An Exclusive Interview with novelist C. L. Parker
Author of Supernova
By Brent Raynes
C.L. Parker, the author of Supernova and its sequel Cataclysm, to be released around December 1st, writes a lively paranormal romance novel about a young couple who are both gifted and cursed with supernatural powers, are caught up in a battle between good and evil, and are able to walk between two worlds.
In additional to talking with Miss Parker about her literary work, find out her personal thoughts and insights on real paranormal phenomena.
Plus be sure and visit Miss Parker’s website at: www.cl-parker.com
To begin with, before we delve into what your book Supernova is about, please share a little information about yourself.
I’m not a very interesting person, to be honest. Although I was born in Los Angeles, my parents decided to move back to our Podunk little hometown in Kentucky when I was just two weeks old. We came back to a maelstrom of tornadoes, which I really think my parents should have taken as an omen to get the hell back out of town. Alas, they did not heed their warning. Was this a good or a bad thing? I’m not sure. Yes, I am. I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. If they hadn’t brought me back here, I wouldn’t have been so bored that I had to look into other avenues of entertainment, which led me to the literary world. So it was a very good thing.
I have two sons and one daughter. I also work a “regular” job as a retirement counselor.
Random facts: I have a condition called OCD that refuses to be denied. I cuss like a sailor (because I used to be one – hey, I earned the right to use that excuse), smoke like a cowboy, and refuse to drink anything other than Patron Silver (while entertaining only – well lookie there, I’m entertaining now). I firmly believe the glass is always half full. I choose to surround myself with positive people because I am a positive person. My best friends are my mom and sisters, even sisters we’ve adopted into our family because they’ve become that close to all of us. I dream of moving to St. Augustine, Florida, and I swear to you, I will do just that some day. I’m a huge fan of “Mary Poppins” and acted like a complete fool when I saw Her during the parade at Disney World – she blew me a kiss! Me, not the little snotty brats around me that didn’t even have a clue who she was. Wait, those were my own kids.
I understand that you've long had a fascination with the paranormal. What are your thoughts on the subject? Have you ever had a personal paranormal experience?
I have a very active imagination, so I believe anything is possible. Do I believe in vampires and werewolves? Well, that pill’s a little harder for me to swallow. But, I do believe in ghosts, angels, demons, witches, psychic abilities, alien life, and yes, even big foot. My thought is that with as vast as our universe is, how closed-minded would I have to be to believe this mundane life we all live is all that’s out there? I’m just a speck of dust in the grand theme of things, and I choose to expand my mind to be willing to accept things that aren’t as widely accepted. Do I need proof? No. No one knows for sure the origins of man, yet here we are. I have to believe in something more, or else what’s the point of life?
I don’t think I can say I’ve ever had a personal paranormal experience, but I’m open to it. I might piss on myself when it happens, but I’m open to it nonetheless. I think we’re all searching for answers. I once did an interview with Jim Malliard of The Malliard Report, he’s the co-founder of Meadville Paranormal, and he invited me to join their group on a case when they come to my area. I’m not sure when that’s going to happen, but I’m very excited. My one stipulation was that it not be a location with alleged demonic activity because that scares the bejeezus out of me.
