An Interview with Ally Shields by E. B. Davis

Seeing ghosts should make solving homicides easy, right? Not even close.

 When detectives Maggie York and Josh Brandt catch a new murder investigation

involving occult rituals, ghosts, and venomous snakes, it seems like a case that

could only happen in New Orleans. Not only does the victim's ghost demand Maggie's attention, but three apparitions begin appearing to her…sending the detectives on a

search for more bodies. They soon discover the ghostly trio has links to the Witching

Hour Society, an organization of self-declared witches with far more going on

behind the scenes. Meanwhile, a neighbor believes the victim killed his family

with a curse, and the media eagerly sensationalizes the entire story.

 Making things worse, Maggie and Josh have hit a rough spot in their personal

relationship. The tension between them is already high when Josh's ex-fiancée

arrives in town…and wants him back.

Soon the violence is escalating, the ghosts grow more aggressive, and

the deeper Maggie and Josh dig, the stranger things get. Welcome to

murder New Orleans’ style.

http://allyshields.com/index.html

I needed Ally Shields. My supernatural mystery manuscript was in limbo. Beta readers had torn it to shreds. Some wanted me to get rid of the supernatural elements. Others wanted me to get rid of the mystery. It was clear no one “got it.” Then, I saw on the Guppy email list that Ally Shields, who wrote paranormal mystery and urban fantasy, was a member. I asked her to read my manuscript and she did, teaching me much about building fantasy worlds and boosting my confidence in my work when others wanted to trash it. I realized then that not all beta readers are equal. I can never express my gratitude enough to Ally.

When I saw Ally had started a new series, Maggie York Paranormal Mysteries, I decided to read the series, so far two books. The first, Ghost Walking, was released in the spring of 2016. This interview will concentrate on the second book released in October 2016, Ghost Witching.

Please welcome Ally Shields to WWK.                                                                                      E. B. Davis

What attracts you to write paranormal mystery and urban fantasy?

Ally:  I've always enjoyed reading fantasy, and I absolutely thrive on mysteries. It only made sense to weave the two together in some fashion. In spite of that, my first book started as a traditional mystery and evolved into urban fantasy when I realized on day three that the protagonist was a witch. It turned out to be a happy turn of events. I've loved writing in the genre because the story is only limited by the stretch of your imagination. Building worlds and populating it with fantastical creatures and abilities is great fun.

What factors must you consider when building fantasy worlds or connecting the real world to a fantasy world?

Ally:  My characters always dictate the worlds they live in. Even real worlds—like New Orleans—are chosen or shaped to fit the needs of the characters. New Orleans was the perfect setting for Maggie York because the area has a strong belief in ghosts and the supernatural. Since Maggie isn't a believer and her ability to see ghosts was forced upon her, we immediately have her at odds with her environment, a good vehicle for creative conflict.

      

To build and sustain any urban fantasy demands consistency within the fantasy element— ie. establish your world rules early and don't violate them (unless it's an explainable plot point). But don't let the readers forget they're surrounded by a contemporary world. Keep the story grounded with real-world reminders/influences that the reader will recognize, such as stopping for a cappuccino, mentioning a known public figure, etc. 

    

 

For each new fantasy, I work out a complicated structure of characters, creatures, abilities, and the rules and limitations of each. The process has resulted in very different worlds for each of my three series. In the Guardian Witch series, Arianna is a supernatural, a witch cop working in a city where Otherworlders and humans know about and interact with each other on a daily basis in tolerant but uneasy harmony.

In the Elvenrude Trilogy, elite elf Kameo visits the real human world—where supernaturals are unknown—through a magic portal from her magical world of Elvenrude. In the Maggie York mysteries, my heroine is a human cop. She doesn't believe in magic or paranormal activity, never even considers it until it was thrust upon her. Each of these approaches created their own challenges of how to blend the real and imaginary…which made them fascinating to write.  

Are there subgenre conventions that if violated would turn off fantasy readers?

