Getting to Know Cynthia Vespia

1. To get us started can you tell us a little about what you are working on or have coming out?

My latest release Life, Death, and Back is a paranormal suspense about a man whose life is tragically cut short and must learn how to become a guardian angel to save those he's left behind.

Fans of The Lovely Bones, Ghost, or the new movie Hereafter with Matt Damon will relate well with Life, Death, and Back. It tackles questions about the afterlife, ghosts, angels, all in a fast paced adventure ride.

It is available now at Weaving Dreams Publishing or www.CynthiaVespia.com

2. What makes a book great in your eyes?
Great characters that are relatable. When you can put yourself in a situation and say I would do that it ingrains the character into you even more. Plus the pacing must be just the right tempo. I don't like being dragged down with a lot of unnecessary detail or back story.

3. Do you have any guilty pleasures?

Um...sex!

4. How much of the book is realistic?

It can be as real as your beliefs. You tell me how a man who comes back from the dead is going to act. Are there ghosts? Are there angels? Everyone has their own theories on that. This is why I wanted to tackle this particular theme.

5. What is the hardest scene you have had to write (published or not)? Why?

Opening scenes are the hardest You develop your pacing right then and there on that first page. It better be slamming or that book is being closed and put back on the shelf.

6. If you had a reporter follow you around for the day, what would the readers get to see in your daily schedule?

Chaos! I give the word multi-tasking a new meaning. If I have down time I am usually in the gym working on my fitness. I often feel like if I don't do something productive in a day it is a wasted day. Someday I'll have to learn how to stop and smell the roses.

7. When you begin your stories, do you go with the flow, or go with an outline?

I usually go with the flow, I've always preferred it that way because it makes the story exciting for me as I'm writing it. But lately I'm writing more complex stories so I inevitably have to refer to an outline or the plot doesn't add up. A weak plot will kill a good novel.

8. Is it hard coming up with titles or characters names?

Yes to both. I'll often change my character names halfway through the novel to something that fits better. Coming up with a workable title is something that takes time to click. I've let novels go with titles that I wasn't happy with. It won't happen again but it's a live and learn process.

9. What does your workstation look like?

Like I said...CHAOS! I try to at least keep everything in one full pile. 

10. Are you the type of individual who gets weepy at the end of a good movie, or a sad movie, or do you just stay neutral through it all?

It depends on the movie. If I relate to the character's central distress or euphoria then yes I'll probably be moved. If on the other hand the movie failed in its direction to pull emotion from me and it was flat acting then no I won't be touched. I think the same comes from a good book and that's what I try to process out to my readers.

11. Is there any books coming that you are itching to read (either electronic or print) from your favorite authors?

Honestly I'm so behind. I just tend to read whatever I can now. There's some classics that I'd like to revisit to like Catcher in the Rye or even the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

12. If you were to replenish your cabinets with one junk food, what would it be?

Chocolate...miles and miles of chocolate.

13. What is one thing scientists should invent?

A cure for cancer. Stop d*&(@#! around and do it already!

14. Are you a morning person or a night person?

I was a night person but I've been getting up early to get to the gym and get it out of the way so I can focus on everything else for the day.

15. Do you like thunderstorms?

Love them!

16. Where can readers find you on the ‘Net?

Official Site: www.CynthiaVespia.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/cynfulcharm

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Cynthia-Vespia-Thrillers-and-Fantasy/268286826830

 Sneak Peek into Life, Death and Back

Buy at Weaving Dreams Publishing HERE

Life goes by in a blink.

          One moment can change everything.
          For most, death is the eternal end.

Bryan Caleb has unfinished business. Even as he struggles with his own mortality Bryan must find the compassion within himself to help guide Lisa Zane, an emotionally and spiritually drained young girl, through her troubled life to find her purpose. For it is only with Lisa's help that Bryan can rescue his very own son from the life of crime he has fallen into before Kriticos Caleb's fate mirrors his father's...in death.

Excerpt:

The first sojourn from life to death was very much the epitome of birth. Brilliant flashes of light were aglow all around bathing snapshots of memory, minute but hardly trivial.

When the ride stopped and the suspension of disbelief released him, Bryan was curious to find his own corpse stretched out at his feet. It lay on the grassy lawn in front of his office building, twenty feet from where he had initially been walking.

The corpse, his corpse, stared up at him through one wide eye. Sightless now it still echoed the feeling of shock that he had felt the very moment the vehicle had struck him.

Though he wanted to look away from the tragic scene utter terror and confusion gripped him still. Pedestrians and motorists surrounded the accident and sirens wailed in the distance.  He was oblivious to it all.

All Bryan wanted to do was crawl back inside his body, stand up and say, "Hey, look at me, I'm fine. Not a scratch." Then there were strong impulses pulling him into the belief that this was just a nightmare. At any moment he was going to respond with a shudder and a cold sweat but he would wake, frantic at first, until he found himself in bed next to his lovely wife, Holly.

He hadn't bothered to wake her that morning. She was radiantly aglow in her pregnancy as she slept. It was their very first child and they were overjoyed to be experiencing this miracle after only one year of marriage.

Bryan had kissed her on the cheek and gone on his way to the law firm. His place of business was another joyful experience to be able to share with Holly. Bryan was the youngest of his class to seek and sustain a substantial position within a reputable law firm. Of course it helped that his father had owned and maintained the firm since Bryan had been a boy. But now it was his own, inheriting it when his father had passed away just two years after Bryan had graduated from law school.

It was an unusually cloudy day in Stanford, but nevertheless Bryan was in an upbeat mood. Whistling as he crossed the street to his offices he had never even seen the drunk driver's vehicle coming. Perhaps he had not wanted to. As the saying goes he had been looking upon the world with rose-colored glasses up to that point. No harm could befall him, he was indestructible. Throughout life Bryan had truly felt blessed, now it was all gone. In an instant his entire life had been snuffed out. His promising future was no more. All that was left was another casualty in the war of drinking and driving. He was no longer Bryan Adam Caleb outstanding lawyer, loving husband, expectant father, and genuine nice guy. Now he was just another statistic.

But Bryan didn't understand what was happening. If he was dead, why was he still on this Earth? What happened to the other side? So many unanswered questions tore through his mind.

He refused to believe it.