Welcome to Immortality & Beyond Debbie, may I offer you a beverage?
I
would love a glass of Liquor Strega, on the rocks.
According
to ancient Italian legend, in the city of Benevento where STREGA is
made, all the witches of the world would meet, disguise themselves as
beautiful young maidens and mix a magic brew. When two people drank
this potion, they were forever united. Today, it is still believed
that if a couple drinks Strega together, they will never be far
apart. www.strega.it
That is interesting, I'm so going to check it out.
Debbie is visiting from Black Opal Books today, chatting about her new release, Twin Flames.
BK:
Please tell us a little about your current release.
Debbie:
Twin
Flames
is a story about Marc and Natalia, who discover they are soul mates
who have spent hundreds of lives together spanning thousands of years
and the obstacles they must overcome to be together in their present
life.
BK:
What inspired this particular novel/book?
Debbie:
Most of us have had a déjà vu moment when we feel like we’ve
experienced “that” before, be it a conversation with someone or
meeting a person for the first time. I like it when it happens to me.
The experts who work in the field of past life regression believe
birthmarks are similar to ‘battle scars’ that we carry with us
into each incarnation. I put those two notions together and an idea
was born.
BK:
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
Debbie:
Ever since I can remember, I’ve been an avid reader. At some
point, probably around 10 years old, I thought it would be fun to try
to invent a story as cool as the ones I was reading. I still have a
few of my original attempts at writing. But they are hidden away in a
safe spot.
BK:
How do you keep your writing different from all the others that write
in this genre?
Debbie:
This novel is about reincarnation complete with a ghost from one of
their past lives. I was lucky enough to have a vampire short story
published. I’m developing a character named Spookie Millane who
possesses a unique ability when it comes to the dead. So for me, it’s
fun to write about different subjects within the paranormal realm.
BK:
What was the hardest thing about writing this story?
Debbie:
Making the past life regression scenes realistic and engaging. But it
was a labor of love. I spoke with two therapists who have both
written books about regression. I even had the opportunity to meet
with one of them. They were lovely women and very helpful. One gave
me permission to use her method of having her patient/client
visualize a long hallway lined with doors. Each door represented a
past life and you opened the door you wanted. Whatever you believe
about hypnosis and regression, it’s very real for the people
undergoing the process. They actually relive all the experiences,
good, bad, happy or terrifying. I wanted to show the hero and
heroine’s emotions.
BK:
What character was your favorite to write for in this story? Why?
Debbie:
Well, I’m very attached to the main characters, of course, but I’m
particularly fond of Natalia. She’s stubborn, speaks her mind,
drinks whiskey, plays poker and swears in English and Italian.
However, some of the minor characters from their past lives were a
blast to write. There’s Amelia, a spunky Madame who worked within
the underground railroad, hiding slaves at her brothel on the way to
Canada. And Giovanna, the mischievous ghost that lives with Natalia.
They have the same temperament, so, they bicker quite often.
BK:
Which was your favorite scene to write?
Debbie:
The whole book was a pleasure to write. I’ve had this story in me
for a long time and it poured out easily. If I were to pick
something, at the risk of being repetitive, I’d have to say the
four past lives Marc and Natalia relive.
BK:
Will this become a series? If so, what inspired it to be a series?
Debbie:
No, it won’t be a series but I hope to start on a sequel this
summer. I left a few things open at the end, anticipating one more
book. Marc and Natalia have a few more adventures to go on and
figure out which past life Giovanna is from and why she is ‘haunting’
them this time around.
BK:
Now for a little fun, and into your everyday life, what is a day in
your life like?
Debbie:
For ten years, I ran a local food pantry. It was a great job and I
loved it. At the end of the year, I had to leave the job because of
my dad’s failing health. So these days I spend a lot of time with
him and at doctor visits. Then I come home to the normal wife and
mother stuff. I’m an early riser so I get a lot of my writing done
in the morning.
BK:
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Debbie:
Like most writers, I love to read. We have a small boat on a local
lake and I enjoy being on the water. I practice yoga faithfully. I
watch a little TV – The Walking Dead, True Blood. I’m a fan of
the show ‘House’ and I’m sorry to see it end this season.
BK:
What do you like to read? Who is your favorite author?
Debbie:
Horror, thrillers, and the paranormal. Stephen King, Dean Koontz,
Anne Rice.
BK:
Please tell us one piece of advice you were given as an author that
you carry with you when you write.
Debbie:
I have a quote hanging over my desk by Agatha Christie: “Write even
when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you are writing, and
aren’t writing particularly well.” That says it all to me.
BK:
What is one piece of advice you can give to aspiring writers/authors?
Debbie:
Don’t be afraid and don’t get discouraged. One of the scariest
things is putting your work out there for other people to read and
judge. I have a folder full of rejections for Twin Flames. The same
day I received another rejection was also the day Black Opal offered
me a contract.