Ally:  Urban fantasy requires the story be set in a city (usually contemporary), and that the main character's life be significantly influenced by both the paranormal and real world aspects. If any of those three elements are missing, it might be a great story, but it isn't urban fantasy.

In the first book, Maggie wakes up in the hospital after she is nearly shot to death. Bombarded by ghosts, she talks about them. The authorities note her “hallucinations,” which gets her diagnosed as having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and suspended from the force. Did Maggie have any prior supernatural experiences?

Ally:   None. She was born in New Orleans, but her parents whisked her away in infancy to avoid her relatives and the family heritage. She was raised in Chicago with typical Midwestern values and not one ounce of belief in the paranormal or supernatural.

When Dalia LeMay, a lost relation, contacts Maggie—she thinks Dalia’s loony.  But Dalia has evidence that sways Maggie. What prompted Dalia to contact Maggie and inform her of their family’s “gifts?”

Ally:  Dalia had tried to keep in touch with Maggie and her parents over the years, but Maggie's mother had prevented it, hoping to protect her daughter from a family history of witchcraft that she herself had rejected. When Dalia heard of Maggie's return to New Orleans, she kept a close eye on her career, and when the shooting and subsequent rumors of PTSD arose, she knew what had happened. She felt compelled to tell Maggie the truth.

Why does Maggie find peace in her gun-range therapy rather than on the psychiatric couch?

Ally:  Shooting is a tangible, concrete part of the career she loves. It is a controlled action, grounded in reality, a learned behavior that doesn't require her to face or challenge her fears or beliefs. And she's good at it. Success without any mental gymnastics to get there.

Joshua Brandt doesn’t doubt Maggie’s newly found abilities to see ghosts. Why?

Ally:  Josh has a very pragmatic side to his character, accepting what is and trying not to worry about what he can't change. He's intensely attracted to Maggie and wants to believe her. Her very rejection of the ghost sightings makes them more believable. Unlike Maggie, he's never known her when she didn't have this ability. It's just one part of who she is. No wonder Maggie's having a harder time—she has to rethink the Maggie she was for the first 28 years of her life.

Joshua is not only Maggie’s detective partner, but he is also her significant other. Why does Maggie halt their personal relationship?

Ally:  Josh could have been killed when he placed himself between Maggie and an active shooter. The incident terrified her (for several reasons that are gradually explained) and angry that he hadn't treated her as a true equal, had in fact played the alpha card. Her fears fueled her anger. They had a big fight and Maggie—prone to impulsive behavior from time to time—walked out.  She'd like to go back but how can she when nothing has changed?

The ghosts in the first and second books are very different. Why?

Ally:  Ghosts—at least those who hang around with unfinished business—retain part of their human personalities. Bobby Hurst (book one) was a rather timid, two-bit hood, as opposed to the three assertive women Maggie dealt with in book two. Plus, the ghostly trio had a reason to be angry with Maggie, but to mention why would definitely be a spoiler. :)

Maggie learns not to “touch” ghosts, but she already has violated that rule before she knows. What happens if she violates that rule too many times?

Ally: Scary things. Each time she touches the "chill of the Veil" (which all ghosts carry) adds a taint to her human soul. Too much taint could allow her soul, while she is still living, to be pulled through the Veil, thus stranding her in limbo for eternity. Not something you want to happen.

When three ghosts appear, Maggie and Josh find the ghosts are connected via the Witching Hour Society, which won’t give out a members list. Are there secret societies in New Orleans or is this part of the magic of fantasy?

Ally: I think this is where I have to add a disclaimer: every character and all groups in the Maggie York books are fictional. But yes, New Orleans has its share of secret and semi-secret societies. Locals will talk rather freely about some of them. Ask about others, and they'll simply look away (and may cross themselves while doing so). I made up the Witching Hour Society, but New Orleans does have a Witches'Ball.

If Maggie were a hard candy, what candy would Annie, Maggie’s best friend and a human-interest freelance journalist, be?

