Today we’re welcoming Corrine Lamb and Jamie Armstrong from Lisa Cresswell’s novel, Hush Puppy. 

For today’s surprise post, I thought I would interview my characters so you could get to know them better in a personal way.  We have Corrine Lamb and Jamie Armstrong from the novel Hush Puppy by me, Lisa T. Cresswell.

First, thanks for talking to me, guys. It’s a pleasure to meet you.

Could you tell me a little about how you first met?

Corrine: Jamie’s dad brought him over to the diner where I was working ‘cause he had to fix the sink and he wouldn’t buy Jamie lunch. I felt kinda sorry for him, so I snuck him some hush puppies.

Jamie: They were good too! (laughs)  That’s why I call her Hush Puppy.

What did you initially think of each other? Love at first sight? Not on your life? 🙂

Corrine: I think my exact thoughts were “Oh Lord, not another redneck!” But he grew on me.

Jamie: Hahaha! You’re so mean! I thought you were the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.

Corrine: Oh shush. 😉

Can you tell me a little bit about where you come from?

Corrine: You’ve heard the expression “Armpit of North America”? That would be it.

Jamie: Oh, Carolville ain’t that bad.  It’s just extremely small and backwards.  But you have to admit the lake is nice.

Jamie, if you had to describe Corinne in three words, what would they be?

Oh gosh, that’s hard. I guess I’d have to say: smart, sexy, and…smart.

Corinne, same question.

You’re just as smart as me. Three words? How about: romantic, talented, and smart?

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to face, either together or apart, and how did you get through it?

Corrine: I think my hardest time was when I thought Jamie didn’t love me anymore, or didn’t love me enough to stand up to his friends. That really hurt.

Jamie: See, Corrine thinks I’m smart, but I’m really kinda stupid in a lot of ways.

Corrine: You are not!

Jamie: Anyway, my hardest time was when Corrine shut me out. I deserved it, but it still killed me. I don’t know how I got through it. It wasn’t pretty.

If either of you could have any dream come true, no matter how fantastic, what would it be? Dream big!

Jamie: I know what Corrine would do! (laughs)

Corrine: I’d visit every single place on my map. I have this map of the world and there’s pins in every place I want to go. What’s your dream, Jamie?

Jamie: To go with you. J

Hush Puppy is the story of Corrine Lamb, a seventeen year old, black girl, and Jamie Armstrong, a poor white boy, living in a backwater North Carolina town.  Intelligent Corrine, abandoned by her mother, and artsy Jamie, forced to play football by a redneck father, both dream of leaving their podunk town and never looking back. 

Their shared love of literature and a dream of a better life brings them together and a romance blossoms between them in a secret place of their own in the steamy North Carolina woods.  When Jamie is involved in the accidental death of a white girl, he’s terrified of his abusive father.  Corrine takes the blame to protect Jaime, with dire consequences for herself and her dreams of the future.  Her life in danger, Corrine’s left wondering if Jamie ever cared about her at all.

Short Bio

Lisa T. Cresswell is a professional archaeologist who works in Idaho and dabbles frequently in young adult literature. Originally from North Carolina, her stories are often inspired by memories of growing up there. You can see more of her work at www.lisatcresswell.com

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Today I’m happy to introduce Celatu from Shauna Robert’s novel, Ice Magic, Fire Magic

Such disorders have become more common in the past 200 years; I have also noted a startling decrease over the past 900 years in the number of men and women with supernormal magical abilities. Once common, such magic is rare in our day—I dare say you may never have met a person with such abilities. I myself have not.

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Come and meet the pint-sized, smart-mouthed vampire, Christopher from Susan Stec’s series, The Grateful Undead

Stay up to date on Christopher and Susan’s books at:
Amazon : B&N : Goodreads : Twitter : Facebook : Pintrest : Website : Google+

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Get ready to meet Arcadia Day, star of Jesi Lea Ryan’s “Arcadia’s Gift” and “Arcadia’s Curse”

Arcadia “Cady” Day is the star of the Arcadia’s Series by Jesi Lea Ryan. The following interview is a chat between the author and her main character.

