CM Michaels is in Dangerous Waters

Hey everyone, please welcome to my attic, Chad Mcpherson also known as CM Michaels. He’s a local author so all I had to do was shout out of my window and he was on his way.

 

Hey, Chad, why don’t you let us know who are you and where you came from?

Hi Atty. I’m Chad Mcpherson I grew up in a small town in northern Michigan as the youngest child of a close-knit family of seven. I met my wife, Teresa, while attending Saginaw Valley State University. Together we’ve provided a loving home for several four-legged “kids”, including Sophie, our eternally young at heart, hopelessly spoiled Spaniel. I’ve always enjoyed writing, and I still have fond memories of reading my first book, a children’s novella, to local grade schools when I was 14. When I’m not writing, I can be found curled up with a good book, watching movies or hitting the hiking trails with his wife. My favorite authors include Kelley Armstrong, Peter V. Brett, Richelle Mead, Rachel Caine, Cassandra Claire, J.R. Ward, Laini Taylor and Tessa Dawn. I currently reside in Louisville, Kentucky.

 

Obviously you’re a writer, what is the name of your book and the general plot?

Dangerous Waters is the first book in the Sisters in Blood series. The book blurb is below:

For Emily Waters, a nature-loving, small-town girl with an overprotective father, heading off to Boston University to study conservation biology is a dream come true—until a chance encounter catapults her into a mythical world she’d do anything to escape.

The latest victim in a rash of abductions near campus, Emily is brutally attacked before being rescued by a powerful new friend. She survives the ordeal, only to find herself held captive and presented with an impossible choice.

While preparing for the unimaginable life she must now embrace clues soon emerge that Emily may not be entirely human, and her physical transformation awakens goddess-like powers that her new family cannot begin to explain.

Dealing with her human first love, the not-so-platonic relationship with her coven “sister,” and her new vampire sort-of-boyfriend further complicates matters, not to mention being secretly hunted by the psychopaths who attacked her. And as the only known offspring of a once all-powerful race, the climactic battle is only the beginning of her journey.

 

Where did you come up with the idea?

The idea for Dangerous Waters came to me after watching the first Twilight movie and reading the rest of the series. While I enjoyed both the novels and the films, I wanted to tell a story that took you deeper into the lives of the vampire coven, allowing the reader to identify with them as people rather than just supernatural creatures. From the start I embraced the challenge of making readers care for characters that had to kill humans to survive. There’s no feeding on animals or popping open a can of O negative.

 

Which of your characters do you like the most and why?

I think Travis is a very interesting character due to his conflicted nature. The deep seeded guilt that he harbors from accidently killing his parents while still a child, and the sense of obligation he feels for protecting his now orphaned sister, Teresa, allow her to manipulate and control him. He’s no saint in his own right, but she leads him down far darker paths than he would have ever ventured on his own. It’s easy for me to sympathize with him, which is rare for villain characters.

 

Which one do you hate the most and why?

Teresa is straight up psychotic. Her lack of anything resembling a conscience and twisted mind make her easy to hate. Not someone you would ever want to cross paths with.

 

You’re stranded on an island and you are granted three things;

An IPod with only one song loaded, what is it?

I’ll go with Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Ray. Has a nice techno dance beat and a mood that would go well with being stranded J

A book with the last chapter missing, what is it and who wrote it?

Any John Grisham novel that I haven’t already read. Making up alternate endings could keep me occupied for months.

And a lunchbox with a sandwich and a full thermos, yummy, what kind of sandwich and drink would you appreciate?

Italian steak sandwich with mozzarella, marinara sauce and fried mushrooms. Pair that bad boy with a Kahlua Mudslide and I’d be one happy cast away J

Yummm, you’re making me hungry.

What is the biggest mistake you have made in your life? Not writing or publishing mistake – any mistake. Even if it happened in 3^rd grade, I wanna know about it.

Not being more adventurous when I was younger. I would have loved to spend summers working in Yellowstone National Park and Alaska in my twenties.

What would you do for a Klondike bar?

I’ve got a wicked sweet tooth but thankfully for the sake of this question I lean more toward cookies and candy than Ice cream novelties. My wife would be the one to watch your fingers around if you snagged a Klondike bar from our freezer.

 

You’re still stranded on that island and two people show up, the character you love the most, and the one you hate the most, and they both know what you said about them. What do you do?

Well, since they are both vampires and I’m the only human on this island the fact that they know what I said about them would be the least of my worries J I guess the only good news is they couldn’t kill me unless they wanted to starve to death themselves.

What a fantastic answer! This with the sandwich and Kahlua Mudslide and I think you’ve got this island thing made.

 

Flash round favorites:

Color

Navy Blue. Dominates my wardrobe.

Sound

Buffalo grunt. Whenever I hear it I know I’m in Yellowstone!

Season

Fall. Love the colors, and it means the return of pro football and deer hunting with the family.

Animal 

Wolf. Watching them hunt Elk and Buffalo was one of the most amazing experiences of our lives. They are truly wonderful creatures.

Smell
Pie cooling on top of the stove. Nothing better.

Food

Homemade Lasagna and garlic bread.

Place to visit

Yellowstone National Park. We have visited three times and are planning a fourth trip.

Place to live

I hope to retire in either Montana or Wyoming with horses and a small cabin surrounded by wilderness.

That sounds good, I’m from Colorado and I miss the snow.

Movie

Dances with Wolves. It’s such an epic film and in my opinion Kevin Costner’s best performance. I strongly identify with his character and would love to live the kind of life that he embraces.

Alien

The Wanderer from the Host. The movie had a hard time doing her role justice, but in the book I really enjoyed her character. She not only empathized with her human host but was willing to sacrifice herself to give the body she’d occupied back to the human soul. Such an interesting dynamic with the two of them in Melanie’s head.

Number  

7 –Not sure why, just always seemed lucky to me.

 

Writing spot 

tucked away in my office with me iPod playing. I need to be isolated to really get into the mood.

 

Texture

Sand squeezing through my toes on a nice warm beach.

Planet

Teresolee. It is the make believe world in the Syreni series I am working on now. Would love to meet Aristos and Kerrigan.

 

And last of all, favorite memory-

Our first morning in Yellowstone. I’ve never seen Teresa smile so wide.

Awwww, that was sweet.

And on that note, is there anything else you would like to add?-

Yeah, here are a few of my links and don’t forget my book is out now.

 

Author of Dangerous Waters

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/UFAuthorCMMichaels

Twitter – https://twitter.com/UFAuthor

Blog – http://cmmichaels.blogspot.com/

Website – http://cmmichaels.com/

Freya’s Bower – http://www.freyasbower.com/

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/user/authorcmmichaels

Amazon Author page – https://www.amazon.com/author/cmmichaels