Ally: (Maggie would be a cinnamon ball, btw) But her friend Annie would be peppermint with a chocolate center (she's very much the romantic softie down deep).

Maggie observes that the newly dead resemble their life forms, but as time passes ghosts look less like their living human form. What is the philosophy behind that observation?

Ally: Their essence is gradually transforming to the afterlife despite their will to stay behind and resolve the issue that keeps them from moving on. They can maintain their essence on this mortal plane but not their image.

You aren’t new to this subgenre writing. Is it a small world or are most publishers and agents open to the subgenre?

Ally:  Except for specialty houses, most publishers and agencies now accept urban fantasy and other paranormal subgenres. The popularity of vampires and witches in movies and television has opened many doors. Sometimes the fit isn't the best - for example, my own publisher handles a lot more romance (including 18+)—but they've been good to me and keep pubbing my PG-13 stories. So I'm okay with that.

Would you rather vacation in the mountains or at the beach, Ally?

Ally:  Oh, hard choice. I've done and loved both. Right now, it's freezing outside, so a warm beach with a good book is strongly appealing!

                      

An Interview with Tony Healey by E. B. Davis

Beyond the shores of Hope’s Peak, North Carolina, evil waits as his next victim approaches. He’ll make her a princess like the others…

Detective Jane Harper can’t shake the image of the young woman discovered in a field—eyes closed, a crown of woven vines on her head. She expects macabre murders like this in her native San Francisco, not here. Jane and her partner, Stu, vow to catch the killer, but in this town, that’s easier said than done. The police department is in the grips of a wide-reaching scandal that could topple the entire force, and Jane and Stu face a series of dead ends. Until they meet Ida Lane.

Ida knows too well the evil that lurks in the cornfields. Tortured by her mother’s murder years before, Ida is paralyzed by the fear that she could be next. As the killer grows bolder, Jane must persuade Ida to use her remarkable gifts to help in the investigation. It’s a decision that brings them closer to the killer…maybe too close.

https://www.amazon.com

In an attempt to find out about Kindle bestsellers, I ran into Tony Healey’s book Hope’s Peak, released in January by Thomas & Mercer Publishers. A week after it went live on Kindle, it listed as third on the Kindle bestseller list. As a Kindle Unlimited member, I read it for “free.” What intrigued me about the book was the blurb. It hinted of a sixth sense element, which pressed my finger on the download button. Healey writes in third-person multiple POVs. It’s a mystery, a police procedural, but turns into suspense when he presents the killer’s POV.

This book will repel many of our cozy readers. Amazon reviews are all over the place, but in a short time, there are pages of reviews. However readers feel, Healey’s book has stirred public emotions. Healey presents a rapist and serial killer attracted to young black women. That sort of reading doesn’t appeal to me, but Healey bestows the flawed main characters with interesting backstories, treats the victims with reverence, and shows violence in a non-titillating way, revealing his sensitivity and insight into the killer’s mind. Even with uncomfortable subject matter Hope’s Peak is a well-written page-turner.

Please welcome Tony Healey to WWK.                                                                        E. B. Davis

Many of the reviewers stated that Hope’s Peak was your first book. You’ve written about fifteen books in what I would have categorized as Sci Fi on Amazon, but I discovered a new subgenre dubbed Fringe Science in which your previous series was placed. Tell our readers about Fringe Science and why you decided to write a mystery assuming this is your first?

I've always wanted to write, but I've come to realize that wanting to write, and having the ability to write are two complete separate things. For the longest time, from my mid-teens to my mid-twenties, I wanted to write. I filled journals with hundreds of pages of notes, ideas, plots—you name it. But it wasn't until I was a couple of years in my marriage, two kids around my ankles, that I was finally ready to write. I'd lived a little bit, had some life experience under my belt, and something just clicked into place. I sat down at our dining table and slowly, sluggishly, typed out a short story called 'Frank'. I followed this up with another story, featuring the same character, for the charity anthology Resistance Front. It just so happened that two well-known scifi authors—Harlan Ellison and Alan Dean Foster—also had stories in Resistance Front.

