Resort Chat: Christy Raedeke

The Book Resort is thrilled to have the terrific Christy Raedeke over for a little gab. Christy is one of the incredible tenners!

Ready? Let's go!

Me: What are you working on now? (If you can give us a hint!)

CR: I’m working on book two of The Prophecy of Days series. It’s still weird to think that this book is due to the publisher before Book One will even be on shelves.

Me: Spiderman or Superman:

CR: Superman, always.

Me: Wonder Woman or Batgirl:

CR: I’m a huge fan of bats, so I’ll go with Batgirl. Plus Wonder Woman has really lost some of her street cred as she’s gotten older and is now endorsing pet meds by mail or something random like that.

Me: Chunky or Smooth:

CR: Context is everything: chunky on a spoon, smooth in a sandwich.

Me: Favorite flavor ice cream:

CR: Coffee

Me: Favorite ice cream topping:

CR: Bittersweet chocolate sauce

Me: Subway or Taxi:

CR: Taxi, please.

Me: Broadway Show or Movie Theater:

CR: Movie theater, unless the play is a drama. I always get the giggles at the most inappropriate times in musicals.

Me: TiVO or DVR:

CR: I would be nothing without my TiVO!

Me: Favorite vacation place:

CR: Switzerland—a tidy and peaceful nation of fondue and chocolate.

Me: Next vacation destination:

CR: Anywhere, please. Beam me up.

Me: Favorite NYC hotspot:

CR: The Cloisters. Does that make me a dork?


Me: Guilty Pleasure:

CR: Watching The Hills and brushing with Pearl Drops. You can’t even buy Pearl Drops at the store anymore, you have to order it online. I know I’m probably grinding all the enamel off my teeth but I can’t stop…

Me: Good luck charm:

CR: On which hour of which day? I have so many luck charms, talismans, and carved fetishes I could open a trinket shop. But I’ particularly fond of a jade three-toed frog I got in China.

Me: When you were a little girl, you thought you would grow up to be a….

CR: An underwater archaeologist. I know, I was weird.

Me: Last thing bought at the mall:

CR: Some brown cords and a bag of bittersweet chocolate non pariels.

Me: Item on your grocery list:

CR: Cilantro, Coffee, Parmesan


Me: French fries or Onion Rings:

CR: Rings!

Me: Pizza: New York or Chicago?

CR: Both. Either. I’m an equal opportunity nosher when it comes to pizza.

Me: Midnight snack:

CR: Golden Oreos. As one of the world’s greatest Oreo fans I had so much disdain for these when they first came—but then someone made me taste one. They are, indeed, worthy of the Oreo name.

Me: Bookmark or dog ear?

CR: Sorry librarians—I dog ear. But I NEVER eat with a book in hand. Not even Oreos.

Me: Read with dustjacket or remove it?

CR: Remove it. Mostly I read in bed and I find a jacket is just too formal.

Me: Ocean, Lake, Desert, Mountain:

CR: River! Every time.

Me: Favorite book:

CR: How can you, a serious book lover, ask such a cruel question?

Me: Item you can't live without:

CR: A large handbag that holds all the other items I can’t live without.

Me: Who is your favorite writer that most people have never heard of?

CR: I’ve found that a lot of people have not read Herman Hesse, and he’s one of my all-time favorites.

Me: What kid or teen books made a difference in your world growing up?

CR: Everything by Judy Bloom and Ellen Raskin. Raskin’s The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) really tweaked my brain and started a life-long love of wordplay and footnotes in fiction.

Me: Where do you like to write your books (bed ~ coffee shop ~ an office)?

CR: In my teeny-tiny home office or at the college library. I’m not someone who can write among crowds and conversations; I’m a huge eavesdropper and would get nothing done.

Me: Describe your ideal place to write:

CR: I wish I had a “safe room” kind of office, where I could lock myself in and have no interruptions.

Me: What are you reading @ the moment?

CR: A book of non-fiction called Codebreaker by Stephen Pincock and a YA mystery set in Victorian England called The Agencey: Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee.

Me: Where do you usually read?

CR: Usually in bed. I have a spectacularly comfortable bed.

Me: Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?

CR: Yep, almost always one non-fiction and one fiction.

Me: Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?

CR: I read both in bed, both without dust jackets, and I dog ear the pages of both. The only difference is in mood. If I’m reading non-fiction it’s generally for research for a book, so I have to be more alert.

Me: Thank you, Christy! Mmmm, I grabbed a bag of Golden Oreos 'cause of you! I better grab a tube of Pearl Drops & hit the pavement to balance out the Golden O's ;)!

CR: Thank you so much, Diane! This has been a lot of fun.



Check out:

Christy's website

Christy's blog

Book website

Christy's Facebook

Christy's Goodreads



Prophecy of Days - Book One: The Daykeeper's Grimoire arrives from Flux May 2010


Now available for pre~order!

Amazon

PROPHECY OF DAYS: THE DAYKEEPER’S GRIMOIRE is the story of Caity Mac Fireland, a teen from San Francisco whose parents drag her to an isle off the coast of Scotland to manage some family property. Caity finds that a Mayan relic is concealed there, intentionally left centuries ago by Mayan Daykeepers in an attempt to keep their profound knowledge about the year 2012 alive into the current era.



As she delves into this world of secret knowledge, Caity is helped along by a visiting family friend and Feng Shui master, Uncle Li; a Mayan elder named Bolon; and Mr. Papers, her pet monkey that communicates through origami. A handsome Scottish lad gets pulled into the intrigue, as do several other people with questionable motives and loyalties. Caity must weave together a tapestry of information in order to make her radical discovery, a mystery protected by an elite coterie of power-brokers who influence world events and will stop at nothing to control both the secret and her.



Book one of a two-book series, PROPHECY OF DAYS: THE DAYKEEPER’S GRIMOIRE is a story rooted in myth and ancient knowledge.