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Title: Secret Legacy

 Author: Carissa Andrews

Series: The Windhaven Witches #1

Genre: Adult, Paranormal

Published: September 15th 2020

Publisher: Author Revolution LLC

Synopsis

☆☆~~ 50% of Royalties Donated to the American Cancer Society! ~~☆☆

Nestled in the woods of Windhaven, Blackwood Manor waits to unleash a dark and deadly legacy…

When Autumn Blackwood shows up at Windhaven Academy for the Witching Stick Orientation, she hopes to find out what dormant powers she could possibly possess to have been accepted to the elite supernatural school. Instead, the academy is in chaos as everyone frantically hunts for two missing girls.

But as school begins with Autumn no closer to figuring out her powers, strange occurrences start to follow her everywhere. Even at home, Blackwood Manor keeps many secrets, and Autumn can’t escape its haunting past.

New friends urge her to learn more about her family’s history in order to unlock her powers and make sense of what’s happening at Blackwood Manor, but Autumn’s not so sure. Once an accident brings Autumn face-to-face with death, however, she realizes her gifts are tied to a legacy that can either save or doom them all…

Fans of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, Joe Hill’s Locke & Key, or MR Forbes’ Necromancer: The Complete Series will love The Windhaven Witches.

Interview

Could you start by telling us a little about your path to becoming a writer?

Ironically, while I have always written, even from a very young age, I never thought about becoming an author when I was younger. My family is full of artists, but few writers and the one person in my family who was trying to break into the Writing scene wasn’t someone I particularly wanted to be likened to when I was a kid. However, as I grew older, my love of writing and books obviously didn’t wane. Because I was an avid reader, my first job was in my local bookstore. When I moved to Duluth to go to college at the university, I worked at the bookstore and movie theatre. Then, I worked for a publisher, a printer, and by 2008 I became a graphic designer. Can you see where all of this is heading? In 2010, I knew I wanted to do more with my life than just design ads for other people, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do or be. It was in the persistent nudging of one of my best friends that I took a stab at writing a novel. Of course, the idea she gave me never fully developed, because as soon as I started writing, I got the most incredible idea – it was about a girl with two different colored eyes who lived on a different planet. Yes, that’s right, the Pendomus Chronicles was born. From that point forward, I haven’t looked back. I’ve been writing for the past ten years and will be likely until I’m either dead or rendered unable.     

Tell us something about Secret Legacy outside of its synopsis. (Could be anything from a fact about the book, an anecdote about your journey writing it, or even your inspiration behind writing this book) 

Secret Legacy is actually the resurrection of my very first ever manuscript. Well before I ever thought of becoming an author, when I was fourteen, in fact, I had a crazy dream that involved moving to what looked like an enormous mansion. I had never seen anything quite like it before, though. Definitely not in person, but the details of the place were so real and vivid that I swear it was more like a past life memory. In the dream, I found a secret door hidden behind the wallpaper and managed to get it open. What was on the other side was both intriguing and scary! So, the only thing I could think to do was write about it! At the time, I was reading Fear Street novels like they were going out of style, so naturally, I copied that kind of setup. Some 120 8×10 pages later, I had a full book (cheesy as it is) and I had my English teacher read it. Bless her for doing so, too, because it was absolutely terrible! HA!

If Secret Legacy was to be made into a movie or a TV show, who would be in your dream cast?

Well, that one’s gotten much muddier for me. I originally saw Jane Levy as Autumn Blackwood, Cody Christian as Wade Hoffman, Grace Saif as Cat Gilbert and Khylin Rhambo as Colton Gilbert. But we’ve been shooting the book trailer as a live-action mini-film and there are some incredible actors in this band of misfits!

What is the difference between writing sci-fi and writing fantasy or paranormal?

Honestly, the biggest difference is the execution of the strange occurrences and plot twists. In scifi, it’s all tech or science driven. With fantasy and paranormal, it’s magic and the supernatural. In more ways than one, there’s a lot of crossover with the genres, though. I think that’s why it’s so hard for me to pick just one or the other.

What sort of research do you do to write your books, especially in the sci-fi genre?

In the scifi genre, I take the research as it comes up. For example, when I was writing the Pendomus Chronicles years ago, and I wanted to understand how neurotechnology would work (think Elon Musk’s Neuralink – but mine was called the eLink, go figure.), then I researched information on how the brain operates and how technology is currently used in the brain. I also combined that with the trends in technology – following down logical paths of how things would look once we no longer are separated from the technology we create.

In other genres, the research is usually more about mythologies, specific places, types of magic, spells, ritual, or even supernatural beings that have been documented through the ages.

What are some tropes of fiction in your genre that you love/hate? Why?

