Authors Interviewing Characters: Auralee Wallace

The Late-Night Witches

An enchantingly warm and funny novel about family, love lost and found, discovering who you are, and how difficult it is to slay a vampire from the beloved national bestselling author of the TikTok sensation In the Company of Witches.

Cassie Beckett’s life is anything but magical. With a wild younger sister, three unruly kids, and an absent husband, she’s really not looking forward to the witching month of October. At least the gorgeous, foggy Prince Edward Island is always quiet.

That is, until the vampires arrive.

As the creatures sink their teeth into Cassie’s tenuous grip on normalcy, she’s forced to come face-to-face with long–disregarded family secrets. The legacy gifts her with power, but also a lofty responsibility: rid the island of vampires, or let them win. (Both options suck, in more ways than one.)

Armed with her family, newfound friends, and a baby in a spectacularly garlicky onesie, Cassie must learn what it is to be a witch and how to fight for what she loves before time runs out. Because on Halloween night, the stakes will be higher than ever before…and it’s up to Cassie to finish what the witches that came generations before her started.

“Coffee first then Vampire-Slaying” — A Porch-Side Chat with Cassie Beckett

Auralee Wallace: Cassie, thanks for taking the time to talk with me. (Your porch is lovely by the way.) I know life’s been hectic ever since you found out you’re a witch and destined to face a master vampire this Halloween, so let’s dive right in. How’s the training going? Do you feel ready to face The Deliverer of Fear, Death, and Sorrow? (Did I get that right?) And is it true that if he kills you—the Thirteenth Witch—he’ll be free to enslave humanity?

Cassie Beckett: Right, yes, the Deliverer. Don’t worry, nobody gets his name right. Not even you apparently. And training is good…although I haven’t actually been able to do any magic yet. But there’s still plenty of time to figure out how to save my neighbourhood, Prince Edward Island, and, well, all of humanity. A whole month in fact.

Auralee Wallace: Ooh, that doesn’t sound like much time, especially when you’re parenting twins and a teenage daughter pretty much by yourself. How do you make it all work?

Cassie Beckett: laughs nervously My planner now has two sections: “Kids’ Stuff” and “Impending Doom Prep.” I sneak in staking practice between making lunches and buying rubber boots, that kind of thing. So, no cause for alarm. Really, it’s going great, and I have help: my sister Eliza and my Aunt Dorcas.

Auralee Wallace: Eliza, yes, didn’t she recently beat up her boyfriend’s pick-up truck with a baseball bat? (I love that song by the way.) Can she really be trusted in a fight of this magnitude?

Cassie Beckett: That was all a big misunderstanding. She thought her boyfriend was cheating, but really, he was having his blood sucked by my hairdresser and—you know what? Forget all that. Eliza’s magic is actually much farther along than mine – in that it actually exists – so that’s something.

Auralee Wallace: Right. Okay then. Unlike you and your sister, your aunt Dorcas has been preparing for this fight for years. I hear she keeps an impressive arsenal of Molotov cocktails, crossbows and other weapons in her dining room. Any favourite vampire-killing tools so far?

Cassie Beckett: I would have to say Dorcas’s bottled-sunshine potion. Vampires really don’t like that one.

Auralee Wallace: Ha! No, I imagine not. And while we’re on the topic of your aunt, is it true she is forcing you to perform the traditional “graveyard test” before Halloween? The one where you kill a vampire relying solely on your magical abilities without the aid of any weapons? 

Cassie Beckett: blinks

Auralee Wallace: You didn’t know about that? Oh dear. Moving on. What have you learned so far as a newbie witch and vampire slayer? Any tips for our readers?

Cassie Beckett: Sure. Garlic does NOT repel vampires. That’s good to know. If you’re over thirty and have three kids, I really recommend taking an OTC painkiller before battle. And don’t forget to wear a turtleneck if you happen to be strolling through any graveyards at night. It can be a lifesaver.

Auralee Wallace: What does victory on October 31st look like for you?

Cassie Beckett: A vampire-free island, three candy-comatose kids, and six uninterrupted hours of sleep. Oh! And a bath. Killing vampires is pretty messy.

Auralee Wallace: And what if things get really messy?

Cassie Beckett: I guess I’ll have to do what Beckett women always do: hug my family, improvise, and light things on fire with the force of my magical will. Hopefully. Again, I’m still working on the whole magic thing.

Auralee Wallace: Thank you so much for your time, Cassie, and best of luck to you on Halloween. After all, you’re right. Humankind is counting on you. But you’ve got this, right?

Cassie Beckett: blinks repeatedly

Auralee Wallace: You do have this…right?

Cassie Beckett: Right! Totally. Look out vampires, here I come.

BUY HERE

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Auralee Wallace is the author of multiple novels, including the Otter Lake mystery series and the Evenfall Witches B&B Mysteries. She has an undergraduate degree in psychology and a master’s degree in English literature, and she worked in the publishing industry for a number of years before teaching at the college level. When this perpetually sleep-deprived mother of three children and one rescue cat isn’t writing, reading, or playing soccer, she can be found watching BBC mysteries and warring with a family of peregrine falcons for the rights to her backyard.

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Contemporary Women Writers