Interview with Cara Cartwright, Author of Spell Bound

by grant

in Author Interviews, eBook, Fantasy & Science Fiction, News

16 Mar 2021

What can you tell us about your new release, Spell Bound?

In Spell Bound, Sunshine meets the vampires, and her life takes a new course. She also does something amazing, and it requires her to take a leap of faith in trusting someone. It shows her loyalty, courage, and growth. She can only hope her trust isn’t misplaced, and it will be a while before she finds out the answer to that.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I was a voracious reader growing up, and read almost anything I could get my hands on in certain genres. It started with romance, and eventually led me to science fiction and fantasy. After reading story after story for years, I started dreaming of writing my own heroines.

What’s on your top 5 list for the best books you’ve ever read?

There are too many to list! Here goes: Laurell K. Hamilton’s Guilty Pleasures, Karen Marie Moning’s DarkFever, Charlaine Harris’s Dead Until Dark, Kim Harrison’s Dead Witch Walking, Judith McNaught’s Perfect, and Michelle Sagara’s Cast in Shadow. Oh, my, that six, so I guess I should stop.

Say you’re the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?

My first guest would be Karen Marie Moning. I would want to ask if she plotted her entire Fever series at once, or if she plotted them book by book. Then I’d ask what her inspiration was for writing Jericho Barrons.

What’s your favorite thing about writing?

I enjoy breathing life into characters, and watching them fail, succeed, or quit, and psychoanalyzing why they do certain things.

What is a typical day like for you?

It’s rather boring. Get up a little after 5am, write or plot for a until 2-3pm, then work on social media. I finish about 5pm, and put in over eight hours a day. Sometimes I venture to the gym for a workout, or workout at home. During the day I take breaks to play with my Chihuahua, Oreo.

What scene from Spell Bound was your favorite to write?

My fav scene to write was when Sunshine makes her big decision at the end of the book. That was a very difficult scene to write and I wanted it to be perfect for both characters. I had no clue what either character would be saying or doing, or how to clue the reader in that there was more to her arrival than just her showing up. She also had to relay the information to the other character so that the guards wouldn’t understand what she was talking about. It was a balancing act to write that scene. Say too little and the reader is lost. Say too much, and the guards would be storming the room.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

Yes, I do. It’s called The Don’t Quit Poem by Anonymous. (There is debate on who the actual author is.) Anyway, I have it hanging on my desk. When I’m discouraged, I read it again and again. It’s highly motivating. It’s easily found in an online search.