Introducing, Son of a Mermaid, by Katie O'Sullivan

Today, I have the pleasure of introducing you to Katie O'Sullivan and her debut novel, the YA romance, Son of  A Mermaid.

Congratulations, Katie. (I just love your name. Could it get anymore Irish?) When did you first start writing?

Like most authors, I was hooked on writing at a young age. I started writing in second grade… but it wasn’t until more recently that I decided I really wanted to be an author.

What genre do you prefer or do you mix it up?    

I’m a voracious reader and enjoy a wide range of genres, from YA to romantic comedy to mystery to science fiction. From Scott Westerfeld and Suzanne Collins to JRR Tolkien and GRR Martin… with a little Charlaine Harris and Jennifer Crusie thrown in for good measure.

I also love to discover new authors and LOVE so many of the books by my fellow Crescent Moon Press authors. Kary Rader’s recent release QUEEN OF JASTAIN reminded me of my teenaged obsession with Mark Twain’s classic Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Love a good time travel book! 

Son of a Mermaid is a wonderful title. I wonder, where did your inspiration for this story come from?

I’ve always loved the beach and the ocean. When I was young, we used to spend summers on the Jersey Shore. My friends and I always made up stories involving mermaids. Now my family lives year round on Cape Cod, and we spend a lot of time walking on the beaches near our home.

How fortunate you are to live near the ocean. Tell me, what has your publishing experience been like? 

Crescent Moon Press has been wonderful to work with! I can’t say enough good things about the supportive group of authors that write for this house. It’s like a family!

I couldn't agree more. CMP is a wonderful group of people. Do you have a certain routine you have for writing? i.e. You listen to music, sit in a certain chair?

I’m one of those odd writers who prefer silence when I write. Which is hard to come by with two big dogs and three teenagers roaming around and constantly asking for things! I do most of my writing when the kids are at school and the dogs are napping, lol.

Oh, it's nice to meet another silent author. I hate noise when I'm writing. So, how do you come up with character names and places in your books?

Some of the names come to me, and some I do online research. For example, in Son of a Mermaid, I used a lot of Latin-rooted names for things, and wanted them to have meanings.

For everything that happens on dry land, I used real places and names or based them on real names. Windmill Point isn’t a real neighbourhood, although there are many neighbourhoods on Cape Cod just like it.

I had a best friend in high school with the nickname of Kae, and my mermaid character is based on her.

In your most recent work, who is your favourite character and why?

My main character, Shea MacNamara, is my favorite. When I imagined and wrote him, I infused him with characteristics from both of my sons, so I’m very partial to him. He’s strong and sweet at the same time.

Did you learn anything from writing your book?  What was it?

That I love writing young adult fiction! It’s a genre I really enjoy reading, but I had so much fun writing it as well.

How did you/do you market your work?

I’m promoting this book online with my “Splash Into Summer” blog tour! A complete list of tour stops (including this one!) can be found on my blog by clicking the tour badge.

I’m also taking part in a big Twitter Party next week with a few fellow Crescent Moon authors, to celebrate our recently released books.

Cape Cod also has many wonderful independent book stores! Over Memorial Day weekend, I’m having a big launch party at Where the Sidewalk Ends bookstore, in Chatham. And for the Solstice in June, I’m the featured author at The Little Beach Gallery, in Hyannis, as part of Cape Cod Maritime Days. I’m hoping to add more signings and events throughout the summer.

Can you describe the feeling you had when you saw your published book for the first time?

Joy. Pure joy.

Have you ever suffered from a "writer's block"? What did you do to get past the "block"?

Chocolate. And coffee. Sometimes both at the same time.

If that doesn’t work, I try taking a walk, or talking over the problem with a friend. But I find chocolate cures almost everything.

I get that about chocolate. It is my favorite go to food for solace. What piece of advice would you give to a new writer?

Write. Keep writing.

Are you working on anything new?  If so, can you tell me about it?

My latest project is a sequel to Son of a Mermaid. I recently signed a contract for it with Crescent Moon Press, and am excited to get working on the edits!

The second book starts a few weeks after the first book ends. The current blurb sounds like this:

At fifteen, Shea McNamara discovered his mother’s a mermaid and he’s heir to an undersea kingdom. And even more important, he fell in love…with a mermaid. Big life changers for a former farmboy from Oklahoma.

Seventeen-year-old Zan commands powerful magick, and owes his allegiance to Prince Demyan. Kidnapping the heir’s girlfriend is just another step in Demyan’s twisted plans for world domination. But Zan has never met anyone like the beautiful mermaid Kae. She makes him feel things that he never thought he deserved, and he makes promises that put both their lives at risk.

