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The New Age Stephen King Licorice From Kara La Reau · Arroe Collins Like It's Live

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  Speaker 1: Hey, even being in radio for 47 years, I don't
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  Speaker 1: know every single song, so it makes it even more
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  Speaker 1: fun when you get to do a show called Music's
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  Speaker 1: Lost History, the artist edition as well as the song edition.
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  Speaker 1: You can participate on arrow.net, A-R-R-O-E dot net. Music's lost history.
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  Speaker 1: How much do you really know about the songs you're
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  Speaker 1: checking in with? Arrow.net, A-R-R-O-E.net. Enjoy your exploration. Hello and
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  Speaker 1: good morning. How are you doing today, Kara?
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  Speaker 2: I'm doing well. How are you, Arrow?
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  Speaker 1: I'm freaked out because of your book. Are you the
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  Speaker 1: new age Stephen King? Seriously, come on. I can't be
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  Speaker 1: the only one that's asking you that question.
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  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. If only, if only. And funny bit
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  Speaker 2: of trivia, Stephen King spent like a good chunk of
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  Speaker 2: his childhood in my hometown. People associate him with Maine,
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  Speaker 2: but he actually lived like several years in Stratford, Connecticut,
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  Speaker 2: which is where I'm from. So I don't know what's
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  Speaker 2: in the water there, but.
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  Speaker 1: You have a way of sharing stories that really make
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  Speaker 1: it feel like that this is happening in my own
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  Speaker 1: personal life. Or basically, you're giving us answers to the
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  Speaker 1: questions we're all asking about our own pets.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, my gosh. Well, that's good to hear.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, when you've got someone like licorice, I mean, I,
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  Speaker 1: this really, and I, of course, what did I do
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  Speaker 1: when I first started reading the book? Cause I looked
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  Speaker 1: at my dog, Jazzy, she's my ninth rescue. And, and
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  Speaker 1: I've always accused her that she is, she is a
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  Speaker 1: particle of every one of the rescues that we have.
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  Speaker 1: And then I read licorice. I'm going, Oh my God.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, yes. And that was sort of my inspiration was
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  Speaker 2: that one of my cats passed away. She had lived
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  Speaker 2: a really long life. She was 19 when she died.
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  Speaker 2: We were really sad and grieving that loss. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: a few months later, we just felt like it was
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  Speaker 2: time to have a cat in our lives again. And
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  Speaker 2: we adopted two kittens. And I started wondering if they
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  Speaker 2: could sense that another cat had lived here before them
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  Speaker 2: and sort of what that experience was like for them.
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  Speaker 2: And so that was part of the inspiration for writing
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  Speaker 2: the story was really wanting to get into their heads
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  Speaker 2: and tell a story from their point of view.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you do it in such a way, especially right
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  Speaker 1: there in the opening statements where, you know, the house,
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  Speaker 1: you know, looks and smells the same. And is licorice
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  Speaker 1: going to be in there? I totally believe that because,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I've been broadcasting from my home since 2005
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  Speaker 1: and Jazzy automatically came into the studio. I'm going, how
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  Speaker 1: would you even know where that studio is? Well, it's
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  Speaker 1: because the Maltese have come in here. And so, of course,
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  Speaker 1: and I just feel like that licorice is I mean,
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  Speaker 1: I it to me, it's like that, like that, like
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  Speaker 1: the movie Carrie or even the other Stephen King books
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  Speaker 1: where it sticks with you. And this and licorice is
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  Speaker 1: going to be that book that people are going to grab.
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  Speaker 1: They're going to read it and they're never going to
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  Speaker 1: let it go ever again because they're going to relate
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  Speaker 1: with it so much.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, my gosh. I hope so. That is that would
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  Speaker 2: be incredible. That's basically my my dream as an author.
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  Speaker 2: I didn't get any author. So that is thrilling to hear.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you're playing with every one of our senses. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: you've got haunting. It's intriguing. I mean, you've got I mean,
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  Speaker 1: you even got Duchess the parrot. And of course, I
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  Speaker 1: have parrots and I laugh so hard. And that's what
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  Speaker 1: I'm saying. You write like you live with us. Yeah, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, you know, that also came with a
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  Speaker 2: lot of research into all those animals and what they
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  Speaker 2: can sense and how they sense it. And, you know,
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  Speaker 2: there's even a moment where Duchess is looking at Kitty,
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  Speaker 2: who is the protagonist, and her pupils start dilating. And,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I looked up that that's something that parrots
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  Speaker 2: do when they're really trying to focus on you. And
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  Speaker 2: I was like, oh, that's perfect. That's exactly what she
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  Speaker 2: would do and just look really menacing doing that. And
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  Speaker 2: so it was really fun to research like real animal
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  Speaker 2: behaviors and find ways of, you know, interweaving that into
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  Speaker 2: the story. And I'm glad to hear that that makes
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  Speaker 2: it feel real. real to you. That's great.
