#MFRWorg gets Down 'N Dirty with #MFRWauthor @BarbCaffrey

Let's get Down & Dirty with MFRW Author Barb Caffrey
BARB CAFFREY is a writer, editor and musician from the Midwest. She is the author of the humorous urban fantasy/romance AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE, and is the co-author of the Adventures of Joey Maverick series (with late husband Michael B. Caffrey). Barb is an inveterate reader, a huge baseball fan (Go, Brewers!), reviews books at Shiny Book Review, and wonders when her little dog will ever stop doing "the paw trick."

How long does it take you to write a book?
It usually takes me a year, maybe eighteen months, to fully write a book and polish it up.

Do you have a set schedule for writing or do you just go with the flow?
I try to have a set schedule with writing, but lately I've been ""going with the flow"" quite a bit. I do my best to set aside several hours a day, at least six days a week.

Tell us about your latest book, including its genre.
My latest book is called AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE, and it is a YA comic fantasy/romance that I call ""relentlessly cross-genre"" because it also has elements of paranormal, mystery, and suspense. It's all about Bruno the Elfy, a three-foot-tall youth from another dimension where magic is the norm and he believes he has little of it; he comes to our Earth, is immediately taken captive, and must make common cause with young Sarah, who's also short and magical. Along the way he finds out he has a lot more magic than he thought, he has enemies -- lots of them, too -- including a Dark Elf who's main interests include corrupting the local humans and killing any luckless Elfys who might happen to be in the vicinity -- and oh, yes, he falls in love with Sarah. Hard.

Barb released AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE, a Young Adult Fantasy with Twilight Times Books in April 2014. 

One Elfy for an entire planet?
He’s supposed to be the Watcher for his people, the representative on Earth from his dimension, but the small being known to his enemies as “Jonny-Wonny” wakes up to big trouble — trapped in a bizarre house in Knightsville, California with humans straight out of reality TV. Jon knows that something has gone dreadfully wrong — he’s starving, lonely and dressed in funny clothes.
Enter the couple’s ten-year-old diminutive daughter, who is “Not Daisy!” but is brilliant, sweet…and using high level magic with ease. She’s also desperately in need of a friend.
Insisting her name is really Sarah, and christening him Bruno, his new friend asks him how they’re going to get out of there.
The only thing that comes to mind is for Bruno to ask his teacher, Roberto the Wise, for help. But Roberto’s attempt at help only enmeshes all three of them further in a web of deceit and treachery. Bruno finds out that, unfortunately, most of what he thought he knew about himself was very wrong…and much of what Sarah knows about herself is also wrong, including her age.
Worst of all, a Dark Elf is on the scene and is intent on corrupting the local Humans, including Sarah’s parents.
New names, new locations, a new mission–Bruno is going to get to the bottom of all the craziness, and Sarah will be there for him every step of the way.
Watch out, universe–an Elfy is on the loose! 

Amazon BUY LINK  |  Barnes & Noble BUY LINK

How do you come up with story ideas?
This particular story idea came from a dream I had after reading an anthology about Elves. (Sorry, I can't remember which one.) The editor said that the Elves in this particular anthology were not your typical ""Elfie-welfie stuff,"" so my mind apparently wanted to figure out what this ""Elfie-welfie stuff"" actually was. So I had a dream, where a short young boy all dressed in black said, ""It's not like that!"" And I proceeded to write down everything that youngster -- Bruno the Elfy -- told me.

What are your thoughts on love scenes in romance novels? 
I like love scenes in novels, personally. In YA novels, they have to be age-appropriate, which can be a challenge . . . but I'm all for love scenes.

What does your husband/wife think of your writing? Do you ever ask him/her for advice?
My late husband, Michael B. Caffrey, was a huge advocate of my writing, and was my first editor. He believed very strongly in what I was doing. It's because of him that I kept after it, even after he died suddenly in 2004; it took me years, but I managed to keep going, keep writing, and found a home for AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE at long last.

