Kim Antieau - Her Frozen Wild - Author Interview

Author Interview

1. Who is the plot based around?
Ursula Smith, a Portland-based archeologist who was raised by her grandmother when her mother disappeared in Siberia when Ursula was a child.

2. What is the main idea of the plot?
A group of scientists unearth a frozen mummy in Siberia that turns out to have Ursula’s DNA. When she goes to Russia to try and figure out how that is possible, she meets a mysterious Russian who tells her she is fated to save the shape-changing People.

3. When does the plot take place?
It takes place in various time periods. It begins in the early years of the 20th century. A lot of it takes place at the end of the 20th century. Ursula goes back and forth through time. She lives in 18th century Siberia and in Siberia 2,500 years ago, too.

4. Where does the plot take place?
Most of it takes place in Siberia, although some of it takes place in Portland, too.

5. Why did the plot develop the way it did?
Hmmm. I’m not sure how to answer this question. When I get an idea for a book, it feels as though the main character comes and tells me her story. In many ways, it feels as though I’m taking dictation. This was the adventure Ursula had, and I wrote it down the way she told me!

6. How did you come up with the idea for the plot?
The story unfolded after I read an article in National Geographic about an “ice maiden” found in a grave in Siberia.

Book Summary

Scientists in the Altai in Siberia uncover the 2,500 year old frozen mummy of a tattooed priestess or shaman. This mummy has the same mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) as American archaeologist Ursula Smith whose mother disappeared in Siberia 30 years earlier. Ursula travels from the U.S. to Siberia to unravel the mystery of the “lady” and meets Sergei Ivanovich Polyakov, a Russian doctor who graciously invites her into his home. After they become lovers, she discovers he has the same tattoos on his body as the tattooed lady. He tells a disbelieving Ursula that they have met before and she is destined to save the ancient People, considered as devils by some and shape-changing gods by others. A shaman takes Ursula to one of the sacred timeless caves where Ursula’s mother supposedly disappeared. When Ursula allows the shaman to tattoo her, she is thrown back in time where she must unlock the mystery of the People and their link to her past in order to save them and Sergei—even if it costs her her life.

price: print: $16.99, e-book: $6.99
number of pages: 372
genre: adventure, mainstream, fantasy, science fiction
publisher: Green Snake Publishing
release date: January 2012
buy links: Print, Kindle, Barnes&Noble.com, Smashwords

About the Author

Kim Antieau has written many novels, short stories, poems, and essays. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, both in print and online, including The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Asimov’s SF, The Clinton Street Quarterly, The Journal of Mythic Arts, EarthFirst!, Alternet, Sage Woman, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. She was the founder, editor, and publisher of Daughters of Nyx: A Magazine of Goddess Stories, Mythmaking, and Fairy Tales. Her work has twice been short-listed for the Tiptree Award, and has appeared in many Best of the Year anthologies. Critics have admired her “literary fearlessness” and her vivid language and imagination. She has had nine novels published. Her first novel, The Jigsaw Woman, is a modern classic of feminist literature. Kim lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, writer Mario Milosevic.

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