Eerie By CM McCoy Book Blast

The sensational teen paranormal romance featured in PEOPLE Magazine! 

Hailey Hartley has just enrolled in the world's premier supernatural university. It's a school she's never heard of, located in a town called The Middle of Nowhere, and run by a creature that's not supposed to exist. But at least she got a scholarship...

Hailey's dreams have always been, well...vivid. As in monsters from her nightmares follow her into her waking life vivid. When her big sister goes missing, eighteen-year-old Hailey finds only one place offers her answers--a paranormal university in Alaska. There, she studies the science of the supernatural and must learn to live with a roommate from Hell, survive her otherworldly classes, and hope the only creature who can save her from an evil monster doesn't decide to kill her himself.

 Author Bio:

CM McCoy is well aware nobody can say or spell her last name, hence the pen name. You can call her Colleen. She's is an award-winning author, Irish dancer, and former military officer living in the Great White North. Though she holds a B.S. in both chemical engineering and one in German from Penn State University, she’s far happier writing stories involving monsters and Alaska (with an awkward kiss in the mix.) While working 911 dispatch for Alaska State Troopers, she learned to speak in 10-codes, which she still does…but only to annoy her family. Her debut novel, Eerie (YA paranormal set in Alaska) was published by Omnific/Simon and Schuster on 15 Dec 2015.

In the writerly world, Colleen is the PR Manager at Inklings Literary Agency. She has one pointed ear (just one).

0. What inspired you to write?

Everything inspires me to write. Seriously, I can't open my front door without being smacked in the face by a great story idea. Before I sit down and write, though, every great story idea has to distill into two parts which need to marry up to make a novel: a premise and a conflict. 

The premise for EERIE came from two places. First, my childhood fear of the dark and the stories I used to tell myself at bedtime about the creatures that lived in the shadows—creatures that could be good or bad depending on whatever human they encountered. That gave me a starting point for the new breed of supernatural creatures (The Envoys) in EERIE.

Then, when I moved to Alaska from Florida in 2008, I was…. Well, let's call it shock-inspired. Culture shocked, really, and everything I saw and heard and experienced became sort of magical. From the white frozen forests to the moose arcing around the city of Anchorage like they owned the place to the Northern Lights and cold so harsh it snapped my fingernails and froze my nose hairs. My imagination took flight, and I knew I wanted to write about paranormal creatures in The Great White North. The only think I was missing was a conflict. Being the hopeless romantic I am, I imagined a love story between one of these shadow-creatures and a lonely girl he could never keep. I knew this ancient shadow-creature would have a home in Alaska with a mission to do something big with the universe. In a giant, Alaska-sized nutshell, that’s what inspired Eerie.

1. What are common traps for aspiring writers?

The expectation of earning a living right off the bat is a common trap.

"Write because you love to write" has got to be the primary goal for a new author--not money.

"I made a ton of money as soon as I published a book," said no author ever. My best advice to writers who want to sell their book to a publisher or even self-publish their book is this: don't quit your job. Most debut authors don't see an advance. Even in the absolute best case scenario, if you get an AWESOME contract with a big publishing house (unlikely), you maaay see an advance of $60,000 for 3 years of work (one book per year). That's not enough to live on. And authors have to pay for the lion's share of their own book promotion. If a debut author is lucky enough to negotiate an advance with a smaller publisher, that advance would likely be $100 with royalties paid maybe monthly. Authors make maybe 4% of the retail price of a print copy of a book that sells. Maybe they make 30% of the retail price of an eBook if they're lucky. It's not very much.

2. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?

Eerie will definitely have a sequel or two or seven. But my second book, which is a YA Thriller (and not yet published), stands alone. 

3. If you could tell your younger writing self-anything, what would it be?
Spend less time in the classroom and more time around the campfire. 
Stop listening to your idiot college professors and start listening to the great story-tellers in your family. THAT's where you learn to spin a tale, because in order to write a great novel, you have to be two things: a great writer and a great story-teller. I've seen many great writers who can't tell a story to save their life. 

4. What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?

Falls the Shadow by Stefanie Gaither

5. As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

I'm definitely a carnivorous tree.

