Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: All Darling Children
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://authorkatrinamonroe.com/
CITY:
STATE: MN
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married; children: two.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Katrina Monroe is a writer. She primarily writes comedic novels. She has dabbled in other forms of writing, but finds that writing comedy is most fulfilling and fun. She explains that comedic writing can be hard to sell, but is able to express a sense of truth that other genres are unable to capture. She lives in Minnesota with her wife, two daughters, and cat. Prior to moving to Minnesota Monroe lived in Florida.
Sacrificial Lamb Cake
Sacrificial Lamb Cake is Monroe’s third published novel. The book explores themes of radicalism, religious identity, fanaticism, and redemption, all through a humorous telling. Set in modern America, the book presents a story of the dangers of religious radicalism and offers a theoretical outcome of an early second coming of Christ.
The book opens with an introduction to protagonist Rain Johnson. Rain comes from a family of eco-hippie-anti-establishment fanatics, hence her born name, Rainfall on the Desert Plains Johnson. She tries to distance herself a much as possible from her origins. Rain works as a waitress at a restaurant in Minneapolis. A creative person, she works at the restaurant to support her first love, art. Rain lives with Francine, fellow artist and her best friend from art school, who also works at the restaurant. Both women are lesbians and periodically their friendship dips into the sexual. For Francine, the sexual forays are purely fun. An artist and free spirit, she has no interest in moving their relationships into anything more than a friendship with the occasional night of intimacy. Rain accepts this, though at times she longs for more.
The story begins one evening when Rain is accosted by an odd man at her dinner shift at the restaurant. The man is very pale and dressed in a suit and sermonizes to her about Jesus. When the man grabs Rain’s arm, her boss kicks him out, but when she leaves work that evening he is in the parking lot waiting for her. He approaches her car in the dark parking lot, but all he does is slip an envelope under her windshield wiper and walk away.
When Rain gets home, she and Francine open the envelope, discovering a thousand dollars in cash and an invitation to meet the man for coffee the next day. The note is signed “Jude,” which we later learn is for Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve original disciples known for betraying Jesus.
Rain meets with Jude, and discovers that he was sent to earth by God. According to Jude, people have gotten God’s message wrong, and He needs a new messenger, Rain, to correct them and show them what it really means to live by His ideals and live a good, Christian life.
Rain and Jude are met with much opposition, however. This pushback comes from both those close to Rain, as well as those who would prefer to see an apocalyptic change on earth rather than just a new messenger. Rain is confronted with forces from her past, such as her own mother, and she and Jude must find creative and humorous ways to spread their message.
A contributor to Publisher’s Weekly wrote of Sacrificial Lamb Cake, “with a promising comedic beginning and over-the top characters, the well-written story provides an often scathing indictment of the human condition.”
A Tale Du Mort
A Tale Du Mort tells the story of Mort Oleander and his brother, Sy. Both men work in the funeral home business in Florida. Mort works as assistant embalmer under his brother, the funeral director, though this wasn’t always the case. Mort, the more conscientious of the two brothers, was previously General Operations Director of the dead. He was kicked out of the position by his own brother, who led corporate-wide strikes.
The story takes off when Sy begins to become lazy in his job, failing to sufficiently guard the entrance between the dead and the living, known as the “Veil.” Mort must seek the help of a group of retired seamstresses and his ex-girlfriend’s daughter to stop his brother and fix the damage he has already caused before the barrier between the worlds is destroyed forever.
Jayne B., on the Dear Author website, described the book as “fun, chaotic, quirky and a fast read… but there are some plot holes, mish-mashed mythology and things left unexplained at the end.”
All Darling Children
All Darling Children is Monroe’s sixth book. A dark interpretation of the Peter Pan story, the book centers on a villainous boy who never grows old. Peter commits terrible acts to maintain his youth and reigns over Neverland with a cruel hand. As a result, the land has become depopulated and decrepit, and other than his equally barbarous escort of Lost Boys, the inhabitants stay away from Peter Pan.
The protagonist of the story, Madge Darling, ends up at Neverland through a chance encounter with Peter. Madge is on the run when the two meet, seeking a new home far away from her overbearing and abusive grandmother, Wendy. Peter tells Madge that he knows where her mother, Jane, is. Throughout Madge’s childhood, grandmother Wendy insisted that Jane had died, but Madge is certain this cannot be true. With Peter at her side, she believes she is finally going to be reacquainted with her mother.
Madge’s hopes are far from met when she arrives at Neverland. Peter forces her to play the role of mother to the dreadful Lost Boys, and she is horrified by their sadistic games and actions. As Madge witnesses more and more terror, her marred family history begins to become revealed.
