Q&A with Chris Panatier

In between creating some amazing artwork, Chris managed to squeeze some time in to knock out a crowd-pleasing novel, The Phlebotomist (Angry Robot) and still find time for his family, a full-time job, and answer a few questions for me.

To start with, would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself?

Thank you for having me! I live in Dallas, Texas, where all the heat in the world comes from. I spend most of my time being a dad to my six-year-old, and I fill the time gaps writing, drawing album covers, and practicing law.

From artist to storyteller, can you tell us what drew you to writing The Phlebotomist?

I’d been writing novels for several years when I had the idea for The Phlebotomist, though none of them had been published. In fact, I was in the middle of writing a different book when the premise for this one came to me. I was upset about the fast-moving, malignant blend of aristocratic authoritarianism that was spreading through our government and a premise came to mind. I didn’t want to write a straight-up political screed, so I couched it in a dystopian story and tied it to a well-loved trope that I’m not going to disclose because spoilers! Sorry!

Your artwork is stunning, were you not tempted to do the cover for The Phlebotomist?

Thank you! This is an interesting story. One of the first things many of my family and friends said when I told them I had a book coming out was to suggest that I do the cover. If you’ve seen my work, it’s very art nouveau and metal-y, and absolutely NOT the style I wanted for the cover. My only strongly worded desire to Angry Robot was that it be pink and gold. I wanted a book so pink that it burnt people’s eyeballs out. Beyond that, though, I was not tempted to do the cover. Soon, they began sending me their cover mocks. They had taken a medical-illustration style angle, which I had not expected at all, but quickly warmed to. It really was a perfect fit for this story, with its heavy reliance on medical science. Their very patient designer, Glen Wilkins, had mocked up the pink cover with an anatomical heart surrounded by flowers. I loved it, but wanted to tailor the image to my story, and so asked to illustrate it. They agreed and the rest is history! The pinkest book to ever exist!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Book Titles That Describe Me/My Life

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish, which is now being hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

  • Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
  • Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
  • Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
  • Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s topic is Book Titles That Describe Me/My Life.

  1. A Twist of the Knife by Becky Masterman — Someone who I considered a good friend, even a best friend at one time, took it upon themselves to take a knife, figuratively, and stab me in the back to a couple of others who, at one time, I considered friends. Sad to think that this has probably happen to more than me over the years. I will never understand these people or their motivation.
  2. 2nd Chance by James Patterson — I got a second chance in 2016 when I survived a brain fart. I’ve tried to live each and every day in the moment ever since.
  3. Force of Nature by Jane Harper — as a child, my mother often referred to me as a force of nature, unstoppable. I just kept running till the battery ran out.
  4. The Informationist by Taylor Stevens — yep, this is definitely me, always collection useless and not so useless facts, data, and information about anything that interests me. I’m a knowledge sponge.
  5. Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny — I’m sure I speak for many at this moment in time and history when I say I feel like I’m currently living in the Kingdom of the Blind; surrounded by people who refuse to see the truth of what’s going on in the world at large. [see also: All The Devils Are Here by Louise Penny.]
  6. The Lost Man by Jane Harper — I sadly lost contact with someone I considered my soulmate after leaving the military, way back when. He will always be, to me, The Lost Man. I truly wish I knew what happened to him in the intervening years since.
  7. Silent Scream by Angela Marsons — So many times over the years, I have wanted to say something to someone but, at the last minute, had to bite my tongue least I say something out of hand. And, as a consequence, silently screamed to myself in utter frustration because of the situation. I’m sure we’ve all done this at some point in our lives.
  8. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett — despite everything going on in life, I’ve always felt when I’m out in nature far away from the madding crowd and civilisation, I’ve been able to see the colour of magic in nature in the harmony that surrounds me. You either know what I’m talking about or you don’t.
  9. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll — yes, at times I’ve felt like I fell down the rabbit hole chasing the White Rabbit for answers, and ended up in Wonderland. A confusing place I never felt I fit in.
  10. The Door Into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein — as a kid, I had this notion that a door in a walled garden was the door that always lead into summer. I’m sure it had something to do with where we lived at the time, near a large estate with a walled garden, where we used to sneak into the orchard to steal apples.

And you, what books made it onto your list this week?

#BookTag: Great British Bake Off Challenge

I absolutely love the Great British Bake Off so, when I saw this book challenge I though ‘yeah, sign me up for that one.’

ON YOUR MARKS – A Book You Can’t Wait To Read

I can’t wait to read The Last Mandarin, a fast-paced, all-too-real thriller co-written by #1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny and award-winning journalist Mellissa Fung, global politics become personal for two unlikely heroines.

