The time it was about Cashmere

Posted February 16, 2017 by Stacee in Blog Tours, Giveaways, Interviews | 5 Comments

When I got the offer to beta read Cashmere, I responded to Temple in all shouty caps and probably some flailing gifs.  I was dying to get my greedy hands on that book and was elated to get the chance to read it early. And I loved it. So, of course when it came time for the blog tour, I couldn’t sign up fast enough.

Before we get to my interview with Temple, let’s check out the book!

Title: Cashmere {Velvet #2}
Author: Temple West
Release Date: February 14, 2017
Publisher: In Medias Res Publications
Pages: 460
Find it:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble

This high-stakes sequel to Velvet proves that when you’re the only human caught in a paranormal war, high school can get a little tricky. With Adrian’s brother trapped in hell, the Praetorian Guard has made Stony Creek their base-of-operations, but Caitlin has a bad feeling they’re more interested in her than in finding Lucian. Caught in a sea of conspiracies and lies, Caitlin and Adrian perform a risky magical procedure in an attempt to protect Caitlin from compulsion.

Relieved that her nightmares have ended, Caitlin is disturbed to find that something even stranger has taken their place.

Determined to get on with her life, even amid a crazy paranormal manhunt, she applies for a competitive summer fashion internship in New York. Searching desperately for answers about what Caitlin might be, how Adrian’s father is involved, and where Lucian has been kidnapped to, Caitlin and Adrian must rely on each other to survive. But when the truth finally comes to light, the consequences are unimaginable.

And the question still haunts them both: even if they survive, how will they deal with the fact that Adrian is immortal and Caitlin is not?

Sounds good, right?

1. Please give the elevator pitch for Cashmere.

Can I instead nudge the fire alarm button with my left buttock and pretend there’s an emergency? Oh gosh, okay, thinking, thinking… It’s sort of like if you smash up Vampire Diaries with The Devil Wears Prada with Ten Things I Hate About You. I think? I’m still in a complete post-editing fog so this book could be about dancing elephants in space for all I know.

2. What Harry Potter houses would your main characters be sorted into?

Excellent question. And I’m going to go a bit beyond the main characters because I like this question so much. Stephanie would hands-down be a Hufflepuff. Trish is Gryffindor. Adrian is also a Gryffindor; very noble and polite. Lucian wouldn’t be in a house, he’d be hanging out with Hagrid befriending giant spiders. Or rather, Hagrid might keep Lucian as one of his adorable/dangerous pets. Kalare would be a Hogwarts drop-out, although I’ve always imagined her being played by the actress who played Tonks. Julian would have gone to Durmstrang. Mariana would have gone to the same school as Fleur de la Coeur. Tommie and Sabine would be Slytherin. Farrar, Vincent, and Javan would be Ravenclaw, along with probably Joe and Norah. Rachel is a Hufflepuff.

And Caitlin wouldn’t be a student, she’d be the Room of Requirement. I know that doesn’t make sense now, but it will after you read the book. But if she had to be in a house, she’d be in good ol’ Gryffy with Adrian and Trish.

3. There are a lot of great characters between the two books. Who is the easiest and hardest to work with?

For some reason, Lucian has always been the easiest. He has a distinct voice and I’ve never struggled writing him. Adrian and Caitlin are probably the hardest, partially because they have the most screen-time, so to speak. With a book this long, it takes me about 12 hours to read through it every time I go back to do edits, and keeping track of plot points and motivations across that amount of time can be difficult, especially once you’ve rearranged scenes, cut stuff, and added new stuff in. And since it’s in the first person, making sure that other characters don’t sound like Caitlin has been something I’ve had to watch, especially since there are so many new characters in Cashmere.

4. What was the weirdest thing you googled while researching?

Oh gosh. So many things. I wish I’d kept a list, there were some gems. Oh wait, I just realized you can search through your Facebook timelime! I found this: “Do you capitalize Jack when it’s a card?” I know I had others, this is so frustrating. Overall, though, I mostly googled historical information, since so many of the characters in Cashmere are centuries old. Did they use mustard gas in WWI? What was going on in Germany in the 16th century? I also referenced The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis for inspiration on demons and interdimensional beings.

