1/17/2012

Eileen Cook

ABOUT EILEEN COOK

 Eileen Cook is a multi-published author with her novels appearing in six different languages. She spent most of her teen years wishing she were someone else or somewhere else, which is great training for a writer. 

You can read more about Eileen, her books, and the things that strike her as funny at www.eileencook.com.  Eileen lives in Vancouver with her husband and two dogs and no longer wishes to be anyone or anywhere else.

ABOUT UNRAVELING ISOBEL

Unraveling Isobel

"Thrilling and creepy, super sexy, and so very hilarious." --Lisa McMann, bestselling author of the Wake trilogy

“Ideal for readers who like their stories supernatural but their dream guys human.” –The Bulletin

“Spine-tingling setting….Isobel’s sass and her steamy romance with her new stepbrother will help readers race toward the dramatic conclusion.” --Publishers Weekly

“This blend of paranormal romance, murder mystery and quirky, coming-of-age narrative offers tasty moments….Cook gives readers a fast-paced plot, a likable narrator, and interesting characters.” -Kirkus

Isobel’s life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye, best friend. Goodbye, social life. Hello, icky new stepfather, crunchy granola town, and unbelievably good-looking, officially off-limits stepbrother.
But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear that it isn’t only her life that’s unraveling—her sanity might be giving way too. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she’s seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel’s fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.

You can read the first chapter here: http://www.eileencook.com/

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH EILEEN:

Twitter: Eileenwriter

GET TO KNOW EILEEN COOK

Maureen: Thanks so much for coming by, Eileen! What’s next for you as an author?

Eileen:  I’m doing copy edits now for the book that will be out next December. The current title is Shady Sadie (although that may change)  This is the story of Sadie, a teenage con artist. When she discovers that she looks like the age enhanced photo of a missing child decides to pull the ultimate con…until she begins to suspect she may actually be the missing child

Maureen: Oh, that sounds awesome. What sound or noise do you love?

Eileen: The sound of the ocean. Or a lake. Any sort of waves hitting the shore. I find it very relaxing.

Maureen: Lucky you live on the coast. Vanilla or chocolate?

Eileen: Dark chocolate

Maureen: What’s the most romantic thing anyone ever did for you?

Eileen: My first year after college I was working in a lousy job. I didn’t earn enough to make it home for the holidays. My boyfriend (now husband) sent me a Christmas tree with lights and all the decorations.

Maureen: That is too sweet. What’s something you’d like to tell your fans?

Eileen:  Thank you.  I know there are a lot of great books to read out there, I appreciate you taking time to read mine.

Maureen: Is Elvis really dead?

Eileen: I hope so, they buried him.

Maureen: Good point. :) What’s the first thing you do when you finish writing a book?

Eileen: Dance around the living room.  Then I swing wildly back and forth between thinking the book is brilliant to deciding it is terrible.

Maureen: What’s your favorite dessert?

Eileen: Homemade chocolate chip cookies, still warm from the oven.

Maureen: Drooling…What do you do to unwind and relax?

Eileen: Knit! I have a yarn obsession.  I love all the color and texture. I’m not a great knitter, but I can handle socks, scarves, and a basic sweater.

Maureen: What was your favorite subject in school and why?

Eileen: English. Who doesn’t love a subject that involves getting to read.

Maureen: Did you belong to a clique in high school? Which one of the standard high school stereotypes did you best fit in to?
 
Eileen: Drama geek.  I’ll include a photo of me channeling my inner Molly Ringwald.  I secretly wanted to live out the Breakfast Club movie.

Maureen: Do you read reviews of your books? If so, do you pay any attention to them, or let them influence your writing?

Eileen: My official answer is that I don’t read the reviews because I understand you can’t please everyone.  The truth is that I do read them. If they are good I secretly want to be that person’s new BFF.  If they are bad I wonder why they hate me. I may even consider making a voodoo doll of that person.

Maureen: LOL. Tea or Coffee? And how do you take it?

Eileen: Tea.  I am the only person in Vancouver who is not a coffee junkie.  I am in love with
http://www.davidstea.com/   My current favorite is their chocolate chili chai.

Maureen: Oh, I love that one too. And Exotica. Those are my two faves. What does it mean to love someone?

Eileen: It means that special someone makes you want to be a better person. Real love is about feeling comfortable with who you really are and not feeling pressured to be anyone else.

Maureen: What’s your idea of a perfect Sunday afternoon?

Eileen: Sleep in.  Once awake, grab the NY Times paper off the stoop and wash up on the sofa to read it while rubbing the dogs and eating a good scone.
            


GOTTA ASK -- GOTTA ANSWER  :)

Maureen: How does your day job inform your writing? 

Eileen: I worked as a counselor for people who have experienced catastrophic injuries or illness. It’s helped my writing in two ways. First, because these are people dealing with really hard issues like burns, cancer or being paralyzed, it reminds me to keep my own issues in perspective.  Secondly, counseling is great training for a writer. It teaches you to look for, and understand, people’s motivations. People do things for a reason (it might not seem like a good reason, but it’s a reason) and if you can incorporate this in your writing I believe it makes your characters more realistic.

EILEEN ASKS READERS:

This is my first time writing a ghost story- I’m curious how many people here believe in ghosts?

BOOK GIVEAWAY!

Eileen is generously offering a copy of UNRAVELING ISOBEL for one lucky random commenter!

Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.

Sorry about the multiple publishing of this post! Internet Explorer had some issues with the HTML code that Word pasted in. I love that the only browser that can't parse through HTML created by a Microsoft product is another Microsoft product...

13 comments:

  1. To the people who'd already commented! Ack! I didn't think to mark down the commenters names before I deleted that post that was messing up the blog. So, so sorry...

    I will do what I can to find them. Hangs head. What an epic fail this post was. So sorry to the fabulous Eileen Cook especially.

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  2. Technology Happens...

    I hope our posters forgive us.

    FABULOUS INTERVIEW! Welcome to GLIAS, Eileen.
    And of course I believe in ghosts!

    ~Angi

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  3. Technology was the epic fail, not your post. Great interview, and the book sounds deliciously gothic. Thanks for telling us more about it and Eileen (dark chocolate--yess!)

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  4. I want!

    foreverlostinbooks(at)gmail(dot)com

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  5. It's always awesome to learn about a new author! I can't wait to pick up something by Eileen!

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  6. I don't really believe in ghosts... even though I've written about them, in my Haunted series for middle grade kids. Whether or not they are real, they make for exciting fiction. Your book sounds great!

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  7. Great interview, and I can see the post today. YOu would be a new author to me and I love trying new authors.

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  8. I'm a coffee junkie for sure! *goes to make a cup* I'm really looking forward to unraveling this book!

    Vivien
    deadtossedwaves at gmail dot com

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  9. I am ready for a good ghost story. This sounds so good. Congratulations on the book!

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  10. My comment is gone - I thought I was the first poster - oh well -

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    Replies
    1. So sorry, Tammy. That was my fault. There was a problem with the original post. People who use Internet Explorer couldn't read it. The only way I could figure out how to fix it was to delete the first post and start over. Sadly, when I deleted the post... so too went the comments. Glad you came back to comment again!

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  11. Y'all are forgiven, even if my post is hanging out in Cyberland with Tammy's. :)

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  12. so looking foward to reading it.lomazowr@gmail.com

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