NIGHT LIFE

Luna Wilder (love that name!) is a smart, tough, police officer. She's also a Insoli werewolf who travels without a pack and has to rely on instinct alone. And she's just been assigned to find the ruthless killer behind a string of ritualistic murders-a killer with ties to an escaped demon found only in legend...until now.

This is the first book in Caitlin's Nocturne City series. It is full of werewolves, black magicians, and witches.

Doesn't all this sound wonderful?


I remember when Caitlin first snagged Rachel Vater as her agent, and I've watched her journey from query letter to published novel since August 2006. This is my interview with the author of Night Life:
1.) Demon Hunter: What first sparked your interest in writing?

Caitlin Kittredge: My mother was a librarian, and I was homeschooled, so I spent a lot of time reading fiction, especially fantasy fiction, and I decided at about age 13 that was what I wanted to do with my life. Storytelling always came naturally to me--I would make up elaborate roleplays for my friends and I when I was a kid, and they'd go on for days--so novel-writing was a natural extension of that early instinct.
2.) DH: Why do you write urban fantasy?
CK: I like fantastic fiction, but I also like stories that are grounded in reality, so urban fantasy was the niche for me. I think it's fascinating to look down a dark alley or around a corner and see things that may or may not be real, or to read graffiti as an incantation to an old god, or to wonder what those iron bars on someone's windows are REALLY keeping out.
3.) DH: Who are some of your writing influences?
CK: I'm very heavily influenced by noir fiction, from the school of Chandler and Hammet--bad people, mean streets, gorgeous dames, the hero who doesn't know she's a hero, to paraphrase Frank Miller. I'm also a big fan of Neil Gaiman, both his prose work and his /Sandman/ comics. He has a way of injecting both the sublimely fantastic and the terrifying unknown into everyday events that I really love.
4.) DH: How did you come to create Luna's character?
CK: I wrote the sort of character that I wanted to read about, but wasn't finding in urban fantasy at the time. I've always enjoyed reading about real women with real problems, and romances, and lives, and I endeavored to write Luna as someone very flawed, very relatable and real but ultimately with the smarts and strength to come out on top.
5.) DH: Why did you choose to write about werewolves?
CK: I love shapeshifters, their mythology and their history is really fascinating and full of great tidbits that I used in my worldbuilding. I'm also fascinated by the theme of duality, which you can really dig into with a shapeshifter character, and the line between human and monster, and how sometimes the worst monsters are the ones who don't have a beast under their skin at all.
Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule for the interview, Caitlin! Night Life officially went on sale March 4, 2008, so if you haven't bought it yet, go forth and purchase it! You won't be disappointed! :*)