Interview with Christopher Cloud Author of the Young Adult Fantasy Novel Adelita’s Secret

Adelita's Secret Book Tour

Today, we're shining the book spotlight on a young adult fantasy novel, Adelita’s Secret thanks to Rebecca's Writing Services. Christopher Cloud is an award winning novelist with his collection of young adult novels.  

About Adelita’s Secret 

Lost in a superficial world of materialism and social status—and ashamed of her Latino heritage—seventeen-year-old Adelita Noé is loved by two men, two men separated by a hundred years and vastly different stations in life. One man owns little more than the shirt on his back. The other, a poet at heart, is heir to a vast fortune. Their love for Adelita serves as the backdrop for the Latino girl’s quest to better understand herself and her Mexican roots.

Read Chapter 1 – 4 on Amazon

Title: Adelita’s Secret

Author: Christopher Cloud

Genre: young adult fantasy romance

Title is available at Amazon kindle or paperback

Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble

Interview

Q: Christopher, Do you have any advice for new writers/authors?

There’s an old adage in the writing business that insists writers should write what they know. Twenty-years ago that was true, but not today. The availability of the Internet affords writers the luxury of writing in-depth on any subject. Your story may require a great deal of research, but if you’re willing to invest the time, the Internet allows a writer to qualify himself/herself as an expert on any subject. The Internet has eliminated those long, exhausting trips to the library, and outshines even the Ancient Library of Alexandria.

Q: What are your writing tips for others?

Don’t be afraid, at first, to write poorly. All writers, from Stephen King to Mark Twain, have written stories they’re not particularly proud of.  These stories are usually shoved to the back burner awaiting a serious rewrite. Most never see the light of day. I look back over stories I wrote in college and cringe, they are so poorly written. But that’s how writers improve. There can be no success without a few failures. We cannot all be a Truman Capote, who is said never to have received a rejection letter. 

Q: Tell us a little about your next book or writing project.         

At the moment, I’m between novels. I have established a few criteria for all of my novels, and my next is no exception. The story must be either middle-grade or young adult and have some social relevance. I've boiled my story ideas down to three candidates.

About Christopher Cloud

Author Christopher Cloud

 

Award winning author Christopher Cloud began writing fiction full time after a long career in journalism and public relations. He writes middle-grade and young adult novels..Cloud graduated from the University of Missouri in 1967 with a degree in journalism. He has worked as a reporter, editor, and columnist at newspapers in Texas, California, and Missouri. He was employed by a Fortune 100 company as a public relations executive, and later operated his own public relations agency. Cloud attended high school in Japan, and lives in Joplin, Missouri. His website Is: www.christophercloud.com

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More books by Christopher Cloud

A Boy Called Duct Tape - Book Spotlight

About A Boy Called Duct Tape

Twelve-year-old Pablo Perez is a poor kid without much going for him. His classmates at his Jamesville, Missouri middle school have dubbed Pablo “Duct Tape” because his tattered discount-store sneakers are held together with…you guessed it, duct tape. He can’t escape the bullying.

The story opens. While swimming with Pia, his 9-year-old sister, Pablo finds a $20 gold piece on the bottom of the river. Pablo and Pia are tightlipped about the find until their sophisticated city cousin, Kiki Flores, 13, an aspiring journalist, comes to visit. Pablo tells her about the rare old coin. She suggests they have it appraised, and they take the gold piece to a local coin dealer, Earl Blood.

The coin dealer is without scruples. He knows the coin is valuable, but tells Pablo it isn’t worth much, and offers him a hundred dollars. No deal, Pablo says, and Blood secretly switches coins, replacing the valuable coin with a worthless one. To his horror, Pablo later discovers the deceit, but Blood is nowhere to be found.

During a local celebration, held every Memorial Day in tribute to Jesse James, the town’s namesake, the trio of would-be adventurers buys an old Jesse James treasure map for one dollar. The map shows the “lost treasure” of Jesse James located in a secret cave not far from where Pablo found the $20 gold piece. Could it be a coincidence? Pablo doesn’t think so, and he and his sister and cousin make preparations to explore the cave, even though Pablo knows there is no cave where the map indicates.

