Look Who’s Going to RT: Kat Richardson

Can you introduce yourself to my readers a little?
Hi, I’m Kat Richardson, I’m a full-time writer of noir paranormal mysteries. I live on a sailboat in Washington state, ride a motorcycle, and do some occasional target shooting. I used to be a magazine editor and I’ve done theater, vocal music, historical re-creation, dance, fencing, and a lot of other silly anachronistic things for fun. I like chocolate, whiskey, and ferrets (but rarely together ;) ) Once upon a time I wrote manuals to train jewelers, but I’ve also written RPG and video game development and I’m currently finishing my fifth Greywalker novel, Labyrinth, which will be out in August.  The first Greywalker novel is Greywalker.

Can you introduce us to the world that you have created?
Sure! Although my books are mostly set in Seattle, the real “world” of the stories is The Grey: a place of ghosts and magic that lies in between the world we see and the world of the dead. In this thin space, magic and monsters are real and anything the human mind can imagine might exist around the next mist-shrouded corner. Usually ordinary human beings don’t have much contact with this world, but my protagonist, PI Harper Blaine, can see and enter the Grey. With this power–or curse, she finds her professional life is complicated by the cases and demands of the undead and creatures of magic who don’t take “no” for an answer.

Will this be your first RT or are you a veteran? Any advice for those who are going for the first time?
This is my first RT and I’m really looking forward to it. My friends rave about the fun they have every year. I was kind of worried about coming, since I don’t write romantic books–actually they are pretty grim and gruesome–but the reception I’ve had from the RT reader community and other writers has been wonderful.

Are you speaking on any panels during RT? Are there any you are looking forward to?
Oh, yeah, I’m going to be speaking on the Steamy Steampunk panel Friday at 2:45 (I’ve got a Steampunk story in development at the moment.) And of course I’m looking forward to a lot of other panels and events, like the Alpha Males and Kick-Ass Heroines panel, as well as some of the marketing panels and, of course, the book fair! Mostly I’m really excited to meet so many writers and readers I’ve talked to online but never in person. This is going to be so much fun!

If someone were wanting to meet up with you at RT, who should they look for?
Let me see… I’m about 5’6″ a little pudgy and busty, with long, straight blond hair (that’s going a little white here and there), and a rather goofy smile. I’m usually in jeans, blouses and a leather jacket, but I will be wearing a red corset and black or brown skirts to my Steampunk panel, or maybe just around for fun…. And I might be carrying a small stuffed ferret or a stamp of a ferret. Did I mention I like ferrets…? I do tend to hang out in the bar between events with the other writers from the League of Reluctant Adults.