1--What is the title of your latest release?
ECHOES OF NIGHT. It’s book one in my new series, Daughters of the Shattered Moon.
2--What's the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
An underestimated pack servant with no wolf is given to a monstrous Alpha in her spoiled sister’s place and finds out her touch is the only thing that can quiet his curse. But not everyone wants his curse broken, and no one is who they seem.
Daughters of the Shattered Moon is a mix of paranormal romance from the 2010s and modern romantasy that I’ve set in a sort of dystopian future where magic returned a century ago and broke everything. About half of humanity “awoke” with supernatural powers, so there are werewolves, witches, vampires, sirens, etc. I plan on the series being eight books long. It will follow the same overarching plot, but the main focus of each book is a romance between a new couple. Eight couples, eight books, one story.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Every family from the Midwest has “their” special lake that’s several hours from home (even though there are hundreds of lakes closer). For four generations, my family’s lake has been the Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri.
I think when people think if the Missouri, they think of prairies or cornfields, but the southern half of the state is made up of these secretive, rolling, forested hills that are as ancient (if not older than) the Appalachian Mountains. The area has so much history and such incredible natural beauty. There a lot of karst topography—so tons of caves and cliffs. It’s a very rugged, isolated place. To a kid who was from the cornfield part of the Midwest, the air here always felt heavy with magic and stories. In my opinion, it’s a perfect fantasy setting. The location of the pack house is even inspired by a real “castle” in Ha Ha Tonka State Park in Camdenton, Missouri. It sits on the edge of a cliff overlooking a freshwater spring where it flows into the Lake of the Ozarks. I visited it in March, but I can’t wait to go back in the summer and again in the fall when the trees have leaves. It’s gorgeous.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely. Selene is kind, intelligent, compassionate, and would go to the ends of the earth for the people she loves. She’s faced with trial after trial, but nothing stops her. She’s a protector and an amazing friend.
Yes to Killian, as well. Aside from the usual reasons (he’s tall, gorgeous, scarred, and protective) I love his desire to enjoy simple things and take care of the people he’s promised to take care of in the most genuine and selfless way. He’s an Alpha and a warrior, but he’s not an Alpha-hole—I saved that guy for book two. I also love the way he falls so utterly head over heels for Selene.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Selene: Kind, determined, underdog.
Killian: Powerful, loyal, burdened.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
How to write romance again, ha ha. The first three or so drafts of the beginning of this book were just Killian and Selene wandering around on their own being angsty, so it obviously wasn’t coming together. One of my friends had to sit me down for a serious heart-to-heart and remind me that romance readers want the main characters in scenes together so they can actually fall in love. The whole story coalesced on its own after that.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I edit as I draft. I have to, or everything grinds to a halt. When it comes to my books, especially the first in a series, you’re often reading the fifth or sixth version of the first half and something pretty close to the first version of the second half.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
When you go to one of those family-owned sit-down Mexican restaurants and they have really amazing chips and salsa and a lunch plate with crunchy tacos and beans and rice. Oh, man. Now I’m hungry.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I do most of my writing on the couch or at the kitchen table while my kids are at school or after everyone goes to sleep. If everyone is home, I set up a little portable desk on my bed. Just wherever I can. But it has to be at home. I get so distracted everywhere else.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Many authors for many different reasons, I can’t choose.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
So many. Dealing with Dragons and the rest of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, Dragonsong and the rest of the Harper Hall trilogy by Anne McCaffery. Also, things like Redwall, A Wrinkle in Time, The Phantom Tollbooth, Animorphs, etc. If it was around in the 90’s and a fantasy-hungry kid could get their hands on it, I devoured it. Dragonsong eventually led me to the rest of Anne McCaffery’s Dragonriders of Pern books, which was my gateway into Adult fantasy. I jumped down the fantasy-with-romance rabbit hole and haven’t emerged to this day.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
My story is maybe a little strange. I have been agented, but I’m not anymore because I published my first trilogy in 2015 and then took a decade off. In 2021 I started writing for a fiction app. It was a salaried job, which was nice. In late September 2024, they decided to “fold” my department into another one and not fold me with it. I was already working with Oliver Heber Books on republishing 2015 trilogy. When I told my publisher I’d lost my job, she suggested really diving back into writing for myself. I took a few days, brainstormed, pitched this series, and the rest is history.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
My reading taste is all over the place. My go-tos are fantasy and all kinds of romance. I’m very into Dungeons & Dragons-like adventure fantasy, especially if it features a love story and found family. But I do also love sci fi, LitRPG, historical, mystery, and atmospheric Southern Gothic horror. I’m more about fantastic characters and the ability to make me both laugh and cry than I am genre.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
My favorites change depending on the day, but my list includes things like the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, Lord of the Rings, anything by studio Ghibli, The Mummy with Brendan Frasier and Rachel Wiess, The Mask of Zorro, and Ever After.
15--What is your favorite season?
Fall, no question.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Good question, since I just turned 40 about a week and a half ago. I generally love having a very chill day with good food, family, and close friends. If I can, I’ll get my D&D group to play an extra session.
17--What’s a recent TV show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I don’t know how recent it is, but I really enjoy the podcast Old Gods of Appalachia. It’s a horror anthology that’s based on Appalachian folklore. Even though my story takes place in the Ozarks and isn’t horror, it has some folkloric elements, and the feeling their stories evoked was very inspiring.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
All the cuisines. All of them. From my mom’s Midwestern comfort cooking to things from the other side of the world. I just truly appreciate good food, and I love exploring new kinds.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Sew and craft. I’m addicted to making things. I love making clothes for people. I especially love doing anything small, fiddly, and detailed, like beading. I also enjoy gardening, foraging for wild plants, and cooking.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
If all goes according to plan, I’ll be releasing a book in the Daughters of the Shattered Moon series every handful of months or so. If you read Echoes of Night, you’ll meet Killian’s former best friend and beta, Asher Quinn. Book two, Crimson Dusk, follows him as he continues to recklessly barrel down his path of vengeance. Unfortunately for him, he runs into a battle-hardened rebel leader who does the worst thing he can possibly imagine: make him feel again.
Daughters of the Shattered Moon #1
She didn’t expect to survive the night…
To satisfy the terms of a treaty between her pack and the Alpha who murdered her brother, twenty-four-year-old Selene Beaumont finds herself taking the place of her spoiled sister as a sacrificial bride. Powerless as a wolfless pack servant, what chance does she stand against a monster like Killian Darrow, the only living heir of the depraved Alpha King?
But something happens when he touches her, something that echoes in her soul. Changed from monster to a man, a mysterious transformation is revealed, throwing all that is known about the murderous Alpha into doubt.
He’s looking to break a monstrous curse…
Killian prefers to keep others at a safe distance, but after Selene unlocks the mystery of his affliction, he has no choice but to keep her close. Skin-to-skin close. Or risk the monster rearing its ugly head.
But soon it becomes clear that not everyone wants him to be free, or see a wolfless woman married to the most powerful Alpha in a generation. As allies turn to enemies and old secrets stir, they will learn that nothing and no one is what it seems.
Fantasy | Romance Paranormal [Oliver-Heber Books, On Sale: April 15, 2025, e-Book , ISBN: 9781648398568 / ]
After spending most of her adult life in UT, Caitlyn McFarland has returned to the Midwest and currently lives by a lake in Missouri with her husband and three daughters. She has a Bachelor's degree in linguistics from Brigham Young University. When she's not writing romantic fantasy, Caitlyn can be found wandering the woods, crafting, or playing TTRPGs.
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