I guess it went on from there. At that point, 10,000 words seemed an impossible figure to achieve, but I decided to push myself. I had an idea for a sci fi serial, about a ship that gets sucked into a black hole and flung far from home (See what I did there?). I decided I would do one a month, for twelve months, and write them as connected episodes. So twelve episodes, when combined, would make up a 'season', like a TV show.

It was tough going. It would take me a few weeks to write each episode, then I'd spend a couple of weeks editing and revising. But I stuck it out. All in all I wrote three 'seasons' worth, totaling about half a million words.

That was good practice. You learn by doing, and I made every mistake possible to begin with. But something fantastic happened—as I was releasing each episode, they were really taking off. They built me an audience, and a following eager for more from these characters I'd created. When the twelve episodes were done, I packaged them together into a collected edition, and it hit #1 in is category for over two months. So I not only learned how to write, but along the way I got paid for my efforts. I was soon raking in a second income.

With three 'seasons' worth under my belt, I fancied trying my hand at something new. I wrote a short, violent fantasy novel, The Bloody North, and a Young Adult horror, Past Dark. But there was one idea that wouldn't go away.

I have a passing interest in Fringe Science—hence my twitter handle, @Fringescientist. It's things like telepathy, clairvoyance, that kind of thing. The idea I had was for a woman who had known a great trauma, and had some kind of psychic ability 'awakened' by the event. But there was something about it, I couldn't quite it down on paper. I couldn't wrangle it into a short story, so I stopped trying and let the idea rest. Well, in 2015 I finally felt ready. I had an idea for a serial killer plot, but it was missing that all-important 'something' that makes it special. In 'Silence of the Lambs' it was the relationship between Lecter and Clarice that took the book to the next level. That's the kind of thing I was looking for. Inevitably, my thoughts returned to that story idea of a psychic with a troubled past. I put the two together, and had the concept for Hope's Peak.

I think there are two important things to take away from this:

1. It took me several years, and half a million words, to get to the point where I felt ready to write Hope's Peak.

2. The story came together in its own way. Over time, it came together, and that's not something that can be forced or manufactured.

How did the deal with Thomas & Mercer come about?

My friend (and frequent collaborator) Bernard Schaffer was publishing some things co-written with J A Konrath through the Dystel & Goderich agency. The lovely lady he was working with there was an agent called Sharon Pellettier. If I'm remembering correctly, Bernard introduced me to Sharon, and I mentioned that I was nearly finished with a novel. She was interested to read it so, when it was completed, I sent it Sharon's way.

Now, she's a very busy woman. Has a lot going at any one time, so it took a short while for her to get to Hope's Peak, but when she did . . . she wanted to represent it straight away. We sent it around to a few publishers, and Thomas & Mercer put an offer in for Hope's Peak and a sequel. I've been very lucky, really, in that I've had a pretty smooth ride—and both my agent, and my publisher, have treated me very, very well.

From your online biography, I discovered you live in Sussex, England. There’s racial tension in England, but you showcase American racial tension. Why did you set your book in North Carolina, not say, Hastings or Brighton?

I couldn't imagine the story working anywhere else. You know, one of the things you consider is how you open a novel. What's the reader's first sensory experience as they turn the page and start reading? I pictured a black girl, raped and strangled, left in a field of corn. Green stalks swaying in the breeze, rustling like paper. Straight away, you have a sense of place. You feel that weight in your heart for the victim. Not a woman. A girl—denied the chance to even begin having a life before it is taken away from her. In that first chapter I sought to establish a lot, and I remember rewriting it and rewriting it until I got it right. Until it clicked. I wanted the clinical detachment of the coroner. The strong-headed main character, seemingly facing the impossible. Her 'complicated' relationship with her partner, Stu. But at the center of that is the girl. Robbed of everything, and crowned. To me, it was totally about the killer, Lester, taking ownership of her. He was marking the girls as his property, his conquests, his creations almost. I thought that was very interesting and unsettling.

