Interview with Urban Fantasy Authors C.N. Crawford and Alex Rivers (Bonus! Giveaway!)

The fae live among us. And one of them is a serial killer.

"I am seriously impressed with this book. It blends hunting for a serial killer in London with concerns about fighting terrorism in our modern world and it works!" 5 star review.

Find the series on Amazon. Free in KU.

Please welcome authors C.N. Crawford and Alex Rivers! I contacted them after reading the first two books in their Dark Fae FBI series. I LOVED the books and wanted more. So I asked them if they would do an interview for my website...because I want to know ALL THE THINGS NOW about their new series.

Keep reading! There's a giveaway at the end.

Michelle: You co-wrote this series. How did you divvy up the writing? I know some co-authors alternate scenes or characters.

Alex: We outline the book together via messenger or chat. Then I write a first initial draft that contains the bare bones of most of the scenes. Then Christine goes through my draft, fills it up with color, changes some of the sections so they work better, and writes the missing scenes/chapters. Then we alternate, going over each other’s corrections of the book until we’re both happy with the final result

Michelle: How did you end up writing together? By design or by evolution? Do you ever have any *ahem* heated discussions about what direction to take in a scene? Ever flip a coin as a tiebreaker?

Alex: There’s a scene in Agent of Enchantment when Cassandra chases the killer into the land of the fae, and meets Roan there. It’s a pivotal scene, because her entire demeanor toward Roan changes in that scene. We had a lot of disagreements regarding their interactions there, and the scene was rewritten half a dozen times, but it ended up a scene we were both happy with, which was a sort of middle-ground between both approaches. We work out all differences by talking and convincing each other, because neither of us is really the type of person who can just write off a scene as “okay whatever, do what you like”

Christine: I don’t remember this at all but now that I learned we disagreed I am annoyed for no reason. Ultimately I really trust Alex’s opinion so that helps us get over disagreements.

How we ended up writing together is that we were already critique partners and had been for a few years, and I knew I could work with Alex because he is very focused and would get things done on time, and I like his writing and knew I could get along with him.

Michelle: How did you come up with Cassandra the heroine of your Dark Fae FBI series?

Christine: Alex was already writing FBI profiler books under another name (Mike Omer), and I’m a psychologist, so we thought it would be a good idea to combine all these things with urban fantasy. It was fun to include some aspects of my other field (i.e. she thinks a lot about nature and nurture arguments), and Alex brought a lot of his FBI research to the table.

Michelle: Cassandra's an FBI profiler, did you have a profile put together for her or any of the other characters? Or did you let the characters come organically?

Christine: We have profiles for the major characters, which usually include past traumas and an idea of what their flaws and defense mechanisms are. But they are different from reports I would write as a psychologist which would usually be IQ scores and a bunch of boring stuff about organizational skills.  

Alex: Several characters just sprouted spontaneously. Alvin, who is one of the most popular characters in the books was a spur of the moment idea by Christine, and some of the minor antagonists were things created in my twisted mind while I was walking the dogs.

Michelle:Every author has their own take on Fae mythology and I always love to see what people decide to make up, endlessly innovating the world of fantasy. What did you decide to write 'true to myth' and where did you take liberties?

Christine: We have sort of a mixture of characters from Irish, English, and Scottish mythology that are all blended together. It doesn’t take place in Ireland, but the Irish fae are just particularly cool. We borrowed from British Celtic gods to name a lot of the fae characters (but not all of them).

Michelle:The series takes place in London, and one of the most delightful aspects for me was the way historical events are attributed to the Fae. The great fire, the plague, the dancing plague etc... Did you know all this history before you wrote the series or was this something you sought out after you developed Cassandra? Also, I'm guessing from all the detail in the books that you've been to London, yes?

Christine: I lived in London for eight years and was obsessed with the history of the city. So for this book, we didn’t have to do any new research, but we were treading over the old neighborhoods that I miss so much.

Michelle:There are two men in Cassandra's life. Gabriel, the long suffering, but loyal police officer, and Roan, the dangerous but exciting Fae. We don't know who Cassandra will end up with, maybe neither of them, but who do YOU pick and why? Who do you think readers are rooting for? I'm with Gabriel. Roan's exciting, but at my age, I like a man who knows how to show up and be supportive. Lol

Christine: There is something really appealing to me about the fact that Gabriel has a clean house, and that he cooks for Cassandra. But it’s hard to resist a character with a dark and mysterious past like Roan. Also he is a sex fae. I mean, come on.

Alex: I like Gabriel better than Roan, because he has a nice smile, and is fun to talk to.

Michelle: Who are your favorite secondary characters? The leads, Cassandra and Roan, are fab but who did you become a fan of as the story developed? I myself enjoy Alvin and his trinkets that never quite work as expected.

Christine: I think Scarlett is my favorite. And she might get her own series some day.

Alex: I like Alvin best. He makes me laugh.

Michelle:.How many books do you have planned for this series? The first two are out now, when is the third coming out?

Christine: There are four planned for this series.

Michelle: Tell me all the things about your other series please.

Alex: I write crime thrillers under the name Mike Omer. I currently have 3 books in the Glenmore Park Mystery series which revolves around the detective squad in the town Glenmore Park.

Christine: I have two other urban fantasy series: Vampire’s Mage, which is about a demon-hunter who ends up on the side of the demons, and includes a romance with a shadowy demi-god. And my husband writes the first draft of a series called Demons of Fire and Night, about a girl with no memory who learns she’s a hellhound and gets swept away into a world of the demons.

Giveaway! Comment on this post with your answer to the question below for a chance to win a copy of the first two books in the Dark Fae FBI series and a $5 Amazon giftcard.

QUESTION: The portal to Fairy is open...do you go through or not? Who dares to take the risk? (It was a pretty dangerous place for Cassandra. FYI.)

              Find the series on Amazon. Free in KU.