Send her questions to cwrose813@gmail.com
instagram- @cwroseauthor
Featuring: Oceansong
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Forbidden Romance, Grumpy (FMC) x Sunshine (MMC), Fairytale Retelling, Mythology Retelling
Fish are mysteriously disappearing, starving the people in Angie Song’s Alaskan hometown. Angie, a snarky, guarded aspiring marine biologist and dock worker, enthusiastically joins the hunt to find out where the fish are gathering. When her family and the villagers discover that merfolk are responsible, they vow to destroy every last one. In the midst of the conflict, Angie faces off with a merman and fails to pull the trigger.
Inquisitive Mer-Prince Kaden is just as snarky as Angie, but he’s willing to talk and stop the brutal massacring of his people. The two form a cautious alliance to broker peace between the humans and mer before any more of them die.
Angie’s family becomes suspicious of her time near the water and threatens her future career. If the Mer-King and Queen learn of Kaden fleeing to the surface from an engagement he doesn’t want and falling for a landwalker, he’ll be exiled.
As tensions clash in this modern-day Romeo and Juliet meets The Little Mermaid, no one is safe in the desperate fight to control the sea’s resources. Despite the risks, Angie and Kaden’s forbidden relationship ignites. And as she learns about the mer’s mysterious world and the reason why the fish are gone, Angie starts to question who the true monster is, and where her loyalties lie. Taking the wrong side means choosing between family and her job, or the man she’s fallen for and the merfolk she’s come to respect—or losing it all.
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How long have you been writing?
I wrote my first “book” at 8 years old, for a class assignment and it was a picture book about fishes. I then graduated to Disney fanfiction and novellas, and then wrote my first novel at 16. I have stories in my head that beg to be put on the page. I also frequently watched movies and read books and found myself wondering, what if the main character came from a different background? What happened if the ending was different?
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What gets you in the mood to write?
Having a clear mind. When I’m on vacation, or just have everything done for the day, it frees up my head to be creative.
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What is your creative ‘process?’
When I get inspired (and it can be from anywhere or anyplace), I’ll jot down my ideas in my phone’s notepad, followed by random scenes out of order. Then I turn those scenes into an outline before I actually start writing.
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Who do you look up to most?
Is it a cop-out answer to say everyone involved in publishing? Because honestly, I am in awe of trad and self-published authors, and the industry professionals. There is so much work involved in bringing a book from first draft to published novel, not to mention all the work before and after publication for marketing, a whole other beast in itself. Everyone brings so much to the table and I didn’t fully appreciate that until I became a published author, myself.
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What’s your most recent 5 star read?
The Artist of BlackBerry Grange by Paulette Kennedy – which is an amazing historical gothic novel!
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What is the most surprising thing about being an author?
How much work is involved after publication. I feel like people always talk about the work in the months prior, which makes total sense, but I didn’t hear much about how much post-marketing efforts would be involved to continue getting your book in front of new readers.
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What’s something unique about your writing?
While I identify as Asian-American, I grew up in Singapore, and am a third culture kid. I also work as a healthcare professional for my day job, and am passionate about causes such as animal and women’s rights, and environmentalism and sustainability. I find that one, or more of those aspects usually creep into my stories, whether intentionally or not.
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What is your favorite candy?
I’m a sucker for gummy candies! Especially if they’re visibly coated in sugar.
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Finish this sentence: “When she reached forward towards the doorknob ….
A hand shot out from behind her, placing his hand over hers, and when she turned around, there stood a man…but there was something otherworldly and beautiful about him.
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What is one of your exciting upcoming ideas/themes for a project you haven’t started yet?
I’m toying with an idea of a women’s fiction novel where the protagonist finds love in the most unexpected place.
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Who is one of your favorite heroines and why?
It has to be a tie between Mulan and Elle Woods (from Legally Blonde). Both subvert stereotypes about their gender, and use their brains and wits to come out on top in the end, while also being so relatable and easy to root for.
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Who is one of your favorite villains and why?
Daenerys Targaryen from the Game of Thrones series, with the caveat that I did not read the books past GoT. I think she is a very misunderstood character and while she did some heinous things, she is a product of her upbringing and environment and I still stand by the belief that she was done dirty and had so much more potential than the way her story progressed, and ended.
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Cassie Swindon conducted this interview. Check out one of her nine published books. The Wicked Blue is a standalone (modern) fantasy romance that some would categorize as PNR. It’s a little mermaid gender swap retelling.
