Author Interview with Emma Meade + Review and Excerpt

Emma Meade, Author

Welcome to Cover2CoverBlog Emma, thank you for joining us. First could you tell us a little about yourself?

Thanks for having me, Stephanie. My name is Emma Meade. I live in Ireland where it rains quite a lot, and I find this type of gloomy weather helps when writing paranormal fiction.

What was your inspiration for Under the Desert Moon?

 I'd been listening to Kelly Clarkson's song "Breakway" on my iPod in the year leading up to me writing Under the Desert Moon. It was easy to imagine a small town girl feeling trapped in her hometown and longing to break free. Erin was born, as was the town of Copperfield, Arizona and the story developed from there. 

What is your favorite part about the writing process? Do you have a special writing spot?

Finishing a novel or short story and flicking back through the pages and marveling that I managed to complete a story is pretty good. My writing spot is the couch. I like to rest my laptop on my lap and sit back against a few cushions, typing away and taking frequent tea and biscuit breaks. 

What do you have planned next? Are you working on anything currently?

I'm midway through the first draft of an adult, vampire tale called Night Whispers. My aim is to release it next March. Fingers crossed anyway.

 What are you reading right now? Any book recommendations for us?

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness. I loved her first book A Discovery of Witches. Try Marian Keyes, a fabulous, Irish writer. 

Thank you so much for spending time with us Emma!

 

Excerpt from Under the Desert Moon by Emma Meade

Erin stared out her bedroom window, wishing as always that she was elsewhere.  Anywhere but here, she thought wistfully.

           Nothing ever happened in this rundown town, not since the last mine had closed a decade ago.  Copperfield, Arizona, was dusty, quiet and old-fashioned.  It took months for the latest movie to make it to The Oracle theatre where Erin worked part-time, but it was the easiest job in the world.  It got Erin out of the house she shared with her brothers and angry, alcoholic father, put money in her savings account, and most importantly, Erin got to see movies free.

            It was escapism.  For a couple of hours she could lose herself in another world, imagining herself as the beautiful heroine.  Erin was waiting for the day she would learn she wasn’t her father’s daughter. That her mother had embarked on some secret affair with a handsome, rich man, and it was only a matter of time before he discovered her existence and introduced Erin to his world.

            Sighing, she rested her chin in her hand.  A cool summer breeze ruffled the curtains and lifted the strands of her bangs, tickling Erin’s forehead.  She hated this tomb-like town, but had to admit that at night, Copperfield was beautiful.  The desert gleamed beneath a full moon, and the scent of vegetation from the garden was spicy and fragrant.  Erin breathed it deeply.

            A cloud at that moment obscured the moon, and the hairs on her arms lifted.  The breeze died down suddenly and she straightened up.  She felt distinctly peculiar.  Was there a storm coming?

            The door to her bedroom sprang inwards.  Startled, Erin turned to shout at whichever brother had disturbed her peace.  It was Nick, her twin.

            “Do you mind?” Erin said.

          Nick’s sea-blue eyes gleamed.  They were just like Erin’s.  “You’re never going to believe this, Sis, sincerely.”

            Erin rolled her eyes.  “Try me.”

            “A crew from Hollywood is in town.  Copperfield’s the location for some scary movie.”

            “Are you kidding?” Erin said, jumping off her bed.

            “They’re all in Casey’s right now.  The whole town’s there.”  Nick was practically hopping with excitement.

            “Oh, my God,” Erin said.  “Why Copperfield?  What kind of scary movie?”  Slasher or ghost story? she wondered.  She preferred the latter.

            Nick shrugged.  “Let’s go find out.”

            Erin grabbed her jacket and followed him.  Finally, there might actually be some life in this town, she thought.

            “Hey, where you kids going?” her father's slurred voice demanded.

            Erin caught a whiff of his beer breath as she passed and grimaced.  Gross.           

            “Out,” she said, and slammed the door hard.

