Welcome to my book blog and my day on the tour, it is my pleasure to present:
Color Of Evil Series Boxed Set by Connie Corcoran Wilson
Publisher: Quad Cities’ Press (Aug, 2017)
Category: YA, Psychological Paranormal Thriller
Tour Dates: Oct/Nov, 2017
Available in: E-book, 725 Pages
THE COLOR OF EVIL series presents you with characters who live, breathe and die in small town Cedar Falls, Iowa. Tad McGreevy, the focus of the series, has a paranormal power, Tetrachromatic Super Vision, that allows him to see auras that tell him whether a person is good or evil. At night, in horrifying nightmares, Tad relives the crimes of the evil-doers. Eventually, becomes the target of a particularly lethal antagonist, Michael Clay (aka Pogo the Clown) who wants to eliminate the teen-aged boy. In three books, we witness the power of evil faced off against a good-hearted young boy who just wants to protect those he loves.
Beginning with the first manifestations of this supernatural power at the age of 8, the book quickly takes us forward to the high school years of Tad and the band of friends we come to know well. We follow their progress from their junior year of high school through graduation with danger always lurking in the background. As others have said, it’s quite a ride.
Begin the journey today with this specially-priced trilogy:
THE COLOR OF EVIL; RED IS FOR RAGE; and KHAKI=KILLER..
"THE COLOR OF EVIL series is old-school psychological horror, artfully blended with new-school shocks and twists. Bravo!" --
Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author, multiple Bram Stoker winner.
Praise for Color Of Evil Series Boxed Set by Connie Corcoran Wilson
‘The book has all the elements of a compelling mystery and an inventive paranormal twist. One must credit Wilson for treating her teenage protagonists with respect, as they face adult dilemmas and resolve them with maturity and grace."-
Kirkus
"Connie Corcoran Wilson weaves a deftly fine scalpel in an age where a crude blade is more the norm. Her work is a smooth, subtle hybrid mix of science fiction, thriller, and horror that realizes a unique and pointed vision in the great tradition of Phillip K. Dick and Ray Bradbury. Her voice is a wonder to behold, at once dark and somber while maintaining a glimmer of hope that shines in the hearts of her heroes, who cling to the light. Like Stephen King, nothing escapes her discerning eye, the result of which is tale after tale that bleed life onto the page, both literally and figuratively."--
Jon Land, bestselling author of the Caitlin Strong Series
"Wilson's characters come alive on the page. Comparisons to Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Philip K. Dick aside, Wilson has spent 33 years teaching students in this age range. She knows what she is talking about."--
Gary Braver, author of "Flashback" and 8 other thrillers.
About Connie Corcoran Wilson
Connie (Corcoran) Wilson (MS + 30) graduated from the University of Iowa and Western Illinois University, with additional study at Northern Illinois, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Chicago.
She taught writing at six Iowa/Illinois colleges and has written for five newspapers and seven blogs, including Yahoo, which named her its 2008 Content Producer of the Year. She covers politics and entertainment and writes for The Movie Blog, QuadCities.com and her own blog, WeeklyWilson.com.
She is a member of ITW (International Thriller Writers) and a member of IWPA (Illinois Women’s Press Association, Chicago chapter), which awarded her its Silver Feather Award in 2012 and 2014, MWA (Midwest Writers Association), AWP (American Writing Program) and MWC (Midwest Writing Center), which named her its Writer of the Year in 2010. She has won numerous E-Lit awards, a NABE Pinnacle award, an ALMA (American Literary Merit Award), Lucky Cinda competition and two IWPA Silver Feather Awards (2012, 2014).
Her stories and interviews with writers like David Morrell, Joe Hill, Kurt Vonnegut, Frederik Pohl, William F. Nolan, Anne Perry, r. Barri Flowers, Valerie Plame, Allen Zadoff and Jon Land have appeared online and in numerous journals.
Her work has won prizes from “Whim’s Place Flash Fiction,” “Writer’s Digest” (Screenplay) and she has 30 published works. Connie reviewed film and books for the
Quad City Times (Davenport, Iowa) for 12 years, wrote humor columns and conducted interviews for the (Moline, Illinois)
Dispatch.
Connie has three ongoing series:
THE COLOR OF EVIL, HELLFIRE & DAMNATION (short stories organized around the crimes or sins punished at each of the levels of Hell in Dante’s Inferno) and
THE CHRISTMAS CATS, which she writes for her granddaughters. (
www.TheColorOfEvil.com;
www.RedIsforRage.com;
www.KhakiEqualsKiller.com;
www.HellfireAndDamnationTheBook.com;
www.TheXmasCats.com)
Connie lives in East Moline, Illinois with husband Craig and in Chicago, Illinois and Austin, Texas. Son Scott and wife Jessica and granddaughters Ava and Elise live in Austin and her daughter, Stacey, currently flies for Southwest Airlines and flies from Denver, Colorado.