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  Speaker 1: I want to get a lawn chair and go put
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  Speaker 1: it inside a Barnes and Noble in where, where the
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  Speaker 1: book is positioned on the shelf. And I want to
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  Speaker 1: watch people walk by and look, you said pupils and
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  Speaker 1: then right away, I'm going right to the pupils on
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  Speaker 1: the front cover. I want to watch people jump because
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  Speaker 1: they're going to think that that's a real cat on
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  Speaker 1: that shelf. Oh my God.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And I have to say, I mean, that is, um,
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  Speaker 2: the magic of the design team at Scholastic, and also
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  Speaker 2: the brilliance of Kelly Murphy, who is the illustrator. And
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  Speaker 2: this book has illustrations throughout. Yes, it does. And they
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  Speaker 2: also complement sort of the creepy, gothic, shadowy feel of
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  Speaker 2: the story. And yeah, it was Scholastic that decided to
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  Speaker 2: put spot lamination on the cast eyes on the cover
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  Speaker 2: so it looks like they're shining and oh my god
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  Speaker 2: so brilliant so brilliant please do.
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  Speaker 1: Not move there's more with Cara LaRoe coming up next
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  Speaker 1: I'm telling you you're gonna love this book this is
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  Speaker 1: one for every age group it's called Licorice we are
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  Speaker 1: back with Cara LaRoe how did you feel emotionally i
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  Speaker 1: don't want to spoil it for the readers because i
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  Speaker 1: want them to experience it as well but the main
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  Speaker 1: photo or the main illustration in the very back where
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  Speaker 1: kitty is looking at licorice in in the mirror and
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  Speaker 1: i mean oh it's like how many times have we
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  Speaker 1: seen that or we felt like that was what exactly
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  Speaker 1: what was going on in our own homes Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, there had to be that moment. And do
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  Speaker 2: you mean the illustration at the very end of the story?
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  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
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  Speaker 1: OK.
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  Speaker 2: OK. OK. Yeah. I knew that there had to be
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  Speaker 2: that moment. And I'm, again, not going to give too
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  Speaker 2: much away. But when you see it, you'll know, like, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: when there are two characters, two are. you know, talked
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  Speaker 2: about a lot in the same breath throughout the story,
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  Speaker 2: and compared to one another, there has to be, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: I felt for me, there had to be a moment
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  Speaker 2: where there was a moment of meeting. So, um, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: so that, that felt like a really great way to,
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  Speaker 2: to end the story.
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  Speaker 1: And we've got to give kudos to Max too, because
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  Speaker 1: I mean, Max is a major part of the story
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  Speaker 1: and especially, you know, and I think this is where
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  Speaker 1: like all the way back to the beginning of our
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  Speaker 1: talk is that, you know, Max is known for adopting. Well, well,
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  Speaker 1: so are we. And I think that's the reason why
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  Speaker 1: I was tied into the story even deeper. And there's
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  Speaker 1: going to be other people that are associated somehow, some
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  Speaker 1: way with, that's what I love about this story is
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  Speaker 1: that there's a subplot. There's always something going on in
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  Speaker 1: the background and you pay attention to everything.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, you know, so Max is
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  Speaker 2: the boy who adopts our protagonist, Kitty, who's previously a
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  Speaker 2: feral cat and brings her into his home at 5
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  Speaker 2: Manderley Lane. And Max has adopted pets before. He's had
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  Speaker 2: a cat before named Licorice, as we know. Also, he
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  Speaker 2: has a turtle and a hamster and there's a very
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  Speaker 2: imposing parrot that lives in the house. But, you know,
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  Speaker 2: he has adopted a lot of animals, as I did
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  Speaker 2: when I was growing up. We had all kinds of pets.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that it's great to have pets. some
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  Speaker 2: kind of pet in your life. Um, especially growing up,
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  Speaker 2: I think it really teaches kids to care for someone else,
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  Speaker 2: someone smaller and more vulnerable. It teaches empathy and compassion.
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  Speaker 2: And those are certainly things that Max has in the
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  Speaker 2: story and that sort of helps in his relationship and
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  Speaker 2: connection to licorice. So now I mean, and to kitty
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  Speaker 2: to kitty.
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  Speaker 1: Um, I've got to know who who Bunny Von Hopper is,
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  Speaker 1: because inside my mind all the way through, I just
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  Speaker 1: kept thinking he's either a British man or we're talking
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  Speaker 1: or maybe a Canadian with a strong Canadian accent. Or
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  Speaker 1: there's a very big possibility that he could be from
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  Speaker 1: like Australia with an Australian accent.
