Author Kirsten Weiss: Riga Hayworth Paranormal Mystery Novels & A Special Note

I’m delighted today to welcome author Kirsten Weiss to Thoughts in Progress to talk about her Riga Hayworth Paranormal Mystery Novels and her latest release, THE INFERNAL DETECTIVE.

Here’s a brief synopsis of THE INFERNAL DETECTIVE:
    Murder. The undead. Irritating relatives.
    When Riga Hayworth finds a dead body in the bedroom, it’s par for the course. When the corpse drives off with her fiancée… That’s a problem.
    Riga knows dead. More intimately than she’d like. So when a murdered photographer walks away from her pre-wedding party, she believes there’s necromancy afoot. And when she discovers that several of her wedding guests are under the influence of dark magic, she’s certain. But how can she catch a killer and stop a necromancer when even her nearest and dearest are lying to her?
    Marrying romance, mystery, and the metaphysical, THE INFERNAL DETECTIVE is a fast-paced urban fantasy, where nothing is quite as it seems, and magic lies just beyond the veil.

This is what Diana Orgain, Best-selling author of The Maternal Instincts Mysteries, had to say about THE INFERNAL DETECTIVE - “A high-voltage, cleverly-spun mystery that I couldn't put down. Riga Hayworth is addictive.”

Kirsten joins us now and has graciously answered some questions about her series.

Your heroine, Riga Hayworth, is a metaphysical detective. How did you come up with that character?

Kirsten:
I’d just quit a rotten job (for me) and was daydreaming about careers I’d rather have. Of course, the career I really wanted was mystery writer. But metaphysical detective popped into my mind and I began wondering what one might do. 

I visualized a female, brooding, noir detective. And soon she became a character. What would I call her? I’ve always liked the name “Riga” and since Riga rhymes with Rita, the last name “Hayworth” popped into my brain. And since these are paranormal books, to add a level of weirdness, Riga looks almost identical to her namesake, Rita Hayworth.
 
Was this your first book?

Kirsten:
No, I’d written several manuscripts which frankly didn’t deserve to be published before I wrote the first Riga Hayworth novel, THE METAPHYSICAL DETECTIVE. THE INFERNAL DETECTIVE is the fourth in the series.

What makes your books unique?

Kirsten:
Each book in the Riga Hayworth series explores a different “brand” of magic as it’s practiced today. They’re not instruction manuals, because that would be boring. But I do a lot of research and try to make it as realistic as possible within the confines of fiction. Though I have to say, the results of the magic in my books are a lot more spectacular than they tend to be in real life. 

Another difference – though I’m not unique in this – is that most of the paranormals or urban fantasies I’ve read have heroines in their 20s or early 30s. Riga is in her 40s, so her perspective on life is a bit different. She falls in love, but romance isn’t the painful drama that it might be for a twenty-year-old. She knows what she wants and who she is. And she doesn’t put up with any crap, which frankly makes her a lot of fun.

And finally, I write the fight scenes a bit differently. Female martial artists can do a lot of damage, but we tend to have less speed and less mass. And since force equals speed times mass, we have less force. It’s just physics. So in a street fight (which is very different from a sparring match), women need to fight differently if they’re going to get out in one piece.
 
Have you learned any fun paranormal facts in your research?

Kirsten:
I researched necromancy for THE INFERNAL DETECTIVE, and it was far less gruesome than I thought. To the ancient Greeks, necromancy was divination by talking to the spirits. Today, it refers to any type of death magic, but it still largely involves invoking and conversing with the deceased, and getting help from them to power magic spells.
 
What’s next?

Kirsten:
I’m working on book five of the Riga Hayworth series, where she goes to Kauai. Sadly, my research will not entail me going back there. But I get to research Hawaiian magic, which is beautiful and fascinating.

Kirsten, thanks for joining us today. This behind the scenes look at how Riga came about was intriguing. I like that you put Riga in her 40s with that different look on life.

For those of you not familiar with Kirsten, here’s a bit of background on her. As we’ve mentioned, she is the author of the Riga Hayworth series of paranormal mysteries: the urban fantasy. The books include: The Metaphysical Detective, The Alchemical Detective, The Shamanic Detective, and The Infernal Detective. 

Kirsten worked overseas for nearly fourteen years, in the fringes of the former USSR and deep in the Afghan war zone. Her experiences abroad not only gave her glimpses into the darker side of human nature, but also sparked an interest in the effects of mysticism and mythology, and how both are woven into our daily lives.

Now based in San Mateo, CA, she writes paranormal mysteries, blending her experiences and imagination to create a vivid world of magic and mayhem.

Kirsten has never met a dessert she didn’t like, and her guilty pleasures are watching Ghost Whisperer reruns and drinking good wine.

For more on Kirsten and her writing, please visit her at any of the following sites:
@RigaHayworth
Kirsten's Facebook Page
Kirsten's Google+ Page
Kirsten's Pinterest Boards
Kirsten's Website: http://kirstenweiss.com


SPECIAL NOTE.........

TRADE THE DAY is a one day event on August 23 where you can donate to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society simply by purchasing a book!  

Join us from the moment the stroke of midnight rings in Friday until Saturday on www.colbymarshall.com/blog for guest posts and interviews with some of your favorite authors, your chances to win signed copies of their books and author swag, and more! 

But most importantly, know that all sales of THE TRADE by Colby Marshall made on StairwayPress.com on this day will go to benefit the Leukemia Lymphoma Society!   

For more information, visit http://www.colbymarshall.com/trade-the-day !

Now for your viewing pleasure (and to tempt your reading taste buds), here’s a book trailer from THE INFERNAL DETECTIVE. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy. What are your thoughts on metaphysical detectives?