BESTSELLING AND AWARD WINNING AUTHOR OF WESTERN ROMANCE! Caroline Clemmons writes historical and contemporary genre fiction. Historical romances, contemporary romantic suspense, mysteries, and paranormals are among her current works. Learn more about her at https//www.carolineclemmons.com
17 comments:
Many thanks to Caroline for having me as her featured author today. What a lovely presentation!
Kate--you paint a lovely picture of your area. I can just see the characters and the landscape. How lucky you are to live in such a storied, grand place.
A sports car? Wow! Celia
Great Post! How exciting...Living in the most beautiful place in the world. I love the pictures. Very glad to meet you Kate and I'm certainly getting your book.
Geri
Celia,
Yes, I am very fortunate and so wish to share all of this. Of course it would be great to entice people here.
So many who live here go off to other countries in Europe and I feel that there is so much richness in our back yard, as it were.
Geri,
I have a young fan of 13 who simply loved my book reading it on her kindle and is now urging me to finish the second one before she goes on Easter holidays!! I'll be having a busy weekend.
She definitely believes the angel Cidriel is real.
My next book is also about a young girl, Bea Trevallis. She is stuck with an Aunt who is a witch. She never took Aunt Matilda seriously until her spell to make Bea As Beautiful as the Morning actually works.
I hope you enjoy BLOOD LINE.
Thank you for the generous comments.
Hi, Kate! Great excerpt! Gothic comedy, huh? Sounds like a great genre for YA.
I visited the British Isles in my early twenties and wanted to go back and live there. We did a tour of Ireland, Scotland and England. Beautiful country.
I can't imagine reading 8 books a month and finding time to write. How prolific! I struggle to finish reading a book a month, although I love to read.
Best of luck with your new release!
Hallo Susan,
I hope you are able to come back. it's still a beautiful place. A lot is totally unspoiled. I heard from a friend yesterday who has just booked her ski trip to Switzerland, that the best snow at present is in Scotland!
Gothic comedy. It's just too, too tempting!
Here's an excerpt of my next book which I referred to in the reply above. By the way I forget to mention its title is SWORN.
He switched on the headlights and that's when we saw it.
I let out a gasp, almost a shriek.
He turned and grinned, his face pale against the encroaching darkness, and put his arm over the back of my seat.
'You didn't expect that now did you.'
I shook my head unable to get a word out.
Looming out of the gathering dark before us stood massive cast-iron gates. Their gothic tracery unfurled around columns at least ten feet in height. Great gnarled grotesques leered out at us through the gloom.
There was a sudden rush of freezing air as Harley opened his door, got out and strode away toward the gates. I clutched my hooded top to my chest, wishing he hadn't left the door open. Something could crawl in towards me through the dark.
I caught his tall dark solid shape in the headlights moving like an ant across a dungheap. The gates swung open with an eerie creaking sound. As if they had been shut fast for a century.
Suddenly he was in beside me. He smelt of damp and freshness. There were small beads of sweat on his forehead. He brushed them away with back of his hand. His hair stood in blue black streaks on his face.
He glanced at me. 'Not long now.'
He gunned the engine which made a roaring echoing noise in the sea of darkness. Trees engulfed us as we drove slowly through the ancient gateway. Old gnarled trees. Great monstrous oaks, arching overhead to blot out the sky.
It was when he left the hearse again that it happened. He had pulled on the handbrake and slipped out, this time closing the door, though I could see it was still open a crack. The redness of the brakelights illuminated his jeans as he walked away from me going over to close the gates. From nowhere there was a gust of wind which shook down a flurry of oak leaves onto the windscreen. I turned to see a dark shape move from the trees on my left and with that there was an enormous cracking sound. A pale and terrifying face appeared at the windscreen on the drivers side and at that exact moment a flash of lightning rent the sky.
I didn't scream. How could I? My heart had stopped beating. I was aware that my mouth was opening and closing like a fish in the open air. There were screams. Definitely. Its just that there was no sound.
I vaguely remember clutching at my door handle to try and make my escape when I heard Harley's voice, strong and laughing. He grabbed the man by the elbows and gave him a shake. 'Well, if its not Rodger, come out to meet us. Rodger, you old savage. Come and meet Bea.'
He opened his door and leaned on it. The dark shape of the man came round behind him. Suddenly his pale face loomed at Harley's elbow. It was horrible. Dark circles smudged the skin round his eyes. His face was skeletal. Like a cadaver. When he opened his mouth to say hello I saw his teeth gleam sharp, omnivorous.
'Hey Rodger. Jump in the back.'
I blinked and glanced round nervously. Harley slid into the drivers seat, pressed a button on the dashboard and the back of the hearse slowly opened up. Rodger leapt in like a giant spider, flipped open the coffin lid and lay down inside. Harley gunned the engine and we sped off down the lane, bumping over ruts in the tarmac, beneath repeated flashes of lightening.
