Book Tour – Black Crow White Lie

Black Crow White Lie
by Candi Sary

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GENRE: Adult-YA Crossover

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BLURB:

Young Carson Calley has a rare and magical gift of healing, a gift which both defines him and threatens to betray him. He lives in Hollywood motels with his alcoholic, fortune-telling mother, Juliette. She nurtures his gift, but her ways are deceptive. She feeds the boy fantastical stories to convince him of his greatness. At fourteen, Carson finally wises up to her lies and his identity is completely shattered. Juliette is too deep in her addiction to help him separate the facts from the fictions, so he looks for answers on the streets of Hollywood. There he finds Faris, a tattoo shop owner, and Casper, a cashier at a head shop. These two unlikely mentors help this troubled yet extraordinary boy find his way to the truth.

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Book Excerpt:

“Putting my hands over her head I felt the tiny stars that always came. It felt like thousands of them came pouring out of my hands. I couldn’t see them with my eyes; I could only see them with my eyes closed. But I could feel them. They filled my hands with heat, and when I shared them with my mom, they made her feel better.
I don’t remember the first time I used the stars, just like I don’t remember the first time I used my voice. When I asked my mom how I got them, she said I just knew I had them in me—the same way I knew I had words in me.”

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Candi Sary graduated from the University of California, Irvine. Her awards for Black Crow White Lie include 1st Place in the Dante Rossetti Awards, winner of the Reader Views Literary Award for the West-Pacific, and first runner-up in the Eric Hoffer Award for fiction. Her novel was also adapted into a short film by Chase Michael Wilson. She lives in Southern California with her husband and two children. She can often be found surfing out in the waters of Newport Beach.

www.bluemarybooks.com
www.candisary.com
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016IPJ5DI
https://www.facebook.com/Blue-Mary-Books-1650366188536453
Instagram: @hers_for_the_reading

Short film trailer:

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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY

Candi Sary will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Enter to win a $15 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2015/11/nbtm-black-crow-white-lie-by-candi-sary.html

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Interview With….

Candi. Thanks for being my guest today. Tell us about you
I have two adult kids who just happen to be a couple of the coolest, most interesting people I know, I am happily married to a man as playful and curious about life as I am, and I have a passion for reading and writing. I spend a lot of time at the beach—surfing, paddle boarding, bike riding or just enjoying the sunset. I like to think and analyze, sometimes too much, but I’ve learned to focus my overactive mind on my writing. I have three little dogs who remind me every day, with their wildly wagging tails, that life is good.

What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
There is so much to discover and enjoy and love in this world. I’m inspired by possibilities. That’s what gets me out of bed each morning—the possibilities for adventure and the opportunities to be touched by someone or something magical. I feel this in my own life, and for my characters in my writing. Sometimes, as a writer, I feel like I have more than just one life. I get to intimately explore the lives of these characters who show up in my head, and feel the joys, pains and lessons of their journeys as if they were mine.

If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?
The first famous person that comes to mind is Brandon Flowers, lead singer for The Killers. I listen to his music all the time. Every day, when I take a break from writing, I go on a long walk to gather my thoughts. For some reason, I’m always compelled to play his music on my walks. His voice, his lyrics, his storytelling—I don’t know the guy and yet I feel such a connection to his art. I’d love to hear the inspiration behind his music, and dig a bit into his amazingly creative mind.

What’s the story behind your latest book?
I chose to explore the life of a healer in Black Crow White Lie—someone who has the amazing ability to cure people of disease. Carson appears to be just an impoverished boy living in hotels with his alcoholic, fortune-telling mother, yet underneath he is extraordinary. The novel takes readers on Carson’s unconventional journey toward his greatness on the provocative and colorful streets of Hollywood.

Tell us your writing process
Most of my writing is exploring the characters as I go. It takes time to get to know them well. I have a general idea for the plot, but I let the characters lead the story as they come to life on the page. I also spend a lot of time away from the computer learning about them and working out storylines. When I go on long walks, while I chop vegetables, while I drive, and even when I clean the house, my mind stays with my characters. There’s something about the simplicity of those activities that free up my mind so that it can use all its energy to feed my stories.

What advice can you share with other writers who want to get the word out about their book?
It seems for me, personal connections lead to successful promotion. When I was able to get bookstore owners to read my book, they told their customers about it and far more books sold than in the stores where it sat unknown. When I attended local book clubs, the women really enjoyed connecting the author to the book, and referred me to several other book clubs, who then referred me to more! That was my favorite part of promoting—meeting readers and discussing the book with them. Some authors are much more creative than I am with social media and they are successful with it, but I have found that personal appearances and connections work best for me.

When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
When I first learned to read and write at 5, I knew I wanted to be a writer. Then at twenty-five, while home raising my kids, I officially began my journey as a writer. It hasn’t been easy and it hasn’t even been enjoyable all of the time, but it certainly has been fulfilling in the most unexpected ways.

Tell us about your main character:
For a boy living on the gritty streets of Hollywood, Carson remains fairly innocent and optimistic. He has a mysterious gift of healing that gives him purpose despite his otherwise difficult life. He has a dark side, as would be expected from someone in his situation, but he really tries his best to rise above the darkness. There is also an energy about him that just makes him likable. After the book was published, I read it several more times, just to spend a little more time with the character I so enjoyed writing.

What are you working on next?
I’m working on a ghost story that is somewhat connected to Black Crow White Lie. Magdalena, one of the main characters, is Carson’s sister. She was taken away from her unstable mother and given to her grandmother in Northern California for a better life. Like Carson, Magdalena has a mysterious gift that makes her life as challenging as it is extraordinary.

Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?
I have a mug that says, “I write. What’s your superpower?” I like to think my special talent is writing. Otherwise, I’m kind of happily average at the variety of things I try.

Who are your favorite authors?
Some of my favorite authors are Toni Morrison, Jose Saramago, Jonathan Safran Foer and David Foster Wallace. I also love to discover lesser-known authors who write wonderfully out-of-the-ordinary novels. Haruki Murakami says: “If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”

What do you like to do with your free time?
I like to spend time with my family and friends. I love being active—taking long walks out in nature, surfing, paddle boarding and bike riding. Reading is one of my favorite things to do, and I also really enjoy cooking.

Tell us about your plans for upcoming books.
The ghost story I mentioned before is still in the works. It’s moving slowly, but I have a good feeling about it. Hopefully I can have a first draft done this year, and next year I’ll work on edits and re-writes. So maybe it can be released in 2018. Sounds like a long time but it should be worth the wait!

Where can people find you on the web?

Website: www.bluemarybooks.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Blue-Mary-Books-1650366188536453/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CandiSary

YouTube trailer of the short film based on my novel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoD7KICbNYY

Instagram: hers_for_the_reading

Any final thoughts?

I really appreciate you having me on your blog. Thanks for hosting. During the blog tour Black Crow White Lie is on sale in the Kindle store for only 1.99. I hope you and your readers will take a look!