Madge is determined to end Peter’s rule, and seeks out the help of Tiger Lily, who has become chief of Neverland’s tribe of Indians, as well as the ghost of Captain Hook. A contributor to Publishers Weekly noted: “The grimness of this version will repel some who prefer the Disney version of Peter Pan over Barrie’s surreal original work, but Monroe’s fascinating reimagining brings out all the creepy undertones of never wanting to grow up.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, January 26, 2015, review of Sacrificial Lamb Cake, p. 154; November 21, 2016, review of All Darling Children, p. 95.
ONLINE
Dear Author, http://dearauthor.com (February 3, 2017), Jayne B., review of A Tale du Mort.
Fang for the Fantasy, http://www.fangsforthefantasy.com (August 9, 2016), review of Sacrificial Lamb Cake.
Jeyran Main, http://jeyranmain.com (December 3, 2016), Jeyran Main, review of All Darling Children.
Katie Rose Guest Pryal, https://katieroseguestpryal.com (September 7, 2015), Katie Rose Guest Pryal, review of Sacrificial Lamb Cake.*
Katrina Monroe is a novelist, mom, and snark-slinger extraordinaire.
Her worst habits include: eating pretty much anything with her fingers, yelling at inappropriate times, and being unable to focus on important things like dinner and putting on pants.
She collects quotes like most people collect, well, other things. Her favorite is, “If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.” – Dorothy Parker
Readers can revel in her sarcasm at authorkatrinamonroe.wordpress.com or follow her on Twitter, @authorkatm.
Meet Katrina Monroe, Our Indie Friday Guest
Jul 1, 2016
Meet Katrina Monroe, Our Indie Friday Guest
Hello, dear readers–we have something special to celebrate Independence Day weekend — we have our first Indie author guest, Katrina Monroe. Here’s a bit about her most recent novel, A TALE DU MORT (and we just love the cover).
Kindle cover finalMort Oleander wasn’t always the assistant embalmer to the world’s worst funeral director. Once upon a thousand years ago, he was the G.O.D. (General Operations Director) of the dead, kicked out of the job thanks to corporate-wide strikes led by his brother, Sy.
Faced with mountains of paperwork and a staff high on revolution, Sy decides he’s acted rashly. His afterlife was meant to be margaritas and getting caught in the rain, not Mort’s. Ignoring the inevitable consequences, Sy brings Under out of the dark to mingle with the living.
Assisted by a trio of seamstresses living semi-retired in Florida and his ex-girlfriend’s daughter, Mort must stop Sy before the Veil dividing Under and Above is destroyed.
This sounds hilarious! I can’t wait to read it. Katrina shares her thoughts on comedy writing in her great post below!
SEND IN THE FOOL
A few years ago I was watching an interview with one of my favorite authors, Christopher Moore. He talked about the typical things: writing, touring… but when he talked about his novel, FOOL, he said something that stuck with me: It’s the comedians, the fools, that tell the truth to power. I’m paraphrasing, but the message is the same.
Though he wasn’t necessarily referring to authors, there’s no doubt in my mind that the same applies to us lowly comedy writers. It’s not that other genres don’t mirror the society in which it’s written. I’ve read hundreds of literary and commercial novels that paint a scathing portrait of the world, leaving me with a rock in my gut and a mild desire to Do Something but a bigger desire to eat ice cream and pretend it all doesn’t exist.
But here’s the big difference: Comedy, she is like a woman. With comedy, you’ve lost the argument before it’s even begun—before you have the chance to put up your lesson-deflecting walls, the story is in your head, influencing you, because everything is easier to accept when it’s backed by a laugh track. Anyone who’s read Terry Pratchett will agree. The man could turn a phrase, but his lessons lurked somewhere deep beneath the words, just waiting to latch their suckers to your brain.
But even the man Pratchett is a statistical anomaly.
Most of the indie authors I know write some form of comedy—satire, black comedy, fantasy humor. And all of them have mentioned how hard it is to find “legitimacy” with their chosen genres, which, as we all know, can only be given after a virgin sacrifice beneath a harvest moon while it sits at certain coordinates, which are given at the bottom of a Random House publishing contract.
I wish I could say I made the choice to be an indie author. At least then I’d be cool. Like, hipster cool. I’m an indie author because (according to my pitch responses) I’m “a talented writer with an exceptional voice” but “[vague blah blah not for me *fart noise*.]” That vague blah blah fart noise is industry speak for “I have no idea how to sell it.” After hundreds of emails like this, I tried restyling my brand by making my comedy softer, more approachable. More Ellen Degeneres, less Louis C.K.
