Candy Crone - Book Tour and Giveaway

Candy Crone is a Christmas Short Story standalone in the bestselling Hawthorne University Witch Series.
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Candy Crone
The Hawthorne University Witch Series Book 8
By A.L. Hawke
Genre: Paranormal Holiday Fantasy 

Candy Crone is a Christmas Short Story standalone following Shadow Cast in the Hawthorne University Witch Series.

While I’m enjoying a spicy caramel apple surprise at our local ice cream parlor, an old lady in rags rambles nonsense about candy canes to children waiting for Santa. That distracts me from prepping my young friend Cat for her college interview at Hawthorne University.

Christmas turns into creepy Halloween when all the local children, including Cat, disappear in the woods. Bryce and I search our forest but become spellbound. All this voracious casting heralds the arrival of a new witch in town. The Candy Crone.

As the Hawthorne Witch, I hold great power, but with my unborn baby kicking, the witch exploits my sins and vices through gluttony. Am I nothing more than my appetites and power as the Hawthorne Witch? Or can I accomplish something greater? If I can’t sort my stuff out, Cat, my unborn baby, Chandra, and all these innocent kids living in Hawthorne are toast.

Cadence Hawthorne returns in this Christmas novella taking place after Shadow Cast, book 6, in The Hawthorne University Witch Series. Candy Crone is a complete self-contained novella not ending in cliffhangers. Some spoilers cannot be avoided, but the story is a STANDALONE book that can be enjoyed without reading the preceding novels.

Content Warning: Candy Crone contains profanity, adult situations and, of course, witchcraft.
 

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“Cadence! Cadence!”
Bryce and I spin around in the direction of the shouting. That was Cat’s voice! I’m forced to squint as the sun’s rays open again through a gap in the trees. But then Cat stops crying for help.
Light shines over our dirt path, winding through the trees, and I see more breadcrumbs strewn along the ground. I don’t follow the path. Instead, I walk off the trail and start gathering large fallen branches in the bushes. I pile the thickest ones and start forming a five-pointed star.
“What are you doing, Katie?” Bryce asks.
“I don’t know. I remember doing this in my dream. All this happened before, in the dream…or…I foresaw it happening. You and I first spotted breadcrumbs. So I built this sigil as a signal and as a refuge during the nightmare. I think the headmaster’s right, this witch is very powerful. She, or whoever’s possessing her, is attacking us with powerful magic. I feel like I have to build this circle for protection.”
And I drag another stick along the ice, forming a circle surrounding my pentagram. Then I gesture at my work.
Bryce nods, but then he freaks me out when he covers his eyes, squinting over my left shoulder. Turning in the direction of his gaze, I see a bright golden glow. The light is heralding a small cottage among the trees. The breadcrumb trail ends at a walkway surrounding the cottage, which has two windows with shutters and a chimney. It’s as if the cottage has always been there, hidden in the woods. Two large red poles with white stripes by the entrance appear to be the size of people. They look like huge peppermint candy canes. And beside the peppermint sticks, in the snow, are two gingerbread-like statues about half my height. The top of one of the peppermint sticks forms the outline of a girl’s face. But her expression is frozen, motionless, like a statue. An icy pathway of shiny red and green candy tiles leads to the front door. The door and the shutters are composed of a brown cake-like substance. Gingerbread? White patches on the walls form a thick plaster. On the plaster brush marks stick out in sections, reminding me of frosting. Soft red and green gems embedded in the white plaster, covered in crystalized sugar kernels, reflect the golden sunlight. Gumdrops or sugar plums. Chocolatey-brown drippings fall from the rooftops, draining into chocolate pools. And the roof is made of a cinnamon red candy–like surface.
We walk slowly along the candy path. Bryce runs a finger along the white plaster beside the door. It’s not solid, and it’s not plaster, it’s like a thick white goo.
“Frosting?” Bryce asks me with a nervous chuckle.
I nod and run my finger along the wall too. I bring the goo to my nose. It smells so sweet and delicious.
“This has to stop,” snaps Bryce. “This sick witch is controlling us like in a fairy tale. And . . . I feel drowsy, as if I’m dreaming, Kate. I think she’s putting a spell on us.”
How can she not be? We’re standing in front of a gingerbread house.
I nab a large crystalized green gumdrop the size of my palm, stuck to the white frosting, and bite into it. It tastes so good! It’s soft, full of granules of sugar, with a wonderful tangy sweet lime. And the best part is the consistency. The gob sticks in my mouth like chewing gum.
“Cadence, what are you doing!”
He tries to snatch it from my fingers, but I pull it away. I don’t know why I’m eating it, but I am. It’s like I’m compelled to eat it. But it tastes sooo good. I don’t know how Bryce is stopping himself. I’m so hungry.
“It tastes really good, Bryce,” I say with my mouth full. “Wow. You should try some.” Then I dip it in some of the wall plaster and offer him some. “Try it, babe. Just take a bite.”
“Growly, growler. Growly, growler.”

