Welcome, to Roxanne's Realm.
Thank you so, so much for spotlighting my debut novel, EERIE!
Do you write in different genres?
EERIE is YA/Crossover paranormal adventure with
romance. But I do write in different genres. My first book-length endeavor was
actually a memoir. My agent had such nice things to say about my writing, I was
encouraged to try my hand at fiction. So, I began writing coming-of-age
stories. Eerie is a fantasy adventure with romance, but I also write thrillers.
If yes which is your favorite genre to write?
Paranormal is definitely my favorite! And I love
writing awkward kisses, so there’s always at least a dash of romance.
Do you title the book first or wait until after it’s
complete?
For EERIE it was both! When I started writing the manuscript, I
brainstormed a few one-word titles that I thought evoked some sense of
atmosphere. EERIE was my working title for months after I finished the
manuscript and when I first started pitching the book. Somewhere along the way, I changed the title
to something else based on input from other authors, but when I sold the book
to Omnific, the editors there liked EERIE as a title, and changed it to that :-)
What books/authors have influenced your life?
I’m a huge Edgar Allan Poe and Michael Crichton fan,
and I also love James Thurber and Patrick McManus. I guess I’m all over the
genre map, but all of those authors have influenced me in one way or another.
What book are you reading now?
Ascenders by CL Gaber.
What books are in your to read pile?
Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (I read it
every December)
Trust Me, I’m Trouble by Mary Elizabeth Summer
In Shining Armor by Elliott James
Thief of Lies by Brenda Drake
Forget Tomorrow by Pintip Dunn
Vexed by Wren Michaels
Must Remember by Colleen Myers
The Missing series by A. Meredith Walters
The Delicate Matter of Lady Blayne by Natasha
Blackthorne
Secret Assault by Don Helin
What is your current “work in progress” or upcoming projects?
I’m currently editing a YA Thriller called 30 Days
With Dr. Death, which has just won 1st place in the New Jersey
Romance Writers’ 2015 Put Your Heart in a Book Contest
Can you share a little of your current work with us?
Here’s a taste of 30 Days with Dr. Death:
Chapter One: The
Dump
It was not the
best way to end the day, sandwiched in the front seat of my car between two
thugs with garlic-laced B.O.
And it wasn’t like I needed their help. Yeah, the guy in the trunk was
heavy, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
Dad didn’t care.
For whatever reason, he didn’t want me driving at night, regardless of
the midnight sun. And he wasn’t about to send me out with one goon—that’d be too much like a date. So both these idiots had
to come. And they’d probably insist on heaving our latest client into the pit
themselves, not because they were gentlemen.
No.
“The toss” was that one last slap in the face—one final opportunity to
strip this guy of whatever dignity he had left. No doubt they’d shout something
inane as they did it too. Lately, “How do you like me now?” was their favorite
sendoff, and though they did force a fairly believable southern drawl, they
didn’t sound close to country. More like pro-wrestlers who’d smoked a little
too much weed—big, dumb, and ugly.
I hated the drive to the dump, but at least if I did it alone, I could
take a moment to reflect. Maybe even say a prayer, God forbid, for the sorry
soul whose own family didn’t care enough about him to pick up his remains. With
these two oafs though, I’d have to remain impassive, lest one of them actually
registers a thought and tells Dad I was going soft.
They had the combined IQ of a carrot. Just one. But even an idiot can
sense weakness, and Dad, or Dr. Death as the hired muscles not-so-secretly
referred to him, would never let me do another capture if he knew I had a
conscience.
And I was really looking forward to reeling in our next “guest.” That’s
how I preferred to think of him, because if I were to let myself dwell on his
true status, I might just blurt it out when I met him:
Hi, I’m Hannah Starkey. I lure wayward teens into POW-style rehab. My
mission: return you sober or in a body bag.
That wouldn’t fly.
So “guest” it was, and the airstrip was our second stop. I’d be on the
red-eye to D.C. after a long week of survival training, which, at least for the
sap in the trunk, didn’t go so well.
This whole day literally—
“—stinks,” I muttered, careful to keep my elbows close. Naked arms had me
flanked, and I didn’t want to get slimed. “Something stinks,” I said louder.
The sweathog on my right grunted.
As we crawled off the road and into the woods, the car wobbled, and I
danced in my seat with it, trying to evade any accidental skin-to-skin contact
with the ogres.
It was an unseasonably warm Alaskan August. Even at 10pm it was too hot
for sleeves, and I refused to sit in the back seat of my own car, especially
after my last trip to the dump. That was when we were still using regular
garbage bags—the kind that leak, only I didn’t realize it until after I’d tossed them in, and though I’d
tried my damnedest, I just couldn’t get the stain out.
Nobody wanted the back seat
now. Something about dead-girl juice made even these two giants squeamish.