And yes, I used to ask Michael for advice all the time. (He gave it, too. And I always took it. He was the wisest person I've ever known and understood the urban fantasy genre extremely well.)

Who, if anyone, has influenced your writing?
I have had a number of people influence my writing. My husband. Rosemary Edghill, Katharine Eliska Kimbriel, and Stephanie Osborn -- the three best mentors any writer could have anywhere. And my friend Jeff Wilson (1963-2011) . . . he was also a writer, and I listened to whatever he had to say whenever he said it.

What can we expect from you in the future?
What to expect in the future? I'd say a few more novels in the Elfyverse, a transgender fantasy romance written for adults, and a couple of paranormal romances (one featuring a baseball-loving psychic who's married to a werewolf). And I'll also continue to finish up my late husband's work, too . . . lots of stuff to do!

How do we find out about you and your books?
The easiest way to find out about me and my books is through my blog, Elfyverse (aka Barb Caffrey's Blog), or any of the links below.

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Amazon  |  Goodreads

Fans' comments and letters are warmly appreciated, and I do listen very closely to my fans.

Your favorite comment from a reader? ""More, please!""

Your favorite author?
Can I pick three? Because the reason Rosemary Edghill, Katharine Eliska Kimbriel and Stephanie Osborn are my mentors is because I love their books and I love their writing.

Your favorite book? Favorite book?
The one that comes to mind right now is John M. Ford's ""The Final Reflection,"" which is a Star Trek novel about the first Klingons ever to go to Earth. It's an excellent first-contact novel and features a low-key but worthwhile romance between Klingon Captain Krenn and one of his officers, Kelly . . . and it has a wonderful friendship between Krenn and the first human Ambassador to the Klingons, Emanuel Tagore. But my favorite stand-alone science fiction/fantasy romance is Linnea Sinclair's ""An Accidental Goddess,"" due to its excellent dialogue, great romance, and nifty descriptions.

My favorite series is the BEDLAM'S BARD series by Mercedes Lackey, Ellen Guon and Rosemary Edghill (Guon wrote with Lackey early; Edghill wrote with Lackey later). This is urban fantasy and features flutist/bard Eric Banyon and a rotating cast of characters, including many interesting Elves Underhill.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: An Elfy On The Loose by #MFRWauthor @BarbCaffrey

MFRW Author Barb Caffrey released AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE, a Young Adult Fantasy with Twilight Times Books in April 2014.

One Elfy for an entire planet?

He’s supposed to be the Watcher for his people, the representative on Earth from his dimension, but the small being known to his enemies as “Jonny-Wonny” wakes up to big trouble — trapped in a bizarre house in Knightsville, California with humans straight out of reality TV. Jon knows that something has gone dreadfully wrong — he’s starving, lonely and dressed in funny clothes.

Enter the couple’s ten-year-old diminutive daughter, who is “Not Daisy!” but is brilliant, sweet…and using high level magic with ease. She’s also desperately in need of a friend.

Insisting her name is really Sarah, and christening him Bruno, his new friend asks him how they’re going to get out of there.

The only thing that comes to mind is for Bruno to ask his teacher, Roberto the Wise, for help. But Roberto’s attempt at help only enmeshes all three of them further in a web of deceit and treachery. Bruno finds out that, unfortunately, most of what he thought he knew about himself was very wrong…and much of what Sarah knows about herself is also wrong, including her age.

Worst of all, a Dark Elf is on the scene and is intent on corrupting the local Humans, including Sarah’s parents.

New names, new locations, a new mission–Bruno is going to get to the bottom of all the craziness, and Sarah will be there for him every step of the way.

Watch out, universe–an Elfy is on the loose!

Amazon BUY LINK  |  Barnes & Noble BUY LINK

Reviews
“Barb Caffrey’s An Elfy on the Loose is a fresh and unexpected take on the urban fantasy genre with a charming and original protagonist. You’ll want to read this one.” – Rosemary Edghill, author of Dead Reckoning, Music To My Sorrow and the Bast Mysteries.

