Today’s special guest is S. H. Clark to chat with me about her new YA romance, The Secrets of Constellations.
S. H. is doing a virtual tour with RABT and you can find her other tour stop details below.
Bio:
S. H. Clark is a romance author in the following sub-genres: young adult, contemporary, horror, and fantasy.
Clark lives in Southern California with her two cats and her beloved coffee maker. When she’s not writing, which is rare, she’s an elementary school teacher on one of California’s Native reservations. She holds multiple secondary degrees, including an MFA in Creative Writing, has a bookshelf overflowing with paranormal romances, and loves to write to the sound of a thunderstorm.
It’s been said Clark has attempted to conjure Cadbury Cream Eggs with her Harry Potter wand.
Welcome, S.H. Please tell us about your current release.
The Secrets of Constellations is a book about a girl trying to figure out where she is going with her life: is she going to follow her dad’s path for her, is she going to follow her dreams, or is she going to give it all up for love? And it all comes back to how her life started. For Norae Whelan, life starts from the moment her birth mother sent her away to be adopted. This one action has defined Norae’s entire life, and she evolves thanks to the emotional experiences, and later we see, through the relationships she forms when she returns to where everything started – Thatchor Manor.
On the other side of the coin, we have Orion Reise – musically talented, physically damaged, emotionally invested. He’s the one to support Norae as she discovers the truth of her past and her place in her birth mother’s life, and ends up falling in love with her. But, as I’ve said, he’s damaged, and the reason for that is a very dangerous person desperate to keep him away from Norae and anyone else who might love him.
What inspired you to write this book?
I received my MFA from Fairfield University in Connecticut. The program is a two year, low-residency. You fly out (or drive if you live nearby) to Connecticut and end up in the small port town of Mystic. Out there is a small island called Enders Island. The MFA program bunkers down for ten days, once in winter, once in summer, and students attend workshops led by industry professionals, as well as professors. For example, the late Da Chen (“Colors of the Mountain”) and author Hollis Seamon (“Somebody Up There Hates You”) ran workshops I attended while on the island.
The Secrets of Constellations came during my second winter visit. It was our “break” day where we had a half day to do whatever we wanted before we started up with workshops again. My roommate and I decided the best thing to do was to take a nap. You see, days started at 7:00am and ended around 1:00am, so any moment you had to nap was priceless. I ended up having a very vivid dream about a crazy looking house with a McDonalds attached to it (we ate daily salad bars on the island so I think I missed fast food). I was upset about someone dying, wasn’t sure who, and my mentor Hollis yelled at me to stop crying. If I recall, she slapped me in the dream, then proceeded to let me cry on her shoulder. At some point, I woke up to a pitch black room (a snowstorm had come in and buried us under four feet of snow), stumbled out of bed, threw my coat on, and dashed out of the room. I ended up outside in the snow with my phone, attempting to use the extreme cold to wake me up while I jotted down notes on my phone to help me remember everything that happened in the dream. I felt like I HAD something.
The crazy part? I thought I made up the house. Who would build a house with a checkerboard roof, or an upside-down door, or have a turret painted with a “Tangled” scene? I ended up finding a very similar house on Google about six months after the dream. I’m not sure if that meant it was fate, or coincidence, or a sign, but I knew I had to tell the story. And I had to tell the story through my own experiences in life, in the places I knew and called home. That’s why the story starts in Connecticut (homage to where it originated) and ends in California, my home state.
Excerpt from The Secrets of Constellations:
The creepy, old guy from Poltergeist sat on my couch with a toothy grin. Okay, so not the Devil’s henchman, but a gangly replica. Anyone with shocking white hair and a yellow smile would fit the bill, especially if they were rocking a bowler hat. My parents didn’t look soulless—score one for living in reality.
Dad stood up and waved a hand toward our guest. “Rae, this is Miles Hidifork.”
“Good evening, Miss Whelan,” the man greeted, taking tiny breaths between each word like his lungs couldn’t handle the talking. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Hello.” I walked over and offered my hand. His grip was solid.