I truly didn't feel the story would work in the UK. I'd also been watching True Detective, and just fell in love with that kind of setting. Vast, open space. A sense of foreboding in every frame. I thought it would work perfectly with the story I wanted to tell.

When a young, black woman’s raped and murdered body is found in a field, detectives Stu Raley and Jane Harper are assigned the case. There are indications that the killer could be a fledgling serial killer, but then their boss, Captain Morelli hands Jane a file for a similar killing that happened decades ago, which Stu and Jane find is the first case of many that have been suppressed by the town’s governing families. What motivated Morelli to reveal this case, and why would town leaders suppress such a horror?

To answer that would be revealing far too much. All I can say is that readers will get their answers in Storm's Edge, the sequel to Hope's Peak, which picks up a few months later and deals with three things: What happens next for our characters Jane Harper and Ida Lane; who covered up the murders of those poor young girls? And lastly . . . why? Who is behind all of this?

I saw Hope's Peak as a story of two halves. One, a serial killer. Two, a conspiracy in a small coastal town. The first book dealt with the killer. The second . . . well, you'll see.

There’s only one character in the book that I think is totally innocent. You’ve even provided some of the victims’ histories showing them not to be pristine in character. Why?

Nobody is squeaky clean. Everyone has dark thoughts. Everyone has something in their past, in their history, that they're not too pleased about. That's just being human. If you're going to write about people, they can't be clean-cut angels who do nothing wrong. That's untruthful writing and, most important of all, it's very boring.

Does everyone have a vice?

Yes. And if you say you haven’t, you're full of shit (hahaha!).

Black detective Albert Goode fascinated me. How does he play the race card?

I don't think he does. He's young, black and gay. He's innocent and offers a different perspective to what's going on. Harper can get pretty cynical, sometimes. I thought it was interesting to have a character in there, a protégé type, who wasn't so beaten by life already. He's fresh-faced. You'll be happy to learn Albie is very prominent in Storm's Edge. He's a great character and I enjoy writing him.

By storytelling through the killer, you turned the police procedural mystery into suspense about three quarters through the book. Why?

Because I think you can only keep the boogeyman element going for so long, before you get fatigued. Yes, it's cool showing a killer slaughtering people. Kidnapping them, doing things to them. We've seen all of that a million times. But what's even more interesting is getting inside their head. Establishing them as a villain and then, at a certain point in the book, rounding them out. Making them a character in their own right. Yes, Lester is an evil, sick, deranged murderer. But he's also a human. As hideous as that notion is, you can't deny that that's how it is in real life. Also, by telling things from his perspective, we got a glimpse of what made him that way. Nobody is born a killer. They evolve into that. Why wouldn't you want to show some of that? Otherwise, what you're writing is a cookie-cutter-killer.

You provide the reader with a glimpse into the killer’s history and sexual depravity. Having four daughters, was it hard to write? Was it important to tell his story?

It was very hard, very uncomfortable. But you know what? You write what makes you squeamish. The secret fears you harbour inside yourself, your phobias, your nightmares . . . you funnel all of that into your fiction, somehow. It just happens.

I have seen a lot of reviews mention the killer's sex scenes in the book. Some are grossed out by them.

That's the point.

What I wanted to do was show our heroes, Jane Harper, Stu Raley, as having 'loving' sex. I don't go into detail, I gloss over it. Love making, as in real life, is best when it's a private, secret act between two people. It's an exclusive connection between two lovers. I didn't want to sensationalize that, or make it pornographic.

