When Elle Christiansen's rebellion leads to her father's expulsion from a parsonage in small-town Ohio, the forlorn pair is forced to move to Oklahoma to live with an aunt neither of them has ever met. Here she encounters her aunt’s neighbor—Maverick Mason, the quietly confident son of a wealthy oil tycoon who infuriates her as much as he inexplicably draws her in…
Maverick slowly gains Elle’s trust and coaxes her out from the seemingly impenetrable walls of self-protection she erected around her heart when her mother was murdered. He convinces Elle to confide the secrets of her tortured past: that she saw her mother's murder before it took place, and she was the one who found her, bleeding to death at the end of a lonely dirt road. Together the unlikely pair begins to unlock the secrets of not only Elle’s sordid past, but her mother's and grandmother’s as well, to uncover decades of greed, corporate corruption, lies, and murder. Quickly, the sobering realization hits: if they do not solve her mother’s murder, Elle will undoubtedly suffer the same fate. As she continues her journey toward truth alongside the boy she is magnetically drawn to in a way both frightening and uncontrollable, Elle finds the road she is most afraid of going down—that one lane dirt road where her mother was murdered—just might be the only place she can truly find redemption.
Magnetic tells of the enduring pain of living with unsolved violent crime. Inspired by debut author Carissa Miller’s true-life events, it’s a haunting account of a young girl’s struggle in the aftermath of shattering loss. With an unraveling love story, puzzling mystery, unexpected twists and turns, and a gripping pace that will keep you turning pages, our heroine takes you on her journey as she learns one of life’s great lessons: facing your fears instead of running from them, is the only way to truly find freedom.
A Note from the Author
Carissa Miller was inspired to write her debut novel—Magnetic—because of her firsthand experience living with the trauma of an unsolved violent crime, her mother’s attempted rape and murder that remains unsolved to this day. Carissa never intended to publish Magnetic until her children found it on her computer, started reading it, and fell in love with the story and the characters, Maverick and Elle. With her children challenging her and cheering her on, telling her that she couldn’t give up because the world needed to read Elle and Maverick’s story, Carissa finally edited and published Magnetic two years after they found it on her laptop.
Interview with Carissa Miller
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Magnetic?
The main players:
Elle Christiansen is the heroine of Magnetic. She is a complex, headstrong teenage girl who is struggling to cope in the aftermath of unsolved violent crime—her mother’s murder. Elle is running from her past. She doesn’t want to face the fear and pain that awaits her when she looks back, because all she sees is her mother’s horrific murder. So instead, she runs and in her running, she becomes an angry and rebellious teenage girl who loves deeply yet builds a wall between herself and those she loves to desperately try to protect herself from further loss. Elle is forced to face her troubled past when, because of her father’s job loss due to her indiscretions, they must move to Oklahoma to live with an aunt she has never before met. Elle is strong, passionate, and bold, yet broken and vulnerable due to the trauma of her past. She takes us on her journey as she learns one of life’s great lessons: facing your fears instead of running from them, is the only true path to freedom.
John Christiansen is Elle’s father. He, like his daughter, is struggling with how to live life after the loss of his wife who was tragically and brutally murdered. John is a pastor of a small-town congregation in Brookville, Ohio, before his daughter’s rebellious behavior causes him to lose his job. He is gentle and kind yet utterly confused with how to deal with his withdrawn and defiant daughter, Elle.
Aunt Cordelia is Elle’s aunt, her mother’s sister. When Elle’s father loses his job, they are forced to move back to Oklahoma to live with Aunt Cordelia. Elle is resistant toward Aunt Cordelia, whom she has never before met, and resents her: both for reminding her so much of her mother, and for evoking emotions that Elle would rather not face—mainly, love. Aunt Cordelia is wise, tender, and calm. She sees past Elle’s anger and defiance and sees the broken little girl behind the wall. Aunt Cordelia is integral in helping Elle heal and move toward facing her past instead of running from it.
