A Soul’s Kiss is available on Amazon (US) and Amazon (UK)
as well as Barnes & Noble and Smashwords (all ebook formats)
Excerpt:
I think about Michael, but Hannah’s face keeps interrupting every memory. I think about Rashanda and Tyler, but again Hannah’s voice splits my thoughts in two. Her voice. And what I last heard her say as I sat behind her in her friend’s car. Last night: “We could make Andrew the next victim if you want.”
“We could make Andrew the next victim if you want.”
It echoes. I can remember the entire conversation. And more. I can remember touching my forehead to the back of her head. I got inside, but she would not acknowledge me. I could not get past the boxes of darkness that litter her head. It was like there were doors and more doors, all of them closed, and I didn’t have the keys to open any of them.
And now I’m stuck. There’s no pulling back out of her mind. Last night I felt her nausea, her migraine. I heard Brittany’s voice, took in their conversation, their good-byes, the walk into the house. I saw her father, felt Hannah’s disappointment – a mixture of repulsion and love as she sneaked past the snoring hulk sprawled on the living room couch. I remember her, us, getting ready for bed.
And then this blackness.
My heart, or maybe it’s Hannah’s, stutters to life in a race to beat my mind to a horrible conclusion: I am stuck in Hannah and Hannah is waking up.
How an Author Finds Her Inspiration
Every time I read a book with a great theme I think wow, why didn’t I come up with that? After all, there are roughly forty billion novel ideas floating around in the air just above our heads, right? Well, I’ve written almost twenty books in various genres and have plucked those themes from said air. The tricky part once I grabbed a theme was getting my muse to cooperate. Let me give you two examples of how I got my inspiration.
For my first young adult novel, Edge of Escape, the idea came to me as I sat in the passenger seat staring at a green line of trees. My husband and I were heading home from a weekend in the quiet woods of northern Michigan, aiming the car toward the traffic-crammed streets of suburban Detroit where we both taught in a large high school. The idea struck: What if a misunderstood teen set his sights on a popular girl and took her to the woods we just left? Well, that wasn’t quite earth shattering. Here was where the inspiration fairy needed to do her thing. And poof! I thought of a particular student I had: tall, dark, handsome, but with some emotional problems. He didn’t interact with the other kids; he ate lunch at the special ed. table; his mother had arranged for individualized treatment from his teachers. The kid was smart, but a social misfit. What if his simple crush on a girl developed into a plan to kidnap her and make her like him back? Aha, almost there. To read the final synopsis go here: http://www.amazon.com/Edge-Escape-Debra-Chapoton/dp/1453611630/
Like Edge of Escape, my next two YA novels, The Guardian’s Diary and Sheltered, were set in suburban high schools and I also (loosely) based some of the characters on my students. Then for A Soul’s Kiss my inspiration came from – this is going to sound strange – STD’s. Here’s the thought pattern: I wish I knew what other people were thinking … I wish I could be that person for a day … What if your body could release your spirit and you could inhabit their body? Yeah, yeah, I know – body swapping. Freaky Friday, Disney movies, etc. Now for the inspiration: What if she didn’t swap bodies? What if she just left behind others’ thoughts and dreams? Like an STD. The novel evolved from there with sub-themes of bullying, hidden crushes, and even racial tolerance. Here’s the back of the book blurb:
When a tragic car accident sends Jessica’s comatose body to the hospital her spirit escapes. Navigating a supernatural realm is tough, but being half-dead has its advantages.
Like getting into people’s thoughts.
Like taking over someone’s body.
Like experiencing romance on a whole new plane – literally.
Jessica learns an amazing truth as she struggles to return to her body before the doctors pull the plug, only she can’t do it alone. Now the only people willing to help Jessica’s splintered soul – the two she has hurt the most – must guide her soul back to her body before it’s too late.
Author bio:
Debra Chapoton has taught kids of all ages in her career as a teacher. She has a BA in Spanish and a Master of Arts degree in Teaching English. She started writing in 2002 and was surprised to find out that the characters quickly take over the action and dialogue in the stories.
Besides the young adult novels mentioned above, Chapoton has also written eleven chapter books for middle grade kids and two non-fiction works for adults, Crossing the Scriptures and Building a Log Home in Under a Year.
When she’s not writing she enjoys the quiet of the full log home she designed and built with her husband. They now live in the middle of 62 beautiful wooded acres in northern Michigan.
Websites:
