Urban Fantasy Perspectives: L.M. Pruitt

Presenting another fantastic author interview with L.M. Pruitt in the newest installment of Urban Fantasy Perspectives:

Welcome L.M.! 

Thanks for having me today, Ella.

How long have you been a writer and fan of urban fantasy?

I think if I had to narrow it down, I’ve been a reader of urban fantasy before we actually started separating urban fantasy from paranormal romance, lol. I remember reading a vampire series by Linda Lael Miller when I was still in high school!  As far as being a writer of urban fantasy, I’d say it’s only been in the last 2-3 years that I’ve shifted my focus to the genre.

What are your favorite things about writing or reading urban fantasy?

For both, I’d say it’s the world building. Everybody likes to imagine creating a world, making up the rules and laws and so on—heck, I was doing it even before I started writing (serious Sims addict here), lol.  At the same time, I also like exploring new worlds, seeing how things are different from “normal life” or how I could imagine them.

Can you explain the premise for the Jude Magdalyn Henries series for us?

Originally, I tried writing chick lit. It didn’t work out, lol. So I took a break from writing and read…everything. After a while of reading everything, a kernel of an idea started to form, an idea centered around a girl/woman, but not any girl/woman. I wanted someone that I’d be willing to hang out in a bar with and at the same time would totally believe that she could lead a group of people and kick some ass.

What are some of Jude's strengths and flaws?

Well, this should be interesting, lol. She’s practical to a fault. Some of this is the result of her upbringing with the nuns and then her time on the street, and some of this is just who she is at her core. She sees a situation and tends to cut right to the heart of the matter. This is also a flaw, because that sort of straight-forward attitude can alienate people and can also open up avenues not expected, which might be not good.

She also, as mentioned above, has a straight-forward, leave-the-bullshit-at-the-door attitude. This works for some people, but not for others—simple as that. There have been statements about not being able to like or connect with Jude, and I can totally believe those statements are true. Jude is not the kind of person that everybody is going to like. It has nothing to do with ethnicity or age or social group. It’s a simple matter of personalities not meshing. So, again, both a strength and a flaw.

And finally, keeping with the strength and flaw together bit, I’d say she loves too hard. It’s not an emotion she gives freely, but when she does it’s from the very center of her. That kind of love can make you blind to both the good and bad  in a person.

Tell us a little about what's in store for Jude in her second novel, Shades of Desire.

It’s been about a month and a half since the end of Shades of Gray, and Jude and her household are trying to get settled in. Only problem—girls from the Covenant keep turning up dead. With the help of the Covenant’s new police liaison, Jude, Theo, Williams and the others need to track down the killer.

Location is usually an important aspect of urban fantasy. How did you decide on New Orleans as the location of Jude's series, and how does the city influence the stories?

I love New Orleans, absolutely and completely. I usually spend a week, if not more, over there every year. So picking New Orleans was easy. Add in the fact that they have a very long and extraordinarily well documented supernatural history, and there’s plenty of fodder for conflict.

Describe some of the supernatural creatures that Jude encounters in her books.

Mostly vampires, but not the nice kind, lol. There’s also some psychics, a dhampir, and a few voodoo priestesses.

Excellent! Do you have a favorite character you love to write? Why?

Oh, I hate this question! Really, I do, lol. I would have to say there’s a tie for my favorite character—Frankie Post, the lead in TAKEN, and Joanne Watson, the lead in a series I’m putting out next year. I love writing Frankie because she’s a modern character who’s also a throwback—the femme fatale of the noir genre who also has all the brass balls and guts of the hard-boiled detective. And Joanne—well, she’s unique, lol—and that’s all I’m going to say about her for now.

What are you working on now, and are there plans for more in the Jude Magdalyn series?

I’m working on the second novel in the Moon Rising series, Harvest Moon Rising, as well as Winged (a 2013 release). The next Jude Magdalyn book is slated for a late May, early June release.

Wonderful! Thanks so much for stopping by and answering my questions.

Shades of Desire
By L.M. Pruitt
Book 2 Jude Magdalyn Series

Blurb:

All I wanted was a little peace and quiet.

Instead, I've got dead Covenant members and a steady stream of letters from the new guy in town. His beverage of choice? A 2002 Merlot, with a shot or two of powerful virgin blood.

On top of that, I'm breaking in a new police liaison, failing at playing matchmaker, and fighting nausea like it's a full time job. Did I forget to mention that I've also got enough girls living at the Crossroads to start my own boarding school?

Peace and quiet? Out the window.

Buy Links Kindle
Book 1 Shades of Grey for your Kindle, in Paperback
Hole in the Wall a Jude Magdalyn free Kindle short

Excerpt:

“If someone doesn’t get me a lemon in the next five minutes, everyone will suffer. A lot.”

“Jude, I love you. Which is why I can say you’re being just a little overdramatic.” One look at my face and Theo changed his tune. “But then again, you could say pregnancy is dramatic and you’re just getting into the groove.”

“Nice save.” I tried to sit up again. Halfway through the upward movement greasy waves of nausea rolled over me and I eased back down onto the pillow. Strands of black hair clung to my sweaty face and I closed my eyes, exhaling slowly. “Not as nice as that lemon would be right now, but nice.”

“Elizabeth will be here in a moment. No doubt she’ll have a lemon. And tea. And toast.” Theo turned over to face me, laying one hand over my still mostly flat stomach. If you looked close, you could see the smallest of bumps.

I know, because I checked. Every other day or so.

If anybody told me three months ago, that the week before Halloween, I’d be lying in bed with a man who absolutely adored me—even the crazy parts—I’d have asked them what the hell they were smoking. If they’d thrown in being pregnant, I would have punched them in their jaw. Then gone to the store and bought a dozen pregnancy tests and prayed for them all to be negative.

But that was before the Covenant.

In two weeks, I’d gone from being an orphan raised by nuns, to the latest in a long line of only daughters. Women charged with the protection and well-being of hundreds of people with unique powers. Some made flame burn for hours, while others called the wind to knock you flat on your ass. They were a group of people who came together over two-hundred years ago, bound by a prophecy. One with no past, lost in the present, will bring in the future, through gifts of both this world and the next.

And lucky me, I’d passed the job interview.

I’d sent Hart to a muddy, watery grave-literally. Unless something went crazy wrong, he’d stay under the Mississippi until the Final Judgment. Williams ruled the vampires of the city now and kept his distance as much as possible.

And I, Jude Magdalyn Henries, led the Covenant. Maybe I wasn’t terrific at it. But Gillian would be proud.

All things considered, I think I came out with a pretty good deal.

About the Author:

L.M. Pruitt has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember. A native of Florida with a love of New Orleans, she has the uncanny ability to find humor in most things and would probably kill a plastic plant. She is the author of the Jude Magdalyn Series as well as New Moon Rising, featuring Cari Gravier, and Taken, featuring Frankie Post. She is currently at work on the next book in the Moon Rising series, Harvest Moon Rising, due out April 2012. Ms. Pruitt makes her home in Florida with two cats--one smart, the other not so much.

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/LM-Pruitt/364776895104
Blog: http://www.lmpruitt.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/lmpruitt

Pick up L.M.'s books and enjoy!
Ella