My lovely and talented Crescent Moon Press sister Wendy Russo put together a super fun blog hop. I joined (duh!), and Wendy paired me with the lovely and talented Diane Haynes, also a fellow Crescent Moon Press sister. Our main characters were to interview each other. Leigh is my main character from The Grave Winner. Micah is Diane’s main character in her book Rift Healer (more info about it below). When these two characters got their mouths flapping, sparks flew, and not the romantic kind either.
This is how it went down:
Leigh: Hey. How’s life?
Micah: Good, thanks. Hey, what’s with the hair? And the piercings?
Leigh: What about my hair? You have a problem with my hair? Of all the things to pick at, like my combat boots or my decapitated doll shirt, you have a problem with my hair. It’s a normal shade of blond, genius. Just like my mom’s. Now back off.
Micah: Is that a knife in your boots? Real classy. I carry a wand.
Leigh: A wand? Huh. My sister would love you then. She’s all into wizards and stuff. She’s read the entire Before Merlin’s Beard series three times. So do you do magic?
Micah: Yeah. But it’s nothing I can tell a ‘muggle’ about. And, umm…sorry, but I’m not really interested in speaking with your sister–I’m in love with a genuine angel. Her name’s Haley and she’s the most beautiful girl in the world. You wanna talk about magic? She’s IT.
Leigh: Oh, ouch. I just got burned. My sister’s nine, by the way. You’re probably a little too old for her, lover boy.
You can’t, you know, raise the dead or anything with your magic, can you? If so, stay away from Heartland Cemetery or else your face will soon get a nasty visit from my fist.
You’re in love with a genuine angel? Cool. I’m not in love with anyone. I thought I was in “like” with my best friend’s brother, but he turned out to be such a liar. But there is that one boy who always lurks around the cemetery… I can’t believe I just told you that.
So, this Haley girl-what’s she like?
Micah: I see the dead and sometimes I talk to them, but I avoid cemeteries–they’re a bit too crowded. Haley’s wonderful. She can heal the earth. There’s no one like her and I can’t believe I finally found her.
Oh, and lay off the tough-girl thing. You don’t fool me, or anyone else.
Leigh: Tough girl thing? Whatever. You must think you’re soooo smart. Don’t think for one second that you know me. You don’t know how it feels to have your mom die. You don’t know how it feels to have the prom queen come back from the dead the same day as your mom’s funeral. So take that big brain of yours and–did you just say “heal the earth”?
Micah: I’m sorry about your mom, but the prom queen? I see that sort of thing everyday. No biggie. And yeah, Haley just points her wand and the gashes in the earth close. She’s amazing. I have the ability to see people who’ll be important to me in the future and Haley is all over my future. I knew about her months before I even met her. The things I can do made her nervous at first, but now–we’re good.
Leigh: Yeah, right. No biggie. I suppose the inky darkness that seeps from her feet and kills everything is no biggie either, huh?
But gashes in the earth? What kind of gashes? Ones caused by earthquakes or something? We don’t have earthquakes in Krapper, Kansas, so I wouldn’t know about those.
So you can see people who are important to your future? Can you see into my future?
Micah: I think you’re imagining the inky crap–that stuff just doesn’t happen. The gashes in the earth were caused by a rare earthquake in MA. and monsters were leaking out. It was up to us to heal the earth and close the rifts.
And, no. I don’t see anyone else’s future. Nice try.
So, who’s taking care of you and your sister?
Leigh: It’s so easy for you to dismiss everything I say, huh? It’s “no biggie” about the dead prom queen, or I’m just “imagining the inky crap.” Are you always so dismissive of people who aren’t “important to you in the future”? If Haley wasn’t important to your future, would you dismiss her too? You sound like you’re really full of yourself.
And my dad is taking care of me and Darby. Not that it’s any of your business.
Micah: Hey, let’s calm it down a bit.
Okay, so what did the prom queen say? Did you know her? Why do you think she appeared to you?
I don’t dismiss those who aren’t important to my future, I just…hmmm. Maybe I do. It just seems like there’s never enough time. You wouldn’t bother with someone just walking down the street–unless maybe they were in trouble, right? That’s how I feel about most people. Other than this conversation, you and I will never see each other again, but here I am, trying to understand you. And see how much fun I’m having?
Let’s leave Haley out of it.
Leigh: I’ll calm down when I feel like it. Yeah, I knew the prom queen, but her social circle is my social nightmare. I don’t know why she appeared to me. Probably because she was in the graveyard, and I ran off after my mom’s funeral. I almost stepped in the black inky stuff dripping off her. I thought my grief was making me see things. But I wasn’t.
