Jacqueline Carey on Dark Currents (2012 Interview)

After the huge success of her KUSHIEL series, Jacqueline Carey is going back to urban fantasy waters with her new series AGENT OF HEL. Dark Currents, the first book, is out now and has had already massive success. Definitely one you won’t want to miss. I had the pleasure of getting to ask Jacqueline some questions about her new series and I am excited to share them with all of you today.

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From Kushiel’s Legacy to Urban Fantasy

Welcome to UTC, Jacqueline. After the success of the KUSHIEL series, how did you feel about stepping away from the genre and into urban fantasy?

It’s always a little scary to make a big change, but I’m excited about it, too. I think artists in any field need to take on fresh challenges to maintain their creative vitality, and urban fantasy is such a fun genre. It’s a treat to be able to view the familiar through the lens of the fantastic, to play freely with pop culture references.

If you had to introduce the Agent of Hel series to a new reader what would say? And if you were introducing it to your KUSHIEL fans, how would you tell them it’s different?

To a new reader, I’d say it’s an engaging urban fantasy featuring Daisy Johanssen, reluctant hell-spawn, and it blends whimsy, wonder, and creepiness. To KUSHIEL fans, I’d say that while this is more light-hearted and humorous in tone, it has the same attention to detail in terms of worldbuilding and characterization that you’ve grown to love in those books.

Writing Dark Currents

What did you have the most fun with while writing DARK CURRENTS?

Juxtaposing the mundane with the fantastic to create vivid, memorable images was a ton of fun. I’m especially fond of the introduction of Lurine the lamia, half-woman, half-serpent, lolling in a swimming pool in her backyard; but then I also adore that character. In terms of imagery, the frost giant driving a dune buggy is a close second.

What was your favorite quote or scene from DARK CURRENTS?

For some reason, this line just tickles me to no end: “Oh, great. A Canadian werewolf on the down-low was playing the morality card with me.”

Daisy Johanssen and the Cast of Pemkowet

Daisy to me was a great heroine, in part because she felt very real. What do you think is the best thing about Daisy (other than her cute tail)?

Despite the fact that her father happens to be a demon, I think Daisy is eminently relatable. She was raised by a single mom. She struggles with the same things many of us do; trying to keep her temper under control, a falling out with her best friend, a childhood crush that just won’t quit. It’s just that for the rest of us, unlike Daisy, giving in to our worst natures doesn’t run the risk of unleashing Armageddon.

From the beginning, there is one guy that is the obvious crush or love interest. As the story progresses you introduce not one, but two other possible options. What can you tell us about this upcoming and brewing love entanglement?

While all three possible love interests remain in the picture, the second volume begins with Daisy dating the one guy she thinks doesn’t come with complicated supernatural baggage. It turns out she’s very, very wrong!

There are many supernatural creatures in this story. Any one in particular that you are most excited to have included in the story?

I’m partial to the ghouls, which are my own contribution to the pantheon of supernatural beings. I enjoyed the process of introducing them as creepy emotional predators, then gradually shifting the perception of them—well, some of them—to one of tragic figures, rejected by heaven and hell alike and condemned to subsist on the emotions of others for eternity.

What’s Next for Agent of Hel

DARK CURRENTS had an amazing blend of paranormal, small town charm, humor, mystery and relationships. What can we expect of the next book in the AGENT OF HEL series and when will it come out?

Thanks very much for the kind words! The next book is due to come out in October 2013. It will contain the same mixture of paranormal, small town charm and humor, although this time, the central conflict isn’t a mystery, but rather a challenge to Daisy’s authority from an outside source. There will definitely be more romantic entanglements. And sex!

Do you have any other projects in the works?

There are a couple of side projects I’m excited about! One is UNFETTERED, an anthology featuring an amazing array of fantasy and SF authors. The proceeds will go to alleviate medical debt accrued by the editor, our friend, fellow author, and two-time cancer survivor, Shawn Speakman. The other is a Literary Pin-up Calendar, featuring twelve pin-up style depictions of iconic female characters created by another amazing array of authors, proceeds to benefit Patrick Rothfuss’s Worldbuilders charity, which raises money for Heifer International.

Good causes!

Update, June 2026: the Agent of Hel series went on to three books, and I sat down with Jacqueline again for the 25th anniversary of Kushiel’s Dart.

About Dark Currents

Dark Currents is the first book in Jacqueline Carey’s new Agent of Hel series, and it is a completely different beast from her epic fantasy. It is set in Pemkowet, a small Midwestern resort town where the supernatural is just part of the local economy, all of it presided over by the reclusive Norse goddess Hel. The heroine is Daisy Johanssen, daughter of an incubus, who works as Hel’s enforcer and the liaison to the local police. When a college student drowns and the signs point to the eldritch community, it falls to Daisy to solve it, all while keeping a tight rein on her temper, because if she gives in to her demonic side she could bring about the apocalypse.

Here is what won me over. For all the ghouls and naiads and werewolves, Daisy feels real. She is a great heroine, someone who reads like an actual person with an actual life, only one where losing her cool carries much higher stakes than it does for the rest of us. And the blend Carey pulls off, paranormal and small town charm and humor and mystery and a little romantic tension all at once, is exactly what I want from urban fantasy. I had a wonderful time with this one. You can read my full thoughts in my review of Dark Currents.

Grab it on Amazon

Final Thoughts

Getting to talk to Jacqueline Carey was a genuine treat, and what struck me most was how excited she is about this new world. She brings the same care to a fun, creepy small town urban fantasy that she brought to her epic fantasy, and that excitement is all over the book. I came away even more invested in Daisy and the town of Pemkowet, and very curious to see where the next book takes them. If you have not met Daisy yet, this is a great time to start.

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