Please welcome Maxie Malone to The Qwillery. Maxie is featured in the Haunted Guesthouse Mystery series by E. J. Copperman. She's a former interior designer and a ghost with an attitude (that I'm sure manifested when she was among the living).
TQ: Hi Maxie. Welcome to The Qwillery.
Maxie: Yeah, whatever. What's the deal here? Books? I like books. Don't tell anybody.
TQ: Please tell us a bit about yourself. For example, what did you do prior to becoming a ghost?
Maxie: "Becoming a ghost"? It wasn't a career choice, believe me. I got killed. But before that, I was getting pretty well known as an interior designer. I do things other people won't think of. If the girl who runs my house now (Maxie owned the house until she was murdered, at which time Alison bought it) would listen to me, we'd have some rockin' room design, I can tell you.
TQ: So... what do you think of Alison Kerby? What would you like to change about Alison's guesthouse?
Maxie: Alison? Is that her name? What would I change? EVERYTHING. First, I'd change that I'm not dead and I still own the place. But if I couldn't do that, it would be all about darker wall colors and more challenging designs. Everything SHE does is so easy on the eye, so conventional. She's not trying to shake anybody up. It's like the place was designed by Benjamin Moore.
TQ: Do you enjoy sharing the guesthouse with another ghost, PI Paul Harrison?
Maxie: Enjoy? No! I'm dead--there's not much that's fun about that. Besides, Paul SHOULD have kept me from getting killed--he was the PI that I hired to keep me safe, and look how that turned out. He's not a bad guy, really, but he roped me into this crazy arrangement where he and I do spook shows for the guests in this place twice a day. He gets what's-her-name's help in investigations he wants to do, SHE gets more guests for her house, and what do I get? Nothing. Luckily, her daughter Melissa is a great kid, and I get to spend a lot of time with her because we're roomies up in the attic.
TQ: What is the most harrowing mystery that you've been involved in?
Maxie: I don't get involved when I don't have to. I do the research when Paul asks me to, because I'm a computer whiz and one thing about being dead is that you have a LOT of time on your hands. But sometimes the crime comes home, and that gets to be a problem. I have to watch out for Melissa, and for Loretta, Melissa's grandma. Mrs. Kerby is a sweetheart, and I don't like it when she and Melissa get in trouble.
TQ: If you could, would you leave the guesthouse? Would Alison be able to get along without you?
Maxie: Hey. I CAN leave the guesthouse. I can get out right now; I figured out how to do it a while back. But without a car or a plane or something, I'd pretty much have to walk anywhere I want to go. Even what the living people call "flying" is really just us ghosts walking, just not on the ground. Takes too long to get anywhere. And I'd miss Melissa.
TQ: Do you get along with Alison's Mom? Do you think its odd she is dating a ghost?
Maxie: I love Mrs. Kerby. She's like my mom, only she can see ghosts, which my actual mom can't. My mom, whose name is Kitty, shows up every now and then to talk, and I might start going back home to our house once in a while sometime. But Mrs. K.? She's the best. She cooks dinner all the time because her daughter never learned how to do it, and even though I can't eat or smell it or anything, I'm sure she's a terrific cook. And hey, she wants to date a ghost, I say, more power to ya. I'd like to figure out how to do that, myself.
TQ: What do you miss the most about being corporeal?
Maxie: GUYS! I'm only 28 years old. You can't imagine what a drag it is to see a cute guy and not be able to do anything about it. And the guys I can talk to are, let's face it, dead. BIG turn-off.
TQ: Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.
Maxie: Hey, it was cool. I didn't think I'd like it, but I did. Stop by the house sometime--maybe we can scare somebody together!
Haunted Guesthouse Mysteries
Chance of a Ghost
A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery 4
Berkley, February 5, 2013
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 304 pages
Alison Kerby’s guesthouse is haunted all year round. Surviving the dead of winter, though? That’s a spooky proposition.
Even with a blizzard bearing down on New Jersey, Alison can count on at least two guests—Paul and Maxie, the stubborn ghosts who share her shore town inn. Then there’s her widowed mother, who hasn’t just been seeing ghosts, she’s been secretly dating one: Alison’s father. But when he stands her up three times in a row, something’s wrong. Is he a lost soul…or a missing apparition?
Their only lead is an overdramatic spirit—stage name Lawrence Laurentz—who doesn’t take direction well and won’t talk until they find his killer. Alison will reluctantly play the part of PI, but when the clues take a sinister turn, the writing is on the wall: If Alison can’t keep a level head, this will be her father’s final act—and maybe her own.
