August 10th is around the corner and with it the release of Cydelle’s Ghost Hunt! Ebook links are already up for pre-order and my fingers are crossed the paperbacks will be up in time. There’s always something that’s delayed in the process. And then, this fall I’ll jump into starting the audiobook.
I wanted to talk about Cydelle herself though – the main character of this book.
I first came upon the name Cydelle talking to some older cousins as we went back through the family tree to figure out just how we are related. Cydelle is a multi-generational name, having belonged to several women (and now a girl) on that branch of the family tree. I instantly fell in love with the sound – Se-dell – and knew one day I would name a character the same. And what better story to do that than this one, whose setting is already inspired by the area of Wisconsin where my dad grew up?
Cydelle is a more modern version of Cydell, or Sydell, which is an old English name meaning ‘girl from the country’. My Cydelle certainly is a country girl! She lives on her parents’ dairy farm, helping every day with the animals. And she’s also got the unique ability to see ghosts – the lingering memories – of animals who remember the hill her house is on before the house was built. From feeding chickens to picking wildflowers and boat rides on the local lake, Cydelle belongs to the rural hills of Wisconsin and she has no plans of going anywhere else.
That’s is, if the first human ghost she comes across doesn’t drag her soul away.