Interview with Patricia Briggs

Hello, Patricia. Welcome to Fang-tastic Books. We’re thrilled to have you here today to discuss the newest Mercy Thompson book.

Thank you for inviting me!

In Fire Touched readers get to see several characters that previously appeared in the Alpha and Omega series and in the short stories of Shifting Shadows. Will we continue to see this kind of crossover in future Mercy books?

I think so.  I know they are published as two different series, but I don’t think of them like that anymore.  I see it more as a whole world in which we are following two sets of characters. When it makes sense for someone from one series to appear in the other, I let it happen.  Sometimes as a cameo (as when Adam showed up in a phone call in Fair Game), sometimes as a major character (Asil in Frost Burned).  For me it is part of making the story feel real.

Who are your favorite supporting characters? Which minor character might make it into the spotlight?

Asil is the most fun to write—he is vain, horrible and almost as good as he tells everyone he is. He is also filled with unexpected (to me!) depths.  He surprises me, which I find very fun.  I also like writing Honey—especially in the last couple of books.  The person she wants to be and the person she is are getting closer and closer.  

Writing short stories is not my strong suit.  I have written more novels than short stories at this point, but I’ve come to love the freedom that form gives me to flesh out supporting characters (I love that term.  It is much better than minor characters.) in a way that is impossible to do through the filter of Mercy’s first person narrative.  I don’t have another short story planned, so I don’t know who will appear next—though I have several more “Asil’s On-Line Dating Adventures” to share (“Unappreciated Gifts” in the Kevin J. Anderson anthology A Fantastic Holiday Season Vol 2).

Are any more spin off series or shorts with other characters planned in the future?

Indeed, Moira and Tom from the short story “Seeing Eye”, who also had a bit part in Hunting Ground, will be starring in their own spinoff scheduled for 2018.  We’re planning on releasing it in mass market paperback as a gift to readers.  The lower price point on a mass market, and the fact that it is a stand alone story will allow people who might be intimidated by jumping into the middle of a long-running series an opportunity to try one of my stories.

We are seeing more and more of the Fae and their world in each new book (in both series)- will this theme continue?  Will the Fae continue to wreak havoc on upon this world ?

Oh the Fae aren’t finished yet—but don’t forget the vampires.  I assure you the vampires haven’t forgotten Mercy.  It is so much fun at the beginning of a novel, trying to figure out who is crawling out from under the woodpile to be the next villain.  The werewolves have been being very good lately—and there are some troubles on the horizon for Mercy and her pack with other werewolves.  Adam’s been rocking a lot of boats, and there are some wolves who are none too happy about it.  I don’t think that Mercy is in for a quiet, peaceful life for a while yet.

So far Mercy has battled rogue werewolves, evil humans, demon possessed vampires, a river monster, crazy vampires, a volcano god, and the Fae…any clues as to what evils we may see in future books?

I can tell you that the next book after Fire Touched features vampires as the primary movers and shakers—with a handful of new-to-us werewolves and a golem.

Do you have a set number of books planned in the Mercy Thompson series, or will you continue to write them as long as the readers want more?

I think that it is safer to say that I’ll write Mercy books as long as everyone (both me and the readers) are having fun with them.  At some point, I’ll probably write a traditional fantasy or two to cleanse my palate between Mercy World books, but I’m enjoying hanging out with Mercy and her world.  I do promise to stop writing them the minute I get tired of them, but so far that isn’t an issue.

Well that's a relief because I love Mercy's world and look forward to each new book. So what’s next on the publishing schedule, another Mercy book or an Alpha and Omega (or something different)?

The next books, in order (I think) are Fire Touched (Mercy #9), Mercy #10 (March 2017). Followed by an Alpha and Omega #5 (or #6 if you count the original novella), a Moira and Tom story (both in 2018, probably March and then fall), and finally Mercy #11 (March 2019). 

I look forward to reading each and every one of the upcoming books. Thank you, Patricia for visiting Fang-tastic Books today.

Thank you so much for having me!

Fire Touched 

Mercy Thompson 

Book 9
Patricia Briggs 

Mercy Thompson has been hailed as “a heroine who continues to grow and yet always remains true to herself.”* Now she’s back, and she’ll soon discover that when the fae stalk the human world, it’s the children who suffer...

Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.

Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?