Blog Tour Interview : Cait Marie

Cait is a friend and fellow Coffee House Writer. I was tickled when she agreed to let me be part of the blog tour for her new book. I was so disorganized and panicked… Then her very professional email comes in with the entire interview and everything I would need. I was supposed to post this yesterday, but I was crippled by migraine and unable. Please do show her love, and look into her work. The new book is nothing short of amazing. I was in the ARC readership and I preordered the ebook because I enjoyed it so much.

Have you always wanted to be an author?
No. I never wrote outside of school, which I hated. I’ve always loved books, I just never thought of writing myself. I started my first fiction story in the fall of 2015, but I didn’t start writing seriously until 2017.


Is writing your full-time profession?
No, I’m a freelance editor, and I offer a variety of other author services. I also own and manage Functionally Fictional, work for Coffee House Writers, and am part of the indie staff at YA Books Central.


What are some things you like to do unrelated to books or writing?
I love creating pages in my bullet journal, singing along to a huge variety of music when home alone, watching Disney movies… Most of my life revolves around books anymore though.


What are your daily writing habits like?
They’re nonexistent for the most part. I have a tendency to write a lot within a couple days, then nothing for a while. I need to work on that actually.


Are you a plotter or pantser?
A little bit of both. I write out a vague outline and any ideas I have, then I start writing for a bit before plotting more thoroughly. Once I plot out the chapter-by-chapter outline, I jump around and kind of let the inspiration direct the writing. Things change as I go, but the ending and big plot points stay put usually.


What’s something you could eat every day and not get sick of it?
Probably pizza… or peanut butter.



How do you work on more than one book at a time?
I say I have a lot of books started, but I’m not actively working on them all at once. Remember, I’m still new to all this. So far, I typically have one fantasy and one contemporary going. The Last Summer is a YA contemporary romance coming out in June, and I’ve been writing it while promoting The Lost Legends. While I’m promoting The Last Summer, I’ll be writing book two in The Nihryst series. I like working one step ahead at all times.
I also write based on mood and inspiration. For example, if I get really inspired for a scene in the next fantasy book while I’m technically supposed to be working on the contemporary, I will switch for a day or two.


If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
England and Wales. I’ve been obsessed with British history for as long as I can remember.


What music do you listen to while writing?
I have different playlists for different books and moods. For fantasy, I listen to a lot of Ruelle, Florence + the Machine, The Lumineers, and movie/tv show scores. For contemporary romance, it’s a lot more upbeat pop like Taylor Swift, Paramore, Parachute, Jonas Brothers, and Khalid.


Favorites time…
Movie: The Wizard of Oz
TV Show: Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Song: Where We Come Alive by Ruelle
Book: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare or A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Color: Coral
Animal: Flamingos


What can we look forward to in the future?
I am working on The Last Summer, which is coming out in June if I can get it finished. Book two in The Nihryst series will hopefully be out in the fall, and another contemporary or two will be out in the winter. Book three in The Nihryst series will likely be out next spring. I also have a fae duology in the works that I’m really excited for. I wrote half of the first one like a year and half ago, so I need to get back to it. OH! And I may or may not have a sci-fi retelling series planned… with The Lion King being one of the stories, but with humans and cyborgs…

The Lost Legends is now available on Amazon!


Get your copy here!

About the Author

Cait Marie has been obsessed with books her entire life. The love of writing didn’t hit until 2017. Since then, she has held multiple positions within Coffee House Writers, including C.O.O., Advertising Supervisor, Editor, and Writer. In 2018, she used her passion for reading to create Functionally Fictional. In 2019, she joined the indie staff of YA Books Central as a reviewer and then Indie Assistant Blogger.
Cait graduated with honors in 2019 from Southern New Hampshire University with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, and she is currently enrolled in their Master of Fine Arts program. She lives in Indiana, where she freelance edits and provides a variety of other author services. When she’s not writing or reading, she can usually be found watching Disney movies or Brooklyn Nine-Nine, creating bullet journal spreads, or singing along to various soundtracks and showtunes.


