Guest Author Kirsten Weiss

Today I have the pleasure of having author Kirsten Weiss here
at my blog while on tour for her book The Alchemical Detective.

Kirsten is giving away two copies of The Alchemical Detective (Kindle or Nook),
so make sure you comment for a chance to win.

Thanks for being here today and thank you so much for your the topic of your blog today! :)

Gritty Shades of Fae

Kirsten Weiss

The fae’s skin shimmered, flowed, gray as a stormy sea. “I want to dominate you.” 

A confident smile ghosted his lips.

 “Then we’re at an impasse, because I want to rip your wings off.” Riga’s expression grew stony.  “On second thought, you’d probably enjoy it.”

His smile slipped.  “You disappoint me.  I thought a woman like you would be… less conventional.”

“You think dominating women is unconventional?  Societies have been doing it for thousands of years.  Now move away from that door before I start removing your soft dangly bits.” 

I made it through the first seven chapters of 50 Shades last weekend, then gave up and wrote my own antidote to it.  This isn’t a criticism of 50 Shades – obviously, the author is doing something right and I’d love to have her sales.  The heroine just didn’t click with me, and I got bored. 

Maybe I’m overly sensitive to the whole domination thing after my time in Afghanistan, where floggings were not only accepted but encouraged.   But give me a kick-ass paranormal heroine any day – a woman who has the brains, the guts, and the heart to hold her own against the bad guys (and who doesn’t put up with manipulative crap from creepy stalker millionaires). 

In my paranormal fiction, I like to read about women who can…

·         Throw down.  Ashley Parker, the zombie hunter from Plague Town, fights because there’s no one else to do it.  Riga Hayworth from the Alchemical Detective is a damned good martial artist.  She doesn’t go looking for fights, but she’ll do what it takes to win them – including play dirty.  In Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire novels, Sookie Stackhouse isn’t particularly skilled at hand-to-hand combat, but she’ll fight to save herself and others.  The vampire Pam in the same series is positively terrifying.

·         Think.  Kick-ass heroines don’t make stupid or irrational decisions to drive the plot forward.  They use their brains.  No tripping over tree roots in high heels! One of the disappointments for me when the Southern Vampire series was translated into True Blood, was that the Sookie character became the least interesting person in the show, and the plot is often driven by Sookie doing something dumb.  Urgh.  I hate that!  It’s very un-kick-assy.  There will always be consequences to the actions of a kick-ass heroine, but her actions should be logical.

·         Mouth off.  Kick-ass heroines also have some sass.  They’ve got the courage of their convictions, and while they can be circumspect when they need to, they’re not afraid to voice their opinions and tell it like it is.  And they don’t let anyone push them around.

·         Save themselves.  Sookie usually gets out of her own messes.  Ashley saves others.  Riga saves herself, though she’s happy to let others do the heavy lifting when they offer.  Pam the vampire doesn’t want or need anyone’s help.

·       Use their hearts as well as their magic.  These heroines have heart. They care. Even Pam, who’s utterly ruthless, will lay down her life for her maker, Eric.

So who are your favorite kick-ass paranormal ladies?

The Alchemical Detective

By Kirsten Weiss

Book Two in the Riga Hayworth Series

Genre: Paranormal Mystery

Date of Publication: May 31, 2012

ISBN:  978-0-9855103-1-2

ASIN: B0085XCDL8

Number of pages: 289

Word Count: 75,000

Purchase Links:  Kindle

Book Description

A psychic has been murdered in an occult ceremony and the police pay a visit to Riga Hayworth, metaphysical detective.  But this time, she’s not a consultant on the case, she’s a suspect.

There’s a storm on the horizon.  Riga’s lost her magic, and has come to Lake Tahoe to recover and spend quality time with her new love.  But life for Riga is never that simple.  A psychic’s been murdered, and the police believe Riga has a connection to the crime.  They’re right.  And if that’s not enough, Riga is drafted as the host of a reality TV show about the local lake monster, and her niece is rejecting her metaphysical abilities.  Juggling demons, daimons, and angry tarot card readers, Riga must catch a killer before she becomes the next target.

The Alchemical Detective is a paranormal mystery that explores a world of alchemy and the imagination.

About the Author:

Kirsten Weiss is the author of two paranormal mysteries available on the Kindle: the urban fantasy, The Metaphysical Detective, and The Alchemical Detective.  She is hard at work on the sequel, The Shamanic Detective. 

Kirsten worked overseas for nearly fourteen years, in the fringes of the former USSR and deep in the Afghan war zone.  Her experiences abroad not only gave her glimpses into the darker side of human nature, but also sparked an interest in the effects of mysticism and mythology, and how both are woven into our daily lives.

Now based in San Mateo, CA, she writes paranormal mysteries, blending her experiences and imagination to create a vivid world of magic and mayhem.

Kirsten has never met a dessert she didn’t like, and her guilty pleasures are watching Ghost Whisperer reruns and drinking good wine. 

Read a sample chapter of her books or check out her blog at http://kirstenweiss.com.  You can follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/RigaHayworth