What inspired you to become an author?
My mom was a really creative artist and I grew up making things with her. She was so talented in everything she tackled. As I got older I went into writing, which I felt was something I could do creatively. So even though she wasn’t a writer, my mom was my creative inspiration. The first author who really inspired me to write was Ray Bradbury.
What is your favorite genre to write?
Urban fantasy. I love supernatural stories. Your mind can go any way and anything can happen. But I love seeing it in today’s world and seeing how it can relate to the things that are happening now.
Do you title the book first or wait until after it’s complete?
Sometimes I have a title that pops up right away, but usually it’s the story first and then it’s agony finding the right title.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
I was actually surprised by some of the themes that popped up in my book, Dead Man’s Trigger. My main character, Max, was a victim of child abuse, and that ended up shaping everything that happens to him in one way or another. I also really liked the idea that when the worst thing happens to you that tries to force you to become a literal monster, what is it going to take to overcome that and is it even possible. When you’ve done horrible things, can you get past them? Max has dealt with so much of the trauma that happened early in his life, and then suddenly he’s a vampire and how the heck do you deal with that?
We all face horrible things in our life. My husband of 24 years just died this summer from cancer. We all make mistakes and have struggles and have to overcome the bad stuff. And it’s hard. My husband originally edited the book and we published it four years ago. But nothing ever happened with it and I felt it still needed work. So after he died, my heart was broken, but there was this book that was just sitting on Amazon like a zombie and nothing was ever going to happen with it.
I decided I’d just clean up the typos, because I knew there were a few in there. But it became a journey and the book became better. I got a new title, a new cover and revised the book. On Amazon I could then republish the book as a new book. It wasn’t a journey I was expecting to take, but it helped me get through the summer. My heart is still broken, but every day I take another step and I’m so proud of this book.
Is there a genre that you’d like to write that you haven’t tackled yet?
I’ve been plotting out a new series called The Jake Casper Supernatural Mysteries. So even though it will still be Urban Fantasy, it will fall into the mystery category.
Of all the characters you’ve ever written, who is your favorite and why?
Max is my favorite. You spend that much time with a fella and… well… I fell in love with him. Not as much as my husband, but still. I also fell in love with many of the characters in the book, even the ones who end up getting killed off. When you breathe life into a character they become real to you. I was sad to see some of them go.
If this book is part of a series…what is the next book? Any details you can share?
The next book in A Max Maguire Vampire Novel series is called Kill Radius. I hope to have the same cover artist do all the covers in my series. What I can say about book two is that Max and the other characters are still reeling from the traumatic events from book one. As the book opens, Jade is missing, but it’s become the wild, wild west as her vampires are causing lots of trouble for Max and the Corps. People are dying and there’s a real threat that vampires could be exposed. And Max and his deaf lover, Sumi, will continue to face the challenges of falling in love when a war is going on.
What book are you reading now?
I’ve been reading the Joe Ledger Series and Joe Ledger and Rogue Team International Series by Jonathan Maberry. I’m toward the end of the series with Burn to Shine.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Finding all the freaking typos. They are like ants. You think you’ve found them all and then another read and you find another one. It’s really annoying. Mostly it’s just a missing word or something like that, but in a 119,500 word book, it’s really annoying.
Who designed the cover of your latest book?
BroseDesignz. I’m so happy with the cover, I hope she’ll do all of my books in this series.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
Yes. Write. Join a writers’ group if you can, but don’t let others dictate where your writing can take you. Writing exposes who you are and you may not like what others have to say. It doesn’t mean they are right. And if you just take your writing and put it into ChatGPT, Chat’s going to tell you it loves it. That’s not helpful either. Constructive criticism is the best place to land when looking for an honest critique. But at some point you just have to pull the trigger and write, edit, revise, and publish. And the hard part is you have to be more than a little fearless. But even if you’re not, fake it.
What would your readers be surprised to learn about you?
I’m an award-winning Fused Glass Artist and teacher. I won a lifetime achievement award from The Beverly Arts Center as a teaching artist. I have two kilns and I have an art show this weekend. My mom was always the artist, but I’ve found art never left me and I love it. Making something with your hands is truly gratifying.
What is next for you? Do you have any scheduled upcoming releases or works in progress?
I’m working on putting together material so I can find a narrator for Dead Man’s Trigger and I hope to have the audiobook released early next year. As far as writing goes, I’m working on Book Two, Kill Radius, which will continue Max’s story.
A Max Maguire Vampire Novel
Book One
Kat Huddleston
Genre: Urban Fantasy Vampire Thriller
Date of Publication: Oct. 5, 2026
Number of pages: 378
Word Count: 119,000
Cover Artist: BRoseDesignz
Tagline: Former Special Forces Sniper. High School History Teacher. Vampire.
Book Description:
Who Knew Immortality Could Be So Short?
When high school history teacher Max Maguire begins to suspect one of his brightest students is in trouble, he ends up walking down the wrong alley. Suddenly, he's staring down the fangs of a beautiful, powerful, and utterly merciless vampire named Jade.
