THE HAUNTING TRUTH

THE HAUNTING OF MADDY CLARE

NAL

ISBN: 978-0451235688

Sarah Piper’s lonely, threadbare existence changes when her temporary agency sends her to assist a ghost hunter. Alistair Gellis – rich, handsome, scarred by World War I, and obsessed with ghosts – has been summoned to investigate the spirit of nineteen-year-old Maddy Clare, who is haunting the barn where she committed suicide. Since Maddy hated men in life, it is Sarah’s task to confront her in death.

Soon Sarah is caught up in a desperate struggle. For Maddy’s ghost is real, she’s angry, and she has powers that defy all reason. Can Sarah and Alistair’s assistant, the rough, unsettling Matthew Ryder, discover who Maddy was, where she came from, and what is driving her desire for vengeance – before she destroys them all?

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A SHORT BIO

Simone St. James wrote her first ghost story, about a haunted library, when she was in high school. Unaware that real people actually became writers, she pursued a career behind the scenes in the television business. She lives just outside Toronto, Canada, where she writes in her spare time and lives with her husband and three spoiled cats.

THE HAUNTING TRUTH

ANGI: How often to you get lost in a story?

SIMONE: All the time! I get antsy if I have no reading time. I have a long train commute to my day job, and I’m usually already reading before the train leaves the station. 

ANGI: Is there a playlist you’d recommend for reading your latest release?

SIMONE: Nope. I write in absolute silence. I find it hard to write any other way. The voices in my head hate competition. 

ANGI: What sound or noise do you love?

SIMONE: The sound of rain is, I think, my absolute favorite sound in the world. Thunderstorms, too, followed closely by the sound of waves on a beach. The sound of water is so primal. I even have a recording of rain sounds that I play on my iPod when I feel the need. 

ANGI: What was the first story you remember writing?

SIMONE: It was about a girl who goes on a quest with her pet dragon, and I was nine. It was very, shall we say, influenced by The Hobbit, but I wanted a story about a girl instead of a boy, so I wrote one! 

ANGI: What’s your favorite movie of all time?

SIMONE: Probably the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I have lost count of how many times I’ve read the books, and the films really brought those stories to life. Parts of the film were exactly the way I had pictured the stories and sets in my head. 

ANGI: Be honest, when reading...do you put yourself in the heroine’s role?

SIMONE: Always. Always, always, always. It’s one of the best things about reading – getting to live another woman’s life. I’m a very heroine-centric reader, and my books are centered on the heroine too. 

ANGI: Is writing or story-telling easier for you?

SIMONE: Interesting question! Probably story-telling, because I see so much of it in my head. But writing provides the endless fun of fiddling with the words over and over again until they say exactly what you want them to. 

ANGI: What’s something you’d like to tell your fans?

SIMONE: That this book is a little different. It’s definitely a scary ghost story… but it isn’t too scary, and it definitely isn’t horror. There’s a romance, and I promise it all ends well! 

ANGI’S GOTTA ASK: Please tell us your favorite thing about Alistair Gellis, your hero from THE HAUNTING OF MADDY CLARE.

SIMONE’S GOTTA ANSWER: Ha, I think my favorite thing about Alistair is that he’s only one of the heroes of this book! (And no, it’s not what you think, the book isn’t quite that spicy! But things get rather complicated, which made it fun to write.) Seriously, the thing I love most about Alistair is that he’s pretty much fearless. He goes into these situations, and it just never occurs to him to be afraid. He’s definitely the guy you want with you when you go into a haunted house in the dark… 

DON’T BE HAUNTED! Bookmark where you can find Simone

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UP NEXT

Another ghost story, coming out in March 2013! 

A DRAWING !  AND A DRAWING !

Giving away two copies of The Haunting of Maddy Clare over the course of my release week! Any commenter is automatically entered to win. Check back on Sunday for the winners!

Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only unless specifically mentioned in the post. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants. Winners of drawings are responsible for checking this site in a timely manner. If prizes are not claimed in a timely manner, the author may not have a prize available. Get Lost In A Story cannot be responsible for an author's failure to mail the listed prize. GLIAS does not automatically pass email addresses to guest authors unless the commenter publicly posts their email address.

DON’T FORGET to FOLLOW us on Twitter (#GetLostStories) or LIKE us on Facebook to keep up with all our guest authors and their prizes. Join me next week when I host Elle James, Liz Selvig & Robin Perini. And come back Thursday & Friday when Donnell & Jill feature more of Simone’s THE HAUNTING OF MADDY CLARE. ~Angi

?? QUESTION FOR TODAY ??

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