Dark Halo Blog Tour: character interview
Dark Halo by Christopher Kokoski
genre: paranormal thriller
334 pages
In a town besieged by shadowy, demonic forces, a father races against time to save his family.
Thirty-five-year old Landon Paddock has deserted his wife and daughter, abandoned his business, and secluded himself in his late parent’s southern Indiana ranch. But he’s barely lapsed into a drunken coma when a mysterious, winged stranger appears during a violent lightning storm, chasing him out into the maddening night with his estranged 15-year old daughter.
As layer after layer of reality is dissolved by a series of violent encounters, the only way to survive might be for Landon to band together with the family he destroyed to make one last stand against a sinister army of unthinkable magnitude.
Character Interview
In today’s post, I’ll interview, Lucy Paddock, the wife of the main character, Landon Paddock, and mother of Katie, another major player in my novel, Dark Halo.
What’s the most interesting thing about you?
I’m a strong-willed, single mother whose pretty good with a handgun.
Do you like guns?
I wouldn’t say that I like them, but a police officer friend showed me how to use one. Boy am I glad, because in Dark Halo, there are several times I need one.
You said that you were a single mother. Tell me about that.
It’s incredibly difficult. If you’ve never experienced it, it’s hard to understand just how challenging it can be to raise a child all by yourself. While Katie’s father, Landon, and I are only separated, he has not helped out for the last several years. He basically disappeared after his parent’s died tragically in that accident.
If you could wave a magic wand and change anything about you, what would you change?
That’s a hard question. I think…I would stop Landon’s parents from dying in that car accident. That is what seems to have started everything. Their deaths crushed him, and he’s never been the same since. In Dark Halo, you get to see his struggle to redeem himself.
What do you love most?
That’s easy. God first, and my daughter Katie, second. She’s the light of my life. My everything. She’s such a wonderful young woman and I can’t wait to watch her come into her own.
What are you most afraid of?
I’m afraid I’ll never see her again. In Dark Halo, she runs off with her boyfriend to see her dad when violent storms smother the small town of Wicker Hollow.
Do you believe in monsters?
Yes, and if I didn’t, I would certainly believe in them after the experiences in this book. I encounter several along the way to finding Katie and Landon.
In the story, question yourself as a mother, correct?
Yes, and I think all mothers do that at some point. I want to be a good mother, but I so often fail to live up to this impossibly high standard in my head. Overall, I still believe that I’m doing my best and that Katie knows that I love her.
If you could say one thing to Katie, your daughter in the story, what would it be?
You are a strong, beautiful young woman. Always stay true to yourself and close to God and you’ll be okay.
You’ve brought up God several times. Is this a spiritual-based story?
No, but there are spiritual elements threaded throughout, like the fallen angel, demons and other things that go bump in the night.
What’s your favorite part of this story?
I like how the family dynamics and drama unfold against the backdrop of violent weather and survival.
What is a theme of the story that resonates with you?
One of the themes is brokenness. I think brokenness part of the human condition. In the story, Lucy clearly deals with it on several levels. Nearly everything in the story is broken in some way – all of us characters, the angel, even the town itself.
Is there anything you would like to say to potential readers?
Absolutely. I realize some readers question me when I first appear in the story, but I hope that my love for my daughter and my family shines through as they read. Underneath all the darkness and fast-paced action, the story is also pretty heartfelt. I hope you enjoy it!
About the Author
Christopher Kokoski
Christopher was born in Kansas, the son of an Army Ranger and Black Hawk pilot. He grew up in Kentucky and Germany, and graduated from Murray State University in 2002 with a degree in Organizational Communication. He spent the next three years laboring over his first book, Past Lives, while getting married to his college sweetheart, having a beautiful daughter, and more or less finding his stride in life.
He currently lives in Southern Indiana and works in Louisville, Kentucky as a national trainer. He has presented at local and national conferences on a wide spectrum of topics including communication, body language, cultural sensitivity and influence. Other notable activities include writing articles, short stories, novels and training materials for national and international audiences.
Christopher continues his passion and dedication to writing by working on additional novels, including a sequel to the Past Lives series. His most recent book is the standalone paranormal thriller, Dark Halo.
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