Daniel Sherrier's Blog, page 52

“Strange New World”

My website needs some flash fiction. Yes, from time to time, I’ll put up a wee short story, and I’ll start with my first published science fiction story. Okay, so it was published in my high school litmag when I was 16 or 17, but still…

“Strange New World”

By Daniel Sherrier

Nice planet.

I’ll admit, it’s kind of barren, but the temperature’s just perfect, and it has this very peaceful aura to it. Just looking out at the vast, empty tract of desert just makes a person feel at ease, as if all is right and nothing could ever go wrong.

A whistling sound then makes its way to my ear. It’s a nice sound, and it gets louder, which is fine by me. I find it very relaxing.

Something miraculous then occurs. From out of the dry ground pops up a group of five short, stubby entities. Natives! How delightful.

“Greetings,” I tell them. “I come in peace!”

One of the natives cautiously walks towards me. He reaches up to grab my hand, and then he pulls me to the desert floor. It must be some kind of welcoming ritual, symbolizing my introduction to their land.

As I lie on the ground, the leader walks past me and enters my space ship.

“Oh, do make yourself at home!” I tell him.

The other four inhabitants surround me. All at once, they feel my arms and legs in what I assume to be another ritual of theirs. They soon bestow upon me a special token. They place these fancy bracelets on both of my wrists and around my ankles. I thank them repeatedly for their generosity.

“You’re such a hospitable race!” I say.

The natives contort their faces to display a sign of thanks. The leader emerges from my spacecraft and holds his hand high in the air. It must be akin to waving, so I wave back. I notice the others filing into the craft.

They seal the hatch and ignite the engines. They must be attempting to decipher my people’s technology. I would have been happy to show them myself, though. Maybe it’s against their culture to have an outsider aid them in exploration.

“Go!” I yell out. “Take it for a spin! I share with you the resources of my own people!”

Once they take off in my spaceship, I try to stand up, but some force keeps me magnetized to the ground. That’s no problem, though. They’ll be back shortly, and they’ll help me up. They are such a nice race, after all, so eager to please. Besides, it’s so relaxing on this planet that I could just lie here forever.

A message then comes in through my headset. My universal communicator is in the process of translating it for me…Oh, dear.

It says, “Sucker!”

Hypothetically casting RIP

Last week, I hypothetically cast Earths in Space. That was fun, so today I’m hypothetically casting RIP.

In this series, Rip Cooper must overcome his fears and kill dead people to prevent them from corrupting the living. This young loner learns he can perceive ghosts with his five senses as if they were flesh and blood, and he’s just as solid to them — pretty much the only solid thing, in fact. He works alongside an impure “angel” and his ex-best friend’s ex-girlfriend as they teach him how love can lead to strength.

So let’s start with Rip. He’s not physically imposing, but he also needs to sell being a competent (if not extraordinary) fighter. (The Walking Dead) would make a likeable reluctant hero. I can see him playing the straight guy to Serissa’s nuttiness.

Serissa is a lively dead woman who’s trying to be a better person, but she has no idea if her efforts will yield any rewards, and that’s slowly driving her bonkers. would be extraordinarily fun in the role. Between Community and Mad Men, we know she can play the silly and serious moments equally well.

Then there’s Rip’s old friend and romantic interest, Kalli. Kalli’s an energetic young teacher with a spiritual side, and she enjoys the thrills of ghost-fighting perhaps a bit too much. If (Doctor Who) can pull off an American accent, she’d be great.

And we’ll finish up with the big bad, Zeno. Zeno is a ghost who died hundreds of years ago, and he’s stayed one step ahead of Hell ever since. However, since he didn’t go straight down there, he must have been a halfway decent person in life. In any case, he’s pretty horrible now. Obviously, we need . Did you see Breaking Bad?

Like last time, these are off the top of my head, and I might have different thoughts tomorrow.

For those of you who’ve read RIP, who would you cast?

And for those of you who haven’t, I’ll just direct you to this link.

“Wings” — a RIP Christmas story

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I realized, in all my years of writing fiction, I had never written a Christmas story. I’ve rectified that situation. So, here’s a Christmas story that also serves as a prequel to RIP: Choices After Death.

Text is copyright 2013 Daniel R. Sherrier. If you like it, however, please feel free to share the link.

