1. Tell us five things about yourself that readers may not know.

Once upon a time, I was a journalist. I ran the news department in a radio station. I have training as a historian, and I’ve been with my husband for 27 years! (I’m not that old, really. I have no idea where all those years went.) I am an award-winning editor in science fiction & fantasy (under my real name Kristine Kathryn Rusch), and my husband and I just started a new magazine/anthology project called Fiction River, which covers all genres.

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

I get up late by most people’s standard—eleven or noon—and feed cats (first, of course), do e-mail, eat breakfast and read the newspaper. Then I toddle into my office for a few hours, eat lunch with me, myself, and I, read another newspaper (former journalist, after all), and write some more. Then I go for a run or a walk, eat dinner (watching news usually), and write until 11 or so. A bit of reading, a bit of TV, and it’s off to bed by 3 before I start all over again.

3. Tell us a bit about A Spy To Die For and why readers should check it out.

A Spy To Die For is filled with romance and adventure. I love these two characters. Jack Hunter tried to steal Assassins in Love away from Misha and Rikki, so I knew he had to have his own novel. Then I had to find the right woman for him. That’s Skylight Jones, who works for the Assassins Guild, but isn’t an assassin. There are space battles and bad guys and lots and lots of romance.

4. What inspired you to write about the Assassins Guild?

Oh, if I knew where the inspiration came from, I’d bottle it. Seriously, Kerrie Hughes asked me to write a short story for her anthology Love and Rockets. Somehow those words equaled Assassins in Space to me, I don’t know why. I wrote “Drinking Games,” which became the opening for Assassins in Love. The story’s bigger than I thought, so I figured three books. As I mentioned, Jack tried to steal Assassins, so I knew he was next up. And boy, was he fun to write about.

5. What was the easiest and hardest scene to write in A Spy To Die For?

Easiest scene: the beginning. I love me a good meet-cute.
Hardest scene: the beginning. It took me a while to figure out who Skye was. I had to write a short story to get her backstory. (That story appeared under my real name, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, in Asimov’s Science Fiction earlier this year. The story’s called “Skylight.”) Once I had her backstory, I was good to go.

6. Do you ever suffer from writer’s block and how do you overcome it?

After thirty years as a freelance writer, I can tell you this: There’s no such thing as writer’s block. There is, however, project block. You can’t go farther on a particular project because your subconscious stops you for some reason. Work on something else until you figure out what’s missing. The more you stress, the less you’ll do.
There are a few times in life when a writer can’t write. Serious health issues, the death of a loved one, things that are so vast that the brain becomes busy. Tend to those and you’ll be okay. Figure it this way: if you couldn’t go to your day job or if a reasonable day job gives you family/sick leave, you as a good freelance boss should give yourself the same.

7. Who designed the cover for A Spy To Die For?

The cover was designed in-house by Sourcebooks. The illustration was done by Aleta Rafon.

8. A fun question: If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?

Oh, jeez. I think I’d like the ability to make people feel better. Or maybe to organize things without touching them. I’m too scared of heights to want to fly and super strength has its drawbacks. So I’ll stick with tiny girly powers like feeling good or having a super clean house with no effort.

9. What’s next up for Kris DeLake?

I am trying to put the short stories that I wrote as backdrops for the DeLake novels out as e-books. There are three up so far, “Drinking Games” (which you don’t need to read if you’ve read Assassins), “Defect,” which is Misha’s backstory (and dark!), and “Killer Advice,” which is an sf/mystery featuring Misha before he met Rikki. “Killer Advice” is also out in trade paper and audio. Next will be “Skylight,” as soon as I get a chance.

10. Do you have anything specific that you want to tell your readers?

Just that I hope they enjoy the book! And thank you, all of you, for supporting my work.
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