Pablo realizes cave exploration can be tricky, and he makes a deal with Monroe Huff, an eccentric spelunker: If Monroe will help them find the cave and the treasure, Pablo will share the booty with him. Pablo, however, does not trust Monroe, who has explored many of the world’s caves. Monroe’s unsightly appearance is the source of Pablo’s mistrust. Monroe’s big ambition in life is to explore the deepest cave in the world, located in Turkey.

 After accidentally stumbling upon the cave, Monroe leads Pablo, Pia, and Kiki on a terrifying three-day odyssey into the treacherous network of natural tunnels beneath Bear Mountain, where the map shows the treasure is located. The subterranean journey is rout with danger.

The treasure hunters fall victim to Earl Blood, who has been trailing them in hopes of discovering the treasure for himself. At the point of Blood’s rifle, our three young detectives and their guide enter a place on the map called the Cathedral, a magnificent chamber of stalactites and stalagmites resembling more closely a futuristic city than a cave. They find the treasure of gold and silver coins in an old steamer trunk, along with a letter from Jesse James.

An earthquake suddenly rocks the cave. Earthquakes are not that uncommon in that part of Missouri, and Earl Blood dies from a falling stalactite. In what seems to be an act of madness—the cave falling apart around them—Monroe tosses Pia into an underground river.

Pia is swept away. Pablo and Kiki jump into the swirling waters in an effort to rescue Pia. All three are carried out of the cave and down a dark, limestone conduit that spills into the James River and safety. Pablo realizes his suspicions about Monroe were misguided. By throwing Pia into the river, he has saved them.

Three backpacks filled with treasure tumble into the river behind them, apparently thrown in by Monroe. They are recovered. Monroe and the other treasure-laded backpack, however, vanish. Has Monroe died in the earthquake?

Missouri claims ownership of the fortune, but our three explorers are ultimately awarded the treasure, valued at more than $10 million. Pablo and Pia receive a gift in the mail that Christmas. They immediately recognize the gift—a woodcarving found by Monroe in the cave. Pablo looks at the return address on the package: Turkey. Pablo and Pia are ecstatic. Monroe is alive and well, and fulfilling his lifelong dream of exploring the world’s deepest cave.

About Christopher Cloud

Christopher Cloud admits he came to literature late in life. “I was in my 60s before I developed a real interest in writing fiction,” he said. A Boy Called Duct Tape is Cloud’s debut middle-grade novel. It is a first-person account of three Latino children searching for the “lost treasure” of Jesse James.

Cloud began writing children’s fiction after a long career in journalism and public relations. He graduated from the University of Missouri in 1967 with a degree in journalism. He has worked as a reporter, editor, and columnist for newspapers in Texas, California, and Missouri. His work has appeared in many national publications, including Time Magazine.

He was employed by Sun Oil Company, Philadelphia, as a public relations executive, and later operated his own PR agency. He created the board game Sixth Sense in 2002. The game sold at independent bookstores nationwide.

Cloud said his next project is a young-adult novel. “I have written the first draft of a story I’m calling 16 And In Love,” Cloud said. “This story—like A Boy Called Duct Tape—is multicultural.”

Cloud lives in Joplin, Missouri.

Purchase your copy at Amazon

A Boy Called Duct Tape Virtual Book Tour Chats With Beyond the Books

Chris Cloud, author of the young adult book, A Boy Called Duct Tape is on Day One of his virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book. Today, he chats with Beyond the Books. Visit his tour page during the month of April to follow along his tour. 

About A Boy Called Duct Tape 

Pablo Perez is a 12-year-old poor kid without much going for him. His classmates have dubbed him “Duct Tape” because his tattered discount-store sneakers are held together with…you guessed it, duct tape. He can’t escape the bullying. 

Pablo’s luck, however, changes after he finds a $20 gold coin while swimming in a river near his home. Pablo later buys a $1 treasure map at the county fair. The map shows the route to the “lost treasure” of Jesse James. Pablo can’t help but wonder: Is there a link between the map and the gold coin? He is determined to find out, and he, his 9-year-old sister and 13-year-old cousin hire an ill-natured cave guide, and begin a treacherous underground adventure in search of treasure.

Purchase in kindle or book form at Amazon

 

If you would like information about a book tour, please visit my blog, Writing Daze or email Rebecca at Rebecca.camarena@yahoo.com