Blog Archives
Sanctum Is Coming For You Once Again!
Sanctum: Forests of Avalon follows a knight and his companion on a quest to save the dying world of Avalon. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
In our first book when we had Isolde come to Setesh, and she was a stranger in a strange land. For the readers – we wanted them to experience the “newness” of the world through her eyes. With Forest of Avalon – we wanted to create context for the audience to understand what kind of world she came from and how VASTLY different it was to Setesh in both culture & environment. Both CS & I are fans of Arthurian Fantasy so the concept of the land dying and being poisoned at its heart was our nod to those stories of old, as well as giving us an opportunity to put a spin on it.
How long did it take you to imagine, draft, and write the world your characters live in?
For Avalon – CS began in November of 2020, but then holidays and the world going politically crazy – we really started the engines again in early 2021 and finished officially in September/October. So basically 10 months to create new characters/creatures, personalities, as well as give the land of Avalon substance.
What character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?
While I can’t answer for CS – personally, it isn’t so much as a specific character – but the back and forth verbal sparring between the main & side characters. My goal is to always make sure that the characters you meet are more than two-dimensional cameos. I want them to seem like they have lives and responsibilities beyond their interaction with the main characters.
While both CS & I write for both Isolde & Tulok – the most challenging thing is ensuring that there isn’t any character bleed. If I write the actions of one character one way – I want to be sure that the attitudes and actions are consistent when I write. This way, when CS takes up the pen for her sessions – she can look back at that consistency, and know where she can go with her take. Since we don’t occupy the same living space, and have our own lives – we end up sending messages and DMs to one another asking why the other did this or complimenting the direction that was taken. Writing solo is one thing – but writing as a partnership is challenging but extremely satisfying when we’re in tune.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
We are currently working on the third book of the series (to be named) and ideally we are also aiming at completing it by the end of the year. So come December – watch out! Sanctum is coming for you once again!
Author Links: Twitter | Facebook | Website
Or at least that was what the dreams said. Charged by Faith and Justice, Knight Wanderer Isolde and the Radiant Priest Tulok must abandon the arid Realm of Setesh and travel across the sea to a land of ancient magics and even stranger customs. A place where the Fae and Morpheum creatures hold court, and the Gods themselves walk alongside mortals! Racing to end the machinations of a rogue Vidria, and the growing corruption of a crazed ancient of untold power, can the knight and her priestly companion reach them in time, or will the land be forever severed from its magic?
Tread lightly in Avalon, for the land is alive, and watching …
C.S. Kading and Tony Fuentes return to the World of Sanctum with the second installment in this epic sword and sorcery series.
A Powerful Story To Tell
The Prodigal Father follows a man who lost his wife and his faith and slowly learns that God can do anything and no one is past saving. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
My primary inspiration for the redemption story is from my own life and my struggles with God. There have been times in my own life where I have strayed and felt as though I had wondered beyond a place of being found. My childhood with an abusive parent fed into many life problems that I faced including my own struggles with alcohol and feelings of abandonment. I realized no matter how far I felt I had run or how unworthy I felt I had become, God had never left my side and waited patiently for me through it all.
Tom is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind his character’s development?
When I originally started writing the story I thought that Eli was going to be my main character. Within only 2 chapters of the original version I realized that Tom had a powerful story to tell because it was real and raw and I knew people would connect with a lot of the complex feelings and changes he faced. I wanted to be honest with myself and readers about how we can start out with the greatest intentions and life can twist us up. I wanted to show that even though we can travel a dark path it doesn’t mean we have to be a bad person forever. Oftentimes who we have been can cast such a large shadow over what we can become that we feel like we don’t deserve to change. I wanted to write about Tom in a way that showed all his flaws and showed he was aware of them, then I wanted to show the struggle of overcoming the flaws and CHOOSING to accept them and ask forgiveness and truly move forward for the sake of others and not ourselves.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Something that was very important for me was to show what happens behind closed doors in families. Often what we see in public can be drastically different from what goes on in private. My own childhood seemed to be split into public life and family life and keeping the secrets of what happens when no one can see. While my siblings and I had a drastically harsher upbringing compared to what I wrote in the book I wanted people to feel some of the feelings from both the perspective of the abused child as well as from the abusive parent. I did not want to write Tom as a complete villain so I did not make some of the harder chapters nearly as intense as my own experiences, but I did want people to feel uncomfortable and dissect how it made them feel about his actions.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am not currently writing another book. I have a few ideas but I do not start writing until the idea hasn’t left my head for several months. I had the idea for this book in my head for almost a year before I started writing because I wanted to see if the idea would be good enough to stay with me. I often write poetry or short stories but I do not publish them.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon | Kirkus
Life was never simple or easy for Tom, but he had all he needed to get him through it. Until he didn’t.
