Interview with Author K.C. Sprayberry

My guest today is K.C. Sprayberry.  Hello!  Welcome back to Writing in the Modern Age!  It’s such a pleasure to have you here again.

Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book? When did it come out? Where can we get it?

 

Ghosties: Trouble to the Max is the first full-length novel in the Ghosties series. This is the story of why Hailey and Sly have to sneak around to take down Limbo in The Ghost Catcher. This story follows Hailey Hatmaker when she’s the leader of the intrepid, won’t ever give up until they conquer ghost Ghosties. They’re bad, they’re in charge, and they won’t let a little thing like the obstacles thrown up by the adults in their lives stop them from getting the job done. 

Ghosties: Trouble to the Max came out on October 30, 2015 and is available through Amazon and CreateSpace. 

 

Great!

Is there anything specific that inspired you to write Ghosties: Trouble to the Max?

I live in a small Southern town that has many inexplicable events. Are they paranormal or just the product of everyone knowing everyone else, what their families have done for decades, and tales of the improbable? Probably a little of both. Definitely the feeling I had when visiting my youngest son’s sixth grade classroom for the first time. There was an eeriness to the buildings, a sense of someone watching you, the feeling that there was a lot more to tell than the locals would admit. Hailey Hatmaker jumped into my head as a cool name for a main character, a teen with a penchant for hats and hunting down ghosts.  

Sounds awesome!

If the book was made into a film, who would you cast in the starring roles?

Well, let’s see. I’m going with Tiffany Thornton for Hailey. She has the looks and more importantly, the attitude to be the leader of this group of ghost hunters.

For Sly, I’ve always liked Emma Roberts. She is very Sly. Attitude and looks, a sensation she’d love playing a reluctant teen model who’d rather be ghost hunting.

Annie is the quiet, shy Ghostie, who is the best around when it comes to wielding the salt and lemon infused weapons where they have to cross the streams to conquer their ghosts. I see Ariana Grande and think Annie. 

Tink is the guy dressed in black who swears he’s not Goth or Emo, just likes black. Kind of like Logan Lerman. Both definitely have the same outlook on life.

Freddie is the guy who’d rather go through than over or around an obstacle. Nothing stops him… much. I see Jake T. Austin playing Freddie and enjoying it.

Great picks! That's quite a cast! 

 

 

So...let's tackle some general questions.
 
When reading, do you prefer traditional printed books or ebooks?  And why?

 

I’m a hybrid. Some books I have to hold in my hand and turn the page. Others? They’re fun as an ebook.  

 

Great!  So, what are you reading now?

 

Deity by an old friend, Theresa Danley. I’m loving her archaeological thriller series of books. A new interest for me I hope to expand on in the future.

Okay. Let's try another question.

 

When you get an idea for a book, what comes first usually? Dialogue, the characters, a specific scene?  Or do you plot it out before you write?

 

The characters rule. Oh, a specific scene might try to edge into the action, but those characters will always jump in without warning and start bossing me around.  

 

Oh, I certainly know the feeling!  ;)

So, what do you have planned next, K.C.? Or is that a secret?

 

Next? Uh… well… there are a dozen projects on the burner now. A short list would be Moon Base Delta Tango (sci-fi short), The Edge of Pain and Glory (sci-fi novel), Canoples Investigations books 3 & 4, Paradox Lost books 2 & 3, possibly outlining a fourth soon, Lost & Scared 2, Deadly Trust (romantic suspense)—and that’s just the ones I can think of right now.

And that long-winded list tells us exactly how prolific our friend K.C. Sprayberry really is.

 

So, K.C...is there anything you'd like to add? Any advice for new writers?

 

Never give up. Don’t ever stop writing. Don’t ever stop searching for the perfect publisher. Those stories are there for a reason, so tell them, find an outlet, and always seek out the next adventure.

That's great advice! Thank you!  :)

Readers, here is the blurb for Ghosties: Trouble to the Max.

 

 

Ghosts are popping up all over Landry. The town is being overrun and no one knows why—least of all Hailey Hatmaker and her Ghosties crew. Only none of these ghosts are talking. They’re terrified of something that only Hailey and her team can figure out. Something which could prove disastrous for them all.

And here is an excerpt.

 

It felt so good to discover ghostly action in Landry once again. The Ghosties had just finished a dry spell like no other we had ever seen. We’d just gone through five months with nary a ghost to bother us. No goo oozing out of heating vents, or papers flying out of hands to plaster against the ceiling.

The call this morning had me, the fantastic, fabulous Hailey Hatmaker, gathering my group together lickety-split. We met up on the run, and raced all the way over to Bank of Landry. Once there, we had almost danced with glee at what greeted us. That was an hour ago. This particular ghost was proving far more difficult to exterminate than we had anticipated.

