This is a crazy busy week, in a crazy busy month over here at Supernatural Central. October always is. Luckily for us we had author Laura A.H. Elliott drop by earlier to chat for a few minutes. Welcome, Laura!
SC: Tell me a little bit about your main character of Shadow Slayer.
LE: When we meet Roxie O’Grady in book 1, 13 on Halloween, she’s twelve and about to turn thirteen. She loves to dance and is in eighth grade, but she isn’t the kind of eighth grader who rules middle school, though. Far from it. She’s trying desperately to get on the social map somehow. So, she throws her first ever birthday party and invites all the popular kids. They all come and give her a birthday gift that’s literally out of this world. I love this book because it takes a humorous, sometimes scary look at one girl’s quest for popularity, no matter what the cost. In book 2, Shadow Slayer, Roxie is fourteen and finds the agony of fitting in at high school nothing compared to falling for the hottest guy at school (who isn’t what he seems), and saving the world from the shadow onslaught. Shadows are kinda like vampires without the fangs. In book 3, Moon Killers, which will release next Halloween, Roxie’s powers are growing against the shadows that want to take over our world.
Roxie hosts some pretty crazy parties! If you want to join in Roxie’s Annual Halloween Party (and get lots of reader bonuses) sign up here. We can’t wait to see your dance moves!
SC: I think my dance moves are better left unseen, but thanks. Do you believe in the paranormal and if so, do you have an experience you can share?
LE: I’ve heard many stories in my family of paranormal experiences. I believe there is an energy we can’t describe or understand as humans and the paranormal can be seen in coincidences–– like the phone call, person, or good fortune we never expect showing up just when we need them most. It happens most of all in my writing projects. What I wrote in Shadow Slayer came true for me in my own life. It spooked me so much, I turned into a ghost(writer). I had to stop writing for some years before I could finish the series. Book 3 and 4 will be released over the next few Halloweens.
SC: Thanks for sharing that. What titles are you working on now that you can tell us about?
LE: I’m working on writing book 3 of the Shadow Series. I’m also writing a WWII coming-of-age narrative nonfiction story about my Dad’s POW experience which we uncovered together through letters we wrote to each other over three decades.
SC: That last one sounds intriguing! Thanks for dropping by today, we'll take a look at Book Two of Shadow Slayer now.
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/Xx830AT-g2s
Excerpt:I stroke one cheek and then the other with blush and remember standing with Drew at the bonfire. The last night we went out as boyfriend and girlfriend. The last night he was human.
On your 13th birthday, you get the call. By your 14th birthday you find out what the call is.
Everyone I know is in the audience tonight––Ally, Mom, Dad, Brian, even my brother, Mitch, because he came home for my birthday. We’re having our family dinner tomorrow night since tonight the cast party’s at Drew's house, unless I decapitate him first.
“Roxie five minutes,” Hayden yells into the girl’s locker room. As usual I’m the last one out. I sweep my hair up to the side and try to remember my first line. For some reason it’s the one I always forget.
I open locker 316, grab my sword and just as I step outside of the locker room, Wanda runs up to me and starts talking non-stop about her nerves and how they’re getting worse and worse.
“What’s that?” she asks. I stop cold in my tracks at the backstage door.
“There are lots of words for things that don’t exist––the unseen. Like monsters and aliens and dragons and vampires and ghosts,” I say sort of in a trance.
“Yeah, so?” Wanda says, wringing her hands.
“If they don’t exist, why are there words for them? All the stuff I thought was crazy really isn’t crazy at all,” I say, finally getting what Drew was trying to tell me at the bonfire at the estate at homecoming. What the human Drew said before I danced with his shadow. My role in the unseen, the shadow world. Still, I don’t know so many things. Like, what happens to a shadow once I slay it? And where do humans go when their shadows invade? How can I save my human friends?
“Roxie, I caught you! I was so late because Brian’s car got a flat. He fixed it so great, I couldn’t believe it. It’s like he went to badass school or something,” Ally says, laughing.
“Ally. Finally!” We hug. I swallow hard. Brian. Fixed. A. Flat. I mean it’s not brain surgery. But believe me, if it doesn’t have an LCD screen, my brother Brian doesn't think it exists. He doesn’t know how to fix a flat. O.M.G. Brian is probably a shadow too.
As a teenager, Laura’s love for story began in the Amazon where she waterskied with piranha while learning of head hunters and curses. In addition to being a ghost, she’s the author of five books and is a contributor to lifestyle and travel magazines. She has a passion for travel, particularly life at sea, and makes her home in Santa Cruz, CA with her husband, daughters, and their families. No matter the language barrier, perceived danger, altitude, squalls, fashion faux pas, or ingested gluten, she writes to inspire with a focus on journeys of the heart—always on the lookout for great champagne and a pair of red shoes.
You can find her at Laurasmagicday.com,
@Laurawriting on Twitter, @book_laurasmagicday on TikTok, and on Goodreads too.
https://twitter.com/Laurawriting
https://www.instagram.com/laurasmagicday/
https://www.tiktok.com/@book_laurasmagicday
https://www.laurasmagicday.com/shadow-series/reader-bonuses/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5043385.Laura_A_H_Elliott
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