We were delighted to have Kat Heckenbach on the podcast this

week! Kat is the author of Finding Angel& Seeking Unseen, both entries in the Toch Island Chronicles.With origins in biology, math, and art, her journey to become anauthor took a bit of circuitous route.

We had a bit of technical difficulties with this podcast, so we

apologize for a few blips here and there. I think Aaron suggestsjuggling a couple rabbits and/or tin foil for the next time. ;)

Happenings In Part 1:

With Kat’s

background in biology, she shares how that informs the Toch IslandChronicles. The flora and fauna are very important details in herbooks! The Lord of the Rings is also discussed and how it figuresinto Kat’s favorite character in her books. There’smagically-powered electric guitars involved! (This, I gotta see!)With the biology background, it really feeds into how adamant Katis about the setting of her books. I can’t recall if we’ve seen anyof our guests so far be so firm about a story location! Reasons forwriting fantasy abound, and there be sheep involved! And as we getinto Kat’s answer to our superhero question, Aaron brings up sometrivia about the making of The Avengers.

Goings On In Part 2:

As we shift into

writing mode, we of course ask our plotting versus pantsingquestion. Kat’s answer involves a lot of notecards. Can you guessher answer? Because Aaron has an irreverent solution to hernotecard “problem.” About that point in the show, we start plottingagainst Aaron’s neighbor’s tree….which continues to causeconnectivity issues for the podcast. Getting back on track (is thisa possibility with this bunch?), we talk about a lack of snacks anddrinks with Kat and why that is.

We hates research, Precious! That is why we writes

fantasy!

Every writer’s favorite part of the episode: Kat offers some of

her favorite tips for marketing, and some are pretty off beatoptions, but definitely viable for most every author.

Even though Kat’s is a well-known Harry Potter fan, her answer

to our new fandom question may surprise you. But her favorite bookis the Harry Potter series. Can you guess which one? And as we wrapthings up with Kat for this time, her most surprising thing aboutbeing a writer may just surprise you as well.This and a whole lot more—with lots of laughing!—in this week’sepisode.

 

Links to topics we discussed:

Kat HeckenbachFinding AngelSeeking UnseenJ.K. RowlingBrandon Sanderson (Y.A.

stuff)Brandon Mull (Fable Haven

series)Cornelia FunkeSage Blackwood