Laura Bickle - Character Interview, Book Giveaway

Anya Kalinczyk is the rarest type of psychic medium, a Lantern, who holds down a day job as an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department—while working 24/7 to exterminate malicious spirits haunting a city plagued by unemployment and despair. Along with her inseparable salamander familiar, Sparky, Anya has seen, and even survived, all manner of fiery hell—but her newest case sparks suspicions of a bizarre phenomenon that no one but her eccentric team of ghost hunters might believe: spontaneous human combustion.

After fire consumes the home of elderly Jasper Bernard, Anya is stunned to discover his remains—or, more precisely, a lack of them; even the fiercest fires leave some trace of their victims—and she is sure this was no naturally occurring blaze. Soon she’s unearthed a connection to a celebrity psychic who preys on Detroit’s poor, promising miracles for money. But Hope Solomon wants more—she’s collecting spirits, and in a frantic race against time, Anya will face down an evil adversary who threatens her fragile relationship with her lover, her beloved Sparky’s freshly hatched newts, and the wandering souls of the entire city.


Living with Salamanders
by Anya Kalinczyk

I didn't think that living with a salamander could get any worse.

I've been told there's a reason that witches won't take a fire salamander for a familiar. They're notoriously unpredictable. Sparky, my very own fire salamander, takes the shape of a five-foot long speckled hellbender.

He's fascinated with electrical fields, the only thing he can really affect on the physical plane. He's blown up my microwave and destroyed cell phones by chewing on them. He set off the sprinklers at the Detroit Crime Lab while playing with a Bunsen burner, destroying evidence for hundreds of cases.

I can't own any really cool electronic devices. I don't own a toaster, a cell phone or a television. My car is a 1974 Dodge Dart, which has very little electronics to speak of for him to screw with.

And we won't even talk about how much Sparky dislikes the idea of me having a love life. He's incredibly possessive. There's no way to get in the mood with a hellbender sitting at the edge of your bed, staring at you and slapping his tail on the mattress. Salamanders feel that sleeping in a pet bed is beneath them.

Sigh.

He's really not a bad salamander. He means well.

I mean, there are wonderful parts. Often, Sparky's a great help to me, both as an arson investigator and as a ghost hunter. Though he's invisible to most people, he's truly my touchstone and my guardian. He's loved me since I was a child. He slept in my crib and has watched over me as I grew into my power as a Lantern. I devour ghosts and incinerate them. It's not a pretty process. It's ugly, painful, and costs me a great deal. But he loves me, anyway. He sleeps in bed with me like an overgrown dog, cuddling his Glow-Worm toy.

I thought that we'd sort of reached a balance, after a few decades of this. But then, Sparky decided to get creative. Not that I don't have enough on my plate...I'm investigating a string of spontaneous human combustion cases that I'm trying to tie to a celebrity psychic. A psychopomp at the morgue tells me that this psychic is trying to overtake the Underworld itself, through the astral realm. I've got things to do, but...

I got up this morning to find Sparky purring over a nest of eggs that he laid in my bathtub. Salamander eggs. Fifty-one of them.

One salamander is a handful.

What am I going to do with an army of them?

Hmm.

Maybe invade the Underworld?

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Laura Bickle has worked in libraries, criminology, and technology for several years. She lives in the Midwestern U.S. with her chief muse, owned by four mostly-reformed feral cats. Writing as Laura Bickle, she's the author of EMBERS and SPARKS for Pocket - Juno Books. 


Writing as Alayna Williams, she's the author of DARK ORACLE and ROGUE ORACLE. More info on her urban fantasy and general nerdiness is here: www.salamanderstales.com



Will Be Showcased On WVR May 30th - As Alayna Williams

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EMBERS

Anya Kalinczyk #1
Pocket Juno Books
Mass Market Paperback, $7.99
ISBN: 978-1439167656
April 2010 

“One of the most promising debut novels I’ve read in a great while… I’d highly recommend this book to anybody who reads fantasy. It reminds me in many regards…of another exceptional first novel…Emma Bull’s seminal War for the Oaks, and there’s not much higher praise that I can give.”
—Elizabeth Bear on Tor.com

Unemployment, despair, anger--visible and invisible unrest feed the undercurrent of Detroit's unease. A city increasingly invaded by phantoms now faces a malevolent force that further stokes fear and chaos throughout the city. 

Anya Kalinczyk spends her days as an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department, and her nights pursuing malicious spirits with a team of eccentric ghost hunters. Anya--who is the rarest type of psychic medium, a Lantern--suspects a supernatural arsonist is setting blazes to summon a fiery ancient entity that will leave the city in cinders. By Devil's Night, the spell will be complete, unless Anya--with the help of her salamander familiar and the paranormal investigating team --can stop it. 


Anya's accustomed to danger and believes herself inured to loneliness and loss. But this time she's risking everything: her city, her soul, and a man who sees and accepts her for everything she is. Keeping all three safe will be the biggest challenge she's ever faced.

A free excerpt is available here.

1 signed copy of SPARKS

One Winner ~ Internationally Open ~ May 31st