Because
I tossed and turned all night after having this really crazy dream and
couldn't get it out of my head. I told my best friend about it, then a
few other people, and kept hearing "Oh man, that would make a great
book. You are so involved in the book world, why don't you write??". I
wrote a few chapters and sent it out and the response was so awesome, I
decided to give it a shot! I started Sept. 5th, 2012 and have written 6
books (3 are published and 3 are in the que!). And I am currently
working on 8 projects, so.. I am a busy bee already! Love it!
Do you ever wish that you had an entirely uncreative job, like data entry or working in a factory?
Well, yes actually... but just because that's a steady paycheck and I would be SURE that I was making money. LOL
Do you ever write naked?
I
try not to, but stuff happens... like scaring small children and
animals. Let's just keep it with tank top and shorts, k? lol >.<
What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer?
What
is a sane writer?? They have those? *goes to research* You tried to
trick me! But seriously... umm, the way I try hardest to keep my sanity
is to have a plan. I dont always outline when I write, but I try to keep
my writing space zen and not let anyone or anything bother me when I
write. I always clean the house before I do as well. A sink full of
dishes will drive me batty!
Have you ever read or seen yourself as a character in a book or a movie?
No,
but it would certainly be really cool in many aspects, but usually if
there is a movie or book about someone, something super epic or
completely horrible has happened to them and I've already been through
both of those, so maybe I should just write my own life story and see if
Lifetime would buy it :p LOL
What do you consider your biggest failure?
Spending
$78,000 on college for degrees I don't traditionally use, but... at
least that knowledge helps with my writing, I suppose.
What fictional world would you live in?
Oh dear -
Who is your
book boyfriend? And your book BFF?
Damien
James from HP Landry's Wrecked is the only one I lust after often. I
used to have a whole huge list and it was almost always the tortured
ones - Zsadist, Gideon, Tegan.... you guys know what I'm talking about
;)
If you could have any three wishes granted, what would they be?
Dessert
island with electricity and fresh running water? No? That doesn't
count? Okay - health for my entire family, world peace (yes, I think
that would be a nice one! Don't laugh! I've lived in the Middle
East..lol), and then I would try to save the last one for my kiddo so he
could have something he really wants/needs in life (though I think the
health one would make him happiest)
Charlie watched him talk to the woman in the seat beside him, the
belligerent woman from earlier, who was in the seat in front of him.
He smiled and nodded just like he was supposed to and really seemed
to be paying attention to the woman. Lucky them.
Charlie watched his eyes as he spoke, they were sincere and honest.
She wasn't sure where half of her thoughts were coming from, but she
decided to blame Nila and her little gift of predicting when
something big was going to happen. Yep, something major was happening
right now, she was checking out a stranger. So abnormal for her -
not. As the people-watching pro of the North, she took her job very
seriously.
She shook her head and cursed her friend for putting thoughts into
her head and chalked it up to pre-flight boredom. This was her epic
vacation that she had been planning for two years. She was going to
fly for ten hours, land in paradise, travel to another paradise,
visit crazy places in between, slum it, live it up in other places,
and truly just live for a while. She wanted to mix in with other
cultures and see what they see each day and just be a part of life.
Having a guy go with her or even daydreaming about some stranger she
hadn't even officially met yet was completely ridiculous.
Charlie shook her head and gripped her book in both hands as she
studied the cover for a moment. She liked to think of herself as a
"cover whore" when it came to books. She didn't like to
judge a book by its cover, but freely admitted to doing it and would
generally buy books, especially those from Independent authors, just
because of the incredible covers. She would get to support their art
and have some for herself. It was a win-win situation.
After her brief stint of cover lust, Charlie reached up to turn on
the air vent, clicked her overhead light on, closed her window shade,
and settled in to read for a bit. The flight attendants could tell
you to turn off your electronic devices, but they didn't make you
close your book for takeoff. Excellent!
The boy beside Charlie started to whine as soon as the shade was
down, "But I wanted to see the clouds go by as we took off.
Lady. Hey lady! Can you open the thingy back up? I want to see the
sun again."
Charlie leaned in a bit toward the boy, "I'm a vampire. Too much
sun will kill me," she informed the boy with a giggle. His
utterly shocked face was enough to make that all worthwhile.
Sexy Smile Man from in front of them twisted in his seat and faced
the boy just then. "My seat partner likes to watch the clouds go
by, too, buddy. If you want, you can switch seats with me and I will
let you watch from my window with my neighbor and I can sit in your
less than cloudy seat."
The boys eyes lit up and he sat forward as far as he could with his seat belt on. "Really? My mom is in the seat just in front of
you. Thanks!"
"Is that your mom there?" Sexy Smile pointed to the seat
behind him now, to his chatting buddy from a few minutes ago.
The boy blushed, "Yes, that's my mom. She's just upset that my
Nona is ill. She doesn't mean to be annoying. That’s why we aren't
sitting together. Last minute flight."
"I totally understand, buddy. Come on over. You can be closer to
your mom and I can take a nap over there on the dark side. I wonder
if they have cookies?" he raised his eyebrow and then joined in
a chuckle with the boy as they uprooted their carry on bags and
pillows to switch seats. The boy glared at Charlie and then sent a
beaming grin at Sexy Smile Man before taking his seat.
"Looks like we are going to be neighbors for a few hours. Hey,
I'm Elian," he added, extending his hand so she could shake it.
As he plopped down in the seat beside her, the scent of patchouli
wafted into her face making her moan inwardly. Of course he would
be named something delicious that made her want to say his name and
savor it slowly as it passed her lips again and again and then he
also smelled like everything she ever wanted in a man. Whoa! Hooker
train, leaving the platform.
"Oh, uhh, I'm Charlie - Charlotte, but my friends call me
Charlie," she stammered.
"So Charlie, does that make us friends now?"
"No."
Her blunt denial made Elian frown slightly, then he shrugged his
shoulders. "I didn't think you would mind the switch. The kiddo
gets to be closer to his mom and not take up your precious reading
time or assault my seat repeatedly. It seemed like a winning combo to
me. Plus, I am exhausted and really need sleep. Happy reading. I've
read that one, it's really good until the end. I have tissues if you
need them." Then he fluffed his travel pillow and almost
immediately nodded off while Charlie sat with her mouth agape. She
didn't have time to respond at all. He was out like a light.
~
Sleep began
searching for Charlie not long after take-off. She had been so busy
with planning and finishing up the semester and packing that she
completely forgot about sleep in the last few weeks even though it
was one of her favorite things in the whole world. She didn't want to
sleep on the plane, but she also knew she would be entering Greece at
seven in the morning. She should be awake for that so she could start
enjoying her vacation right away. She clicked off her overhead light,
tossed her book into her bag, and reached to the armrest to lay her
seat back.
Her hand accidentally grazed Elian's hand that was resting on their
shared arm rest and a shiver went through her body. Awesome, even
asleep he could make her all tingly. Thank goodness she was going to
sleep for a bit. Apparently she needed to live out some fantasies or
do something in her dreams that was inappropriate.
She laid the seat back, pulled the blanket up to her neck, and
started to doze off. Her head lolled to the left and when she opened
her eyes, she was face-to-face with Elian. He was still sleeping and
his breath trickled from his lips and caressed her face. The heat
from his breath made her want to touch his face, kiss his lips, or
both. She didn't move immediately or at all. She just stayed there
with his breath on her face, smelling of fresh mint. Interesting
combo with his body scent. She smiled and closed her eyes as she
drifted off.
~
Her eyes fluttered
open slowly and she immediately started to stretch when she bumped
into something warm and hard. Her eyes snapped open quickly and she
saw that she had managed to gut check her neighbor and she was still
on the plane. Damn those amazing dreams!
"Dang, I'm sorry, Elian. I forgot you were there."
"Don't mention it, I am often invisible to girls that sleep with
me." The shocked look on Charlie's face made Elian guffaw with
laughter. "Don't worry, I was just teasing obviously. We are on
a plane with four hundred other people and you aren't sweating in the
least bit." His lighthearted wink did anything but give Charlie
a calming feeling.
"Well, you're a good sleeping partner, I'll give you that. Now,
if only you could provide sustenance and entertainment, we would be
golden," Charlie faux-challenged.
"In fact, when the flight attendant went by earlier, I had her
leave you a bottle of water and some Sun Chips and I am more than
happy to chat with you until they deliver our dinner shortly or we
could snuggle back up and watch a movie on these nifty tvs in the
head rests. I've never seen that before, have you?"
"Sorry, I'm not the usual snuggle up sort of girl, but thanks
for the snack," she took the goodies from Elian and immediately
popped open the bag of chips. "That was nice of you and I love
these." Charlie began munching and pulled her knees up in her
seat as she turned to face Elian better.
"My pleasure. She asked if my girlfriend was going to be hungry
when she woke up, so I just agreed and said yes. I mean, if I had a
girlfriend, she would be hungry after a nap and a long flight, don't
you think?" his wicked grin stopped Charlie in her tracks. What
a cutie he was!
