J.H. Sked is a fantasy author with several books already published. Her last novel Blood Moon Dance is the second part of her best recognized series Tales from the Crescent. We’ve got a chance to speak with our next featured guest about the books, next shortcoming releases and London, the city where she lives.


– Janet, what is your last novella Blood Moon Dance about?
– It’s a new take on the Red Riding Hood story, set in the world of the Crescent from WolfSong. In this world, the wolves are amongst the victims, and it’s up to Amber and Jadah to catch a serial killer.

– How did you decide to write the story?
– It was originally intended as part of the Allegories of the Tarot anthology, but it galloped past the word count in about a day and a half. I ended up writing another story for the anthology, and got the novella done as well, so it was an all-round win for me.
– What was the biggest challenge during the write up process?
– Making sure the characters stayed true to their beginnings in WolfSong, and at the same time grow a little. Amber got the chance to show some compassion, which she needed – she was a bit on the scary side to start with.
– Tell us something more about your main character? Is it close to someone from your real life?
– She’s not human, but I took some of the traits I’d like to have – strength, speed, wicked sword skills – and then wondered what would happen to someone like that if their life continually bit them in the heart. I could turn everything I have in my life such as family, stability, past relationships and (some) sanity (heh!) upside down. What I ended up with was someone who is incredibly battered, but still capable of intense loyalty and love, and is very good with sharp-bladed weapons.
– How much time did you need to finish the story and to publish it?
– I wrote Blood Moon Dance in about five days. It may be the fastest I’ve ever written; some stories just want to be told. Turn around from editing to cover to hitting the publish button was about another week.
– Give us some insight for your most popular book WolfSong: Tales from the Crescent?
– You have a group of non-human soldiers dedicated to upholding laws and protecting the country. They live in close quarters, have relationships with each other – pretty much a family, just one with magical abilities and very well armed. And when the group is ruptured by death, treachery and a looming civil war, you have some like Amber swearing a blood-hunt, and others trying to pull the group back together so that they can function. Throw in inter-species tension, an accidental zombie and a bit of warped humour, and things get interesting in a hurry.
– What about Blue Moon Detective Agency stories?
– The Blue Moon stories are more off-beat. I wanted to try writing in first person, and I wanted something a touch lighter than WolfSong, so I usually use Billy’s voice for the longer stories. I thought an accident-prone shifter would be fun, and I’ve had a number of incredibly clumsy cats, and I thought the idea of having a vampire and ghost raise this guy together as family would be an interesting dynamic. Also Mom, Billy’s actual mother, seems to be a favourite and she’s both hysterically funny and sad to write.
– Who are you?
– First and always my own person. I’m not always sure whether that’s good or bad, but I’ve gotten to the stage that I like me the way I am. I have a complete inability to stay quiet about injustice and social issues, and despise intolerance.
– What are your writing habits?
– I work a day job, and London commuting is perfect for writing. I write on my phone each way into and out of work and during my lunch hour. Weekends are spent cleaning up stray words and doing first edits, or working on the covers.
– Are you satisfied by the sales of the book?
– I’d love more sales – who wouldn’t? But not counting the anthologies I’m in I only have five books up – to get more sales I’ll need to publish more.
– When will you publish your next novel?
– Fur Thing, the next Blue Moon Detectives story is in for final edits. It’s scheduled to hit Amazon on 21/12/2014. Shine is a short story collection and should be up the same weekend. The next Crescent story is tentatively scheduled for May 2015, and my first full length horror is due around June 2015.
– What are you doing to promote your book by the best possible way?
– I’l blog and tweet about it, and post excerpts to my Facebook page, but I hate spamming feeds. It annoys me when it happens to me, so I’ll tweet a couple of times, put the links on my blog and Facebook, and I’m building a website. I’m lucky enough to have a small following – some folks like the Crescent stories more, others prefer the Blue Moon stories.
– Do you have a regular job or you are just writing?
– Regular job. Rents in London are pricey!
– How London helps to your creativity?
– It’s a fascinating city. You have every culture, nationality, race and religion. Theatre, music, eateries – you name it, you can probably find it in London. There’s a huge tolerance for eccentricity, and it’s vibrant. People watching is a great way to pick up ideas for stories, and I live next to a massive forest so I can head off and decompress when the city gets too much.
– If you may ask yourself one question in the interview what it will be? (Don’t forget to answer)
– What super power would you choose? Flying. It would save a LOT of time and money!

Learn more about J.H Sked at her Blog
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Basement Blues
Die Laughing (Blue Moon Detectives Book 1)
Quarter The Moon (Blue Moon Detectives Book 3)
WolfSong (Tales from the Crescent Book 1)
Blood Moon Dance (Tales from the Crescent Book 2)