Bewitching
Book Tours
Interview
at Immortality & Beyond
Welcome
to IAB. I'm so glad you could stop in today to chat. May I offer you
a beverage?
Vampire
wine please. Two glasses.
Now
that we are settled in, let's get to know you better.
BK:
Looking out the nearest window, describe the scene you see.
A
lovely cherry tree on a small quiet dead-end street in Portland,
Oregon. There’s a squirrel racing up one of the branches.
BK:
Tell us about your office. Is it a mess like mine, or is everything
in its place?
A
total mess. Both of us. Even when either one of us cleans it up,
within hours the piles start to grow again. They must be alive. And
have sinister intent.
BK:
What is a must-have, such as coffee or a favorite pen, that you need
to write?
No
must-haves, just the will, which is not always easy to come by,
especially when it’s a perfect day in Portlandia. Like today!
BK:
Do you like to write in silence, or do you need music or background
noise?
Clark
writes with music in the background, but Kathleen needs silence
(Kathleen is genetically unwired when it comes to music, it’s
really weird); hence Clark’s earbuds.
BK:
Tell us a bit about your hero/heroine, and their development.
Tucker
is a true-blue cowboy, living out his expected life in the grasslands
of Wyoming with a good dog, a few cows and a double-wide trailer.
Then Lizzie, a big-city reporter enters his life and turns his world
upside down. After they fall in love, they learn about her dark
heritage -- she has a 2,000 year old vampiric legacy in her veins --
and Tucker brings his cowboy-ways to an epic fight with the undead.
It’s a love story for the ages.
BK:
As a writer myself, I'm always curious how other writers get through
stumble blocks. When you find a story not flowing, or a character
trying to fight you, how do you correct it?
Both
of us have been writers-for-hire for a long time, and when you are
paid to write on a deadline, you learn how to push through any
stumbling blocks because rent is on the line. By this time, we can
bring that skill -- well, not sure it is a skill as much as an
outcome of a hand-to-mouth tortured existence in this neighborhood we
call capitalism -- to creative writing too.
BK:
Using the letters of your first name as an acronym, describe your
book...
Fun!
We’ll use Clark’s name .
C:
Cowboys (the real ones)
L:
Love (the true type)
A:
Adventure (the rollicking kind)
R:
Realistically scary (especially when it comes the undead bloody
combat)
K:
Kaleidoscopic passion (the unforgettable version)
BK:
How did your writing journey begin?
It
must have been something both our mother’s ate while we were in the
womb because each one of us came out spewing words. Clark cut his
teeth on cowboy poetry, inspired by the majestic and seemingly
endless mountain ranges surrounding him during his Montana cattle
ranch childhood. Kathleen, on the other hand, turned her words toward
the microscopic and found post-womb inspiration in geology. Although,
now in hindsight, we can say we were both inspired by the natural
landscape, especially the American west. This reverence plays out in
a big way in the setting of The
Cowboy and the Vampire Collection. However,
our writing journey together started as test for marriage. We had
broken up -- badly -- and before we got back together, we wanted to
put our relationship to an acid test. We passed. We just published
the third book in the series.
BK:
Using the letters from the word, Summer, how would friends and family
describe you?
For
Kathleen this time:
S:
Sharp (intellectually)
U:
Unhappy (in the tortured Russian writer way)
M:
Manic (especially when it comes to planning)
M:
Metaphysical (our books have a unique take on consciousness)
E:
Empathetic
R:
Ready
BK:
What is the craziest thing you've ever written about, whether it got
published or not?
Honestly,
The Cowboy and the Vampire
Collection is probably
the craziest. A book that’s compared by readers to Louis L’Amour,
Zane Grey, Anne Rice and Neil Gaiman -- well that’s a heady mix,
and one that percolates out of a bit of shared insanity, or at least,
a shared warped view of the world.
BK:
Tell us one thing you've done in life, that readers would be most
surprised to know.
Clark
shot himself in the leg accidentally while wearing a sky-blue tuxedo
on his high school prom night. He was fine. The tuxedo was ruined.
Kathleen
had a near-death experience, the real kind.
Oddly,
both of these events permeates our books.
BK:
What can we expect from you in the future?
Lots
more. We are working on book four of The
Cowboy and Vampire Collection.
We’ve promised our readers that we will quickly resolve the “issue”
that occurs between Tucker and Lizzie at the end of book three. Right
now, we are naming a new evil character. Any ideas for evil sounding
names?
This
or That...
Coke
or Pepsi?
Neither.
Champagne.
Night
Owl or Early Bird?
Depends
on the day of the week and how exhausted we are.
Fantasy
or Mystery?
Clark:
Fantasy
Kathleen:
Mystery
Pen/Paper
or Computer?
Clark:
Preferably paper.
Kathleen:
Only computer. She’s forgotten how to write by hand and has
terrible penmanship.
Pizza
or Burger?
