Ho' there travelers. I hope you are reading for a Bookish Friday adventure. Today I am featuring a Preorder Announcement for Celaine Charles and her Cozy YA Paranormal Ghost Story "When June Haunts May." Check out her exclusive guest post below and find out how to preorder your copy today. Happy reading everyone :).
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One visible spirit. Two phantom thieves. Three courageous friends.
Is there a writer whose brain you would love to pick for advice? Who would that be and why?
There are a few authors I’d love to chat with!
1) I would love to sit down with VE Schwab in Scotland over a pot of tea…although I already fan-girl follow her on Instagram and read her monthly newsletter from top to bottom. I’ve taken an online class with her as well. I love her lyrical writing style. She can add that poetic touch to any story she tells, and it’s richer for it. As a poet and fiction writer myself, I learn a lot about the intricacies of a story by reading and studying her work. Every word is literally planted with intention of a full-grown garden by the end. That’s how it feels when I read her work.
2) Maggie Stiefvater would be another author I would love to meet and talk shop with. I’ve also taken a class from her and followed her online as well. She’s the master of character-driven stories, I believe. When I read her work, I am literally inside the character to the degree that I actually start thinking in a new way, that might not be my own. I would ask her question after question about how she continues to create characters that are so unique and different yet feel so very real.
3) I would love to chat with Tomi Adeyemi, for her sense of storyline and character growth. I took an amazing and helpful writing course from her on plotting and planning a full story before she even published her first book! It was great to see all the steps she taught us right there in her published works, as if she really does want to share her secrets. She really cares about her readers, and I would just love to toast to that!
4) Finally, meeting Cassandra Clare would be the icing on the cake. Her ability to see beyond one book into a ginormous series…complete with worldbuilding that seems to carry itself long after her books have been published. She’s the author that got me wanting to actually try writing my own story. I guess I would ask her how she starts weaving her stories from the first stitch to the last.
What are your top 10 favorite books/authors?
Throne of Glass (series), by Sarah J. Maas
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by VE Schwab
Belladonna Series, by Adalyn Grace
Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi
The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater
The Girl Who Drank the Moon, by Kelly Barnhill
Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens
The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Hideous Love, by Stephanie Hempheill
The Shadowhunter Series, by Cassandra Clare
How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing in some way my whole life, be it poetry, or bits and pieces of a fantasy story before I sat down to write a whole novel. It wasn’t until 2017 that I decided to call myself a writer and publicly tell the world I was writing a book. This was a scary time for me, but a few years earlier in 2014, after an encounter with a spectacular woman, my entire world changed. She was a writer, and I’d blurted out that I wanted to be one too. She told me if I was a want-to-be-writer, then I already was a writer. This new perspective provided the encouragement and determination I needed. By 2019, one tiny poetry book led to one full novel which led to a novella and then another book and so on.
Once I put myself out there, I couldn’t stop. My insides are filled with stories, and I hope to share them all before I can’t anymore.
Do you see writing as a career?
I want to see writing as a career, although for indie and small press authors, it’s an arduous task. At this point I’m happy to share my words with others who enjoy reading my books. I teach full time right now, and one day, after I retire, I hope to continue writing full time…right on into the sunset.
The problem with writing as a career right now, it doesn’t necessarily pay the bills or provide insurance. That’s the reality. But I’m grateful to have my day job (only scornful of my exhaustion at night when I want to work on my stories). Teaching full time does cause my writing projects to take longer to finish, but they’re still mine, and I’m grateful to have them, even if it’s in a part-time fashion.
What do you think about the current publishing market?
Publishing is rough—although there are so many more opportunities for writers now.
You can go big five. You can find a small press that fits you like a glove. You can self-publish and be accepted now as an entrepreneur. It used to be that self-publishing had a bad name, and their books were not up to publishing standards. But that’s not true anymore. Self-publishers are taking their stories seriously, paying out the big bucks for editors, cover designers, and formatters, etc. They have quality stories to tell, and it’s a good thing they have an avenue to share their masterpieces with the world.
I believe every book has a shelf in someone’s library, and every author has a fan somewhere in the world out there. Maybe that’s a little pie in the sky for some, but honestly, a book one person loves another person can’t stand and vice versa. If an author is prompted to write a story, they should. With that said, should all authors take the extra steps to have their story edited and polished to the brim so it’s competitive and readers are guaranteed quality? Absolutely! But there are many paths now for writers. And that’s positive change.
I’m publishing in two small presses, one for poetry and another for fantasy. New to me is self-publishing for my contemporary romance short stories that are in an anthology with several other authors. I’m also trying to query my children’s picture books, but wow—that’s a hard market to break into.
However a writer decides to publish is up to them. And I think it’s marvelous that today, we have more choices than ever before.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
If I could go back and whisper strength and encouragement to my younger self, it would be to start sooner.
• Just write!
• Take the writing class you might not think you’re ready for.
• Go to the writing conference.
• Read as many books as you can (for research and joy).
• Find a writing buddy to talk to about your writing aspirations (don’t keep it all inside)
• And block out any noise from people who doubt your abilities.
• Again, just write!
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When June Haunts May
The Haunting of Pinedale High #10
by: Celaine Charles
Genre: Cozy YA Paranormal Ghost Story
Add to your TBR List!
Check out Reviews and Recommendations!
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BLURB:
June Brookes has haunted the library at Pinedale High for decades, without attention. Until one day, new sophomore, May Blakely, notices. Could this be June’s chance to cross over to the hereafter? If only she knew what needed to be finished from her old life.
Angsty May prefers solitude. Her deadbeat dad may have ditched her in this small town, but she has no interest befriending this strange girl, or the cute boy across the street.
June’s hereafter hustle goes haywire when two phantom soldiers plot to hijack her passage to peace, at the expense of hurting fellow students. June saves May’s life, igniting their joint efforts to protect the school. Can May help June to her happily ever afterlife?
Preorder your Copy Today!
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Don’t miss the rest of the Haunting of Pinedale High books!
Find them on Amazon
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Celaine Charles lives in the enchanted Pacific Northwest, teaching elementary school by day and writing by the stars at night. She’s an award-winning, multi-genre author who balances her dual life creating poetry, fantasy, and contemporary romance shorts, while blogging about her journey on Steps in Between. In addition, she’s embarking on the world of children’s picture books.
She’s published collections of poetry through Egret Lake Books and Palmetto Publishing Group, and fiction through The Wild Rose Press and Eliza Storm Books.
Celaine is a member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, Storyteller Academy, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and reads poetry regularly with the Museum of Northwest Art, Writing’s on the Wall series.
Learn more about Celaine...
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$40 Amazon or PayPal Gift Card
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