by: Celestine Martin
Series: Elemental Love
Genre: Romantic Comedy/Romantic Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Release Date: September 27, 2022
Publisher: Forever
Love is the trickiest spell of all.
Lucinda Caraway loves living in Freya Grove, the mystic seaside town where charms, hexes, and magical beings of all kinds are the norm. She spends her days teaching high school history and her nights reading tea leaves and tending to her conjure garden. It’s a good life . . . but she can’t stop wishing for more.
Until one night, that wish turns into a spell, and suddenly Lucy can’t say no. Not to a public karaoke performance. Not to running a 10K. And, most alarmingly, not to her high school crush, Alexander Dwyer, who needs her help unjinxing his new house—which just happens to be right across the street from hers.
Alex has spent the last ten years traveling the world on adventures Lucy has only ever dreamed of, and he’s planning to leave again as soon as his house is safe to sell. But until Lucy can unhex herself, she and Alex are stuck together. And with so much magic in the air, maybe the next spell Lucy casts will be the one that convinces him to stay.
I’m doing great, thank you for asking! I enjoy being a debut author and connecting with readers and reviewers. It’s been a fantastic experience to share the town of Freya Grove and my Caraway witches with readers after so long.
Congratulations on the release of Witchful Thinking, the first book in your Elemental Love series from Forever. Full disclosure, I’m crazy about this book. Please tell readers about Witchful Thinking and the series itself.
Thank you so much! My debut, Witchful Thinking is about a tea-loving, Home and Garden loving witch named Lucy Caraway who has one too many drinks one night and casts a wish spell. She wishes for more excitement in her life, which leads to her reconnecting with her high school crush and merman Alex Dywer. Hijinks and HGTV-level flirting happen between our main characters throughout a hot and sensual summer. The Elemental Love series is about the loves and lives of the Caraways, a family of witches who live in a mystic and magical seaside town in New Jersey. My series is a mash-up between a light-hearted Charmed episode and a stay-at Stars' Hollow from Gilmore Girls. I was inspired to write this series out of love for my family's history with superstitions and traditions and my love of African American folklore and mythology. I love light-hearted paranormals, so it was a matter of time before I wrote this novel.
Tell me about the characters of Lucy Caraway and Alex Dwyer. What do you love about them individually and together?
Lucy Caraway loves a strong cup of tea, an excellent historical fiction book, and cooking with her favorite herbs. I love her appreciation for family history, loyalty and faithfulness for her Caraway coven, and dedication to her teaching career. She sees the best in people but doesn’t always see the best in herself.
Alex loves swimming in the ocean, taking pictures of beautiful things, and going on day trips. I love his appreciation for lost items, thrift stores, and antiques, adoration for his parents, and his unbreakable bond with his brother. He’s my emo little merman who is a little commitment-shy and tends to get in his feelings.
I love how Lucy grounds Alex and gives him a feeling of home with her personality, and I love how Alex encourages Lucy to follow her passions outside of the Grove with his tranquil nature.
Because of you, I now have this little gnome obsession. Seriously, my entryway for Christmas was like gnomeapalooza. I loved Herbie, Half-Pint, and Jinxie. Can you please tell readers about them and how did you come up with the idea of them?
I love to hear it! When I was young, I loved the television show called David the Gnome. He was a blue jacket and red hat-wearing gnome who lived in the woods with his wife and helped tend to animals. My love for gnomes grew even more, especially when I started researching mythology for the book. I love the potential for mischief that gnomes can cause, especially in a whimsical place like Freya Grove.
Gnomes are little spirits who are both protectors and tricksters of Freya Grove and make fun trouble from time to time for the locals. The Caraways have a love/hate relationship with gnomes, which will be a motif throughout the series. They will be coming back and showing up later in the series.
I’m thrilled to hear you’re part of Gnome Crew! We have to make t-shirts.
We definitely need t-shirts. I’m excited they’re coming back. I like meet-cutes, but I’m more of a grand gesture girl. I thought the meet-cute in Witchful Thinking was very nice. Was that scene how you always pictured Lucy and Alex reconnecting?
I was inspired by the annual carnival that comes every spring to my hometown and a Pinterest picture of a couple silhouetted by carnival lights. I love festivals, and I always imagined that Lucy and Alex would meet under the light of the Ferris Wheel. I wanted their meet-cute to be electric and surrounded by magic.
What was your favorite part of Witchful Thinking to write, and why?
The rediscovery scenes were my favorite to write overall in the book! I love showing Lucy and Alex falling in love all over again and learning who they are as adults. Their mutual teenage crush blooms into a genuine love between two people looking to make a home and a life together.
As much as I liked/loved Lucy, Alex, and the gnomes, there was this character I despised beyond measure. When I reached out to you on social media, you were happy with my reaction. Why was this character ultimately cast in a villain role?
Honestly, it was a complete accident that the character came off as a villain, but I’m happy that readers have such a strong reaction to that character. I’ve read the DMs and heard from readers who have had deep feelings about that character and their actions/words. Once the character casts the spell, it becomes evident that the character’s wish isn’t what they expected. Rather than deal with their problem, they use magic as a band-aid, which doesn’t work as you see in the book. You can’t always use shortcuts to deal with your problems, which that’s what the character does throughout the book. A future book will deal with the aftermath of the wish spell for all of them.
As you can tell, I can talk to you about this book forever. Two more quick questions… Can you tell us a little bit about the next book in the series? And, is the character I want desperately to be turned into a donkey going to appear in the next book?
I love the questions! I’m sworn to secrecy about Book Two. I can tell you that the book will focus on the element of Earth. Book One is based on the essence of Water with Lucy’s love of tea and the water, Alex’s relationship with the ocean, and the fluidity of their passion. The main character for Book Two will need to reconnect with their element and come down to Earth. Get ready for crystals, plants, and a lot of flirting over gemstones. Psst-that character will appear!
Ugh! But what you just made has me really curious. Celestine, thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions for me.
Thank you for having me, it was an absolute pleasure.
Purchase Witchful Thinking from:
The Elemental Love Series:
Witchful Thinking ~ Review
Kiss and Spell releases September 26, 2023
Places to find Celestine Martin:
This sounds like such a fun book. I enjoyed the interview too.
ReplyDeleteThank you. It was a fun book.
DeleteYou're welcome
DeleteWonderful Q&A
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Delete