Meet new author Chrissie Rawdon – one to watch!

I’ve just read Chrissie’s first novel, Living Sensitive, and I loved it. I enjoy paranormal romance and this is a particularly original and fun book of this genre. And great news! There are more books to come in this series.

Here’s my ‘official’ review:

Delia Rhodes is a feisty and fascinating heroine who shares her flat with a ghost. She works at a waitress at Katzenjammer’s bar (German for hangover!) alongside humans, pixies, vampires and hybrids. She’s fun, strong and sensitive. A sensitive, in fact. She can sense people’s emotions and from touching, relive experiences they have gone through, a gift which she doesn’t always appreciate but others do. She also does a little shapeshifting on the side. From being single for a long while, suddenly two men enter her life – Seamus, long-time friend and sexy Irish vampire-human hybrid, and Draven, another drop-dead gorgeous hybrid, new employee at Katz. Delia now finds herself torn between two lovers who between them drag her into a dangerous situation. Draven has chosen to fight in the Cage as a sort of ritual and suddenly Delia finds she is forced to fight for her life. And how does this tie in with pixie kidnapping?

This book by an exciting young author is an interesting and entertaining take on the paranormal romance theme. Pixies certainly don’t crop up very often in this genre. The dialogue is modern and spirited, the characters are complex and credible and the settings and situations are intriguing and well thought out. It’s not just surface entertainment. The issues of loyalty and trust are strong subthemes. Good versus evil and tolerance versus discrimination are explored. There are a few sinister hints in little things like the way everyone is categorised at birth, with some sort of secret system reserved for vampires. And the characters face death. There is darkness to match the lightness of this novel. It’s a great read and an impressive start to a series. I thoroughly recommend it.

And now let’s meet Chrissie. She’s a busy mum and determined perfectionist, as you’ll see.

I asked her rather a lot questions about Living Sensitive, writing and herself and she was kind enough to take the time to answer them all.  Thanks Chrissie!

 1.      What inspired you to write Living Sensitive?
The idea for the story has been stuck in my head for awhile now. It’s actually based off of a dream I had a few years ago.

 2.      Which character from the book are you most like – Delia, Eli, Seamus or Jocelyn?
I think I’m most like Delia. We both have a pretty sassy attitude. I enjoy writing her and Eli the most.

3.      Living Sensitive has a great cover. Did you design it yourself?
Thank you. Yes, I designed it. I bought the background and tweaked it in Photoshop.

4.      Would you like to have supernatural powers? And if so, which ones?
I would love to have supernatural powers! I think I would want to be a vampire-human hybrid. I’d have super strength, speed and hearing but I wouldn’t have to give up the sun or coffee!

5.      Which of your personal qualities help you as an author? Which ones don’t help?
I have a lot of determination. Once I set my mind on something, I have to see it though. I’m also a bit of a perfectionist, which helps and hinders my writing. I have deleted entire chapters before, multiple times because I wasn’t satisfied with how they turned out. The thing that helps the least is that I’m easily distracted. You might say I have the attention span of a squirrel. That makes it very difficult to write sometimes.

6.      You have two daughters. Is it easy finding time to write on top of being a Mom?
My girls definitely demand attention. They decide how I spend my days. I usually wait until they’re in bed before I sit down to write. I’m a night owl anyway so writing all night, in to the early morning, is pretty normal for me.

7.      What are you writing now?
Right now I am writing the second book in the Delia Rhodes series. She has a lot going on in the next book. I’m having a lot of fun writing it.

8.      Are book reviews important to authors, in your opinion?
I think they are very important. Unfortunately, they aren’t that easy to get. In my opinion, reviews can make or break your book. People are less likely to give your writing a chance if you have bad reviews, or no reviews at all.

9.      Do you have any strange or quirky writing habits?
I talk to myself when I’m writing. It helps me workout scenes I’m having trouble with. I’ve also used dolls to help me keep track of ‘what’s where’ when writing steamy scenes. The last thing you want, when you’re reading a sexy scene, is to end up confused about how certain things are happening or how they got there.

10.     When did you first realize you wanted to be an author, indie or otherwise?
I have been thinking up stories for as long as I can remember. It was just a matter of getting the confidence to share them with others. It’s a scary thing, putting your heart into something you love and then showing it to the world. One day it just clicked, I woke up and I had my mind set on making this happen.

11.     What one snippet of advice would you give to aspiring self-published authors?
I would say to stay persistent. Don’t get discouraged if you hit a few bumps, just plow right through them and don’t give up. It’s not easy, and you will have your bad days, but if this is your dream It will be worth it.

12.     OK, enough of the serious stuff. What are your three favourite foods?
Cheesecake, Brownies, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos…. and I know it’s not a food technically, but I can’t live without my coffee!

13.     And finally, what would you not be seen dead wearing?!
Crocs, hands down, ugliest shoes I’ve ever seen in my life. I hear they’re comfortable, but there is no amount of comfort on this planet, to convince me to wear them.

Chrissie has a website at www.cmrawdon.blogspot.com.