Ellen and I are homies (at least in my mind), but that Let’s Not Offend Anyone style of comedy isn’t for me. It isn’t the truth. My lady characters curse and talk about boobs while running from the Patriarchy monster with its gnashing teeth and archaic abortion rhetoric.
It wouldn’t have helped, anyway. Writers like Nick Cole know—when the comedy is “too real,” even a Big Six contract can be broken.
It’d probably be more lucrative to abandon it all and write a cozy mystery or a romance. I could buy the name-brand cereal and not peddle limericks at the corner for a dollar. I could dress my children in actual clothes rather than dresses made of manuscript pages. But it wouldn’t be nearly as fun.
With a world full of brown-nosing courtiers, tittering ladies, and proclamation scribbling blow-hards, someone has to wear the jingly hat. Someone has to encourage the chuckles when there’s nothing to chuckle about. It might as well be me, just as it might as well be all the other fools out there. The looming threat of legitimacy shouldn’t make you second-guess that joke. Tell it. We’re all ears.
More about Katrina:
Monroe Author PhotoKatrina Monroe is a former Floridian still trying to figure out “Minnesota Nice.” She writes comedy that occasionally draws an obligatory chuckle from her wife.
All Darling Children
Publishers Weekly.
263.47 (Nov. 21, 2016): p95.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
All Darling Children
Katrina Monroe. Red Adept, $12.99 trade paper (202p) ISBN 978-1-940215-78-5
Monroe (A Tale Du Mori) turns Neverland into a frightening, violent place in this tense extension of J.M. Barrie's
classic, Peter Pan. Madge Darling just wants to be free from her overprotective and abusive grandmother, Wendy.
During her latest attempt to run away, she meets a strange boy who promises to take her to her long-lost mother. Once
they arrive in a degraded, depopulated Neverland, Peter forces Madge to be "mother" to the feral and cruel Lost Boys.
Madge recoils from the violent games they pursue and vainly attempts to control Peter's sadistic, authoritarian
personality. Her thought processes and reactions do not realistically match a young adolescent girl's, but they are
appropriate to the horror she encounters. Madge's growing realization of her family's connection to Neverland answers
questions from her past but opens new wounds. To end Peter's dominion, she teams up with Tiger Lily, who's now
chief of Neverland's Indians, and the ghost of Captain Hook. Monroe effectively weaves in excerpts from Wendy's
diary to ominously expose Neverland's truth. The grimness of this version will repel some who prefer the Disney
version of Peter Pan over Barrie's surreal original work, but Monroe's fascinating reimagining brings out all the creepy
undertones of never wanting to grow up. (Feb.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"All Darling Children." Publishers Weekly, 21 Nov. 2016, p. 95. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA471273970&it=r&asid=4efdab3fc319e8d44082a6afc109880e.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A471273970
---
8/13/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1502641482341 2/2
Sacrificial Lamb Cake
Publishers Weekly.
262.4 (Jan. 26, 2015): p154.
COPYRIGHT 2015 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Sacrificial Lamb Cake
Katrina Monroe. Red Adept (redadeptpublishing.com), $13.99 trade paper (242p) ISBN 978-1-940215-42-6
Monroe (Reaper) explores religious identity and redemption, giving a passing nod to comedy as she boldly showcases
the psychological and physical horrors of radicalism. Waitress Rain Johnson wants nothing more than to make some
money, live her life free of her extreme environmentalist family (particularly her highly unstable mother), and maybe
find a more stable and steady girlfriend than Francine, her roommate and occasional lover. Yet all of those wants are
sidelined when a man named Jude presents her with an offer she can't refuse. Not only is the money decent, but it turns
out Rain is the Second Coming of Christ. Someone has started the Apocalypse a little early, and it's up to Rain, Jude,
and whomever they pick up along the way to head it off at the pass. With a promising comedic beginning and over-thetop
characters, the well-written story provides an often scathing indictment of the human condition. (Mar.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Sacrificial Lamb Cake." Publishers Weekly, 26 Jan. 2015, p. 154. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA400253370&it=r&asid=809ad4f3db52a8ad651ddb4463cbc33a.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A400253370
February 3, 2017
REVIEW: A Tale du Mort by Katrina Monroe
JayneB- REVIEWS / BOOK REVIEWSadult fiction / death / fantasy/scifi / Humor1 Comments
Mort Oleander wasn’t always the assistant embalmer to the world’s worst funeral director. Once upon a thousand years ago, he was the G.O.D. (General Operations Director) of the dead, kicked out of the job thanks to corporate-wide strikes led by his brother, Sy. Faced with mountains of paperwork and a staff high on revolution, Sy decides he’s acted rashly. His afterlife was meant to be margaritas and getting caught in the rain, not Mort’s. Ignoring the inevitable consequences, Sy brings Under out of the dark to mingle with the living. Assisted by a trio of seamstresses living semi-retired in Florida and his ex-girlfriend’s daughter, Mort must stop Sy before the Veil dividing Under and Above is destroyed.
