Our SPFBOX interviews continue with Caitee Cooper, author of Silverskin.
SPFBO (the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off) is a free online contest run by author Mark Lawrence. 300 authors compete across ten judging teams to see who will be the winner! You can read more about the contest here.
INTERVIEW WITH CAITEE COOPER
Tell us a little about yourself and let our readers know which blog you’ve been assigned to for SPFBOX!
I’m Caitee, and I write genre-crossers! My current work-in-progress is called the Portlock Trilogy, which is a contemporary fantasy wearing supernatural pants, a romance tee-shirt, thriller shoes, and a horror hat. Marketing nightmare aside, it’s been an absolute BLAST to write, and I really hope my readers find it fun as well!
Just for fun, I chucked the first in the series (called Silverskin) at SPFBOX. It wasn’t selected in the initial round, so I moved on with my life and forgot about it … until I was checking reviews on Goodreads one day and saw that it was on the Queen’s Book Asylum SPFBOX book list.
Like any sane person, I immediately freaked the heck out (and let’s be real, I haven’t stopped since.)
Anyway, I’ve already been so inspired by the other contestants and their books. What amazing company to be in; I’m absolutely delighted!
What inspired you to write this book?
I took a trip to Alaska right after graduating from high school. While there, I heard a ghost story about the Portlock/Port Chatham area. Apparently, the entire town had been driven off by a murderous Sasquatch. And if that wasn’t enough, people also reported seeing a ghostly lady in black who would drift out of caves and cliff faces and scare any locals unfortunate enough to be wandering around nearby.
That night, I lay alone in my little shack (we were visiting some family friends who owned a commercial fishing camp, and I stayed in their shed. I was seventeen and it was my own dang space that I didn’t have to share with ANYONE, so it was awesome), and ideas started chasing themselves around in my head. By the time I went back to the lower 48, I had the beginnings of a novel.
Unfortunately, life got in the way until about ten years later, when I finally wrote and published it. But, as they say, better late than never. 🙂
Can you tell us a little bit about your writing or editing process? What’s most exciting to you about writing or editing?
I hate drafting, but I love editing! I know that’s the opposite of most writers, but I honestly live for the editing process. Connecting all the little dots, smoothing everything out, making sure the plot and character arcs are all solid … it’s so fun.
The magic and monsters in it aren’t ones you typically see in the magical realism/low fantasy genres, the setting is one you’d NEVER see in an urban fantasy (because half of it takes place in ultra-rural Alaska – as in, not accessible except by boat or seaplane.
Who or what have been your major literary influences?
My reading tastes are really eclectic (and don’t reflect the genres I write; I’ll just admit that upfront), but some of my favorite authors are Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Kristen Hannah (The Great Alone absolutely wrecked me), J.K. Rowling, Sabaa Tahir, C.J. Box, Brandon Sanderson, Kate Quinn, Leigh Bardugo, Delia Owens, and lots of others I can’t think of at the moment.
What makes your SPFBOX book unique?
Oh bugger. Buckle up, folks!
Short answer: it doesn’t really pay attention to conventional expectations (for better or for worse.) It’s its own deal, doing its own thing.
Longer answer: The magic and monsters in it aren’t ones you typically see in the magical realism/low fantasy genres, the setting is one you’d NEVER see in an urban fantasy (because half of it takes place in ultra-rural Alaska – as in, not accessible except by boat or seaplane. And the other half is the Denver Metro, which also seems rarely showcased in genre fiction). Plus, the characters’ internal struggles are so integral to the plot that it almost dips a toe into the literary side of things (while still being very tense and plot-forward).
Two of the most consistent things reviewers have said about Silverskin is 1) that it’s unique, and 2) that it completely surprised them. The good thing about being surprising and unique is that the story feels fresh, engaging, and unexpected. The bad thing about Silverskin (and Portlock as a whole) being unique is that marketing and pitching it has been … difficult, to say the least! At signings and events, I’ve just been calling it a supernatural suspense to make my elevator pitch shorter 🙂
Do you have a favourite character from your SPFBOX entry? Tell us about them!
Dang, I really like all my characters, even the evil ones! My favorite to write was definitely Sasquatch. The one I learned the most from writing is named Sam Forth (I’m so drastically different from him – it was a great exercise in empathy and understanding), and the character I most aspire to be like is Darien De Leon. She’s level-headed, practical, compassionate, driven, kind, and isn’t afraid to take a friend aside and give them a good – and much-needed – talking-to.
Also, Ellie and Oliver’s character arcs – and the romance between them – were super fun to write as well.
I took a trip to Alaska right after graduating from high school. While there, I heard a ghost story about the Portlock/Port Chatham area. Apparently, the entire town had been driven off by a murderous Sasquatch. And if that wasn’t enough, people also reported seeing a ghostly lady in black who would drift out of caves and cliff faces and scare any locals unfortunate enough to be wandering around nearby.
Silverskin
When Ellie Forth sets out to have a great Alaskan adventure with her remaining family members, she’s got something to prove—and not to them, but to herself. Four years after the unexpected death of her mother and sister, she’s ready to re-embrace her adventurous side.
Oliver Cole’s life, on the other hand, is very simple: go to work, catch fish, come home, and stash every penny earned into his bank account so he can afford to pay for college. But his life is turned upside down when Ellie and her brother—two nearly-forgotten acquaintances from his childhood—burst back into his life.
After a horrific encounter with the supernatural deep in the Kenai Peninsula, Ellie and Oliver must team up to discover the truth about what happened in Portlock, and how to fight a rising tide of evil that has the power to envelop not just Alaska, but the entire world.
Purchase Silverskin from Amazon.
Caitee Cooper grew up in Laramie, Wyoming, where she enjoyed all things outdoorsy, musical, and bookish. She went to college at the University of Wyoming, where she earned a B.S in Psychology, and met her husband, Dallin. They went on to start several businesses and have many adventures. Caitee currently lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming with Dallin, their two boys, and two half-feral barn cats.