Jesi:  Thank you, Cady, for sitting down with me today to talk. I know interviews make you nervous.

Cady:  *Sips her bottle of water* Yeah. This is sort of weird. I mean, as my author, you already know everything about me.

Jesi:  Not everything. I feel like I learn more about you every day. But this interview isn’t for me, but for your fans.

Cady:  *shudders* That’s weird too. Having fans. I’m just a seventeen year old girl from Iowa.

Jesi:  Well, I’d argue that you’re much more special than that, but why don’t I let you tell the readers about it. How would you describe yourself to people who have not read your books.

Cady:  Well, like I said, I’m seventeen. I grew up in a completely normal, somewhat boring, family in Dubuque, Iowa. But then my sister died…my twin. It changed everything.

Jesi:  How so?

Cady:  Well, you know how some twins have a psychic connection or whatever? When my sister died, the psychic parts of us reached out and connected.  Only once she was gone, my psychic part never snapped back in. It’s like I have this big invisible umbrella over me, and anyone who steps under it, I can feel all of their emotions.

Jesi:  But you do more than feel their emotions now, right?

Cady:  *blushes*  Yeah, I guess I sort of absorb their emotional energy, and then I can do things with that energy. Makes me feel like a freak. I don’t like to talk about it, can we move on to something else?

Jesi:  No problem. Let’s talk about the boys in your life. You have sort of a love triangle thing going on. How’s that going?

Cady:  I do not have a love triangle!  My boyfriend is Bryan Sullivan.  That’s it. I know Cane Matthews, my sister’s former boyfriend, has some sort of crush on me or whatever, but I’m not interested. I think he has guilt over breaking up with my sister right before she died, and he is projecting that onto me.

Jesi:  You say you’re not interested, but you have kissed him. And you liked it.

Cady:  *grumbles* Guess I can’t hide anything from my author. Fine! Yes, I kissed him back, and I liked it. He kisses like he could medal in it in the Olympics. But it was just biological. I don’t really want him.

Jesi:  But things are strained between you and Bryan right now. Why don’t you tell us about that?

Cady:  Well, Bryan has a blood disease, hemophilia. It means his blood doesn’t clot, so if he bleeds or bruises or whatever, he will get really sick. He could even die. And one of the ways I can use the emotional energy that I absorb from people is by healing. I can stop Bryan’s bleeding. So for the first time in his life, he thinks he can be reckless and have fun like the other guys because if he gets hurt, I can just patch him up.

Jesi:  So what’s the problem then?

Cady:  The healing…takes a toll on me physically. Wipes me out, causes M.S. like symptoms. Honestly, I don’t want to do it anymore, but I don’t know how Bryan will take it when I tell him.

Jesi:  Do you think he will break up with you?

Cady:  I don’t know. I mean, I don’t think he is purposely using me because I can heal him–We started dating before either of us discovered my talent–but there is a small part of me that wonders if he lost interest in me, if he wouldn’t keep me around because I give him some sort of safety net. 

Jesi:  Sounds like you have some decisions to make there. *Cady nods.*  Okay, well let’s talk about your new friend, Bastian Night. Any romantic feelings there?

Cady:  *chuckles* No! Bastian is hot. I mean, need-a-fire-extinguisher-on-stand-by hot. And we have become very close. But it’s not like that between us. For one thing, he is six years older than me, and at seventeen, that’s a big difference. We are at different places in life. What we have is really more of a brother/sister thing. We have both been tortured and tormented, and now we need each other if we are

going to get our heads back on straight. I help him emotionally, and he makes me feel safe and protected.

Jesi:  Well, Cady, I thought we would end this interview on a fun note.  If you were on a cross country road trip, who would you want in the car with you?  And who would be the driver, the navigator, the backseat driver and the person who leads the car games?