6. What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

I research everything before I write and as I write. It's not uncommon for me to text an Alaska State Trooper or local police officer with questions on how to hide a body and what sorts of questions they'd ask a witness while investigating an abduction. I get intimately familiar with any activity in my storylines. For example, in my forthcoming thriller, my main character finds herself on the back of a horse. It's been so many years since this bum has seen a saddle, I had to visit a stable and chat with some of my horse-smart friends before I could get the scene just right. When it comes to flying bush planes in Alaska, which happens in both EERIE and my new thriller, I pick my husband's brain and make him take me flying in our tiny Super Cub so that we can fly the profile I want to write and really "act out" the scene. I love research, it's probably my favorite part of writing :-)

7. Did you edit any major things out of your book?

Oh yes. I cut a major chunk of exposition/rising action out of EERIE prior to publishing, which eliminated a fairly major character and simplified the abduction sub-plot significantly. In all, I edited about 30,000 words out of the story prior to selling it to a publisher.

8. How did you decide on the characters names?

I named Hailey in honor of my best friend from the second grade, who was crushed to death by a stack of boxes at a supermarket when we were 8 years old. The great-uncles in EERIE are all named after my own great-uncles, and I admit I stole their personalities and grafted them onto the EERIE characters.

9. If your book is made into a movie who do you see playing your characters?

I can't think of any male actors who'd do either Fin or Asher justice, but I'd love it if Genevieve Knight "G" Hannelius played Hailey. (She plays Avery Jennings in Disney's Dog with a Blog). 

10. Who is your favorite Author?

"Michael Crichton," she said without hesitation.

11. What is your favorite Movie?

*taps chin* Under the Tuscan Sun--no wait!

My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Final answer.

12. How can readers discover more about you and your work?

I've got a lot of great info on my website: http://www.cmmccoy.com/ There's also a crossword puzzle (with a t-shirt giveaway--and you know you want an Alaska Paranormal University T-shirt) as well as a discussion sheet on my blog. In addition, I'm fairly active on Twitter (@eerie_o) and Facebook with short bursts of photo-ness on Instagram (also @eerie_o)

Interview with Isabelle Hardesty Author of Jades Awakening

Where do you get your information or ideas for your books? I get my ideas from my life experiences. No, I don’t know any real fairies, shapeshifters or witches, at least not yet. For the fantasy element, my imagination is key.  Reading, painting and music all feed my imagination.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

When not writing, I’m usually spending time with my family, painting or thinking of new ideas for my next book.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

I learned that I love writing dialogue. At first the idea was daunting, but as I began, I realized it was so much fun.

Do you Google yourself?  Yes, I’ve done this. It’s comforting to find there have been other women who have been named Isabelle Hardesty and they lived over a hundred years ago. I love that more than seeing information about me.

What is your favorite childhood book? I loved Wuthering Heights in middle school. I loved Charlotte’s Web in elementary school.

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

For me, it’s pulling the unnecessary  ideas to the side and letting the golden ideas shine. The possibilities are endless for a story or scene, but the writer has to get to the gold and ignore the other distracting shiny things.

Does your family support your career as a writer? Yes, I am happy to say.

How long on average does it take you to write a book?

It varies. I wrote my novel, The Witch of Belle Fleur, in five months. The editing process took me until about February. That’s when I felt that it was ready. For my novellas, the process is about four months.

Do you believe in writer's block? Yes and no. I know it's real, but I also know that it can be overcome with hard work.

Do you have any rituals before writing? I have these two unicorn figurines that I place near my laptop. I may light a candle and there is usually a hot cup of tea involved in the process. While writing, I listen to music that fits my scene.

What is your biggest fear?

My biggest fear is a world without love and compassion.

Interview with Jenny Twist author of Owl Goddess

Interview with Jenny Twist author of Owl Goddess
How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
I’ve written eight full length novels and anthologies and contributed to many multi-author anthologies.
I honestly don’t think I have a favourite. They’ve all meant a lot to me when I wrote them and still do.

Do you have any suggestions to help new writers to become a better writer? If so, what are they?
My suggestion would be:
1. Avoid creative writing classes. I think they stifle creativity.
2.There’s only one way to learn to write and that is to read. Read every day, as much as you can. Read on the bus, in the bath, while you’re doing the ironing. If you don’t love reading you will never be a writer.
3. Make sure you understand how your language works. Good grammar and spelling is essential. If you don’t care you’ll never be a good writer.

Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
I don’t hear from my readers as often as I'd like. I get reviews, of course, and mostly they say nice things. But maybe people only leave a review if they really like a book. I know I do.
People have said lots of good things but one I find really interesting is that my books are highly visual or that it was like watching a film. I do see the story like a film as I’m writing it and it’s very satisfying to know that my readers see it that way as well.

What do you think makes a good story?
There has to be a decent plot, of course, and it has to be written in good, fluent English (or whatever language you’re reading it in).
For me, the following things are essential.
I have to love the characters. If they don’t seem real to me or they aren’t very sympathetic, I don’t care about the story.
It really does have to be written properly with good grammar, spelling, etc. I will not read any book where the author didn’t care enough to get the language right, Also it’s distracting. I can’t concentrate if I’m continually brought up short by errors.
The icing on the cake is if the plot is really intriguing. My favourites for this are John Wyndham and Stephen King.
It is a great joy if the author really knows how to write well. Some people have just got it. For brilliant prose, try Kate Atkinson and John Steinbeck.

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I was going to be a singing and dancing film star.

What is the first book that made you cry?
Can’t remember. Probably Noddy

Does writing energize or exhaust you?
That depends how well it’s going. When I’m on a roll it’s very exciting and I bounce about a lot; If it’s hard going it can be tiring but since I no longer have to work to deadlines I can just put it down and do something else these days.

What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Most of the traps I experienced were to do with what happened after I wrote a book, rather than during the writing process.
Be aware that people will try to change what you wrote because they think they know better than you do how to write YOUR story. Fight them.
Be aware that a lot of publishers expect YOU to pay THEM. Check the small print before you sign anything.
And finally, be aware that nobody is going to promote your book. If you want to sell any books, you have to devote a couple of hours a day on social media, trying to get people to buy them.

What is your writing Kryptonite?
I don’t think I have one. I’ve never had writer’s block. There are subjects I won’t write about because they either bore or disgust me. Would that count?

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I write for myself about things that interest me and the sort of stuff I like to read. I’m not in it for the money, so I don’t feel any pressure to follow trends. I find it a bit sad that writers who might have had lots of good ideas of their own waste their talent copying other people's ideas.
There’s another point. How on earth do you decide what readers want? You only find that out when somebody’s written something that proves to be really popular. And then you don’t know exactly why. Was Harry Potter a success because it was a new plot idea? Because people like wizards? Because J K Rowlings is a brilliant writer? If it’s the latter, and I suspect it is, no amount of copying her ideas is going to help you.

Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly?
You could probably write text books.
No, really, if you don’t feel emotions strongly I suspect you don’t enjoy reading, don’t engage with other people, maybe you’re not a real person at all. How could you write things other people would want to read?

The Owl Goddess is a novel based on the von Däniken theory that the gods were spacemen.
It is set in the prehistoric Mesolithic age with the goddess Athena as a young girl and Prometheus, a young cave-dweller, as the main protagonists.

The boy watched the star fall. It fell very slowly, and it was not one light but a multitude of lights spinning lazily through the night sky. Then great silver fish flew through the sky and other mysterious lights began to appear on the mountain. At last a great thunderbolt struck the ocean. The sound was flat and hollow and unbelievably loud, as if a giant had stamped on the earth. And the sign of the Goddess appeared in the sky – the sign of the Sacred Mushroom.
These are the events that mark the arrival of the Atlantis, the doomed starship, bringing new gods who would change the life of the boy and his people forever.

Jenny Twist left school at fifteen and went to work in an asbestos factory. After working in various jobs, including bacon-packer and escapologist’s assistant, she returned to full-time education and did a BA in history at Manchester and post-graduate studies at Oxford. She now lives in Spain and is a full-time writer.

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UPDATE

Hey y'all! so I have exciting news I am going to explode your notifications up with book blasts and giveaways! Aren't you excited? Great! Not only that but the books I am giving away and blasting I will be reviewing! So get ready! I will be posting one book blast a day and once I confirm how many giveaways I will be posting about them too!
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