"That is true, but I guess you have to settle for me since I'm
already here," she giggled. "What brings you to Greece?
Your girlfriend?"
"Vacation of sorts," he said, sounding less than happy
about his answer.
"I have a feeling I shouldn’t even ask. New subject?" she
offered with a tiny smile.
"What brings you to Greece?" he countered.
"Uber vacation!" she answered gleefully. "I've been
saving for it for years and I just want to travel and just be. I've
set aside three glorious weeks for nothing but me and new
experiences!"
"That sounds incredible! Good for you, but why Greece?"
"I'm actually not going to stay in Greece for more than a day, I
think. I'm going to hop a boat to Pakistan and a few other places,
hop some trains, cabs, camels, whatever. I just want to go and see
and do. You know?"
His eyes danced with excitement as he listened to her, "Yes, I
do know. That sounds amazing. Pakistan. Hmm, wow. Will someone be
joining you for that?" When he heard her pause and realized he
probably sounded like a stalker, he added, "I'm just curious.
You seem very independent and I doubt you would want a travel buddy,
but I'm being nosey. That's how faux-boyfriends should be, you know?"
She nodded and giggled, "Yes well, I appreciate your concern,
but I am totally okay on my own. I prefer it that way."
"Ah, the loner type, huh? So you're more of a wolf then?"
At her eyebrow quirk, he added "You know, earlier you told that
kid you were a vampire, just making a bad joke."
"No, it was cute. I'm kind of like every paranormal being
wrapped into one, really. I change with the situation. See right now
I can seem wolf-like, earlier I was vamp-like, and later I might be
witch-like. You never know."
He chuckled and smiled at her again. "Whatever you are, I like
it. You seem like a lot of fun when you aren't biting the heads off
of little children," he teased.
"Oh see? I was already witchy earlier. I can't keep track and
slip and slide between them at any given moment."
"No problem, I'm pretty sure I can keep up."
Sounds great, right? Well I've read the story and it is really great!
If you want to run right out and get her book Bluffing the Devil, feel free to do so. You can find it
on Amazon
Coming soon from CL Foster: Grip of Mortality
Meet CL Foster
CL
Foster is a brand new writer with big dreams and lots of avenues she
wants to travel. She decided in September 2012 that she wanted to become
a writer and immediately entered a contest with a partner and won with
their Halloween horror entry, Billy Carver. (Title available in All
Hallow's Eve anthology). She also has a true story entry about hope
rising from despair in the Reality Bites anthology entitled Resiliency
From Within.
She continues to co-write for fun with friends and colleagues in various forms and has a few projects in the works.
Bluffing the Devil is her debut novel, which came to her in a dream. For an insomniac, that was a shocker to everyone.
Originally
from Florida, she has lived all over the world, but has settled down in
Pennsylvania.... for now! She has a Bachelor's degree in Criminal
Justice, minoring in Psychology and Forensics. Which means you don't
want to cross her because she knows how and where to hide a body so it's
never found! She proudly admits to hearing voices in her head, but at
times, her characters' impromptu visits can be rude and annoying.
Thankfully, she has adequate patience for their shenanigans and can out
ninja them any day of the week.
CL is eclectic, geeky, positive,
nature-loving and completely non-"normal" (just the way she likes to
be). She has been a fan of literature since she was a small child and
finally decided to take her dreams (both waking and sleeping!) and do
something positive with them. Normal scenarios in her life have now
become a blank canvas for the unstoppable muse that inspires her daily.
She strives to bring her readers a full experience of detailed scenery,
complex emotion, sassy dialogue, and more; for if they can feel what she
encounters with her muse, the world would be a much happier place. She
is always working on something new! Stay tuned!
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A young girl needs to spread her wings, but a young woman needs roots.
English teacher Sarah Bray never thought she’d return to Sycamore Falls, but a traumatic event at her inner-city school leaves her desperate for the sanctuary of home. By returning to her roots, an older and wiser Sarah hopes to deal with the demons of her present and confront the ghosts of her past.
She discovers a kindred spirit in Lucas Miller, a teacher from New York with demons of his own. As the newest faculty members at Sycamore High School, they quickly become friends – bonding through Lucas’s culture shock and their mutual desire to build new lives. When they open their wounded hearts to each other, their friendship effortlessly evolves into romance.
Their love is put to the test when Matt, the quarterback of the football team, shares his deepest secret with Sarah. When the conservative community finds out, Sarah and Lucas – along with the town of Sycamore Falls – are schooled in the lessons of acceptance, tolerance, and love.
Praise for Lessons Learned
