1--What is the title of your latest release?
DEMON SONG
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A demon and a former demon-hunter join forces to prevent hell on Earth from becoming the literal truth - and find their happily-ever-after in the process.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Demon Song is the second book in a duology. The first book, Singing with the Devil, takes place in a Louisiana swamp, and I wanted the sequel to have a totally different setting to liven things up. So I decided to have the majority of the action take place in the desert, namely west Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. There are also some plot reasons why the desert works, but I don’t want to get into spoilers!
4--Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Absolutely! We have similar tastes in music, so I think we’d get along. That said - she’s definitely cooler than me.
5--What are three words that describe your hero?
Demon. Gentle. Brutal. You’ll have to read the book to see how they all fit together!
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Sometimes you need to give yourself some grace. I was experiencing some serious burnout during the time when I needed to be drafting the novel in order to meet my deadline, and it wound up just not getting done. Fortunately, I was able to get the deadline moved back a bit, and then I was able to finish up the book in such a better headspace from where I started.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I wait until I’m done! I tend to draft in an absolute fever. Then I can go back and sort everything out.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Lavender lattes. You wouldn’t think lavender and coffee would be a good combo—but somehow, it just works.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I’m lucky in that I have an entire room as my home office! I have a vintage rolltop desk that I got from my grandfather, but I actually do most of my writing at a cheap Ikea desk so I can have a dual monitor set up. I also have a couch in my office for when I feel like writing stretched out on a sofa.
10--Who is an author you admire?
I’m not sure if “admire” is the right word, but I was really influenced by Kelly Link when I first started writing. I love how, in her early stories, she would just do whatever she wanted, regardless of the trends at the time - and had a ton of success because of it.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
The first time I ever read One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I was shocked - I didn’t know that you were allowed to write a book like that, where there’s basically no distinction between the magical and mundane. I was in college at the time, and reading that book completely changed how I thought about writing, genre, and the real world itself.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)
Well, it was an email rather than a call, which is par for the course these days! The first book always felt like it had straddled two genres (horror/urban fantasy and romance) so my agent submitted it to both types of publishers. I was excited to see it had been picked up by a romance publisher since I’d never published a romance novel before.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
It depends on my mood, but my go-tos these days tend to be horror and literary fiction, with the occasional romance thrown in for good measure.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
My favorite movie is a Hong Kong film called 2046, which was directed by Wong Kar Wai, my favorite director of all time. All his movies are incredibly beautiful and romantic but also deeply melancholy, which is a catnip combination for me. I like 2046 specifically because it blends science fiction with romance, and I’m a sci-fi girl at heart.
15--What is your favorite season?
Definitely autumn. I grew up in Texas (which doesn’t have any autumn to speak of), and now live in Virginia, which has four perfect seasons. With the cold nights, breezy days, changing leaves, and bright blue sky - autumn is pretty much perfect!
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I always make sure to get my free Starbucks drink! I might do something else (go out to dinner with friends, or watch a favorite movie), but I will never miss out on that free birthday drink.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I am completely obsessed with Rings of Power right now, so I feel obligated to answer that! For something less well-known, though, I recommend Bee and Puppycat, a quirky (some might say very weird) animated show on YouTube and Netflix.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
This might be the hardest question to answer on this list because I feel like all cuisines have something delicious to offer! I will say a cuisine that I miss is true Tex-Mex since you can’t really find that outside of south Texas.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I enjoy sewing - lately, I’ve been into embroidery and quilting specifically. I also take a lot of dance classes, namely ballet and contemporary/modern. Dancing is definitely my favorite form of exercise!
20--What can readers expect from you next?
In 2023, I have two novels set in the Star Trek universe coming out. Both feature the crew from Star Trek: Prodigy, the new animated kids’ show. As for original work, I’m happily typing away on my next (several) projects, but I can’t speak to any of them quite yet!
Black Moon # 2
When "hell on earth" isn't just a saying anymore…
Newly minted demon hunter Helena Muir is adjusting to her new reality: yes, demons and dark magic nearly killed her. But the love of a demon also saved her. Aleksi Haakanen may be a demon, but he’s her tattooed rock-god demon, and together they put a stop to an evil worse than anything imaginable.
Or so they thought.
When new and ghastly monsters begin to wreak havoc from one side of the country to the other, Helena and Aleksi must track down and destroy them before the ungodly creatures remake the world in their own hellish image. Add in the fact that her demon-hunter family is trying to track down and destroy Aleski, and Helena has her hands full.
Especially since she has begun to fear that, for Aleski, hell on earth may be exactly what he’s wanted all along…
Romance Paranormal | Fantasy Urban [1001 Dark Nights Press, On Sale: November 1, 2022, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780369720702 / eISBN: 9780369720702]
Cassandra Rose Clarke is the author of Our Lady of the Ice, Magic of Blood and Sea, Magic of Wind and Mist, Star’s End, Halo: Battle Born, and Halo: Meridian Divide. She grew up in south Texas and currently lives in a suburb of Houston, where she writes and teaches composition at a local college. Cassandra’s first adult novel, The Mad Scientist’s Daughter, was a finalist for the 2013 Philip K. Dick Award, and her YA novel, The Assassin’s Curse, was nominated for YALSA’s 2014 Best Fiction for Young Adults. Her short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons and Daily Science Fiction.
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