Interview with Gini Koch

I’d like to welcome our guest today, Gini Koch. It’s a pleasure having you come visit us at Much Cheaper Than Therapy, where chocolate is plentiful and advice is free. So grab some chocolate and a lounge chair. Your therapy session has begun.

Thanks, it’s great to be back! Especially because y’all hand out the chocolate freely.

I understand you have a new release out called Alien Diplomacy. Can you tell us a little bit about your fabulous new book?

It’s the best book in the best series ever written and a deal at twice the price! (Hey, you still can not blame a girl for trying.)

The Alien series follows the exploits of Katherine “Kitty” Katt, who discovers that the Roswell rumors are true, but with a twist -- the aliens are here to help us and, as a side benefit, they’re all gorgeous. Kitty first gets involved helping save the world from parasitic superbeings. As the series progresses, Kitty gets deeper into Centaurion Division, and discovers that there’s a lot more evil out there to fight, and a wide variety of conspiracies to prevent and disrupt, with dangers both internal and extremely external to guard against.

In Alien Diplomacy, being newlyweds and new parents is challenging enough for Kitty and her Alpha Centaurion husband, Jeff. But nothing’s ever easy for the Katt-Martinis, particularly not when they have to switch from being super-being exterminators and Commanders in Centaurion Division to mastering the political landscape as the new heads of American Centaurion’s Diplomatic Corps.

Kitty’s brand of diplomacy and lobbying isn’t quite as smooth as Jeff’s—Washington parties, lobbyists of all stripes, and politicians from all states and countries present challenges a well-stocked iPod and quirky sense of humor aren’t always up to handling. But when a shadowy assassination plot and a new set of anti-alien conspirators are identified, Kitty’s the diplomat for the job—in between “Mommy and Me,” “Diplomacy for Beginners,” and the dreaded “Washington Wife” classes.

As explosions, assassination attempts, and murders pile up, the question shifts from “who’s the target” to “will we all survive to see next week”?

Armed with only their wits, and dressed to kill, it’s up to Kitty and the Diplomatic Corps to stop the bad guys from unleashing mayhem on all the world’s leaders. But will Kitty trust the right people, at the right times, or will going her own way prove deadly—not just to her, but to her daughter, Jamie?

What was different for you in writing Alien Diplomacy than the other books in the series so far?

In Alien Diplomacy, everyone’s dealing with a lot of change, and most of them aren’t dealing with it all that well, Kitty in particular. What was different, and what’s pretty much Alien Diplomacy’s main theme, is change -- not just for one character, but for all the characters. How do you handle being moved into jobs you don’t want, weren’t thinking you were ready to move to, that turn out to be completely different than expected, or a combination thereof? Every character in the book is experiencing major change in some way, so they’re all dealing, and not everyone’s dealing with it well. But then, that’s the fun, isn’t it? If everyone handled all things perfectly, why would we want to read about it?

Any Alien Diplomacy teasers you can share?

We see the return of some of my personal favorite supporting characters from an earlier book, who I’m really excited to have back in, and they affect things in a big, big way. And, for those who’ve been wondering when, if ever, they’d get an answer about what’s going on in Paraguay, that answer begins in earnest in this book.

We understand you have a new series coming from Night Shade Books -- Alexander Outland: Space Pirate, which you wrote as G.J. Koch, is releasing this June. Can you tell us a little about that?

Trouble’s brewing out in space, and Alexander Outland -- the least likely hero in the galaxy -- and his eccentric crew have to save the day, despite the fact they’d prefer to take the money and run.

Alexander Outland: Space Pirate is science fiction set in the far future, with a lot of humor, action, mystery, and romance. I think readers who like Kitty & Company, are going to love the Outland and his crew. I think of it as Han Solo meets Pirates of the Caribbean.

What’s something most readers don’t know about you?

Oh, lots of things probably. LOL I’d say one of the more random and little known things is that while I grew up in Southern California and have spent the last decade and a half plus in Arizona, more frequently than not I’m asked if I’m from Pennsylvania. Apparently I sound like I come from PA and always have. This is made odder by that fact that no one in my family has lived in Pennsylvania, ever. So, I’m Californian by birth, Arizonan by choice, and Pennsylvanian by voice.

What do we have to look forward next?

“Being Neighborly”, the next novelette in my series, The Neighborhood (writing as Anita Ensal) released from Musa Publishing March 23rd, and Alien Diplomacy released from DAW Books/Penguin April 3rd. Alexander Outland: Space Pirate releases from Night Shade Books on June 5, 2012 (writing as G.J. Koch), Alien vs. Alien releases from DAW Books December 4, 2012, with Alien in the House coming April 2013, and Alien Collective coming Dec. 2013.

I also have the Martian Alliance Chronicles from Musa Publishing which is a series of short stories & novellas -- “The Royal Scam” is out now, and the second installment, “Three Card Monte”, will be out soon. Soon-ish,. Okay, maybe mid-2012. But it‘s coming, I swear! (Yeah, Musa’s waiting on me for this one, not the other way around.)

As we know, I write under a variety pen names. “The Disciple” and “Hotter Than Hell” by Jemma Chase; “Contingency Plan” by Anita Ensal; and “When Josie Comes Home” and “Deacon’s Ark” by A.E. Stanton are novelettes and novellas available right now from Musa Publishing. And my full bibliography is up at my website via my Author Splash page (http://www.ginikoch.com/authorsplash.htm).

Thanks, Gini!

To celebrate her book release, Gini Koch is offering a free book of winner’s choice of either Touched by an Alien, Alien Tango or Alien in the Family to one lucky commenter on today's blog. (please check the blog Monday night to see if you won. Chances of winning determined by the number of entries.)

She will be around all day today. I'm sure some of you have questions or comments for her, so please ask away...

Bio.
Gini Koch lives in Hell’s Orientation Area (aka Phoenix, AZ), works her butt off (sadly, not literally) by day, and writes by night with the rest of the beautiful people. She writes the fast, fresh and funny Alien/Katherine “Kitty” Katt series for DAW Books and the Martian Alliance Chronicles series for Musa Publishing. She also writes under a variety of pen names (including G.J. Koch, Anita Ensal, Jemma Chase, A.E. Stanton, and J.C. Koch), listens to rock music 24/7, and is a proud comics geek-girl willing to discuss at any time why Wolverine is the best superhero ever (even if Deadpool does get all the best lines). She also speaks frequently on what it takes to become a successful author and other aspects of writing and the publishing business.

You can find Gini at her:
Website: http://www.ginikoch.com
Blah, Blah, Blah Blog: http://ginikoch.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @GiniKoch
Facebook: facebook.com/Gini.Koch
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hairspray-and-Rock-n-Roll-Kicking-Evil-Alien-Butt-since-2010-GINI-KOCH
Alien Collective Virtual HQ/Official Fan Site: http://aliencollectivehq.com/

Buy Touched by an Alien, Alien Tango, Alien in the Family, Alien Proliferation, or Alien Diplomacy by Gini Koch, and Alexander Outland: Space Pirate, by G.J. Koch, at any bookstore or online. Buy the majority of her other works from Musa Publishing (http://www.musapublishing.com/), or go to her Author Splash page (http://www.ginikoch.com/authorsplash.htm) for specific pen names and selected works.