Voodoo Butterfly by Camille Faye
Release Date: October 20, 2014
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing
Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Women's Fiction
When twenty-five-year old Sophie Nouveau inherits her grandmother's voodoo shop she knows nothing about voodoo. Or her family's history of Mind Changers, who have the power to change evil people to good. To complicate matters, someone doesn't want Sophie in New Orleans and sends a series of death threats to scare her away from her new enchanted life.
Tipped off by her grandmother's ghost, Sophie realizes her mind-changing spell's been missing one magic ingredient: true love. If Sophie cannot experience transformative love, she cannot make her spell work, and she will be powerless to fight back when confronted by the one who wants her dead.
Camille Faye
When Camille made the decision to leave teaching in order to stay home with her kids, she decided to also follow her dream of writing a novel. She found the muse for her debut work, Voodoo Butterfly, during a family trip to New Orleans where she dreamt of a woman who had the power to change evil people good.
The Northwest Houston division of RWA named VoodooButterfly a 2013 Lone Star Contest finalist. The people and settings found in all of Camille's stories are inspired by her family life and her travels to 27 countries and counting!
Find Camille Faye
{Excerpt from Voodoo Butterfly--Coming Fall 2014 from Soul Mate Publishing}
A Tale of Two Funerals
When I was twenty, I lost my mother. She'd died in my arms of a heart attack in our tiny bathroom in our tiny house in Saint Louis. Even though I lived with the woman for two decades, I really didn't know her. At. All. But I'd known that for a long time. When I was a little girl, I had found a cigar box at the back of her closet that contained: a faded photo of a woman in a shawl; a corn cob pipe; a blank postcard from New Orleans; one prayer card to Saint Michael; a stack of unsigned love letters addressed to my mother tied in ribbon; a monarch butterfly preserved in a small case; and--the strangest item--a glass eye wrapped in black muslin. When I finally got up the courage to ask her about the box of secrets, she told me, "That's none of your business."
W
ell, actually, I thought, that's exactly my business. Since my wonderful mother left me alone, not even giving me a hint about the rest of my family (like who they were, where they were from, what they did, if any were still living), I'd have to figure it out all by myself. Like always.
"Lost," I whispered, afraid of the funeral home's lonely echo. I clung to the box, like it was a life preserver, as the tidal wave of my emotions hit.
Interview With Camille Faye
1. Hey Camille! Tell us a little about yourself. Why did you become an author? What makes Camille Faye tick? Give us some insight into the life of a debut author!
I am a WAHM (write-at-home-mom...haha) of two kids. Finishing a novel had always been on my bucket list, but I could never find the time. When I quit my teaching job to stay home and raise my family, I decided I would make the time to make that dream come true. My life feels exhilarating and overwhelming right now with all the marketing tasks I'm undertaking to make this book a success. My plan is to focus on book 2 in the Voodoo Butterfly series at the start of 2015.
2. The paranormal elements present in Voodoo Butterfly rely heavily on magic, particularly voodoo magic. What made you choose voodoo, how did you research all the specifics elements in the novel? Also, religion plays a huge role in the novel as well, how did the decision to rely just as heavily in Sophie's spiritual faith change your writing direction with this novel?
My book began with a dream I had in New Orleans. The first flash of the dream showed me a woman walking through the French Quarter at night (which is very, very dangerous in that city). I knew that she wanted someone to attack her because as soon as they touched her, their mind would change from evil to good. The second flash of the dream showed me Saint Louis Cathedral in NOLA absolutely covered in monarch butterflies. That plague of butterflies became my opening scene. As I developed Voodoo Butterfly, I decided that since voodoo and Catholicism are such vital parts of the culture in New Orleans, I would make my main character unexpectedly inherit a voodoo shop. The catch being, she would know nothing about voodoo or her secret power in the beginning of the novel.
Faith and love are huge sources of power in this book. In my own life, as I wrote, I was going through some pretty intense feelings of powerlessness, boredom, anxiety, and worthlessness. When I decided to stay home and raise my family, I felt a big void in leaving my teaching job because I felt like I lost a big part of my identity. Am I glad that I left the workforce to be with my kids? Yes. That said, it was a difficult journey for me, which required lots and lots of faith and love. Now I feel pretty balanced in pursuing my two current life purposes: writing and motherhood.
3. What has proved to be the most difficult part of writing thus far?
Writing. Ha! As a busy mom, I choose to commit to 15 minutes per day. Most days it turns into an hour or longer, but some days it's just 15 minutes. Motherhood is the hardest work I've ever endeavored, but I love it because it's completely fulfilling and my best creation. When both kids are in school, I'll be much more focused and spend longer stretches of time writing.
4. What are your plans after Voodoo Butterfly? Can you give us a glimpse of what else we can expect from Camille Faye in the future?
I'm working on book 2. Let's just say that everything you thought you knew about Jacques is going to be completely changed. Madame LaLaurie also emerges more in the second installment and she gives new meaning to the word "evil." As for Sophie, she's going to lose a lot in book 2 and it's going to devastate her world. Of course there will be magic and love. But will they be enough?
5. Family, friends, mystery, and love are all huge defining themes in Voodoo Butterfly. Do you have any one particular message you would like fans to get out of this novel?
I truly believe that faith and love can help you become anything, but it's incredibly hard to go it alone. Family and friends lift you up, providing love and support to help you scale mountains on your personal life journey. I never get tired of hearing stories about people who overcome tragedy or difficult circumstances to rise above and create a better life for themselves.
Quick, don’t think!
Favorite color? Purple
Favorite beverage? Red wine. LOL.
If you were an animal, what would you be? Tiger
Dream occupation (aside from author)? Travel...If I could travel 2-6 months out of the year but also be able to bring my family, and make money doing it, that would be perfect.
Describe yourself in five words: Obsessive, positive, family-oriented, spiritual, patience-challenged (Camille that looks like 7 words for me. Way to cheat with those hyphens :P)
Well guys, that's all I have for you right now on the topic of Voodoo Butterfly by Camille Faye! Be on the look out in the coming days for my review of this incredible novel. I wanted to include my review here, but that would make for a LONG post so I figured I'd go ahead and share Camille's interview first. Didn't she give some great answers! Camille really is a treasure. I cannot wait to hear some of your thoughts on this awesome read!
I hope you guys like what you see! Head over and purchase yourself a copy of Voodoo Butterfly ASAP! I am confident that you will not be disappointed! Have a great week everyone! Until next time, Happy Reading!
-Ethan
You caught me! I did sneak in a couple extra words with those hyphens :P
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