Today we welcome author LS DELORME to the page to answer a few quick questions!
1. Tell me a little bit about your main character of this book.
Amelie is a 17-year-old girl, living in North Carolina, who possesses a mysterious gift that has burdened her since she was 11. This gift irresistibly attracts others to her, often leading to tragic consequences. To cope with the dangers and the intense magnetism she exudes, Amelie has learned to mental barriers to keep her energy in and other people out. At school, she has adopted the strategy of hiding in plain site, in that she has become the ‘book nerd’ friend within the most “popular” social group at her school. These rich kids only allow her to hang out with them because she does their homework for them, but they shield her by distracting others who might otherwise focus too much attention on her. The only solace she finds is at night in her “dreams”. It is here that she meets Clovis, a secretive and alluring young man, who does not seem to be impacted by her “gift” but whose destiny ends up being intricately linked with hers. I came up with the idea of Amelie as a character when I was in my 20’s. It just took me a long time to find the right story for her.
2. Do you believe in the paranormal and if so, do you have an experience you can share?
Yes, I do. I think that “paranormal” things really happen all the time but we don’t see them as such because they happen to us. So they may seem too small and too insignificant. Still when you add them up, they really aren’t. I’ve written characters that I later discovered were just a bit too similar to people in the same situation as the characters I have written. I have, at least once, written a character who seemed to step right out of the pages of my book and into my life. These things may or may not be noticeable to others but, for me, it’s added up to a life that has been quite a bit off the bell curve.
3. What titles are you working on now that you can tell us about?
I have finished the first three “foundation” books of this series. These are Caio, Bright Midnights and Fanning Fireflies. These books all have a different set of characters, which will merge as the series continues. These first three can be read in any order, but one will need to have read Bright Midnights before reading the next book in the series “The Ghosting Academy”. I can’t say too much about “Ghosting Academy” without creating spoilers for “Bright Midnights” except to say that it is a continuation of Amelie’s story but quite a few years later. All my books have a slight edge of horror, but “Ghosting Academy” has a bit more because it is an exploration of power, its use and abuse.
Bright Midnights
Excerpt:
“Everyone, could you pass your weekly journals forward,” Ms. Pryll announced. “And I think, perhaps, today I will pick a few of you to read your entries to the rest of the class. Ms. McCormick, you always have such interesting entries. How about we begin with you?”
Ms. Pryll motioned her forward. Ah, her eye rolling had been noticed. Amelie really wasn’t off to a good start today. On top of her intestinal grumbling, she was feeling the beginnings of a tension headache creeping up the back of her neck.
Just as she was standing up to assume the position at the front of the classroom, someone stumbled through the door. It was Hudson. He was slumping, holding on to the doorframe. Hudson wouldn’t be drawing attention to himself in normal circumstances. Something was wrong. Ms. Pryll was finally pulled from her flirting by the fact that the rest of the class was staring at the doorway. As they watched, Hudson slid down the doorframe into a huddled position.
“Now Mr. Crowe, please come in and sit down,” said Ms. Pryll, with exasperation.
Hudson managed to hold up a small blue object, before slumping forward.“Dude’s been drinking?” Ryan laughed from the back.
Hudson tried one more time to raise his head and lift the thing in his hands. Everyone in the class just stared at him. The front of Amelie’s forehead suddenly exploded with images, and the lighted words from the cereal box this morning made sense.
Low. Sugar. Bad.
“He’s not drunk,” Amelie snapped. “That’s a glucose meter. He’s diabetic.”
Amelie dropped her notebook and ran to the door, falling to her knees beside Hudson. She had a vague notion that this hurt and she would be bruised later, before she grabbed Hudson’s head. She didn’t know if people in insulin shock had seizures or not, but that didn’t matter. She knew what to do. She had been told by something more reliable than memory. Low blood sugar was bad.
What to do? Okay, Elodie had her phone. What else? Jack, he always ate breakfast at his desk. Today it was a bottle of orange juice. Thank god.
“Elodie, call 911—now! Jack, throw me your OJ,” Amelie snapped.
Jack just smirked at her, completely disengaged in the fact that another human being was in crisis. A wave of fury replaced the images in Amelie’s head, making everything around her look shiny, sharp, and red. The world began to move in slow motion. She turned, her eyes met Jack’s, and she let her well-constructed shields drop … just… drop. The energy that flowed out of her felt glorious.
“Jack, throw me your OJ, now,” she said, softly this time. She saw the shocked look on Jack’s face, but he immediately grabbed the OJ and tossed it to her. The chemical wave that seemed to be her birthright rolled over him, through him, past him and across the class … person by person, face by face.
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