Cady:  Ha! Okay, I guess I’d have Bastian drive. Like I said, he makes me feel protected, and I trust him behind the wheel for long distances. I would totally navigate. Cane would be the backseat driver. He is always trying to tell me what to do and how to run my life. And the car games? That would have to be my telepathic friend, Jinx. She is hilarious.

Jesi: You would travel across country without taking your boyfriend, Bryan, with you?

Cady:  *sighs*  I think this interview is over.

Contact & Social Media Links:

Email:  jesilea@charter.net

Twitter:  @Jesilea  https://twitter.com/Jesilea

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jesi-Lea-Ryan/152086598147945

Website:  http://www.jesilea.com

Published Works:

Four Thousand Miles (2010)

Arcadia’s Gift (2012)

Arcadia’s Curse (2013)

Purchase Links:

Amazon Paperback:  http://www.amazon.com/Arcadias-Gift-Jesi-Lea-Ryan/dp/061571885X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Arcadias-Gift-ebook/dp/B008S6K3OG/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=

Audible:  Coming soon!

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Today I’d like to introduce Nell from Tawdra Kandle’s The King Series and The Serendipity Debut

It’s always so much fun to chat with a friend, particularly one you’ve grown closer to over the past few years. So I was tickled when offered the chance to interview Nell Massler.   I met Nell five years ago, when I was writing FEARLESS, Book One of The King Series. Based on events in that book, I assumed our relationship would be short-lived.   Never make assumptions about fictional characters.

 Shortly after I began to write the second book of The King Series, BREATHLESS, Nell came to see me. It turned out that her story had not ended, and she actually went on to appear in all four books. And then, as it happened, I found out that her story went on after Tasmyn and Michael’s had ended, so much so that she needed her own book.

 Her story will continue in the Serendipity Duet (UNDENIABLE and UNQUENCHABLE), coming out at the end of this year.

Q: Tell us a little about your early life.

  Nell: As you know, I was the only child of two powerful people. My father’s family is very active politically, and my mother is a strong and talented witch from a magical family whose roots go deep into the history of King. Sadly, my mother was taken from me when I was young. There was a scandal in our family, and I haven’t seen her since she was locked away.

Q: You mentioned the history of King. How did growing up in that unusual town affect you?

Nell: I am the descendant of Sarah, the witch who came to this country with Gravis King after he saved her from burning at the stake in Romania. If the town of King had any first lady, it would be Sarah. After my mother was taken from me, I was raised mostly by aunts and cousins who made sure I understood how important our family is, how essential it is that we continue to use the power Sarah gave us. It has always been part of me.

Q: We had some fan questions sent in for you, if you don’t mind. What is your deepest fear?

Nell: What happened in my junior year in high school was my deepest fear, realized. It was ending up like my mother, locked away. Now I fear nothing.

Q: Another fan question: Do you regret meeting Marica Lacusta? If not for her, would you and Tasmyn have been friends?

Nell: Might-have-beens are fascinating yet pointless. There are so many factors in each and every turning point of our lives. Marica was the most powerful influence on my life since my mother. The idea of losing her made me do things that I regret. And yet. . .without her, my path would be so different. So no regrets. Ever.
As for Tasmyn, would we have been friends? I don’t know. We are so much opposite, in our upbringing and our view on power. What she struggled to accept, I craved and sought out. But in the end, she may have been the person who knew me best, and I think I had a tremendous influence on her, as well.

Q: Last fan question: When will you wake up?

Nell: Here I am. Yes, I’m awake. Where I am, and who I am with, will be a huge part of my story going forward. I have a few surprises up my sleeve yet.

Q: Finally, you have always said that you don’t need a man in your life, that males are weak and easily manipulated. But since I know a few things others don’t, I’ll ask this: could there be love in your future?

Nell: I will just say that the right man can make a woman change all her rules and preconceived ideas. And then I would add that even if there is a component of love in my future, it won’t be anything like Tasmyn’s story. I bring too much baggage to the table to have a sweet romance. Like me, it will probably be difficult, stormy and complicated.   But that’s part of my charm, isn’t it?