Kae is torn between two mermen battling not only for her affections, but also for the future of the undersea world they inhabit. In the clashes between good and evil, the lines are not always clearly drawn. Especially when love is involved.

Congratulations on your second contract and thank you for being here today.

Happy book birthday! I wish you all the happiness and success your novel will bring you.

And now, for my 5 Star Review:

Simply Charming

Shea MacNamara, fourteen going on fifteen, is torn from land-locked Oklahoma when his father disappears from the family farm during a tornado. Under the care of his grandmother, Shea is transported to Cape Cod where he meets a beautiful young lady on the beach. Shea likes to pick up the trash, counting each item in his head. From out of nowhere she appears, dripping wet and wearing a bikini.  

Kae, a mermaid turned into a land-walker with the help of a special stone,sees Shea and wants to meet him. After a quick hello on the beach, she returns home, wanting to know more of this nice young man. It doesn't help that her mother and father forbid her and for some reason, the name Shea, brings an angst to her family she is unfamiliar with.

Shea, who has never known his mother, discovers from his grandmother, that she is still alive. He was to have met her the summer of his fifteenth birthday. This summer. Except now, his father is dead and his world has collapsed around him. Even the pancakes his grandmother makes remind him of home, of the farm, and of his dad. He's not so sure he wants to meet the woman who abandoned him.

Enter Hailey, a tom boy with a sizzling personality. You will feel her jump off the page and into your heart. Finally, Shea has someone to hang out with. She teaches him the ropes of life on the Cape.

While Shea's world is one of the familiar, beaches, oceans, grandmothers, funky friends, and an odd old lady, Kae's world is filled with mermaids and mermen, princesses, queens, and kings. The balance of power in her kingdom is lost and her princess is forced to marry someone against her will. Kae learns of a legend where a teenage boy, half human and half merman and a beautiful young mermaid will bring harmony back to her world. She can't help but wonder, is Shea the merman of which the prophecy speaks?

Son of a Mermaid is a delightfully charming YA novel that could, if allowed, become a fairytale yarn. Everything you need or expect from such a tale is included, from legs morphing into tails, beautiful young girls, and all of it is seen out of the charming eyes of young boy growing into manhood.

The writing is spectacular, moving you from paragraph to paragraph with ease. The editing is outstanding. I would recommend this novel to any parent or teen looking for a delightful fairy-tale-like novel. In fact, I shall purchase a copy for my grandson. Thanks to the author for allowing me to read Son of a Mermaid.

Blurb:

Shea MacNamara's life just got complicated.

After a freak tornado devastates his Oklahoma farm, the fifteen-year-old orphan moves to Cape Cod to live with a grandmother he's never met. Struggling to make sense of his new surroundings, he meets a girl along the shore who changes his life forever.

Kae belongs to an undersea world hidden from drylanders. The daughter of royal servants, she knows the planned marriage of her Princess to the foreign King should put an end to the war between the clans. Two things stand in the way of lasting peace: an ambitious Regent and rumors of a half-human child who will save the oceans.

Sparks fly when she meets Shea, but could the cute drylander really be the Son of a Mermaid?

About the Author:

Katie O’Sullivan lives with her family and big dogs next to the ocean on Cape Cod, drinking way too much coffee and inventing new excuses not to dust. She writes YA and romantic suspense novels, and works as an editor making other people’s words sparkle. For the last four years, she’s been the Editor of CapeWomenOnline.com magazine and writes a column entitled “The Write Way.”

She hopes her debut YA novel, SON OF A MERMAID, will make a big splash this summer, engaging young readers with a Cape Cod tale of a boy who discovers both his roots and his destiny far below the waters of Nantucket Sound.

Find Katie online:

Follow her Blog – http://katieosullivan.blogspot.com

Like her on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/AuthorKatieOSullivan

Find her on Twitter - https://twitter.com/OkatieO

Check out her website at http://www.katie-osullivan.com

Add Son of a Mermaid on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17184560-son-of-a-mermaid

Already the Five Star Review(s) are coming in:

From M.E. Wilson: What a fun read! I was thrilled to read an ARC of O'Sullivan's wonderful novel! The characters are interesting and the story moves quickly and has enough twists to keep you turning pages.

Shea is an engaging hero coming to grips with the death of his father, a move halfway across the country and bewildering new friends. He also has to discover just who - and what - he really is.

Entertaining and fun! The perfect read for this summer! I highly recommend this novel.

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