CSupernatural Central Short and Quick Interview
We are welcoming author Cherie Colyer to the page today. Welcome, Cherie.
SC: Tell me a little bit about your main character of this book.
CC: Avery Williams had big plans for after high school. She and her best friend were supposed to spend two incredible weeks over the summer at her friend’s condo in Key West, and then it would have been off to college. But a freak accident ended those dreams. She could still make the trip only she’d have to do it with her new friends. Hmm, this could be a fun adventure for another book. I might have to play around with that a bit.
Avery is kind-hearted, although she’s not perfect. She hasn’t always made the best choices, and she has, at times, been a bit selfish. But she’s learning, and she’s trying to do better. Death, for her, is a second chance.
SC: That's intriguing! Do you believe in the paranormal and if so, do you have an experience you can share?
CC: Definitely! And I’m happy to say that I haven’t met a ghost or a poltergeist, but I believe both exist. And I did stay in a haunted farmhouse when I was a kid. One of my good friend’s parents owned the farm. The house was older, with narrow staircases and rooms you could only get to by going through other rooms. These rooms had half doors you had to crouch to walk through. It was very different from the house I grew up in and so much fun to visit. But older homes come with unique issues. A poltergeist that liked to target my friend’s sister plagued this one. She slept with a rosary under her pillow and a cross above her bed. I never saw the entity (thank goodness!), but there was an eerie feeling in her bedroom. Like something was hovering just out of sight. I get the chills just thinking about it.
On a lighter note, I also believe in guardian angels, and I’m pretty sure mine worked overtime when I was a teen. For that, I’m very grateful.
SC: That also sounds intriguing. What titles are you working on now that you can tell us about?
CC: I had a couple of projects that kept me busy between edits of Damned When I Didn’t. My witchy romance Merry Little Wishing Spritz released in December. Cassie Moore’s cozy life turns upside down when her friend foresees the wrecking ball that threatens to destroy Cassie’s home and workplace. But Cassie isn’t giving up without a fight. She casts a well-intended spell meant to save her apartment and her job. But magic is unpredictable, especially when her friend casts a little charm of her own that has Cassie lusting after the man she desperately wants to despise.
I had also been working on a middle-grade fantasy. Friends to the End is an adventure that tackles loss, grief, and the sense of guilt that comes with moving on in life. Add in great new friendships, local ghost stories, and a vanishing house, and you have the perfect story to keep readers turning the pages.
Both of these titles are now available, and I’ve been working on edits for a companion novel for Merry Little Wishing Spritz.
Thank you for having me on your blog!
SC: Thank YOU for spending time with us. Let's look at your novel now.
Excerpt 1:
I kicked my sneakers off near the kitchen stools and dropped my purse on the floor.
“What’s your problem?” Cole asked. He stood a few feet from me, eyes narrowed.
“Nothing.” I breathed in deep, trying to calm myself. The stench of cheap perfume invaded my nostrils. I covered my nose with my hand. “You reek of imitation lavender and…and…onions.”
Cole tossed his keys onto the counter. Obvious confusion flittered over his features only to be replaced with the realization that I was referring to the scents of the waitress.
“You’re one to talk!” he spit back. “You stink of Sport Goofy.”
“Sport Goofy, I mean Marcus, barely touched me.” Cole gave off such a strong odor, I was sure the waitress had put her hands all over him.
Cole stepped closer, placing his hands on the counter on either side of me, caging me in.
“And I barely touched her,” he growled. “When a human’s life force flows from them to us, our souls grow brighter and—”
“We smell like them,” I said, finishing his sentence. He’d told me that once.
“And because our senses become sharper, we know when our kind renews.” The blue in his irises was more pronounced than I’d remembered. I bit my lip to keep from asking him if that was because of my heightened vision or because he’d renewed, as he called it. “Now, do you want to tell me what’s really bothering you?”
I felt my face warm, and I had to fight to keep my gaze from traveling to his lips. Did I want to admit that I was irrationally jealous that he’d kissed another girl? Nope. So, instead, I said, “Her smell makes me want to puke.”
“Eau de Jock is doing the same to me.”
“You’re the one who called Sport Goofy,” I reminded him.
He smiled, clearly happy that I’d called Marcus by the nickname.
“You’re the one who pissed off the Queen of the Damned,” he countered.
I twitched a shoulder. “I still can’t stand how you smell right now.”
“Fine!” He grabbed me just under my butt and lifted me over his shoulder. I screamed. He held my legs, keeping me from falling.
“What are you doing?” I grabbed his waist from my upside down position.
“You think I smell?”
“Reek. And you said I do, too! Now put me down!”
“Let’s fix that.”
He marched to the bathroom with me slung over his shoulder. The next thing I knew we were standing in the tub. He continued to hold me like a sack of rice.
“Cole?”
He slid me down his chest so I stood in front of him with his arms keeping me from moving.
“Cole?”
He reached behind me.
I glanced up at the showerhead, then to the knob next to me. “You wouldn’t!”
“Want to bet?”
Thanks for hosting and having me on your blog!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your interview and book details, Damned When I Didn't sounds like an awesome read for my teen-aged granddaughters and I
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