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Author Interview...Monster (The Outsider Chronicles Book Four) by Kayti Nika Raet
This has to be the most exciting thing I've done since...well things that aren't book-related; like eating a pizza in one sitting.
BUT!!!
I am so honoured to have had the opportunity to have met the lovely Kayti through some or other social network, around November last year (2014). Since, we have had some utterly normal to weird chats, I was so excited to hear that she had finished her new book, Monster (The Outsider Chronicles Book Four) that I wanted to have a little interview with the genius behind it all.
So here we go...
Kayti Nika Raet
Short Bio:
Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Kayti Nika Raet moved down South when she was 11, where she was bitten by the writing bug, as well as other, less friendly insects, in Milledgeville, Georgia.
She is the author of the Outsider Chronicles; a five book series, starting with NIKO and set in a world where the rain burns like acid and flesh eating monsters roam.
She's also a reviewer for Readers' Favorite and has her own YouTube Channel: Kayti Edition.
When she is not hard at work on her fifth book; she has fun reading, listening to K-pop, and photography.
Blurb:
In a world full of flesh eating creatures, sometimes humans are the more terrifying monsters.
It's been three months since the revolution swept through the city of Cherai and ousted Councilwoman King. Banished, the city now has a chance to recover from decades of injustice and oppression. With the help of Ben, Songhay, and the Gemini Gang, Niko works towards building a more egalitarian society.
But someone is murdering Slither hunters.
And coupled with the councilwoman's reappearance, all of Niko’s hard work balances on a precarious precipice - one wrong move and it will all be for naught.
As the number of bodies rise and the tensions within the city increase, Niko is soon forced to make a difficult decision. And it could change everything.
Excerpt:
She had no idea what to expect when she rounded the corner, but it definitely wasn't what she actually saw.
There was nothing.
The street was empty.
There were no Slithers.
All was quiet. Everyone was safely tucked inside their homes which were balanced on several concrete blocks to keep them from touching the acid. A few of the homes had a thin light slipping out from underneath their doors, the light was either provided by solar powered lamps or glow sticks. She hoped to one day bring electricity into the slums but for now, they were concentrating on bringing water to every home.
Alice and Ari stood beside her, their eyes panning the street warily, Roosevelt was somewhere on the roof above them.
“It's probably a false alarm,” Ari said. She was whispering as though she wasn't completely sure of her theory. “Someone was scared and set a flare off by accident.”
“Or someone was an idiot,” Alice said, sounding less forgiving.
Ari grunted as though she agreed with her but couldn't bear to say it aloud.
“Sh.” Niko said. Something wasn't right.
The houses were balanced on blocks to keep them off the ground. It left about a foot and a half of space beneath the house. It wasn't much but it was just enough to hide a Slither.
They were dealing with a smart one.
Niko lurched away from the wall. “It's under the house. Move!”
Ari heeded her warning instantly, but Alice was slower and had only taken two steps when a Slither lunged from beneath the house and wrapped its claws around her leg.
Alice screamed and nearly fell. A blade that was in her hand clattered to the ground as the Slither attempted to drag her under the house and eat her.
Ari raised her crossbow and shot it. Niko chopped off its head for good measure and the smell of sulphur tainted the air.
“Looks like we're in for a boring night,” Ari quipped as she reloaded her crossbow.
Alice said nothing, her light brown skin had paled considerably and her half-moon shaped eyes had widened into full moons as she stared down at the headless corpse still grasping for her boots.
Niko shook her arm. “Forget about it, it's dead,” she said, not unkindly. Alice couldn't afford to be fixated on the dead Slither at their feet when the live ones were much more worrisome.
“Roosevelt!” she called up toward the rooftops, she couldn't see her but she knew she was up there somewhere. “Can you see any more?”
“You got two coming,” Roosevelt answered. “Oi, no, you got–”
A Slither cut off the rest of her sentence.
There were two types of Slithers, pale, inhuman monsters with disturbingly colored eyes, a mouthful of long sharp teeth, and a taste for human flesh.
They were pretty straightforward in their quest for their favorite meal. They were incredibly stupid but they were also too fast and too strong for anyone to stop unless they were a Slither hunter.
The smart ones were crafty, a regular Slither wouldn't have thought to hide beneath the house.
Niko thought they had killed the smart one.
She was wrong.
Questions:
Where did you get the idea for or what inspired you to write, The Outsider Chronicles?
A lot of the inspiration for the Outsider Chronicles comes from Niko herself, but also from a desire to take a break from the Traditional publishing hustle. Rejection letters get exhausting after a while and I wanted a break so I decided to focus on something new. I wanted to write something fun, and sexy (not too sexy), with weird humour and lots of action, and horror (cos I like freaking people out).