I have to share this with you. My mother, who is not the type of person to make up stories, once told me that when she was living in California, she had a very weird encounter of the alternate universe kind. She said she, my dad, and my older sister lived in a very small 2-bedroom house. My dad worked nights so she was home a lot by herself. She said there was always a eerie feeling like something just wasn't quite right. It almost felt like they were being watched all the time. My sister was a baby, about eight or nine months old, when something weird happened. My mom heard my sister one morning just laughing and giggling. When she looked in her room she was standing up in her crib just looking toward the floor and laughing. My mom rolled over to go back to sleep and she felt the side of the bed go down like someone had sat down. She first thought it was my dad getting home, so she rolled over to say good morning but there was a very pretty red-headed woman sitting on the bed beside her instead, just brushing her long red hair. My mom said it scared the hell out of her, but before she could react, the lady spoke and told her not to be afraid. She said that she and her family were not ghosts, but from another parallel dimension, that it was rare for our dimensions to come into contact with each other, but it sometimes happened. The lady also told my mom that she and her family occupied that same house only on another plane. She told my mom to look around, and when she looked into my sister’s bedroom there was a little boy on the floor playing with some toys, which she assumed was what my sister had been laughing about. In the kitchen there was a man in his boxer shorts cooking breakfast. He even turned around and smiled at her. My mom said it was an overwhelming feeling. Just as quickly as they had appeared, they disappeared again without anything else being said or done. She said it never happened again while they lived there, and she didn’t know what was going on, but it felt very real to her.
Now, three things come to mind when I hear this story; either she was still dreaming (having just been roused from sleep), it really happened, or she was having one hell of an acid trip (it was the 70’s after all). Either way, I’ve always found it be very interesting, indeed. Not my own personal experience, but it's still pretty cool, right?
Well please give us a little background on what your first book Supernova is all about and why you believe that readers will want to read it from cover to cover?
Supernova is a tale of destiny, free will and fate; a tale of two star-crossed lovers united to conquer the very obstacles that threaten to keep them apart.
As part of a chosen bloodline, Kerrigan Cruz has inherited a gift: supernatural powers which give her the ability to protect a person’s free will from those who wish to alter destiny for their own design. It is after her grandmother’s passing that Kerrigan meets Dominic Grayson, a handsome stranger charged with the responsibility of developing her gift. What she doesn’t know is that Dominic has a secret of his own. He has been cursed, touched by both darkness and light, and Kerrigan is the only one who can save him.
Why do I believe readers will want to read it from cover to cover? Because Dominic Grayson is the epitome of good-googly-moogly, Kerrigan Cruz packs a lot of va-va-voom, and Gabe Baxter (Kerrigan’s best friend/roommate) is…well, he’s at his flamboyantly gay best – and we all heart us some Gay Gabe. I’m kidding, sort of. Let me get serious here. Supernova’s concept is different from any other paranormal romance out there. I love the paranormal genre, but I wanted to write something that hasn’t been done before. I really believe this book does just that, but if I had to explain it to someone, they would probably think it’s stupid. You just have to read it to really get it.
What do you have planned down the road next in the literary department?
The sequel to Supernova is titled Cataclysm, and it's due for release December 1, 2011. It still holds the underlying comedic feel, but with a whole lot more drama and lots more of paranormal element. We also get the introduction of two new characters, including Dominic’s brother, Colton. In Cataclysm, a slew of things are thrown at Dominic. I keep wondering when he’s going to finally crack.
Kerrigan is working so hard to help him, but you’ll see a little role reversal between the two of them. Now, she’s the one keeping a secret, but with all that he has on his shoulders, I can completely understand why she’s doing it. My pre-readers tell me they loved Supernova, but Cataclysm has taken the saga to whole other level. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the rest of the literary world thinks.
There’s one more book after Cataclysm to be written for the Supernova Saga before it’s complete. After that, I have a series of seven books planned, and then a series of five that I think will spin-off from that. That should just about round out my life. The other two series will be in the paranormal genre as well, with completely new concepts. I could tell you about them, but then I’d have to kill you and I’m really much too lazy to clean up the mess, so it’s best I just keep the secret for now.
Where do you hope that your writing career will take you in say the next 5 or 10 years?
More than anything, I just want to be able to do what I love to do all day long, so to be able to make a full-time career out of it is the goal. Actually, I’m already writing full-time; I’m just also juggling a “regular” job as well. I’d like to be able to step away from that within the next five years, hopefully sooner. The ultimate goal is the New York Times Best Seller list because then I’ll know I’ve finally made it. I’m very goal-oriented, so keep an eye on that list, America. You’ll see my name on it soon.