Blog Tour: THE FALLS by Colleen McMilan

 

The Falls

by Colleen McMillan

 

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GENRE:   Supernatural/Thriller

 

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BLURB:

 

Every small town has secrets...

...most won't get you killed. Maddie Decker escaped Sterling Falls just after high school and never looked back. She was sure nothing could convince her to return. Until an urgent message from her high school best friend arrives begging
Maddie to come back before he dies changes everything.

Maddie can't refuse.

Once there, tattered relationships and long forgotten memories are pushed aside when a mysterious presence appears, Maddie uses her professional training to help discover who is killing the residents of Sterling Falls, even if no one wants her there.

Can Maddie survive the homecoming she never wanted?

 

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Excerpt One:

 

When they reach the paddock, the gate is open, ripped apart. Boards lay shredded on the ground, splinters everywhere. It looks as though a tornado tore through, demolishing the wood. The ground is destroyed as well, mud and grass everywhere.

 

They get out of the truck, and the smell hits Charlie like a hammer. Alpacas are very clean animals, and their manure is not as pungent as other livestock, but the scent of twenty animals all emptying their bowels at once will knock a person flat. There is also a whiff of metal in the air, like copper or iron. Charlie runs through the decimated gate.

 

Flies buzz around the paddock, their wings beating a rhythm in Charlie's head. The insects settle on the bodies, feeding in clusters. They swarm, forming vaguely alpaca-shaped lumps so the animal fur looks black.

 

They are scattered around the paddock, but Charlie isn't sure if all twenty bodies are there. The ground is stained dark red with pools of blood. Limbs are scattered, as if each animal exploded. Some of their necks are twisted completely around, and bowels litter the area. Something tore each of their bellies open and spread the organs; half-digested hay and grass steam in piles near some of the bodies. Charlie has a horrible thought of nightmarish pinatas spilling morbid candy.

 

He walks into the paddock toward the nearest body, pinkish white and brown. He thinks it might have been the pregnant one. Her eyes have been removed, and her tongue dangles from an open mouth. Her body is shredded, and Charlie has a view inside her torso, but there is no baby. He leans closer and touches her leg near the hoof. She is cold. The blood is sticky, and he tries to wipe it on his jeans, but the maroon color spreads.

 

He takes a step back, leans over, and pukes.

 

Jemma runs over to rub his back, and when he's thrown up everything from his stomach, Charlie screams.

 

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Topic: Describe your publication journey and how your 1st book came about

My publication journey has been interesting, not at all uncommon for new writers, but a long and winding road for me. I've been writing for as long as I can remember, and when I was young, I dreamed of writing something a lot of people would read. I didn't realize how much I wanted people to read my work until my first writer's workshop in undergrad. I was hungry for my fellow burgeoning writers to read my work, and I was desperate to learn from them as well. Cut to me working on my first novel, a romantic comedy, which was not at all in my writer wheelhouse. It took my a few years to write it, edit, make it “perfect.” I had gotten one short story published in a literary magazine after numerous rejections, so I was used to the process. I sent query letters to agents, trying to get someone interested in my novel. A few took a look, but they all passed. Done with queries, I decided to self-publish. Men of the Year was finally being read, if mainly by my friends and family.

Years later, after I'd gone through my creative writing masters program, my mom and I decided to go to the Twin Cities Book Festival. While I perused the shops, she started talking to one of the publishers who were presenting at the Festival, spoke lavishly about my novel, then called me over, much to my embarrassment. But, I met my wonderful publisher that day. Sometimes, all it takes is the willingness to keep trying…and a very boisterous mother.

My first novel was inspired by my dismal online dating history. Not only was I struggling to find dates, my friends also had novels worth of stories about atrocious dates. I wasn't that shocked — all sexes can be terrible dates — but the variety of tales made me wonder if I could write about it. A romantic comedy? Me? I usually wrote more macabre fare, but I figured online dating was scarier than most monsters. I took inspiration from my dates, my friends' experiences, as well as some horror stories from family members, and Men of the Year was born. The main character, Cassie, is a bit like me, but the story is really for anyone out there who's had a date that was stranger than fiction.

My second novel, The Falls, is very different from Men of the Year, but I stuck with a strong, intriguing female lead. I've been working on the story since those undergrad writing workshop years, and used the opening chapters for my master's thesis. I hope everyone loves taking a trip to Sterling Falls.

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Born and raised in Minnesota, my writing focuses on the Midwestern United States. I've been a writer since I could pick up a crayon, pencil, or pen; there are more than a few stories about my macabre grade school writing interests, to which I just shrug. You can't blame a second grader for wanting to set a scary scene!

 

I attended the University of WI, River Falls for my undergraduate degree and completed my Master's degree in creative writing at the University of Kent, Canterbury, in the UK. For my dissertation research and inspiration, I lived in Canterbury, Paris, and Edinburgh. Paris is my second home and favorite city, so don't be surprised if it turns up in my work.

My two most influential authors are Stephen King and Flannery O'Connor, and my dream is to establish a Midwest Gothic tradition.

I currently live in Minnesota with my jerk of a cat, Duncan. I love living in the most beautiful state in the country, but I always feel Europe's pull...

 

https://www.facebook.com/ColleenMcMillanAuthor

https://twitter.com/ColleenWritesMN

https://www.amazon.com/Colleen-McMillan/e/B07Z55JWP1

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13357673.Colleen_McMillan

 

 

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GIVEAWAY:

 

Colleen McMillan will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway