Mundie Moms

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Book Review & Interview with Between author Cyndi Tefft

Published by Creatspace/selfpublished
Released on June 1st, 2011
Source- ARC from author to review
4 stars- I really enjoyed it

It just figures that the love of Lindsey Water's life isn't alive at all, but the grim reaper, complete with a dimpled smile and Scottish accent.

After transporting souls to heaven for the last 300 years, Aiden MacRae has all but given up on finding the one whose love will redeem him and allow him entry through the pearly gates.

Torn between her growing attraction to Aiden and heaven's siren song, Lindsey must learn the hard way whether love really can transcend all boundaries.

Between has a little bit of everything. It's a well written debut with a paranormal love story, a dash of history from the 1700's Scotland and unique setting in the world between life and death. I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly I found myself drawn to the story.

After a horrific car accident Lindsey finds herself in a beautiful world caught between life and death, and it's there she's comforted by the handsome Aiden MacRae, who just so happens to be the one who transports souls to heaven. I liked the chemistry these two characters had and I loved getting to know them both a little more from their back stories, which was done by casting. They're able to manipulate the world they're in and take each other back into a part of their previous lives through their memories.

While awaiting to go to Heaven, Lindsey and Aiden are able to spend a lot of time together and quickly get to know one another. I loved getting to know Aiden who died during the 1700's in Scotland. Cyndi did a wonderful job with the research she put into Aiden's mannerisms, the way he talks and acts. It made his character feel authentic. It was a bit humorous when Lindsey introduces Aiden to one of her memories and has to explain was basic technology is. I loved how vivid the settings are described, from the Between, to 1700 Scotland to the present day in the Pacific Northwest. I also really liked Aiden and Lindsey's characters. They have great chemistry, and just as things start to progress with them, Cyndi throws in a big unexpected twist. The only compliant I have is how rushed I felt Aiden and Lindsey's relationship was.

Between is a great story and it's one I enjoyed reading. It has a unique setting, an eternal love, a good romance and my favorite part was the Scottish influences. The story itself has a lot of adult cross over, and I would even consider this more adult than I would YA. Lindsey's voice has an older feel to it and some of the topics discussed like marriage, the well written religious undercurrent, and even some the things that go on between Lindsey's parents give the story it's adult feel. There are some intimate scenes and some sensual context that I think would be more appealing to adult than YA readers. It's a good story and one I would recommend to older teen readers and adults. I'm looking forward to reading it's sequel.

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I'm excited to have Cyndi on the blog today talking about her debut release.

Congratulations on your debut novel! How would you describe Between in three words or less?
Afterlife love story

What or who inspired you to be a writer? What has your writing process been like?
I didn’t actually set out to “be” a writer. I was watching a video interview with Stephenie Meyer where she talked about having a dream and writing it down. She was a normal, stay-at-home mom and I thought if she could do it, maybe I could, too!

At the same time, I was reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and fell in love with Scottish history. I’ve always had a thing for romantic tales, so I decided if I were to write a book, I’d want it to be a good-versus-evil kind of book, but with a Scottish hero. So I began mulling it over from there.

Part of the reason I wrote the book was just to see if I could. I tend to get bored very easily (ooh, something shiny- what’s that??) so no one really thought I’d be able to stick it out to the end. My husband had a deal with me that he’d take me out to dinner for every 25 pages I wrote. After things really got rolling on the story, that deal changed to 50 pages and so on. It was really the characters themselves that kept me interested and helped me get to the end.

I am really intrigued by your mythology. What inspired it?
I was thinking about writing a good-versus-evil story, but the angels and demons scenario had been done before. So I came up with the idea of creating a realm between heaven and earth where people guided you from one plane to the next. The grim reaper is a well-known concept (a role that I call a Transporter), but I made it my own by defining the rules of the space in between, as well as who would become a Transporter.

The freedom to manipulate a world, to create your own rules, is wonderful as a writer. There is certainly no theology to the realm I created—it’s purely fiction—but I had a great time molding the characters and their setting!

Which of your characters has surprised you the most in terms of their character growth?
I knew the growth I had planned for Lindsey so while she does grow over the course of the book, it was no surprise. Lindsey’s dad, however, was someone who caught me off guard. The scene where he breaks down over the divorce with her mom was extremely personal and touching for me. I needed a box of tissues close at hand to get through it. You’ll see more of his growth in the second book as well.

What are 3 writing must haves (three things you need to have when writing)?
Focus, Diet Pepsi and the internet. If there is too much going on (kids are trying to get my attention, husband keeps interrupting to ask a question), I can’t get in the zone. It doesn’t have to be completely quiet (though I prefer it), but I do need to be able to tap into that part of my brain where the characters call home. Diet Pepsi is my drink of choice (either with or without vanilla vodka!) and the internet is essential so I can confirm historical details, word spellings and definitions as I go.

Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what song keeps you motivated?
I listen to classical music when I write, particularly Brian Crain. I’ve heard his album Sienna about 3,872,298 times now (give or take)! Sometimes I listen to Scottish folk music as well. I can’t handle anything with lyrics while I’m writing, since I love to sing and will get easily distracted by singing along!

Thanks so much for having me on the blog. I had a great time!

Thank you for being with us today Cyndi. Be sure to visit Cyndi's site here and follow her on twitter here.

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