AN INTERVIEW WITH MAGGIE TOUSSAINT'S DREAMWALKER SLEUTH BAXLEY POWELL

Today we sit down for a chat with Baxley Powell from author Maggie Toussaint’s Dreamwalker Mystery Series.

What was your life like before your author started pulling your strings?

Wow, since Maggie came into my life, I’ve been featured in six Dreamwalker novels. Though the actual amount of time we’ve been together isn’t long, life-before-Maggie seems a world away. You see, back then I hid my psychic talents from everyone, even myself. I never liked that out of control feeling that came when you opened yourself up to the entire world. So I went around shielded, and life still came at me fast and hard.

My husband Roland was declared dead by the Army. For Roland, I breached the gap and began searching for him in secret among the land of the dead. I’m certain he isn’t there and I don’t understand why the Army lied to me. In desperate straits, I moved me and my daughter Larissa back home to the house I inherited from my grandmother, all the way back to Sinclair County, Georgia, where people thought of my family as weird people they didn’t want to associate with. I had hoped to spare my daughter that shame.

What’s the one trait you like most about yourself?

I’ve had a lot of challenges in this life but I’m the real deal. If I say I’m going to do something, you can take it to the bank. I get irritated when folks promise something and then forget about it. I may be one of those weird Nesbitts, but I know how to get things done, in this world and the next.

What do you like least about yourself?

People think I’m brave to do what I do. Only a handful of trusted friends and family know that I’m not brave. I face my fears every time I dreamwalk. Separating your essence from your body is never easy nor is traveling to another realm and then doing it all again in reverse, sometimes multiple trips in the same day. I wish I didn’t get scared, but I can’t let fear stop me. After all, if I don’t handle the pressure of being the Dreamwalker, the job falls to my ten year-old daughter Larissa.

What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you?

That is actually a very long list. I’ve had to outwit some serious bad guys, living and dead. I’ve run afoul of devil worshipers, Little People, bad-boy spirits, a demon-infested palm reader, a rogue energy-thief selkie, a tormented earthbound spirit, and more. But the truly unforgiveable thing is that my author let my Other World mentor Rose, who is not rosy in any way, torment me in the name of justice and also to claim hours of my life. Those hours are times when Rose takes over my body and makes me do God-only-knows-what. Yikes.

Do you argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about?

Of course. You just read some of the zany ideas she’s had. I’d love to have a normal life and be like any other family out there. Since the books are written only in my point of view, you’d think I’d have a bit of control. But that’s just an illusion, as far as I’m concerned. She loves to humiliate me, like the time in Dreamed It where she got me and Mayes thrown out of the morgue for trying to enhance the range of our spirit quest of a woman’s bones through full body contact. The M.E. thought the two of us were disrespecting her office and she banned us from the morgue. So, yeah, I have a lot of words with Maggie Toussaint. I know we both have to pay our dues, but gosh, it’s like we’re characters in that Arrowsmith song about dreaming (editor’s note: “Dream On” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psLTr6ktO78 ). Just so you know, going through that gateway to the Other Side is similar to when Steven Tyler starts hitting the high notes and going wahahahahahaha. Fun to sing, not so much when you’re tumbling out of control in the rift.

What is your greatest fear?

Even though dreamwalks are scary, I survive them and even thrive in the role of Dreamwalker. My greatest fear is that my daughter will not have the normal childhood she deserves. Now that I’m a crime consultant, Larissa seems to be charting her own course. Ten is too young to do that. I have to come up with a better way to manage her free time.

What makes you happy?

The new guy in my life, Sam Mayes makes me happy as does my daughter, best friend Charlotte, my parents, and all of our assorted animals. I love spending time with family, and I’ve known Charlotte so long she’s become my sister.

If you could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why?

I wouldn’t rewrite anything because then my timeline would change. If we hadn’t gone on vacation, I wouldn’t have met Mayes. If I hadn’t moved back home when I did, the job of Dreamwalker would’ve killed my dad and Gentle Dove would’ve died when her appendix ruptured. Nope. I’m not changing a thing. Life is good.

Of the other characters in your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?

That’s easy. Sheriff Wayne Thompson thinks he’s king of the heap. We have a love-hate relationship. He loves all women, literally, and I put up with him as my boss. He’s also the only person that would hire me when I was between a rock and a hard place. I haven’t had a lot of jobs or bosses before, but I’m fairly certain everyone will agree it’s difficult to work with a narcissist.

Of the other characters in your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why?

Anyone with good hair! My @#$! author had all my hair turn white as a sign of the power I now wield. That may seem clever to her, but it’s no fun to be 28 years old and walking around with snowy white hair. I might as well be wearing big placards, front and back, that proclaim me as a “full-fledged psychic.”

Tell us a little something about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog?

Maggie loves reading, writing, photography, yoga, beachcombing, and spending time with friends and family. Readers will find a wealth of information about Maggie Toussaint at her website and blog. 

What's next for you?

Though Book 6, Dreamed It, just released in August, Maggie is polishing up the final book in the series, All Done With It, will release early next fall. After that, Maggie assures me that my life will mostly be my own with a few cases shared through short stories and novellas. I’ll miss the publicity—Not! As you’ll see in the final installment of my series, I have turned a new corner in my life and have garnered respect from the living and dead alike. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

Dreamed It

A Dreamwalker Mystery, Book 6

When a Jane Doe is found in a suitcase, amateur sleuth Baxley Powell tries to identify the woman and her killer. A local woman vanishes, and Baxley fears the kidnapped woman will end up in a suitcase. Using normal and paranormal senses, Baxley matches wits with a cunning adversary.

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