Authors Interviewing Characters: Kes Trester

Authors Interviewing Characters: Kes Trester, author of The Nine series—The Nine, Alder House, and the upcoming To The Nines—and A Dangerous Year.

The Nine is a “Gripping paranormal series starter whose heroine boldly flips the script.”—BOOKLIFE Editor’s Pick

The Nine is an ancient society dedicated to preserving the safety and secrecy of the paranormally gifted living among us. A covenant put in place hundreds of years ago forbids its people from revealing their powers to outsiders or from assuming leadership positions within the halls of politics or religion. While many still feel the covenant protects them from being exploited by government powers or unscrupulous actors, others chaff at living in the shadows. 

Eighteen-year-old Blake Wilder—a powerful and rare clairvoyant who sees traumatic events in other people’s pasts and futures—has lived her life as a loner and outcast. Discovering she is part of something greater, even if civil war is brewing, has been lifechanging but confusing, especially because she’s not sure if the two men who’ve set their sights on Blake covet her for love, power—or both.

Kes Trester interviews Blake Wilder, the young clairvoyant at the center of THE NINE series. Book three, TO THE NINES, hits shelves Oct. 22.

Kes Trester: How did you discover The Nine when they’ve been able to keep their existence secret for over 500 years?

Blake Wilder: I’d just begun my freshman year at Cal State Santa Carla, hoping to start a whole new life where no one knew me as the town freak, when Nicholas Thorne, son of The Nine’s chancellor, showed up. He’s a telekinetic, by the way—he can move things with his mind. I tried to blow him off, but he’s hot, and I’ve never had a real date, so I decided to listen to what he had to say.

KT: I’ve heard rumors there is more to your relationship with Nicholas than just friendship?

BW: I don’t know, maybe? My best friend and roommate, Scarlett, thinks he’s using me so I’ll side with his father as battle lines are being drawn, but Nicholas knows what it’s like to be lonely. Have I mentioned the paranormal energy between us lights up like a football field on Friday night every time we kiss?

KT: Does your friend Scarlett have paranormal powers too?

BW: No, but we’ve been best friends forever. I had to promise not to tell her if I ever had a premonition about her, and I’ve mostly kept my word. The one time I broke it was for her own good, but she didn’t see it that way. Hard lesson learned.

KT: Have you met others in The Nine?

BW: There’s no avoiding it in Santa Carla. It’s a sanctuary city, meaning it’s got exclusive gathering places for Nines, like The Lower 8, a nightclub where people such as materialists, elementalists, and evanescents can freely use their powers. The club is run by a seriously gorgeous Texan, Jessie McCabe. He’s a phantomist, which means he can talk to dead people, but it’s way cooler than it sounds.

KT: Even with the growing tension surrounding the future of the society, Nines all get along?

BT (laughing): Have you met any Nines? A lot of them are great, like my new friends Marina, who’s a telepath, and Layla, the head server at The Lower 8, who’s an empath. But Jessie and Nicholas have bad blood between them, though it happened before I came along. Of course, it doesn’t stop Jessie from hitting on me every time we meet, or Nicholas from acting like an over-protective boyfriend—not that we’ve put a label on it or anything.

KT: As a clairvoyant, what do you see in your future?
BW: You’d think I’d get some benefit from my voyancy, but I can’t even see what I’m going to wear that day! What a time saver that would be. 

KT: Then what do you hope your future brings?

BW: I’d like to not have any more premonitions of people being unalived in weird ways. That only started after I moved to Santa Carla. Nicholas is afraid some telepath will pick up one of my premonitions, and whoever is committing these crimes will hear I’m a witness. I told him we should figure out the source of these visions before this person comes looking for me.

KT: How can you be so calm about potentially being the target of a killer?

BW: I’m a part-time barista at Jitters. After you work a few morning shifts where serving coffee is an Olympic event, not much rattles your cage.

KT: What does your family think about all this?

BW: Mom and Dad are three hundred miles up the coast in Central California dealing with my younger sister’s drama. After going through a lifetime of clairvoyance with me, you’d think they’d be dragon-slaying professionals by now. Fun fact: I’ve recently learned paranormal abilities are passed on genetically, but her acting out is probably from the usual teenage hormones, right?

KT: One last question. If your clairvoyance was inherited, and your sister is possibly developing paranormal powers, who else in your family is a Nine?

BW (appearing troubled for the first time): I hadn’t thought that far. Do you think there’s something my parents aren’t telling me?

BUY HERE

—

 A native of Los Angeles, Kes Trester is a veteran of the film and TV commercial industry. Her debut novel, A Dangerous Year, is currently being developed for film/television. The Nine, the first entry in a multibook, contemporary YA/NA romantasy series published by Owl Hollow Press, hit shelves October 2022, with the sequel, Alder House, released September 2023. The third book, To the Nines, comes out October 22, 2024. She is repped by Stonesong & UTA.  

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Contemporary Women Writers, Interviews