Casey’s diner was busier than Erin had ever seen it.  Several waitresses were scooting across the shiny tiles in red and white roller skates that matched their uniforms.  Every booth in the place was taken.  Customers were eating their hamburgers and fries standing at the counter.

            Erin’s eyes scanned the restaurant quickly as she crossed the threshold with Nick at her heels.  A gust of air at the entrance lifted her long, chocolate brown hair off her neck, and raised goosebumps on her tanned arms.  Strange.  It wasn’t even cold that evening.   

           She paused inside, inhaling sharply.  Her eyes were drawn immediately to the young man sitting at the biggest booth, furthest in the back.  His presence radiated charm, charisma and self-assurance.  Erin couldn’t help but notice the dusky brown of his eyes tinged with flecks of green, and the easy curve of his lips. He looked so familiar, but she couldn’t place him. 

            “Hey,” she poked Nick.  “You know his name?”  She watched him laugh heartily with his companions and lean back against the leather seat in complete ease.

            Nick shook his head.  “Don’t recognize him.”

            “I’ve seen him in some TV show before.  I think,” Erin added uncertainly.  This was going to bug her.

            “He’s the lead actor,” Nick said.  “I heard people talking about him when he got off the bus earlier.”

            Erin approached the counter.  “Hey, Mrs. Casey,” she called over the middle-aged owner.  Mrs. Casey was a kind woman.  Her husband had died from cancer three years previously, and she was running the joint single-handedly. She also seemed to know everything in town before everyone else. “You know anything about this movie?”

            “Sure.  The crew’s just been here for hours, sugar.  It’s one of those scary movies.  Copperfield’s a real cheap place to shoot, I guess.  That gorgeous boy over there,” she nodded in the direction of the young man Erin had been drawn to.  “Name is James Linkin.  He’s going to play the bad boy.”

            Erin chanced another glance his way, not wanting to be caught staring.  It didn’t matter. All eyes were on his table, particularly all female gazes.

            “He ordered a hot dog from me just before you got here,” Mrs. Casey said.  She chuckled.  “He’s a little charmer from what I’ve seen so far.”           

“What kind of bad boy?” Erin asked.  Her stomach was fluttering.  It hadn’t done that since she’d watched Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall last summer in The Oracle.  She’d been forced to throw a Brad weekend there for one of the most popular girls at school, Lyndsey Mason, her older brother’s girlfriend.

            Now looking at James, she believed him to be even more handsome.  Erin marveled at her racing hormones.  She usually wasn’t as silly as the other girls in school, or so she liked to think. She risked another look at him.  Dark hair with sunny tints when the light caught it right, pale skin, strong jaw, slender build…

            “Vampire, I think,” Mrs. Casey’s voice broke Erin’s train of thought.  “It's going to be some kind of horror romance.”

 

 

Under the Desert Moon by Emma Meade
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Background: Erin lives in a very small town called Coppersville in Arizona and is counting the days until she can leave this boring place. Over the summer between her Junior and Senior years a movie takes over the small town to shoot a vampire film. Erin has been given the opportunity to take pictures for the production and is excited to do so, until she meets James, the star of the movie. There is something strange and intriguing about him, and he looks very familiar.

Review: I love when I can finish a book in a matter of a few hours and then be excited to write a review, this is one of those books. I started the book on a Monday night and was able to finish it the next day. Meade is a wonderful story teller because she leaves out the filler. You get to know the characters little by little, but you get suspense, adventure, and romance throughout that keeps you questioning, in awe, or swooning. I enjoyed this read immensely.

The main character Erin, is strong and a little stubborn. Her brother Nick, is supportive yet pestering as brothers can be and James, our swoon worthy male lead is just that, swoon-worthy, dark mysterious, menacing and the Byronic hero- tall, dark, and handsome to the nth degree.

The plot was fast paced and strong, the story progresses nicely from pre-movie excitement to all out chaos seamlessly. I liked the Vampire within a vampire irony of this book and I think vampire book readers will enjoy it too.

This is a teen read, nothing explicit involved, a nice teen romance story that is playful and fun.

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