Guest Author J. CAFESIN
WELCOME J. CAFESIN
J. CAFESIN
J. Cafesin is a novelist of taut, edgy, modern fiction filled with complex, compelling characters that bring story live, and linger long after the reads. Her debut novel, Reverb, has been called “riveting,” “deep,” “an original and unique read,” by recent Amazon reviewers. Other works include her fantasy short story series, Fractured Fairytales of the Twilight Zone. Her second novel, Disconnected, is due out in spring, 2014.
Her essays and articles are featured regularly in local and national print and e-publications. Many of the essays from her ongoing blog have been translated into multiple languages and distributed globally.
J. Cafesin lives on the eastern slope of the redwood laden Oakland Hills with her husband/best friend, two gorgeous, talented, spectacular kids, and a bratty, but cute Shepherd pound hound.
Connect with J. Cafesin at these sites:
Q&A with J. Cafesin
Do you draw from personal experiences and/or current events?
Both. I’m personally experiencing current events ; )! I’m the person in the back of the coffee house watching everyone interact. Sometimes I write down dialog, sometimes I just listen, try and pick up on what is not said but clearly felt through body language. A flick of the hair, a coy smile, a grimace or narrowing of the brows tells a LOT about what someone is feeling. Everything I write is character-driven, even my fantasy stuff. Rod Serling had it right—the magic is a prop, nothing more, to explore the nature of people.
Do you start with the conclusion and plot in reverse or start from the beginning and see where the story line brings you?
I generally start from the beginning. With novels I let the characters take over and tell the story, let it unfold through them. Given the same situation my husband and I may have a completely different response, as he’s a math head, and I’m, well, not. Sometimes with short stories I have a vague idea of where I want to take the tale, but again, and often, the characters don’t want to go where I want, so I have to listen to who they are. I realize it sounds inane, as I’m creating the characters, but once I envision a type of person, they dictate how the story plays out. Can you imagine, say, the Dalai Lama becoming a Tea-Party Republican. Not likely. See what I mean?
Your routine when writing? Any idiosyncrasies?
I drink 10-15 cups of black tea a day, between 8:00a.m. and 2:30p.m. while fine (fiction) writing, then switch to Diet Coke when I get the kids, until 5:00 when I go running. I live on caffeine.
Is writing your full time job? If not, may I ask what you do by day?
Writing is my full time job. Marketing my writing is also my full time job.
Who are some of your favorite authors?
Rod Serling, John Fowles, Ursula LeGuin, Ray Bradbury, Fyodor Dostoyevsky (No shit. Read Crime and Punishment, simply one of the best modern novels ever written!), and I could go on forever here, but…I won’t.
What are you reading now?
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (MUCH better than the film!); Catching Fire (to see her structure, not so much the story since I felt like she didn’t put actual characters on the page in The Hunger Games [I mean why is Peeta in love with Katniss anyway?], and I’m not into tales of kids killing kids).
Are you working on your next novel? Can you tell us a little about it?
Disconnected comes out this spring, late March. Novel reads like a modern Jane Austen—taut, smart, historical lit chronicling the coming of age for the last of the baby boomers with the displacement of classic gender roles at the end of the 20thcentury. Rachel and Lee’s tumultuous relationship is reflected in the land of perpetual sunshine imploding with rapid growth, racial tension and violence. Disconnected is an L.A. story, an addicting contemporary romance, and like the city itself embodies a very sharp edge.
Fun questions:
Your novel will be a movie. Who would you cast?
Jeez, never want Reverb to be made into a movie! The point is for the reader to picture James Whren as they imagine a beautiful, brilliant musician to be. Never want to put an image in the mind of the reader. Imagining is what makes reading so great!
Manuscript/Notes: hand written or keyboard?
Keyboard (who hand writes anymore?)
Favorite leisure activity/hobby?
Hanging with my DH and kids (and even my bratty, [but cute] dog)!!!
Favorite meal?
Popcorn
ABOUT THE BOOK
James Whren is brilliant, beautiful, rich, and taken—with his genius for creating music. Desired by many, he commits to no one but his muse. On the eve of his brother’s funeral his father shatters his life, and James is left abandoned in hell with no one real to save him.
His odyssey to freedom takes him beyond the looking glass, to the reflection of friends and lovers. Humbled and alone, James escapes to the Greek island of Corfu. But instead of finding solace there, loneliness consumes him.
Until Elisabeth, and her son, Cameron…
Reverb isn’t your typical read. Spun from The Magus (John Fowles), also about a man who learns to love someone other than himself, Reverb is told like Crime and Punishment, modern, tight, edgy verging on sharp. It’s like nothing you’ve read, guaranteed.
BOOK DETAILS:
Publisher: Entropy Publications
Pub Date: November 2013
Author’s Name (pen name): J. Cafesin
Genre(s): Romantic Suspense; Literary Fiction
# Pgs: 328
ISBN: 0615756395
PURCHASE LINKS:
DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
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