Lester having sex, however, was a different thing altogether. I wanted to make it graphic, and sort of gross to read. I wanted it to turn your stomach. This is a perverse man, who kills young women for kicks. He thinks he knows how to love, but he doesn't. So I wanted to differentiate the two in the book, and I think I succeeded in doing that. It's not to everybody's taste, of course, but I can't help that. You write what you've gotta write. But what I didn't want to do, was have what our heroes experience lumped into the same category as what Lester, the killer, gets up to. One is love. The other—what he does—is, as you say, depravity.

Ida Lane was my favorite character. She smokes, drinks, swears, and she’s also a survivor with a courageous heart. Have you met anyone like her upon whom you based the character?

I think she's an amalgam of a lot of people I've encountered in my life. I think she's also a part of me, too. It's interesting, when you write a book filled with characters because you start to realize that all of these people you're populating your story with are you.

Okay, maybe not Lester!

But all the others, there's something of yourself in them. Even if it’s just in the way they conduct themselves. Their attitudes to life. Hopes and dreams. Somehow, all that stuff gets into your book and your characters. I think Ida's perspective on the afterlife, in particular, is pretty close to my own.

Are you hooked on writing mystery?

Yes, but I'm hooked on writing in general. It can be sci fi, fantasy, romance, mystery, you name it. It's the story that grabs me first and foremost. The rest—the category that that story falls into when you've written—is secondary.

Do you write full time or do you have a day job?

I have a day job. I work until midday, and then I write in the afternoons. This sometimes rolls into the evenings too, but mostly I like to read, or Netflix and chill J

On vacation, do you want to go to the mountains or to the beach?

Both? Can I have both? 

   

Maggie Toussaint, Dreamwalker Author, Interview by E. B. Davis

I love Maggie Toussaint’s Dreamwalker series, mysteries with a psychic twist. Main character Baxley Powell can communicate with the dead. When she touches an object associated with the deceased, Baxley can envision scenes the dead portray to her, which makes her a wonderful police consultant.

Each book provides more details, not only of Baxley’s psychic powers and frailties, dealing in psychological games the dead play with her, but also each book digs deeper into her personal life. Maggie enriches her stories with backstory that complicates and relates to each mystery. It is that interaction of the personal and professional that catapults this series forward.  You will appreciate the title of her third book in the series, Doggone It, after reading the book.

Maggie writes mystery, romantic suspense, and science fiction. She has three mystery series, and in each, her writing flows. You will read of Maggie’s books again on WWK because I am a fan who will promote her work until everyone reads and enjoys her work!                                                                                             E. B. Davis

Here is Maggie’s Doggone It book jacket blurb:

Dreamwalker Baxley Powell can’t remember the last time she had such a crappy weekend.

A twilight encounter with a ghost dog left her numb and disoriented, her dreamwalker

abilities are wiped out, and the sheriff just summoned her to a double homicide.

With no access to the spirit world, Baxley bluffs her way through the crime scene where a movie star’s assistant and a charter boat captain were strung up and bled dry. In a

haunted house, no less. Figuring out who killed these people will be a real challenge

without her ability to speak to the dead.

Just when Baxley thinks her powers are returning, her dreamwalks malfunction.

With the sheriff pushing her to solve the case quickly, Baxley teams up

with a dognapping medium to boost her powers.

Suspects include the captain’s good-for-nothing brother, the assistant’s replacement,

and, of course, his stalker. All of Sinclair County is on edge, and the media circus isn’t helping. At stake are the movie’s funding, the sheriff’s job, and Baxley’s senses.

Can Baxley safeguard her abilities and solve the case before the killer strikes again?

   http://maggietoussaint.com/doggone-it/

Book 3 of the Dreamwalker Series

Readers often ask how books come about. I’d really like to know how you arrived at the concept of dreamwalkers. Do you have vivid dreams?

Does anyone remember The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler? The main character Macon hated traveling and yet he ended up writing travel guides that explained how to deal with unpleasantness and difficulty of a trip. In that same vein, I am a person who doesn’t like being scared. I began writing this series to tie together (with my imagination) all of my firsthand observations, my faith, my education, stories I’ve heard, and so on, about what happens after death. I try to present the difficult and unpleasant stuff in a way that my mind accepts and in a way that may help others also dealing with deaths of loved ones.