Hope you enjoy…

“Wings”

A RIP short story

By Daniel Sherrier

Serissa pulled herself out of the ground again.

This time, she emerged in a shopping center plaza after dark. Yet it wasn’t dark, not with that looming Christmas tree.

Was it that time of year already? Did it have to be? She had never been dead during the holidays. At least she missed Thanksgiving…

The plaza was busy. Pedestrians stopped to stare at the decorations, despite the oversized shopping bags they juggled. Couples sat on the benches and cuddled while basking in the lights. Kids ran around like little crazy people. Either the tree was a recent arrival, or these people had never seen one before.

Serissa hardly believed Christmas was approaching. She remembered a chilly season, with evening temperatures dipping below freezing. Judging from everyone’s thick jackets and visible breath, it was chilly, just not to Serissa. She experienced the December air no differently than she had the August air. She, and she alone, experienced it as nothing. Those teenagers snuggling ever closer certainly experienced something.

The tree topper caught her attention. Its crafter had endowed the angel with wide, illuminated wings. Serissa might as well have been gazing at a billionaire or rocket scientist or bobsledder or something else that could never be her.

Her vision blacked out for a moment. A man had just walked through her. He held the hand of a woman not much older than Serissa, but still an age she’d never reach. But that didn’t bother her nearly as much as those hands did. Serissa wondered how she could miss something she never truly had. Oh, she had plenty of men in her time, but precious few hands to hold like that.

The tree didn’t smell like a tree, not even a fake tree. It emitted no odor at all, not to her nose. She reached toward an ornament, one of several jingle bells hanging from the lowest branches, but her hand passed through it, making no contact.

This shopping center had a bakery just across the way. Serissa located it a second after she noticed a kid eating a big chocolate reindeer. Normally at Christmas, she’d be eating lots of chocolate. Delicious chocolate that smelled even more delicious as she anticipated the sweet, slightly melted goody having its way with her tongue. Ahh, chocolate…

But never again. Not even a whiff.

This entire Christmas tableau might as well have been an illusion, as much a ghost as she was, but one aspect confirmed its reality—the sundry emotions leaping off people and worming their way into her head.

The children practically screamed with exuberance and anxiousness, while the couples spewed saccharine goop. Serissa also spotted the occasional lonely or regretful soul wandering about, but all the goop kept giving her airplane ear.

She was not without recourse, however. With her ghostly abilities, she could dim the couples’ affection, sabotage their tender moments, and prevent them from making those lonely souls feel even worse about themselves. It would be a good deed, kind of. A good deed to some. Less good to others…

Serissa redirected her focus back onto the angel way up there. She could already fly, true, but if she had wings like that, maybe she’d get to escape this temperature-less, chocolate-flaunting world and go to…to…something better. Anything better.

“I want chocolate!” she screamed. “I haven’t eaten in months. I’m not asking for a whole big meal, just chocolate. One chocolate bar. Even just that deer’s antlers. That’s all! C’mon, Santa, you listening? Where’s the ghost of St. Nicholas when you—right. Saint. No purgatory for saints.” She squeezed her fists but achieved no catharsis. “I want my damn chocolate.”

People began noticing the bakery in greater numbers, and they headed over.

“I’m thinking you want more than chocolate right now,” some guy said.

Oh. The guy was talking to her. Huh? Oh.

Serissa found a not-shabby fellow standing beside her, looking right at her, and of course she could see him, too. Death had bequeathed Serissa with special ghost-detection senses, allowing her to see and hear everyone as dead as herself. See and hear, but nothing more.

“So what’re you in for?” he asked.

“I really do want chocolate,” Serissa muttered.

“I see that.” He pointed a thumb at the line forming inside the bakery. “Is that what you miss the most, or is it simply what you can most bear to miss?”

Serissa’s feet dipped into the pavement. But she thought about how long it had been since someone talked to her, and she halted her sinking. So what if he was merely a ghost? At least he seemed less creepy than the others she’d met since…

“Why aren’t you creepy?” she asked.

“Thank you.”

“Serious question.”

“You didn’t answer my serious questions.”

“Most ghosts I’ve come across, they find some poor soul to use as their emotional punching bag, and they go all Rocky on them. But you’ve got a different vibe.”

“I like to think so. I’m an angel,” he said.

Serissa tried to sigh. No air emerged. “Sure you are, Clarence. Hope you’re having a wonderful afterlife.”

