This post is to prove it, yes…and to put up pictures while I wait for a technical difficulty (Apparently my gmail sends Google Drive requests to spam. Yay. And I have no memory banks…so I completely forgot about this.)

EDIT: Difficulty has passed! Now you have an awesome interview to read!

I kind of feel badly or Ms. Wharton. Apologetic, even.

But, anyway, she has an awesome new book out, called Finding Esta, which sounds wonderful. It’s a New Adult Paranormal/Urban Fantasy. There’s a great description here.

INTERVIEW FOR Cindy at clspeer@gmail.com

1. Please, tell us about your latest book.
Finding Esta is the first book of The Supes Series.

Luna is a fledgling journalist who yearns for the love and acceptance, and for an end to her own chronic isolation. Unable to touch, she settles for the lover’s caress of a stranger who visits her dreams, and her only friends in the world are Shadows – spirits who reside within in her fragile mind, seeking refuge from the Shadow Lands. Impatient for parental respect, she attempts to solve a twenty-year-old child abduction case by travelling to Esta’s family home in Cornwall, situated on an abandoned cul-de-sac.

Searching for clues to Esta’s tragic fate, she finds much more than she bargained for.

More alone than ever and desperate for answers, Luna struggles to retain a sense of identity, and the light grip on reality she’s been used to. Will she find Esta, and if so, will Luna live to tell Esta’s story?

2. Tell us a little about one of your favorite minor characters. Will they show up in another book?

Sybil is rather special, although I can’t give away too much without my explanation spoiling the story. I will say that she is a 40 year old hairdresser… with layers. There is also Flo and Ada, who are the Shadows seeking refuge within the mind of Luna. They’ve been with her since childhood and are her only friends. Flo is a tiny framed, feisty woman and Luna’s best friend. Ada is a grandma substitute on one hand, and Shadow warrior for justice on the other. Then there’s Eliza, a beautiful red head, with a smart mouth, a sordid history, and fangs. All of these minor characters (all integral to the plot I might add) will be in the next book at some point.

Whether they’ll make it to the third book, though?

3. What inspired you to write this novel?

A flash fiction writing challenge to create a spooky story about a haunted house, around 4 years ago, before I’d ever written a story. Twenty thousand words or so later I knew I have a series on my hands.

4. What is your favorite thing about writing?

Heavy answer for a heavy question. I’m a loner at heart, although I crave connection to others. I hate small-talk (because I’m so bad at it) and the inconsistencies of petty social interaction. I used to go out all the time, to parties and what-not, fearing I’d miss something. But I searched for what I needed in the wrong places, as it was within me all along. Basically, writing nourishes me, from the inside, out.

5. What does your family think about your writing?

I have always loved reading and writing poetry (two publishing in anthologies). Maya Angelou is my favourite, although there are too many others to list here. My father wrote poetry, and songs for local bands, and turned me on to it by writing poems to me, with the grand expectation that I should respond poetically. This began when I was only around seven years old, if I remember correctly. If I didn’t do as he asked, he wouldn’t reply. Mostly, I feared disappointing him; I loved the old scally-wag, what can I say?

He taught me (more than school) a genuine love of language. It also allowed an outlet for the extreme mood swings of misdiagnosed bipolar disorder. But that’s a whole other story.

In general, I think my family are proud. None have read my book, to my knowledge. My kind of fiction isn’t their thing, and there is still such prejudice where indie publishing is concerned. I wish, more than anything, that my dad had lived long enough to write something we could have published. He never knew the freedom of the indie publishing movement, and like me, he never had the confidence to send his work to a traditional publisher. Up until a few years ago, just like him, I wrote in the dark, quietly and for myself. I never expected to willingly throw my words, like children, out into the world. I never expected to be writing anything more than drawer linings.

6. How do you come up with your ideas? Do you start with an image, a character…?

Character, always. I fell in love with the main character, Luna, and before I knew it, I’d developed a story about her self-development and survival, amidst a supernatural and alien backdrop, spanning three books.

I chose Cornwall because I’m a quarter Cornish and love St Ives. I wanted to capture its magical quality, to set the scene. I had to research a few things, like names of streets, and about the train Luna takes to reach Esta’s house, where she finds much more than she expects. But the way it looked, the way Cornwall felt, is written mostly from childhood memories.