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Today I’m excited to introduce Rachel Blackstone from GG Collins’ “Reluctant Medium”

Interview with Rachel Blackstone, the Reluctant Medium

Questions by author G G Collins

1.      Returning the dead? Really, what were you thinking?  “I admit that my judgment was leaning towards insane on that occasion. My father died in a car accident a few months earlier, but I didn’t think it was all that inadvertent. The Santa Fe PD couldn’t find proof either way. Then I thought about the Hopi ceremony to return the dead. A kindly shaman, Joseph, told me about the ritual when I interviewed him while covering the Hopi nation for my publication. Things went bad, even though I followed the steps carefully to perform the ceremony. Maybe it was because I have only a small amount of Native American in my family. You know, kind of a built-in fail-safe for people who have no business performing it. At any rate, my father didn’t come back, but someone did, and he was evil.”

2.      Why did you become a reporter? “My father was an award-winning journalist for the Albuquerque Journal. He died working on a story. I guess it was in the family blood, although my brother, the mayor of Santa Fe, must have had a transfusion. I enjoy telling people’s stories. It doesn’t matter whether you’re writing a profile, an arts preview or hard news, they all involve people—and everyone has a story. Each are challenging in different ways. Some interviews are anxious and you have to help them relax, trust you. It’s the boring ones that eat your lunch, but I have a way to cope with that. I make a show of taking notes; keep my head down so they don’t see the jaded look on my face.”

3.      You and your friend, Chloe, seem like opposites. How does your friendship work? Rachel laughs. “Well you got me! She likes boots with high heels and I always wear shoes I can run in. Never know when you might need to make a quick exit. Chloe drinks the most gawd-awful herbal teas and vegetarian meals. I love green-chile-cheese-burritos. This is New Mexico, green chile is king! But back to our friendship. Chloe does real estate; I mean does it well, a multi-million-dollar agent. She co-owns the hottest agency in town. Me, I make terrible money, but even she admits my job is more fun. Chloe’s always ready for a journalistic stakeout. And no matter what you’ve heard, we don’t smoke all that much pot. So are we yin and yang? I think we’re more about tolerance and knowing when not to go there. Somehow we manage to work in quite a lot of fun.”

4.      What’s this about you having a spirit animal? “When I lost my mind and tried to return my father there was a sea change. I was chasing that spirit. Next thing I know, other apparitions appear. They included a wolf. At first, I though it was a living wolf and well, I support the New Mexico Lobos, but this was something different. It’s white and sometimes it glows. And while I was afraid at first, it always seems to appear when I needed a heads-up. No, I haven’t named it yet, but I will in Lemurian Medium.”

5.      Why are you a reluctant medium? “Oh good heavens, that’s been blown all out of proportion. Have you been talking to Chloe? She buys into all things New Age. You see a couple ghosts, and people start calling you a medium. There were some odors I picked up on. That depraved spirit had all kinds of disgusting smells. But I’m a journalist, and we are a fact-based crowd. Just because things happen we don’t understand, doesn’t mean there isn’t an explanation. Unfortunately, I haven’t found it yet, so I’m proceeding with caution and a healthy dose of skepticism.”

6.      What’s the secret to mixing humor with horror? “You’ve heard of black comedy? That’s not quite me, but in real life we all have events that trigger fear, despair and shock. Sometimes in a horrific moment, even if it’s wildly inappropriate, a little humor can sneak in and lighten up a bad situation. But mostly, I’m unconventional and so things that are sacrosanct to others, are fair game to me. Regrettably, I’ve found myself in a few hairy circumstances for which there was no other reaction than all out terror.”

7.      What has your author cooked up for your next adventure? “This is truly weird. First, a friend, Stella Dallas—yes, her mother liked Barbara Stanwyck—disappears into a painting at a posh Santa Fe gallery opening. Next thing I know, I’ve got to go rescue her from the astral plane. No, I’m not kidding. G G stays up nights coming up with the strangest ideas possible. But she only has to write them, I have to do all this mind-boggling stuff. But no, she doesn’t listen to me. Back to Lemurian Medium, I won’t be getting any rest until I can find Stella, if I can find her. There are no maps of the astral plane, it’s all hunt and peck. It’s not just unmarked trails, there are evil entities staging psychic attacks. I don’t know how to tell who’s wearing the white hats. For sure, it’s serious. One mistake and I could be forever lost in the cosmos.