“Sadly, I’m no Clarence. I’m just Neil. And you are…?”

She hesitated. “Serissa.”

“Hey, you actually answered that time. Nice to meet you, Serissa.”

“You missed your shot at meeting the real me. Real me is cremated and stuffed in a vase. That’s my big reward. Prime fireplace real estate. Yay. Big sarcastic yay.”

Neil smiled at her. She had seen that smile many times on many guys, but what was Mr. Intangible up to?

“You are the real you,” he said. “You’re not gone yet.”

“Isn’t that the problem?”

“Depends on how you look at it.” He slowed down to punch his point. “You’ve been given something many people never get—one last chance to prove yourself worthy of something better.”

“If there is anything better. You got some info I don’t?”

He smirked. “Maybe.”

She tried to focus on the tree, but her mouth kept moving despite herself. “So what makes you an angel?”

“The fact that I’m trying for something better.”

Serissa stared at him for a moment. “Sounds either like wishful thinking or someone seriously lowered the bar on angelic.”

Neil shrugged. “Look, the ratio of ‘creepy’ ghosts to angels is something like fifty to one. Most don’t qualify. They don’t allow themselves to qualify. But I’m one, and so are you.”

Serissa laughed. She was so rusty at it, it emerged from her throat as a hoarse guffaw. “I’m no angel.” More hand-holders walked through her, so she shouted at them. “Personal space, people! Personal effing space! Why did I say effing? You’re a bad influence, Christmas tree! Bad Christmas tree!” She even pointed at it.

Neil was so damn calm. “Are you haunting anyone? No? Okay, you’re an angel.”

“Um, yeah, really lowering that bar now. If I’m an angel, the world is screwed.”

“Or, you can accept it, and you can start earning it. You could be a great angel, Serissa.”

She shook her head as she turned back to the tree. “And death keeps getting weirder.”

“Think about it. The A-list already went straight to Heaven, or to whatever reward they get. People like you and me, well, we’re the living’s best line of defense against the creepy ghosts.”

“Like what, court-ordered community service? Mandatory volunteering. Why did no one ever see that contradiction?”

“If it were mandatory, the ratio wouldn’t be so lopsided.” Neil maneuvered back into her line of sight. “And you know what? We don’t have to do it alone.” He really worked the charming smile. Maybe he did know something she didn’t. “We could be angels together.”

Not shabby at all, this guy. “It, yeah, it might be nice to work with somebody, be a team. I’d like that.” She considered it. “But angels? Really?”

“You already look the part, so you’ve got a nice head start on things,” he said, as he drew closer to her incorporeal form. He did remember they were both incorporeal, right?

“What are you doing?”

“Trying for something better.”

“But we’re—”

“Trust me. Trust our vague ghostly system. We’ve been good. So, we get rewarded. Just believe it.”

Trust. Believe. Okay. She trusted him as much as she could without closing her eyes, but she permitted his lips to advance toward hers as he reached his arms around her.

Maybe this would surprise her. Christmas was miracle season, right? What the heck. She closed her eyes…

…and felt nothing.

Serissa spun around and found Neil behind her, staring at his own hands. His vibe changed. Not so different anymore.

“Dammit!” The charming smile was gone, replaced by contorted rage. “But I’ve been so good! I’ve been really, really good, and I’m not allowed one lousy kiss?”

“Lousy?”

Neil looked at her, his ghostliness becoming all the more evident. He slowly extended his fingers into her face, wiggled them a bit, and snapped his arm back. “It doesn’t work. The system…I was wrong. We’re no angels. Angels wouldn’t be in Hell. We’re in…”

He flew straight into the nearest store and likely beyond. Serissa contemplated his abrupt exit for a full minute.

“That exit was really not flattering for him,” Serissa said, now standing alone amidst a dwindling crowd. Well, she wasn’t really standing, she realized. She had no solid feet to stand on, so she merely hovered, unconsciously aligning herself with the pavement—pavement she couldn’t feel—pavement so immaterial, it would’ve been too easy to fall through and hibernate until the season passed, and to keep hibernating long afterward.

Then she recalled how unflattering Neil appeared.

Even death hadn’t spared her the routines of pickup artists. Of course his whole “angel” spiel meant nothing. Of course she wasn’t—

Bells. She heard bells. From the Christmas tree. A few children were ringing the bells.

