Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Sugar and Spice and Not So Nice: Interview with Author Janet McNulty


This interview took me back a time I spent the night at a 'haunted' bed and breakfast on the northern coast of California. I can't say for sure if it was, but I know a few people who didn't get any sleep that night. Well, that was years ago and so for today, let me welcome Janet McNulty!

MK: Sugar and Spice and Not So Nice…first, how did you come up with that title for a ghost story?

JM: This was a title that I had rolling around in my head for a few months.  It was something that I thought would make a great title to a book but I had no idea what kind of story it would go to.  Later, I was watching Ghost Adventures on TV and thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice to write a story about ghosts?”  That is when I decided to make this particular book a story about ghosts. 

MK: Is this a typical ghost story or does it have a little something to it?

JM: This isn’t a typical ghost story where a family moves in to a home to find it haunted and then try to get rid of the spirit. Instead, I decided to make the ghost, Rachel, a nice person who simply wanted someone to listen to her and help her out. I decided to make the main character, Mellow, someone who is average and doesn’t believe in spirits much.  But Rachel is able to get through to her and she decides to help.

MK: What is your favorite scene in the book?

JM: My favorite scene is the one where Rachel help Mellow get a boyfriend. The guy from across the hall decides to ask Mellow out on a date, but this happens might after she meets Rachel for the first time.  Still stunned from seeing a ghost, she shuts the door in his face. That is when Rachel opens the door and shoves Mellow outside right in to the man’s arms.

MK:  Do you have a favorite character you’ve written? Who and why?

JM: I do, though this character isn’t in Sugar And Spice And Not So Nice. This character is named Sposa and she is from my novel Legends Lost Amborese.  She is a talking cat with an attitude.  She is very forthcoming with her opinions and doesn’t shy away from letting you know where she stands on things.  However, Sposa is also very loyal and helps her friends even to the point of risking her life for them.

MK: Without giving it all away, please tell us a little something about how Mellow is going to get through her biggest challenge?

JM: Mellow manages to overcome her biggest challenge with the help of her friends.  Despite how resourceful she is, without her friend Jackie, she never would have succeeded in helping Rachel.   

MK: What was your greatest challenge in writing this book?

JM: My greatest challenge was writing this as a mystery and keeping it interesting.  I didn’t want to make it like every other mystery novel, but  I did want to make it worth reading.  Keeping the characters original and having a bit of a twist were definitely a big challenge. And I hope it meets the readers’ expectations. 

MK: You had to see this one coming…do you believe in ghosts?

JM: Yes, I do actually. I think my first apartment was haunted.  Though I never could prove it. I never called anyone to help investigate. But little things happened that I could not explain.  After I moved out of that place, I decided to research hauntings so that I could make sense of that place.  Then, I just took some my experiences and wrote them into a book. Though I never did have a ghost set me up on a date with someone. Mellow outscores me on that one.

MK:  How do you unwind after a long writing session?

JM: I usually listen to my favorite music or watch a little television.  Sometimes I will read one of the books sitting on my to read shelf.  After spending so much time on my own stories, it is nice to get caught up in someone else's. 

MK: If you had the opportunity to meet any writer in the world, past or present, who would it be and why?

JM: I would like to meet C.S. Lewis.  Despite writing the Narnia series, which is one of my favorites, he also wrote a lot of philosophical essays. This is a guy you could have an intellectual conversation with.  And from I have read about him, it sounds as though he is also the sort of man who respected other people’s beliefs  and opinion even if he disagreed with them.

MK: What do you have in store next for your readers?

JM: I am working on a sequel to Sugar And Spice And Not So Nice.  It will be called Frogs, Snails, And A Lot of Wails.  Mellow will be back with her friends with a new ghost to help out.  This time they will have to solve a bunch of robberies.  There is also a third Mellow Summers book planned, where she is framed for a crime.  However, I do not have a title for it yet.

The Book
Mellow Summers just wanted to go to college and get her film degree. She moved into a furnished apartment with her friend Jackie only to find that it already had a tenant: the ghost of a girl who was murdered a year earlier. Now it is up to Mellow to not only discover who the murderer is, but to prove it as well.

With the help of the ghost Rachel, Mellow sets out to solve the year old mystery. She soon finds out that she may have taken on more than she can handle. Pursued by someone who wants the identity of the killer to remain a secret, Mellow will have to use all her resources to outwit him and help the spirit of Rachel move on. 

Title – Sugar And Spice And Not So Nice
Genre – Paranormal Mystery Thriller
Format – Ebook
Publisher – Self Published
Release Date – January 26, 2012

Excerpt:

    "I groaned as I rolled over onto my side. I opened my eyes. Rachel stood over me. “Oh, no,” I said, “It wasn’t a dream?”"

“You didn’t tell me everything,” I accused. “You told me that you last saw Rachel at her apartment, but the truth is you went to the computer lab. Why didn’t you tell me?”"

"My name is Mellow Summers and I am twenty-six years old. I was never was one to believe in ghosts...That is not until I met Rachel."



Purchase Links:

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for joining us today Janet. I'm always in for a good ghost story.

    ReplyDelete

This is a happy place for book lovers. Please keep all comments kind and clean. All unhappy comments will be removed. Thank you!