Today’s special author is C.S. Hale to chat with me about her new paranormal romantic comedy, All Bags Go to Cleveland.
During her virtual book tour, C.S. will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too.
Bio:
Catherine “C.S.” Hale has been writing fantasy since she could hold a pencil. When not holed up in a comfortable corner writing all her books out by longhand, she can be found somewhere by the sea, enjoying tea and pastries.
Please tell us a little bit about your current release.
Angela Grimalke appears more blonde bombshell than the gremlin she is. But there is no denying her supernatural truth after her clumsiness gets her fired from her modeling career. Forced to work for her family’s upscale airline, she spends her days slinging luggage and wishing her parents would get off her back about finding a nice gremlin guy to settle down with.
Relationships were the last thing on her mind, not that her family would accept that.
For Dave Ford his frequent business travel made it next to impossible for him to find a woman who could tolerate his chaotic schedule. Which is why he appreciates Angela. Neither of them are looking for love, but Dave feeds Angela’s addiction for chocolate while she provides him with the chaos to keep him on his toes.
However, as Angela’s parents bombard her with a parade of “eligible” gremlin men at their weekly family dinners, she finds herself torn between who she longs to be and her family’s expectations. Will she give in and live the life of magic they want for her? Or risk it all by to confessing to Dave that she isn’t human?
Tell us about your main character and who inspired him/her.
Cleveland was born at a writer’s conference where I was seated next to agent Andrea Brown’s husband. We had been talking travel and he said, “Why is it that when your luggage is misdirected, it always goes to Cleveland? Why do all bags go to Cleveland?” I can tell you exactly where I was 3 days later when I knew. The image of this gorgeous woman slinging luggage, mis-directing it on purpose and hating having to do that, slowly came to me. Her addiction to chocolate and fondness for pomegranate martinis weren’t far behind.
Excerpt from All Bags Go to Cleveland:
“You owe me.”
Angela glanced up from her computer screen. Dave Ford stood in front of her. The blood drained from her face. “Do I?” She raised her “helpful” smile.
“Yes.” Dave handed over his passport and put the Louis Vuitton garment bag on the scale. “Last time, you sent my bag to Cleveland.”
“The system isn’t perfect,” Angela said, punching Dave’s information into the computer. “Things do happen sometimes.”
“You control the system. I think you owe me a glass of wine for having to find a tailor at six a.m. I had a nine o’clock business meeting and just my jeans and sweatshirt.”
“Hmm. By that reckoning, I think I’d owe the tailor for having to get you a functional suit so quickly at that early hour.”
“I tipped him £100. Least you can do is buy me a glass of wine in return.”
Angela lifted her gaze. Dave—all six feet of him with his fabulous hair— had a hopeful expression on his face.
“I’m not in the habit of buying strange men alcohol.”
Dave stuck his hand out. “Hi. Dave Ford. Business traveler.” Angela laughed. “All I’m asking for is a glass of Malbec. Or maybe pinot noir. Small price to pay in comparison to my having to fight off jet lag via acupuncture.”
“Acupuncture?”
Dave shrugged. “It was early for the tailor. His aim wasn’t quite what it could have been.”
Angela dipped into Dave’s mind. The tailor had stabbed him a couple of times. And Dave was playing with her. He wanted to see what she’d do.
Have you ever had an imaginary friend?
I have never had an imaginary friend but I have had a guardian angel.
Do you have any phobias?
Heights. *shivers* I’m sure I’m going to fall and go splat. I’m also slightly claustrophobic. Spiders are fine from a distance but I don’t want them crawling on me.
Do you listen to music when you’re writing?
I do if there is a particular mood I’m trying to capture. I will listen to the song on repeat until the scene is done.
Do you ever read your stories out loud?
Absolutely. You have to in order to catch certain things. I usually read it out loud about five times during the editing process. I find it interesting how things read different on the page than they do out loud. And if you are eventually going to release the book on audio, you want to make sure you’ve heard what the listener will hear while there is still time to change things. I have more dialogue tags than my editor likes as it’s easier to lose the speaker when you are hearing the story instead of reading it and I do eventually want to release audio editions of my books.
Links:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Buy Link
Thanks for joining me today, C.S.
Thanks for hosting!
Good morning and thank you for the book description and giveaway.
I enjoyed the interview. I definitely have to agree with reading your book aloud. I HAVE to read my emails out loud and I tend to catch things that way.
Thanks for having me! I will pop in again during lunch and then again this evening to answer any questions.
Great excerpt and cover.
Great post – thanks for sharing!
Enjoyed the excerpt and the interview! Thanks for sharing!
Sounds like a very good book.
I like the cover.
Was it hard for you to come up with?
I have the most amazing cover artist – Melissa at The illustrated Author. I told her I wanted vintage luggage and she did the rest.
What’s something you need, in order to write?
What’s your favorite food to prepare?
I would have never guessed by the cover that this is a paranormal book.
“paranormal romantic comedy”
That’s an interesting combination!
The cover and the title tell me this is going to be a fun read.