“Mr. Hidifork is here about Bobbie Jo Thatchor,” Mom said as she moved to stand next to Dad.
I frowned. “Who?”
Mr. Hidifork pressed his hat against his chest. “I was her lawyer, Miss Whelan. Bobbie Jo was your birth mother.”
What exciting project are you working on next?
I am very excited about my next project. Cross-continental move, Live-Stream content, boy bands, British accents, drama, drama, drama! Think, (British) Bling Empire meets One Direction, sprinkled with a bit of TMZ-esque goals. And of course, love! I think you guys will absolutely love it!
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Well, if you ask my parents, they would say when I was two. Apparently, I’d get sick of the lyrics in a song and change them up to what I wanted. And then, there were the bedtime stories. I’d memorize them, and then when they’d read to me, I’d tell it differently to them instead of them reading to me. But if you ask me, I started writing poetry in middle school, just little things in a diary. In high school, I entered a Poetry Slam and got second place. At the same time, I started jotting down ideas for a novel, something vampire, something romantic (I was really into vampire romances when I was in high school), and I had my first full novel done by the time I was fifteen. That was the moment I really thought I could be an author.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I WISH I was a full-time author, and I will be, but for now, my full-time job is teaching. I teach a 5/6 combo class in Valley Center (the setting of the novel). I usually write before work or after, mostly on weekends, and constantly on my breaks. It takes a lot of work to find time to write, especially now that I’m juggling an elementary class mixed in with middle school. Let me tell you, I don’t recommend the mixture! But it does make for great content. I’ve used some experiences in my classroom in some of my novels. My former students actually influenced the Native American storyline in TSOC. And they’ll say otherwise, but none of my students or their families make a cameo in the book.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I just figured this out the other day. There is at least one girl in every single book I’ve ever written (and I’ve shelved a few in the past) that is named after a plant! For example, in TSOC, I have Willow. In my coming novel, there’s a character named Rose. I’m not sure why I do that, but it happens, and I like it. Almost like a signature.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
An astronaut, but then I went on Space Mountain at Disneyland. Then it was a doctor, but then I struggled with math and chemistry. Then it was a lawyer, but then I started writing stories in high school and reading Shakespeare. Don’t get me wrong – I will argue my way to winning. But I really enjoyed creating stories and sharing them with people. I find my happiness when someone starts messaging, calling, or texting me while they’re reading and sharing their thoughts with me.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I really hope you enjoy TSOC! And if you’d like to read something else of mine, I wrote another novel called, “Chasing Moonbows,” a coming-of-age young adult novel, available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Links:
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Tour dates and stops:
March 14 – Book Reviews by Virginia Lee – Spotlight
March 15 – Nana’s Book Reviews – Spotlight
March 16 – Writers N Authors – Interview
March 17 – Liliyana Shadowlyn – Spotlight
March 19 – Brittany’s Book Blog – Excerpt
March 20 – Sapphyria’s Book Blog – Spotlight
March 21 – Stephanie’s Book Reviews – Review
March 22 – Crossroad Reviews – Spotlight
March 23 – Momma Says to Read or Not to Read – Spotlight
March 24 – HERE!!
March 27 – Chapter Break – Guest Post
March 28 – Book Junkiez – Excerpt
March 29 – Texas Book Nook – Review
March 30 – Book Corner News and Reviews – Spotlight
March 31 – Paws. Read. Repeat – Review
April 3 – The Faerie Review – Spotlight
April 4 – Honey Can Do It – Excerpt
April 5 – The Avid Reader – Interview
April 6 – On a Reading Bender – Review
April 7 – Our Town Book Reviews – Spotlight
April 9 – Pick a Good Book – Excerpt
April 10 – The Indie Express – Review
April 11 – Susan’s Book World – Spotlight
April 12 – Books Blog – Spotlight
April 13 – Books, Coffee, and Happiness – Excerpt
April 14 – Valerie Ullmer – Excerpt
April 14 – RABT Reviews – Wrap Up