As Max's life takes a dark turn, he’s forced to learn how to survive in Jade's twisted world. But if Jade thinks her hostage is going to play nice, she really should have read his resume. This former Special Forces sniper might just have to dust off some very lethal muscle memory.
While Max plots exactly how to kill the most dangerous predator on the planet, he discovers there’s another group of vampires that have their own plans for Jade. Before he knows it, Max is caught in the crosshairs of a vampire war that neither side can afford to lose.
And there's one thing neither side knows... Max has a secret of his own.
CONTENT WARNING: This is NOT a romance. The novel contains mature content intended for readers 18 and older. This is a gritty, fast-paced genre hybrid combining vampires with dark urban fantasy, tactical military thriller action, and sarcastic humor, with a wisecracking protagonist at its center. There is explicit sexual material, including non-consensual sex, graphic violence, torture, adult themes, and visceral horror elements. In other words, my vampires don't sparkle.
Excerpt
from Dead Man’s Trigger
When Max Maguire joins a group of vampires who
hunt vampires, his first mission gets complicated very quickly and Max has to
draw on his Special Forces training – and get creative.
Without a word, the team quickly
exited the van. They barely made a sound, with only the muffled noise of doors
opening and closing to betray their arrival.
Max crawled up into the passenger’s seat and waited. Terry had a
revolver out and ready on his lap. Chase and the team stood near the trees sizing
up the situation.
“Five hostiles inside with two humans, two hostiles out back,” Chase
said in a low voice through his headset. Max watched as Chase pointed to Sumi
and Tank and then to the rear of the house. He knew from experience, no one
would talk at this stage unless they had to. Sound was always risky.
Sumi and Tank took off in a blur. Max did as Tank suggested and reached
out with his senses to follow the action. The rest of the team crouched by the
tree line for a moment and then Chase motioned for them to go.
Chase, Shades and Father Frank were beginning their approach from the
front. Everything in the backyard was happening so fast, Max was having trouble
keeping track of what was going on. One of the vamps went down immediately and
vanished from Max’s internal radar. The other had avoided a round to the heart
and took off. Sumi was in pursuit, but Max lost her. He tried to find her
again, but she was out of his range.
He looked at Terry, a worried expression on his face.
“She’s okay, Max. She can take care of herself,” he said.
Max nodded and got back to the action. The attack from the front had
started and Max could sense the chaos in the house as the vampires dove for
cover or tried to reach their weapons. Two were killed immediately, but the
other three were putting up a fight. Then one of them dove through a side
window, right through the wood covering it, and Max saw he was out of the house
and headed for them. Max didn’t have a weapon, but he wasn’t about to be a
sitting duck. Terry nodded at Max and they both opened their doors to get out
of the van.
The vamp looked like a biker, defined by leather, tattoos and long
hair. And he was really pissed. When the angry vampire saw them, he raised his
revolver and started shooting at them on the run. One of the rounds whizzed by
Max’s ear and he dove to the ground in a roll, coming up on his hands and
knees. Terry started firing back, but the vampire was moving fast. They were
trading shots, so Max pushed himself up and flew at the vampire, tackling him,
the two rolling one over the other until they crashed into a tree.
Max was stunned for a moment, but so was his opponent. He saw the flash
of the revolver and he went for it, the two struggling over the weapon. The
vampire smashed Max in the chest with his fist and sent him flying backwards.
Ending up flat on his back, he rolled onto his knees just as the vampire got a
shot off. Suddenly his lower back was on fire and Max knew he’d been shot. Now
he was pissed.
Terry was rounding the van. He took a shot, but missed the vampire. The
bad guy was distracted for just a moment, and that’s all Max needed. He
scrambled onto his hands and knees. Ignoring the pain, Max launched himself at
the vampire again, breaking a branch of a tree off along the way and knocking
his opponent to the ground. Max drove the large end of the branch into the
vampire’s chest as the bad guy was raising the weapon to take another shot. The
vampire stopped, a look of total surprise on his face. The branch with its
leaves still intact stuck out of him as if the tree was growing right through
him. And then he turned to dust.
Max’s back hurt like hell and he fell to the ground on his side. Then
Terry and Chase were standing over him.
“Death by maple. That’s
a first,” said Terry.
Kat Huddleston is a Chicago-based writer, teacher and artist who loves all things sci-fi. She was an entertainment journalist for the Syfy Channel’s website and for Sci Fi Magazine a while ago, and has always had a deep addiction to writing, teaching and creating art.
Kat is an award-winning painter and fused glass artist who taught fused glass, and her art can be found in several galleries.
While Kat has mostly lived in a fantasy land, she’s made a living as a journalist and dabbled in short story and screenplay writing.
Dead Man’s Trigger is Kat’s first novel in the Max Maguire Vampire series.
Kat lives with her two helper cats, Jax and Nicky.
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