I had the great good fortune to be interviewed by Joanna Vandervlugt of JVC Art Studio about writing, travel, and Through Dark Water: A Phoebe Clay mystery. What a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning. I hope you enjoy it!
https://anchor.fm/jcvartstudio/episodes/K-L–Abrahamson—Through-Dark-Water-evpaqq
After 36 hours to get here, Mamallapura seems like the perfect place to recover from jet lag.
Everything you need including opportunities to access your favorite libation even in a country that apparently frowns on alcohol consumption as ‘low class.’ There’s only one thing that they fail to mention—this is a pilgrimage town.
You see, in India apparently large numbers of people decide to collectively go on a pilgrimage to a holy site or to one of India’s numerous ashrams. When they do, the trip becomes like a religious holiday and they stop at points of interest along the way.
Mamallapura happens to be one such point. The town has a well-documented collection of ancient rock temples, the most famous of which is the exquisite 8thcentury Shore Temple, that was built by the Pallava Kings and sits—you guessed it—on a rocky bluff overlooking the Bay of Bengal. According to my sources, during the South East Asian tsunami the water receded far enough to reveal a number of further temples that also might once have stood on the shore. There are also other amazing sites with temples hewn out of single rocks—the Five Rathas, or chariots, come to mind where the rocks have been hewn into four small temples and a life-sized elephant, not to mention a huge Nandi (bull steed of Lord Brahma).
There’s the aptly named Butterball, a huge freestanding rock on a granite hillside that has stood there for time immemorial even though people frequently try to push it over. An ancient lighthouse and its less ancient replacement stand on a prominence that overlooks the town and send light to lost sailors far out to sea. And then there is Arjuna’s Penance, a masterpiece of carving with serpents, elephants, warriors, gods and—most importantly—a cagey cat dancing for an audience of mice. God only knows why. Perhaps the ancient Dravidians who carved these places had a sense of humor…
But every day 10 or so huge busloads of pilgrims arrive in Mamallapura intent on visiting all these ancient places. They come from all over the country and pile out of the busses clad in red and yellow saris (the women) and red shirts and sarongs for the men. Apparently the red and yellow signify the sacred feminine. I’m not sure why.
Some pilgrims, I believe, stay on the busses, while others stay in hostels. The hotel where I’m staying has a hostel section and every morning I’m greeted by a sea of these gentle people who barely come up to my shoulder as I walk out to explore the city. Apparently many of them are from very small towns that don’t get a lot of foreigners visiting. Needless to say, a six-foot-tall strawberry blonde is about as foreign to these parts as they get.
In the early morning if you go down to the shore temple, you’ll be following a river of these crimson and saffron as they head, not to the temple, but to the shore. It seems stepping into the ocean here might be a holy experience or else they’re simply enjoying the feel of the waves, regardless of the signs by the beach that keep score of the number of drownings so far this year, men, women and children step into the waves and, if they survive, they enjoy the carnival rides and many kiosks selling souvenirs, food, jewelry, tattoos, and images of their favorite gods all for purchase from a local gypsy or businessman.
Which brings me to the smiles.
One of the things I love about this place is the way that so many of the pilgrims look at me first with surprise and then with suspicion and then, when our eyes meet and they see my grin, 19 times out of twenty, the grin is returned.
That’s where the selfies come in. Maybe it’s the camera I wear around my neck, or maybe it’s my height or the fact that I’m blonde (okay, many of you know me and that my gray is showing, but in the right light it’s still blonde), but I can’t seem to set foot on a beach or a street in this town without having pilgrims asking for a selfie with me. I don’t mean once or twice. I mean every five minutes having five-ten or more people ask to take my picture. While this could be flattering, if you saw my attire and the condition of my hair, you’d understand why I shake my head at the fact that I am going to be in so many family albums. Today I even caught a young man surreptitiously snapping my photo just like I do of them when I think they’re not looking. I laughed and told him it would cost one rupee. After all, a girl has got to offset the costs of travel somehow.
It has been a while since I’ve posted anything, but there is exciting news to share. After many delays due to life getting in the way, the third Detektiv Kazakov mystery is ready to roll. The novel is called The Tsarina’s Mask. The book takes place a few weeks after the events of book 2 and finds Kazakov sent on assignment to the rugged southern mountains of Fergana to investigate the murder of an old tribal healer.
Here’s the blurb:
When Detektiv Kazakov finds himself assigned to a murder investigation deep in the winter-bound mountains of Fergana, it’s a chance to reacquaint himself with a part of the country he once loved. Instead of a welcome, however, he finds a tribal community overrun with Russian tourists and a groundswell of festering resentment among the mountain people.
No one wants to deal with a Russian detective from the city, regardless of his tribal connections, and that includes the local police. With too few suspects for the murder of a well-respected tribal healer, Kazakov must reach deep to build connections. The situation only worsens when his nemesis appears on the scene. A mounting body count sends Kazakov deep into the inhospitable mountains, but nothing prepares him for the secrets and betrayals he discovers bound up in the murders
The book is now scheduled for publication in mid March 2019. In the meantime, I will be seeking reader input from my advance team. So if you’d like to read this book before it hits the shelves (and hopefully leave me a review, too!) sign up for my newsletter Here (scroll down and fill out the form) to receive free books and the opportunity to become a member of my advance reader team.