And in combination with that straightforward approach, I’ve long had an interest in psychics. Just like some folks have an extra gear when it comes to math or music (or any other ability), I believe some folks have extrasensory gears. One of the fun aspects of writing this series is having Baxley explore a new aspect of her extra abilities in each book.

As for me, I’ve had very vivid dreams, some of them outright strange, like the Man with the Saddle on his head that I dreamed about several times as a child. Late adolescence to early forties were the times of most of those dreams. I still dream, but it’s rare these days that I remember them upon waking.

In the opening scene, we learn that Baxley can’t see or communicate with ghosts. Why not?

When you’re driving in your car and you lose your radio station, what do you do? Do you search the airwaves for a new station? Sure you do. In layman’s terms, the distance has become too great for the signal of your first station to reach you, so you have to retune your receiver to another frequency to hear a different channel. Hang onto that thought for a sec.

In the Dreamwalker Series, Baxley comes into the job of talking to the dead all of a sudden. Her father physically can’t do it anymore. The stress and side effects are killing him. Baxley, who has spent her entire 28 years trying to be normal, must now un-suppress her innate ability. Also, due to the sudden onset of her commission, all of her training is on-the-job. When Baxley runs into an earthbound spirit in Doggone It, she doesn’t know how to retune her psychic abilities to receive the input. Therefore, she makes mistakes and takes wrong turns and keeps at it until she gets it right. By the end of Doggone It, Baxley knows how to reach earthbound spirits and ones that have moved on to the Other Side.

Rose is an entity that Baxley encounters. She can’t quite categorize her. Baxley thinks Rose is an undercover angel in the demon world. But Rose doesn’t come across as angelic. She either isn’t an angel, or she’s a great actress. Her favors have a high price that Baxley is forced to accept. Because the spiritual world is usually divided between good and bad, do readers have a problem accepting the ambiguous Rose?

I’ve struggled with Rose’s duality, and I’m sure readers do too. In real life, sometimes we make deals or alliances with people who hold different opinions than we do. That’s what Baxley had to do. The safety and wellbeing of her family mean everything to her, and that’s how she finds herself indebted to Rose, a supernatural being – Rose helps her save loved ones.

Was Baxley’s alliance with Rose a mistake? The consequences will continue to play out in the series. Not knowing Rose’s internal motivation adds conflict and drives the series forward. A writer couldn’t ask for a better plot device.

Baxley describes her aging-hippie parents as trusting and gullible. But isn’t that also their strength?

Absolutely. Trusting and gullible are the hallmarks of people who aren’t deceitful. Consequently, her parents’ home is a mecca for locals with personal problems. Their love is deep, abiding, and all-encompassing. Baxley, who prides herself on being more worldly, thinks she has to protect them from unscrupulous users, but her experiences in Doggone It start to reshape her view of them.

Previous to Doggone It, Baxley is a bit condescending toward her mother. She comes to understand that dreamwalkers need a support system, a community, and her mother’s particular talents, more than just making soup, nurture dreamwalkers. Baxley encounters this in her professional and personal life. Has Baxley been too singular?

You can blame the mom in me for giving Baxley a learning curve to understand the real depth in her mother. Most of us grow up thinking our generation is smarter than the ones who came before, that because of our technology and collective savvy, we don’t need or want advice from folks who’ve already had their turn.

My parents didn’t have the opportunity to go to college, but they made sure all five of us had that opportunity. With that education and a lack of educated jobs in our fishing community, all of us dispersed into the world. One by one, as we had families of our own, we learned how wise our parents were. The circle of understanding continues with my daughters as they raise their families. They are learning the same lessons I learned and that Baxley is learning: all wisdom doesn’t come from book learning.