In the blink of an eye, he lost the person he loved more than anything… the one thing that always made him a better man, and his reason for everything that he did in life. His wife and soulmate, Emily. Along with her went his faith in a caring God.
The pain of losing Emily was too much to bear, and he found himself consumed by more darkness than he could handle on his own. He became unrecognizable as a father and a man, and each day continued down a path that there was no coming back from, or so he thought.
Even though Tom believed God had truly abandoned him and there was no way to make it Home, Tom learned that we are never alone and there is nothing God cannot do.
In an amazing and emotional story of hope, heartbreak and redemption, Tom’s story shows us that there is always a way back Home and nobody is ever past saving…
Lights Of The World
The Greatest Light is a picture book that engages children with examples of kindness that they can embody. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
Our inspiration was the Bible verse that is quoted at the end of our book. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” Our desire is to inspire children to live their daily lives as lights of the world, and to show them that small gestures of kindness can mean a lot to the recipient of that kindness.
The art in the book was beautiful. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator Steve Worthington?
Steve is a very talented, hardworking artist and he’s a great communicator too. He listened, created, listened again and revised until we were happy with the finished product. His art makes the story. We couldn’t be more pleased.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The theme we want to convey is the love a grandparent has for his grandchildren and the desire he has for his grandchildren to live lives that show kindness and love, bringing glory and honor to Our Father in heaven.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
We are currently working on The Greatest Servant. Steve is working on it now. We’d like to publish it next fall, as its setting is Christmastime.
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads
Katherine Kerestman Author Interview
Creepy Cat’s Macabre Travels takes readers to unusual locations, or shows them the darker side of more common tourist sites. The cover for this book is interesting. How did you create the cover for Creepy Cat’s Macabre Travels?
The cover was my photograph of Whitby Cathedral, photoshopped by my publisher’s illustrator.
What was your favorite location to write about in this book?
Salem — my heart breaks for the innocent victims of the Witch Hysteria — compulsory conformity always leads to death. And Transylvania — Romania is very different from western Europe — very agrarian, with carts drawn by horses and shepherds taking sheep to common grazing lands. It is very Byzantine, too.
Will there be another volume of travel locations in the future?
Yes, I am working on a second volume.
Author Links: Amazon | Website
Ghoulish Graveyards
Cobwebbed Cathedrals
The Creepy, the Macabre, the Weird, the Wonderful
Chilling tales of haunting, surreal, and inhuman entities that frighten us have been told by people of all times, and every place. It is the angst and insecurity which come with being human that these horror stories express. It turns out that, in the process of describing these forces and creatures (that which we are not), we are defining by negation our own humanity (that which we are).
The struggle to understand our nature and our relation to-well, to everything else-is the lot of humans everywhere. All of us share in this struggle to find meaning in a mysterious, indifferent universe. As Creepy Cat travels, albeit usually purely for pleasure, as a humanist she cannot help putting two and two together and realizing that our common fears, aversions, and yearnings can sometimes unite people-and can also drive them into opposing camps. These are the mysteries told by the story-weavers of macabre tales.
Creepy Cat invites you to come along for the journey.