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  Speaker 2: So in the original version of, you know, du Maurier's book, Rebecca,
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  Speaker 2: the sort of nameless young female narrator that Kitty is
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  Speaker 2: based on, in the beginning of the story, she's like
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  Speaker 2: a companion to this really haughty older woman. Yeah. And
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  Speaker 2: her name in the story is Mrs. Van Hopper. And
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  Speaker 2: so I just thought like, well, he's got to be
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  Speaker 2: a rabbit in my story if he's Mrs. Van Hopper.
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  Speaker 2: But she's just like in my mind. I just think
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  Speaker 2: of the character in Maury's book. She's just a very haughty, um,
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  Speaker 2: older woman who thinks she, she knows everything. Thinks she
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  Speaker 2: knows more than, than Kitty. That's how I see her.
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  Speaker 1: I always call people like that.
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  Speaker 2: Mrs.
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  Speaker 1: Kravitz on Bewitched. And, and, and that, and that, and
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  Speaker 1: so I, I even looked at my wife. I said, Oh, see,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not so crazy. She, Mrs. Kravitz is still around.
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  Speaker 2: Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Yeah, we all have one of those
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  Speaker 2: in our life.
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  Speaker 1: And I found it also fascinating that you really brought
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  Speaker 1: in the rabbit. And the reason why is because rabbits
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  Speaker 1: and cats are basically they say are the same animal.
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  Speaker 1: They're just in different mindsets that if you do the
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  Speaker 1: research on it, their bone structure is exactly the same.
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  Speaker 1: So I literally was sitting there bouncing my head going,
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  Speaker 1: I agree. I agree. I understand what's going on here.
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  Speaker 1: And I want readers to understand that to do some
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  Speaker 1: research on that. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. They have a cage next to each other
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  Speaker 2: at the shelter. And Bunny Van Hopper is there to
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  Speaker 2: sort of show Kitty the ropes and also, you know,
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  Speaker 2: to exert her dominance and her show her experience. Yeah. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Another superstar we've got to talk about. You kind of
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  Speaker 1: touched on it. And scholastics is such a major part
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  Speaker 1: of my life. I truly believe that I'm an author
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  Speaker 1: today because of scholastics. They were there for me in
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  Speaker 1: the second grade, the first grade. We did not get
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  Speaker 1: books when I was in school unless scholastics sent us
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  Speaker 1: out these little things where we could order the books.
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  Speaker 1: And that's how I became a writer. And just the
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  Speaker 1: fact that they're still going today just blows me away.
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  Speaker 2: I know. I feel the same way. I remember when
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  Speaker 2: the little flyer would show up and you'd get to
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  Speaker 2: pick your book. And then the biggest day was when
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  Speaker 2: the box would come and the teacher, it would be
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  Speaker 2: on the teacher's desk. She would open it and give
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  Speaker 2: out the book. I mean, that was like Christmas. So
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  Speaker 2: it really is like Christmas for me every day that
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  Speaker 2: I'm being published by them now. Just like a dream
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  Speaker 2: come true.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, my God. Where can people go to find out
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  Speaker 1: more about you? Because time with you, I mean, God,
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  Speaker 1: this went by so fast. And I want people to
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  Speaker 1: know you, follow you, give you love and support.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, that's so awesome. Well, I have a website, which
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  Speaker 2: is caralaroe.com. It's K-A-R-A-L-A-R-E-A-U.com. And I'm also on social media.
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  Speaker 2: I'm on Instagram and Blue Sky. And you can find
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  Speaker 2: me just by my name. Yeah. And as far as
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  Speaker 2: the book goes, Licorice comes out tomorrow, which I can't
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  Speaker 2: believe the day has finally come. So as of tomorrow,
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  Speaker 2: you can... Find it anywhere books are sold and you
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  Speaker 2: can also find it at your local library. I have
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  Speaker 2: to give that plug.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, I love that because we have Imagine On here
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  Speaker 1: in Charlotte and I love going through the YA reader
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  Speaker 1: section and I'll go talk to them, talk to them,
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  Speaker 1: talk to them, talk to them. So the very fact
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  Speaker 1: that you're part of that, that excites me because I
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  Speaker 1: love going in there and watching the young adults pick
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  Speaker 1: up these books and really take them in and experience them. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, me too. Wow.
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  Speaker 1: Well, please come back to this show anytime in the future.
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  Speaker 1: The door is always going to be open for you
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  Speaker 1: and licorice if you want to. Licorice can come over here.
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  Speaker 1: Jazzy will love licorice.
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  Speaker 2: Okay.
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  Speaker 1: We'll see about that. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I'm
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  Speaker 1: being sarcastic.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for that invitation.
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  Speaker 1: You be brilliant today, okay?
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Have a great day.