Feature Book of the Week #6 Death Catchers by Jennifer Kogler

DEATH CATCHERS

BY JENNIFER KOGLER

Until the letters of the newspaper article she was reading rearranged themselves into an article foretelling her best friend Jodi's death, Lizzy Mortimer had always thought of Crabapple as a relatively normal coastal town. But the truth is anything but normal-Lizzy is the descendant of Morgan Le Fay, the legendary Lady of the Lake, and is gifted with the ability to see and prevent unjust deaths. Now Lizzy is caught in the middle of centuries-old feud between Morgan le Fay and her sister, Vivienne le Mort, who hopes to accelerate the end of the world by finding and killing King Arthur's last descendant, humanity's destined champion. So when an obituary for Lizzie's secret crush and the likely Arthurian heir, Drake Westfall, appears before her eyes, Lizzy must race to outwit fate and save her friends before mankind is destroyed forever.

GUEST POST BY JENNIFER KOGLER

Hello there St. Louis!  First off, I’m thrilled The Death Catchers is a part of 2013-14’s Book Battle.  It also makes me wish I’d had a book battle like this one to participate in as a middle schooler.  The only book-related battles I was a part of as a kid was battling myself over which book in my teetering stack of library books to read next and battling my parents to stay up past my bedtime to read.

The Death Catchers is my fourth book.  If you’ve read either The Otherworldlies or The Siren’s Cry, then you already know that I love stories that involve mythology – I grew up reading and rereading all kinds of myths, legends and fables.  Now I write them into my books.  The Death Catchers is my modern take on the King Arthur legend.  The other main feature of the book, the literary elements that begin each chapter, was actually inspired by a school visit I did at Kraemer Middle School in Placentia, California.  A wonderful teacher there, Mr. Twamley, had creative posters of all the literary elements up in his classroom, made by his students.  The project reminded me of my own school project where I had to learn and memorize all the literary elements.  At that moment I realized it would be a great way to structure a book.  I wrote the idea down so I wouldn’t forget it.

I am currently hard at work on a new project, which is always exciting, even though I’ve been doing this for a long time.  In fact, I wrote my first story in second grade about an owl that couldn’t sleep during the day when the other owls slept.  I haven’t stopped writing since.  I am at my happiest when I’ve just written a great sentence and at my most grateful when I find out someone has read one of my books and enjoyed it. 

Happy Book Battling!

   

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jennifer Anne Kogler lives in California, where she was born and raised.  She graduated with a degree in English literature from Princeton University.   Her first novel, RUBY TUESDAY began as her senior thesis in college.  Her second novel, THE OTHERWORLDLIES, was a 2011 Truman Award Nominee.  Jennie’s last two books came out in 2011:  a sequel to The Otherworldlies, THE SIREN’S CRY (July 2011), and THE DEATH CATCHERS (August 2011).

Jennie has appeared in front of a wide range of audiences.  She delivered a college graduation speech with her twin brother Jeremy (which she assumes provided a convenient bathroom break for the audience before Jerry Seinfeld took the podium), and has spoken at schools across the country, as well as at the Library of Congress.

She is a graduate of Stanford Law School and has worked as an intern for the Late Show with David Letterman, a clumsy waitress, and a legal intern for the U.S. Department of Justice.   Jennie is a longtime fan of the L.A. Dodgers, which as it turns out, was a great thing to be in the 1980s and not so much since then.  She remains hopeful. Check out Jennifer's website for more info.