Today it’s my pleasure to welcome over Lisa Medley, author
of Haunt My Heart, a Paranormal Romance.
Publisher: Big Cedar
Date of Publication: January 5, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9908856-03
Word Count: 68K
Cover Artist: Sweet ‘n Spicy Designs
Giveaway! Be sure to enter the Rafflecopter after this post
for a chance to win a $15 Amazon Gift Card.
Book Description
A Civil War soldier dies to save his men. Can he find true
love to live again?
Sarah Knight has a job she’s good at, a quirky BFF, and a
boyfriend who’s bad for her. When Sarah unearths a Civil War artifact on a
ghost hunt at Chatham Manor, she brings home more than a souvenir.
Lieutenant James “Tanner” Dawson fought for the Union, working
as a supernatural liaison for his Major General in a secret Masonic offset
called the Brothers of Peril. When he’s hexed by a witch, he learns the only
way to save his men is to die himself. But death is not the end. Awakening 150
years later, he knows if he wants to be corporeal again, he has to find true
love to break the hex—a task no easier in 21st century than it was in the 19th.
Interview Time!
What inspired you to write this book?
This story idea germinated from the first real-life ghost
hunt I participated in a couple of years ago. My husband was reluctant about
the idea of me going ghost hunting. He worried, “What if something follows you
home?” Of course, that only made me start asking, “What if it did?!” I went on
the ghost hunt and came home with a story.
How did you come up with the title?
I wanted to make it clear the story was about a ghost and
had romance. It just seemed perfect!
What made you choose the main setting for your book?
I was researching ghost hunting online and stumbled across a
ghost hunt at Chatham Manor and it all fell into place after that. Very
fortuitous!
If you had to sell your book based on one run of dialogue
(start quote to end quote), which would it be?
“You’re such a goody two-shoes.”
“No. Thanks to you, I’m a rule breaker. Or did you not
notice the entire ghost-hunting debacle tonight? Oh, wait. You probably didn’t
notice because you got to keep your Anomaly Detector. Your eyes were glued to
it the entire night. When you weren’t kissing Allen’s ass, that is.”
“Fat lot of good it did. After you turned off your phone,
neither of them went off the rest of the night. Turned out to be a cold walk
through the park, not a ghost hunt. Although…Allen was kind of hot, right?”
“He was old.” Sarah gripped the ring and stared into the
dark parking lot.
“He wasn’t that old. You need to broaden your horizons.
There are a lot of fish out there, you know. You don’t have to keep the
barracuda you currently have.”
“Jason isn’t a barracuda. He’s…complicated.”
Ellie snorted. “He’s an asshole. Nothing complicated about
that. He’s a smarmy real estate agent with his face on twelve billboards in
Fredericksburg. Like everyone in town doesn’t already know him. He’s in a bar
every night. He’s a drunk, Sarah. A mean one and you can’t fix him. He’s
unfixable. You can’t fix asshole.”
Sarah fidgeted. “He takes out clients. It’s part of his
job.”
“He takes out people who are looking for homes? To bars? Is
that what he tells you? You’re smarter than that.”
“Thank you for the insightful psychological analysis.”
“All right, but admit
it. Allen was hot in that Captain Mal sort of way.” Ellie poked Sarah in the
shoulder for emphasis and smiled.
“Captain who? Speaking of hot. How about some heat in here?”
“You had better be kidding me. Captain Malcom Reynolds?
Firefly? Best show in the history of television, prematurely canceled after its
first season? Mal? That’s so not shiny.” Ellie turned the key in the ignition.
When the motor didn’t turn over immediately, Sarah sighed.
“Seriously? When are you going to get this thing worked on?”
Sarah asked.
“When I have the money. Where’s that screwdriver?”
Sarah handed the tool to her. Ellie hopped out of the car
again and said, “Give her some gas when I tell you.”
Sarah straddled the console and put her left foot on the gas
pedal as Ellie popped the hood and fiddled around with the motor.
“Turn the key and give it a tap of gas.”
Sarah did as told and the car roared to life. Ellie slammed
down the hood, then climbed back in as Sarah repositioned herself.
“Sometimes the carburetor gets stuck,” Ellie said, ducking
her head. “My brother showed me what to do when it won’t start.”
“Can we just get home now? We both have to work tomorrow,
and it’s already after midnight.”
“As you wish.”
What sources do you use for research?
I do most of my research online. I also peruse B&N and
Amazon for books related to the particular beastie or paranormal activity I’m
basing my story on. When I can, I do more active travel and in person research.
What genre/genres do you prefer to write? Are there other
genres you’d like to write in the future?
I have a soft spot for monsters because monsters need love
too. It’s urban fantasy and paranormal romance for me all the way!
Do you write books in series? If so, share a bit about the
series you currently have published or are coming soon.
I have two books out now in the Reaping Series, which is
about…well…reapers :D Reap & Repent and Reap & Redeem. The third, Reap
& Reveal, will come out this summer. I’m just in the beginning stages of
book four, Reap & Reckon.