Maverick Mason is the quietly confident son of the wealthy oil tycoon that lives in the mansion up the hill from Elle’s Aunt Cordelia. Maverick is mysterious, controlling, and undeniably charismatic. Elle finds herself magnetically drawn to Maverick in a way she finds both frightening and uncontrollable, and as their relationship unfolds, she realizes that Maverick, too, is perhaps keeping secrets.
Caleb – Maverick’s best friend
Grace and Charlie – Elle’s childhood best friends from Ohio
Macey, Madison, and Carly – Elle’s new friends she meets when she moves to Oklahoma
There are other important players in this story that can’t be mentioned without revealing the twisted, dark plots and mysteries that reveal themselves throughout Magnetic!
Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the future?
I have started writing the sequel to Magnetic and would love to release it in late 2018 or early 2019. I also have many ideas for other books that I would love to write in the future, including some YA/NA dystopian fiction and perhaps even some fantasy!
How long would you say it takes you to write a book?
For me, the writing comes easily. I wrote Magnetic in a matter of months. But the editing process was much more painstaking and took me almost two years before I was ready to truly publish Magnetic. I do think, however, that the process will be easier the second time around and that hopefully the editing process will become more and more refined as I continue to write and learn and grow as an author.
What is your favorite childhood book?
I loved Nancy Drew books, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien.
If you could spend the day with one of the characters from Magnetic who would it be? Please tell us why you chose this particular character, where you would go and what you would do.
I would spend the day with Aunt Cordelia because of her wisdom and ability to make those around her feel calm and at peace. I would go to Woodward Park in Tulsa and just walk with her amongst the trees, letting her calm spirit wash over me. I would ask her questions and listen to her wisdom but most of all, just enjoy being in her presence and in the beauty of nature.
What was the hardest scene from Magnetic to write?
The hardest scene to write, yet simultaneously the most cleansing and therapeutic, was the dream sequences when Elle is seeing her mother’s murder. It was hard because I poured my pain from my mother’s attempted murder into those scenes—what it was like seeing her in the hospital with her hair ripped out and bloody scars all over her face and body. From those memories, I imagined what the trauma of that night must have been like and recreated the dream sequences of her mother’s murder. That was difficult but also was a journey that I needed to walk in order to truly heal.
What made you want to become a writer?
Writing, for me, is more of a calling then a choice. Stories present themselves to me and I feel the need to tell them. When the idea or the story comes to me, it’s like an insatiable need to sit down and tell the story. The words start flowing and the pages start to fill and then the story is finally told. The feeling of then holding that book in my handa and allowing other people to read the world I created and the characters I brought to life while writing it….well, there is just no other feeling like it in the world for me! It is my passion!
Just for fun
(a Favorite song: Currently, Chris Stapleton - Millionaire
(b Favorite book: Gosh it’s so hard to choose just one. I recently read the A Court of Thorns and Roses Trilogy by Sarah J. Maas and loved it. I have read it three times now so I guess that makes it my current favorite.
(c Favorite movie: Braveheart. I know, it’s random, but I will just never forget seeing this movie in the theatre when I was a teenager and how it impacted me.
(d Favorite tv show: Right now I’m watching the Crown and This Is Us and love both!
(e Favorite Food: Pretty much any dessert whatsoever, especially if it’s chocolate. I have a heck of a sweet tooth
(f Favorite drink: coffee and wine of course J
(g Favorite website: I’m a huge fan of Studio McGee – a design duo team out of Utah. www.studiomcgee.com
Thanks so much for visiting with us today!
About the Author
Carissa Miller writes a lifestyle and design blog called CC and Mike, where she and her husband blog about their experiences designing, building, and flipping houses in the Midwest. She was inspired to write her debut novel–Magnetic—because of her firsthand experience living with the trauma of an unsolved violent crime, her mother’s attempted murder. When she’s not writing, blogging, or designing, Carissa loves Oklahoma summers on the lake with her husband and three children, going to Oklahoma State sporting events and cheering on the Cowboys, and traveling cross country with her family in the RV she and her husband renovated. Carissa laughs loudly, loves with her whole heart, tells it how it is to a fault, and enjoys living life to the fullest, every moment of every day.
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