Guest Author Interview: Kristie Cook

Please welcome today's guest author Kristie Cook.  Kristie is the author of Promise (Soul Savers, book 1) which releases tomorrow July 30th!

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Kristie:  When I was in the third grade, we were studying Paul Bunyan and other tall tales. We were assigned to write a short story. Mine was about a brother and sister who were touring a cave with their parents and became lost. The gnomes who lived there befriended them and helped them find their way out. I was the only one in my class to get an A on the assignment and that’s when I fell in love with writing.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Kristie:  Well, that first story, Gnome Cave, written at 8 years old, was urban fantasy. LOL I grew up loving A Wrinkle in Time, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Through my tween and teen years, I was more contemporary, yet edgy – from Judy Blume to Stephen King. I guess the outbreak of paranormal stories over the last 5-10 years rekindled my interest – as well as my husband’s love for the Syfy channel. LOL I enjoy writing it because you can go beyond the boundaries of the real world and anything is possible, as long as you can make it believable. On the other hand, it can be challenging because you are essentially making your own rules – and you have to remember not to break them.

EJ:   If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Kristie:   Wow, that’s a hard one. I’ve always wanted to be a pilot, so I would love being able to fly on my own. I’d also like to be able to swim in the deep blue ocean without having to come up for air. Telekinesis is cool, but I think telepathy could be scary – some things people actually say are bad enough, I don’t think I want to know what they’re thinking (except for my herd of teens – I’d love to know what’s going on in their minds!). Right now, though, with everything going on in my life, I’d really like the ability to stop time. Then I would get all the housecleaning done, emails taken care of and even do some writing while everyone else is on hold, then I can put the world back into motion and actually be a part of it.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Kristie:  The Soul Savers series has everything that people love right now – supernatural and mythological creatures (just about all of them, as well as my own made-up ones), battles, a little mystery and suspense, and romance and love (all different kinds) – however, the premise is unique. Promise has a lot of romance and supernatural fights, but Alexis, the main character, is just starting to learn who she is, so there aren’t as many creatures as there are in the following books. This story is basically a prologue for the series – it introduces the main characters, how they came together and some of the mythology of the world I’ve created. It takes place nine years ago, whereas the rest of the series is in present day. It’s a kickoff to the whole epic story of the battle for human souls.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Kristie:   Ha! I have definite pictures in my mind, but they are really composites of a couple actresses/actors. But…I wouldn’t say anyway. Part of the fun of reading is creating your own visions. I prefer to give a few attributes to get you started – hair color, eye color, build, height – and then let you decide what “Mr. Beautiful” means to you, for example. My image could be very different than yours and you might not like mine so much. I want you to love him! I want them all to belong to you, the reader! I mean, I think we all agree that seeing a movie based on our favorite books can totally change the flavor, simply because the characters don’t look like what we imagined. And it’s really bad when you haven’t finished all the books in the series and now you have a pre-made image of a character, instead of making him or her your own. I don’t want to do that. In fact, I’m still debating on whether there will be any faces in the book trailer…which I need to get to work on so I’ll shut up here and let you get back to what you were doing, too.

Thank you, E.J., for hosting me. These were fun questions to ponder and answer. I hope you all enjoy Promise and the rest of the Soul Savers series.

Thank you Kristie for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

Promise (Soul Savers, book 1) by Kristie Cook.

Alexis Ames has a life full of promise…but not all promises can be kept.
 
When Alexis Ames is attacked by creatures that can’t be real, she decides it’s time she learns who she really is, with or without the help of her mother, who guards their family’s secrets closely. After meeting the inhumanly attractive, multi-talented Tristan Knight, however, Alexis retreats behind her façade of normalcy…until she discovers he’s not exactly normal either. Then their secrets begin to unravel.

Their union brings hope and promise to her family’s secret society, the Angels’ army, and to the future of mankind. But it also incites a dangerous pursuit by the enemy – Satan’s minions and Tristan’s creators. After all, Alexis and Tristan are a match made in Heaven and in Hell.

For more information about Kristie please visit her website.  For more information about Promise and the Soul Savers series please visit the book website where you can read the first two chapters of Promise for free!