7. If you had a monster living under your bed, what would you name it?
I had a monster (true story) under my bed – her name was Witch, unimaginatively. But there was a zombie in my wardrobe (my dad made me cut school to watch Dawn of the Living Dead on VHS with him, when I was around nine years old) called Trevor. Why? Because my dad said if I named him something normal it would remove his power and stop him entering my dreams. It didn’t work straight away, but eventually, no more monsters. Hurrah!

8. If you were an amusement park ride, what would you be?
A roller-coaster: Lots of ups and downs, because hey, I’m round the bend, but I’m fun, too.

9. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you go? How about anywhere in time?
I love period drama, so perhaps I’d flip to our past and become a character such as Jane Austen’s, Emma, or Bram Stoker’s, Wilhelmina Murray? Or would I prefer to shoot off into the future, when I believe we might fly to the moon on holiday. Wow, what holiday snaps! J
But I also love the idea of living in a large, quiet, open space by soaring mountains and water, perhaps in a cabin with a huge and somewhat prerequisite, roaring fire. Lovely for Bobby, our German Shepherd.
Oh, but then I love the chaos of London and Manhattan, too. We do enjoy the theatre. It’s difficult. Great question, but seemingly one I cannot answer.

10. Do you have any writing rituals?
That would take organisation, but I am organisationally impaired. I do like to create a play-list and play it (while adding to it with each scene) as I write. That’s about as far as I go with rituals. The rest happens, or doesn’t.

11. If you had to share a house with a vampire, a werewolf or a ghost, which would you pick?
I already see ghosts (true story) – so I’d choose vampire. But they’d have to be relatively friendly and self-sufficient. I’d be useless to feed on, and would die too soon. I’m a chronic anaemic. And I have enough of my own monthly issues, without sharing with a werewolf’s tantrums and changes

12. What are you working on now?
Finding Luna, part two of The Supes Series. I’m almost done with the final first draft. A few tweaks, then it’s edits. *Groan.

11.What three things (outside of necessities) would you take with you to a desert island?

I’d say Kindle, but there would be no plug – disaster. So books, crates and crates of books. One of which would explain how to survive on a desert island. Number two, food. Enough to last a lifetime, and would not spoil if stored in a warm climate. Lastly, tools to help me build shelter, cook, clean, live.

Think that should do it. Wow, that list looks surprisingly pragmatic, for me.

13.What are three of your favourite movies?
Difficult, but I’m going to try to select just three. My favourites list is naturally fluid. But for now….

1) To connect me to the world around me, I choose It’s a Wonderful World. James Stewart is fantastic in this, as in everything else he did. This was also my brother’s favourite movie (this, and Goodbye Mr Chips, another one of my top 10). He passed away 2004 by his own hand, and this movie reminds me to value my life, but mostly, to value the love in my life.

2) To connect with my sense of humour, I choose Hannah and her Sisters. Woody Allen just cracks me up. I love all of his movies in one way or another, although he shone in the eighties. I could line up a long collection of his best (in my opinion), but this is a tiny list of three, so I’m only giving him one.

3) To connect to the horror lover in me, I choose the 28 days Later / & 28 Weeks Later movies. I adore zombies and these movies do zombies perfectly. My favourite of the two is the first, but I think they were both exceptionally well done. I love to be so scared that I have to hide behind a cushion, grip my hubs arm so tight he loses blood circulation, and then to have nightmares. I don’t know why, but I do. And judging by the amazing popularity of The Walking Dead, I’m not alone.

14. What writers have inspired you the most?
Apart from the classics, I’d say poet Maya Angelous, song writer and poet, Bob Dylan, and fiction writers, Ann Rice and Charlaine Harris, each influenced me most, in different ways.

15. If you weren’t a writer, what would your dream job be?
I’d love to own a huge animal sanctuary in the wilderness somewhere. I’d also love to own several children’s homes around the poorest parts of the world. If I ever accrue wealth, I know exactly how I’d spend it. And no, this is not selflessness (I wish), I just know how hugely rewarding it would be (I worked in social work after graduating, between 1999 – 2003). A life of giving is not altruistic or heroic, it’s basic humanity. We all need some form of payback, regardless of the source of income.

16. What is something that always makes you happy?
Time spent in our ‘circle’. The circle consists of Hubs, Bobby (our German Shepherd) and me, lounging on our sofa together, watching a great movie.

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