Author Interview and Giveaway: CC Hunter!!

CC Hunter, author of Born at Midnight, was kind enough to answer some interview questions for me!

I hope you enjoy reading them; and stay tuned at the end for a giveaway!!

Some Quickfire Q's:
Favourite Flower:  My favorite flower is the daisy.  I don’t know why I’ve always loved them – they’re a simple, non-pretentious kind of flower, but they make me smile every time I see them.
Favourite book as a child:  My favorite book was Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White.  I’ve said this in other interviews but, honestly, I see that book as more of a cross-species romance between Charlotte, the barn spider, and Wilbur, the pig.  Now, you know why I love writing cross-species relationship stories in Shadow Falls.  LOL.
Favourite Smell:  Hmm.  This is hard.  I’d say the smell of freshly baking bread.  There is something so comforting about the aroma to me.  It reminds me of when I was a child and my grandmother was baking bread.  
Place you'd most like to travel to:  I’ve done a lot of traveling over the years.  (I used to work as a photojournalist and travel writer, so I’ve been to China and France, as well as South America, among other places.)  One destination I haven’t visited yet and would love to see is England.  My hubby and I have talked about going and I’d love to do it in the next few years.
Favourite fictional character:  Hmm.  This one is tough to answer because it depends on the context.  For example, I love the old Die Hard movie franchise.  Bruce Willis’s character, John McClane, is one of my favorites.  Same for Mel Gibson’s Marty Riggs in the Lethal Weapon movies.  Right now, on TV, I love watching NCIS, and love Mark Harmon’s Jethro Leroy Gibbs and Michael Weatherly’s Tony DiNozzo.  They’re complex characters with a lot of mysterious layers.  But, having said that, the first fictional character that came to mind was a cartoon character, Pepe le Pew.  I love skunks and Pepe is a hoot. And, yeah, he has a lot of layers to his character.  I mean, why does he keep falling for that cat?  LOL.
Favourite book as an adult:  Hmm.  This one is hard because it keeps changing.  I’ll go with some of my most recent favorites - Firelight by Sophie Jordan, Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynne Childs, Glimmerglass by Jenna Black, 13 to Life by Shannon Delany, Evermore by Alyson Noel, Glass Houses by Rachel Caine and The House of Night by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.
 
 
1. If Lucas and Derek were both going to buy Kylie a gift to impress her, what would they choose?  Hmm.  You are really making me think with your questions.  LOL.  Let’s see, Derek would choose something that comes from nature, such as a rock or crystal, rather than a bottle of perfume or a book.  Derek knows Kylie’s fears and her passions because he can sense her emotions.  He would choose something that would mean something to her, such as a rock from the area where they spent time getting to know each other--maybe something that has a lot of different visible layers, to remind her of the different layers to her own psyche.  Lucas would go with something that would remind her of their past.  In Born at Midnight, he gave her a kitten, whom she named Socks, Jr., because it looked like the cat she had lost when she was a little girl.  It was such a touching gesture from Lucas and so like him.  And I realize you asked what they would *buy* her but, for both guys, I see them doing something a bit more creative than that.
 
2. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?  Hmm.  Well, I have a lot of favorite foods but unfortunately they are not always the best things for me to eat, calorie-wise, I mean.  For example, I love freshly baked French bread with extra virgin olive oil and herbs for dipping.  It’s a great treat, but not something I would want to eat every day for the rest of my life.  LOL.  If I had to choose a food, though, I might go for a big salad with some lean protein in there, such as a grilled chicken breast.  I love salads with lots of veggies—broccoli, cucumbers, tomatoes are all good choices—and a handful of fresh strawberries, too.  A nice vinaigrette on the side for dipping.  Hmm.  Now that I’m thinking about food, I’m feeling hungry.  Is it lunch time yet?  LOL.
 
3.I entered a giveaway for your book on Tyna's Reviews which asked the question "How would you react if you found out you weren't human" so I post the same question to you!  LOL.  Okay, I’ll give that a shot.  If I were to discover suddenly that I wasn’t human, my first reaction would be shock, of course.  I mean, if I suddenly took flight or waved my hand and made some annoying people turn into frogs, I would probably freak a little.  Or a lot.  Then I would take my cue from Kylie and I would go on a journey of self-discovery to figure out what I was and what it meant.
 
4.You've just witnessed a murder and have to go into witness protection asap! First; what new name would you choose for yourself? second, you can only take 5 things to remind you of your old life what would you take? Hmm.  I don’t know if you realize this, Caitlin, but I also write adult romantic suspense novels as Christie Craig, so I’ve definitely thought about this one before.  In fact, I’ve done things like this to my characters.  I even had a book with a hero who was in WitSec.  (The book is Divorced, Desperate and Deceived.)  Anyway, if I had to choose a fake name while in WitSec, I would probably go with something like Camille or Samantha, so I could have a cool nickname like Cam or Sam.  As for the five things I would bring with me, well, first I would want to take my hubby and my immediate family.  Family is so important to me, so I can’t imagine creating a new life without them.  Next, I’d want to bring my pets.  They are like family to me, so how could I start a new life without them by my side?  Third would be my computer.  Hey, I’m a writer, and writers write . . . even if they are in WitSec for their own protection.  LOL.  Fourth, I would want to bring some of my books.  (Okay, I’m envisioning a moving van the size of an 18-wheeler but how can I choose which books to bring and which to leave?  That’s just too hard!)  My last item would be a photo or two of family members and friends who couldn’t go with me.  You know, now that I’ve thought this through, I probably wouldn’t make it in WitSec because it would be too hard to walk away from all the people and things I hold dear.  Very thought-provoking question.
 
5. I know from your interviews that you're currently working on the third book of the Shadow Falls series, can you tell us (if you even know yourself!) how many books there will be in total?  Good question.  Unfortunately, I can’t answer that because I don’t know.  My editor and I have decided to run with the series and see where it takes us, so we don’t have any plans as of yet to end things.  (I’m excited about this because I have so many possible plot lines, twists and turns that I can explore!)  Honestly, so much of it depends on how well Born at Midnight does.  Ditto for Awake at Dawn out in October and Taken at Dark, which releases in the spring of 2012. We will continue the series as long as the readers want us to keep doing the books.  And I hope that is for a long time to come!

Thanks again for having me here at your blog.  I’ve had a blast!  

Born at Midnight, the first book in the Shadow Falls series was released on 29th March 2011

Don’t miss this spectacular new series that will steal your heart and haunt your dreams,  Welcome to Shadow Falls camp, nestled deep in the woods of a town called Fallen…

One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever.  Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.”  Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.

Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either.  Or does she?  They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason.  As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas.  Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past.  Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart. 

Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs

How totally awesome does this book sound?? I bet you all want to read it now, right? Well it's your lucky day 'cause CC has very generously agreed to giveaway a copy right here!! The giveaway is open internationally and will run until the 29th April to celebrate the one month anniversary of the release of Born at Midnight!

To enter; simply leave a comment with an answer to the following question:

"What kind of Paranormal would you want to be and why?"

No extra entries for this giveaway, but of course GFC follows and RTs etc are massively appreciated!

I'd like to say a final thank you to CC Hunter for being such an entertaining and accommodating interviewee! I hope you enjoy reading her answers as much as I did!!

If you'd like to find out more about CC or the Shadow Fall series; you can check out her awesome website here

*****

On an unrelated note, Lily has a fantastic giveaway over at her blog celebrating reaching 300 followers! Congrats Lily!! So whilst you're entering the giveaway to win Born at Midnight; you may as well head over to Lily's blog and enter hers too!!