Dark Fantasy author Caitlin Kittredge may be young, but if you ask her “age has very little to do with publishing.” Author of two successful series, Nocturne City and Black London; Caitlin lives in Olympia, Washington where she started writing at the age of 13 and still writes today with two pushy cats by her side. Not shy of speaking her mind, just check her blog, she collects comic books, print books, vintage clothes, and bad habits. She also loves tea, loud music, the color black (especially mixed with the color pink) and ghost stories. She can drive a stick shift, play the violin and knows more English curses than American ones.

OBS: How did you get into writing? What are your first memories of it?
CK:I graduated from college with an English degree, and had known for a few years I wanted to write novels. I’d been writing stories since I could write—I tried to write a novel at 13 that is mercifully lost to the mists of time and a computer with a fried hard drive. It gave me the bug, though, and I finished a real novel when I was 21.

OBS: Who are your literary influences?
CK:I like to say I’m the bastard lovechild of Raymond Chandler and Neil Gaiman. On my good days.

OBS: What are you reading right now?
CK: Butcher Bird, by Richard Kadrey.

OBS: What is your favorite book of all time? and why?
CK: That is an impossible question!

OBS: What media do you use to help inspire you while writing (Music, Art, Movies, etc.)? Anything specific?
CK: Inspiration can come from anywhere. Tools for writing for me include music (I make playlists for most of my novels) and reading nonfiction about whatever I’m basing my story on.

OBS: When you are writing your books, do you know what is going to happen or is it a surprise to yourself as well?
CK: I’m a bit OCD about knowing the ending before I start writing, but everything that happens between the first sentence and THE END is up for discussion.

OBS: What kind of research did you do for the Black London and Nocturne City series?
CK: The Nocturne City series actually sprang out of a forensic investigation course I took in college—I wanted to apply real-world forensics and biology to urban fantasy, so I wrote a novel with a werewolf cop. I did a lot of reading about profiling and crime scene analysis and DNA and all that fun stuff. Criminology is one of my areas of interest anyway. For Black London, I obviously had to research a city I didn’t live in, so I learned everything I could about London. I also did a lot of research into old-fashioned exorcisms, ghost hunting, old punk bands, Mini Coopers…kind of everything you could imagine.

OBS: Why did you choose London as the setting for Street Magic and did you have to do research for it as well?
CK: I love London—it’s a magical city, with a long and fascinating history. I defy someone to find a better city tailor-made for a ghost story. I think I answered the research thing up above…

OBS: Your books have an urban setting despite the supernatural themes. Did you know you wanted the Film Noir feel when you started writing your books?
CK: Yes. I’m a fan of noir and classic pulp novels, and I very deliberately try to evoke that feeling when I write.

OBS: The dynamic between your characters is always interesting. Do your characters have a bit of you in them or do they have traits from your friends and family?
CK: My characters are themselves. I don’t deliberately attach traits of real people to any of them, although I do have certain archetypes that I enjoy playing with in my fiction. And there is a certain ex-boyfriend who I’ve killed off-ed probably four or five times in various novels.

OBS: What are your personal beliefs in faeries, witches, mages, sorcerers, etc..? Do they ever affect how you write?
CK: I’m a skeptical believer in the Something Else. There’s too much strange in this world for me to totally discount the possibility of Something Else being out there. But at the same time, I’m the first person to try and debunk any supernatural stuff that people claim is going on around them. I, personally, had one completely terrifying encounter with something supernatural that I still can’t explain…hence my lack of 100% skepticism.

OBS: If Street Magic was adapted for the big screen, who would you want to play Pete and Jack?
CK: I’d love for David Tennant (of Doctor Who fame) to play Jack. There’s just something about his mannerisms that really evokes the character. As for Pete, I’d just want an actress who could do justice to the part—play a strong female who’s also vulnerable without being pathetic.

OBS: If Nocturne was adapted for the big screen, who would you want to play Luna?
CK: Reality aside? Kate Beckinsale. I think she’s gorgeous and looks like she could kick ass as a werewolf.

OBS: What is one thing you’d like your fans to know about you and your books?
CK: Um… I like it when they read them?

OBS: What future projects are you working on? Can you tell us anything about them?
CK: Okay, deep breath: I have a YA novel coming out next year, called The Witch’s Alphabet. That one has steampunk, Lovecraftian horrors, evil faeries and is tons of fun. Daemon’s Mark, the final book in the Nocturne City series, is out in June as well as a novel I co-authored about superheroes, Shades of Gray. The next two books in the Black London series are forthcoming as well, in 2010 and 2011. The third one is tentatively being called Bone Gods, #4 doesn’t have a title yet. Tons of anthologies, and a lot of stuff I can’t talk about yet but hope to be able to soon!

Special thanks to Caitlin for giving us this wonderful interview and we look forward to the release of your new books soon. I will definitely be looking forward to anything from Caitlin in the future now that I know the genre she writes in, it’s one of my favorites.

Check out Caitlin’s website here:
http://www.caitlinkittredge.com/

The second artist I want to introduce to you is H. R. Giger. I guess we all know his works – but maybe not him.

Artist Name: Hans Rüdiger Giger

Date of Birth: 1940

Where From: Chur, Switzerland

Short Bio:
He is recognized as one of the world’s most well known artists of Fantastic Realism and he achieved international fame with his work on Ridley Scott’s movie ‘Alien’. For his designs of the film’s title creature and its otherworldly environment H. R. Giger received the 1980 Academy Award for ‘Best Achievement for Visual Effects’.

He studied architecture and industrial design at the School of Applied Arts in Zurich and by 1964 he was producing his first artworks. By discovering airbrush he also found his own unique freehand painting style. That was the beginning of the creations of many of his most well known works – the surrealistic Biomechanical dreamscapes.

Work in Movies:
- Dune
- Alien
- Alien 3
- Poltergeist II: The Other Side
- Kondom des Grauens
- Species
- Batman Forever
- Future-Kill
- Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis

Giger’s Bar

LP-/CD-Cover, Videos:
- The Shiver – Walpurgis
- Emerson, Lake and Palmer – Brain Salad Surgery
– Magma – Attahk
- Island – Pictures
– Debbie Harry – KooKoo
– Celtic Frost – To Mega Therion
– Dead Kennedys – Frankenchrist
– Pankow – Freiheit für die Sklaven
– Steve Stevens – Atomic Playboys
– Atrocity – Hallucinations
– Sacrosanct – Recesses for the Depraved
– Danzig – Danzig III: How The Gods Kill
– Carcass – Heartwork
– Hide – Hide Your Face
– Dr. Death – Somewhere in nowhere (Birthmachine)
– Böhse Onkelz – Dunkler Ort

PC/Games:
- Dark Seed
- Dark Seed 2

Read more about H.R. Giger and his work HERE.