Connie on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ConnieCWilson
Connie on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Connie-Corcoran-Wilson/275020829241869
Connie on Pinterest:
http://pinterest.com/conniecwilson/
Interview with Beverly
Why did
you choose the color Khaki for Khaki=Killer (Color of Evil, Book 3)?
A: I felt that the normal, average color thought
to be “evil” would be black, and, in the interests of not doing the normal,
ordinary, predictable thing, I chose khaki both because it was alliterative and
because I didn’t want to do what everybody else has done. Also, there was/is a possibility that khaki,
the color associated with the military, might, some day, somehow, enter as a
plot point. (If you knew of a young
person who could sort of “see” the future, don’t you think the military would
eventually enter to find out if that individual could be weaponized or used to
their advantage?) And, lastly, there was a funny story involving the years
when people were “having their colors” done and a girlfriend said she had her
colors “done” at some make-up place for a cut-rate price. I asked her what
color she got, and she said,”Khaki.” I
believe my response, knowing how cheap this joint had been, was, “Well, you get
what you pay for.”
Where
do you get the names for your characters?
A:
Sometimes, the characters in my books have actual names that are similar to
people I have met and/or know, or I have had a student who had a
close-but-no-cigar name and I am thinking of that person when I write. It has
been pointed out to me that I should not select names that are too similar for
main characters (example: Shannon and Sharon) and I agree totally, since it is
sometimes the case that I mistakenly type in the wrong name. I have even gone
so far as to put a list of characters in the back of the third book---sort of a
scorecard to help readers keep the people straight.
You
quote from movies quite a bit, if the series were to be made into a movie what
actors would you like to play the main characters?
A: I envision Tom Holland (the newest
“Spiderman”) as Tad. Stevie would be a harder cast, but the minute I saw Tom
Holland in the tsumani movie with Naomi Watts, I knew he was Tad. Jenny would
resemble a younger Reese Witherspoon and Reese has a young look-alike daughter,
so this would be perfect for her. As for the girls, they are pretty well
described and I did think of one particular television actress who played an
Italian character on a series that ran some years ago about “American
Bandstand,” but, otherwise, the casting people could have fun with it. Some of
the young actors who appear in “Stranger Things” might be interesting for Chris
Turgasen, the clarinet-playing dweeb. I think the cast could be mainly young
up-and-coming actors and actresses who are trying to gain a foothold in the
business, and, therefore, this would make a thrilling film, but not an
expensive one from the standpoint of paying big bucks for a lot of special
effects or star power. (Directors: take
note).
What draws you to the paranormal thriller genre?
A: I initially wrote a short
story that appeared in my short story series “Hellfire & Damnation”
involving Tad and I had left poor Tad McGreevy in a very bad way. I felt guilt
about how he ended up in the short story and I vowed to write him out of the
corner I had written him IN to, and
that was how the entire series began. The first 3 chapters of the book are that
short story, revisited. The rest is me imagining how we could get Tad back to
normal. I have read a fair number of authors considered “paranormal,”--- mainly
the ones I am compared to the most (i.e., Stephen King, Philip K. Dick and Dean
Koontz). I feel that the “paranormal” things I have written about are generally
much more “real” and could really happen in real life, whereas I don’t feel
that way about some of Dean Koontz’s books. I would repeat that there really IS
an affliction like the one that Tad has, where colors are extremely vivid, etc.
It’s just the “reliving in nightmares” part that is different from the real
life affliction.
There are some very frightening scenes in the book, what is the most
frightening to you? Have you had
nightmares about the book?
A: I think the scenes at Old Man
Isham’s cabin are among the most frightening in Book One, but the scene on the
bridge depicted on the cover of Book Three certainly qualifies as scary. The
only book that ever gave me nightmares was “Pet Semetary.” Also, the first book
is much more “horror” because, at that time, I was an active voting member of
HWA. I later moved to ITW (International Thriller Writers) and I think the last
two books are far more suspenseful New YA thriller than horror. I fit in better
with the thriller crowd, as I wasn’t overly gory, even in Book One, and the
writers in ITW are more like me in terms of age, education, writing ability and
interests.
Describe the room you
are sitting in as though it was a scene in one of your books.
A: “The light from the fake Tiffany lamp shone
over a scene of disarray. Books, papers, Kleenexes, empty wine glasses: all
contributed to the feeling that this room had been occupied for a very long
time. In the distance, the bones of the fake dinosaur skeleton positioned
outside the Field Museum, dimly lit, provided a ghoulish touch. A spider was making his way skittishly up the
outside of the window. The black hair thing seemed to be judging the writer
seated in the swivel chair, assessing whether or not the spider could gain
access to the writer’s lair. A large poster of Janet Leigh in “Psycho”
dominated the wall opposite the computer and desk. “Back to Black” played in
the background, bringing to mind the tragic life and death of Amy Winehouse.
