An Interview with Maggie Toussaint by E. B. Davis

While hosting out-of-town guests at her Georgia home, Dreamwalker Baxley Powell is called upon to help investigate a suspicious fire. One of her guests, close friend and fellow dreamwalker Deputy Sam Mayes, accompanies her to the scene.

A meth cook is dead, and when Baxley visits her beyond the Veil of Life, she determines that the woman was murdered. Baxley pities Mandy Patterson, a single mother with aspirations for her teenage son Doodle. Unconcerned about the death of a criminal, the authorities pursue the drug-supply chain angle. Baxley worries about Doodle and vows to find out who killed his mother.

As the case grows more baffling, Baxley struggles against her attraction to Sam. Although her husband is missing and declared dead, she does not feel free to love again until she is sure of his fate.

Two suspects have the strongest motive, but Baxley has reason to believe they are pawns in a deeper game. And unless she can stop them, the world will never be the same.

https://maggietoussaint.com/confound-it/

Confound It is the fifth book in Maggie Toussaint’s Dreamwalker series. In every book, I get surprises. Sometimes the surprise is how a character acts or reacts. Other times, the surprise involves the world that Maggie’s built in this paranormal series. But all of the surprises capture my interest. I think most readers of paranormal would enjoy the downhome feel of main character Baxley Powell’s Georgia hometown as it contrasts to the dreamwalks she takes on the other side of the veil.

Baxley is a modern, Southern woman, mother, and wife. She has the same worries, fears, and pride of every woman, but her trials go beyond what most women have to contend with. For financial stability, she consults for the local police department, trying to solve murders by contacting the victims. As a dreamwalker, what she sees is often selected by the spirit she seeks. The selection limits her ability to see what the spirit doesn’t show her. Is the omission a lie? Is the omission the most important part that will enable her to solve a case? Baxley doesn’t know, but with greater experience, she now knows what questions to ask herself. She’s a better evaluator of her dreamwalks.

Please welcome Maggie Toussaint back to WWK.                                                             E. B. Davis

Maggie—although Baxley has more experience as a dreamwalker, can perceive lies, and doesn’t seem as naïve as she once was—she still can’t perceive or sense evil?

Hi Elaine, and thanks for the warm welcome back to Writers Who Kill. As for your question, Baxley grows in powers in every book, but one thing that never changes is her unsinkable spirit. When bad things happen, she doesn’t sit around and say, “why me?” Baxley is a take-action kind of female sleuth. However, even with her many extrasensory talents, she doesn’t register evil. That lack is part of the story world construct. If she knew who the bad guy was on the first page, there’d be no story. Instead, the solution to the mystery takes shape in layers, giving the reader and Baxley ample time to figure out the ending.

Charlotte, Baxley’s best friend, seemed to have her priorities focused at the end of the last book. But in this one, Charlotte goes from one end of the emotional scale to the other. Why is she so emotionally unstable?

Charlotte finally got a love interest in Dadgummit, book 4 of this series. In Confound It, Duncan pressures her to take their relationship to the next level. He expects her to leave her job and move six hours away from her hometown so that they can be together. Poor Charlotte. She’s a mess because she wants to grab this brass ring, but her gears get stuck in all the pros and cons. Having never been in love before, she can’t evaluate if this is the real deal.

Why does Charlotte hoard?

Charlotte spent most of her childhood at Baxley’s house because her parents didn’t care if she was around or not. As she acquired belongings as an adult, including a relative’s estate, those items became wholly hers. Having had little as a child, Charlotte hoards because her self-worth is tied to her material possessions.

Meth labs can be portable? Like in backpacks? Is this a problem schools, malls, and other social gathering places face, given the volatility of the ingredients?

Absolutely it’s a problem, and it’s hard to detect unless something goes wrong. The “shake and bake” method of making meth in soda bottles made the process mobile. Sometimes addicts do this to ensure a fix. As for why anyone else would do it, I can only speculate: money, illicit thrill, or someone made them do it.

Mayes and Sheriff Wayne Thompson face off like territorial dogs over Baxley. Thompson and Baxley were never romantically involved. Why is Thompson territorial over Baxley?

Sheriff Thompson considers Baxley his Golden Ticket. With her help, he solves all his cases and he can brag to his law enforcement buddies about his clearance rate. A lifelong lady’s man, the sheriff would love to date Baxley, but she’s not interested.

I was surprised that the State Bureau of Investigation was brought into a homicide because that’s not the jurisdiction of the FBI, which I assume is a parallel Federal agency. But then, the SBI did seem more interested in the case from the drug angle than the murder. Why did they get involved?

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation got involved because of the drug trafficking. It’s a jurisdictional thing, and it nicely added conflict.

The victim and her son had potbellied pigs for pets. Do potbellied pigs like dog food? Why is dog food better than pig food?

Pigs will eat anything, but dog food is not an acceptable snack for them, according to the North American Potbelly Association. Once Petunia and Patches made an escape from their home, they just followed their nose to the forbidden dog food stash and “pigged out.” It happens.

