Don't Judge, Read: Book Tour Stop: HUNGER MOON by Alexandra Sokoloff - Interview

Hunger Moon (The Huntress/FBI Thrillers #5)
By: Alexandra Sokoloff
Publication date: October 24th 2017
Genres: Adult, Mystery, Thriller

Revenge has no limits.
Special Agent Matthew Roarke has abandoned his rogue search for serial killer Cara Lindstrom. He’s returned to the FBI to head a task force with one mission: to rid society of its worst predators.

But as the skeletal symbols of Santa Muerte, “Lady Death,” mysteriously appear at universities nationwide, threatening death to rapists, Roarke’s team is pressured to investigate. When a frat boy goes missing in Santa Barbara, Roarke realizes a bloodbath is coming—desperate teenagers are about to mete out personal, cold-blooded justice.

Hiding from the law, avenging angel Cara Lindstrom is on her own ruthless quest. She plans to stay as far away from Roarke as possible—until an old enemy comes after both her and the FBI, forcing her back into Roarke’s orbit. This time, the huntress has become the hunted . . .

Goodreads / Amazon

Previous books in the Huntress/FBI Thrillers Series:

Let’s start with, how are you this fine day?

I’m very fine, thank you! I got married this week, I had the fifth book in my Huntress Moon series come out – now if we could just get rid of the malignant narcissist in the White House, I’d be REALLY fine!

Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?

I write a crime series, so I get a lot of ideas from things I get angry about and want to change in society. I worked in the Los Angeles County prison system before I became a professional screenwriter, and was horrified to learnt that most of the teenage (and younger than teenage) girls who were incarcerated were in for prostitution. The police were arresting the girls instead of the men who trafficked and abused them. That only stopped in Los Angeles this year. It’s outrageous. My rage over laws and policies like that is a great motivator for writing.

When did you write your first book and how old were you?

I wrote my first book, The Harrowing, eleven years ago. But before that I was a professional screenwriter, and before that I wrote and directed (and acted in) theater. So I’ve been writing professionally for a long, long time – basically my entire adult life.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I love dancing, any kind: classes, clubs, street dance, anything! I love travel, but I do so much if it that I’m almost always writing while I do it. And I have an all-female author cabaret group, The Slice Girls. We do crime-related theater and songs at various crime writing festivals, which is huge fun: https://www.facebook.com/TheSliceGirlsUK/

What does your family think of your writing?

I was a professional writer for years until my scientist parents finally accepted that I was doing this for a living – and doing very well at it. Then they turned into fans! My (new) husband, Craig Robertson, is also a crime writer, so he and his family are used to the whole deal.

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

I’ve written twelve novels, and three workbooks on how to use film story structure to write better novels. My favorites are the first book in the Huntress series (Huntress Moon), and the fourth book in the series (Bitter Moon).

Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?

I do hear from readers a lot. The Huntress series especially has struck a chord with people who are sick to death of pervasive misogyny and sexual abuse in our society. People are pretty desperate to see these despicable perpetrators punished, and the series definitely does that.

Have you even been sent fan art?

Yes, I have, and I’m touched and truly honored every time. It’s a lovely thing when people care enough about the characters to want to depict them themselves.

What do you think makes a good story?

Hmm. I’ve written three lengthy books on this subject, the Screenwriting Tricks for Authors books, so I have no short answer to give you! Check out the books. ☺

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

I wanted to be all kinds of thing as a child. A scientist, a ballerina, a veterinarian, a lawyer, a marine biologist, an actress. The great thing about being a writer is that I can be all of those things. I can be anything I want to be, go anywhere I want to go, through my stories and characters.

What is that one weird quirk about yourself, that no one else knows?

I think I do about seven things exceptionally well, and that’s all I really care about. It makes my very complicated life very simple at the heart of it.

If you could go back in time, what would you tell yourself about writing?

I would tell my younger self to quit writing screenplays and write novels much, much sooner than I did. After ten years as a professional screenwriter, when I wrote my first novel I felt like I’d been let out of prison.

Last but not least, do you believe in ghosts? Or have you ever had an encounter with the other kind?

I’ve written several ghost-based books - and I believe that other people believe in ghosts. The stories are too consistent for there not to be something real, there. But personally I’m much more inclined to believe in a kind of uncanny intuition. That’s a theme in the Huntress series.

Thank you for answering my questions.

Thanks for the interview!

"Some of the most original and freshly unnerving work in the genre." - The New York Times

ALEXANDRA SOKOLOFF is the Thriller Award-winning and Bram Stoker, Anthony, and Black Quill Award-nominated author of the Amazon bestselling Huntress/FBI series (HUNTRESS MOON, BLOOD MOON, COLD MOON, BITTER MOON, HUNGER MOON - now in active development as a TV series), and the supernatural HAUNTED thrillers (THE HARROWING, THE PRICE, THE UNSEEN, BOOK OF SHADOWS, THE SHIFTERS, THE SPACE BETWEEN). The New York Times Book Review called her a "daughter of Mary Shelley," and her books "Some of the most original and freshly unnerving work in the genre."

As a screenwriter she has sold original horror and thriller scripts and adapted novels for numerous Hollywood studios. She has also written three non-fiction workbooks: SCREENWRITING TRICKS FOR AUTHORS, STEALING HOLLYWOOD, and WRITING LOVE, based on her internationally acclaimed workshops and blog (www.ScreenwritingTricks.com), and has served on the Board of Directors of the WGA West and the Board of the Mystery Writers of America.

Alex is a California native and a graduate of U.C. Berkeley, where she majored in theater and minored in everything Berkeley has a reputation for. In her spare time (!) she performs with The Slice Girls and Heather Graham's all-author Slush Pile Players, and dances like a fiend. She is also very active on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. But not an addict. Seriously, it's under control.