“Look!” one said, as her vigorous shaking generated dull thunks within the cheap ornament. “We’re giving angels their wings!”

The notion elated the children, and their joy enveloped Serissa, warming her. She must have been cold after all.

The kids wanted someone to have wings, to be better. They gave what they had to give—a thought and a gesture. And what did they want in return? They wanted stuff, sure, but for now their greed receded beneath their delight in helping a stranger. They didn’t even need to see the stranger or prove this person’s existence.

Serissa realized she could help them. That joy—she could amplify it. She didn’t understand any of the mechanics of her ghostly abilities, but she knew she could do it. So she did. And little crazy people giggles filled the plaza and brought smiles to the adults’ faces, including her own.

Too bad Neil went bonkers. Company would’ve been nice.

Company…

Serissa flew to the treetop, and she conversed with the inanimate angel figure.

“Hi.” She pantomimed shaking its hand. “Nice wings you got there. Love the glow. Worth every kilogram of, wait, how do you measure electricity again? Wings would be cool. Unless you have to clean them.” She pretended to rest her elbows on the branches like they were a dinner table and she was being rude. “Wing maintenance. Huh. What kind of work goes into that? And how do you look over your shoulder? People could really sneak up on you with those big feathers getting in the way. I guess that’s why you never see ninjas with wings. Well, and the fact that they kill people. Not easy having those, is it?” She nodded. “An angel.” That guy must have been bonkers, coming up with an idea like that. “Yep,” she told the figure. “You and me, little buddy, we’re angels.”

She laughed with the figure, which did not actually laugh, but she knew it wanted to.

****

What’s next for Serissa? Find out in RIP: Choices After Death , now available in paperback and ebook.

Hypothetically casting Earths in Space

I’ve been busy lately.

Both my books are available in print for the first time, and I’ve released a new edition of the Earths in Space e-book.

You see, while proofing the paperback of something I had written a year earlier, I realized I could improve the writing with minor tweaks throughout. I didn’t alter any plot points, just cleaned up some of the prose. That ebook is now available at Amazon and Smashwords with its nice new cover. Distribution will expand once I finish disposing of the original BookBaby edition.

Just for fun now, I’ll play a game called “Let’s cast the hypothetical Earths in Space movie or television series.” Sounds like a swell time indeed.

I never write with a cast in mind, so I’m making all this up as I type.

For those of you just tuning in, Earths in Space follows a team of explorers traveling through a universe full of alternate human civilizations. Their whimsical leader, Amena, just wants to discover something amazing in outer space, but she faces disappointment upon finding a disturbing lack of aliens.

So let’s start with Amena, an asexual archer who’s in love with discovery and can’t resist helping people in need.

(Community) would be fantastic as Amena. She’d bring the right amount of silliness to pull off Amena’s eccentricities, and she has a wonderfully expressive face; I could picture her reacting to a wide range of alternate civilizations and assorted oddness.

(I wanted to post pictures, but then I realized I didn’t want to violate copyright law. Oh bother.)

Now onto Kaden, a martial arts expert, perfect gentleman, and lifelong best friend to Amena. They grew up together in a rural town. He shares her heroic streak, so I’m going to go with none other than Superman himself, . I intensely disliked Man of Steel, but Cavill was great. If you can play Superman, you can play Kaden.

Sela is easy to cast. She’s the most brilliant inventor of our time, though sometimes inspiration strikes faster than she can work. She’s also physically tiny, and if Veronica Mars proved anything, it’s that no one plays tiny smart people better than .

Gilmore is more of a challenge. He’s an arrogant engineer who is pleased to grace the group with his expertise, and he’s got an unrequited thing for Amena. I wouldn’t go so far as saying this grump has “a heart of gold,” but he should be likeable enough. My hunch is (Avengers) could do great stuff with the role.

Mariana is a brutally honest master detective who takes nothing on faith, and she’s rather terse. Another challenging casting decision, but I’m thinking (Firefly) might be the right fit. She needs to get back on a spaceship, anyway.

On to Ballard now, an ex-Navy SEAL who’s ex for a reason and sees each new world as a potential threat. Ballard could be a tough role, because this is the guy the rest of the characters detest. But audiences certainly wouldn’t hate  (Dollhouse), who has the skill to portray the right mix of paranoia and competency.