We could have got harsh long ago. I grinned. I sure don’t want this to end any time soon. I’m having fun again.

“You won’t stick around. No ghost has ever ignored me.”

I planted my pink and white beret more firmly on my head and darted forward. When I put on white jeans and a peppermint pink t-shirt this morning, I never expected an emergency call.

Nope, I wasn’t a cop, a firefighter, or even a paramedic. I had my thirteenth birthday just before Halloween and started dealing with ghosts nine years ago. Me and my fellow Ghosties had helped Landry, Georgia deal with weird hauntings, and this one proved we had a lot more ghostbusting to do in the future.

“Banks don’t give out free samples,” I yelled. “Tell me who you are, and what you want.”

That should have worked, except for one little thing. The wispy man behind the counter wearing a baggy black coat, vest, and pants with a white shirt ignored me. With a frantic expression and a bobble of his checkered bow tie as he swallowed, he tossed more money in the air. It was the worst thing to do when the Ghosties carried weapons that brought instant obedience from the other ghosts we had encountered.

I signaled the other Ghosties over. They gathered in a circle, two on each side of me.

“Did you get the dirt?” I asked.

“The manager said he worked here in 1912,” Annie Knott said. “He went bonkers after the Titanic sank.”

She tucked one side of her chin length, light red hair behind an ear after delivering the current info in a clipped voice. Her green eyes darted from side to side when the ghost cackled.

“Did he do this when it happened?” Freddie Conders asked.

“Of course,” she replied. “I’m pretty sure that he won’t quit because we asked nice. Lemon juice and salt?”

“No other way to handle it.” I pulled out a spritzer from a fanny pack. “Sly, Freddie, take the left. Annie, you’re in the middle. Tink and I will handle the right. Don’t miss.”

Sylvia ‘Sly’ Cherboom broke into giggles while Tinker ‘Tink’ Kacklin groaned. None of the others ever lost a chance to remind him about the day he doused one of our sworn enemies. He still claimed that it was an accident.

Like the rest of us wouldn’t have loved to cover Suzie in lemon juice and salt. Tink really needs to explain that better than he has.

“Places,” I said.

Tink held up a salt sprayer, a baby bottle with the tip of the nipple sliced off. I stood beside him with a spritzer filled to the brim with lemon juice. Annie faced our target. She had a weapon in each hand since she was such a great shot. Sly and Freddie hauled out their containers and skidded to their position.

“One last chance,” I said to the spook. “Leave. Don’t come back.”

The ghost tossed a bundle of hundreds into the air. The Ghosties fired. Our target sizzled and howled before vanishing.

What a fun teaser! Thank you for visiting us on Writing in the Modern Age, K.C.! :)

 

Readers, check out this great book by K.C. Sprayberry!

 

 

Purchase Links:

Universal Amazon Link:  http://bookgoodies.com/a/B016004VKS

CreateSpace:  https://www.createspace.com/5772793

Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/qphwGt1suyc

Author Bio

 

Born and raised in Southern California’s Los Angeles basin, K.C. Sprayberry spent years traveling the United States and Europe while in the Air Force before settling in Northwest Georgia. A new empty nester with her husband of more than twenty years, she spends her days figuring out new ways to torment her characters and coming up with innovative tales from the South and beyond.

She’s a multi-genre author who comes up with ideas from the strangest sources. Some of her short stories have appeared in anthologies, others in magazines. Three of her books (Softly Say Goodbye, Who Am I?, and Mama’s Advice) are Amazon bestsellers. Her other books are: Take Chances, Where U @, The Wrong One, Pony Dreams, Evil Eyes, Inits, Canoples Investigations Tackles Space Pirates, The Call Chronicles 1: The Griswold Gang, The Curse of Grungy Gulley, Paradox Lost: Their Path, Canoples Investigations Versus Spacers Rule and Starlight. Additionally, she has shorts available on Amazon: Grace, Secret From the Flames, Family Curse … Times Two, Right Wrong Nothing In Between, and The Ghost Catcher.

 

Author Links:  
  
Website:  http://www.kcsprayberry.com/ 
Blog:  http://outofcontrolcharacters.blogspot.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/KC-Sprayberry/331150236901202
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/kcsowriter
Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.com/KC%20Sprayberry/e/B005DI1YOU/

Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/kcsprayberry/
Google+:  https://plus.google.com/+KcSprayberry/posts

Authorgraph:  http://www.authorgraph.com/authors/kcsowriter

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5011219.K_C_Sprayberry

 

K.C.'s Books: 

 

Coming Soon:

 

 

 

 

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