Clark:
Pizza
Kathleen:
Neither. She’s vegan .
Rock
or Country?
Both!!
Chocolate
or Vanilla?
Chocolate,
the darker the better.
Beach
or Mountains?
Both.
And luckily, living in Portland, Oregon, we are only an hour from
both.
Thank
you so much for having us as one of your stops today. It has been
great getting to know more about you and your book, and hope you will
come back when the next release is out (*hinthint*)
Wishing
you much success!
BK
Walker
The
Cowboy and the Vampire Collection
Book
Three
Clark
Hays and Kathleen McFall
Genre:
Paranormal Romance/Western Romance
Date
of Publication: May 5, 2014
ISBN:
978-0-9838200-4-8
Number
of pages: 358
Word
Count: 82,900
Book
Description:
Say
goodbye to LonePine, Wyoming, a typical small town in the American
west with typical small town problems — romantic intrigues, warm
beer and vampires.
When
Lizzie goes missing on their wedding night, Tucker is forced to team
up with his bloodthirsty Russian nemesis to find answers. Crashing
through cowboy country, the vampire spirit world and wrecked salmon
canneries, they confront an evil more ancient than even the undead —
human greed — twisting science into something terrible.
Can
there be a happily-ever-after for a cowboy and vampire, or is their
unusual love just a delusion? Time to cowboy up.
This
is the third book in The Cowboy and the Vampire Collection.
Available
at Amazon
Reviews
of the first two books….
Introducing
racial issues isn’t the only adjustment the authors have made to
the vampire mythos, but it’s more than just the details that set
this series apart. Rather, it’s the way the authors utilize those
details to create meaningful conflicts and world-altering choices for
the characters...the book is first and foremost a thriller, upping
the ante in every chapter as bullets fly and relationships strain
under the weight of old loyalties and new revelations…with strong
writing, funny characters (no irony is lost on one vampiress who
takes to sporting a “Future Farmers of America” jacket) and
plenty of action, it’s hard to fault the authors for keeping the
focus on a story this riveting.
~ Kirkus Reviews
As
a vampire novel, The Cowboy and the Vampire is sure to satisfy
Dracula fans’ expectations. However, this book has a little
something extra to offer readers. A little something that harkens
back to the days when man fought against the wild in the name of
civilization. Hays and McFall have succeeded in mixing the Western
genre tropes with the Gothic conventions to create a zany grey
romance.
~
Writastic Thoughts from the Thinking Realm
One
of the weirdest stories I have ever read. It’s right up there with
Neil Gaiman’s man-swallowing woman parts and talking tents.
Instead, here we have rocket-launching, womb-sucking, Bible-bending,
non-pointy-toothed vampires. And love. And cowboys. Depending on what
you are looking for, that might be a good thing. If I had to liken
this book to a movie, it would either be to Tucker & Dale vs.
Evil, or maybe more appropriately, Quentin Tarantino’s From Dusk to
Dawn.
~
The Avid Reader
The
Cowboy and the Vampire: A Very Unusual Romance is one of the funniest
and most engaging books I have read in a long time. Jam-packed with
adventure, vampires, true love, and a cast of characters you will not
soon forget, you find yourself turning the pages thinking, “What
more could possibly happen to these two?” And then, you find out. I
never imagined the melding of a contemporary western and a paranormal
romance could ever be so seamless or so much fun.
~
Bitten by Books
A
choice and very much recommended read, not to be missed.
Relationships are tumultuous when they may only last a few decades,
but when they last eternity, it can get more difficult. “Blood and
Whiskey” is a novel of adventure, horror, and cowboys as a follow
up to previous novel ‘The Cowboy and the Vampire’, as couple
Tucker and Lizzie retreat to a tiny town to of LonePine, hoping to
settle down, but the reality of the Vampires on their trail may make
that an impossibility. A riveting read that explores many concepts on
top of the intrigue of vampires in the lawless lands of the west,
“Blood and Whiskey” is a choice and very much recommended read,
not to be missed.
~
Midwest Book Review, Micah Andrew, Reviewer
If
you’re looking for a combination of sex, blood and Western romance,
pour yourself a shot of the good stuff and settle in for a wickedly
good read.
~
Renee Struthers, Eastern Oregonian Newspaper
About
the Authors:
Between
the two of them, Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall have worked in
writing jobs
ranging from cowboy-poet to energy journalist to
restaurant reviewer to university press officer. After they met,
their writing career took center stage when they wrote the first book
in The Cowboy and the Vampire Collection as a test for marriage. They
passed. Clark and Kathleen now live in Portland, Oregon.
@cowboyvamp
(Twitter)
@cowboyvampire
(Instagram)
Tour
giveaway
$50
Amazon or BN Gift Card- winner’s choice
2 comments:
Love the interview, sounds like a good series to start.
Thanks for letting us spend time on your site. Looks like we've got some steamy wolf reading ahead of us!
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