CIVILIAN READER interviews Carrie Vaughn about the forthcoming KITTY’S MIX-TAPE (not due until October but currently available for pre-order from your favorite bookseller or direct from Tachyon and for reviewers via EDELWEISS and NETGALLEY).

Your new story collection, KITTY’S MIX-TAPE, is due to be published by Tachyon in October. It’s the final instalment in your Kitty Norville series: how would you introduce the series to a potential reader, and what can fans of the series expect from this book?

The series is about a werewolf named Kitty who hosts a talk radio advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged. She has lots of adventures along the way. Kitty’s Mix Tape collects most of the short stories related to the series I wrote after about 2010 — plus four brand-new, never before seen stories. As usual with the Kitty-related short stories, they often feature the supporting cast, revealing their secret back stories, and including lots of other fun snippets and easter eggs that fans will enjoy.

What inspired you to write the novel and series? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?

I realized that vampires and werewolves and other supernatural creatures living in the modern world would need their own advice shows, because Dr. Laura and Dr. Phil just wouldn’t know what to do with their problems. From that small beginning, the idea blew up, since Kitty and her show gave me a chance to write just about any kind of story I wanted, with lots of great supporting characters. As far as inspiration in general… everywhere, really. A piece of music, a piece of art, a news story. Not liking the way some other story or movie turns out and wanting to tell my own version. My own obsessions and demons.

CURIOUS FICTIONS publishes “Dirt and Destiny: A Regency Tale,” Vaughn’s Jane Austen and Robert E. Howard mashup.

After the briefest of searches, Lydia Blythe-Jones-Forrester made the discovery that her brother Reginald had once again been conducting occult experiments in the gazebo behind the hedge maze.

It wasn’t that Reginald was evil, or even particularly mischievous. Rather, he was one of those bright young men who, despite possessing an intellect bordering on the level of genius, was constantly forgetting where he set his spectacles. Or that someone other than his own self might chance through the gazebo during the course of one of his habitual experiments.

So, let us state from the first that Reginald did not intend for what subsequently befell Lydia to actually happen. Nevertheless. . .

GNOMEQUEEN-TONKATOYLEGS showcases Ricardo de Avila and THE IMMORTAL CONQUISTADOR in their series of favorite fictional vampires.

At TOR.COM, Vaughn shares what she is reading right now.

I’ve felt fortunate during this summer of Covid that I haven’t lost the focus to read. In fact, I’ve been burning up my local library’s Overdrive e-book lending account, maxing out my holds and then having new books suddenly appear on my tablet with no effort on my part. What will I read next? Whatever shows up! I don’t even have to think about it, I just have to read it before it vanishes off my device on the due date. It’s magic.

I’m also reading a lot of non-fiction, as I hunker down with some new ideas for historical pieces. So my current reading reflects a pattern of bouncing back and forth between comfort reads, exciting new books, and research. It keeps me on my toes. Here’s a selection:

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
I’ve read a lot of Tudor history, and Thomas Cromwell is never presented as the hero of the story. He’s usually portrayed as another ruthless social climbing politician doomed to fall hard, yet another victim of Henry VIII’s temper. So it’s fascinating to see him in Wolf Hall as the sympathetic protagonist, a man who rises from nothing to become one of the most powerful politicians in England, master of a close-knit household, who uses his power and influence to help those in his care as much as he can. I also appreciate the almost stream-of-consciousness, present-tense style. It’s immersive and riveting. Alas, I know this story doesn’t end well. But I’m still looking forward to the sequel, Bring Up the Bodies.