Interview with debut novelist Caroline Flarity

Debut author Caroline Flarity joins me today and we’re chatting about her YA paranormal (for older teens), The Ghost Hunter’s Daughter.

During her virtual book tour, Caroline 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:

Caroline Flarity is a web content producer living in NYC. Her fascination with fringe topics and love of scary movies led her to begin her writing journey penning creepy screenplays. Her debut novel The Ghost Hunter's Daughter started life as a feature script, placing in the finals of the StoryPros Awards and as a semifinalist in Slamdance Film Festival's writing competition. She enjoys pitting her characters against both supernatural and cultural evils.

Welcome, Caroline. Please share a little bit about your current release.

“Supernatural meets Mean Girls” in this dark, YA paranormal mystery for older teens.

Sixteen-year-old Anna is the grieving daughter of a paranormal investigator. Anna is bullied at school because of her father’s profession. She wants nothing to do with his job, but it turns out that she has a knack for the family business.

When a parasitic entity invades her town (and mind), she must harness its evil power before it destroys the only family she has left. To do so, she’ll have to keep her increasingly dark urges at bay.

What inspired you to write this book?

To me, spirituality and the paranormal are closely connected. They both revolve around the idea that consciousness extends past the body, which I believe. The Ghost Hunter’s Daughter is a creepy paranormal tale, but it’s also the metaphysical coming-of-age story of a teenage girl. I’ve always been fascinated with the paranormal and have long researched hauntings, near-death experiences, reincarnation and reports of entities with non-human origins. This book encapsulates a lot of what I’m passionate about as far as the supernatural and spiritual. It also tackles socials issues like the bullying, abuse and harassment that sadly many kids have to deal with.

Excerpt from The Ghost Hunter’s Daughter:

“Want a new nick name?” Sydney asked. “How ‘bout Frankenskank?”

            Damn. Anna had spent so much time on her eye makeup that morning that she forgot to cover her scar. Her fists clenched. She was microseconds away from smacking Sydney right in her perfect face. Her palm actually tingled in anticipation of the after-slap burn.  

“All dressed up and no place to go,” Lyric sneered, indicating the cleavage exposed by Anna’s scoop neck.

“Except maybe a whorehouse!” Sydney yelled, attracting the attention of everyone in the commons who wasn’t already watching.

            One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi. Breathe. Anna restrained herself, knowing that in her current state of mind one slap wouldn’t be enough. In fact, while the river raged, she might also decide to go ahead and slam Sydney’s head into one of the metal lockers, perhaps several times. Nausea rolled in Anna’s gut. She was disgusted by the burst of pleasure the violent fantasy brought her. She took her eyes off of Sydney’s smug face and scanned the commons. Was there a portal here, too? There must be, but Bloomtown High wasn’t on Saul’s list.

Anna forced herself to walk away from Sydney and Lyric, ignoring their parting sneers. Was she being paranoid or was everyone in the hallway gawking at her? Anna picked up her pace, her heart dropping into her churning stomach as she passed a blur of scornful faces. Everyone was looking at her, and the worst part—she thought about Craig’s snub that morning—was that she might know why.

What exciting story are you working on next?
My next book is a psychological thriller with a sci-fi element about a woman who discovers the terrifying secret behind her family’s generations of criminal behavior.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Strangely, I’ve always considered myself a writer even when I didn’t write for long stretches.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I’m a freelance writer of event-related and entertainment web content. I try to work on my new book in spurts of three to four hours at least a few times a week. I tend to write at night and always produce more when I have a deadline. That’s why I’m in a writing group. Deadlines are a must for me.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

My handwriting is atrocious. But I still do the majority of my edits by hand and then enter them into my master word doc on a PC. I often have trouble reading my own writing, and this is quite frustrating. But there’s something about printing out my work and writing edits by hand that sparks my creativity. I’m forever scribbling new ideas into the margins of my printed pages and then struggling to decipher them the next day.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I’ve always wanted to be a writer!

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
The Ghost Hunter’s Daughter is on Kindle Unlimited until July 11. I’m also running a promotion on amazon: the ebook will be 99 cents from June 28 through July 4.

Links:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Amazon

Thank you for being a guest on my blog!

Thank you for hosting, Lisa, and great questions!

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