If You Have A Dead Cereus Craving
Dead Cereus follows a college student with a tendency to attract trouble including the witnessing of a murder. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
Oh, thank you for this question! I do love answering it! As I explain in my afterword in the book, I visited the Wellesley College greenhouse complex every day in the winter of 2017. It occurred to me that a greenhouse could be a great setting for a mystery, and once I thought that, I persevered and wrote this cozy mystery overflowing with plants and flowers. The main complex at Wellesley College had five major rooms and a few student nurseries. So I kept the general layout of Wellesley College’s greenhouse as inspiration, but I added in many more rare tropical plants in my story. I always knew that I wanted it to be a “botanical murder”, without using a gun, or something like that, and that the murder should occur in the greenhouse. I wanted it to be a “botanical murder with a plant-based murder weapon”, as I also gave every character a botanical or plant name. I was trying to keep the botanical theme going in as many ways as I possibly could. I also wove in many “botanical jokes and puns”. I wouldn’t want to give away right here where the dead body is found, but suffice to say, it is in a “botanical place”. The placement of the dead body is a highlight at that point in the novel and my editor told me she’s almost 100% sure no one ever did that before, so she thought it was a cool addition to the botanical theme running throughout the book.
What were some driving ideals behind Holly’s character development?
This is such a great question! Holly seems to me very open to input from other people. She can be headstrong at times and once she gets the bit between her teeth, she has a hard time letting go. However, I think she has an endearing quality of being open to input from other people and not disappointing people who mean a lot to her is very important to Holly. Holly’s mentor, Heather, is always trying to encourage her to “be the best version of Holly that she can be.” Subconsciously, Holly is taking it all in. She is very impulsive and has a hard time controlling her outsized emotions, but she is striving to be her best self and wants to make people she cares about proud of her. William is her kryptonite. She literally is crushed by any disapproval from him, and he in turn, also is a mentor to Holly, as well as her boyfriend. He has very high expectations of her, as he knows she is a formidable young woman with a ton of potential. He also knows that her emotions get the best of her and he tries to teach her better ways of coping when it’s crunch time. She is very lucky to have people invested in her character development. She knows this as well, and does strive to learn, nay, grow from her mistakes!
Was there anything from your own life that you put into the characters in your novel?
Haha, this is a great question, because my editors and beta-readers who know me in real life absolutely think I am Holly! So…is Holly me? Well, I do remember when I was 20-24 years old, and I was developing as a new adult, I experienced my emotions very strongly. I would be extremely crushed by disappointments and extremely elated by positive events. My mother was my mentor and she taught me to try not to take everything so seriously…or is it “cereusly”? Haha! So thinking back on how I felt at 20-24, I remembered my own out-sized emotions and thought they could be great for Holly. Holly’s emotions leap off the page and she becomes very vivid to readers.
With William, the inspiration for him came from a trusted dance partner I used to dance with for a couple of years. We had an amazing bond that was almost instinctual. By “instinctual” I mean a bond that almost defies explanation, but is the most amazing closeness to another human being that you can ever find. It’s trusting them instantly without even knowing why and literally being able to read their thoughts. William reads Holly like a book and as he says, “Baby, nothing, I mean nothing, is getting between us. You and I are an inseparable team. There’s no daylight between us.” So I think there are definitely aspects from my own life and experiences that found their way into the book.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am pleased to say that I am continuing the Dead Cereus cozy mystery series and am also developing a Dead Cereus romance series! In this book, William and Holly have known each other for two years. Wouldn’t you like to know how they met? I certainly would…and I have actually no clue right now. William and Holly will have to tell me how they met, (I just bet that is a riveting story!), and then I will write it up and publish it for all of us to read. I hope to release the new books in the spring. If you have a Dead Cereus craving and need more, I got you! More books are on the way!
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
When the rare night-blooming cereus plant is scheduled to open its petals at Shellesby College’s Night Lights Gala, Holly is there-and so is a killer. Events unfold that not only place her scholarship on the line, but also her life…and that of her rival. Holly finds herself racing the clock to save her arch nemesis, secure her scholarship, and catch a murderer… if she can!
Filled with humor, breathtaking tropical plants, and foods that will make your stomach growl, this is an epic romance and a fantastic, unique mystery rolled into one hilarious story. With all the feels, this novel can’t help but implant itself in your heart and grow into one of your favorite reads. Kira Seamon is the debut author with the killer imagination.
Dead Cereus earned FIRST PLACE in the Royal Dragonfly Book Awards in the romance category.