Jem is an astounding young acrobat with a tendency to alternate between bravery and cowardice. , maybe? She’s done great work as the sometimes-troubled younger sister in Arrow. I think she’d do just fine aboard The Patrick Henry.

And then there’s Whit, the filthy rich former physician and current amateur astronomer who bankrolls the team and has a tendency to get lost in his own head. I could see in the part, even if he is slimmer than I had pictured. In Angel, he showed he could play a broken man in one storyline and comedic relief in another. That’s what’s needed for Whit.

Finally, for Amena’s sociopathic opposite number, Onella, I’d like another Angel alum, . She’s a bit younger than I envisioned the character, but have you seen Angel? She needs to be in more stuff, and she’d be great as a formerly whimsical adventurer turned disillusioned villain.

Clearly, I watch a lot of Joss Whedon shows.

So, off the top of my head, that’s how I’d hypothetically cast Earths in Space today. Tomorrow, I might have some different ideas. In a real situation, I’d love to include talented unknowns, because I know many, many are out there (including several friends from my theatre days).

If you’ve read Where Are the Little Green Men?, what do you think? Who would you cast?

What? You haven’t read it yet? (Cough! Cough!)

Ironically for Cyber Monday, these now exist

Yes. I no longer just have ebooks. I have paperbacks.

Get to Know…Jacinda Buchmann

Stopping by today, we have YA author Jacinda Buchmann! Welcome, Jacinda!

Tell us about your book.

Indigo Incite, my debut novel and Book #1 in the Indigo Trilogy, is a YA sci-fi romance. The story follows multiple viewpoints of several characters who all possess extra-sensory powers. While they are thrown together in an adventure of a lifetime and on the run from a covert government agency, they discover true friendship and unexpected love.

Why did you want to write a YA book?

I love to read YA books, so I wanted to write something that I would want to pick up and read. My grandmother introduced me to the concept of Indigo Children almost six years ago before my third child was born. She knew that I had always wanted to be a writer and suggested that the concept of Indigo Children, as a basis for a story, would be fascinating for the young adult audience. I mulled the idea around for a while, and then one day, while I was sitting at my desk at work eating lunch, the entire concept for the Indigo Trilogy hit me. I frantically began to scribble the idea down on a piece of scrap paper and by the time my lunch break was over, I had a rough outline of the story and characters.

Inspiration is always a good time. What’s the book’s opening line? Why did you start there?

The opening line is dialogue between two of the main characters, identical twin brothers, Tyler and Toby. I’ll share the first paragraph:

Their foster mother’s shrill voice hollered up to them, “Dinner!”

Tyler replaced the toilet bowl brush in its holster and turned to his identical twin brother. “I think that’s good enough. Thanks for helping. I guess we should go down.”

“Yeah, I guess so. We’re having Brussels sprouts.”

“Ugh, are you sure?”

Toby closed his eyes. “Yep, positive. I see a blue bowl on the counter, and that’s definitely not broccoli in it.”

The opening paragraph, which starts out in the past, sets up the story. It shows that the twins lived with foster parents which is one reason they end up on the run later in the story (their foster parents weren’t very nice). The opening paragraph also immediately demonstrates how Toby has extra-sensory powers by “seeing” what they are going to have for dinner.

The power to see Brussels sprouts. Useful for kids. What do you most enjoy about writing?

I have wanted to be a writer ever since I was in the second grade and really learned how to write. I used to make little books out of construction paper about teddy bears Writing is the only thing I have ever truly wanted to do. When I write I lose all track of time and truly feel like myself.

You should publish those teddy bear books someday. Please share a writing tip you’ve found helpful.

If you want to be a writer, start writing…Simple and to the point but completely true.

Let’s pretend you’re casting your book as a movie or TV show. Who would you cast as the main characters?

I actually have a Pinterest board dedicated to this. I had so much fun looking at pictures and trying to find the best model/actor for each character! I’ll share the link here.

Here’s the breakdown. There are seven main characters:

Toby/Tyler (the twins): Devon Gearhart

Eddie:  Taylor Lautner

Grace:  Elle Fanning

Liliana:  Yifei Liu

Sarah:  Jane Levy

Rebecka:  Paige Hurd

So how was teaching elementary school?

