Personal
- Can you tell us a little about yourself? I live in Michigan with my husband and teenage son. I have two older sons and a daughter-in-law who live nearby. I like fishing, camping, and going for long walks. I love books, so I have a collection of old books and paperbacks. But I mostly read books on my Nook now. I leave reviews on books I read.
- Do you have a day job? Sort of. My husband and I love to buy things at auctions. We resell those items at the flea market, and online auction sites such as ebay, webstore, and ebids.
- What was the greatest thing you learned at school? My school days were a long time ago. But since I have been out of school I have learned you never stop learning. I’m not a big fan of research, but I believe it helps my writing and I always learn something new.
- Do you laugh at your own jokes? Sometimes.
- Have you ever found true love? Yes. I’ve been married for 29 years. And we are still in love. If that isn’t true love, I don’t know what is.
- What is something you never leave home without (apart from keys, phone, money, and ID)? My Nook and notebook. I used to carry a book in my purse, but now it’s my Nook. I always like to read, and you never know when an idea will hit you.
- Where can people find you on the web? Where can they read more about your books?
www.kaylalone.weebly.com (website) www.kaylalone.blogspot.com (blog)
Your Novel
- What is your book about? Sarah Kay gets help from her dead grandma to find her father who she thought was dead.
- What inspired you to write this particular story? My grandma. I was about Sarah Kay’s age, main character in Ghostly Clues, when my grandmother died. I remember one night seeing a ghostly hand creep up on my bed. It scared me at the time, but it is a memory that has haunted me. I do include that ghost hand in Ghostly Clues.
- Are the names of the characters in your novel important? I think so. Sarah Kay is a name I always liked. If I had a daughter, that would have been her name.
- How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in the book? Sarah Kay is a lot like me.
Writing
- How many stories are swirling around in your head? Do you keep a mental list, a computer file, or a spiral notebook filled with the ideas? There are a lot of ideas swirling around my head. That’s why I carry a notebook with me. I always try to write down my ideas in a notebook.
- Who gave you the best writing advice you ever received and what was it? I don’t remember who gave me the advice, but the best writing advice I received is write, write, write, and read, read, read.
- Where do you get the names for your characters? They just pop into my head.
- What are you working on now? I have several project in different stages that I am working on.
- Have you written any other books? I have one manuscript, Family Secret, which I have sent to my publisher.
Fun (Crazy, odd questions just for fun)
- Have you ever gone out in public in mis-matched shoes, or with your shirt on backward, and when you realized it just said ‘eh, screw it’? Yes, I’ve gone out in public with my shirt on backwards. No one noticed and I didn’t tell them.
- Are you a neat freak? Or clutter-bound? My house is a clutter zone because of all the things my family collects and things we buy to resell.
Quick Questions
- Sing in the rain or dance in the streets? Dance in the streets
- Pen or pencil? pencil
- Summer or Winter? summer
- Movies or TV? movies
- Theater or DVD? DVD
- Rural or Urban? Rural
- Facial hair or clean shaven? Facial hair
- Marvel or DC? Marvel
- Cowboy or Bad Boy? Bad boy
- Sunrise or Sunsent? Sunset
- Fall leaves or Spring flowers? Fall leaves (fall is beautiful in Michigan)
- Peanut butter or jelly? Peanutbutter
- Spender or Saver? saver
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| [amazon_link id=”B00AFGJRLM” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Amazon[/amazon_link] | BN | Smashwords | MuseItUp |
Blurb
The sweet scent of lilacs permeates the air around Grandma’s gravesite. Only Sarah Kay can smell Grandma’s favorite flower, and they’re not even in bloom.
Sarah Kay and her best friend, Mary Jane, believe the lilacs are a sign from Grandma’s ghost. The girls follow one ghostly clue after another, uncovering a secret that Mom never wanted Sarah Kay to know.
Grandma makes sure Sarah Kay gets the message even from the grave. As the evidence piles up, Mom still refuses to accept the possibility Sarah Kay’s father is alive.
Sarah Kay finds Dad’s parents. A set of grandparents she didn’t realize existed. They make it clear her father is alive but days and miles separate the father and daughter reunion because Dad is a truck driver on a long haul.
Sarah Kay waits. The news reports a fatal car accident involving a semi and Sarah Kay fears the worse. She runs away which leads to Dad and the truth, Mom wanted Dad to remain dead.
Dad had faked his death so why not just stay dead. The ghostly clues of Grandma wouldn’t allow Dad to remain dead to Sarah Kay.
*~*
Excerpt
The house was blanketed in a quiet slumber. I snuggled under the sleeping bag with Allison, trying not to think about ghosts, as I drifted to sleep.
Random pictures floated in my mind like ghostly images.
I tiptoed among tombstones and my heart ached as if I had lost something or someone. He had to be here, somewhere. The gravestones rose like stone walls. No names engraved on them. No dates. No R.I.P. Nothing. Just smooth, flat stones. Ghosts—grayish, smoky forms with black eyes—floated over the tombstones. I shivered, suddenly cold, freezing. My breath visible like a little ghost. I didn’t want to look at the ghost anymore so I looked down at my feet. A tombstone with Grandma’s name appeared out of nowhere. The earth moved. The dirt around the headstone broke away and gnarled fingers clawed their way into the air, searching, grasping. Shriveled fingers clutched my leg.
Something grabbed at my leg—the hand, I screamed and frantically wiggled out of my sleeping bag, bumping MJ as I tried to get away from the hand I thought I felt grab at my leg.
*~*
Bio
I’m Kay LaLone. Ghostly Clues is my first middle grade novel published by MuseItUp. I live in Michigan with my husband and teenage son (two older sons and a daughter-in-law live near by) and two dogs and a cat. I love to get up every morning and write about ghosts, the paranormal, and anything that goes bump in the night. Or anything that interest my characters. Making my characters come to life for readers is important to a good story. I’m an avid reader of just about any type of book. I do reviews on the books I read and post them on my website and blog.
My website www.kaylalone.weebly.com
My blog www.kaylalone.blogspot.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ghostlyclues
Twitter https://twitter.com/kaylalone
Loved the interview, ladies. Hi, Kay, from one Michigander to another. Best wishes on Ghostly Clues. Sounds like a great book.