I Experienced True Freedom
Addicted to Health is a roadmap for improving your health, mind, body, and soul with deeply personal testimonies. Why was this book important for you to write?
As someone with an extensive background in health and wellness, I knew that I needed to write it because of the fact that my identity was so wrapped up in what I did. Instead of living from a place of health and freedom, I ended up in utter bondage, living a life ruled by fear. I was afraid to let people down for fear that they wouldn’t see me as legitimate or credible. I knew that I used to struggle with feeling like I had to have all of the answers, yet deep down, I felt like I couldn’t be alone in that. Freedom in how I viewed health in general, how I viewed my own health, and how I coached and consulted others on their health journey didn’t come until I experienced three miracles. Once God radically healed my body, I knew that it wasn’t my doing, but his. I had never experienced that kind of love before. After years of trying to heal my body on my own, I kept hitting a dead end. I felt like I was a failure and disappointment to my Creator. But when I invited God back into the process on his terms, he flipped my understanding of his nature upside down and I was able to get freedom from all the lies I believed and the insecurities I hid behind in both my health and my career in health.
Once I experienced true freedom and asked God to highlight how to handle my health, he gave me downloads for what to do next – just the next step. As I began walking this out, six different people who I didn’t know or barely knew (all in the span of one year) asked me if I was writing or told me I would be. I violently rejected that idea, but realized it was coming directly from God. So, once I surrendered to what He was asking me, the words just flew out onto paper.
All this goes to say, I realized I had to write the book for people to be able to experience freedom in their health journey. We need to go to the source of our health in order to get the map or blueprints for what to do next, and Addicted to Health is a roadmap dedicated to helping people figure out what they believe and why, and what to do next, all while asking the One who made them.
What is one thing about health that you think is misrepresented in the media?
There are so many things! But for starters, the media is typically biased and they should not be the ones defining what it means to be healthy. Unfortunately, given the monopoly we have with the media in the United States and the fact that negative or chaotic news gets more publicity, there seems to be a constant agenda in regards to health. Much of what we are fed through mainstream media is defined on their terms and in favor of their agenda. While it may not always be true, it’s important to seek out information about health from legitimate sources not in the media. Instead of allowing or encouraging people to think for themselves and make their own health choices, there is so much fear, condescension, and misinformation. For example, with everything still going on with the pandemic – it’s surprising how much sway the media has when it comes to telling us what we should and shouldn’t do with our bodies. Each person’s body is different and the media should not be advising people on what’s right and wrong as if it applies to the masses. Having an opinion is one thing, but reporting information in a way that fits each media outlet’s personal agenda or opinion is completely unacceptable.
What was one of the hardest parts in Addicted to Health for you to write?
Honestly, I didn’t want to bring God into it! That’s funny to write now, but I thought that I could share testimonies or provide steps and tips without even mentioning him. But without my encounters with Jesus, and without partnering with the Holy Spirit to actually write the book, it wouldn’t have even happened. In fact, I was a child with dysgraphia, which means I was able to verbally articulate my thoughts well, but sentence structure and clarity went out the window when writing. I think I was afraid of sounding “preachy” or “fake,” but after having a heart to heart with God, I realized I was just letting my fear of what people would think get in the way of what really needed to come out. So, writing this book became an opportunity for people-pleasing to die and to allow God to use it however he saw fit, and I’m glad it turned out how it did!
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Great question! I’ve got a short baking book filled with alternative, health-centered baking recipes called “Baking Free with Tori” (available for download now on Amazon). As for another book, there are a couple in the pipeline, but I’m working on one that will be about how dreams and fantasies within your heart can actually be a possibility in the natural world. I’ve experienced the supernatural on so many levels in my life and I’ve also had dreams come true that I believed to be too fantastical and impossible. God had to rewire my thinking so much so that it offended me, but when I let him do it, he began to show me new ways to think and live, and many of my dreams became a reality.
As radical as it may seem, many things that occur in fantasy and superhero stories contain elements from the kingdom of heaven and they should be more of a norm in our world, but we aren’t taught to live life believing it’s true. I think that’s why we’re all so attracted to these stories – because some elements resonate deeply with our true identity. More to come!
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
This book gives specific steps for how you can experience personal freedom, lasting transformation, and constant joy in your health journey.
