The Hungry Monster got the opportunity to interview K.C. Finn, author of Atomic Circus, and ask her a few questions about her book and the series future. (She’s the one on the right, not the guy with the awsome mustache, or at least…. I assume so.)

The Atomic Circus is a detective story. Are detective stories your favorite genre of book is that why you ended up writing a detective novel?

“No, not at all. I am not a fan of modern crime stories, but I did enjoy the old masters like Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I am very much a science-fiction and fantasy fan so that was always going to be my main focus. I never meant to start writing The Atomic Circus at all, actually, but this black-cloaked detective was wandering around in my thoughts and I wanted to let him loose on a smog infested wasteland and see what he would do!”

In the Atomic Circus there’s a chemical mix that people use to give them different abilities. The idea of super powers is not original but I think you approach it in a unique way. How did you come around to this idea of chemical mixes for super powers?

“I hadn’t really thought of them as super powers until you put it like that. I think for me it’s just an extension of the idea of things like steroids now and a projection of how that abuse of substances might continue into the future as chemical development improves! What interested me much more than the physical powers was the idea of the drugs that alter your mood and mental state. I developed those concepts first and then came around to the idea of physically-altering drugs later on, which turned out pretty handy for the plot in the end!”

The protagonist in Atomic Circus is named Caecilius (KAI-KILL-EE-USS) Rex. It’s an interesting name and there was an emphasis in the story for the readers to pronounce his name correctly. Where did you get the name?

“I felt the audience would need a little push after so many beta readers getting it wrong in all different kinds of ways! I for one hate it if I find a complex name in a book with no discernible guidance on how to say it, so the hints are there if people want to take them, or you can just keep it simple and call him Cae. It is actually a Roman name and there is a purpose to it, a back-story involving Cae’s parents that will be revealed in the fourth part of his story, Lachrymosa, coming February 2014.”

Atomic Circus is the first book in the Caecilius Rex series. What can readers expect through the rest of series?

There are four parts altogether, the first three are all out now (The Atomic Circus, Counterclockwise and The Face) with Lachrymosa out in about two months’ time. There will be an anthology release of all four books on March 9th 2014, so people who have never read any of it before will be able to get the complete set.

As the series continues you’ll see Cae and Kendra’s pasts revealed as they take on more mysteries and adventures in new settings. There’s plenty more murder and mystery going on, but slowly you will also get glimpses of how and why the world around them became the way it is, with the full exposition of the state of the world revealed in the very last book. I promise you that every story gets bigger and better with a conclusion that you won’t want to miss!”

Find out more about K.C. Finn at her website www.KCFinn.com