I'm a total pantser when it comes to writing, but The Outsider Chronicles was the first book where I was more deliberate with how I wanted everything to go. Nothing so crazy as crafting an outline or deciding the theme, just knowing that it was going to be a series and a vague idea of some of the plot twists.
With the acid rain and the Slithers, it seems there is a subtle message to call for environmental friendliness. Was that intentional to bring attention to this real issue?
I'm glad you picked up on that! The inspiration for acid rain came from two places. I knew someone who had studied the effects of acid rain for a university, way back in the seventies. Coupled with my own interest in it when I was a kid in the mid-nineties, it all started to come together.
I also love the horrifying idea of having something that's such an important facet of life on Earth, being turned against us.
Describe Monster in your own words.
Monster is the book in which I finally start answering most of the questions that have been raised in the previous books (Yes, most. Hey, gotta save some stuff for the last one!) We learn a little more about certain character's backstories and...people die. People that you like (or not). Be prepared. :D #sorrynotsorry
How much of you/your life is in Monster and the characters of the series?
Plot wise; my life doesn't resemble what goes on in the Outsider Chronicles at all. Super glad about that. I'm far from athletic and will make for a quick Slither snack!
Character wise; I think a little piece of my personality appears in every character, the good, the bad, the weird. Especially the weird!
What was the hardest part of writing Monster?
It's something that actually wound up not making the final plot arc, but I agonized over it for months. If I mention it, it'll spoil what actually DID happen, so I'm keeping my lips locked tight!
How did you come up with the protagonist, Niko?
I'll share what I posted on another blog long ago because it still applies.
“Back in 2010-12 there were a lot of books published in the YA Dystopian, Fantasy, Paranormal genre where the main character would insist that she was ordinary, boring, and plain. And even though everything in the story seemed designed to prove that she wasn’t, by the end of the book it still wasn’t enough to knock her out of that mindset. It would often leave me wondering what was so special about her that made her the daughter of prophecy, linchpin of the revolution, and face that launched a thousand ships (or at least a few love triangles).
So when I wrote Niko, I knew I wanted a character who was aware of her awesomeness, who didn’t need anyone to reveal it to her, and who didn’t talk down about herself for the sake of being relatable.”
What are the main characters' back stories of Monster?
That's a really interesting question! In Monster I concentrate on answering some of the questions that have been piling up in the previous books. We also get a brief glimpse of Roosevelt's and Songhay's past and we learn a teeny little bit more about Councilwoman King.
Why did you select the setting you did for Monster?
The short answer would be: Monster is set in Cherai, because it's the continuation of Outsider.
But that doesn't really capture everything I set out to do.
Usually with books, the hero saves the day, defeats the bad guy, and the book ends with the implication that all the hard work is over and everything ends happily ever after. With Monster I wanted to explore what happens after the revolution, all the hard work and two-steps-forward-one-step-back that goes into it. Especially since Niko and her friends are working to reverse long-held and deep seated injustices. And if real life is any indication, they're going to be in for a long, hard fight.
Who designed the cover for Monster?
My sister, Hana Kura, designs all my covers. She's an artist who can do all types of styles and she really makes my books pop!
If you had the opportunity to make a movie of The Outsider Chronicles, who would you like to play the key characters?
I actually made a whole post casting The Outsider Chronicles. I won't post everyone here but I imagined Megan Danso being cast to play Niko, and Tidiou M’Baye looks pretty close to how I imagined Ben in my mind. Jessica Lucas is who I imagined for Ari. Actually, she's who I modelled Ari after!
For Songhay, I decided on Brian Peters and for Roosevelt Paloma Kwiatkowski captures her personality perfectly.
I love finding out what other people envisioned though, especially when names like Samira Wiley (Niko) and Joshua Williams (Songhay) pop up.
If you would like to see my full cast, check it out right here! http://bit.ly/1R5wdmA
Slithers are quite unique monsters. To which monster would you compare them to for new readers of the series?
Even though Slithers are pretty unique, I always imagined them like a cross between a Nosferatu vampire, and a zombie — without the whole decaying flesh thing.
When can the final book, RISE (The Outsider Chronicles Book Five) be expected?
I'm hoping to have it out by mid 2016, but I have a feeling that since I'm going to be saying goodbye to some really great people, I might drag it out. At least...until readers come after me with pitchforks!
Links to check out:
If that doesn't have you reaching for this awesome series, you are a lost cause, but I want to thank Kayti for her time and wish her all the best for the future.
Now go back to writing, we want RISE!
See you on the other side!
Chevoque
