Interview with Mary Merrell, Author of Paranormal Mystery Ebook 'House Haunting'- Free June 16-17

June 13, 2012 at 9:16 PM (♣ Musings)

Rosemary Fernandes is a divorced, naïve woman, determined to make it in the tough world of real estate. Keith Laumer is a ghost, eager to leave his earthly haunt. As a real estate agent and a womanizer in life, Keith is the perfect partner to teach Rosemary the ins and outs of the real estate business, and he’s perfectly willing to teach her anything else she wants to know.     

Frank Perez is a tough guy tattoo artist with ah-so-wide shoulders, and a chest Rosemary can’t wait to get her hands on. He thinks she’s a tease, jerking him around with this ghost story. And it won’t bother the ghost one bit if the tattoo artist just disappears.     

In struts Laura Toste, Rosemary’s gorgeous, best friend. She’s going to make all the bad voices go away. Keith wishes he can join these two lovely ladies, but all he can do is watch, as they recklessly investigate his death, staying one step ahead of the killers.     

Can there be a love triangle between a goodie two-shoes, a tough guy, and a ghost? And how long will Rosemary remain naïve and alive when her less-than-subtle sleuthing drops her and her friends into a sinister years-old plot?

House Haunting will be free on June 16-17th at Amazon.com.

IT’S INTERVIEW TIME!

Q: Welcome Mary! I’m Terri. Can you tell us a little something about where you grew up and what your childhood was like?

A: I grew up in the San Jose, the oldest of five children. My father was an engineer of Lockheed and got laid off when I was little. I guess things were pretty tight for a while. I didn’t notice. We pretty much ran wild, barefoot and playing games all the time. We did have our chores though. I was making up stories even then. We were always having some imaginary adventure, usually the evil Aunt Agatha was after us. Overall, we had fun. My mother got sick with breast cancer that spread to the bone. She passed away when I was sixteen. That certainly ended my childhood. My poor dad took care of her and I didn’t realize till much later what a toll it took on him. So, the five of us were pretty much taking care of ourselves.

Q: When did you first begin reading novels?

A: Fourth grade, I think. I always liked to read.

Q: When did you realize you had writing talent?

A: In high school, I wrote a book for my Predictive Lit class (which also introduced me to the Science Fiction genre) where I had to write a science fiction story. The teacher read it out loud to the class and gave me an A+.

Q: When did you realize you wanted to become a writer?

A: Wow. Not until much later. My husband and I were watching Romancing the Stone, and he looked at me and said, you know, one of the dumb guy things, “Why don’t you write a book?” Like wham, I’d write it and we’d be rich or something. I thought, why don’t I? I had stories bouncing around in my head all the time. I was a stay at home mom, so all the vacuuming and cleaning gave plenty of time for my mind to make up stories. We also had gotten our first computer. So, I did. A science fiction romance. It’s bad, but I still have it tucked away.

Q: When you’re working on a book, how much time per day is devoted to it?

A: It really depends on my day. My goal is an hour a day during the week. On the weekends, when I’m not working, I get up early and write for as long as I want, or until our other little business needs me to do some planting or yard work calls.

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?

A: Writing! Ha. Actually, I love to grow stuff. My husband and I developed cute little wooden frames for Christmas presents and people love them, so we started a business. I do the planting. I also, play soccer a couple times a week.

A: What type of music do you listen to? I love all kinds of music. Fortunately, at work so do they. Classic rock, I really don’t know the new hard bands anymore, hip hop, alternative rock, country sometimes. There are so many great bands out there, love them all.

Q: What is your favorite type of film?

A: All kinds, except horror. Can’t do the slasher movies. Just watched Joyful Noise. Very good. Sometimes musicals, or romantic comedies, or fantasy, or those raunchy comedies. Almost anything with Johnny Depp. Depends on my mood and how much time I have.

Q: What are your upcoming projects?

A: Working on an Urban Fantasy. Don’t know if it will be young adult. It will probably be the first in a new series. Affinity-Bird in a Gilded Cage. I think it’s going to be good. At first, I thought, should I be doing this instead of The Real Estate Paranormal Mystery series. I think I should, but I miss Rosemary and the gang.

Q: Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

 A: I’m on Amazon exclusively now. And House Haunting will be free on June 16-17th, and my website is www.maryemerrell.com. You can see what I have e-published and what I’m working on now. Twitter, @MaryMerrell7.

Q: Thanks so much for letting me interview you and I love to host you again!

A: No, thank you.