Dear Ms. Monroe,
Looking at the cover and reading the blurb, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book but it sounded like off-beat fun. It was equal parts crazy and humorous but I was glad I knew enough of ancient Egyptian funereal rites to keep up with the characters and background as there isn’t much explanation about them given before we’re tossed into the action.
By the end of the first chapter, I knew the writing style and plot reminded me of someone – Christopher Moore and his insane mix up of the living, the dead and a collision of their worlds. Set in Tampa – I wondered why until the very end when it became clear – and the Egyptian Underworld, life as we know it could be changed forever if a bored Sy screws things up any more than he already has. After ousting his conscientious brother and taking over, Sy has let things slip to the point where the dead are easing through the Veil between them and the living. Mort is reluctantly dragged into bringing everything back into balance by Fate – brush up on Greek death mythology – and Dahlia who looks as if she might have a future in mortuary science or as a handmaiden to Fate, I’m still not sure which.
It’s fun, chaotic, quirky and a fast read. I laughed and enjoyed myself but there are some plot holes, mish-mashed mythology and things left unexplained at the end. Oh and Tampa? – look up the Gasparilla Pirate Festival. B-
~Jayne
All Darling Children by Katrina Monroe (Book Review #36)
December 3, 2016 Jeyran Main
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I was given this book by the Author & UnderratedReads for a review.
“All Darling Children” is a twisted, dark, villain story about Peter Pan. The boy that never grows old, rules Neverland and is in charge of the night and day, rain and the sun plus everything that exists in this enchanting world. He conducts horrific crimes, to stay young. Everyone else has to pay the price for his needs. This is not his only crime, though; he has much more, and that is what makes this book extremely intriguing and thrilling to read.
Madge Darling is the daughter of Jane Darling and the granddaughter of Wendy Darling. Wendy has told Madge that her mother died when she was young and abandoned her. However, Madge does not wish to accept this and sincerely believes that her mother is alive. As she attempts to run away, she runs into Peter Pan. He tells Madge that he knows where her mother is. Madge fly’s to Neverland in the hope of getting some answers and meaning to her life.
Although Peter Pan was originally written by J. M. Barrie and intended for children, this book is not. It has many uses of profanity, murder, sexual content and disturbing twists to a child’s story. Katrina Monroe has taken this tale to another level. Her writing style is easy to understand and to follow. There is still an endearing love story hidden inside a very thrilling, blood shedding plot with a titillating desire to wanting a happy ending. You also get to meet Captain hook and Tiger lily.
Things cannot go more wrong for Madge as she discovers the truth about her family and now has to make the ultimate decision about her fate. I love how the title of the story has two meanings, “All Darling Children”. Darling is, in fact, the surname of Jane, Wendy and Madge yet you can also consider Darling to mean wonderful.
I highly recommend this book to all adult readers and Peter Pan lovers. Your Neverland will never be the same again.
Written by Jeyran Main
Here is how you can buy this book on Amazon:
Sacrificial Lamb Cake by Katrina Monroe
Rain is the Messiah, the second coming of Christ
Which surprises no-one as much as Rainfall (call her by her real name and suffer) – a lesbian, child of a rabid hippy and generally the last person you’d expect
But Jude – appointed by the Trinity Corporation – is determined to guide her to the second coming hopefully without setting off the apocalypse
Except big G seems to be playing his own game
I can see what this book is trying to do, I can see the theme it is trying to set. It’s the same kind of super-silly-yet hilarious theme you get with books like Christopher Moore’s and . These are the kind of books where we know the point from the beginning – it’s about being funny, about being silly. Yes there may be a plot and a world there, but it’s more to be a vehicle for the hilarity than anything else and, often, we’re not going to poke at it too closely because it’s not that kind of book.
Though it does have a plot with some very awesome points. I love the twist ending. The twist ending is amazing and perfect and really something I should have seen coming from a mile away but it was so well done. I have endless praise for the plot twist at the end
The plot was also very fun. Rain’s sudden diving into this whole new world, trying to learn it, trying to understand it and her various misadventures along the world – it was all kind of fun
And the idea of a super evil and repressive hippy also has a certain dark irony about it – though in addition to being played for laughs it was also a kind of dark lesson that fanaticism of any kind is a terrifying thing.