"Bruno, an Elfy from another dimension, wanted to visit Earth. Now, he’s trapped in a house of deadly secrets, one of which is a strange girl (Sarah) he feels a connection to right from the start. And, as he tries to plan an escape, he discovers hidden truths about his life and a dark plot threatening his entire civilisation. An Elfy on the Loose dances from one genre to another without pausing for breath and rockets towards a cliffhanger ending." - Amazon Review from C.G. Nuttall

Excerpt

""What fools these mortals be,"" Jon said with a sigh. He'd come to the Human Realm mainly because of boredom, but look! Now, he was bored by the Humans, too.
Just listen to 'em. ""No, dear, I want him for my party,"" the woman said.
""No, darling, I need him for my party,"" said the man.
Really, it was enough to make him gag. And the ""uniform"" they had him wear wasn't exactly to his taste either. He looked down at the red and purple unitard, kicked at the blue booties (with brass bells at the ends; fortunately he had enough magic left to silence those, or he'd have a migraine), and took off the yellow hat (with the red, purple, and blue feathers) and threw it across the room.
The squabbling couple never even noticed.
""Well, dear, you knew—"" said one, who cared which?
""No, I didn't,"" said the other.
""Oh, yes you did!""
It was enough to make him vomit. Jon got up and started pacing. What could he do to make them listen?
He put on his most stern countenance (not easy considering he stood exactly three feet tall in his sock feet), then went up and tugged at the woman's skirt. She never even blinked.
""Go away, Elfy-Welfie. We'll go out later.""
""But—"" Jon tried to interrupt.
""Really, we will,"" she overrode him. ""I'm going to show you off to all my friends! They've been trying to get a full Elf for years. Just think of the status I'll get with you, one of the elusive Elfy-Welfies!""
Feeling like a fool, he retreated to the nearest rest room. What, if anything, could he do to get their attention?
Jon took off the ridiculous costume, put back on the sober black outfit he'd been wearing when he showed up here, and went to the kitchen. He found the handy-dandy step-stool he'd been using to get at the Humans' food in order to feed himself (the idiot Humans thought he fed on moonbeams and rainbows; what garbage!), and took it to the other room. He put it next to the man, who was still arguing with the woman. The man said, ""Well, dearest, the lodge would adore the Elfy-Welfie. It's our lodge symbol, for the Gods' sake!""
Jon climbed up the stool and hit the man on the back. He would have rather hit the Human upside his head, but that was as far as Jon could reach, even with the step-stool.
The man never even noticed, except to scratch his back in the place Jon had hit him.
Jon sighed again. He climbed down from the step-stool, picked it up, and brought it back to the kitchen. It was time for his morning snack anyway.
He went to the refrigerator and took out some sliced ham. He never had understood the stricture against pork; it tasted so good! (The stomachache it gave him just had to be purely coincidental.) He bit into the ham blissfully, and for a moment all the cares of the world went away.
A small, dark-haired girl came into the kitchen and stared at him.
""What are you looking at?"" Jon asked.
""I didn't think—"" the girl stammered.
""Damn straight, you guys don't think!"" Jon snarled. ""What's up with the crap out there? No matter what I do or say, I can't get anyone to feed me, so I feed myself. I even took off that stupid blasted 'uniform,' and they don't even notice. What does a poor little Elfy-Welfie have to do around here to get some attention?"" 

About Barb Caffrey
BARB CAFFREY is a writer, editor and musician from the Midwest. She is the author of the humorous urban fantasy/romance AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE, and is the co-author of the Adventures of Joey Maverick series (with late husband Michael B. Caffrey). Barb is an inveterate reader, a huge baseball fan (Go, Brewers!), reviews books at Shiny Book Review, and wonders when her little dog will ever stop doing "the paw trick."

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Amazon  |  Goodreads