5. Without spoilers, were there any scenes that had to be cut that you wish could have stayed?

I had to cut a lot of the fashion internship stuff, although some would probably argue that I still left too much of that in. I had to change one of the things that happens in the book, without actually cutting the scene, but I like the way it is now better than its original form. Honestly, I did more adding to the book than I did cutting. Kill your darlings, as they say.

Speed{ish} round:

1. What book world would you want to live in?

Can I dimension-jump? I’m going to say I can dimension-jump. I want to live in any universe Laini Taylor creates, and I want to have blue hair in all of them. I want to tag along with Locke Lamora in Camorr to con rich bad guys out of their money. I want to visit Rivendell and Cair Paravel. Neverland is also a must-see.

2. What book character would you want to date and who would you want as your BFF?

Can I say Trish, as the BFF? Is that narcissistic, since I created her? It’s probably narcissistic, but I like her a lot. But I wouldn’t mind having like Gandalf or Dumbledore as a BFF, too. I feel like they’d be a hoot underneath all that magic and responsibility.  As for dating, goodness that’s hard to narrow down. Akiva from Daughter of Smoke & Bone or maybe Aragorn. I was always a bit partial to Faramir as well, at least in the movies. It’s been over a decade since I’ve read Lord of the Rings. I mean, I know it started out as a movie but then they wrote a ton of books, so I’m definitely adding Han Solo to the list.

3. Are you a pantser or a plotter?

I’m a plontser. I do a little bit of plotting, then I run naked through my own pages willy-nilly. Then I plot a little again, then I go off running…

4. You wake up and realize that you are Bella in Twilight. You know how it ends up, what would you do differently?

Oh goodness. I feel like this is a dangerous question, ha! I would chat with some older, wiser mentors about my life decisions. Like, even if it’s one of the vampire ladies, just asking someone what an eternity with someone really means. Most human can’t last a normal lifespan with someone, how are you going to handle hundreds to thousands of years?

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Temple West, debut author of the YA paranormal romance Velvet, is as nerdy in real life as she is on the Twitter. Armed with a very shiny English degree, she spent four months in Oxford holed up at the Radcliffe Camera amongst the hush of ancient books and the rich musk of academia. Returning to Los Angeles, she acquired a concurrent degree in film, mostly as an excuse to write essays about The Princess Bride and Hook. She can sew (poorly), drive stick (please fasten your seatbelt), and mostly lift her feet off the ground while stuttering into first gear on a very small motorcycle. She currently lives in Seattle and is the proud mother to a one-year-old laptop and a vintage Remington typewriter.

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Huge thanks to Temple for taking the time!  Make sure you’re checking out her website, following her on Twitter and Instagram, liking her Facebook page, and adding all of her books to your Goodreads TBR shelf.

Definitely follow along on the blog tour for all sorts of fun and keep scrolling for an international giveaway!

Tour Schedule:

February 7 — The Book Hookup — Character Interview
February 8 — Literary Dust — Review
February 9 — DanaSquare — Quirky Q&A
February 10 — BookCatPin — Book Excerpt / Quotes
February 11 —  The Book Academy — Video Interview
February 12 — And Then There Were Books — Review
February 13 — Zara’s Scribblings — Excerpt
February 14 — A Page With a View — Interview
February 15 — Crossroads Reviews — Review
February 16 —  Adventures of a  Book Junkie — Interview
February 17 — Bumblebee Books — Spotlight
February 18 — Rants and Raves of a Bibliophile — Book Excerpt / Quotes
February 19 — A Perfection Called Books — Quirky Q&A
February 20 — A Leisure Moment — Quirky Q&A
February 21 — Living Within Fiction — Interview

1 winner will received signed copies of Velvet and Cashmere.  Temple is supplying the giveaway and her rules are here. Giveaway ends 2/22/17.

**Good Luck!!**

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5 responses to “The time it was about Cashmere

  1. I absolutely LOVED Cashmere! I can relate to Temple comparing it to Ten Things I Hate About You. I can even see a young Julia Stiles playing the role of Cait!

    A couple of years back I missed the chance to meet Temple by literally a week. As soon as I picked up Velvet and began reading it I decided to follow her on Twitter. Wouldn’t you know it, she had JUST had a signing the week prior!

    Great I interview post Stacee!

    Miranda @ Miranda's Book Blog recently posted: Blog Tour {Excerpt & Giveaway}Awakening: Bloodline by Tiera Rice

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