VÄKTARE
Launching November 16th, 2016
There are no wolves in New Zealand. Never have been. But for more than six hundred years, there have been werewolves.
Adopted into the West Auckland pack as a child, Alessandra De Witt is one of a handful of humans who know they're there. To her, folks going furry is just part of life. But while in wolf circles she's nothing extraordinary, inside Liss lies an ability that could show itself at any time. Or not. No one really knows.
And while Liss's foster fathers prepare to ship her off to university, others are watching and waiting, ready to make use of her power as soon as it appears.
On that day, you'd better believe things are going to get messier than a ruby club's after-party
Fifteen years in the imagining, Väktare is the story of the complex lives of werewolves living in New Zealand, and their human ward, Alessandra De Witt.
I started writing this book in 2001, back when there wasn't quite the abundance of werewolf and vampire fiction on the market that there is now.
Always fascinated with wolves, after I left university I spent a year planning a trip to
Wolf Park in Lafayette, Indiana to study wolf behaviour, knowing wolves were going to feature heavily in my writing in the years to come.
For financial reasons this never became a reality but my interest in wolves remained. Like so many I was fascinated by these wild creatures that share such a similar countenance to domestic dogs, yet live the savage life of predators.
I especially enjoyed visiting Wolf Park's '
wolf sounds' page, which features their pack howling at nightfall. That sound for me is suggestive of humanity's own wild origins, and I imagine our early ancestors sitting around their fires listening to that song with a mixture of kinship and awe.
But the book was shelved half-completed as my life went through a period of upheaval that didn't leave space for the concentration and dedication writing requires.
Although now there may be more books written about werewolves than any other type of fiction, this book was one I always wanted to finish. These characters had burned their way into existence through years of living on the page and I wanted to let them out into the world for others to enjoy.
As it turned out, once finished, this book turned out to be part of a much larger story. Parts two and three have already been completed, with a fourth currently in progress.
So on November 16th, join Liss and the Westlands pack as they embark on a very Kiwi journey.
JUST FOR YOU
As we get closer to launch date, stay tuned for your chance to win a free copy of Väktare on Kobo or Kindle.
Yours among the flax and pukekos, Kaia.
