4Q: I discovered your short story – Treasure Quest – when I
visited your website. I’ve always been drawn to stories of boys and their
antics. The lad in the story- Cooper – finds a treasure more valuable than he
was originally seeking. Tell us please how this story evolved.
CB: When my publisher requested a short story, I immediately
went a little frantic. My mind simply doesn’t work that way. Stories always
come to me as full blown novels. So I cheated a little by thinking of this tale
as an introduction to a novel with a full blown, larger treasure hunt to take
place (for pretend) after this short bit about him finding civil war artifacts
as well as connecting with his great grandfather and father.
I always love writing from a boy’s point of view and
especially about the outdoors. My own childhood was spent on endless outdoor
adventures and treasure hunts in Wisconsin. I also love writing survival
stories, so ultimately this treasure story had to have a slice of that as well.
Cooper overcoming his physical limits is a great representation of what is
happening on a deeper scale with his relationship with his family members. The
treasure isn’t what he was expecting, and neither is the relationship with his
dad. I don’t know if I will ever revisit Cooper’s story, but he was a lot of
fun to hang out with!
4Q: Your TimeShifters series is a compelling account of time
travel to the past, an earlier period filled with amazing characters and
creatures, as well as danger for the young traveller- Jordan Booker. There are
two books available in the series, Mark of the Centipede, Mark of the Serpent
and the third, Mark of the Spider will be ready in the spring of this
year. Tell us about them, your
inspiration for them.
CB: I had the idea for this series during a two hour work
commute. I actually pulled out a pen and wrote notes under the hem of my skirt
on my thigh while I was driving. (Now I use my phone’s voice recorder!) The
idea that our earth’s history is significantly different than the Discovery Channel’s
depictions appealed to me. Especially the colors and sizes of plants and
animals because these create
wild visual effects. I stretch science a little
regarding green photosynthesis and creatures that escaped the fossil record,
but it’s important to stretch our idea of what is possible as well as have fun
with what might have been. And since I love survival stories, having an ill
equipped boy learning to survive in both rural and urban settings fit well for
me. I loved incorporating everything from dinosaurs to steampunk elements in
the same series. It’s difficult to fit that much variety in a single trilogy!
Many of the times in my life when I read the most were to escape reality for a
while, so it was important to me that this trilogy allow the reader to fully
depart
from everything familiar.
4Q: Please share an amusing family or childhood anecdote.
CB: As a child I was obsessed with fairy tales, particularly any
with witches. The women in my life were very kind and nurturing, so the horror
of an evil female who lured children into ovens or hunted them down with flying
monkeys was a mysterious terror. When I was about four, my mom and grandma took
me to the grocery store after a morning filled with witch storybooks. We turned
down the first aisle and three women dressed fully in their black Amish clothing
turned toward me—likely with a friendly smile. I screamed and shouted,
“Witches, Mommy! Run from the witches!” The small town in Wisconsin where I
grew up has a large Amish population, and I was accustomed to seeing their
horses tethered outside every time we went shopping. But on that particular day
my imagination won and my poor mom and grandma had to suffer the consequences.
Naturally, they were mortified, and Mom steered me away from Amish for a few years.
4Q: You have two adult novels ready for publication, Little
Boy Blu - a psychological thriller and Voodoo- Dolls for Justice. I’m eagerly
awaiting an opportunity to read them. Can you briefly tell us about them and
where they are in the publishing process?
CB: I’m actively seeking a publisher for Little Boy Blu. It’s
a dark departure from the middle grade and young adult works I have out to
date, though the protagonist is still a young boy. The premise is a woman who
intentionally has children with a genetic abnormality
that causes blue skin. These children are raised in isolation in the
Appalachian Mountains. When the oldest boy, sixteen year-old Blu, uncovers
family secrets, someone in the family starts trying to kill him. The craziest
thing about this story is that it is based on a real genetic condition that
causes blue skin, so it is wildly possible.
My women’s comedy mystery about voodoo is the
first novel I’ve completed with an adult woman protagonist. I really had a
blast writing this one. Annette Dupre is a divorce attorney whose law practice
is floundering until she introduces voodoo dolls as a feel
good gimmick. Women
line up for dolls in the likeness of their soon to be ex-spouse. Of course the
dolls have to be more than feel good therapy, especially when Annette’s great
aunt from New Orleans—suffering from dementia—attempts to teach her the finer
points of voodoo. I would love to write an entire series from this novel, and
am doing final edits now.
I’m also putting the final touches on the next TimeShifters
novel, Mark of the Spider, and have a new thriller outlined. The thriller is
loosely based on my kids and me building our own house from the ground up. I am
billing it as fiction, because that is the only way I’ve found to tell the real
truth. With a bit of luck—and an immunity to sleep—I’ll start the new novel in
March!
Thank you Cara for giving us an insight into your stories. I
hope your many projects never take you from your writing. Visit Cara’s website
at www.carabrookins.com or her blog at www.carabrookins.wordpress.com
Next week, March 7th, an up and coming author will share an excerpt from her new novel, The King of Swords. Connie Cook delivers a new mystery story where each chapter is titled for one of the cards from a Tarot Deck.
Are you scared of Wasps? I am. March 14, read a story about those small creatures that can terrify some people, especially Seymour Troffmock.
Dark Side of a Promise - a tantalizing tale of revenge - is available at amazon.com or amazon.ca
