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.
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:
http://www.amazon.com/Sugar-Spice-Mellow-Summers-ebook/dp/B00727XQI2/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1
http://www.amazon.com/Sugar-Spice-Not-So-Nice/dp/1469951312/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_6
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/surgar-and-spice-and-not-so-nice-janet-mcnulty/1108440466?ean=2940014057141&itm=1&usri=sugar+and+spice+and+not+so+nice
http://www.amazon.com/Sugar-Spice-Not-So-Nice/dp/1469951312/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_6
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/surgar-and-spice-and-not-so-nice-janet-mcnulty/1108440466?ean=2940014057141&itm=1&usri=sugar+and+spice+and+not+so+nice
Thanks for joining us today Janet. I'm always in for a good ghost story.
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