Joy, Love of Life and Enthusiasm
In My Home We Believe raises awareness and promotes respect, compassion, and empathy in a world of differing beliefs. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
I have worked with children and families for a couple of decades in various capacities, more recently as a child therapist. In early summer 2020, I was in a therapy session with a 6-year-old girl who was sharing her experience of participating in her first march for human rights. She invited me to join her in shouting the statements she had learned. Mid-statement she stopped and said, “No Odessa!!! You have to say them from your soul!!!” Unbeknownst to her, I was having a hard time saying them not because I didn’t believe in the statements; but I was overwhelmed by her pure joy, love of life and enthusiasm to help others. It was also at that moment I realized the children of today’s generation have such unique challenges; but with their resilience and desire to help, they are going to make this world a better place. As a lover of children’s books, it inspired me to write “In My Home We Believe.”
The art in this book is fantastic. What was the art collaboration process like with illustrator Andrea Moore?
Thank you! Andrea Moore is a friend and former colleague where we worked together as child therapists. I approached her with rough sketches done by another friend, Natalie Nash. After discussing the vision and mission for the book, Andrea agreed to illustrate it. I am so grateful for her artistic skill and talent that brought the message of the book to life! The illustrations are colorful and represent a diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, abilities and cultures.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The themes represented in this book focus on relevant topics that children are hearing about everyday; including Black Lives Matter, Women’s Rights are Human Rights, No Human is Illegal, Science is Real, Water is Life, Love is Love and Kindness is Everything. This book is a resource to help explain the meaning behind each statement in a way that children can understand and feel empowered. Andrea and I dedicated this book to children around the world and are donating 10% of the proceeds from every book sold to various charities that support equality, climate change, education and to end poverty and hunger.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Currently, we are working on translating In My Home We Believe into Spanish!!! We are hoping it will be ready for release next month, February 2022.
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads | Instagram
What does Black Lives Matter mean?
Why are women treated differently?
Why do so many kids and their families have to leave their homes?
How does science help?
Why is water so important?
What is love?
How can I be kind to others?
This book raises awareness and promotes respect, compassion, and empathy in a world of differing beliefs. With heartfelt illustrations and a beautiful message, this book invites children to feel empowered in making the world a better place through greater knowledge, acceptance and kindness.
Part of the proceeds from this book will be donated to various charities that support equality, climate change, education and to end poverty and hunger.
Fires of Social Change
A Brownstone In Brooklyn follows a young man and the struggles he faced growing up in the 60’s in Brooklyn and how these struggles were impacted by the Civil Rights Movement. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
The inspiration for A Brownstone in Brooklyn came from my time as an undergraduate at The City College of New York and what I had to overcome to graduate during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. The sixties in Brooklyn was an era that had a personality, a feel, and a life-force that changed a generation. I felt this energy and experienced these fires of social change. I wanted to put this into words on a paper.
What were some driving ideals behind Andy Michael Pilgrim’s character development?
Some of the driving ideals was a strong family bond and a relationship to every person in the Brownstone where I lived in Brooklyn. Andy was the Rock Star and hope of people who moved from the oppressive south and wanted the young people to have a better life than they had. He was a hero, a vision of the future, that blacks could advance and compete with white American young people. It was a strong racial identity and that fueled this push for success. Andy wanted to rebel, but knew he would be letting a lot older people down. H was full of respect the older generation.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
As a product of the inner City, I wanted to show that Bed-Stuy and other African-American enclaves were populated with good people who wanted to achieve goals and success and not what was pictured on television and in the Black-Exploitations movies of the era.
Black Americans read and created literary works of significance.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Killer Kudzu (Sci-Fi): Publication Date January 2022.
Killer Kudzu is a pre-apocalyptic, semi-horror novel where science has gone terribly wrong. There is a southern twang in the characters voices and a distinctive down-home feel in the locale. It is written with a social twist and a commentary about the relationship between blacks and whites in the south. Killer Kudzu is in the vain of the creeping menace like Pandemic, The Atlantic Gene, The Hot Zone and The Day of the Triffids.
Killer Kudzu Book Trailer:
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LITERARY TITAN 