#CMCon18 Beach Bonfire Q&A with Charlie Cochet

As one of the #CMCon18 featured bloggers, I get to have a little fun with a few of the fabulous authors who will be hitting the beach for Coastal Magic 2018 by showcasing their many stories.

Writing short stories, even mini-fiction, can’t always be worked into a writing schedule; so for those authors who may not be able to let their characters play in the sand, I’ve invited them to a nighttime beach bonfire to have a drink, listen to the crashing waves, and answer a few questions of my own.
Joining me in the sand is Charlie Cochet, author of the the Thirds, North Pole City Tales, and Soldati Hearts series!
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Charlie Cochet

Can you tell us a little about yourself, something readers may not have heard before?
Hi! Thank you for having me! My name is Charlie Cochet, and I write gay romance across various genres, from paranormal to historical, my biggest series to date being the THIRDS which is paranormal/law enforcement with a twist. I live in Central Florida with a mischievous Doxiepoo named Olly.

The official bio reads: Charlie Cochet is an author by day and artist by night. Always quick to succumb to the whispers of her wayward muse, no star is out of reach when following her passion. From historical to fantasy, contemporary to science fiction, there’s bound to be plenty of mischief for her heroes to find themselves in, and plenty of romance, too!

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Can you introduce us to the world(s) that you have created?
At the moment I have several series with Dreamspinner Press, the longest running being the THIRDS, the tenth and final book in that main series released in November of 2017. It centers around a gummy-bear-munching, cheesy-doodle-crunching, eighties-obsessed agent called Dexter J. Daley, his sexy jaguar Therian (shifter) partner, and their team Destructive Delta. Throughout the series we join them on their adventures as they fight crime, catch the bad guys, get thrust into chaos, fall in love, and have plenty of hot sexy-times. I also write The Soldati Hearts series which is more Fantasy and deals with a magical world that exists parallel to the human world. It’s in habited by powerful tiger shifters, but we also get to meet fox shifters, and bear shifters. It’s sweet, and lots of fun. My North Pole City Tales series consists of six novellas which take place in North Pole City where Mayor Kingle’s Christmas elves are pilots who deliver Christmas cheer and presents to the world. They also find themselves in plenty of trouble, and fall in love. I have a few standalone stories, and this year I’m unleashing a new world upon my readers. The world of the Four Kings. I’m ridiculously excited.

Will this be your first Coastal Magic or are you a veteran? What was it about Coastal Magic that drew you to it? Why have you continued to return?
This is my fourth Coastal Magic. I was invited to attend toward the end of 2014, but at the time I was very uncertain if I’d be able to make it. The first THIRDS book had just been released, and I had no idea how well it was going to do. My best friend told me I had to go. So I went, and I haven’t looked back since. I loved the intimate feel of it. It’s big enough to interact with plenty of readers, but small enough where there isn’t the kind of pressure you get in some of the bigger cons. You can just hang out and have a good time.

If you’ve been before, what is your favorite CMC memory? If you’ve never been, what are you looking forward to?
My favorite CMC memories are always the ones where I get to hang out with readers and fellow authors. We hang out, chat, and laugh.

Is there any part of your series, any of your series, world(s) that you would like to expand on in the future?
I’m actually expanding one of my series worlds. With the main THIRDS series ending, and our main guys moving onto the next step in their lives and careers, we have the TIN series starting end of this year/beginning of next year. So much has happened in Dex and Sloane’s life, and wasn’t ready to let them go. I wanted to show readers how this new adventure in their lives would play out, and I’m very excited about it.

How do you separate your imaginary world with real life? Do you often take something you see during your daily life and twist it a little to make it work elsewhere? Have you ever wondered what would happen if any part of your world were, in actually, a part of our reality?
That’s sort of what I did with the THIRDS world. Although it’s paranormal with shifters, I wanted it to be based in reality as much as possible. I wanted the foundation to be more of an alternative reality rather than a world that dealt in magic or fantasy. I thought about what society would be like if we had a new race of people who could shift into huge lethal animals. How would society change? How would the government change, law enforcement, even something as simple as fast food. A race of shifters living with humans would change everything.

Which do you find is more central in your writing: the characters or world creation? Why?
That’s a tough one. World building is incredibly important no matter what genre you write in, but if your readers don’t care about your characters, that incredible world that you’ve created won’t have the same impact. I’m heavily character driven. I love creating characters, their strengths, flaws, what makes them who they are. I also adore creating the worlds they live in.

Does your mood ever affect the direction that your stories take? Has any of your stories began one way, but by the time you wrote The End, had the mood drastically changed and how did it affect the story?
My mood most definitely effects my writing. A good example of that is my short story Between the Devil and the Pacific Blue. While I was writing that, I was feeling particularly melancholy, and listening to music that only enhanced my mood, so I ended up with a very sad, but sweet story. The mood of the story is haunted, and it carried through to everything from the characters to the hotel which is just as much of a character in the story. There was no way I would have been able to write a character like Dex while in that mood. Dex is lighthearted and full of humor and snark.

When you’re not writing, what are you reading? Have you found an author that’s new to you and/or one that the rest of the world really needs to find? Is there a certain niche genre that you prefer to escape to? If so, why?
I’ve been reading a lot of contemporary romance recently. Some of the authors I discovered in 2017 that I’ve loved and have become new favorites are: Lucy Lennox, Sloane Kennedy, Lily Morton, Aimee Nicole Walker, Annabella Michaels, Hailey Turner, E. Davies, Ella Frank, Brook Blaine, Tal Baur, and JR Gray. As far as the niche, or genre, it depends what I’m in the mood for. Lately it’s been contemporary, but sometimes it’s paranormal, or fantasy, etc. I continue to discover new authors every day, and I love it!

Don’t miss your chance to meet over 50 fabulous urban fantasy, paranormal, and romance authors at Coastal Magic next February! This super casual book-lover weekend happens on Daytona Beach, and gives everyone the chance to hang out with fellow readers and amazing storytellers.

REGISTRATION is now open! If you haven’t been to Coastal Magic yet, you’re missing out on a lot of fun. Be sure to keep up with all things Coastal Magic, by following it via your own personal social media drug of choice: Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Pinterest | RSVP at the Facebook Event.

About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.