The Last Mandarin is an electrifying study of absolute power and voracious greed, political terror and personal conviction. But it is also, as to be expected from the minds of Louise Penny, beloved author of the Gamache novels, and Mellissa Fung, an acclaimed international journalist, an intimate examination of choice, of sacrifice, of memory and myths, both cultural and personal. It is the story of a mother and daughter, as well as a compelling international thriller about the precarious balance of power across the world, and within a family. And what happens when both break down.

SIGNATURE BAKE – A Book From Your Favourite Genre

This series, Her Majesty Investigates, just goes from strength to strength and this title, coming out in May, is one that’s been on my radar for a while. I mean, just look at that cover?

 

SHOWSTOPPER – A Book With A Beautiful Cover

Though I love SFF and read a lot of crime fiction, I also love a good historical novel now and then, and recently discovered The Boleyn Curse which also just happens to have a great cover.

The court of young King Henry VIII seethes with secrets and scandals, but every ambition has its price. Elizabeth Boleyn, loyal wife to Thomas Boleyn and devoted mother to Anne, Mary and George, believes she can navigate the shifting tides of court life. But when she catches the eye of the lascivious king, Elizabeth is drawn into a perilous game and the cost of her defiance will echo through the generations.

SOGGY BOTTOM – A Book That Made You Cry

There are not many book that make me cry but there was a certain scene in Foundryside that, when a certain character died, got me really choked up. And yes, I may have shed a tear or two.

HOLLYWOOD HANDSHAKE – Your Perfect Book

I read The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett last year and it was, for me at least, the perfect fantasy read (if ever there was one). Excellently written from cover to cover, a unique setting and clever world building, I was hooked from page one.

LEAVING THIS WEEK – A Book You Didn’t Finish

Ugh, I have read one too many books that ended up being a DNF for one reason or another. Sadly, this was one of them.

STAR BAKER – A Five Star Read

My 5-Star read? Has to be the superb second book in the Shadow of the Leviathan series, A Drop Of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett.

AND THE WINNER IS – A Book By A Favourite Author

As anyone who reads knows, it’s really hard to choose just one book as a winner/favourite out of all the books we read week to week. So asking me to choose just one is thrown me into a quandary. I want to say one of the above mentioned books but is that cheating?

Ha! I’m going to choose THE TAINTED CUP (mentioned above) — book one in the Shadow of the Leviathan series by Robert Jackson Bennett — as it’s the book I read that got me back into reading fantasy again after a very long hiatus.

And you Dear Reader, what would make it onto your Great British Bake Off list?

Can’t Wait Wednesday

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. If you’re continuing with WOW, feel free to link those up as well! Find out more here.

This week, I’m waiting for…

A TRADE IN BLOOD
by Robert Jackson Bennett
Release date: August 11, 2026

In the canton of Sapirdad, two of the Empire’s most powerful families are moments away from going to war with each other, their hundreds of retainers gathered with swords drawn. If blood is spilt, the whole of the empire may be plunged into starvation and chaos. To de-escalate matters, someone must do the impossible: prove that one family’s eldest son is innocent of a gruesome and unforgivable murder, despite the incontrovertible evidence against him. It is with this undertaking that the great detective Ana Dolabra is tasked, her assistant Din at her side—and the two find themselves racing with great speed and little dignity to the scene. As ever, the impossible proves little obstacle for the deadly combination of Ana’s intellect and Din’s keen eye, and mere hours after riding into the dusty town, Ana glimpses the greater pattern behind the crime. A deeper, subtler web of death is being woven in plain sight, by a mastermind with an ancient magical technology at his disposal. But even Ana’s uncanny insight is of little use when each new suspect she uncovers ends up dead–with each new killing calculated to bring tensions between the two rival clans past the boiling point. And as Din pursues their adversary through the canton’s wild ranges, sprawling ranches, and reeking slaughterhouses, he finds his loyalties divided in unexpected ways.

Q&A with Steph Broadribb

The first question has to be, how did a girl from Birmingham (in the UK) end up training as a bounty hunter, in the US?

It was all in the name of research! Once I knew that Lori Anderson would be a bounty hunter I knew I needed to find out as much as I could about the realities of that job – and about how it felt being a woman in the largely male dominated profession of bounty hunting – in order to make Lori as a character, and the story itself, as authentic as possible. I researched it online and via books and TV, but there’s no substitute to getting out there and finding things out first hand. By flying over to California and training with a really experienced bounty hunter, and in getting to speak with some great women who do the job for real, I felt better able to write about Lori’s world and all the challenges she faces.

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