BK:
What are you currently working on?
Debbie:
I’m finishing a manuscript about an Italian hereditary witch
(Strega) named Sofia. She has the daunting task of breaking a
250-year-old family curse the hero, Armend, has on his head by the
winter solstice.
BK:
Where can readers connect with you?
Facebook
author page is Debbie Christiana.
She’d
never met him before…or had she?
The
last thing forty-year old Natalia Santagario expected was to be
sitting on a Manhattan
barstool
ogling a man she’s never met, but swears she knows.
He
didn’t know her at all…or did he?
The
mysterious dark-haired woman at the end of the bar stops twenty-eight
year old
Marc
Tremonti in his tracks. His head assures him she’s a stranger, but
his heart tells him otherwise.
Together
they embark on an adventure that will change their lives forever.
Their
attraction instant and enigmatic, they undergo past life regression
and discover that,
not
only have they spent hundreds of lives together as lovers, Natalia
holds the secret to
Marc’s
puzzling birthmark.
But
what should have been a joyful reunion is complicated by a kind,
albeit confused,
almost
ex-wife, a bout of temporary amnesia and a mischievous ghost from
their past.
What
else could possibly go wrong?
EXCERPT:
Natalia
unlocked the door, walked in and threw her purse on the couch.
Relieved to be off the crowded train and in the coziness of her
family room, there was no solace from the chaos spinning in her head.
Since that cold December evening, Marc and his birthmark haunted her
thoughts day and night. As handsome as he was, it wasn’t reason she
was attracted to him. There was something else, something deeper;
something she didn’t understand.
He
was an exciting but dangerous enigma and she was tired of behaving
like a teenager with a forbidden crush. Enough was enough. It was
time to act her age and be sensible. She didn’t need any more
strange occurrences in her life; living with Giovanna was plenty.
There was no need for further contact with Marc. Fumbling through
her purse, she found Mariella’s business card and threw it in the
garbage.
Later
that evening as she sat at her computer, she spotted Mariella’s
card on the
keyboard.
“I know you’re here.” Natalia felt a cool breeze blow past.
“Why do you want me to go online and look at her Center?”
Natalia
often wondered how and why she was able to have these conversations
with Giovanna. It was telepathic. One-sided, but telepathic
nevertheless. She understood Giovanna’s communication but heard it
in her head, not with her ears. Natalia, on the other hand, always
had to speak aloud. Another unsolved mystery with no resolution in
sight.
“Do
you really have no one else to bother?”
The
small garbage can next to her desk tipped over.
“I
know I haven’t been sleeping but I don’t think I need to check
myself into a facility.”
The
computer booted up all by itself. “You’re a pushy ghost, aren’t
you?”
Typing
the website into her browser, she began to read. Mariella, as well as
the other doctors on staff, were licensed Sleep Therapists, all
accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. She clicked on
therapies and read thoroughly the services the center offered their
clients.
“Okay,
I read the whole thing.” Natalia felt a slight nudge on her arm.
“No,
I don’t want to read that. It has nothing to do with me.”
Giovanna prodded her harder. Giving in as usual to her unseen
houseguest, she clicked on hypnotic regressions. Mariella hired two
new doctors specializing in hypnotic regression. Usually, the
regressions only went as far back as childhood, using this procedure
to uncover some trauma occurring during a person’s younger days.
Occasionally though, it was used to go back further to look into past
lives of clients. This was a not a new phenomenon by far. People had
believed in reincarnation for thousands of years. However, the
therapy was new to Tremonti’s Sleep and Dream Center and they were
asking anyone interested to contact them.
When
she was through reading, Natalia heard Giovanna in her head and spun
her chair around.
“What
did you say? How do you know about Marc?”
The
door to the library slammed shut. Natalia got up, darted to the door
and opened it.
“Come
back here, right now!”
She
ran into her family room but didn’t feel Giovanna anywhere. “I
asked you a question and I want an answer.” Silence. Walking over
to the steps, she shouted up the empty staircase.
“You
want to screw with me? Fine. You know there are certain individuals
that can make unruly ghosts leave a person’s home. We’ll see how
quiet you are when you’re being shoved out the damn door.”
Natalia
stood there fuming with her fists clutched at her sides. The threat
was
meaningless,
she would never make Giovanna leave.
They
needed each other too much and they both knew it.
Debbie
Christiana would sit in her room as a little girl and write stories
about ghosts, unexplained events and things that go bump in the
night. She combined her love of the paranormal with her fascination
of unusual love stories and decided to write paranormal romance. Her
novel, Twin
Flames,
was released in the summer of 2011 with Black Opal Books. In
February 2012, her short story, The Land of the Rising Sun, was one
of ten included the anthology BITES: Ten Tales of Vampires. Debbie
is a member of RWA and Secretary of the Romance Writers of
Connecticut and Lower New York. She lives in Connecticut with her
husband and three children.