I taught the younger elementary grades for several years before I moved up and taught middle school language arts. I loved teaching each age for different reasons. The younger kids, obviously, are young and sweet and enthusiastic to learn and love school. I enjoyed middle school because I could teach my love of reading and writing at a higher level and the kids would get my sarcastic sense of humor

Always a plus. How have your experiences as a teacher and counselor influenced your writing?

After being around teenagers for so many years I have learned what aspects of literature they enjoy and it has also helped to keep the “teenage voice” alive and realistic in my characters.

Teens are indeed masters of the teenage voice. What’s the best book you’ve read this year?

That’s a hard one because I have read SO many amazing books by debut authors, but I’ll have to go with WHEN YOU’RE READY by J.L. Berg. An amazing love story!!

Who is your favorite fictional character? (Any medium)

My favorite story is the OUTLANDER series by Diana Gabaldon, and my favorite character from that is Jamie Fraser, six foot something, red-haired, handsome, Jamie Fraser

If you could have one super-power, what would it be and why?

I would love to be able to teleport just like my character Rebecka can in Indigo Incite. It would be amazing and very convenient to be able to travel from one place to another just by thinking about it!

Just make sure you don’t teleport into solid objects. That might hurt. What’s next for you?

I am currently writing the second book in the trilogy, Indigo Instinct. I’m a little over halfway done and anticipate it to be released in late April.

Where can people learn more about your work?

You can find Indigo Incite on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18387423-indigo-incite

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJacindaBuchmann

My blog:  http://jacindabuchmann.com/

Tell us one fun fact about yourself.

My husband and I were both born in Seattle, moved to Montana when we were kids, went to the same high school, rode the same school bus, met…in Arizona!

Thank goodness for Arizona, and thank you, Jacinda!

Say no to Black Friday, yes to supporting indie authors

I do not like Black Friday. I hate that it’s crept into Thanksgiving Day. I’ve worked retail, and my father still does. You will not find me in any store this whole weekend.

Instead, I’ll encourage you to purchase ebooks. Let the computers do all the hard work. I’ll even sweeten the deal for RIP: Choices After Death – and some other authors’ books.

As I’ve mentioned before, I originally wrote RIP as a television series. The four novelettes in Choices After Death all first existed as teleplays, and I stil have them on my flash drive.

They’re rougher than what you’ll see in the book. I wrote the scripts around 2010 and 2011, so the ideas have had some time to percolate and my own skills have continued to develop. The pilot is fairly well polished and fared pretty well in a couple of contests, but things start looking messier after that, especially by the fourth episode. Some plot points are different, and not a good different.

Still, I’ll embarrass myself for your entertainment. Download RIP: Choices After Death by the end of Saturday, Nov. 30, and I’ll send you PDFs of all four RIP television scripts, warts included. Just email me at daniel (at) sherrierbooks.com or Facebook message me the confirmation code, and I’ll reply ASAP with your PDFs. (I will not collect your email addresses.)

That’s one option. Here’s another, which also expires at the end of Saturday.

Check out these authors I’ve interviewed. If you order any of their books, ebook or print, even just one, send me the confirmation code and I’ll send you the first RIP novelette, “Touch,” as a PDF, MOBI, or ePub (just let me know your preference, please). (This promotion is all on me. They’re not even aware of it, so please send all complaints and criticisms my way, not their way.)

As for my other series, Earths in Space, there’s really no need to run any new promotion, because one is already in progress. For a limited time, you can get it free at Story Cartel. Leaving a review somewhere will earn you a shot at winning one of three $10 Amazon giftcards.

So how does all this sound? Let’s stay away from Black Friday and instead just support some nice indie authors.

What’s going on with these covers?

What’s going on here? We’ve got RIP with a back cover and Earths in Space with a new cover that combines Vonnegut-esque font with 1980s video game aliens?

Whatever does it mean?

It means I’m going into print.

Stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy the wonderful covers designed by M.W. Messina.

Get to Know…Caitlin Hensley (plus: giveaway!)

Paranormal fantasy author Caitlin Hensley is releasing a new book right now. Might be a good time to learn about it, right? And be sure to enter the Rafflecopter at the end of the interview for a chance to win the first book in her series, Paranormal Legacy.

Welcome, Caitlin.

Tell us about your newest book, please.

