1--What is the title of your latest release?
A GRIM REAPER’S GUIDE TO CATCHING A KILLER
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A pregnant grim reaper has to solve a murder.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I knew I wanted this book to have a magical realism feel to it, and since the premise itself is somewhat lacking in the realism department, I felt like a generic American town would best lend itself to a grounded setting.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely, though I would be dropping subtle hints to go to therapy every hang,
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Messy, insecure, big-hearted
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Timelines are hard! I can’t elaborate too much without giving away the ending, but there’s a reason I went with writing and stay far away from numbers when I can.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I do a bit of both. Often, I’ll clean things a bit up as I go, just the bits that jump out at and/or annoy me, and then I’ll leave a draft alone for about a month or so and come back to it with fresh eyes.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Peanut butter. In savory dishes, in sweet dishes, directly from the jar while I stand in front of the cupboard and question all my life choices. It’s a very versatile food.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
Unfortunately for my bank balance, my writing space is a cafe. I have three in town that I tend to rotate between, and the baristas all know me by name (and in some cases by order) at this point.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Overall, it’s got to be Jane Austen. That’s probably cliche to say, but the humor in her works stands the test of time, and that’s quite the feat!
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
So many! But if I had to narrow it down, John Connolly’s The Book of Lost Things was definitely the gift that kept on giving for me. My dad and I bonded hard over it when I was a teen, and it showed me that even the most fantastical concepts could be approached with a lot of heart and realism.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
This didn’t happen in a conventional way for me. I did the traditional route, submitting to agents and waiting on responses that either never came or weren’t what I hoped for, when a friend sent me the link to Berkley’s first open call for submissions. I submitted on a whim, figured that was the last I’d hear of that, and continued about my life. Fast forward a year, I’d just been dumped, was struggling to get my acting career going, and generally kind of forgot (!!!) about submitting to Berkley. So when an email from Penguin Random House appeared in my inbox, I was like, ‘nice try, Spammy Spamerson.’ Thank goodness I eventually smartened up and realized it was the real deal. It was an email from my now-editor, Tracy Bernstein, requesting the full manuscript. A short while later we had a zoom meeting where I admired her wallpaper and tried not to nervous-barf on camera, and then she made the offer. It still feels incredibly surreal!
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I love a spooky, ghosty mystery, the darker and more gothic in tone the better.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Answer: This is a hard one. If I was trying to be classy, I’d go with Casablanca, which I do truly love with all my heart. But if we’re talking down-and-dirty watch-on-repeat, that award goes to either The Mummy or Ever After.
15--What is your favorite season?
Answer: Everything that isn’t winter.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Answer: With my loved ones. I honestly don’t care what we’re doing as long as I’m surrounded by the people who matter most to me.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Answer: It’s been running for a while, but the TV show Taskmaster is an absolute delight. It hasn’t made it as big over here (it’s from the UK) but it’s very much a show made of pure joy that I recommend to everyone.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Answer: Indian, hands down.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Answer: Hike or otherwise spend time in nature, hang with my friends and with animals (and with my friends who are animals), fantasize about living in Scotland.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
Answer: I’m currently working on the second book in the S.C.Y.T.H.E. mystery series, which will hopefully be making its way into the world just in time for next spooky season!
Sometimes it takes working with the dead to start living.
Kathy Valence is forty-two, mid-divorce, and pregnant with her ex's baby. She's also a modern-day grim reaper employed by S.C.Y.T.H.E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences), but frankly that's the easiest part of her life right now. Or at least it was, until her latest client's soul goes missing.
When she finally tracks down seventeen-year-old Conner Ortiz, he angrily denies he died of natural causes, despite what his file says. He insists that someone at S.C.Y.T.H.E. murdered him, and he demands Kathy find out who and why.
Kathy has only forty-five days to figure out what happened to Conner and help him move on before the boy's soul is doomed to roam the Earth as a ghost forever. She’s forced to rely on the help of her retired mentor, her almost ex-husband—and some sneaky moves by Conner himself. This is the wildest case of her career. . .and one wrong move could cost Kathy her job, not to mention her life.
Paranormal | Fantasy | Humor [Berkley, On Sale: October 1, 2024, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593815793 / eISBN: 9780593815809]
Maxie Dara is from a tiny, Hallmark movie-style town in Ontario, Canada where she works as a writer and actress, because rejection-heavy careers are her passion. She is also a two- time award- winning playwright. Maxie knew she wanted to be a writer at the age of seven, when she first fell in love with the written word. She also wanted to be a mermaid but has mostly focused on the writing side of things.
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