A Wild Ghost Chase
A Haunted Guesthouse Novella
Berkley, December 31, 2012
eBook, 86 pages
Phantom PI Paul Harrison from the national bestselling Haunted Guesthouse mysteries returns with a tale of his own in a house full of ghosts, secrets, and spectacular oceanside views…
Three years ago in a large Victorian house on the Jersey Shore in the town of Harbor Haven, fledgling private investigator Paul and his client, Maxie Malone, were murdered. Since then, recent divorcee and reluctant ghost whisperer Alison Kerby and her 10-year-old daughter Melissa have moved in and converted the place to a guesthouse, where Maxie and Paul are now checked in for an eternity and ready to solve any case that comes their way—or at least spook the guests (who love it).
Alison’s got a lot on her plate at the moment, however, so when Paul discovers the three-hundred-year-old ghost of a small boy in the house, he decides not to involve her in the case. The boy, named Eagle of the Sun, says he’s searching for his missing mother. Paul’s happy to help Eagle of the Sun find her, though something about the boy’s story doesn’t add up. But why would a lost little ghost lie?
Includes a preview of the next Haunted Guesthouse Mystery, Chance of a Ghost, available February 2013
Old Haunts
A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery 3
Berkley, February 7, 2012
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 304 pages
The ghosts haunting Alison Kerby's Jersey Shore guesthouse are sad. Maxie wants to know who murdered her ex-husband, and Paul pines for his still-living almost-fiancee. The only one who isn't missing her ex is Alison-because The Swine just arrived on her doorstep...
An Uninvited Ghost
A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery 2
Berkley, April 5, 2011
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 304 pages
Alison and her resident gumshoe ghost are on their next case when the deceased Scott MacFarlane floats in worried that he accidentally killed a prominent local woman. Turns out she's still alive...that is, of course, until she's murdered-in Alison's house. Now, between the demands of her guests and the arrival of a reality television crew, Alison must find the killer before she sees reality from the other side.
Night of the Living Deed
A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery 1
Berkley, June 1, 2010
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 336 pages
Welcome to the first Haunted Guest House mystery-the getaway every reader can afford.
Newly divorced Alison Kerby wants a second chance for herself and her nine-year-old daughter. She's returned to her hometown on the Jersey Shore to transform a Victorian fixer-upper into a charming-and profitable-guest house. One small problem: the house is haunted, and the two ghosts insist Alison must find out who killed them.
Look for An Open Spook (Amazon : B&N) in October 2013 and The Thrill of the Haunt in November 2013:
The Thrill of the Haunt
A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery 5
Berkley, November 5, 2013
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 304 pages
Alison Kerby’s guesthouse is already crowded with spirits. The last thing she needs is a whole new batch of haunts settling in.
As Alison’s reputation as “the ghost lady” grows, so does her business—and not always in a way she’d like. Tourists may be flocking to her guesthouse for a chance to glimpse her resident spirits, but her special abilities are also bringing unwanted private investigation cases to her door. And she has no choice but to take a case when the local homeless man is found murdered under mysterious circumstances, just hours after asking for help in exorcising a specter.
If that weren’t enough to deal with, Alison’s other PI case soon turns fatal, as the mistress she was spying on for a jealous wife turns up dead as well. The cases seem like they couldn’t possibly be linked, but with a mountain of clues, motives and suspects—both living and dead—Alison will have to think fast before someone else checks out for good…
About E. J. Copperman
Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter
The Giveaway
What: One commenter will win a Mass Market Paperback copy of Chance of a Ghost (A Haunted Guesthouse Mystery 4) from The Qwillery.
How: Log into and follow the directions in the Rafflecopter below.
Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59 PM US Eastern Time on August 10, 2013. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.
*Giveaway rules and duration are subject to change.*
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I think I'd pick an old mansion or hotel on the beach. That would be so fun!
ReplyDeleteI'd Haunt Graceland in Memphis to see if I could find Elvis. Better yet, I'd Haunt Hannibal, MO to try my hand at talking with Mark Twain!
ReplyDeleteI'd haunt, in a good way, my kids to see how they do in life.
ReplyDeleteIt would probably be a who and not a where. My family. After a while, I guess it would get boring, so I'd probably hop around to various places.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to haunt a cinema cos then I'd have plenty of new films to watch and lots of fun upsetting bags of popcorn in the screen! :-)
ReplyDeleteI'd haunt the golf course club house because a lot of people hang out there---and after a few drinks they could easily have their minds messed with.
ReplyDeletesuefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
I would haunt a library.
ReplyDeleteskk25@aol.com
I'd choose an ancient and magnificent castle.
ReplyDeleteDisneyland
ReplyDeleteI would haunt the bazarr in a Turkish market place :)
ReplyDeleteI would haunt an old mansion or lighthouse. Some place that Scooby and the gang would investigate.
ReplyDeleteI'd haunt the library at Trinity College in Dublin.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the amazing giveaway!
elizabeth @ bookattict . com
I would haunt my own home and "tease" my sisters here, lol!
ReplyDelete