Elizabeth Guest Interviews Stella Cameron

Elizabeth G: The title of this book, A COLD DAY IN HELL, it’s unusual for a Christmas story.

Stella: Are you trying to make a point?

Elizabeth G: No, no, just commenting.

Stella: I think you were trying to make a point. You don’t like the title of my new book. That hurts.

Elizabeth G: I hate it when you sulk.



Stella: Mmm. I’m not sulking–anymore. I’m not saying it now, but one day I’ll tell you what A COLD DAY IN HELL was supposed to be titled.

Elizabeth G: What? Tell me.



Stella: Nope. I’m very mature about things like this. I can accept change.

Elizabeth G: Come on, tell me.

Stella: You’re pressuring me. You know what happens when I get pressured. I have to go into a small room and hide. We’ve got this interview to do.

Elizabeth G: It’s a weird title.

Stella: Maybe it fits the book. Drop it. Ask me something meaningful.

Elizabeth G: Where do you get your ideas?

Stella: That’s not funny. Where does anyone get an idea. From my head.

Elizabeth G: Where did you get this idea?

Stella: Okay, be difficult. I love Christmas. All the glitter and sparkle, the music and the grins on children’s faces. People are kinder during the Holidays. Communities come together. A COLD DAY IN HELL takes us back to Pointe Judah in Louisiana and the whole bunch of folks who live there. I thought about the time of year and about Eileen Moggeridge. She’s divorced and working hard to make a good life for her son, Aaron, and herself. This time of year brings lots of customers into her little store and she’s happy and hopeful, especially hopeful because she’s met Christian deAngelo–Angel, as everyone calls him.


Elizabeth G: Is Angel a hunk?

Stella: Grrrr, one track mind. Yes, he’s a hunk. Ex ATF operative (Alcohol, tobacco, firearms and now, drugs) and was in the CIA before that. In fact, hmm, yes, Angel is a hunk with a clear mind and he always knows what he wants. He wants Eileen–even if he isn’t quite sure how much commitment he ready for.

But along comes a big, fat, frosty spider with revenge in mind. The spoiler who could smash everything apart.

Elizabeth G: Now I’m starting to shiver a bit.

Stella: Wait till you come eye to silver-eye with the shape shifter. Is he malevolent, or a guardian? I’m not going to tell you so don’t ask. And there’s Chuzah, the root doctor (voodoo practitioner), he’s wildly wonderful–I just revel in that guy.

But it’s Angel and Eileen who have me captured and did from the start. They seem so different but they’ve both been through a lot and they’ve both got guts. They matter as people. Angel has a boy, Sonny, who is supposedly his nephew and who has become a problem between Eileen and Angel because Sonny is a close friend of Eileen’s boy, Aaron, and she’s not sure Sonny is a great influence. Sonny grew up in New York and his father was in the mob. He’s being deliberately kept out of site.

Elizabeth G: It’s going to be a real love story, isn’t it. That’s what takes Eileen and Angel through all this.

Stella: You’ve got it in one. I hope everyone will sink in and feel the spirit that twinkles in the story. And I want them to go to the Holiday street fair and buy goodies with the townsfolk. But most of all I want them to be cheering for Eileen and Angel–who might not have gotten into that bathtub (of course, together) if they’d known all the possible outcomes:)

Elizabeth G: Thanks, my friend. Try to behave yourself for a bit.

Stella: Nya, nya, nya, NO, I won’t.

Happy Holidays, everyone,

Stella