Hopeful or Haunted

1) The first question I have for you in an obvious one. What is your author name (pen name if you have one)?

C.A. Gray

2) What are your top favorite authors?

C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, Suzanne Collins, Orson Scott Card, Jeff Wheeler, Jane Austen… those are the ones off the top of my head!

3) How long have you been writing?

If we’re only counting books I’ve actually published, I started “Intangible” in 2008 and published it in 2013. But I wrote my first full length novel in elementary school sometime, though it will never see the light of day. :)

4) What genre are your books, and what made you write in that genre?

YA Fantasy/Sci fi. I write YA because I still think of myself as just out of college… and also because I don’t like to write a lot of gratuitous sex, language, etc which is considered typical of older adult fiction these days.

5) Do you view writing as a career?

It’s a side gig at the moment, though I’d love to have the option of making it full time someday!

6) What do you think about the current publishing market?

There are plusses and minuses to the self-publishing movement. I’m extremely grateful to have control over my work, as I think the publishing industry has its own agendas with which I largely disagree. But the down side is, it’s very hard to get noticed with so much competition.

7) Do you read yourself and if so what is your favorite genre?

I am getting into historical fiction and high fantasy lately, which are both new for me. YA fantasy has always been my favorite before, but I’m finding more and more that I don’t have the patience for the familiar tropes I’ve read a thousand times, or the same characters in different packaging.

8) Do you write one book at a time or do you have several going at a time?

I only have 1.5 hrs four days per week to write, so I write one at a time. I'd never finish anything if I did more than that… though that created a conflict while writing this series, as I was already 100 pages in to a high fantasy novel but my heart was with this series. I finally decided to listen to it, though I fully intend to go back to the other one eventually.

9) What makes a good story?

Compelling characters, surprising plot twists, and rich world building.

10) Tell me a little bit about your book(s)?

Caves of Glass

Genre: Epic Fantasy

Rion's prophecy gives him hope through his bleakest years, while Ginny's prophecy haunts her...

The illegitimate son of a peasant, Rion of Tryferos has very limited prospects with only one remarkable talent: when he plays the lyre, he ushers in the supernatural balm of peace to all who hear. This turns out to be his ticket into the palace, where he nightly plays for the restless, rejected king. King Hector of Tryferos is paranoid, because he knows his days on the throne are numbered. What he doesn’t know is that his anointed successor is Rion.

Princess Genevieve is a spare to the throne of Mageia, shunned by all but her mother out of fear of her magical gift: she possesses the power to manipulate the thoughts and desires of those around her. But Ginny would do anything just to be normal. When a fulfilled prophecy of her mother's untimely death also foretells that Ginny will ascend the Mageian throne, Ginny wonders whether she has any control over her own fate at all, or whether everything is predetermined.

Both Rion and Ginny are drawn to the forbidden Caves of Glass at the icy pinnacles that border their two perpetually feuding nations. According to legend, the Caves are either a place of strange forbidden magic, or else a place where all deception is stripped away, leaving only clarity and truth in its wake. As Rion flees for his life and Ginny struggles against her destiny, in the Caves of Glass, they find both each other, and themselves.

*Maincrest Media Award Winner

11) Now tell me a little bit about yourself.

C.A. Gray is a Naturopathic Medical Doctor (NMD), with a primary care practice in Tucson, Arizona. She has always been captivated by the power of a good story, fictional or otherwise, which is probably why she loves holistic medicine: a patient’s physical health is invariably intertwined with his or her life story, and she believes that the one can only be understood in context with the other. For freebies, giveaways, and new release info, sign up for her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/F3rof.

Her favorite fictional tales have always been epic battles of good versus evil, with a strong tendency towards parable. An idealist herself, she has always been convinced that these stories have something deeply true to tell us about the human condition, and that is why we love them so much… or at least that’s why she does.

She still wants to be everything when she grows up. She moonlights as a college chemistry teacher (she has a degree in biochemistry, with minors in Spanish and Creative Writing), does theater when she gets the chance, sings, plays piano, was once a personal trainer and in coffee shop management. She is blessed with exceptionally supportive family and friends, and thanks God for them every single day.

12) Do you have a website? If so, what is it?

Website: http://www.authorcagray.com/

13) Where else can we find and follow you?

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCAGray

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorCAGray

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/AuthorCAGray/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/c-a-gray

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/C.A.-Gray/e/B00GW1DTPO/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/CAGray