I only dismiss people who are wrapped up tight in their own lives to even glance at other people. Like the prom queen’s social circle. Are you the prom king type?
Micah: Why are you so angry? Are you always so rude to people who try to help you?
It’s no wonder you’re not part of the prom queen’s circle–if I were as socially awkward, angry and jealous as you, no one would want to be around me either.
And yeah, I was the Prom King–what of it? What does that prove to you? That I’m good-looking? Not my fault. That I have a good personality & people like me?ALL my fault. You see, I make an effort to be nice to people and get along with them. Something you probably can’t even imagine.
You’re not bad looking. You might have been Prom Queen or even had a DATE, if you smiled occasionally.
You need an attitude adjustment.
Leigh: I’m angry because my mom’s dead, the prom queen came back to life on the day of my mom’s funeral, and I’m afraid my mom’s going to come back next, okay? My mom can’t come back from the dead looking like the prom queen with her mouth hanging wide open, looking terrified, and dripping darkness everywhere. She just can’t!
And I don’t see you trying to help me. All you’re doing is dismissing me and telling me I need an attitude adjustment. That helps me how? Why don’t you take your Prom King self and go make out with Haley or go heal a gash in the earth or something.
Micah: I’m sorry your mom’s dead. Really.
And I can help you. I talk to the dead, find out what they want and send them back. The drippy prom queen’s just looking for attention. They do weird stuff like that when they have something important to say. She will follow you around until you figure it out. I don’t think your mom would do that to you.
Since it all started at the cemetery, let’s go there.
Honestly, I’ve done this before.
Leigh: Okay. I’ll go to the cemetery with you. The prom queen just speaks in unintelligible whispers though, but maybe you can understand her.
Once we’re there, what will you do? Just talk to her?
Micah: You know, you’re kinda pretty when you’re not growling like a mad dog.
Leigh: You’re not so bad yourself for a prom king.
*They both head to the cemetery.*
They didn’t kill each other! *throws confetti* Yay! This was great fun. Special thanks to Diane and Micah for putting up with Leigh and me. If you would like more information about Rift Healer, here’s the cover and blurb:
After a minor earthquake, the enchanted forest in Bidwell, MA, is infested with monster-spewing rifts.
Gisele’s great nephew, the gifted Micah, and his distant cousin, Selena, arrive to assist. Together with Gisele’s summer students, twins Haley and Lacey, they will try to help the magical forest.
Much to the consternation of the beautiful Selena, Micah identifies Haley as The One whom he’ll share his future. But after witnessing a terrifying display of Micah’s Gift, Haley cools to his advances and unexpectedly discovers her own Gift– she can heal the earth.
Monsters, mayhem, and teenage angst follow the small group as they confront evil in the forest and a dangerous prediction that ‘one will fall’. Will they heal the rifts in time? Can they save the unicorns? And is Haley really destined to be with Micah?
It sounds awesome!!!
If you would like more info about my book, The Grave Winner, here’s the blurb and a link to add it to your Goodreads page (I don’t have a cover yet):
Leigh Baxton is terrified her mom will come back from the dead — just like the prom queen did.
While the town goes beehive over the news, Leigh bikes to the local cemetery and buries some of her mom’s things in her grave to keep her there. When the hot and mysterious caretaker warns her not to give gifts to the dead, Leigh cranks up her punk music and keeps digging.
She should have listened.
Two dead sorceresses evicted the prom queen from her grave to bury someone who offered certain gifts. Bury them alive, that is, then resurrect them to create a trio of undead powerful enough to free the darkest sorceress ever from her prison inside the earth.
With help from the caretaker and the dead prom queen, Leigh must find out what’s so special about the gifts she gave, and why the sorceresses are stalking her and her little sister. If she doesn’t, she’ll either lose another loved one or have to give the ultimate gift to the dead – herself.
If you wold like to follow the rest of the blog hop, see below:
The Interviews!
Gregor Caine + Circe (Christine Ashworth & Claire Gillian)
Caleb + Arland and Kate (Kinley Baker & Krystal Wade)
Leigh Baxton + Micah Fuller (Lindsay Loucks & Diane M. Haynes)
Shayla Dormyr + Kara Magari (Raven Bower & S.M. Boyce)
Kellyn O’Brien + Julianna (Louann Carroll & Siobhan Muir)
Ivory + Sara Wiley (Rebecca Hamilton & Sandra Bunino)
Xylia and Landon + Avant (Avery Olive & Kary Rader)
Asar + Matty Ducayn (Jean Murray & Wendy Russo)