I’m also really amused by the attempts to prove she’s the messiah and how very very very awry they go. We live in a very different world and not every situation is improved by water turning to wine…
Her mother was an excellently over the top and terrifying character – the new age fanatic taken to extreme and horrendous extent, both funny and frightening and an excellent twist
And the horsemen? I really liked the horsemen
All of this worked.
What didn’t work so much is that opening theme – because though I found this book amusing, I didn’t find it laugh-out-loud hilarious and zany. I smiled, I didn’t laugh. And that’s a problem because this whacky genre – from the sheep on the cover to all the randomness inside – kind of needs that. And it needs the surface hilarity to set the theme and discourage me from taking too serious a look at it. I would find myself being frustrated and wanting greater examination of various issues. Like how quickly Rain accepted the idea she was the Messiah based on very little (a display full of bagels?). Or how she is clearly the messiah of the Christian faith but there’s no real examination or issues from her about being a Lesbian messiah of such an unrelenting homophobic force in the world. Or how I really wanted the story not to run as quickly as it did and have more examination of the world and everything in it. Or how Jude is just so bad at seeing what the modern world will accept as a messiah or not
But then I stop and remind myself that this isn’t that book – it’s zany and funny and not meant to be that book. But I have to remind myself because I didn’t laugh enough to take me through that.
In terms of POC we have Jude – and the other disciples – who are described in terms that are somewhat ambiguous but definitely point towards them being POC (as would also be a sensible depiction given the characters they are). For LGBTQ characters, Rain, the messiah is a lesbian. Openly so, not just as a brief reference and definitely in a sexual (if not loving) relationship which is clearly depicted without flinching and has complexities and difficulties that stem from more than her being a lesbian.
I don’t actually know which is the protagonist. For a whole book I would have said Rain since she is the actual Messiah – but by the end and with the twist I lean towards Judas, with Rain becoming, really, a part of his greater story, in fact her whole presence in this story leans towards that.
I’m intrigued by this book and enjoyed it – but think it needed to be either, much whackier and funnier, or much more serious and developed. It doesn’t really hit either sufficiently to truly be as awesome as it could be.
Book Review: Sacrificial Lamb Cake by Katrina Monroe
by Katie | Sep 7, 2015 | Book Reviews
[View my book review information page]
Monroe Sacrificial Lamb Cover
Author: Katrina Monroe | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page
Publisher: Red Adept Publishing, Feb. 2015
Purchase Book: 5.99 eBook, 13.99 Paper
Note: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Rain Johnson (real name Rainfall on the Desert Plains Johnson—her parents were eco-hippie-anti-establishment zealots, and she doesn’t hang out with them much these days) is a waitress in Minneapolis. An artist by trade and love, she lives with her best friend from art school, Francine, and they work at the same restaurant to pay the bills. They also occasionally sleep together, but Francine is a free spirit who has no interest in adding more than some side benefits to their friendship.
Rain works hard to accept this. Some days it’s harder than others.
It’s a regular day when they head into work for the dinner shift. But that night, Rain is accosted by a strange, overly pale man in a dark suit. He grabs her wrist when she tries to blow him off, spouting some nonsense about Jesus, and her boss forces him to leave. Later, when Rain finishes her shift, he comes up to her car in the dark parking lot. She’s terrified. But all he does is tuck a dark envelope sealed with wax under her windshield wiper, then disappears.
At home in their apartment, Rain and Francine open the envelope. They find a thousand dollars cash and an invitation to meet the man for coffee the following day. They speculate about the mystery man, but one thing’s for sure. Something’s off.
They’re not wrong. The man, who signed the invitation “Jude,” is Judas Iscariot, sent to Earth by God because, frankly, Judas owes God a favor. God believes the people of Earth have gotten His message wrong, and He needs a new messenger. The new messenger is nothing as dire as the second coming—which would bring on the apocalypse—but rather a person who is clearly speaking for God about what it means to be a good person and to live by his ideals. A person like Rain: a lesbian artist working as a waitress who is covered in tattoos. (I mean, she does sound like my kind of girl.)
But Jude and Rain don’t have it easy getting the message out. Almost immediately, they’re betrayed by all of the people a person should be able to trust. And that apocalypse thing? It turns out there are some people who wouldn’t mind seeing it come after all, and they’re lead by a super-scary chick named Lucy with whom Judas had some dealings about 2000 years ago.
Sacrificial Lamb Cake is witty, with a heroine, Rain, who is smart and easy to believe in. For those who don’t know much about or who don’t care much about Christian theology, you might have a hard time getting engaged with the story line. But don’t worry, the book certainly isn’t preachy—it treats the myth like a myth, and you get to listen to a room full of Disciples swear at each other.
Rating: 4/5