​A.L. Hawke is the author of the bestselling Hawthorne University Witch series. The author lives in Southern California torching the midnight candle over lovers against a backdrop of machines, nymphs, magic, spice and mayhem. A.L. Hawke writes fantasy and romance spanning four thousand years, from pre-civilization to contemporary and beyond.
 
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As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
A phoenix. It’s the animal on my logo. The phoenix is eternal. The themes of my books always touch on mortality, love and death.
  
What inspired you to write this book?
I always wanted to write a Christmas story. And one of the themes I’ve been playing with in my witch series is gluttony. The ice cream parlor that’s front and center in Candy Crone appeared first in my earlier book, Ravens. So the idea behind this book was to work with gluttony as a sin. Then I thought of Hansel and Gretel meets the Hawthorne Witch. The evil witch uses candy and treats to fight the Hawthorne Witch. And all that candy and snow fits in well with the holiday backdrop. So I mixed in actual yuletide, or Christmas, occultism with candy and ice cream to fit the holiday season.
 
What can we expect from you in the future?
I’m releasing an epic fantasy young adult novel, Princess Sojourn, connected to my Azure series. This is a complete departure from my paranormal romance. But, at the same time, I’m also working on a ghost romance and a possible sequel to Alondra.
 
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Cady Crone?
In Candy Crone, the Hawthorne Witch (Cadence) is pregnant with a child. An evil Christmas witch, Grýla, uses Cadence’s pregnancy to weaken her and to attack the town by tempting children with treats. The evil witch also attacks Cadence’s young friend, Cat. It’s all about saving kids in a hallucinatory magic Hansel and Gretel candy house in the forests around Hawthorne University.
  
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I enjoyed the fantasy scenes with the wicked witch’s candy house.
 
Who designed your book covers?
I’ve been so lucky working with really awesome cover artists. The initial books, Alondra, I, II, and III, were created by Regina Wamba. All other books in the series were designed by Bookrosedesignz.
 
Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?  
I do a lot of occult research when writing these books. I also studied Christmas traditions in Europe. Particularly, the new wicked witch in this story is Grýla, the Icelandic witch.
 
How did you come up with name of this book?
I thought two “c’s” had a nice ring to it. Candy and Crone.
 
What is your favorite part of this book and why?
I really like Cadence’s interaction with Melanie. Melanie is a an evil witch Cadence fought in the last book, Shadow Cast. Well, in Candy Crone, Melanie returns, but this time sides with her. Although suffering from mental illness, Melanie considers Cadence her friend. The interaction between the two of them was fun to watch. And write.
 
If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be? And what would you do during that day?
I’d love to spend a day with Cadence and Bryce. We have a lot in common.
 
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
Cadence and Bryce are completely made up. But there’s aspects of me in the both of them. I tend to observe lots from people around me. I think that’s what writers do. So I’m sure there’s aspects of everyone in all my characters.
 
Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?
If they hijack it, I’m on the right track. I don’t mind losing control with characters because it means I’m letting my imagination is flowing. It’s when I’m bogged down with every single word that writing becomes a chore.
 
Convince us why you feel your book is a must read.
It’s Christmas time. There’s a lot of candy and cakes in the tale. And everyone loves witches. J
 
Have you written any other books that are not complete?
Princess Sojourn is on its way. It’s book 2.5 in my Azure series.
 
If your book had a candle, what scent would it be?
I love this question. I don’t know… peppermint?
   
What made you decide to get the book made into an audiobook?
One of the most enjoyable things I do is convert books into audiobooks. Hearing my stuff performed is a total rush. It’s wonderful. Especially with the talent I found with my narrator, Alexa Elmy. She has a way of becoming all the different characters in my books—and in my series, there are a lot of characters. She’s a fantastic narrator.
 
What goes into making an audiobook?
Well, it's only recently that I've considered audiobooks while writing the book. Now, it’s hard for me to imagine my characters without often hearing Alexa Elmy’s voice in the background. But the story always comes first.
 
How many audiobooks do you currently have and are there any more on the horizon?
There are ten audiobooks available. They’re all a part of the Hawthorne University Witch Series. Princess Sojourn is going to be totally different from a different fantasy series, coming soon. I also am working on converting Phantom Masquerade, a ghost romance, into an audiobook.
 
What’s the biggest challenge about producing an audiobook?
Time. It takes a lot of time to review audios. There’s something about this process that feels more like wasted time than editing writing. Because I’m a writer, not an audiobook producer, I suppose.
 
Did you have to adjust/change anything in the book before getting it narrated?
No. All the audiobooks are unabridged.
 
What was the first audiobook you ever listened to?
I think it was Lord of the Rings; or maybe Area 51; An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base (I like learning conspiracies)
 
Do you prefer to listen to audiobooks or read a book?
Read. Sorry, I just don’t have time to listen to audiobooks. My reading speed is fast.
 

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