One of my super favorite things is when the characters from the books stop by to visit the blogs! Today we have Cade from Fixed Moon telling us all about Katie Groom as an author. You'll also get to enjoy an excerpt before you download your own copy. Follow the tour for more fun. Best of luck in the giveaway!
After breaking her engagement and traveling 800 miles to start her life over, literature student Zoie is ready to live her life within the books she reads and the worlds she creates on the page. She will live her life solo — only her stuffed animal Judy by her side.
Werewolf and literature professor Hugh has long been wary of letting people into his life, even for someone who’s almost 200. His life in Birmingham, Alabama, and his only two friends in the world are enough to keep him content. Not happy, but as near as he figures is possible.
Neither is ready for the literal sparks that fly when they meet. But Hugh knows those sparks mean his heart belongs to Zoie, whether she wants it or not. Desperate to prove he’s worthy of her, Hugh takes Zoie to places mortals are forbidden, drawing dangerous attention to them both.
Now, together with their closest friends, Hugh and Zoie fight against ancient foes and even more ancient laws for their lives and their love
Read an excerpt:
Zoie started looking for different passageways and doors; she contemplated what her best options were. A big city? Or maybe a rural area where the people were nice and welcoming. But, these portals weren’t even marked. She didn’t know where she would be going. She didn’t even know why she would be going. Just for fun, sure. But why would she end up picking a place?
She started casually walking until she felt pulled somewhere. The first four or five paths just made her feel uneasy. The next one smelled of chocolate, and she felt like that was probably a trick. Hansel and Gretel style tricky. And then, she heard a saxophone playing and turned towards a large, yellow, bowstring bridge. At the end of that path was a steel door with three grooves etched into it. Two from the opposite corners at the top, wiggling towards the center of the door. The third came from the bottom of the door, curved to the right and came back to meet the others.
Zoie took Hugh’s hand and started walking over the bridge. The saxophone music got louder and louder the further she went.
As she reached her hand towards the point where the three grooves met, water started to flow in each one, creating three little streams on the door.
She turned and looked at Hugh and jumped a little. Placing her hand at the center of the streams, knowing with absolute certainty where this door was going to lead, and pushed it open.
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Cade steps into the center of the dark stage, putting their right hand on the mic stand. As the spotlight ignites, Cade feels like they can actually hear the soft white vibrations warm their skin. As they prepare to sing, some loud feedback cuts through the air — screeeeeeeeeeech.
Suddenly they hear a clicking sound. Click.
Click.
Clickclickclick.
It sounds like typing. Cade looks around, trying to locate the culprit.
“Do you see this crap?” Cade walks off the stage, dramatically. “No. No more of this.” They run down to the front row and rip the laptop off of the writer’s lap…
—Cade—
One sec — I have to find a quiet place where I can lock the door and tell you how it really is with this woman at the helm…
Okay, okay, okay. Here’s the thing about Katie as a writer. Her process makes no sense. She writes out of order. She writes things that never get used. She writes things and deletes them dozens of times. She writes things that shouldn’t even be written. Shit that would never see the light of day. She swears that it’s to “get to know” us better but I call bullshit.
This one time, I was about to have the most incredible sex of my life, and the bitch fades to black. Rude. It’s just rude. (Added note: The scene leading up to it didn’t even make the book!)
She has two playlists — one for Hugh and one for Zoie. What about me?! What! About! Me?! I’m a vital character. VITAL. Half the stuff that happens is because I’m brilliant or because I push Hugh’s buttons to get things to go a certain way. Where’s my playlist, Katie? Hmm?
She puts us in terrible situations. I mean, why all the drama? Oh, I know why — because someone hurt her in the past and she wants to get it out. Wah, wah, wah. Go write in your journal, Katie. Don’t put me (and Stevie, Hugh, and Zoie, I suppose) in terrible situations. And, furthermore, don’t research the Hell outta these situations so that when you DO write them, they are accurate and our fictional lungs are burning from lack of air because you, I dunno, are writing about us being buried alive. What. A. Sadist.
The thing about Katie is that she low-key believed when she was a little girl that when she played with her Barbies, they would live their lives, but they would sleep when she put them away. She kind of thought that maybe she was a doll being played with, and that person playing with her was a doll being played with, and so on and so on. So, in a way, she probably gets a little high off of controlling our lives and putting us in terrible situations.
But the other thing about her — the good thing (fantastic, even) — is that, even though she used to have the Barbie theory, now she truly believes that we each (sort of) have a mind of our own. That we make the decisions for her as she writes. She once wrote and deleted a scene about Hugh four times to try and get him to change his decision, but each time, it would go the same way. So she said, “Hugh wants it to go this way”, and she let him live that part of his life.
So, for as many times as she’s written us into crappy situations or deleted moments from existence, she’s actually let us make our own decisions. Our own little moments of autonomy. And, while I can’t speak for everyone, I can say, for me, that means the world. As someone who didn’t have the ability to make their own choices in their mortal life, it’s everything to me that I sometimes get to do so in the world that she created for us.
So, yeah, yeah, yeah, Katie’s got her good qualities as a writer. But, hey, Katie — if you ever read this, you’d better get cracking on building “Cade’s Playlist”.
xoxo
HRH Cayden D. Lovett of the Wolf’s Den
PS - Now that I’m in charge of the writing, I can give myself whatever title I want. So there! :-P
When she isn’t working, Katie enjoys reading, writing, jokingly critiquing movies and TV, and campaigning that the plural of moose should be meese. She also loves to take in live music (especially Hanson) and traveling, with the goal of reaching each of the continents. Katie’s favorite pastime, however, is spending time with her beloved Shih tzu, Delta.
https://cinnabarmoth.com/katie-groom/
https://twitter.com/vintage_katie_
Katie Groom will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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Thanks for hosting!
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