I tend to love the “chosen one/underdog” trope. I think it’s because I see it so much in my own life, I want to live in a world where hope is alive. That miracles can happen and people who think they aren’t special really are. I also like the antihero trope. I like to build characters who are a bit jaded but have that redeeming quality that still endears you to them. Sometimes that comes in the form of a main character, and other times, it’s a supporting character, or even an antagonist.

I’m not a super fan of the evil overlord archetype, though. I tend to think that all people, even those who can do evil things, all believe they are the heroes of their story. They have flaws in their logic, perhaps. But overall, they think they are doing the right thing for the right reasons.

You have access to a time machine. What advice would you give to your younger self?

Learn to relax more and take time off. I’m an over-achiever by nature and taking time to relax is extremely difficult for me. I’m constantly on the go and at times, it can get really hard to maintain without going into burnout. Even when I do take time off, it’s usually a lot of work, anyway, because I have five kids who live in the area (one is old enough to move out on his own now). That means, any down time is usually spent with them – going camping, or trying to find fun things to do as a family.  

I noticed that 50% of Royalties from the book will be donated to the American Cancer Society. I firstly wanted to commend your effort and contribution towards the fight against Cancer and then ask you what your inspiration is behind taking this admirable step?

Cancer has always played a huge role in my life. When I was five, we found out that my brother Scott was diagnosed with brain Cancer. My entire childhood was spent wondering when it would claim him (they had only given him six-months to a couple of years to live). He had good days and bad days and the bad days made it really hard not to be scared for him. Luckily, he went on to survive well past those two years. In fact, he lived another 33 years. However, in 2016, the brain cancer returned, and this time, brought some friends. Three separate forms of cancer were found in his brain in August of that year. By September 8th, he was gone. Originally, Secret Legacy’s launch would have been on the anniversary of his death. This year, a dear friend of mine is fighting stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and my father in law lost his battle with kidney cancer. My hope is that in some small way, my book might be able to help someone going through treatment. It can be a hard, long road to treat and put cancer into remission. Hopefully our donation can make it easier for them.

To conclude, what are you doing to de-stress during the pandemic? Is there any coping mechanism you’d recommend (or NOT recommend)?

This pandemic has certainly thrown a wrench into most things. I’m fortunate that I’ve been working from home since 2014, so the change in dynamic really only hit us in the form of having all of the kids home since March. With the exception of the youngest, who is just starting kindergarten this year, all of the kids are old enough to handle their schoolwork online and are adept enough at tech to figure most things out without a lot of disruption to us. However, having all four kids home and dealing with the stress of worry surrounding the pandemic has a cost. For myself, I tend to do a couple of things to de-stress: workout, for starters. I love the Beachbody workouts lately, What can I say, I’m a glutton for punishment. I have always loved Jillian Michaels workouts, so this is just another extension of the punishment she has delivered over the years. But I have also turned to reading for pleasure again and making that a priority as I start my day. I typically read a chapter a morning, as I’m having breakfast and waking up. During the summer months, my husband and I have also taken to kayaking on the many lakes and rivers in our area. Minnesota is a beautiful place to live, and we live smack dab in the middle of lake country. When we can, we also try to tear our kids away from their routines and tech by going camping or just plain getting outside.

In the beginning, though, I think I simply threw myself into my work. I knew the Windhaven Witches series was important, so I didn’t want to let all of the craziness derail me. But as far as a coping mechanism goes, all work and no play isn’t a good strategy. So, it’s one I do NOT recommend doing. Enjoy life, your family, and stay balanced.

About the Author

“An author emerges from the depths of Minnesotan waters. Sci-fi/Fantasy is my pen of choice.”

Carissa Andrews is a Minnesota-based genre-bending author who writes a combination of science fiction, fantasy, and dystopia. When not writing her own books, she’s busy reading them.

Carissa’s internationally bestselling trilogy, The Pendomus Chronicles, is now in digital, print, and audiobook formats. She has hit the scene as an up and coming speculative fiction author who uses a mix of scifi and fantasy, twisted in modern mythology and alternative history. Check out The Final Five, Oracle, Awakening, and Love is a Merciless God!

Carissa has big plans for 2020. Check out her upcoming series, The Windhaven Witches.

For more information on their release, visit Carissa Andrews’ author website: www.carissaandrews.com and sign up for her newsletter notifications.

She lives in central Minnesota with her husband and brood of five kids. Not to mention, her insane husky puppies, Aztec and Pharaoh.

Carissa is also a freelance graphic designer, writer and content creator, social media manager, and marketing professional. She writes consistently on topics of science, technology, art, writing, photography, graphic design, health, self-improvement, and more. Her articles can be found published across the interwebs. Carissa is also a Top-Rated Freelancer on Upwork, and can be contacted for freelancing opportunities: http://bit.ly/UpworkCarissaAndrews

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