SAVING CASEY Blog Tour: Character Interview

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Today I’m interviewing the main character from Liza O’Connor’s Young Adult Suspense Thriller, Saving Casey. But first, a quick blurb about the story:

Saving Casey

Having been diagnosed with cancer, Cass Goldman decides to opt out of any futile medical care and end her life. While she has some thoughts on afterlife, she never expects to reincarnate into the body of a seventeen-year-old girl named Casey Davidson.

When she awakens in a hospital, Cass discovers two disturbing facts: One, she is now inside the body of a troubled teenager, and two, the former owner of this body committed suicide, but only Cass knows that. Everyone else believes Casey has survived, but suffered a complete memory loss. Cass has two choices: to take on Casey’s life and turn it around, or to confess the truth about her reincarnation and end up in a mental asylum. Given this second chance to life, Cass decides to take on the future life of Casey—the frightening ghoul-faced teen with short, black, spiky hair.

Every person around Cass has an ulterior motive and discovering the truth of Old Casey’s life is more complicated than the “new math” she is forced to learn in school. In addition, Cass has to contend with raging teenage hormones and the prior crimes of Old Casey, which she might not remember, but everyone else certainly does. However, her biggest frustration concerns her feelings for her father’s rugged security specialist who sees her only as a teenager and doesn’t want to explore the mutual attraction between them.

Will her second chance at life prove to be worth the struggles she has to overcome?

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bono Books

Saving Casey is on sale at a reduced price of $2.99 for the duration of the tour, so grab yourself a bargain!

Interesting, no? This is the most intriguing YA story I’ve read about in a long while!

So without further ado, meet the very interesting Cass/Casey!

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Please tell us about the older version of you we meet in Chapter 1. What type of things did she like to do?

Well, as Cass Goldman, I didn’t do much of anything, given I was 80 years old, but my dog Jess and I would shuffle about the town every day. However, ten years prior, we hiked real woods. In fact, I can share a link on the day my little 30 pound dog went after a 600 pound bear. That was a scare I still remember.  I have a video of that.

Now to a hard question: why did you commit suicide?

About three months ago, I lost vision in one eye, went to the doctor and it turns out I had brain cancer … terminal. Still he wanted to put me through a regiment of chemo. For what purpose? He just told me it was non-operable. So I went home, made a video telling my family and friends goodbye, then committed suicide.

I rather expected to die and for my soul to return in a new born baby.  Instead, I wake up in a seventeen year old’s body. Talk about shocked!

And horrified once I looked in a mirror. Staring back at me was a ghoul from a low-grade horror movie.

Did you tell anyone what had really happened? Who you really were?

Are you kidding? What happened to me shouldn’t be possible. They would have locked me up in a mental institution. So I claimed partial amnesia to explain why I didn’t know anything about Casey’s life, but knew how to do things.

Tell us about the first time you met Troy.

Ah, Troy. I got in an altercation on my first day back in school, which got me 59 days of detention hall. When I finished my first two hours of detention, I discovered my dad and this gorgeous hunk waiting for me in the hall. My body lit up like lit firecrackers at the sight of Troy. However, when I saw a black wire running up his neck to his ear, I thought he was a cop, there to arrest me. That dampened my lovelust fast enough. Even though I’d kicked the boy in self-defense I was pretty sure the legal system would see me, with my ghoul face, as the instigator and charge me with assault.

Fortunately, Troy turned out to be my dad’s head of security, who was there to protect me. Evidently, the boy I’d preemptively struck had gathered his fellow football players to assist his counter-attack. They intended to gang rape me once I left school. Troy sent them packing and from that point forward, he became my security guy.

What drew you to each other?

Well, I can’t speak for him. But from the very first, we understood each other, and he not only got, but loved my sense of humor. My dad was always saying he got my humor, but then he’d scold me every time I expressed it. Troy would just laugh.

What’s your favorite thing about Troy?

He has the best laugh. It comes from deep in his chest … from his heart. Physically, he’s gorgeous, but honestly, that just depressed me, given I looked like a character from a low grade monster movie.

Do you have a favorite childhood memory?

I can speak only of my prior life there, because I don’t have Casey’s memories. However, in my prior life, my favorite childhood memory is being gnawed on by twelve black and tan puppies. Puppies are adorable, and twelve of them crawling on you at once is pure delight.

Ah, black and tan are my favourite kind of puppies!

What’s your favorite vacation spot?

Again I have to speak to my former life. New Zealand. It’s amazing how many gorgeous locations are crammed into those two small islands.

Favorite eye colour?

I don’t really have one. However, I do prefer eyes NOT surrounded by black tattoos.

Care to share your future plans?

I’ve got people who evidently wish to kill me, so my future isn’t certain. But if I can survive, I intend to make straight A’s next year. Then, with lots of recommendations and a great ‘turnaround’ story, I plan to go to college and get a doctorate degree in Education. After school, I’ll create a foundation with the billions lurking in my trust fund and give children a means to stop bullies even when the adults at their school won’t help. If such lifelines existed for Casey, she might still be alive.  And I really hope to do that with Troy at my side. Honestly, he’s the only man I’ve met in two lifetimes who I’ve fallen for. I never believed in soulmates before, but he’s definitely mine.

Anything you’d like to share?

Well, Liza has a wonderful trailer about the book if you’d like to see it.

You seem to like videos. Any reason why?

In my old life, when I was younger, my dog Jess and I would make videos as we hiked. Then I’d put them on the web so my family could enjoy them as well. So when I ended up in Casey’s body and needed someone to share stuff with, I started vlogging about my crappy new life. However, things got crazy real fast and I didn’t have time for vlogging. I was just trying my hardest to stay alive and out of a mental institution. I won’t give the links for those …to o many, but they are on Liza’s site with the other links I shared.

Well thanks for letting us know a bit more about the person you were before you became Casey Davidson.

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About the Author

Liza O’Connor

Liza O’Connor lives in Denville, NJ with her dog, Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, Liza learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She is an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, Liza’s first love has and always will be writing novels. Her love to create interesting characters, set them loose, and scribe what happens.

Purchase Links: Website/Blog | Twitter

To follow Liza’s tour, click here for the other tour stops.

Giveaway!

If you’d like a picture of yourself to be marred with Casey’s tattoos, leave a comment “Please tattoo my photo” and leave your email so Liza can contact you once she picks one lucky commenter to have their photo tattooed.

Source: J.C. Martin, Fighter Writer