On September 23, 2008 my first book, a contemporary YA novel called I Know It’s Over was released in the U.S.A. and Canada. Today, eleven books, eleven years and one day later, my first horror novel (and twelfth book) comes out in the United States. You’ll find it under my new horror pen name, Cara Martin. Shantallow is very dark and exceedingly creepy. If it keeps you awake at night, don't say I didn't warn you! Shantallow's on blog tour this week so if you want to check out what people are saying about the book you can drop in here during the week:  http://xpressobooktours.com/2019/07/05/tour-sign-up-shantallow-by-cara-martin/

Shantallow's heavy on atmosphere and full of many things that scare me personally including an old abandoned house in the process of being swallowed by the forest that surrounds it, inanimate objects moving, whispering when there’s no one there, creatures scurrying around in the darkness, possession, not knowing if you'll make it through the night alive . . .

But you don’t have to take my word that it’s scary, Booklist calls Shantallow “serious, literary and very scary” and Kirkus says it’s “gut-wrenching on various levels.” One of my favourite things about this novel is the sinister looking black and white images you find within that up the ante on the eeriness.

You can enter to win a copy of Shantallow during this week's tour with Xpresso Reads. 

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While waiting to see a doctor at the U of Ottawa walk-in clinic early yesterday afternoon an older woman with a Caribbean accent touched my shoulder, leaned over me and said, "It's an excellent thing you're doing." Having no idea what she meant I nevertheless smiled back (she was grinning and full of good vibes), then asked, "What am I doing?" She pointed to my paperback and said that everybody else in the room was on their electronic toys.

Honestly, I do a lot of reading on my tablet too, but I still think there's something very special about a paper book. I like to have physical copies of my favourites, when possible. They'll outlast any of the current e-book file formats out there.

I seldom reread novels as there are so many new books I want to experience. But for the record, I was rereading Thea Lim's An Ocean of Minutes at the walk-in today. It's a stunner.