Outer Alliance Spotlight #44: Debra Killeen August 6, 2010
Posted by juliarios in : events, interviews , trackbackWelcome to Outer Alliance Spotlight #44. Each week the Spotlight features an ally who writes, reviews, publishes, or is in some other way involved with LGBTQI speculative fiction. Our guest this week is Debra Killeen, author of the Myrridian Cycle series.
Debra Killeen turned to writing only as an adult. In her non-writing life she works in the pharmceutical industry, but her fiction remains firmly in high fantasy territory, not science fiction. The first book in her Myrridian Cycle, An Unlikely Duke, came out in 2007, and was followed by three more volumes: A Prince in Need, Legacy of the Archbishop, and Priestess Awakening. The fifth and final volume is scheduled to come out in 2011.
Debra is a straight ally, who believes that people should take love where they find it. She counts among her friends and relatives people from all across the spectrum of sexual and gender identity, and supports LGBTQI acceptance in her life and in her fiction.
If you are in Raleigh this weekend, you can find Debra at NASFiC, where she will be reading this evening at 8:00 with the Broad Universe group, as well as sitting on a few panels, and signing autographs. If you’re not near Raleigh, you might be able to catch Debra later this year or next at Darkover, OutlantaCon, StellarCon, RavenCon, or ConCarolinas.
Debra lives in North Carolina with her sister, who is also a writer. They share their home with several cats, who are all very helpful with the writing. In addition to her personal site, Debra maintains a Twitter feed.
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OA: The fourth volume of your Myrridian Cycle books, Priestess Awakening, is out now and has some queer content. Can you tell us more about that? And do readers need to have read the previous 3 books in order to understand what’s going on in this one?
DK: Certainly. The queer content in Priestess Awakening involves a lesbian romance storyline as part of the plot. I didn’t realize when I was writing the first book in the series that one character would develop into a lesbian, but she let me know before I’d begun the manuscript for this volume. I knew the other woman was a lesbian from the outset of this volume.
While I would encourage readers to read the previous books in the series, of course, it’s not absolutely necessary for the enjoyment of this one. The plot of this novel stands alone, but the main characters’ back-stories do develop over the series.
OA: Myrridia seems to be heavily influenced by Christianity, but magic works there, and you dovetailed magic and religion in the books. As a pagan yourself, how did you come to that decision, and how do you feel about magic and religion generally?
DK: When I was first developing the initial book in the series, An Unlikely Duke, I knew religion would be playing a role. However, I’d read so many fantasy series back in my high school and college days where religion and magic were in opposition that I started with the premise that the dominant religion in this world at this time, Christianity, would not just condone magical practice, but control it. This decision was independent of my own paganism – heck, I was raised in the Baptist church, but I knew from my teen years that the Baptist church didn’t have all the answers for me. I’ve joked for many years that I would see “God” in nature. It took a little time to figure out exactly what that meant for me, but once I figured out that whole “divine feminine” concept, it was only natural to realize I was pagan.
I have always believed in something that I think of as magic – whether it came from reading fairy tales in my childhood or other influences – and I still believe that there are many things in our world which can’t be explained by science, at least not yet. I find both magic and religion to be fascinating subjects, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the chance to combine the two in this series of novels.
OA: Together with your sister, you designed some Myrridia inspired tarot cards. Are those available for sale (or even just to admire)?
DK: I wish! As of now, I’ve determined which Myrridian characters seem to personify the individual tarot cards. I think what surprised me the most is how little time it took me to figure out most of them! Apparently I’ve got a quite a few characters who are close to archetypes, and I never knew it while I was developing them! My sister is working on some draft text for the accompanying book, but unfortunately the artist who was going to start working on the designs has too many other obligations at this time. However, if there are any artists out there who might be interested in this project – they can feel free to contact me. My publisher is possibly interested in this project as well.
OA: Your four cats made their way into your fiction as well as your real home. How true to life are the cats that appear in the Myrridian books?
DK: Most of the scenes in which the cats take part have come from observing my cats. I’m sorry to say that a couple of the feline inspirations are no longer with me, but they live on in the books. The scene where two of the cats disrupt the wedding banquet in Priestess is based on typical behavior. While they never interrupted a banquet, they had enough feline fights in their time.
OA: What can we look for next from you? Any exciting projects coming up?
DK: More projects are coming, rest assured! The final volume of the Myrridian Cycle, Kingdom in the Balance, will be released sometime early next year. I’m currently revising a manuscript which I hope will be the first novel of a new series, about a twelve-year-old apprentice witch, Morgan, living near Chapel Hill, NC, who encounters a fairy clan living nearby. The fairies are dying and need Morgan’s help to save them. There’s an environmental message.
There’s another series in the Myrridian universe planned as well, with many of the characters going on crusade, about 10-15 years after the close of this series. The original idea came out of my frustration with the Iraq war, and I keep hoping that by the time I get the series written, the war will be over. Maybe just optimism on my part. But there will be more queer content and lots more religion and magic. And probably magic carpets…
Another series, which may end up a collaboration with my sister, is a spin-off of the Myrridian stories, but will be set in our world – paranormal mysteries. I don’t want to give too much away for folks who haven’t read the Myrridian cycle, but a character from Myrridian comes to our world, and will have to adjust to modern life after being born in the 10th century. I’m probably going with young adult in age, so while there won’t be a lot of gruesome murders caused by things natural or supernatural, we do hope to use create some spooky situations and hopefully have some fun, with some of the causes as explainable, but some not.
OA: Most writers are avid readers, too. What are some of your favorite books?
DK: So many excellent choices out there! I’m a big fan of Ray Bradbury and Terry Pratchett, to name two greats. I’ve read all the Harry Potter novels, and thought Rowling did a wonderful thing – getting kids to read who might not have picked up a book. Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy, Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers series, John Dickson Carr’s locked-room mysteries, Jeff Smith’s Bone graphic novels, Hellboy, Sandman. (I love graphic novels, too!) I’ve enjoyed the first two installments of Candace Havens’ Carruthers sisters series and I’m about halfway through the Harry Dresden books. Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Mists of Avalon, which I hope to reread one of these days, Mary Stewart’s Arthurian series, and Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain series.
OA: You’re going to be at several cons in the coming year, including NASFiC this weekend. Where can people find you in person this weekend and beyond?
DK: Yes, I’ll be at NASFiC this weekend, and joining you and some other fabulous women authors on the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading Friday evening at 8pm. I’ve got a few other panels over the weekend and two autograph sessions. I’ll be around and about the con and am always glad to stop and chat with folks, or else I’ll be in the dealers room (uncertain at this point). Later this year I’ll be at DarkoverCon near Baltimore on Thanksgiving weekend.
Next year looks to be fairly busy, with StellarCon, RavenCon, OutlantaCon/GaylaxiCon (a first for me, and looking forward to it!), and ConCarolinas so far. DarkoverCon and CapClave are two more possibilities, and I may see if there’s something promising in Florida, to join my publisher there. And maybe Dragon*Con.
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Thanks, Debra! Join us next week for another Spotlight, and in the meantime, check out the Myrridian Cycle! And if you’re in Raleigh, come see Debra read tonight along with me and fellow OA member, C.D. Covington!
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