Why Choosing Your Setting is Important
The setting has the
potential to make or break the validity of a story. For The Parker Harris
Series I needed a location that would be natural for wolves in the area and
that also had waterfalls. Cascades Idaho was a small town that came up in my
search and the pictures of the area were exactly what I pictured for my story.
I researched every aspect of Cascades so that it would seem as though I'd been
there. After I released the book, a person that grew up in Cascades read it and
said I captured the town perfectly and that was one of the best compliments I
could have gotten in my opinion. In my NA series, I wrote the characters living
in Nashville which is where I grew up. I've found that having a personal
knowledge of the setting makes it even easier to really draw the perfect
picture of what the character is experiencing. If you don't choose the right
setting or research one thoroughly it can take away from the story especially
for someone familiar with the city. My dad asked me once why I didn't just make
up a random city like Gotham, etc. To me it seems to add a dose of reality if
you use a real place. Especially a town like Nashville that has a large
population and is a large tourist spot. It allows people to get lost in the
story more, it gives it a feeling as though you're reading about real people.
That's how I feel about it at least. I read a book once just because Nashville
was in the title and I was excited to know all the places they visited because
I'd grown up there!
Cascades of
Moonlight
The Parker Harris Series Book 1
Pages: 259
Publication Date: May 13, 2012
***UPDATED VERSION 07/11/13****
Parker Harris was a normal
teenage girl with a normal teenage life. That was true until two years ago when
she was bitten by a werewolf, forcing her to endure the painful shifting each
month during the full moon. She has kept this secret from everyone she loves.
One day a stranger enters her small town and knows this secret. Nothing ever
happens in the small town of Cascade Idaho, and new people rarely move in, but
its Parker's senior year now and two new faces show up in town. Shortly after their arrival, there is a
brutal murder which becomes the first in Cascades history.
Dreams,
Spells, and Moonlit Tales
The Parker Harris Series Book 2
Pages: 278
Publication Date: December 18, 2012
Parker Harris desires a normal life, but it's just not in
the cards for her. Parker is a werewolf. She has been for three years now. It’s
the summer after she graduated high school and she is preparing for college. If
only grades and college classes were her only worries. Parker and Jackie are
trying to mend their fractured friendship from her betrayal. Jackie and
Mitchell are working on their relationship, fighting jealousy and trust issues
of their own. Quinn, a vampire, is the love of Parker’s life. He begins to look
into his family’s past and what he finds is not pretty. In fact, it could mean
the end for his relationship with Parker. A mistake from Parker's past is
revealed and proves to be more enormous than she realized. Dreams—Parker is
having dreams and visions of Will. She can’t decipher real from illusion it
seems. Spells—Charisma, a new friend to the group, brings magic into the fold.
Moonlit Tales—it seems that the full moon is not only a time for Parker to feel
the pain of shifting. It’s also a time for unexplained occurrences and secrets
being revealed. Can Parker and Quinn's love survive the obstacles they
encounter? Is Jackie trustworthy? Are Parker’s feelings for Mitchell becoming
too strong for her to ignore? Dreams, Spells, and Moonlit Tales summarize the
events of Parker's life in this book.
The Dark
Moon
The Parker Harris Series Book 3
Pages: 251
Publication Date: May 5, 2013
This book picks up from
the moment we left off in book two. Quinn received a call from Parker stating
Will is alive. Quinn drops everything to rush to her aid. Will he make it in
time or will his father stop him? Parker and Mitchell's feelings are not going
away and they begin to take a toll on Mitchell's relationship with Jackie.
Everyone seems to have a secret they are keeping from Parker and it seems they
have feel "there's something she should know" and now is the time.
Parker is overwhelmed with all the new information coming her way. Parker's
secret life as a werewolf is on the brink of being exposed.
The Cold Moon
Novella
The Parker Harris Series Book #3.5
YA Paranormal
Releasing: Aug 22
This is a story told from Mitchell's point of view. This is
Book 3.5 in The Parker Harris Series. This novella is broken into three parts:
The Change: In this portion we will learn what events happened leading to
Mitchell's change into a vampire and how he dealt with it. Lupita and Fangs:
The story of how their friendship blossomed into something more. What Happens
Next: The lead in to the spin-off series, The Crispin Sinclair Chronicles.
We'll learn what happened to the fab four after The Dark Moon ended. We'll also
meet a new character who will be pivotal to Crispin's story
The
Shimmering Pool
The Crispin Sinclair Chronicles Book #1
(spin-off from Parker
Harris)
YA Fantasy
Releasing: Oct
Crispin Sinclair isn't your average teenage boy. He
inherited precognitive dreams from his mother who died during childbirth. His
other unique quality was inherited from his father; Crispin is a werewolf.
Growing up as a supernatural being in a world that doesn't know they exist is
difficult to say the least. Crispin's been lucky that his family is made up of
supernaturals; witches, vampires, and werewolves. As he begins to obtain his
werewolf abilities, his life will be thrown into turmoil placing everyone he
loves in danger.
Amytha Roberts feels like the most ordinary girl in the
world. She was adopted at age five but not by your traditional idea of parents;
her mom's a werewolf and her dad's a vampire. Amytha's best friend Crispin is a
werewolf with futuristic dream abilities, while she is a normal sixteen year
old girl surrounded by paranormal beings. Stories of Amytha's past begin to
surface causing her family to investigate more into where she came from.
Crispin and Amytha take turns telling this story of being in
a family that you choose, being abnormal in a normal world, and the importance
of friendship. Together they will go on adventures into a faraway place where
they'll encounter new creatures and discover truths they never imagined.
Author Bio
Amy McClung was born in Nashville, TN. She is the second oldest of four girls. She married Daniel McClung in September 2005 and they currently reside just outside of Nashville. She graduated from Father Ryan High School in 1996. In 2002 obtained her general certification in medical coding and billing and in 2009 she obtained a specialty certification in Hospital medical coding and billing. Amy and her husband are both fans of fantasy novels as well as avid movie collectors. The Parker Harris Series is the first series of books by this author. Cascades of Moonlight is Book #1, Dreams, Spells, and Moonlit Tales is Book #2, and The Dark Moon Book #3 and The Cold Moon Book #3.5 a Novella from Mitchell's POV. Her second series is a New Adult Contemporary Romance, The Southern Devotion Series, with each book having as a standalone novel with crossover characters. The first book in that series is For the Love of Gracie. Curves in the Road is her newest release as Book 3 in the NA series. Her favorite past times include watching movies, drawing, and reading fantasy novels. Her first book was a means of therapy for her as it enabled her to escape reality for a while during a difficult transition in her life. Her current work in progress is a spin-off of The Parker Harris Series called "The Crispin Sinclair Chronicles" that will be released in October 2014 as a YA Fantasy series.
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