Where to Follow
Twitter: https://twitter.com/c8_marie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cait.marie.h/
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/caits.inner.circle/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/c8_marie/
Newsletter Sign-Up: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/v1d5i1
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cait-Marie/e/B083W2CG3Z
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19751293.Cait_Marie
Website: https://caitmarieh.com/
Functionally Fictional: https://functionallyfictional.com/

Migraine and stress fairies

*Found on Google with Pinterest listed as source*

I want to apologize. I don’t feel like I have to, that is another reason why I am grateful. I was supposed to post a blog tour post for a friend yesterday, which I will post shortly. I was supposed to do a Thursday post… And I just could not. I have been fighting a stress migraine since Tuesday.

My life is a routine, built on Chaos. Still I don’t handle change well. The pandemic has stores and offices closing. I homeschool, so I was already a homebody… But when I go to the store and can’t even find a loaf of bread… And then I am forced to explain to my teenage girl that the pandemic is not likely to kill her. Especially if we are careful with hygiene. Still, she is asthmatic. And she keeps hearing about asthmatic people being in higher danger.

Add all of this to normal anxiety and stress… Insomnia is back. Insomnia brings the migraines. It is not a sane time for anyone… So I have been dealing with it. Isn’t that what you are supposed to do?

Today is the start of Ostara. The beginning of spring. That also means the start of allergy time. It is a busy time for me. Usually we are able to clean up the yard (because somehow we end up doing the reconstruction inside during the winter and the trash builds up in the yard). We normally do the preparing for the garden. The plan for what canning we want to do during the summer.

This year not as much of this. We will be doing clean up. County clean up is free. It allows us to dispose of the trash. But I am not sure that we have the energy for a garden this year. I think that the canning is going to be something more like chili and the like. Maybe we will can some homemade baked beans. I don’t know.

I would have posted regardless of the migraines… I often do… However it was severe enough for the phone to be more than I could tolerate. I have a variation in my light sensitivity. This last one I was hiding in a dark room under a blanket and it was still too damn bright. Eyes closed and there was still too much light.

This is a rough time for everyone. So much unsurity, insecurity in economics. This year has been a lot of fear of what the future holds. Definitely not alone here. So I know how much y’all understand. I appreciate you.

So I guess that this post, other than an explanation for yesterday is a basic I am here and I see you kind of thing. If you need someone to talk to… Reach out to me… I want to hear you.

Lost Legends

👑⚔️A plague. A prophecy. A centuries-long curse.⚔️👑

The Lost Legends by Cait Marie is now available!!





✨Blurb✨

All her life, Princess Adalina heard tales of the legendary, immortal warriors known as the Nihryst. Cursed and bound to a deck of tarot cards by her ancestors, the Nihryst were stranded on a remote island nearly a century and a half earlier.

Her brother, Prince Shane, is destined to rule the kingdom of Detmarya. Though preparing for this role has encompassed his entire life, control of the kingdom may come sooner than expected due to their father’s sporadic behavior.

Discovering the king’s plan to set a war in motion with a mass assassination, Ada unwittingly joins a crew of pirates in search of the only beings powerful enough to stop him: The Nihryst. Meanwhile, Shane and a group of underground rebels make a haunting discovery of a plague infecting the streets of Detmarya.

With a looming deadline to save multiple kingdoms and thousands of innocent lives, both royal siblings join quests worthy of Ada’s beloved fairy tales.


Available on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083VT99FT



About the Author



Cait Marie has been obsessed with books her entire life. The love of writing didn’t hit until 2017. Since then, she has held multiple positions within Coffee House Writers, including C.O.O., Advertising Supervisor, Editor, and Writer. In 2018, she used her passion for reading to create Functionally Fictional. In 2019, she joined the indie staff of YA Books Central as a reviewer and then Indie Assistant Blogger.
Cait graduated with honors in 2019 from Southern New Hampshire University with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, and she is currently enrolled in their Master of Fine Arts program. She lives in Indiana, where she freelance edits and provides a variety of other author services. When she’s not writing or reading, she can usually be found watching Disney movies or Brooklyn Nine-Nine, creating bullet journal spreads, or singing along to various soundtracks and showtunes.
Where to Follow
Twitter: https://twitter.com/c8_marie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cait.marie.h/
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/caits.inner.circle/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/c8_marie/
Newsletter Sign-Up: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/v1d5i1
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cait-Marie/e/B083W2CG3Z
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19751293.Cait_Marie
Website: https://caitmarieh.com/
Functionally Fictional: https://functionallyfictional.com/

Wordless Wednesday

My Recommendations for Educational YouTube channels

This is in no true order. They are straight from my subscription list.

