a cordoned off area from the rest of the “normal” humans, both have a plague as the catalyst for supernatural creatures coming out of the woodwork. And, perhaps most importantly, Deadtown’s heroine, Vicky, is just as likable as Ms. Harrison’s Rachel Morgan – strong, competent, and sympathetic. That’s not to say Deadtown is some imitation Rachel Morgan novel though; Ms. Holzner’s UF debut is certainly strong enough to stand on its own, as an engaging new series in its own right. (But, if you, like me, are a fan of The Hollows, you’ll definitely love this book!)

As a heroine, Victory Vaughn rocks. First off, the name is fantastic – evocative of sultry bombshell broads from the 1930s and 1940s, in a cool, pulp noir Lauren Bacall kind of way. Vicky is dedicated to her job, she doesn’t take anyone’s crap, but she’s not so insistently tough that she’s abrasive (a failing of many an UF heroine). She also has a pretty cool supernatural ability as a Cerridorion – a shapeshifter that can change shape only three times per month, a descendent of witch-Goddess Ceridwen. As a Cerridorion, Vicky’s powers are inherited and she can only use them so long as she has no children, in a fascinating twist on supernatural ability (Vicky’s sister, Gwen, has given up her shapeshifting abilities for children and stability, and the contrast between these two characters is pretty cool stuff). In terms of secondary characters, Deadtown also shines – Vicky’s sister Gwen is a fascinating counter to Vicky’s more dangerous personality; I also enjoyed Vicky’s vampiric roommate Juliet, and especially loved her sort-of boyfriend, the werewolf and attorney Alexander Kane. And, of course, there’s Tina the teenage zombie – Ms. Holzner’s take on the unfortunately reanimated is both hilarious and a bit sad. Those who died in the mysterious Boston downtown plague have returned from the grave, but have been rejected by their family members (especially after their reanimated bodies start to decay and turn green). Tina, as Vicky’s over-exuberant sidekick, is a delightful comic presence.

Deadtown is a debut UF novel that I simply could not get enough of. I absolutely loved this smart, fast Urban Fantasy and highly recommend it to anyone – especially jaded UF readers looking for something fun and new.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From Chapter 1:

Two rules I live by: Never admit to being a shapeshifter on a first, second, or third date with a human. And never, ever bring along a zombie apprentice wannabe on a demon kill.

Lately, given my lack of a social life and my kinda-sorta relationship with a workaholic werewolf lawyer, Rule Number One hadn’t presented much of a problem. At the moment, it was Rule Number Two that was giving me trouble. Of course, I’d only formulated Rule Number Two about thirty seconds ago, but I intended to uphold it for the rest of my life—assuming that I’d make it out of here and have a rest of my life to live.

Rule Number Two was thanks to Tina, who—against my orders—had followed me into my client’s dream. I was here to exterminate a pod of dream-demons, and the last thing I needed was a teenage zombie in a pink miniskirt.

“Hi, Vicky. I thought you might need this.” Tina waved my flamethrower, then looked around. “Whoa. It’s weird in here.”

Weird didn’t half describe it. We stood in the middle of a huge circus tent, the top stretching up and up until it disappeared somewhere in the stratosphere. Eerie music from an out-of-tune calliope swirled through the air. All around us loomed dozens of crate-sized boxes, painted crayon-bright red, blue, and yellow. Suddenly, a box to my right flipped open. With an earsplitting screech an evil-faced clown sprang out, jack-in-the-box style. I raised my pistol, aimed, and squeezed the trigger. The bronze bullet nailed the demon-clown right between its eyes. It shrieked, bobbing around on its spring, then dissolved into a puff of sulfurous mist.

“Cool!” Tina brandished the flamethrower. “Let me do the next one.”

You can read the full chapter online HERE.

Additional Thoughts: Make sure to stop by tomorrow as we have Nancy Holzner over for an interview – plus a chance to win Deadtown…

Verdict: Deadtown is one of the strongest starts to a new UF series I have had the pleasure of reading in a long while. Absolutely recommended for old genre fans and new fans like – and I cannot wait for the release of book 2. Ms. Holzner is a talent to watch out for.

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Reading Next: Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James

Another week of Smugglivus has come and gone, and now we are down to our FINAL WEEK of the celebration! (Well, sort of…)

First, a few announcements.

Giveaway Winners:

Three of our giveaways have now closed, and we’ve got a bunch of very lucky winners to announce!

First up is the ARC giveaway courtesy of Little, Brown (US). The THREE lucky winners of all the ARCs (13 Treasures, Sisters Red, Ship Breaker, Guardian of the Dead, and Prophecy of the Sisters: Guardian of the Gate) are:

Next, we have the TWO winners of Sarah Rees Brennan’s silver charm giveaway. And the lucky winners are:

Finally, we have the THREE winners of our Big Ol’ Christmas Flash Giveaway! And the books go to…

Congratulations to all the winners! You know the drill. Send us an email (contact AT thebooksmugglers DOT com) with your snail mail addresses, and we will get your goodies out to you as soon as possible.

Thanks so much again to all that participated, and if you didn’t win, remember that our Adrian Phoenix giveaway (two sets of autographed copies of all the books in her Maker’s Song series) are still up for grabs! So have at it!

This Week on Smugglivus:

Later on today, we continue full-steam ahead with guest bloggers Kristi, The Story Siren and Lenore of Presenting Lenore.

On Monday, our guest bloggers are Liz and Mark of My Favorite Books, Gav of NextRead, and Carolyn Crane of The Thrillionth Page.

Tuesday, we have Amy of My Friend Amy and the wonderful Harry of Temple Library Reviews for guest bloggers. Later in the day, Thea will also review gritty, fun Urban Fantasy novel Deadtown by Nancy Holzner.

On Wednesday, we have Nancy Holzner over for an interview! Following that, we’ll have Alert Nerd’s Sarah and Jeff over for their guest blog posts, closing out the guest blogger portion of Smugglivus!

Which means Thursday gets really fun – because on New Year’s Eve, we Book Smugglers finally give you our very own BEST OF 2009 Lists! Who will make the cut? We know you’re holding your breath and counting the days until the grand reveal…

On Friday, we take a little break (celebrating New Year’s, you know), and offer up another Big Ol’ Flash Giveaway – The New Year’s Edition.

Saturday, we give our Best of the Rest 2009 – favorite TV Shows, Movies and moments from the past year.

So make sure to stay tuned! This week is gonna be a doozy!

~ Your friendly neighborhood Book Smugglers