Can you tell us a little about your books and yourself?
Yes thank you. My name is Cora Cuba and I’m just the happiest lady you’ll ever meet. You’d never think just looking at me that I obsess 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on dark magic and sexy witches and magical murder. My paranormal romance series Small Town Charms reflects that. On the surface the small mountain town in question, Big Bear, is just cute as a bug, full of super markets and hard working families and friendly gossip and tiny snowy lanes. But just under the surface is a life-or-death struggle between dark and white magic, between a psychopathic witch and her prey, that is toying with the lives of every person on that mountain. And that is what I get into in Small Town Charms: Mystery of the White Witch.
What inspired you to write your books?
Oh my lands where to start? Well I always loved Charlaine Harris’ True Blood but she seriously did us dirty with that last book. I mean, spoiler alert, but that ending came at me like a slap in the face! I get so tired of investing my time and my heart in a series and then having the author punish me for it. I wanted to write a series where fans would thank the Good Lord they’d found it. Where readers would care about the characters, have some real thrills, and think about it fondly when it was over. And luckily I have (not to brag but facts is facts) years and years of study in arcane witchcraft and the occult so that helped lay a foundation for my world.
Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
I learned there is nothing as seductive and useless as a comma!
What are some challenges that you faced while writing?
Well I am a proud mom and my daughter Christine is in Cheer and my boy Tyler can’t drive yet, and obviously they come first. Not to mention we just got a puppy named Angelo when I started writing, so I had my hands full! I have recently developed an expertise at stain removal that would flabbergast forensic scientists. But no matter what else I was doing I was always thinking about my story and mentally writing, so in the precious hours I could sit down in front of my Dell everything was waiting in my head to be written down.
Who or what in your life would you say influenced you the most?
Definitely Stephen King. Not like I know him personally but I respect that he is not afraid to terrify people on and off the page. I go to some extremely Dark places in Small Town Charms 2: Growing Darkness and having ENJOYED thrills and violence in Stephen King gave me the permission to be scary.
What are your hobbies and interests away from the desk?
I am a painter and I am very spiritual and I enjoy hiking and being out in nature. I dabble in crystals, in manipulating their subtle and potent energies. And being a mom, have I said that? Obsessed with my kids, no doubt about it!
What do you get passionate about?
I enjoy cooking and eating and you can pick that up in a detail about my world in Small Town Charms: to work magick takes a TON of calories for my witches, so they’re constantly eating candy bars and pancakes and mac & cheese and just swallowing Snickers as fast as they can just to keep from shrinking. It was seriously cathartic to write all that food porn!
What does “success” mean to you?
Success means my kids are proud of me. That’s really it for me. And maybe a couple more Twitter followers, fair enough. My tech wiz son set me up with an account! (https://twitter.com/TheCoraCuba )
What are your current projects?
Small Town Charms, Book Three! “Snowbound”: when a professional snowboarder is killed up at a grand hotel in Big Bear, Mandy has to use her witch powers to find the killer, who lashes out again just as a massive storm blows through and cuts the town off from the rest of the world. It’s more a classic murder mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie and I’m having so much fun with it! There’s also a twist in Brick and Mandy’s relationship that will make fans very anxious for book Four.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Oh hon I’m no one to be giving advice, except just start already. There’s a phrase architects use, they say “Better built than perfect.” That doesn't mean to be sloppy, it means stop making excuses! Stop noodling over your 6th and 7th drafts and commit to your voice. You got a story inside you and you’re the only one who can tell it, don’t let yourself forget it, ever.
Yes thank you. My name is Cora Cuba and I’m just the happiest lady you’ll ever meet. You’d never think just looking at me that I obsess 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on dark magic and sexy witches and magical murder. My paranormal romance series Small Town Charms reflects that. On the surface the small mountain town in question, Big Bear, is just cute as a bug, full of super markets and hard working families and friendly gossip and tiny snowy lanes. But just under the surface is a life-or-death struggle between dark and white magic, between a psychopathic witch and her prey, that is toying with the lives of every person on that mountain. And that is what I get into in Small Town Charms: Mystery of the White Witch.
What inspired you to write your books?
Oh my lands where to start? Well I always loved Charlaine Harris’ True Blood but she seriously did us dirty with that last book. I mean, spoiler alert, but that ending came at me like a slap in the face! I get so tired of investing my time and my heart in a series and then having the author punish me for it. I wanted to write a series where fans would thank the Good Lord they’d found it. Where readers would care about the characters, have some real thrills, and think about it fondly when it was over. And luckily I have (not to brag but facts is facts) years and years of study in arcane witchcraft and the occult so that helped lay a foundation for my world.
Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
I learned there is nothing as seductive and useless as a comma!
What are some challenges that you faced while writing?
Well I am a proud mom and my daughter Christine is in Cheer and my boy Tyler can’t drive yet, and obviously they come first. Not to mention we just got a puppy named Angelo when I started writing, so I had my hands full! I have recently developed an expertise at stain removal that would flabbergast forensic scientists. But no matter what else I was doing I was always thinking about my story and mentally writing, so in the precious hours I could sit down in front of my Dell everything was waiting in my head to be written down.
Who or what in your life would you say influenced you the most?
Definitely Stephen King. Not like I know him personally but I respect that he is not afraid to terrify people on and off the page. I go to some extremely Dark places in Small Town Charms 2: Growing Darkness and having ENJOYED thrills and violence in Stephen King gave me the permission to be scary.
What are your hobbies and interests away from the desk?
I am a painter and I am very spiritual and I enjoy hiking and being out in nature. I dabble in crystals, in manipulating their subtle and potent energies. And being a mom, have I said that? Obsessed with my kids, no doubt about it!
What do you get passionate about?
I enjoy cooking and eating and you can pick that up in a detail about my world in Small Town Charms: to work magick takes a TON of calories for my witches, so they’re constantly eating candy bars and pancakes and mac & cheese and just swallowing Snickers as fast as they can just to keep from shrinking. It was seriously cathartic to write all that food porn!
What does “success” mean to you?
Success means my kids are proud of me. That’s really it for me. And maybe a couple more Twitter followers, fair enough. My tech wiz son set me up with an account! (https://twitter.com/TheCoraCuba )
What are your current projects?
Small Town Charms, Book Three! “Snowbound”: when a professional snowboarder is killed up at a grand hotel in Big Bear, Mandy has to use her witch powers to find the killer, who lashes out again just as a massive storm blows through and cuts the town off from the rest of the world. It’s more a classic murder mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie and I’m having so much fun with it! There’s also a twist in Brick and Mandy’s relationship that will make fans very anxious for book Four.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Oh hon I’m no one to be giving advice, except just start already. There’s a phrase architects use, they say “Better built than perfect.” That doesn't mean to be sloppy, it means stop making excuses! Stop noodling over your 6th and 7th drafts and commit to your voice. You got a story inside you and you’re the only one who can tell it, don’t let yourself forget it, ever.