“Did you say there were doughnuts?”

Links to Reluctant Medium & G G Collins:

Product Page on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Reluctant-Medium-Series-ebook/dp/B008BVG8UQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF

8&qid=1340067351&sr=8-1&keywords=reluctant+medium+g+g+collins

Blogs:

 http://reluctantmediumatlarge.wordpress.com/  

http://paralleluniverseatlarge.wordpress.com/ 

Book Places:

http://askdavid.com/reviews/book/paranormal-mystery/2148

http://www.shelfari.com/books/29578175/Reluctant-Medium-(Reluctant-Medium-Series)?amatc=kdp-c

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15716334-reluctant-medium

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Today I’m pleased to welcome Stephanie Wardrop and her character, Georgia Barrett

Don’t fear the peeper(s)

An essay by Snark and Circumstance’s Georgia Barrett

Autumn is a big deal in New England. In fact, around here, people practically think they invented autumn, or, at least, autumn’s big holiday, Thanksgiving. I’m not a big fan of Thanksgiving. I know that it is good to be thankful for the things you have, and I am, usually. I am thankful, for instance, that my mom is finally off my back about making friends at my new school (and has been downright giddy since the perfectly preppie Michael Endicott has been coming over to our house.) I am grateful to have met some cool people at school, finally, who prefer punk to pep rallies, and that I get to write stuff like this for the school’s alternative paper.  But I think there is something inherently creepy about a holiday that (1) celebrates the white Puritans’ having their butts saved by the native people that they would soon drive off their own land and (2) features the carcass of a dead animal as not just the centerpiece of the dinner table but makes that dinner the whole point of the day. (Well, that and football).

It’s hard to stick up for turkeys – they can be pretty unpleasant – but somebody has to.

 

(This is it, folks: Plymouth Rock. I don’t live near it, but my mom dragged us to see it one day. I expected something a little more impressive, didn’t you?)

But when my family first moved here, I discovered a phenomenon even more disturbing:

They come by bus, usually in pairs, arriving in the morning so they can hit as many early bird specials as possible before returning to their southern points of origin.  White haired and wind-breakered, they wear sensible shoes to provide optimal stalking comfort. Armed with cameras, they descend on quiet New England towns with a lust born by the botanical/chemical miracle that occurs when the decomposition of chlorophyll meets a surge in plant sugars[1].  It’s the

Invasion of the Leaf Peepers!

I had never heard of these people who go on “Fall Foliage” tours and descend on towns like Longbourne with a rabid desire to see some leaves that have changed color. I wasn’t prepared for the throngs of senior citizens invading the town green like Vikings descending on a fishing village. I wondered what sort of people were willing to spend a whole day on an exhaust-spewing bus, touring from town to town, just to see some brightly colored foliage.

The first peepers I encountered all but knocked me down on my way to school. Later, another set of peepers clogged the entrance to Starbucks and I couldn’t get my iced soy chai in time to run to my English class without being late. (Apparently leaf spotting requires constant injections of high-grade caffeine to keep the eyes sharp.)

It’s just leaves, people, I wanted to yell at them, but that seemed kind of snotty, so I just wondered where they lived that didn’t have non-deciduous trees, [2]and I felt sort of sorry for them.

Because once I started to look around, I realized that by mid-September, Nature puts on a pretty impressive display of colors around here.

I started paying more attention as I walked back home that day. The air was crisp, like biting into one of those really sweet, really juicy apples you can pick this time of year. I reveled in the crunch of the leavesunder my feet without thinking, as I usually do, that the leaves crunch because they are dead and that means winter is coming.  (And I hate winter.) I looked up at the canopy of ochre and russet and scarlet overhead and it reminded me of the stained glass windows in the church my sister Leigh used to go to, only it was more beautiful because it was natural and because it would not last. There was something unbearably lovely in the idea that the display would vanish in just a few days.

