1. Tell us three things about yourself that we may not be able to find on your website. 

a. I want a dog. Like, I really, really want a dog. I’ve got my eye on a white shepherd, and in my fantasies, he’ll hang out with me, keeping my feet warm, while I write on cold days. In the big house that doesn’t exist yet. ...What?

b. I have fallen in love with Mumford & Sons, which tends to make me feel like I’m older than I am. It’s a small pay-off for the way the music makes me feel. Er, aside from old and cranky, I mean.

c. If I had my way, I’d remake the world in the image of Lost Girl, or a similar urban fantasy. I’d still be a writer inside it, but I’d also have extra powers. Although even as I say that, a part of me remains convinced that if life was a book, I’d never be more than a support character. Do you suppose main characters feel this way, too?

2. What does a typical writing day look for you? 

Writing! Still! You know, the last time I answered this question, I think I appalled myself with my schedule. It’s only gotten worse. Since the mancandy now works a night shift, I get up around 10am, start working—writing or administrative business—and I pretty much work straight through ‘til he gets home at midnight. It’s kind of insane, and maybe I should see somebody about that...

3. Tell us a little bit about "Wicked Lies" and why readers should check it out? 

Wicked Lies is Jonas Stone’s story, told just after the events of Sacrifice the Wicked. It’s the story of a man who’s spent his life lying to those he loves—putting on a front so that his friends, the only family he’s ever known, don’t worry about him, making sure that their needs have always come first. It’s Avon Impulse’s first LGBTQ novella, featuring two men as the central love story, and it’s very near and dear to my heart. If you like seeing a good man find love, even despite his own demons, then you’ll love seeing two.

4. What inspired you to write the novella, "Wicked Lies"? 

This did. The cause, like I said, is very near and dear to my heart. It seems like every day, there’s another article out there, another retweet. Something someone said that chips another piece from the self-esteem of someone else just because they’re different from what politicians and adults who should know better call “normal”. Because a man loves another man, or a woman loves another woman; because a child has questions about his or her own identity, there are those who take this as a sign that they need to step in and “fix” the problem—and the damage it causes is often more lasting, deeper, bloodier than anyone wants to understand. I wrote Wicked Lies because that kind of uncertainty, the sense of worth hammered down by others, is one of those things that Jonas Stone has struggled with for his whole career. Who he is outside of his role as “tech support” has never been clear to him, and he’s never let himself consider that until that role was forcibly stripped from him. I wanted him to have the chance at love that I want everyone to have, gay or straight or anything in between.

5. How many books are planned for the Dark Mission Series? 

All in all, there will be 5 fulls and 3 novellas. The final Dark Mission book, One for the Wicked, comes out shortly after Wicked Lies,a nd that will take us through the finale. Will the witches find a place in New Seattle? Will they lose it all? What is that dastardly scheme all about, anyway? And will Simon survive to see it?

6. What has been the easiest and hardest scene to write in the series so far? 

The easiest scenes had to be the sex scenes. I mean, when you have that much passion for someone, letting it go pretty much, well, writes itself. I enjoy writing those, because I really get to push boundaries—both mine and my characters’. The hardest, though? The hardest scenes are the ones that happen between the action. These often have subtler goals that don’t get in your face like bullets or sex does, and I have to really go over them to make sure that I’m not just glossing things over to get to the next thrill ride. My most favorite difficult scene was in Blood of the Wicked, when Silas inevitably learns that Jessie is a witch—his enemy. It’s raw, aggressive, and heart-breakingly violent, which I really wanted to showcase because it was such an indicator of Silas’ life until then.

7. Who designs the covers to the Dark Mission series? (They are ALL drool worthy) 

I love them, too! The covers are designed by the Avon art department, and they really, really are wonderful. I have been blessed by the cover gods!

8. Fun question: If you could travel back in time, what era would you go and why? 

Right now, I’m feeling like I’d go back to the Edo Period, Japan. I’m currently fascinated by the romanticized view of the samurai, the initially isolationist and then increasingly modernizing movements, and the gorgeous artistry that came out of the era. That the end of the Edo Period overlaps with the Victorian Era is only coincidence... Ahem.

9. What is up next for Karina Cooper? 

Next up is the final book in the Dark Mission series, One for the Wicked. That’ll be a fun one to watch people read, although nerve-wracking! After that, The Mysterious Case of Mr. Strangeway—another charity novella benefitting Make a Wish—will be serenading a new partnership: my St. Croix Chronicles series moves to Carina Press, and will be followed in September by Corroded, the third in the series. All in all, I have so many projects and I can’t wait to show them to you!

10. Do you have anything specific you would like to say to your readers? 

Specifically? I have this to say to everyone: Never give up, never surrender. Whatever dreams you have, whatever loves you carry, whatever turns you on, they’re part of who you are. Never apologize for loving, dreaming, and working to achieve your goals.

If I had slowed down, turned back, or listened to the others who told me I shouldn’t do what I’m doing now, I never would have made it here. I found someone who supported me, and because sometimes it’s as simple as that, this is for you: I support you.

Now get out there and make your dreams come true. You can do it; it gets better.

All my love— K.


1 full set of the Dark Mission print books (released to this point) which includes: Blood of the Wicked, Lure of the Wicked, All Things Wicked, and Sacrifice the Wicked- open to US Shipping Only a Rafflecopter giveaway