So. In one of the cooler things I've had the chance to do, I got to send over an interview to THE Kaden Love, author of Toothsucker. Kaden is an indie author who wrote a wild sci-fi cyberpunk vampire story unlike anything you've ever read. Original concept, chaotic energy in the best possible way, and one of the weirdest interpretations of vampirism I've seen.

I had the great fortune of asking Kaden a few questions about himself, his process, his inspirations, and a lot more. Here's what he had to say!

Tell me about yourself! What’s your favorite genre to read? What are you currently reading? What’s your grand-slam all-time favorite book?

As you can tell with my writing, I am a huge fan of cyberpunk and thought provoking scifi. The weirder and the more it hurts my head, the better. I grew up being a much more of an epic fantasy reader, which I still love, but I've been tending towards scifi as of late. It's hard to pick an absolute favorite, but to choose some, it would be Hyperion by Dan Simmons, Memories of Ice by Stephen Erikson, Neuromancer by William Gibson, and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the world by Haruki Murakami 

The obvious question: Why teeth? How did we get here? What prompted the dentata of it all?

funny enough, this all started as a short story I wrote in college that was a play on the tooth fairy. I love the moral dilemma of an ethical vampire who hates to hurt people, but has to feed. I wondered what if we gave tooth fairies a reason for collecting teeth then made one wonder if he could trick people into leaving their teeth under their pillows to avoid ripping them out.

Did you always envision this as a cyberpunk world or did it start somewhere else first?

It started as a fantasy short story. When I decided to turn it into a novel, it was a dark fantasy reminiscent of Dark Souls. I got super into cyberpunk when I was about 3 chapters in and decided to start from the beginning with a new light (you get the pun if you've read Toothsucker).

Describe how it is you picture this manifestation of light-as-currency in your book as best you can. Bad drawings are encouraged. So are good drawings.

The color spectrum is really interesting, noting especially how in light there is different energy emitted by ultraviolet and infrared. This was the basis. I wanted to make light something physical, in the sense that data is, so it turned into currency, ammunition, apparel in the form of clothing highlights and make-up, and so forth. Society in this hyper-capitalistic world is sorted by the colors. Blue is the average city, Violet is reserved for the elite of the elite, Orange is the poorest of the poor, and Red is a literal wasteland for fiends created by this world’s neglect (mostly beings that were once human but have since changed due to this whole pharmaceutical mess that gives the story it's backbone).

Have you ever pitched this story to a traditional publisher or literary agent, or was this always “meant” to be an indie project for you?

I queried it for a month or so but went indie and am happy with the audience I have so far. I love having it indie because I can pump books out a the speed that I like (books 2 and 3 are both being released this year), but I would love to go traditional to help it reach a wider audience eventually.

What was your experience like with getting the audiobook made for Toothsucker? How did you find your narrator? What was the most surprising thing you learned while working up the audiobook?

The audiobook was actually a really funny experience. I tried for a long time to get a publisher to help me do an audiobook, because my social outreach has grown a lot since the first books release. With a larger social media following, I get random messages all the time from people trying to promote their own things, but I still try to check them even if I don't answer them, I got one from a narrator saying that he would like to throw his hat in the ring to see if I'm interested in having him narrate Toothsucker. At this point I was still looking for a publisher, but I listened out of interest. Turns out, Jordan Joshua WAS THE VOICE for Petya (the main character in the series). We started working together quickly. I loved his work and his wide range of voices, that I think is starting to rival Jeff Hayes for me. He's doing so well and it's putting even more sound effects into book 2 and I can't wait for more people to listen to it! Funny enough, even though I think he is one of my favorite narrators I've ever listened to, I hate listening to my own audiobooks cuz I feel like I'm listening to myself. Talk. Whenever I am reviewing them for potential errors, I have to do something to distract myself because I hate listening to my own words, even though I am pretty proud of my books.

How is indie audiobook publishing different from print? What would you do differently?

With indie, I was able to negotiate a rate and do a one-time payment to my narrator, rather than sharing royalties. Even though it's a little more expensive up front, it's pretty nice because I get all of the money from the sales, except whatever audible steals from me. At this point, I'm about to publish my fifth novel and I feel like I have the system down pretty well. The only thing I want to change is a larger audience, but that is hopefully coming with time.

Are there any people in your real life that you’ve used as inspiration for any characters in the story? Do they know? How do they feel about it?

As you read in the dedication, this was made for my wife's best friends who were stuck in detainment in the US for 1.5 years while trying to flee the war in Russia. The stories that Petya tells about his detainment were inspired by the inhumane conditions of ICE facilities here and the tragedy of people seeking safety. That is a long depressing story that never ended in them making it to the US, so I felt they deserved a story. They both know about the dedication and appreciate it immensely. The romance in the novel is somewhat inspired by me and my wife, though there are many characters with minor inspiration. 

Have your parents read your book? What do they think?

Funny enough, they have both read the first book and loved it. They are currently working on reading book 2. They're fans and I think it makes them proud 

Your social media is very active and engaging. What do you think helps you market your work the most online? How do you stay so connected with your online audience?

I'm glad that people find me entertaining and enjoy my book reviews, I've been very blessed to have some success on social media. The best for marketing tends to be when other people review my books or talk about how much they enjoy. Then. I might make some sales from my post, but whenever I find a genuine fan that talks about how much they love my books, that does so much more for me. That genuinely enjoys my books, because any any support like that means the world to me. The Instagram community has been a lot of fun from me as an author and I can't thank the people that talk about my books enough. When Brandon Sanderson or George RR Martin get another book review. Their world doesn't change. When someone reads one of my books, there is a good chance. I will see the review posted and it means so much to me. Every sale matters. Every reader matters.

When you were first putting this story together, was there an author or authors you wanted to emulate or were drawn to for inspiration? Or did you just open a Word document and start flying?

Most of my earlier books were very plot focused, but I know a lot of people enjoy character focused stories. Pierce Brown did this very well with Red Rising, by making the characters and plot equally as interesting. I tried to tap into that with this, but I think the greatest inspiration was the anime cyberpunk edgerunners. This show managed to pack such an emotional punch into 10 mere episodes. I loved the blend of cyberpunk crime, with a brilliant romance and the drastic fall of a certain character. To me, this is the perfect cyberpunk story, which made it such a big inspiration. I am also a huge manga fan, and each novel in the series was drastically influenced by a certain manga. Chainsaw man, and the works of Naoki Urasawa were particularly influential to my work.

What one piece of advice would you give to anyone just starting to write their story or manuscript?

Just start writing. Write everyday no matter how few words and don't let a day go by without writing. Use every moment you have to write, even if it's on your phone during a busy work day. Utilize all the spare time that you have to make that novel happen, because unless you commit it won't.