Baker of brownies and tormenter of characters, Kate Morgan celebrates the day she “jumped the wall” with as much enthusiasm as her birthday. She grew up watching Hammer horror films and Scooby-Doo mysteries, which explains a whole lot. When she takes a break from inspiring nightmares, she writes ex-nun PI mysteries under her real name, Alice Loweecey. In her spare time she can be found growing vegetables in her garden and water lilies in her koi pond.
She describes her novel Demons for Tea:
Ex-priest Denis Kaine is surviving on ramen and kicking otherworldly creatures off this planet. It’s all noise to fill his chasm of hate and guilt inside from letting his twin brother blow his brains out because he’d been possessed. Denis should’ve known. He should’ve seen. He should’ve… everything.
His survival techniques are no match for Emma Koroleva, the 1200-year-old entity he freed from imprisonment in Rome. She’s powerful, she’s got major attitude, and she hates ramen.
She changes into various poltergeists and forces Denis to “exorcise” her. Denis gets paid, they eat real food, and she toys with seducing him. Denis starts to think he’s living in the sitcom from hell until he learns his dead brother has become the plaything of something big, strong, and evil. Screw sitcoms. Denis is about to prove why his rep is legendary in the spirit world.
Did something in the real world inspire Demons for Tea?
Yes and no. My main character is a former priest and I’m a former nun. So. Much. Anger. I channeled years of anger into Denis, including wanting to punch people. Denis got to throw that punch. My, that was satisfying. I’m also a research fiend and I’ve been researching entities from global mythologies for quite a while. When I was between books I thought, “What if I put the two together?” And Demons for Tea was born. There’s also a nod to one of my favorite movies, Michael J. Fox’s The Frighteners.
What is your favorite scene in the book?
The scene where Emma uses a tentacle to unlock Denis’s door, and then proceeds to take over his life. Denis has no clue how to deal with a strong woman who isn’t intimidated by his Roman collar. She blithely assumes command as he flounders.
That being said, I have several favorite lines in the book, beginning with Emma saying Denis has the manners of a goat. These characters were a delight to share headspace with.
What was your writing process like as you wrote the book?
When I’m brainstorming, it’s with pen and paper as opposed to recording voice memos or such. I wrote thousands and thousands of words about Denis and Emma that never made it into the book. Emma’s backstory is a novella in itself. I have thousands more words relating to mythological creatures. I’m also a die-hard outliner, since writing mysteries involves planting clues and the writer ought to remember where those clues are hidden. That’s not to say my outlines are carved in stone. My characters delight in changing things up as I write. I’m constantly moving scenes around and inserting new scenes as the characters take off in a new direction. It’s a workout keeping up with them!
This was my opera book. I’d put on an opera for white noise and write. Other books I’ve written wanted Swedish death metal or Adam Hurst’s luscious cello music. I go with whatever the book requires.
What was the best thing that happened during your promotion of the book?
Having several people say to me that they could tell I had tons of fun writing this book. It’s true. It’s such a departure from my regular mystery series. To be honest, I’m a horror writer at the core of my dark, evil heart.
What do you have planned next?
I have a short story plus two different books coming out in 2019. The story is in Transmundane Press’s Transcendent anthology. The first novel, Staking Cinderella, is a paranormal romance coming from Dark Recesses Press on Valentine’s Day. This will also be under the name Kate Morgan. The latest in my ex-nun PI mystery series, Better than Nun, comes out May 21 from Henery Press. That’s an Alice Loweecey book.
On my keyboard is a retelling of the Orestia set in a modern-day traveling carnival. I was going to call it Empire, but now there’s a TV show with that title, so the brainstorming has commenced.
You can pick up a copy of Demons for Tea from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2UQuKoK.
You can check out all of Kate Morgan’s books on her Amazon page: https://amzn.to/2S8DNQf.
Also visit Alice Loweecey’s website to learn more about their double life: http://www.aliceloweecey.net.
