Let’s welcome Christine to the blog. I love chatting with authors, so it’s time we get started…
What process did you go through when you picked your characters’ names for Twisted Lies?
I knew the heroinewas going to be named Athena. Strong-willed and a fighter, she’s like her namesake, Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and strength. No other name suited her.
Cool. I love the name Athena. Artemis from Greek mythology is another favorite of mine. All writers suffer from writer’s block at least once in their career. What’s your go-to cure?
Twisted Lies is the seventh book I’ve had published, and I can honestly say that it’s the first one where I’ve struggled with the infamous writer’s block. I started writing the story but then the pandemic hit, and the world fell apart. Rather than sitting at my desk writing, I spent hours watching the news. I couldn’t focus on anything else. It was months before I stopped listening to all the chaos in the world and went outside for long walks on the forested trails behind my house. My muse soon returned, and I went back to my computer, the world and its problems faded, and soon I was wrapped up in the trials and tribulations of my characters’ lives. I learned an important lesson—nature, with all its beauty and abundance, helps us heal and focus on the positive in life, so creativity can flow.
So true! We all need a little inspiration in our lives. What’s your favorite quote and why?
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” A Chinese proverb by Lao Tzu. It says it all, especially for writers. The first word you write, the first sentence, the first paragraph, starts the journey to a finished manuscript.
Any advice for the aspiring authors out there? Particularly those who are feeling a little discouraged?
Writing’s a tough business. Really tough. People often think the work is over once they’ve completed a manuscript. Not. One. Bit. That’s when the hard part begins. Finding a publisher and editor is extremely challenging. Once your book is out in the world, promotion is time consuming. But don’t give up. The joy of hearing from readers who like your book and love the characters is worth all the effort. Besides, you’re not alone. Other authors are there to help. A good support network is essential.
I couldn’t have said it better. Any new projects on the horizon?
I just signed my eighth contract with The Wild Rose Press. Forging Forgiveness is another romantic suspense and should be out in a few months.
Sweet! Congrats. Thank you so much for chatting with me today!
Blurb:
Athena Cooper’s tragic past drives her to seek solace in a bottle. The addiction threatens her legal career, and she risks spiraling out of control. When her dog engineers a meeting with an all-too-handsome hunk, it’s lust at first sight…until she discovers his identity.
Businessman Russell Crawford is desperate to find the woman who cheated him out of his inheritance. His shock when she turns out to be the gorgeous red head he had a brief encounter with is only surpassed when she claims his father was a murderer.
Athena and Russ declare a truce and join forces to investigate the mystery of her parents’ disappearance from an isolated island off the rugged Northwest Coast of British Columbia. Russ promises to be her safe harbor as they uncover long-buried secrets that rock her very foundation. Can she overcome a lifelong distrust and open her heart to love?
Excerpt:
How was it possible? After all these years? The past she’d been running from had found her. The nightmare was back. The envelope fell from her shaking hands. Her legs wobbled as she rose and stumbled out of the living room and down the short hall to the kitchen.
Afternoon sunlight streamed through the window above the sink. The cozy kitchen, with its walls painted a cheerful butter yellow, and the well-scrubbed laminate countertops, gleamed. The steady hum of the refrigerator and ticking of the antique clock on the wall were the only sounds in the silent house. The pungent smell of fried onions and roasted garlic from last night’s homemade spaghetti sauce hung in the air.
The efficient kitchen, with its breakfast nook and view of the tidy, fenced backyard and the rolling, grassy foothills and snow-crested Rocky Mountains beyond, was the reason she’d bought the small rancher. This was her favorite room—the place she sought refuge when life overwhelmed her. How many times had she sat there in the evenings after work, sipping a glass of chilled white wine, watching the birds at the feeder on the back porch, breathing in the sweet smells of flowering Saskatoon bushes, regrouping until she was ready to face the world?
These days, her drink of choice was a cup of herbal tea or unsweetened apple juice. Alcohol was off the table…had been for twenty-one unendurable days.
But today, all bets were off.
Buy Links:
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/twisted-lies-c-b-clark/1140006831?ean=9781509238613
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/search?query=twisted+lies+cb+clark
iBooks: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781509238620
Books2Read Universal buy link: https://books2read.com/u/3Lw8LX
Author Bio:
Twisted Lies is award-winning author, C.B. Clark’s seventh novel published by The Wild Rose Press. When she’s not busy traveling around the globe or hiking and camping in the wilderness near her home in northern British Columbia, she can be found in front of her laptop plotting the next story.
Social Media Links:
Facebook: cbclarkauthor@facebook.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cbclarkauthor
Blog: https://cbclarkauthor.wordpress.com
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15029617.C_B_Clark
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cbclarkauthor/
Amazon Profile Page: https://www.amazon.com/C.-B.-Clark/e/B01BK61TQG/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1517868402&sr=1-2-ent
Thank you for hosting me on your Blog today, Amber. It’s always great to be here.
I’m happy to have you!
Congratulations on this book and on your new contract! I do like Lao Tzu’s quote too. Sometimes we’re so intimidated when we look ahead on a journey, whether a book or anything else, we don’t take that first step. Continued best wishes.
Thanks, Barb. You’re so right…the first step is the most important.
Thanks for visiting, Barb. I so agree. Lao Tzu’s quote really hits home.
Great interview and excerpt! Best wishes, Christine! 🙂
Thanks, Judith!
Great quote. And yes, I did the same at first last year. Then off went the news, on went the hiking boots and I was so much better fot it. Congratulations on you book. The cover is lovely.
D.
Really appreciate you stopping by, D.V. Nature helps us realize what’s important in the world.
I think we all as writers had a similar experience when the pandemic hit. Hi to turn off the news put on the hiking boots and off we went. Nature and outdoors is the best medicine sometimes. Love your Cover! Can’t wait to read it it’s sitting on my iPad waiting impatiently. Good luck!
Thank you, Tena! I hope you enjoy Twisted Lies. Camping also helped me with the stress of everything. I know you are a big camper as well.
So true on writing being a never ending job! The very best on your book.
Thank you, Ilona. As you well know, writing is challenging, but so rewarding.
This sounds like an intriguing premise. Congrats on new release and new contract. Loved your excerpt – full of description and tension. Definitely made me want to keep reading. Here’s to many sales!
Thanks so much, Deb. I really appreciate you stopping by.