~ GINI KOCH ~

Welcome to UTC, Gini!

Thanks so much for having me! It’s great to be here!

ALIEN COLLECTIVE is book nine in the Katherine “Kitty” Katt series. What can readers expect from this installment?

Well, more mayhem and hijinks, of course. Traitors, bombs, action, campaigns of all kinds, and a very special kind of quicksand. Plus the standard Kittyisms, humor, and romance that’s the basis for Kitty and Jeff’s relationship. So, you know, all the usual blah, blah, blah.

I love the entire cast of characters in the series, but I want to know who is your favorite secondary character and why do you love them so much?

I really do love all the characters, even the villains. But if I have to choose – and clearly I do – then I have to pick two: James Reader and Charles “Chuckie” Reynolds. I love them so much in part because they’re Kitty’s soul mates, in many ways even more than Jeff is, and because I just love everything about them, good and bad. They’re two of the characters that “talk” to me the most, too, Chuckie in particular. And for those who don’t like Chuckie, all I can say is that there is one character who really drives this series, as in, the one in my mind, making this series go, and it’s not Kitty or Martini. Without Chuckie, I don’t think I’d have made it past Alien in the Family. With him, I have an unlimited supply of a character whining and complaining to me to keep me driven.

Do you have a visual muse for Kitty, a celebrity or model that inspires her character?

No, and I don’t for most of the other characters, either. I “see” these characters very clearly in my mind, so I rarely base them on anyone. That’s not true for everything I write, but it’s true for this series. However, I’ve put some time into Pinterest and readers can go to my See The Characters board and check out who I’d currently suggest as being the best matches to how I see the characters in my mind (and the ones who could PLAY the characters the best at this time, too). The only one that is 100% accurate is Matt Bomer as Reader – it’s like he was born to play Reader. I’d written the first four books before I ever laid eyes on Bomer, so it was really weird to see him the first time and go, “OMG, that’s Reader!”

Though, anyone who pays attention to my celebrity crushes will absolutely  know who I based Malcolm Buchanan on, even before they look at Pinterest. ;-D

Jeff always plays a key role in all the books. What do you think makes him such a great match for Kitty?

He’s a confident, born leader who isn’t threatened by a strong, competent woman, an alpha male without a lot of angst but with a very sensitive side, and he’s very in tune with her. He finds everything she does to be cute, funny, brave, smart, etc., and that’s what he wants – a woman who can match him or best him in all areas. Dazzlers aren’t the only A-Cs attracted to brains.

Being the galaxy’s most powerful empath means Jeff’s more aware of what Kitty’s feeling – many times more aware of that than she is. And he has a great sense of humor, which any man needs to spend time with Kitty. She’s really not good with the humorless. Oh, and he’s also fantastic in bed, which, you know, helps a lot.

What’s up next for Gini Koch?

May’s a busy month for me. I have three short stories coming out in Penumbra eMagazine – and one is available right now in May, and it’s one everyone’s been asking for: when Reader met Gower. “Alien on the Runway” is in the Penumbra May issue. I’ll have two more Alien series shorts in upcoming Penumbra issues this year as well. Also, because they’re givers, Penumbra has a special deal – a year’s subscription at half price AND two Best Of issues, if you use this code when you race over to order: 2014Gini

I also should have the first Alien series short ever written, “A Clockwork Alien”, coming out from Zombies Need Brains in the Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens anthology. The publisher is trying to get that out this month, too. I think there are other May releases, too, but I’m blanking on them. (Publishers, forgive me! LOL)

In addition, I’m writing Book 10/Universal Alien, and then will be rolling into a variety of other deadlines. I also have a short story coming in Unidentified Funny Objects III anthology and my first straight mystery story coming in the 221 Baker Streets anthology. Both of those will be out later this year, as will Dark Phantastique and At the Mountains of Madness anthologies, where I have Lovecraftian horror short stories, written as J.C. Koch, included.

I’ll also be on my mini book tour this month, and then presenting and signing at Phoenix Comicon in June and San Diego Comic-Con in July. So, there’s LOTS going on in the world ‘o me!

Despite not having run for office, nor wanting to remain in office, Representative Jeff Martini is being wooed as the vice presidential running mate for a charismatic senator who seems likely to win the campaign. While the Diplomatic Corps has to deal with the pressures of a political campaign sure to uncover secrets they don’t want shared with the world, Ambassador Kitty Katt-Martini has other worries—handling the reemergence of her most potent nemesis, thought dead and buried.

Contest is open internationally — one winner gets their choice of one of the first 8 books in the Alien series (Touched through Research), signed, and personalized, along with magnets and postcards.

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