This week I am delighted to be having a slice of cake with fellow indie author Geoff Habiger.
Geoff was raised in the shadow of roaring lions and peacock calls in Manhattan...Kansas, not New York, living behind the city's zoo. Growing up Geoff loved exploring the woods around his home, sneaking into the zoo (don't tell anybody), and playing baseball and Dungeons & Dragons. He and his best friend, Coy Kissee, would spend hours reading comics, playing all sorts of role-playing games, and talking about books and movies. Geoff stayed in Manhattan for college, getting a B.S. degree in Geology at Kansas State University (Go Cats!). He then attended gradual school in Bozeman, Montana where he didn't graduate but did meet his future wife, so that worked out well.
In 2004 Geoff began two new (though very much part-time) careers in publishing, one as a senior partner in the independent book publishing company, Artemesia Publishing, and the other in a game publishing company, Tangent Games, started with Coy. Through Tangent Games Geoff and Coy have published dozens of role-playing books and a few card games. Geoff published his first book, the Dinosaur Learning Activity Book, a children's colouring and activity book about dinosaurs, through Artemesia Publishing in 2008. His first novels, Unremarkable and Wrath of the Fury Blade, co-written with Coy, were published in 2018.
Geoff currently resides in the wilds of the Monzano mountains, east of Albuquerque, with his wife, son, and two cats. His is currently working on sequels to both of the novels already published.
What kind of books do you write?
I write stories that turn the normal into the unexpected. This might be a normal person thrown into extraordinary situations (Unremarkable) or take a traditional genre and turn it on its side (Wrath of the Fury Blade). I loved the stories of the Twilight Zone and similar writings, so anything that can add a twist to give the reader an unexpected outcome is what I am after.
Can you describe your writing why?
To be a story-teller. I have so many ideas bouncing around in my head and I want to share them with everybody. For me, it is about sharing the worlds and the characters I am creating with others.
Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most.
Kind of a long-ish section from our novel, Wrath of the Fury Blade. This shows a lot of our main character’s (Reva Lunaria) personality.
Reva reached for the hot cacao, letting the heat from the porcelain cup warm her fingers. She breathed deeply, the aroma wafting around her silver-red hair. She was just about to take a sip, when someone stepped in front of her table, blocking the morning light.
“Whoever the hell you are, you have two breaths to move.” Her voice was quiet and filled with implied menace, but the person didn’t move. Reva looked up in annoyance, her turquoise eyes piercing through the person who dared disturb her morning ritual.
A young Constable—he couldn’t have been more than forty-seven or forty-eight years of age—stood before her. He had long, hickory-brown hair and rather plain, muddy brown eyes. His right hand was clenched in a fist over his heart in salute. His uniform was sharp and neat, a green leather vest over a pale green wool shirt, brown trousers, and green puttee wrapped around his ankles and calves. He wore dark blue bracers on both forearms, with red trim and a birch leaf tooled into the leather, indicating his assignment to Betula Division. They were the patrol officers, walking their rounds throughout the city to protect and assist the citizens.
Reva continued to stare hard at the Constable over the cup of cacao still poised at her lips. The Constable was beginning to wither under her stare.
“C…Constable Inspector Lunaria,” he finally stammered. “First Constable Aescel demands your immediate presence in his office.”
“No.” Reva took a long sip of the cacao—now merely warm—and had the small pleasure of seeing the Constable’s eyes go wide.
“Ma’am?”
“I plan on spending today in rest and relaxation, since I damn well earned it.” She set the cup down.
“But Constable Inspector, the First Constable sent me personally to get you. He said it was most urgent and I was to, quote, Get her ass here without fail unquote.”
Reva sighed. So much for my day off. “Very well, proceed.” She gestured to the Constable with her hand.
“Ma’am?”
“The First Constable said ‘immediate’ and ‘urgent.’ I assume you are prepared to gate us there with your magic.”
“Uh…no, ma’am.” The Constable’s right hand finally dropped the salute.
“No?” Reva raised her voice slightly and glared at him. “You aren’t prepared to use your magic, or are you unwilling?” She pointed a finger at him. “I should report you for dereliction of duty.”
“No, Inspector!” The Constable almost yelped with dread. “I’m not a magic user. I was ordered to find you and bring you to the First Constable. I tried at your home and your mother—”
“You went to my home and bothered my mother?” She was working very hard now to hide her smile. How green was this Constable?
“Yes, ma’am... I mean, no, ma’am.” The Constable licked his lips and looked around for help. The other patrons were all staring at him, clearly on Reva’s side. He took a breath and said, “I mean that I went to your home on the First Constable’s orders and your mother was kind enough to say that you’d be here.”
Reva smiled inwardly; he’d recovered nicely. “So you didn’t bother my mother and you are not a magic user?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good.” Reva picked up her cup of cacao—now barely warm—and took a drink. “I can finish my breakfast, then.”
“But, Inspector,” he whined slightly, starting to panic. “The First Constable told me to bring you immediately. He was most insistent and said he’d kick me out of the Constabulary if I failed.”
Reva picked up her fork and took another bite of her sweet roll, cocking her head in thought. She desperately wanted her day off, but if Aescel had threatened this moss-behind-the-ears Constable to find her on her day off, it could only mean that something serious had happened. Damnit.
She took a long pull on the cacao, draining the cup before setting it down. Picking up the sweet roll she stood up and motioned to the Constable. “Very well, Constable. Let’s not keep the First Constable waiting.”
Tell us about your latest project.
I am in the middle of the first edit for Untouchable, the sequel to our first book, Unremarkable. Unremarkable is the story of Saul Imbierowicz, a postal worker who is just an ordinary guy living in 1929 Chicago. He’s got a great girlfriend, Moira, and a good job. But on the day of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre he gets caught between the gunfight and Moira is killed. Saul is suddenly thrust between Chicago’s two biggest gangsters – “Bugs” Moran and Al Capone, and the Feds. Everybody wants something from him and they are willing to threaten Saul’s parents and sister to get it. If that wasn’t bad enough Saul then learns that vampires are not just the stuff of myth and legend.
Without giving away any spoilers from Unremarkable, book two focuses on Saul as he begins working for the Treasury Department and Eliot Ness as they try to take down Al Capone. The action in Untouchable moves from Chicago to Atlantic City as Saul tries to stop the notorious gangster. And, there are more vampires involved – a lot more.
My co-author and I hope to have Untouchable ready for release in 2019 – hopefully, in time for the major comic cons we will be attending.
What is your favourite cake?
Oh, now you ask the hard questions. LOL I like all kinds of cake but if I had to pick I would say that my favorite is Black Forest Cake, though a quick second would be German chocolate cake.
For the baking inclined reader, here is a recipe for the great Mary Berry's Black Forest Gateau which is a little more tricky but will be well worth the effort, I'm sure!
You can keep in touch with Geoff across social media:
You can keep in touch with Geoff across social media:
Website: habigerkissee.com
Facebook: @HabigerKisseeAuthors
Twitter: @TangentGeoff
Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with indie author B.K. Bass, grilling them gently about their writing life and of course sharing their favourite cake.
If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.