Beast Within is the third book in The Inhuman Chronicles. It deals with a series of visions that the main character, Haily, has been seeing for weeks, ever since the last book ended. And while worrying about the meaning of her visions, Haily must work together with her friends to stop a bloodthirsty dragon from destroying the world.

Yes, more people should endeavor to thwart bloodthirsty dragons. World would be a better place. How did you come up with this idea?

To be honest, it’s been in my head for as long as l can remember. I first wrote the book when I was a tween, and I’ve been rewriting it for years, up until the present day. And now it’s finally ready to be read.

Patience is a virtue. Why does the paranormal genre appeal to you?

I like writing about normal people with extraordinary powers. That’s why all my characters, even the vampires, werewolves, and witches, are just like any person you might meet on the street—only they happen to have fangs or can set you on fire with a single glance.

Minor details. What’s the book’s opening line? Why did you start there?

The door creaks inward. I’m speaking before it’s fully open. I liked this as an opening line because it draws you right into the action, and makes you want to know more about what’s going on. At least, that’s what I hope it accomplishes.

Yes, I want to know why the narrator didn’t wait until after the door opened to start speaking. Did you instill in her none of your patience? Anyway, please share a writing tip you’ve found helpful.

Try to use adverbs as little as possible. Instead of writing “she said sadly,” make whatever she said sad enough that readers can figure out it’s supposed to be sad without you directly telling them.

Let’s pretend imaginatively you’re casting this book as a movie. Who would you like to portray these characters?

Wow, that’s a tough one. I think Nina Dobrev would make a good Haily, though her hair would need to be a lot messier. And maybe Jake Abel could play Jake.

I had to look those names up. I’m out of touch. So you teach about blogging? Please share a bit of blogging wisdom.

Make your blog look as professional as possible, and write your posts in the tone you would use if speaking to a friend. Also, use humor whenever you can, especially sarcastic humor. Everyone likes a funny blogger!

Wokka wokka. What’s the best book you’ve read this year?

Free Souls by Susan Kaye Quinn. It’s about a girl with the ability to control minds, and it’s an excellent book.

Is it…or did she make you think that…? Who is your favorite fictional character? (Any medium)

I can only pick one favorite? But that’s impossible! Um…I guess I’ll say Dean Winchester from Supernatural. I’m addicted to that show.

Who is your favorite character in your own books?

Probably Jake. He’s always sarcastic, so it’s a lot of fun to write his character.

If you could have one super-power, what would it be and why?

I think it would be fun to fly. That way, I could fly wherever I needed to go, and I wouldn’t have to spend money on gasoline for my car.

But you would have to comply with FAA regulations. What’s next for you?

My next release is scheduled for early 2014, and will be the fourth book in The Inhuman Chronicles. After that, I’m considering releasing a stand-alone novel.

Where can people learn more about your work?

Amazon  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads  |  Blog

Tell us one fun fact about yourself.

I love clogging! I’m part of a clogging group, and we perform at festivals all around the state of Oklahoma. So that’s what I like to do when I’m not working on one of my books.

Thank you, Caitlin! Have fun clogging!

For the rest of you, enjoy this Rafflecopter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RIP’s Journey Across the Internet

RIP: Choices After Death has been enjoying a pleasant jaunt across the Internet.

First, fellow Virginia author Drew Avera was nice enough to interview me. Do I think Superman or the Incredible Hulk would win in a fight? Find out here!

Reviews, freebies, and more gave RIP a 5/5 rating, stating, “This book was fantastic. It pulled me in from the very first line. This isn’t your typical ‘ghost story’ it’s an action packed adventure.” Certainly made my day.

Another gracious author, Kristen Duvall, interviewed me the next day. Learn about a short story I wrote at age eight. It’s every bit as epic as you might expect.

Sophie’s Thoughts and Fumbles hosted me for a guest post, in which I discussed the development of Serissa and how integral she is to the story. After all, a guy beating up ghosts is fun, but it’s not enough of an idea for a book or a series.

Yesterday, Bookish Randomness hosted for another guest post, and this one was all about music. I listed ten songs I kept listening to while writing RIP. YouTube links are included.

And, of course, there’s a Rafflecopter. Enter for a chance to win a RIP e-book. Or, if you’d like to let someone else win, you can always just go ahead and download it. I will not object.

This last link is separate from the blog tour, but my editor, Todd Barselow, was recently interviewed here about his work.

Thanks to all who have hosted me!