The
Devil's Tree
by
Susan McCauley
Genre:
YA Horror
Kaitlyn
didn’t believe in ghosts—not until one killed her boyfriend and
her best friend. Now she must stop the spirit haunting the Devil’s
Tree, or she could be next.
Seventeen-year-old
Kaitlyn wants to escape her drunk mama and her trailer park home life
to enjoy a Saturday night off work. Instead, her boyfriend, Hunter,
convinces her to go with him and their best friends, Dylan and
Keisha, to photograph a desolate tree with an evil past. A terrifying
presence chases them from the tree, killing Hunter and Keisha. Left
alive with Dylan, Kaitlyn must struggle with her unexpected romantic
feelings for him, come to terms with her loss, and face being trapped
in a dead-end town. Kaitlyn is desperate to put the past to rest, but
when their friends’ spirits begin haunting them, she and Dylan have
no choice but to seek help from a Catholic priest and attempt to set
the trapped spirits free.
Reviews:
“Susan
McCauley delivers a poignant and frightening tale of love and
redemption against a backdrop of evil, both supernatural and not.
It’s a fast and exciting read filled with demons, ghosts, and
stolen kisses, and it does an excellent job of reminding us that both
revenge and love can be eternal desires. This is one teens and adults
will both enjoy.” ⎯JG
Faherty, multiaward- nominated author of Hellrider,
The Cure,
and Cemetery Club
“Evil
is not always the only enemy you should fear . . .
Fast-paced and deftly written, with emotional depth from the darkest
of characters, this is a ghost story to savor.” ⎯Peter
Adam Salomon, Bram Stoker Award®
nominated novelist, author of All
Those Broken Angels and Eight
Minutes, Thirty-Two Seconds
Susan
McCauley was born and raised on the gulf coast of Texas, not far from
Houston. She spent several years in Los Angeles, California acting,
writing, and teaching college English. In 2002, she moved to London
to further explore professional theater. While in London, her stage
adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's "The Nose" was performed at
the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art's George Bernard Shaw Theatre; and,
scenes from her play The Prisoner: Princess Elizabeth were performed
at HMS Tower of London. She returned to the U.S. in 2005. In 2007,
she was the line producer of the Emmy Award nominated Civil War short
film Now & Forever Yours: Letters to an Old Soldier. She has had
short stories published in several anthologies, and her short story,
"The Cask," was made into an award winning short film.
GUEST POST
What is something unique/quirky about you?
Well, I’m very tall (for a woman).
I’m just over 5’ 10’’ tall, and I’m naturally quite pale.
I’m also a very compassionate and friendly person who loves to
write dark/horror stories, which confounds my mother, family, and
friends!
Tell us something really interesting
that’s happened to you!
While living in London, I made a trip
to Tenerife, Spain. While visiting a zoo there, my ex-boyfriend and I
went into an enclosure where we were allowed to feed (and even pet)
the animals. There were iguanas, tamarin monkeys, and a variety of
other critters. Well, leave it to me, to get bitten by a tamarin and
then peed on by the same one!
Where were you born/grew up?
I was born in Webster, Texas and grew
up in the Houston area. I lived in Nassau Bay, Texas from birth to
age 18. Across the street from my old neighborhood is the Johnson
Space Center, which houses Mission Control. So, my childhood was an
interesting mix of boating, spaceships, and theater. Something quite
cool from when I was a pre-teen: when former Head of NASA, Charles
Bolden was an astronaut, he took a poem I wrote up to space with him
on a mission he piloted.
What inspired you to write this
book?
I love going on ghost tours and
researching haunted and historic places. I often listen to these
stories and legends in an attempt to spark my imagination for a short
story or book. When I heard the story of the Devil’s Tree in New
Jersey, my imagination was ignited. However, I wanted to give the
story a southern feel and address certain themes, which is why I set
my novel in Texas.
What can we expect from you in the
future?
I except I’ll have another novel or
novella out in the next year, and the first book in a YA ghost story
series following that. I’m also a professional screenwriter. One of
my short films (“The Cask”) is available now on YouTube, and
another of them is currently at festivals. There are two feature
films I’ve written that are in development. So, hopefully, in the
next few years you’ll see some feature films I’ve written either
in the theaters or on Netflix (or both)!
Do you read yourself, and, if so,
what is your favorite genre?
I read every night before bed—for at
least an hour, but more if I can. My favorite genres are MG and YA
horror and dark fantasy. Some of my favorite books are Took by
Mary Downing Hahn, The Lockwood & Co series by Johnathan
Stroud, and The Spook’s Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney.
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