☼ A Place In The Spotlight ☼ with M.C.V. EGAN: A conversation with Susan Griscom author of Allusive Aftershock

What happens when a major earthquake changes life as you know it and the boy you thought you hated ends up saving you? Three times!

Courtland Reese is the guy everyone hates and makes fun of because … well, he is weird. He communicates with animals. Strange or interesting, seventeen-year-old Adela Castielle can’t quite figure out, but when he saves her from being trampled by her own horse, she begins to understand him a little better and wants to learn more about him. But, Max--her best friend/dream guy/someday-to-be-her-husband-only-he-doesn’t-know-it-yet--hates Courtland with a passion. Adela wants to know why, except neither boy is talking. When Max leaves her stranded in his parents' wine cave with his worst enemy, Courtland, after what the experts are calling a “megathrust” earthquake, Adela starts to question her loyalty to Max as steamy kisses in a dark damp cellar only fuel her emotions with more conflict. But does she really have time to worry about that when fire, destruction and mayhem surround her?

Allusive Aftershock

Author: Susan Griscom

Genre: YA

Publisher: Amber Glow Books

Release Date: December 18 2012

Editions/Formats Available In: Print and Amazon Kindle

Thank you so much for having me on your blog today.

Very happy to have you Susan Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’m spontaneous. I like to go to the movies and parties, love reading, love to entertain on the spur of the moment of course, which drives my husband crazy. My favorite thing for dinner is reservations at a *nice* restaurant. My very favorite thing is to soak in a bubble bath with a glass of wine and a great book. Oh yeah, I love shoes, another thing that drives my husband crazy.

I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. I like small towns. I tend to feel lost in large ones. I like going to the grocery store and running into people I know. It just makes the world seem a little less large.

Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in anyway either growing up or as an adult?

I read a lot of Nora Roberts. I love her trilogies and the In Death Series, so I would have to give her credit for being the most influential author for me.

How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?

Great question. I’m still learning and I’m still working on building an audience so if you know anyone who wants to be my friend or like my facebook page or my blog, please send them over, LOL Or they can just head over to Amazon and pick up a copy of one of my books.

But seriously, the best way and best compliment an author can receive is for someone to review her/his book on sites like Amazon, Goodreads, etc. So I do try to get my book out there for reviews.

Book bloggers rock! Right now, they are my backbone. Without them, I have no idea what I would do.

How did you come up with the title?

Actually I had it first as Survival but that sounded to blasé and unoriginal. Then I called it Aftershock. My editor actually came up with the Allusive part.

How do you combat writers block?

I don’t. LOL I just go with it. If I’m not feeling it, I don’t write. I love the days when it just flows though. I always feel renewed at the end of the day after writing a couple thousand words.

Sometimes though, when I’m on a deadline and have to finish something, then showers help, jogging helps, even something as revolting as cleaning the house helps. Anything that I can just let my mind wonder with usually works.

How did you celebrate the sale of your first book?

Hmmm… let me think back. I believe it was a combination celebration of release day and sales and a bottle of champagne.

What is one book you think everyone should read?

The Circle Trilogy by Nora Roberts, which is actually three books, but it is my favorite trilogy. My favorite out of the three is the last one, Valley of Silence.

Purchase Links

e-book on Amazon

Paperback on Amazon

About Susan Griscom

I daydream often. If I didn't write, I think my mind would explode from an overload of fantasy and weirdness. To the annoyance of my friends and family, my characters sometimes become a part of my world. During my childhood, I would frequently get in trouble in school for daydreaming. Eventually, my vivid imagination paid off and I had the privilege of writing and co-directing my sixth-grade class play--a dreadful disaster; though not from my writing, of course, I must blame it on the acting.

The craft of writing, although dormant for years, never really left me. Many years later, and with the help of technology, I let my imagination run wild again.

Born in a small town in Pennsylvania, I enjoy writing about characters living in small quaint towns. I tend to lean toward the unusual and spooky. I read all genres but I love reading paranormal romance and like writing in that genre.

My paranormal playing field delves into a different milieu, abandoning vampires and werewolves, but not discounting them. Someday I might like to write a novel about vamps and those furry creatures. But for now I like the bizarre mixed with romance. A strong hero or heroine confronted with extraordinary forces of nature, powers and capabilities gets my blood running.

I live in Northern California with my very romantic husband, my small yippy dog, Riley, and my humungous black cat, Saké. My family consists of his and her children; four wonderful sons, one beautiful daughter, and seven grandchildren. My greatest love in life is my family and those large and ever growing holiday dinners.

I enjoy traveling. I hate running, but do it once in a while. Reading and writing are my favorite pastimes.