Please welcome fantasy and horror writer Cynthia R. Richards to the blog today.
Tell us a little about yourself.
My literary career began when I interned as a part-time columnist for a small entertainment newspaper in college (a long, long time ago). I wore several hats: food critic, entertainment reviewer and cranky editor. Freelance Journalism wasn’t for me though (I enjoyed eating too much), so I eventually entered the Information Technology field as a computer programmer. Somehow I fell in with the wrong crowd and became the dreaded Project Manager.
A co-author of horror and urban fantasy novels, my first solo fiction project – Phantom Harvest – was published by Whiskey Creek Press in 2013. My book baby is up for an EPIC EBOOK Award for Best Fantasy of 2014. I’m an active member of EPIC and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers.
Please tell us about your latest book? 
Phantom Harvest, Book One in the Mutant Casebook Series, introduces the dangerous and diverse Mutant World. Created by an atomic test gone horribly wrong, the “Calamity” ripped a hole in reality. Humans torn from their homes were split apart into many versions of themselves. Some theorized that a devious intelligence based the human mutations on the person’s core nature. Many of them became Dark Elves. These beautiful, ruthless beings took control. They established a corrupt governing body and built the city of New Athens. Other types of mutants made up the dregs of their new society. Some stayed within the protection of the city. Others, criminals and vicious killers, migrated to the savage wilderness known as the Outskirts.
Gideon, a half-breed mutant with a surly temper and rotten luck, struggles to scrape a living as a tracker in the desolate territory near the gateway to the human world. Business seems to be picking up when Gideon is approached by a powerful dark elf with deep pockets and a serious problem. Human miners at the dark elf’s plant are being taken by an elusive predator. Gideon is pressured to find the killer before word of the disappearances reaches the human world, endangering the tense relationship between their two races. But, nothing is simple this close to the conduit between worlds. Archangel, a ruthless mercenary operating in the secret sectors of mutant society, has set his own deadly game in motion.
Surrounded by savage wilderness and cut off from contact with civilization, Gideon must find a way to protect his friends and survive to collect his bounty.
Does this book fit into a series? What is the focus of that series?
Phantom Harvest is the first book in the Mutant Casebook Series. It introduces the dangerous and diverse Mutant World. The series is based upon the exploits of Gideon and his adopted father, Hiroshi.
How did you prepare to write about the book’s specific area or field of study?
The Mutant Casebook Series is based on a “What If” scenario. What if atomic testing in the 1950s went wrong and there was an accident that ripped a hole in reality? Humans were pulled into another world. Their molecular structure mutated, giving them extraordinary power and changing their bodies to fit their new environment. How would the mutated humans cope? Would they cling to their old lives, building cities and developing governments? Or would they simply succumb to animal behavior?
While this book is a Fantasy, it is strongly based in the sciences. I did research on genetics, quantum physics and astronomy. My day job centers around information technology and medicine. Of course there was the historical research of Area 51 and Japanese Internment Camps. This really was a fascinating and fun project
What are you working on right now?
I’m juggling two literary projects right now. Pariah is the first book in a new dark fantasy series. Millennia have passed since the corrupt of Seelie society were banished from Otherworld. Abandoned in the Human Realm, their descendants keep to the shadows, controlling criminal organizations and governments in secret.
The Second project I’m working on is Vendetta, Book Two in the Mutant Casebook Series. This time the boys are in the Mutant city of New Athens. Low on cash, Gideon reluctantly agrees to take on a missing persons case. Someone makes it clear they don’t want the guy found as attempts on Hiroshi’s life begin.
Author Website – http://crrichards.com
Author Blog – http://deepthoughtsandjunk.wordpress.com/
FB Author Page – https://www.facebook.com/authorcrrichards
Twitter – @CR_Richards
Amazon Author Page – http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00BA159W2
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