The police seemed to have a party-like attitude with regard to Tasers. Is this common?

This flippant attitude is what happens (in fiction) when a little power goes to a good ole boy’s head. Virg used his Taser once before on Baxley (Gone and Done It), and she doesn’t wish that on anyone.

“Somebody’s done put the root on you.” (Kindle Loc. 577) What does this mean?

Putting “the root” on someone is a voodoo practice that is still common in certain circles. It involves obtaining a personal item from someone and then working a spell with the items to achieve the desired result.

When the series first started, Baxley needed a possession of the deceased or needed to touch the deceased to enter their dreamwalk. She doesn’t need to do that now—why? What’s changed?

One of the delights of this series is that with each book Baxley learns how to access more of her extrasensory talents. Obviously, she didn’t know she could enter a dreamwalk without a personal item-until it happened in Confound It.

And yet—none of those affected wanted Baxley to touch them. If they aren’t dead, she can’t dreamwalk with them. Why their fear of her? And why isn’t she suspicious?

Ignorance breeds fear. People who are afraid of Baxley have heard about her lie detecting ability. They fear her touch will put all their secrets on public display.

I was outraged by Rose, Baxley’s otherworld mentor, inserting her own wants in Baxley’s sex life. Rose’s boss gives Baxley back a lousy fifteen minutes of the three hours she owes Rose. Rose should have had her wings clipped, and Baxley should have been given all of her hours back. Why was the penalty so light?

The thing about a series is that not all the answers are revealed in one book. There are layered hidden agendas here. Rose experiences a total fall from grace in Book 6, but don’t tell anyone I told you.

The unintended sexual encounter between Mayes and Baxley sets up expectations in both of them, which annoys Baxley since it was unintended. But it forces her to evaluate her marriage with more honesty. Had Baxley put rose-colored glasses on her relationship with Roland since he was declared dead by the US Army?

Oftentimes people carry around a burden and it becomes part of who they are. Baxley is unwilling to give up on her marriage and husband because she has no hard and fast answer to what happened to Roland. It’s easier to keep the status quo instead of accepting the fact her husband is never coming home.

What’s this “binding” concept all about? I agreed with Baxley. It seems intrusive even if the intensions are good. But then Baxley also wonders if she and Mayes are “bound,” is Mayes bound to Rose as well—bad enough she is.

Legal documents are binding. Seam bindings keep fabric from unraveling. So “binding” joins two or more things together in a permanent or semi-permanent fashion. Uniting and having access to two powerful dreamwalkers is a great boon for Rose, Baxley’s Otherworld Mentor.

Why does assimilation hurt tribes? Don’t people have to live and make a living in the twenty-first century?

With assimilation comes the acceptance of another culture, another way of doing everything. As the Native American population wanes, assimilation focuses attention on two cultures at the same time. Many who embrace the new ways do not faithfully practice the old ways, watering down cultural identity.

Would or will Baxley be discriminated against by the tribe if she gets together with Mayes in a more formal way, as his standing girlfriend or wife?

Baxley and Mayes are paranormal rock stars to his tribe. They are very happy to have access to Baxley.

Baxley’s attitude toward guns has changed over the last five books. Why?

She’s been threatened by people with guns too many times. Since that first happened, she learned about gun safety and became weapons proficient.

How did Mayes find out that Roland was involved in military dream research?

He had an in with someone in that field.

Doesn’t knowing Roland isn’t dead and he was involved in military dream research motivate Baxley to get to the bottom of it? No one would probably acknowledge such a thing in the military, but I’m surprised she isn’t more active in seeking the truth.

Baxley is a pragmatist, plus once she realized she was keeping him from moving on, she let him go. Her thoughts are like this: all spirits are on journeys, bodies are merely temporary vessels.

Can Larissa dreamwalk? I knew she could “talk” to Baxley, but was this her first dreamwalk?

Larissa’s talents are still forming. She once had dreams about her missing friend, but those are the only visions she’s had. Baxley’s plan is for Larissa to have a normal childhood for as long as is possible.

Will the military give her Roland’s body?

No.

Do you think people can become possessed by demons or other spirits?

I think anything is possible. It’s probably not as likely as, say, a car accident, but it could happen.

What’s next for Baxley?

Some big changes are coming down the pike for Baxley now that she’s a single woman again. Look for her next book, Dreamed It, tentatively scheduled for June 2019.

And now the most important question—why hasn’t Baxley washed her drapes in forever?

Ha Ha! Who puts washing the drapes on their to-do list? I don’t remember my mom ever washing our curtains when I was growing up. Baxley inherited her house from her grandmother, so those curtains have been gathering dust for a really, really long time. Also, many old-timey drapery materials are dry-clean only, and until recently, Baxley scraped together every penny to put food on the table.

Elaine, thanks so much for this visit. Your insightful questions certainly kept me on my toes.