Design Credit: Julie V. Photography and Amy Nickerson
Colors of Deception
As I mentioned a while back, I had the privilege of being a beta reader and coordinating the cover design for my fellow Creative Courtney Cantrell whose book Colors of Deception is now available. (Buy the e-book NOW on Amazon for only $0.99! What a steal!)
The first in the Demons of Saltmarch trilogy, the story focuses on Holly Idaho, a student at a Christian university who is being stalked by a sinister presence. Everything in her world gets turned upside down when she discovers that demons are alive and real – and one in particular has his eye on her. Holly’s friends and the rest of the campus are oblivious to the strange goings-on, all except for her odd friend Peter. He warns her of imminent danger and reveals his own strange secret — one he’s been hiding since the very beginning.
More than just Holly’s life is at stake. Reality as she knows it will never be the same. Faced with a pivotal decision, she must challenge the basis of her faith and embrace one side or the other before her time runs out.
Fudgespeak
Courtney does an excellent job merging dark, weighty themes with lighthearted banter and wit. But the thing I found highly original has nothing to do with the intense plot. It’s a fun little idiosyncrasy called Fudgespeak. Whenever Holly feels the need to use an exclamation, it is always comes out food related. Either she’s afraid she might get caught letting an inappropriate word slip on the religiously strict campus or her friend Celia’s affinity for all things food has rubbed off on her. Likely both. Either way, this troubled heroine comes up with some clever slang on the fly.
Here is a small sampling of her appetizing expressions:
“Oh, shut the fudge up.”
“I don’t even know what the ganache is going on!”
“Strudel and cake the whole stupid trifle.”
“Oh, shortbread.”
“What the Amish friendship bread is going on…?”
“If this supernatural, pineapple-upside-down-cake, hocus-pocus were real…”
“…butt the torte out.”
“I’m gonna have some kind of chocolate frosted meltdown.”
“Speak now or forever hold your quiche.”
Fudgespeak is one of the ways Courtney achieves humor even in the darkest parts of the story. I love how she isn’t afraid of having fun with her characters. Check out her blog at www.courtcan.com to hear more about her world of writing and publishing. And make sure to show her some love by picking up a copy of the book. Also, Courtney is giving away free copies to contest winners — check out the details here to find out how to participate.
Becca, thanks so much for your kind words and your help with promoting my contest! I’m glad you enjoyed FudgeSpeak so much. It was, indeed, a way for me to have some fun with my characters — even as I put them through some not-so-fun situations! ; )