For today's Fresh Interview, Features Editor Pasha Carlisle caught up with
the brilliant E.L. Tettensor to discuss the newly released Nicolas
Lenoir novel, MASTER OF PLAGUES.
Pasha: Welcome, E.L.! For readers who are new to the
Nicolas Lenoir series, a quick way to capture it is “Sherlock
Holmes meets the X-Files”. In each of those dark and riveting
detective series, there is a unique relationship between the main detective and
his partner. What are some compelling aspects of Inspector Lenoir’s relationship
with his partner, Sergeant Bran Kody?
E.L.: Poor Kody. He puts up with a lot. Lenoir is spare with
his praise and quick with the verbal lash, and he has incredibly high
expectations of his junior partner. He does respect Kody, though, and sees great
potential in him. If you caught him on a good day, after a few glasses of wine,
Lenoir would probably admit that he feels a certain responsibility to groom
Kody, to help him become the best hound he can be. But Lenoir isn’t exactly the
mentoring type, so he imparts his wisdom and experience in the only way he knows
how: by taking every opportunity to point out flaws in Kody’s logic. A lesser
man would have quit a long time ago, but Kody is ambitious and determined, and
if making inspector someday means taking his lumps from Lenoir, he’ll do it.
Besides, underneath his wounded pride, he knows he is learning a lot and winning
Lenoir’s respect bit by bit.
As with Sherlock and X-Files, the relationship between the two
detectives is really the beating heart of the series, so when it’s thrown into
crisis, as it is in MASTER OF PLAGUES, it really ratchets up the tension.
Pasha: Speaking of tension, in MASTER OF
PLAGUES, Inspector Lenoir must find a cure for a deliberately unleashed
disease that is ravaging his city. Is the disease in the story tied to any
true-life epidemics?
E.L.: It doesn’t draw upon a specific epidemic, but it
definitely has its roots in the real world – in a disease that’s all over the
news. In what has to be one of the eeriest coincidences of my life, I based the
disease in MASTER OF PLAGUES on the Ebola virus. Imagine my surprise
when, around the time I was turning in the manuscript in early 2014, an Ebola
outbreak in West Africa hit the news. I mean, what are the odds? There hasn’t
been a significant Ebola outbreak in years – to the point where researching it
was harder than it should have been – and now all of a sudden, at the precise
moment I’m wrapping up the book, the biggest outbreak in history strikes West
Africa? I’m still a little freaked out by it.
Pasha: How bizarre! Could you tell us a bit about your
inspiration for the Adali—the group of healers that Lenoir must turn to for help
in MASTER OF
PLAGUES?
E.L.: The Adali are sort of a composite of a lot of different
African influences. Physically, they resemble the peoples of the Horn of Africa
– the Tigre, Saho, Afar, and so on. The word “Adali” (singular Adal) actually
comes from the Kingdom of Adal, a medieval sultanate on the Horn of Africa.
Culturally, they are most like the pastoralists of Somalia, South Sudan,
northern Kenya, etc., where cattle is the basis of their economy. As for their
healing and magic, it’s similar to the juju of West Africa, or the muti of
southern Africa, in that it combines both “good” and “bad” magic.
Pasha: Through your novels, readers get to experience all of
Inspector Lenoir’s escapades, but we want to know about yours, too. You are
quite the world traveler—did you go on any exciting adventures last year?
E.L.: So, you’re probably sensing a pattern here – the Adali
based on African peoples, Ebola virus… I live in Africa and have worked all over
the continent for years. My job has actually sent me pretty much everywhere,
except South America. These days, I am “randomly searched” at pretty much every
Western airport I pass through, presumably because my passport contains stamps
from Pakistan, Kenya, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Dubai, and a host of other places
that individually are fine, but collectively throw up red flags to our TSA
friends. Lately, though, I’ve been staying closer to home, which is Burundi. My
last trip was to Rwanda to do some hiking and see the mountain gorillas, after
which we went on safari in the Serengeti and then lounged on the beach in
Zanzibar. It was all going great until the bed bugs. Oh, well – I’m used to it!
Pasha: So, among all those other fantastic adventures, what is
next for you and Inspector Lenoir? Should we expect to see more of him soon, or
do you have other projects in store for us?
E.L.: Next up for me is THE BLOODFORGED, which comes out September 29th. It’s the
sequel to THE BLOODBOUND, a series I write as Erin
Lindsey. After that it’s THE BLOODSWORN, and then – who knows?
Pasha: Thank you so much for joining us today. We have one last
question for you: What books are you most excited to read in 2015?
E.L.: Ugh, I am so behind on my reading! There are so many
books I meant to read in 2014 and just didn’t manage to get to. This year, I’m
focusing on going back to some older titles that have been strongly recommended
to me. I’m tucked into THE FIONAVAR TAPESTRY by Guy Gavriel Kay at the moment;
that should take a while. Then I’d like to check out the Kushiel’s
Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey and the Farseer novels by Robin
Hobb.
Fresh Fiction thanks E.L.
Tettensor for being our guest. Readers, unleash the mystery and
adventure: Purchase your copy of MASTER OF
PLAGUES today!
About MASTER OF PLAGUES
Unraveling a deadly mystery takes time—and his is running out…
Having barely escaped the clutches of the Darkwalker, Inspector Nicolas Lenoir
throws himself into his work with a determination he hasn’t known in years. But
his legendary skills are about to be put to the test. A horrific disease is
ravaging the city—and all signs point to it having been deliberately unleashed.
With a mass murderer on the loose, a rising body count, and every hound in the
city on quarantine duty, the streets of Kennian are descending into mayhem,
while Lenoir and his partner, Sergeant Bran Kody, are running out of time to
catch a killer and find a cure.
Only one ray of hope exists: the nomadic Adali, famed for their arcane healing
skills, claim to have a cure. But dark magic comes at a price, one even the
dying may be unwilling to pay. All that’s left to Lenoir is a desperate gamble.
And when the ashes settle, the city of Kennian will be changed forever...
"Once again, Tettensor has crafted a masterful blend of the detective novel and
the supernatural as MASTER OF PLAGUES shows readers that sometimes the darkness
that lies within the hearts of man is the greatest of all evils." ~Fresh Fiction
reviewer Debbie Wiley.
Read our full review here.
About the Author
E.L.
Tettensor likes her stories the way she likes her chocolate: dark,
exotic, and with a hint of bitterness. She has visited more than fifty countries
on five continents, and brought a little something back from each to press
inside the pages of her books. She is also the author of the Bloodbound
series, writing as Erin Lindsey. She lives with her husband in Bujumbura, Burundi.
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