Three Months and Counting

The countdown begins! Three months until my second novel, BUCK FEVER, hits the streets. On October 27^th. Yes, I am excited about this. I first scratched out the idea for this novel when I became fascinated by the many different points of view surrounding hunting. Because I grew up in a suburb of NYC until I was thirteen, I knew nothing about hunters and hunting. In fact, I’d only seen deer in zoos. When my family moved to a rural part of New Jersey, however, this changed. We lived on a dirt road and were surrounded by woods, fields and rolling farmland. I got to know hunters of all ages who loved and respected nature and the very animals that they tracked. This fascinated and intrigued me. Fast forward a few years, when I started flirting with writing: I scratched out a rough draft about a boy and his relationships with family (including a father who is a hunter), friends, and even deer. Through writing, I started exploring the different points of view on hunting, including my own.

Years later, after I married, my husband and I moved into a house with more deer than I can count living at the back of our property. We sometimes feed them (not because we need to) and it’s not uncommon to have fawns born in our gardens (their moms hide the newborns for the first few hours after birth). In fact, I recently came upon a little guy hidden in tall grasses beneath a pine tree. This spotted, long legged baby gave new meaning to the word adorable. Anyway, being up close and personal with these whitetails inspired me to break out the BUCK FEVER draft. After tons of research that included interviewing many hunters with a variety of points of view on hunting, watching lots of deer, reading everything I could on hunting, and even learning to shoot a rifle at a firing range (which should make any rational human being laugh and shudder at the same time), BUCK FEVER started taking shape. And now, there are only three months to go before this novel is out. Yes, exciting.

Now, if this blog entry has interested you in BUCK FEVER, let me know! I have three advanced reader copies to give away. If you would like one, you can contact me at www.cynthiawillis.com and/or toss me a comment here. Hopefully you’ll win one of these ARCs. Fun, huh? I think so. . . I love giving books away!!!