First Look Friday: Featuring Catherine Stine

Post by Catherine Stine, also writing romance as Kitsy Clare

More and more, I like writing about supernatural elements: witches, modern demons, and all of that good scary stuff. I like to couch my baddies in contemporary settings and fashions that blend in with the everyday. So, for instance, Wilson, the Prince of Darkness in Dorianna, is a tall, charismatic fashion-hound and videographer who lives in Coney Island, NY.

I’m excited to announce my two new projects! One is my YA horror, Dorianna, forthcoming from Evernight Teen on October 24 (written as Catherine Stine). It’s a new twist on A Picture of Dorian Gray for the Internet generation, and here’s the blurb:

Internet followers, beauty, power. It all sounded good.

Until it transformed into a terrifying reality Dorianna couldn’t stop

Dorianna is a dark twist for the Internet generation on A Picture of Dorian Gray. When her father is jailed, her mother ships lonely, plain Dorianna to her aunt’s. There, Dorianna yearns to build a new identity, but the popular Lacey bullies her—mostly for getting attention from her ex, Ander.

Ander takes Dorianna to Coney Island where Wilson, a videographer, creates a stunning compilation of her. She dreams of being an online sensation, as she’s never even had a birthday party, and vows she’d give anything to go viral. Wilson claims he’s the Prince of Darkness and warns her the pledge has downsides. Dorianna thinks he’s joking. She has no idea of how dire the consequences might be.

My second, a novel-in-progress is a new adult historical paranormal romance set in 1932 on the Jersey shore (written as Kitsy Clare). It’s called Beach Witch and it’s about a pretty nineteen year-old lady named Fiera, who has no idea she’s a powerful witch, at least at first. I can’t say more about it yet, except you can get big hints by taking a peek at my Beach Witch Pinterest board here: http://www.pinterest.com/kitsy84557/images-of-the-30s-for-beach-witch/

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This photo is a rough design for Beach Witch I created as my screensaver to inspire me to keep writing. I’m not a professional cover designer, but I imagine Fiera a bit like this.

What new projects do you have up your sleeve?

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About the Author:

Kitsy Clare hails from Philly and lives in Manhattan. A romantic at heart, she loves writing about the sexy intrigue of the city and of the art world. She knows it well, having shown her paintings here before turning to writing. Model Position, her new adult novella is about artist Sienna and her friends. Living in a Bookworld says: “Beautifully written! We learn things about art & painting. A colorful story from a promising author.” The next in The Art of Love series, Private Internship launches Sept 29 with Inkspell.

Kitsy also writes YA as Catherine Stine. Her futuristic thriller, Ruby’s Fire was a YA finalist in the Next Generation Indie book awards. Fireseed One, its companion novel, was a finalist in YA and Sci-Fi in the USA News International Book Awards, and an Indie Reader notable. Her YA horror, Dorianna, launches fall 2014 with Evernight Teen.

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Throwback Thursday: Featuring Sasha Hibbs

I think of all the books I loved growing up and it started much like this:

Things progressed from there. There’s a list in my mind of books that shaped my tastes, my life as a reader and an author. The first time I discovered Charlotte Bronte’s JANE EYRE, I remember thinking, “Where in the world has Mr. Rochester been my entire life?”

The poor brooding dark male leading character….sigh. I was most impressed that this was written at a time when this would’ve been an unlikely scenario in real life, bringing me to my next book: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. Same case. Of all the reasons to LOVE and adore this gem of a novel that has influenced hundreds of authors, one of the main reasons I love it, is for me, in the time period it was written, this would’ve been a fantasy and in my mind, that makes Pride and Prejudice quite the progressive, ahead-of-its-time kind of novel. Need I point out all the other reasons why we all love it? J

And Gone With the Wind. As a child (things never changed as an adult) I loved all things Southern and when I first read and then watched Gone With the Wind, it felt life changing. I wanted to throttle Scarlett, I wanted to look like Scarlett, and did I ever want a Rhett of my own! I was 12 when the sequel, Scarlett, came out and I begged my mother to get it and get it now! I completed my 7^th grade book report on it and I remember this look on my teacher’s face when I handed it in that said, “Are you serious?” at which point my goofy glasses-wearing self said, “Frankly my dear, I am serious. I am damn serious.”

With a sharply raised eyebrow, she gave me an A.

Now as an adult, I still hold these books dear. I don’t know that any of my own characters, or myself, are anything like any of the leading casts. My novels are quite a bit different than the above masterpieces. But my hope from reading these, was that in some way, somewhere out there, I could make a reader feel the way about my books as the literary gems above me made me feel the first time I read them.      

An author can only hope….

About the author:

By age 5, Sasha Hibbs' favorite movie was Gone With the Wind. By age 12, she completed her 7th grade book report on the sequel, Scarlett. By 18, she met and married her very own Mr. Rhett Butler and as it turns out, she never had to worry about going back to Tara to win the love of her life back. Fortunately, he stuck with her.

With a love of all things paranormal, the ambiance of the South with its gigantic antebellum mansions and canopies of Spanish moss, and a love for her husband’s rich storytelling of blacksmiths and the mythology surrounding their origins, it wasn’t long until the world of her debut novel, Black Amaranth, was born.

When not working her day job as a nurse, you can find Sasha dreaming of her next beach trip, reading the latest YA novel, and drinking more white chocolate mocha than she should.

Sasha lives in mountainous West Virginia with her husband, Tim, and their two daughters, Aeliza and Ava. She is currently hard at work on book three in The Vulcan Legacies series.

Author Links:

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http://www.amazon.com/Black-Amaranth-Sasha-Hibbs/dp/1771305266/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Amaranth-ebook/dp/B00EKUCBUI/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=

http://www.evernightteen.com/black-amaranth-by-sasha-hibbs/

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Abaddon-Vulcan-Legacies-Book-ebook/dp/B00IK9RGXC/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0XFJDY68RVFTVA3RXHD1

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Atonement-Vulcan-Legacies-Book-ebook/dp/B00NJSMZDK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1410829654&sr=1-1&keywords=black+atonement+sasha+hibbs

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