This was obviously a place where someone had been hard at work, but what had
that person been doing?”
Imagine you have entered the 'Twilight Zone', and you travel into the
book. Write about that experience.
A: “The Twilight Zone” featured
some interesting and weird settings (and characters). My books feature a
seemingly normal small Iowa town. From
the outside and on the surface, all is well. God’s in his heaven and all’s
right with the world. It is only when you scratch that surface that all hell
breaks loose.
What are you currently working on?
A: I have
about 150 pages written of a 4th book in this series. I am going to
be paying attention to the comments of the tour hosts, like you, to see if
anyone is interested in reading more about the students of Sky High who graduate at the end of Book #3..
In Book #4, they either go off to college or enter the work force and real
life. Maybe nobody really cares about these characters any more and thinks the
series should end here. I recently read a post on David Morrell’s writer’s blog
where he said he hadn’t written a line in over 14 months because he just didn’t
know what his readers wanted to read any more, so I’m not alone in wondering if
anyone else has enjoyed reading about Tad and Stevie and Jenny and the rest of
the gang. I also have been bringing the female characters more to the fore in
Book #4, which could be considered bad or could be considered good. I’m here in
Chicago to cover the Chicago International Film Festival for three blogs (www.TheMovieBlog.com, www.QuadCities.com, www.WeeklyWilson.com) and the
Big News is that so many of the films are now from female directors. Part of
the time, I feel that the female characters in “The Color of Evil” series
deserve bigger and better roles and exposure, and part of the time I remind
myself that it is Tad McGreevy who is “the hero” and has the paranormal
extraordinary power, so I then try to put the focus back on Tad and his visions. If nobody thinks the
boxed set is worth reading or feels that they’ve had enough (of this series),
perhaps I will simply shelve the half book I currently have written and THE
COLOR OF EVIL will remain a trilogy for
all time.
Is
there a question that you would have liked me to ask you?
A: Well, this is really part of the last
question, but I’m working hard to write about the new films and documentaries
from all over the world that I’m seeing at 2 back-to-back film festivals
(Chicago’s and Austin’s), so I’d like my readers to go FIRST to www.WeeklyWilson.com to read my thoughts about
those films. After that, by all means hit up the much bigger www.TheMovieBlog.com, but that blog gets 4 million
hits a day and has beaucoup readers, so try mine first, because mine will be
longer and more in-depth than what I am allowed to write
for The Movie Blog. I’ve been reviewing film continuously since 1970, which is
47 years, so you will also be getting a good guide to what you might like and
what to avoid.
Thank
you so much for your thoughtful questions and participating in THE COLOR OF
EVIL blog tour.
Follow Color Of Evil Series by Connie Corcoran Wilson Tour
Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Sept 29 Review & Giveaway
Gayle
Books Reviews Etc Oct 3 Review
Beverly's Book Blog Oct 13 Review, Excerpt, Interview, & Giveaway
Dawn
Bound 2 Escape Oct 10 Excerpt & Giveaway
Angélica Amazon Review Nov 1 Review
Jessica
JBronder Book Reviews Nov 8 Review
Shannon
The Pulp and Mystery Shelf Nov 13 Excerpt & Interview
Donna Amazon Review Nov 15 Review
Cheryl's Book Nook Nov 21 Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway
Dawn
Bound 2 Escape Nov 28 Review
Dr. Jacques Coulardeau Amazon Review Nov 28 Review
Lisa
Lisa's Writopia Nov 29 Review
Erica
Bassgiraffe's Thoughts Nov 30 Review
Lorna Amazon Review Nov 30 Review
*This schedule is subject to change.
My Thoughts:
My first scary clown story was Stephen King's
IT and I never thought I would read another clown story. When I saw the cover of
The Color of Evil, I almost emailed and said I couldn't read the book; but I decided that after years and years, I could handle another clown story. I was pleased that I took a chance on it. When offered the opportunity to read
Red is for Rage, I didn't hesitate and was very excited to be included in the tour for Khaki=Killer. With that being said, I was just as excited when I found out about the boxed set tour and am so glad to have the opportunity to participate in sharing information about these books.
My thoughts:
I enjoyed revisiting Connie's books! I was right back in again and as frightened and horrified as if I had never read the books before. Connie is a master storyteller and creates characters that grab on and hold you throughout the telling of the story.
The opportunity to read all the books without awaiting the next installment of the story was a huge plus! Read them in a well-lit room!
Read my thoughts of book one below the image.
My thoughts:
This is a chilling, gruesome tale. Not a read for the faint of heart. There is no end to the sick and twisted nature of some of the characters in this story.