A new bundle of holiday reading, The Santa Clause Files, has released today and includes a medley of books from romance to humor by such wonderful writers as Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, M.L. Buchman, Russ Crossley, Rebecca Senese, Robert Jeschonek, Annie Reed, Rita Schultz, Jamie Ferguson and myself (writing as Karen L. McKee).
A good way to get yourself in the mood for the holidays!
I’ve recently been through a number of personal ‘endings’: the death of a loved one and the sale of the family home to name two. Both have left me feeling tired and emotionally drained. Even though I recognize that, though painful, these are normal events in life, they are also events that will linger in my mind.
They put me in mind of how some stories stay with us far longer than others. What is it, I wondered, that allows me to forget some books almost immediately after reading, while others stay with me for years. Some people say it is a powerful ending, something that ends with resonance. Others talk about it being a combination of interesting character and setting coupled with a powerful plot. But is it all of these things together, or does one dominate the others?
For example, The Da Vinci Code could be said to have an interesting character in Professor Langdon, an interesting setting (Paris) and an interesting plot (that the descendants of Mary Magdalene and Jesus are alive today). When I think of the book (not my favorite, but I remember it), what is it that makes it memorable? For me, it’s the plot. Paris is there, but not really memorable and Langdon doesn’t really interest me at all. For other readers their experience might be different.
Here are a few of the books that haunt me far more than The Da Vinci Code:
• I will always remember Lord of the Rings and still find it a balm on days when I’m feeling low. I loved the world J.R.R. Tolkien built… and the elves, of course.
• The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova blew me away with its haunting prose descriptions and suspense, though the ending, to me, was flawed.
• I loved Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance for the evocative location and the tragedy of the story.
• Fatherland, an alternate history where the Germans won the Second World War, was a chilling detective story filled with haunting gray and darkness.
• Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache mystery series is a guilty pleasure that I have to ration like the best 80% chocolate. I love the town of Three Pines and the complex and quirky characters that populate the place.
So what is it about these books that keeps drawing me back to reread them, or that stick so clearly in my mind? As I look back at my list I realized that it was a very powerful sense of place. Tolkien’s world building went so far as to create a whole elvish culture and a history of Middle Earth right down to the poetry and songs of the place—some of which I learned by heart. Kostova took
me thought Eastern Europe and again evoked a magical and sometimes dread-filled sense of place. Rohinton Mistry brought me to the darkness and the light of Indian culture, including the underbelly of the Indian State. Fatherland evoked serious dread and horror at the final discoveries.
Louise Penny? Well what is there to say? I want to eat the food in the restaurant and stay at the B and B in Three Pines. I want to talk to her characters and walk the road around the village admiring the gardens, the antiques and the artwork, regardless of the fact that I’m likely to end up as a murder victim. (There are a lot of murders in Three Pines.)
So even if there are interesting events in these books, most of all it’s the place and the characters that grab hold of my head and my heart and won’t let go. Sometimes it makes it hard to say goodbye—to a book or a part of life.
What about you? Is it the character-full book, the evocative setting, or the unusual plot that haunts you or keeps you going back to a book again and again? What are your favorite reads?
I am currently included in two fantastic bundles with some superb writers. If you like dystopia, try the Dystopia Bundle.
If mystery short stories are your thing, try the Crime, Capers and Rule Breakers Bundle.
They are a great opportunity to sample different writers and relax for an afternoon or two in the sun.
Happy summer reading!
WMG Publishing has just released a terrific audio version of Neutrality featuring the wonderful voice of Jane Kennedy.
Listen to it Here
Shadow Play
Karen L. McKee
When star investigative reporter Kaitlin ‘Seattle’ Blackwood arrives in Cambodia to look for her missing father, she drops right into the middle of the mystery her father left behind. To make matters worse, two strangers try to abduct her and the one man she had hoped never to see again rescues her. B.J. McCallum¾ ex-lover, ex-man of her dreams, ex-photojournalist¾ almost ruined her career when his exploded. He comes complete with his own heap of troubles: a murdered monk, stolen rubies and missing orphans, all might be linked to her father’s disappearance. Can Kaitlin and B.J. quit fighting long enough to solve the case and survive in a country where people have a habit of disappearing?
Once again, Karen L. McKee hits just the right note of humor as she leads readers on a romantic adventure, this time through the exotic, flooded landscapes of Cambodia during monsoon season. Shadow Play is a cross between Romancing the Stone and Raiders of the Lost Ark, a fantastic romp with wonderful characters and an authentic setting.
And coming February 2014 in print.
At long last I can announce the publication of book two in my American Geological Survey series!
Aftershock
Karen L. Abrahamson
Aftershock returns readers to the world of Afterburn, where those with the Gift can rewrite the landscape with the stroke of a pen—literally.
Only the secret agents of the American Geological Survey preserve America from a massive Gift-induced quake that threatens the country’s heartland. But when problem-child agent Vallon Drake inherits the job, it can only mean trouble. In a tale as steamy as the sultry heat of the Mississippi Valley, can Vallon deal with the Gifted culprit and stop the destruction?
And coming this month in print.
Welcome to my latest free fiction short story, Blood Knowledge of Swans. The tragic tale of a child, and magic gone horribly wrong, to read on, click Here.