I’d manage. Another five minutes, and we’d be there. Then we’d be 140
pounds lighter, and I’d put about 3,000 miles between myself and Camp
Aurora—for a few days at least.
I was almost smiling at the thought of new scenery when something more
pungent than B.O. wafted through the car. I fumbled with the AC vent.
“What is that?” I demanded.
“Smells like shit,” said the one on my right, and I closed my eyes,
scrunching my face.
“No,” I moaned.
This car was a year old, my sweet-sixteen gift from Dr. Death. I loved
this car, and when I got back, I’d have to burn this car.
The body bag was leaking.
Who designed the cover of your latest book?
The cover of EERIE features original art by Robin
Lynn Schwind, and I absolutely LOVE it!
Do you have any advice for other writers?
For pre-published writers: DON’T QUIT.
Do you have a song or playlist (book soundtrack) that
you think represents this book?
I do have a YouTube playlist I used to set the mood
while brainstorming and writing both EERIE and 30 DAYS WITH DR. DEATH: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq1Hvat1KHssjcsL-eGKa1g/playlists
Eerie
C.M. McCoy
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Omnific
Date of Publication: 15 Dec 2015
ISBN: 1623422337
ASIN: B0176M19RM
Number of pages: 450
Word Count: 117k
Cover Artist: Omnific with art by Robin Lynne Schwind
Book Description:
Being a ParaScience freshman is a nightmare come true
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 the only thing keeping her safe from a murderous 3,000-year old beast is an equally terrifying creature who’s fallen “madly” in love with her.
Competing to win her affection, the Dream Creature, Asher, lures her to the one place that offers safety—a ParaScience university in Alaska he calls home. There, she studies the science of the supernatural and must learn to live with a roommate from Hell, survive a tunneling earworm, extract a carnivorous splinter, evade the campus poltergeists, and hope the only creature who can save her from an evil immortal doesn’t decide to kill her himself.
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/YPx4FELVxH4
EERIE
excerpt
Several buildings dotted the campus, some log, some stone, and one that
looked like a giant igloo. Each bore an ornately carved wooden signpost with
large, bubonic-looking knots.
“Eureka Hall is here on the north-east corner.” Fin opened the outer door
for her and showed her inside.
“I’m on the third floor,” she told him.
“I know.”
Up the stairs they went, and Fin explained Eureka’s layout.
“So, this is the only co-ed dorm on campus.” The stairway opened onto a
large landing that split the building in two. “To the right are the boys’ rooms
and to the left are all the girls’ rooms. The girls have their own showers,
which are conveniently located almost directly across from your room, next to
the laundry closet. In front of us is the Spruce Room, which is a community
study hall slash TV room slash kitchenette.”
He opened the door to the Spruce Room and turned on the lights.
“Nice,” she said, taking in the giant TV, five fluffy couches, desks, and
tables.
“This,” he said pointing to a large presidential-looking suite adjacent
to the Spruce Room, “is where your Resident Assistant lives.”
“Okay,” Hailey said with a nod.
“If you have any problems—you get locked out of your room, you have an
issue with your roommate, you need more Yeti spray—any problems, Hailey, you come and knock on this door, okay?”
“Okay.”
“And I’ll answer.”
“O—what?”
Fin smiled.
“You’re my RA?” Hailey said brightly.
“Yup.”
Yes! He’d be right down the hall and could help her get her bearings and
explain these in-betweens and answer
her questions, and oh crap! What about Tomas and these ghost traps? She had to
disable them.
“I need to go to the library,” she blurted.
“Of course you do.” Fin threw a confused hand in the air.
“I need a German dictionary and a book that explains these ghost traps,”
she continued very seriously. She did not
want Tomas getting stuck. “The campus map shows the library, but it doesn’t
give the hours and—”
“Stop. The library is closed. Besides, you need to unpack all your stuff,”
he said holding up her tiny bag.
She took it and frowned.
“Go check out your room, make sure your key works, meet your roommate,
take a shower, et cetera, et cetera. I’ll swing by later with a German
dictionary.”
He unlocked the door to his giant room.
“And don’t worry about ghosts,” he said over his shoulder. “You’re not
gonna get any ghosts in your room.”
Hailey wrinkled her brow.
“Oh?”
“They’re afraid of your roommate,” he said quickly through the crack in
his door, shutting it before Hailey even had a chance to gasp.
About the Author:
C.M. McCoy is an Irish dancer and former military officer living in the Great White North. Though B.S.'d in chemical engineering and German, she's far happier writing stories involving Alaska and a body bag (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. In the writerly world, she's the PR Manager at Inklings Literary Agency. Her debut novel, EERIE, is a paranormal adventure with romance and released 15 Dec 2015 through Omnific Publishing/Simon and Schuster.
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Watch the EERIE book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPx4FELVxH4
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1 comments:
Thank you so much for the great post! :-)
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