I need to begin my review with a side note: I read for the happy ending. Always. Regardless of the type of story - romance, paranormal, thriller, horror, fantasy...
I am always waiting for that moment at the end where it all comes together. That moment where the bad guy gets caught, love is finally found, you know - THAT moment. Closure.
Some books hang at the end and you know that there will be another to come. This is that kind of ending. You get a little bit of loose end tying, but for the most part we will all be awaiting the next book to find THAT moment.
The characters in this book stand out because they garnered such a dramatic reaction.
They are mostly all evil or at least bad. (With the exception of a few). The author has created characters that got an immediate response from me; some of those responses being, "Shame on them!" or "Wow, what a yucky person."
I was repulsed by Pogo the Clown. I have an aversion to clowns in stories - well, because they are always the worst of the worst as bad guys and the author has created the ultimate bad guy in Pogo the Clown.
As a person and a parent, I found myself automatically emotionally attached to Stevie and Tad. I am that person who always picks the runt, the left out, and the unwanted.
As a teacher, my heart cried out for them being bullied and abused by students and I was outraged and sickened by the bullying and abuse at the hands of the school staff.
The setting is local for me, which I think is great. But the town is filled with unhappiness, resentment, jealousy and despair. The author does a nice job of describing the people in the story and their lives. The overall mood of the book is dark, overshadowed by the darkness of unsavory people.
One repeating theme to the story was how small the world is and how things happen and the number of people affected by those things. Another theme, to me, was choices. How a person could choose to walk away from their life, but that sometimes because of the choices that are made sometimes their life walks away from them.
The plot twists around itself and you wonder who will be caught, who is going to get away with what, and who gets to "win" in the end.
A rollercoaster ride of terror. I am sure that I will be looking for the next book so that I can find out what happens at the end of this road.
Click HERE for my review of Red is for Rage
Click HERE for my review of Khaki=Killer
Excerpt from Red Is for Rage
By Connie (Corcoran)
Wilson
Chapter One: CherryWood Lane, Cedar Falls, Iowa, August
28, 2004
She stood there, white dress covered in
blood, clutching the 38-caliber revolver, body shaking uncontrollably. Some of the viscous, red liquid
dripped from the handle of the small silver gun. Drop by grisly drop, the blood
splattered the pavement of the driveway below. Sarah Eisenstadt, still
clutching the gun tightly, did not notice. She seemed to be in an entirely
different dimension---somewhere not of this Earth.
Andrea SanGiovanni was at home. It was
4:30 p.m. It was not Andrea’s normal routine to stop by her new house on
CherryWood Lane, next door to the Eisenstadts. She had promised Jenny she’d
pick up her new tennis shoes for cheerleader tryouts and take them to her at
school. School was to start in three days. Jenny’s senior year. The Olympics
were underway in Greece. Andrea had a good feeling about this, Jenny’s senior
year. She had barely seen her daughter, save for the Christmas crush. She was
anxious to make the new house on CherryWood Lane into a new start for both of
them.
The report of Sarah’s revolver within the
SanGiovannis’ house was muffled. At first, Andrea thought it was a car
backfiring. It wasn’t until Sarah emerged from the house and, half-tottered,
half-stumbled down the driveway that Andrea looked out her kitchen window, saw
her next-door neighbor and murmured, “Oh, my God!”
Sarah Eisenstadt looked like she was having
some sort of fit. Although she was still on her feet, Sarah’s slender frame was
shaking violently. Her gray hair, usually pulled back in a tidy bun, was
disheveled. Her eyes were wide and wild, staring into space.
Although, later, Andrea would question why
she had quickly approached the obviously distraught woman---why she had not
feared for her own safety---Andrea always reacted with courage under fire. She
seemed to have total disregard for her own safety if the occasion warranted it.
Andrea had saved Belinda Chandler’s life by remaining “calm, cool and
collected” on another occasion in the Heights, in the face of a convicted
killer with a knife who had then taken them both hostage. She hadn’t hesitated
then. Andrea SanGiovanni didn’t hesitate now. She quickly ran outside.
“Sarah! Sarah! What is it? What’s the
matter?”
“I killed them. I killed them both.” Sarah
seemed to be talking to herself. Her words were just barely audible.
“Killed who? Who did you kill? Should I
call 911? Is there an intruder?” Andrea was taken so off-guard that she was
still clutching Jenny’s pink Reeboks in her hands, her fingers clutching the
white laces tightly.
“They were disobedient. They were mouthy.
They didn’t listen to me. They didn’t do as they were told.” Sarah still seemed
to be in some sort of fog. Her comments were not explaining the situation.
“Who are you talking about? Who did you
shoot?” Andrea was becoming more and more agitated, but Sarah seemed calmer but
less lucid each moment.
“The children…”
