An Interview with Author - Clarissa Cartharn
Young: Welcome to In The Harem, Clarissa. Before further a do - Tell us about your Latest Book/Books about to be release? Release Date? And can you give us a teaser?
Clarissa Cartharn (C.C.): My latest/current work is titled:
A Jar of Dreams
(Teaser)
When Eric Tanner, an assassin, is targeted to be murdered by his former employer, he seeks refuge in the house of a blind woman, Anne Mullen. But when he starts to fall in love with Anne, he must do everything he can to protect her from the world he���s come from.
Eric Tanner is an assassin on the run when his employer turns on him and takes a hit on him instead. He doesn���t understand why until towards the end of the book. While on the run he meets Anne Mullen, a blind woman. He realizes he can hide in her house for a while until he can figure his next move. What he doesn���t bet on is falling in love with her and his desire to set up house and family with her. What ensues is a battle between his love for Anne and his dark past.
I got the idea of writing this story while reading an article about a homeless woman hiding out in a man���s apartment in Japan. She had successfully remained undetected for a year, I believe (I���m rusty on the details now). Although, her story didn���t finish so romantically because she got charged for trespass.
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YHNOZVQ
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/ClarissaCartharn
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ccartharn
Website: http://clarissacartharn.wix.com/clarissacartharn
Young: What other books/short stories have you written, Clarissa?
C.C.: I have at least five other romances to my name. Each of them utterly different and each one inspired by something or the other I had read or experienced.
Winter���s End: About a widow trying to deal with the small village rumors of her mysterious neighbor and the absurd proposition the old woman next door gives her.
Red Collar: the plight of a young woman who reluctantly bends to the business of sex escorts in order to feed her family.
Scent of Roses: a light-hearted, comedic take on two people who befriend each other as they try to wing it through a documentary akin to The Bachelors TV reality show, only to realize that they have truly fallen in love with each other.
Claimed: A dystopian romance about a society on the brinks of chaos due to the divisions between the rich and the poor until the latter find hopes in a chimera, a man inoculated with panther and eagle genes and thus attributing him with those properties while as a fetus. He is the reluctant hero who battles between standing up for his people and taking up arms against the aristocratic family of the woman he loves.
Affairs & Atonement: A young man shuns his new bride because of the pressures from his family, only to realize that when she does leave him, he can���t entirely forget her. He searches for her for eleven long years. But when he does finally find her, his errors come back to haunt him and she isn���t as keen on him as she was when they had married.
Young: Do you publish in e-book, print, or both?
C.C.: I print in both forms.
Young: Where can readers find your books?
C.C.: You���ll definitely find them on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Clarissa-Cartharn/e/B009X0P0EO
Young: Where and How can readers get in touch with you?
C.C.: Readers can connect with me in any of these ways:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClarissaCartharn
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ccartharn
Website: http://clarissacartharn.wix.com/clarissacartharn
Blog: http://doodlenook.blogspot.com
Young: So with your latest work released/or being released, what comes next? What can we expect from you in the future?
C.C.: Captive
Released in late June, 2015
C.C.: A Jar of Hearts
The sequel to A Jar of Dreams
Release date: late August
Young: Among your own books, have you a favourite book? Favourite Hero or Heroine?
C.C.: Is that possible? (laughs) It���s like picking between your kids. You love them all. No, I can���t play favourites. Shhh... Eric Tanner of A Jar of Dreams is my favourite hero this month, but don���t let my other heroes hear it. (winks)
Young: What kind of research do you when writing one of your works?
C.C.: A lot... a lot (rolls eyes). While writing A Jar of Dreams I had to research on blind people and how they conducted their normal, everyday activities. I was completely blown away with how much technology has advanced and benefited them. There are for example apps available to let them know what color a shirt is for instance. Blind people these days aren���t as disabled as some people think they are. They are well and truly independent, leading absolutely normal lives.
Young: What does your significant other think of your writing?
C.C.: Nothing much, I���m afraid (grins). He supports me and gives me the kudos when I need it. But has he read one of my works? No. And I doubt he ever will.
Young: Lastly do you have any words of encouragement for unpublished writers?
C.C.: I read once ���Go after your dreams, no matter how attainable others think it is.��� There���s some truth in that. If you really want to be a writer, it���ll happen.
Having said that, I am also my harshest critic. I just believe the moment anyone who starts to think that they���ve become the best writers; they should also throw down their pen and walk. For what is there after becoming the best?
Strive and strive on, I say. There���s always something to improve on, something to better. And you can���t find a better competitor than yourself.
