What was your life like before your author started pulling your strings?
Much more grounded in everyday reality! My biggest problems were that my newspaper job, writing about architecture and interior design for the Union County Sentinel, had been downsized to part-time, and my relationship with investigative reporter Tom Greiner also had cooled off. But those issues seem tame to me now, compared with what was to come!
What’s the one trait you like most about yourself?
I never thought I was particularly brave, but I’ve been able to keep my head in some pretty hair-raising situations. And I guess I should mention empathy, too, because I’m now a certified “empath.”
What do you like least about yourself?
I’m still not totally comfortable with my psychic abilities, since I only developed them over the past couple of years. In certain environments, such as jails or hospitals, I get overwhelmed by the negative impressions that have accumulated there.
What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you?
In Dark Music, a ghost actually walked through me, which made me nauseous and dizzy. My mentor Gail said those sensations are normal, though, and next time I should just tell the ghost not to do that.
Do you argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about?
I get pretty impatient sometimes with my on-again, off-again boyfriend Tom, but Eileen keeps encouraging me to give him another chance. And he did sort of come to my rescue at the end of Hex, Death & Rock ‘n’ Roll.
What is your greatest fear?
That I’ll come up against some evil, demonic entity that neither Gail nor I know how to handle, and it will either possess me or drive me crazy!
What makes you happy?
Being able to use my abilities to benefit other people. In addition to helping some trapped spirits move on, I’ve also solved a couple of earth-bound murders.
If you could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why?
I wish I’d gotten to at least have a fling with Alan, the rock singer in Hex. He was gorgeous and so was his condo! At least I got to write about his pad for a shelter magazine that paid me well.
Of the other characters in your book, which one bugs you the most? Why? Probably Tom. We do have a lot in common, both being inquisitive, persistent journalists. But he’s got a fear of commitment, then gets jealous if I even look at someone else. He needs to make up his mind!
Of the other characters in your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why?
Sometimes I think if I have to be psychic, I’d like to do it Gail’s way. She’s done a lot of scholarly research, traveled around the world, written books, and has her own weekly cable show. She picks and chooses her cases and generally knows what she’s getting into…much more than I do.
Tell us a little something about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog?
E. F. (Eileen) Watkins also has written paranormal thrillers. Two involved a centuries-old vampire doing remote viewing for the U.S. government in the late 1990s; the others are all stand-alones. Now she writes The Cat Groomer Mysteries for Kensington, which are a bit “cozier” than my tales—at least, no risk of demonic possession. Her website, where you also can find her blog, is at www.efwatkins.com.
What's next for you?
I’m delighted that the Quinn Matthews Haunting Mysteries have just been re-published by Crossroad Press, as both ebooks and trade paperbacks. It remains to be seen whether I will have any more paranormal adventures in the future, or whether I’ll finally get a chance to settle back into a “normal” life. And whether or not I’ll be with Tom in the end!
Dark Music
A Quinn Matthews Haunting Mystery, Book 1
After single journalist Quinn Matthews buys a Victorian house in the suburbs, her efforts to restore the place in true 19th-century style are hampered by strange accidents. She also hears classical piano music and gunshots from no earthly source, and an unstable next-door neighbor accuses her of “stirring up trouble” with her renovations. Finally, Quinn accepts that her dream house is haunted, and to lay the ghosts to rest she must re-investigate the murder of its first owner—a dashing classical pianist whose love life was far from “Victorian.”
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