There is definitely channels that I am unaware of. And I have far more than this… But I was limiting the choices to more learning based channels. If you want to add…. Comment them so others have access.

Tired Tuesday

I am an Introvert. I am slightly agoraphobic. I really only go outside to get supplies or to go to the doctors. So, I don’t understand most of the time, why people avoid being home. (Note that when I say outside…I consider outside to be beyond my fenced in yard.)

I don’t watch the news…for my own mental health…people tend to hurt other people in the news. My soul is bruised by just reading about it. So I avoid the headlines. My main source of information tends to be seeing something on social media and then following my own curiosity to find the truth.

I have been trying to avoid the panic that is going along with the COVID-19 pandemic. I have been trying to publicly share educational activities on my Facebook page. Mostly because I realize that many people are facing children who are bored and have no idea how to deal with that.

We as a society have become dependent on being told what to do, and have been trained that school is for keeping our children busy. Life doesn’t always work that way…but we have become comfortable with it.

Now this was not a post to complain about societal issues. It came about because in a time of panic…I found that for Tuesday tunes I was unable to pick a song to offer hope…The only songs I could think of were apocalyptic. That is not good for me or you. So instead I will just say I am tired. I am tired of panic. I am tired of worry. I am tired of feeling helpless. Something that I am willing to bet many others feel. So…I am instead offering resources.(Copied from posts yesterday.) And I am asking if you would help me. let us gather together ideas to assist bored children to learn and families who are suffering to find assistance. State the country if it is not USA or international please.

I’m starting with graphics I found. Some of the sites are duplicated, but it provides a good variety.

Now some links…. These are for stuff to do with children still.

The next links are for assistance.

Okay. That is the resources that I have (Mostly). I may be posting a list to Facebook later of Educational Youtube channels. or I might post it here…not sure. Regardless…let us add to this list. Gather together and support those who are struggling with the lack of humanity today. understand that not all of us can handle being in our own space. And be safe!!!

Monday Poetry

Prompts for March

I normally do this on the first Friday of the month. I do apologize for the delay. These are my prompts for March.

Cover Reveal For a Friend

So my friend, and fellow Coffee House Writer, Cait Marie, has a book coming out in June. I volunteered to show you the cover and blurb, and give you the link for it. Having gotten to read the ARC for the other book she is releasing this year, Let me tell you that I look forward to the chance to read this one. She is an amazing author.

Blurb:

For the first eleven years of their lives, neighbors Lila and Gavin were inseparable best friends. They did everything together. Until they didn’t.

Every detail of Lila’s life has been meticulously planned out since she was a child. To the point where she forgot one vital thing: to live. When she receives news that drastically alters the path of her future, she realizes she has one last chance to create memories and make the most of her summer.

Gavin, on the other hand, is known for his carefree attitude. He has lived a charmed life for almost eighteen years. He’s never short on friends or a good time, he has a supportive family, and he’s all set to go off to college and follow his dreams. The one thing he doesn’t have is the girl. 

He doesn’t know why Lila pushed him away all those years ago, but when Gavin finds her summer bucket list, he’s determined to help his goody-two-shoes neighbor cross off every item and hopefully mend their friendship in the process. Even if that’s not all he wants from her. 

He just hopes it’s not too late.

And here is the link to pre-order a copy of your own. https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B085RMVBKC Let’s show her how amazing this sounds!

Webcomic Wednesday

I am now back able to work on getting updated on my favorite web-comics again. I have several who are no longer available. I have shared a few with you. Today I will share one that I am not updated on…but that I am slowly working through. I have to continue to clean up bookmarks, and get up to date on my favorites.

Today I want to share a comic based off of the writing of H.P. Lovecraft. You wouldn’t think that such deep philosophical writings could make anything resembling funny, but this web comic really has some great humor. Each comic has a bit of a stand alone feel, but I highly recommend going through the archives. It is very worth it.

With out any more delay….go into the http://www.goominet.com/unspeakable-vault/