So now I get out of the way of the peepers. It’s kind of cool, actually, that the peepers take a day out and get on a bus just to admire something natural and beautiful.  Most of us are too busy just plowing ahead with our days to notice what’s around us. So on the one hand, I hope that when I am old and retired I have better things to do than drive around looking at leaves; on the other hand, I’m starting to think that maybe there is nothing better to dothan that, really. And if I do become a peeper, I swear I will never knock anyone down. It’s a limited engagement, sure, but for a few weeks, the leaves are there for everybody. Like so many things in life, you should take care to enjoy it while you can.

Georgia Barrett is the narrator of the Snark and Circumstance e-novella series, a contemporary YA take on Pride and Prejudice, available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo.

Find Stephanie’s books on Amazon:

Snark and Circumstance(novella 1) on Amazon 

Charm and Consequence (novella 2) on Amazon 

Pride and Prep School (novella 3) on Amazon

Prom and Prejudice, releases in January

Find Stephanie and her characters online at:  

World’s Oldest Fledgling Blog 

Facebook 

Twttter

The photo above is by @fitzmulligan and from The MA Insta Foliage site, http://www.massvacation.com/fall/?gclid=CKeyy5zLqroCFRGi4AodOTgAJw

---

[1]Note to my lab partner, Michael Endicott: See? I was paying attention in bio yesterday.

[2]Again, Michael: Totally paying attention,

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Today I’m please to welcome Lena Goldfinch to the Blogfest to introduce us to the characters in her novel, “Haunting Joy.” 

The story behind the cover of Haunting Joy: a ghostly little story

Haunting Joy by Lena Goldfinch
Release date: October 21, 2013

Joy’s new dress has a secret – one with a little supernatural history, one that’s a little more than she expected.

It all starts one ordinary afternoon, as seventeen-year-old Joy tries on some thrift-store clothes her grandmother gave her. The little white dress fits perfectly. Trouble is, now it won’t leave her alone. Soon Joy is swept up in an extraordinary journey to help a ghost complete some unfinished business. If only that didn’t involve Joy driving through dangerous intersections…or calling up her high-school crush, Nick…or getting stuck at a cemetery after dark.

Will Joy accept this ghostly challenge to be “more”? And just how far will she go to uncover the truth?

Light YA Paranormal

“I never believed in ghosts.
Until it happened to me.”

Lena: As an author and a freelance cover designer, I have the absolute best time coming up with covers for my stories. I found a photo of a perfect dress for Haunting Joy on Flickr, and the dress designer gave me permission to use it on the cover. The dress is really a character in the story, because Joy (the main protagonist) is haunted by a thrift-store dress that her grandmother buys for her. Joy is sort of a tomboy, so she’s perplexed at being drawn to the dress — any dress — but especially to a floaty white sundress with straps. 

Wendy Firmin is the owner of the Creole Sha on Etsy and she designs gorgeous, funky-chic “Eco Upcycled” clothing. So the dress I  found wasn’t only feminine, floaty-looking, and white, it was also a recycled dress, which Wendy had put her unique design spin on. That made it doubly perfect for my story! (Unfortunately, the dress is already sold. I wonder who’s wearing it these days…and if it’s possibly haunted. ;))

Here’s the original dress from Wendy and my two “haunted” versions, with a supernatural, glow-y effect, courtesy

of Photoshop. The pink & purple one is for the ebook and the black & white one is for the print edition.

Thanks for setting up the blogfest, DelSheree! And a special thanks to Wendy Firmin of Creole Sha: Eco Upcycled Clothing for Casual Living. 🙂

Haunting Joy is on sale this week for 99 cents on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iBooks.

Stay up to date on Lena and her characters at

http://lenagoldfinch.blogspot.com/

www.LenaGoldfinch.com

Goodreads

Facebook

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