I was shocked to read, “Roland Powell [Baxley’s MIA special-operations husband, whom readers have never met.] seemed trustworthy, monogamous, and faithful. I’d been wrong about his values.” Baxley still loves and misses him, and she doesn’t reveal why she thinks this. Is it because she and her daughter know he isn’t dead? Did Roland revert to his parents’ values?

Baxley’s job as a police consultant puts her in close proximity to Sheriff Wayne Thompson. Wayne reveals to Baxley things about her “late” husband that are at odds with what she knows. She’d never once doubted her husband, but Wayne’s comments worm into her thoughts causing her to have doubts about the man she loves. Now that she’s more open to her extrasensory perception, she realizes she was walking around with blinders on for many years, years she shared with Roland. Her husband’s absence and status are an ongoing concern in the series, so I won’t say more.

Baxley is idealistic and probably just as trusting and gullible as her parents. Nothing in Baxley’s life is as it “should” be. Why does she have sympathy with Roland’s mother?

Baxley and Roland’s mom share a similar void in their lives due to his absence. As a young mom, she knows how she would feel if something happened to her daughter.

When Sheriff Wayne, the womanizer, gets swept into one of Baxley’s dreamwalks, she thinks he might have psychic talents. Has Wayne sandbagged everyone, or perhaps he doesn’t know he has psychic powers? Perhaps Baxley has more power than she knows?

Wayne’s a good ole boy, which isn’t always a good thing. His relationship with Baxley is complicated. She was his tutor in high school when he was the football quarterback; she was the woman who never succumbed to his charm. With regard to that dreamwalk, readers see firsthand how Baxley’s team rallies to help her recover. The fact that she does recover says a lot for her talent. I don’t want to delve too deeply into Wayne’s intuition, but he’s good at reading people.

A black widower, Stinger, comes to Baxley for help. As it turns out, he helps her. How does Stinger provide support to Baxley?

Remember that line from science class: matter can neither be created nor destroyed. Energy, however, gets used up by activity. Runners get wobbly-kneed at the end of their races, for instance, and they need to refuel. Extrasensory use also burns energy, and Baxley has to have down time after dreamwalks to recharge. Things are different with Stinger. In this story, I used a story condition of mediums being energy generators.

There are two dogs in Doggone It. One is a rescue dog and another is a ghost dog. Would you tell readers about these two wonderful canines?

Many dogs today are used as therapy dogs in nursing homes and hospitals. Just being around these animals brings solace and comfort. In Doggone It, Elvis, a rescued Chihuahua, is a therapy dog. Everyone who holds him feels better. Since paranormal events by nature can be scary, I needed to make sure there was a balance of comfort as well.

Oliver the ghost dog is a jet black Great Dane. Doggone It is about Oliver becoming part of the crew of strays, and I can assure fans of the series that he is a recurring character. He has a role in books 4, 5, and 6, which is the book I’m currently writing.

What’s next for Baxley?

I’m so glad you asked! Book 4 in this series is contracted and will release in 2017. In Dadgummit, Baxley and crew go on vacation to the mountains and get swept up in another murder mystery, this one involving individuals from Cherokee legends.

What’s next for Cleopatra Jones?

I haven’t forgotten Cleo! I get letters from fans requesting book 4 of that series routinely. In the previous books, her best friend, her mom, and her boyfriend were accused of murder. It’s her turn to be in the hot seat, so she’ll have every reason to nose around.

I know you’re a beach chick, but would you favor a shrimpburger over a hamburger?

I love a good shrimp hoagie, which is the closest I’ve come to a shrimpburger. I also love shrimp fried, grilled, blackened, and sautéed. Shrimp salad is great on a hot day, and shrimp paste is something to savor. Shrimp bisque is yummy, and I recommend it. I’m spoiled by the fresh seafood in our small fishing community where you can buy shrimp that slept in the sea last night.

Thank you, Maggie.

                               

                                    

To find out more about Maggie and her books, please go to maggietoussaint.com or just go to Amazon for a reading adventure!