Friday Featured Author: Cassidy K O’Connor
Sorry this feature
disappeared for a few weeks. I’m glad to be back.
This week’s featured artist is Cassidy K O’Conner. Before we get to the Interview, Here’s a little bit about Cassidy.
Cassidy K O’Connor
Cassidy K O’Connor is a born and raised Floridian who loves to travel but never forgets where her roots are. She married her high school sweetheart, they have 3 kids and a crazy dog. Travelling and reading are her two favorite hobbies. Cassidy loves all things Ireland and has been lucky enough to visit twice. Her dream is to watch a baseball game in every MLB stadium in the country.
She is passionate about Building Women Up and helps run a site dedicated to enriching women’s lives.
Find out more about me on my website: www.CassidyKOConnor.com
The Interview
Tell us about your latest release?
Broken Dreams was born from a dream that kept coming to me night after night. I would wake up in tears, feeling so emotional over what was happening to the people in the dream. I could feel everything they did, finally, after the fourth night of this I grabbed my phone and wrote myself an email detailing the story. After that the dreams went away and I didn’t do anything about the email for a long time. Almost a year later I stumbled upon the email and decided to finally write it.
Twins, Isabelle and Ian are enjoying their senior year of high school with their whole lives ahead of them.
She is auditioning for Julliard and he has offers for soccer scholarships at any school he wants.
Only Isabelle knew he was planning to put off college and join the Army.
Tragedy strikes one day and Ian is killed. In her grief, Isabelle decides to put her dream on hold and honor his. While deployed tragedy strikes again and she is injured.
Thinking her dreams of dancing again are out of reach she gives up on life. Is she strong enough to overcome her disabilities? Can the love she finds with her brothers best friend Conner be enough to help her reclaim her dreams?
This is a beautiful story about the human spirit, everything we can overcome and how we impact everyone else around us.
Are you a plotter or pantser?
I am a pantser, I get a general idea, then run with it. A lot of the time my secondary characters are created in the moment. I do have a series I’m working on, which will arc over ten characters lives. I have had to plot all of their characteristics but the story will still be mostly pantsed.
What was the most difficult part of the publishing process for you?
I don’t think any of this is easy, I stress while I write the book then when it’s time to edit I moan that’s the hardest step. Then comes the cover and I grumble that’s the hardest part, but wait, there’s the ever frustrating blurb to write. It’s all worth it in the end, but I definitely wouldn’t say any of it is easy.
How about the most fun?
Hitting ‘The End’ on a book, the beauty of the final cover, the blurb finally published are all fun, but I have to say going to cons and meeting the readers is the best. I met a girl recently who bought Broken Dreams then went out to the lobby and started reading it. Three hours later she came back to my table to tell me how amazing the story was, those are the moments that are the most fun and make it all worth it!
What inspired you to write your first book?
I’ve always enjoyed writing short stories for fun, but never really thought about making it into anything serious. One day my hubby packed up a bunch of books that he never read. I gave him a hard time, he absolutely hates reading. I vowed to write a book even he would read. I wrote The Evolution of Sam and yes, he did read it. I also gave it to my sisters who thought it was really good and pushed me to publish it. I decided to try it for fun and now a year later I have five books out.
Do you have any writing rituals? (Time of day to write, must have beverages? Etc?)
Not really, I do have to have quiet and usually the house has to be empty of distractions. You can imagine how little time that actually leaves me since I have a day job and three teens. My boys have football practice three nights a week so you will often find me huddled in my car typing away on my laptop.
Who is your go-to author, the one you know you can always count on to deliver a great story?
My first love is Historical romance, I always know I can pick up a Tessa Dare book and get lost for hours. Her stories are so amazingly detailed, fun and humorous. I got to meet her to years ago at a con, I didn’t say a word to her, just smiled like an idiot.
What projects are you working on at the present?
I have a contemporary romance that I want to have out by the end of the year and I’m also working on a Gargoyle story for an anthology. If I can get the second part of my Christmas book out (Wicked Wonderland Retreat) I’d like to have that available by New Years.
What do your plans for future projects include?
Readers fell in love with Bri from Broken Dreams and have begged me to write her story so I’ve put that one on my list. I also have the Raven’s Haven nine book series I mentioned above and finishing out the stories I am currently working on.
Broken Dreams
A twist of fate changes her life forever…
One dream put on hold to honor another…
Do second chances exist? Can dreams be reclaimed?
Twins, Isabelle and Ian are enjoying their senior year of high school with their whole lives ahead of them.
She is auditioning for Julliard and he has offers for soccer scholarships at any school he wants.
Only Isabelle knew he was planning to put off college and join the Army.
Tragedy strikes one day and Ian is killed. In her grief, Isabelle decides to put her dream on hold and honor his.
While deployed tragedy strikes again and she is injured.
Thinking her dreams of dancing again are out of reach she gives up on life. Is she strong enough to overcome her disabilities? Can the love she finds with her brothers best friend Conner be enough to help her reclaim her dreams?
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XPVUWMM?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
B&N
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/broken-dreams-cassidy-k-oconnor/1122000805?ean=2940151245470
Apple
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/broken-dreams/id998748495?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Smashwords
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/544872
Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cassidy_K_O_Connor_Broken_Dreams?id=UzqxCQAAQBAJ
KoBo
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/search?query=Cassidy%20K.%20O%27Connor&fcsearchfield=Author&fclanguages=all
