Digging into Characters…

Hi Jean. Thank you so much for having me. I’m happy to talk a little about my characters. I hope readers will gain some insight about the book from them.

Curse of the Blacknoc Witch is filled with a few characters but the main characters are Samuel and Layla.

Samuel Fawcett is a teenage boy who’s found himself in one heck of a predicament. He used to be a normal boy at one point, that is until the Blacknoc Curse took him from his bed, tossed him in a forest realm where he was eaten by monsters, and then transformed into one. What I love most about Samuel, and what I think readers will like, is how protective he is. He’s caring and hopeful. When he’s given a second chance he uses that chance to save the kids who are being hunted by the very beasts who devoured him. He knows he is quite the sight, with fangs and needles for fur, but that doesn’t stop him from engaging with the kids. Nope, he uses what he has to fight the other monsters from harming the cursed kids.

Layla Marlowe is another favorite of mine. Like Samuel, she’s a teenager. She’s doomed to transfer into a monster like Samuel. But Samuel won’t allow it. Each time he saves her from the other monsters from eating her, he’s delaying the transformation. This gives Layla a fighting chance to look for a solution outside of the forest realm to break the curse. Layla is smart and crafty. She uses her resources to hunt for answers. She’s also fierce and will not let snarling monsters scare her.

Tell us about your experience with the publishing process.

I am traditionally published with The Wild Rose Press. I’m also self-published with five other authors, an anthology book titled Encircled.

Any new projects on the horizon?

Oh, yes. I have quite a few. There’s one YA fantasy that I am trying to finish up so I can start pitching. It’s about two siblings who are chosen for an ancient challenge. They must use their powers to fight and capture the magical animals roaming the forest. But the siblings couldn’t be more different. As they struggle to get along, they must also battle ailiarants from stopping them to read their mission.

Another fantasy I’m trying to finish up is about a girl who’s lost her memory. Set in the medieval time, she’s imprisoned in a dungeon by a scary man who claims to be a friend. Not knowing if he speaks the truth, she does everything within her power to escape him and find out the truth of who she really is.

I also have an adult horror novel and a YA urban paranormal novel that is still in the works. It’s hard to say when these will ever be finished but I’m hoping soon. You can read more about those on my website under ‘books I’m writing.’

Any words of advice for fellow writers in the trenches?

I’m still trying to find the key to this myself, but I would say when discouraged or struggling with writer’s block, allow yourself some rest and reset your mind. Step away from the project. Not too much time though because, hey, you have a book to finish.

What was the hardest/most unusual/interesting part of the story to write/research?

One of my characters doesn’t have a hand. For some reason, I kept forgetting this so I had to constantly go back and rewrite scenes to fit according to their disability.

Now for an excerpt:

I crouch down next to the girl, careful not to touch her. “Look. You’ll be okay as long as you stay with me.”

She sniffles and cups her face. “This can’t be happening.” She wipes a tear off her cheek. “The legend of the curse is really like what my great-aunt said.”

I stand and pace. My monster self cannot be still when on constant alert. “It’s all true. A real cesspool of teeth.”

“When I woke back in my room, the scratches on my skin from last night were still there. Grandfather thought I’d done it to myself. I told him what happened, and he didn’t believe me.”

“He won’t be able to help anyway.”

She moans, and I stifle a grunt. There I go again with my optimism. As long as I am cursed to this flesh, there just isn’t any room for the stuff. But I can’t avoid the truth of her fate.

I kneel to her level. “What’s your name?”

“Layla Marlowe.”

I smile. A fitting name for a gorgeous girl. “Layla,” I repeat, as if the name carries me back to a reality where humans live in harmony away from monsters. I hurriedly add, “Nice to meet you.” Then I remember our situation. My comment is inappropriate. There’s nothing nice about the forest. Social etiquette must have died along with my soul.

“And you?” She looks up at me with a curious gaze. “Do you have a name?”

It’s been so long since I’ve heard my name. Who said it last? Josh? Pa calling me to supper? I stop to think for a second and then allow it to roll off my tongue.

“Samuel Fawcett.”

She hugs her knees, leaning forward, dangerously near my barbed hands. “What a keen name for a monster.”

An odd musk from between the trees reaches me. The stench of fear grows potent as low branches snap. Someone small and clumsy runs toward us.

I leap up. “We need to go now.”