Here’s the series blurb.
A small group of reapers and supernatural beings in
Meridian, Arkansas are all that stands between humanity and the apocalypse when
a fallen angel stages a demonic invasion. In their battle to save the world,
each will meet his or her match, discovering the power of love…and the
importance of risking everything to protect it.
The only thing worse than having nothing to live for…is
having everything to live for.
Excerpt: Chapter One
“Hurry up, Sarah. We’re going to miss the ghost!”
Sarah Knight rolled her eyes in the cold December darkness,
but trotted after Ellie’s bouncing flashlight beam. Sarah’s heels crunched
through the frozen topsoil as she crossed the lawn, and she worried about the
damage being done to her only pair of sensible work shoes. Ellie had failed to
mention this would be on an outdoor excursion.
Ellie had been dragging her out on girls’ nights against her
better judgment since they graduated from college. Last month, they’d gone to a
mixed martial arts fight, complete with blood, screaming and more than one
missing tooth. And that had been the spectators.
It was only in the car on the way over that Sarah had
learned tonight’s adventure would be a ghost hunt. Ellie had a strange idea of
fun.
Sarah and Ellie caught up to the tour group as the leader, a
tall dark-haired man in his mid-forties, wrapped up his ghost-hunting protocol
explanation. She’d missed the rules. Ellie wouldn’t care about missing that
part. She hated following the rules, but Sarah was a little miffed. If she was
going ghost hunting, she wanted to know exactly what the boundaries were.
“Great,” Sarah whispered. “We missed the rules.”
“At least we didn’t miss the ghost,” Ellie pointed out. “And
they haven’t doled out the equipment yet.” Ellie’s mouth split into a
mischievous smile, and she angled up closer to the group leader.
“Again, my name is Allen, if you have any questions during
the tour. Since we have such a large group tonight, we’ll split into two teams.
Carla will take this half.” Allen sliced an imaginary line through the group of
twenty or so ghost-hunters. “And the rest of you will go with me.”
Relieved she and Ellie were on the same side of the line,
Sarah snuggled up closer to her friend and surveyed the rest of their team. A
middle-aged couple, a grandmotherly woman, and a group of ten sorority
girls—exactly the type of girls she’d avoided in college—made up Team Allen.
The girls sported matching Greek-lettered sweatshirts, scarves and mittens and
tittered incessantly. Sarah was fairly sure their chance of seeing a ghost with
this group was nil. Fine with her. Ellie was the one who went for the
paranormal stuff.
“We’ll walk the path where the Lady in White has typically
been spotted. Carla’s team will cover the grounds around the house,” Allen
said. He nodded to Carla, and she gave him a little salute, then led her team
around to the side of the building. Allen’s group stayed put in the doorway.
“First, I’ll need a couple of volunteers,” Allen announced.
Ellie’s hand shot up before Sarah could register what was
happening. “We’ll do it.”
Classic Ellie, leaping before she looked. She didn’t even
know what she was volunteering for. It could be anything. If Allen wanted
virgins to sacrifice, however, he was out of luck.
Allen pulled two little handheld meter devices out of his
messenger bag. His brows lowered a bit as he studied Ellie, cast his eyes
around the group, then settled back to her. Ellie’s enthusiasm won out and
Allen handed one device to her and the other to Sarah.
“This is the Anomaly Detector,” Allen said with all the reverence
of presenting the sword Excalibur.
“It measures EMP and temperature. If these
lights change, it’s your job to let us know. I’ll be taking photos and
interacting with the ghost, trying to draw her out. I can’t keep my eyes on all
of the devices at once. Can you manage this?”
“Absolutely,” Ellie squealed.
Sarah resisted rolling her eyes again. She accepted the
detector and did her best to reduce her scowl.
“It’s okay to be skeptical,” Allen said. “It makes it all
the more exciting when we convert you to a believer.” His smile warmed and
Sarah realized he was actually handsome. Old, but handsome. What an otherwise
normal and attractive man—who was way old enough to know better—was doing
leading a bunch of ghost hunters, she had no idea. People were strange. She
supposed she’d have to include herself in that judgment, considering she now
held a ghost detector.
About the Author
Lisa has always enjoyed reading about monsters, and now she
writes about them, because monsters need love too.
She adores beasties of all sorts, fictional as well as real,
and has a farm full of them in her southwest Missouri home, including: one
child, one husband, two dogs, two cats, a dozen hens, thousands of Italian bees
and a guinea pig.
She may or may not keep a complete zombie apocalypse bug-out
bag in her trunk at all times, including a machete. Just. In. Case.
Website http://lisa-medley.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/lisamedley
Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/medley3/
Amazon Author Page www.amazon.com/author/lisamedley
Facebook Fan Page https://www.facebook.com/lisamedleyauthor
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2 comments:
An interesting time period.
I agree, Mary. :-)
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