Harley turned on some music.
'Black Dire?' I asked weakly.
He nodded. 'That's right. This one's Headed for the Funeral.'
'How did I guess?'
Now everyone please bear with me as I have to leave my Writing Studio for about 5 hours. But I will answer everyone when I return. Cheers, Kate.
I love Scotland. Spent several years in the UK and enjoyed touring the highlands and the Isle of Skye. We had a family friend who lived in a two bedroom apartment on Charlotte Street in Edinburgh. He lived there six months and in the US six months. Loved your excerpt and the pictures. Your description is very good.I wish you great success with your book.
Hi Kate:
I’m a big fan of the Scottish Enlightenment and I’d love to visit Scotland. Do you know if there is a David Hume home or museum in Edinburg. I bet you didn’t expect to get that question. : )
I’ve been reading mid-grade and YA books of late and I have a question: do you write your main character to be a little older than your target audience or the same age? I don’t know but I would guess that kids would like to be vicariously one or two years old in a novel.
Thanks, I enjoyed your interview.
Vince
Kate, so nice to read your excerpt from SWORN. Hope that's soon to be available.
Hi Kate and Caroline! Enjoyed your blog. I haven't been to Scotland, but my daughter has been a couple of times and loved it. I've traveled there only through researching my family history and my dh's family history, and imagining what it must be like today. I loved your description of your childhood games. When I was little, my friends and I played cowboys and outlaws, inspired by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. ;-) Wishing you many happy readers, Kate!
Kate, you've lived a wonderful life. I thoroughly enjoyed your excerpt. It's been a pleasure to meet you. I wish you the very best.
Caroline, thank you for introducing us to such a lovely woman.
Ruby,
My Great grandmother was from the Isle of Skye. That has to be one of the most beautiful places.
Thank you for your good wishes.
Vince,
I do not think one truly understands the Scottish Enlightenment unless one has visited Edinburgh. The overcoming of the 'wild Highlanders' by the formality of the new Edinburgh is here in the architecture if nothing else.
The David Hume tower is a few minutes from my studio. http://www.flickr.com/photos/itmpa/26510582/
You might like to get in touch with the David Hume Institute. enquiries@davidhumeinstitute.com .
I liked your comment about the older voice. I think it works. Caroline's review on Amazon mentions that she thinks the heroine is a little too young and naive.
Lauren is certainly isolated and uninformed - I think deliberately - by her parents. This is the reason she has developed the capacity to live in her imagination and to develop the imaginary friend in Cidriel, (unless of course you believe he is real!). So in Blood Line my heroine is probably the exception to a pretty good rule.
Here is Caroline's lovely review:
BLOOD LINE is a clever premise. Although it's intended as a young adult novel, it is also interesting to adults. Certianly I enjoyed it. This is by far the most unusual romance since "Sleepless in Seattle." BLOODLINE held my interest and kept me turning the pages until I reached the end. I found a few errors in the American references, but that's understandable since the author, Kate Hamilton, lives in Scotland. Easy to research historical facts, not so easy to check modern regional slang and colloquial terms. In spite of these very minor errors, this was a fun read. Lauren MacBreach has an angel, but she's his first case and he almost fails]. Lovely writing and pacing. I hated Lauren's cold parents, thought Lauren was a little too naive for her age but very likable and sympathetic, loved the suspense and humor, and especially loved the perfect ending. Well worth reading! Watch out for Ms Hamilton--she is definitely a rising star in the book world! I'll be looking for her next book.[[ASIN:B004KZOU3E Blood Line]
Hello Jeanmarie,
I hate to admit we used to play Highlanders and redcoats in the heather! You can guess who were the baddies.
Caroline,
I have managed a further thousand words, but my fan has that order in for the completed novel so she can read it on her kindle while on the beach in the Maldive Islands. She leaves next week.
It's a tall order, but I might just make it.
Many thanks to all for your interest and kind wishes.
Kate.
Sandra,
I think I have had about eight lives. Some less stressful than others, I have to admit. For a while I believed I would use the experiences of an interesting, at times glamourous, at times dangerous life in my novels. But so far it hasn't worked out that way.
I am greatly encouraged by your remarks. Writing can be a lonely business and its lovely to have encouragement.
Hi Kate:
I just downloaded “Bloodline” for my Kindle. I’ll do a review on my “Philosophy of Romance” site. I think I am predisposed to really like this book.
Thanks for your info on David Hume. Scotland has always fascinated me. I keep reading about it all the time. I read all of M.C. Beaton’s “Hamish Macbeth” books and all of the “Isabel Dalhousie” Scotland books by Alexander Mccall Smith.
Thanks again,
Vince
Kate,
What a fun and intriguing childhood and one that is fabulous to feed your story muse. :) Thank you for sharing, and I wish you continued success!
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