Quickie with A.J. Locke ~~ Affairs Of The Dead

Today I have author A.J. Locke as a guest on Quickie Wednesday for an Author Spotlight. I just love asking these nosy questions! 

A.J., what is something readers would be surprised to learn about you?

I can speak Japanese on a conversational level and also write it.

 

Konichiwa! My dad was  Navy sailor, so he speaks a little Japanese. My husband was stationed in Japan as well, so he knows a little, too. Me, I just jumble a few words together and I don’t pretend to know what I’m saying, ha If you had to choose between living in a restored farmhouse surrounded by pasture land, a cottage in the English countryside, or a villa in Italy with grape vines as far as the eye could see, what would you choose?

Well all three certainly have their own appeal, but I think I’d go with the cottage in the English countryside.

 

Can you imagine the writing you could get done in a beautiful cottage, with no distractions??? If someone were to tell you, “I’m going to give you an all expense trip to anywhere, but you have to do it tomorrow,” where would you go?

Definitely Japan.

 

Ooohhh, I want to go to Japan as well! I keep telling my husband we are going to visit Japan. It’s not fair that both my dad and my husband have been there, lived there, and I have to watch it on the Travel Channel! If you had to describe your writing in one tagline, what would it be?

‘Everything you’d want in a novel all rolled into one!”

 

LOL. That certainly covers many genres! If an alien were to show up on your doorstep, what would you say to it and what would your reaction be?

I’d tell it that I was another alien and I had adapted the human form in order to blend in. That way it would think we were on the same side and not want to melt my brains or something. Because let’s face it, I doubt an alien would show up on my doorstep for tea!

 

You make a good point… I’m definitely using your strategy if I see an alien in the near future!

 

QUICKIE TIME!!!

 

Fuzzy slippers or tennis shoes?           Fuzzy slippers

 

Salmon or lasagna?    Lasagna

 

Brownie or vanilla cake?        Oh this is a tough one…I’ll go with brownie

 

Hiking or bike riding?             Bike riding

 

Soda or coffee?            I don’t drink much of either, how about water?

 

Paperback or eBook?              I came around to e-books but I will always prefer physical books so paperback all the way!

 

Flying super power or invisibility super power?            Flying!

 

Sexy vampires or sexy wolf-wolf         Can I have them both? Well, if I had to choose I’d go with the sexy were-wolf

 

Where can we find Affairs of the Dead?

 Amazon ~~ Barnes & Noble ~~ All Romance E-books

Can you share a blurb and excerpt from Affairs of the Dead?

 

Help ghosts, stop a thief, and try not to die…

Necromancer Selene Vanream helps ghosts settle their affairs so they can move on. But when breaking the rules gets her in trouble, she’s bumped down to tracking ghosts trying to avoid the afterlife. Ghosts like Ethan Lance, who claims he was kicked out of his body when someone else jumped in. Which might be plausible—if such a thing were possible. And if Micah, Selene’s partner, didn’t pull her into an investigation of brutal murders that lead directly back to Ethan.

But when the whole mess puts Selene’s life in danger, she suddenly has very personal reasons to get Ethan’s body back. Between her uncomfortable relationship with Micah, and problems with her boss, Selene learns just how much trouble it can be when you don’t follow the rules…

Excerpt: 

I was in a strip club trying to help a ghost get laid, which was challenging, but not impossible. It was just extremely taxing on the necromancer extraordinaire (me) who had to channel energy into the ghost to make her corporeal enough to entice one of the stripper boys. Technically what I was doing was illegal, but it was my job to help ghosts settle their affairs so they could move on to eternally ever after, and Julia’s unfinished business was that she’d died a virgin. I’d made it as easy as I could for her by starting at a strip club; if she couldn’t get some here, I wasn’t sure how much lower I could scrape the barrel.

 

Julia’s prolonged virginity was an enigma to me, even though she told me that she’d been waiting for her soul mate. I just didn’t understand why that meant she couldn’t hit up a bar, get drunk, and have a fun, regret-filled weekend that included the walk of shame. At least she’d have been in better shape once soul mate came around.

 

“What do you think about him?” I asked, pointing to one of the three oiled up men who were gyrating for the benefit of all the screaming women. He had blond hair and green eyes, and wasn’t overly muscular. Julia looked at him then quickly looked away. I took that as a sign of approval.

 

“I think this was a bad idea,” she stammered.

 

“This was a fantastic idea,” I said. “And it will work, don’t worry.”

 

“No, I mean, I don’t think I can do this. I waited my whole life for my soul mate and now you want me to just—” she stole another quick look at the stripper, “I don’t think I can do this with some random…stripper man. It’s so indecent.”

 

I rolled my eyes. “Julia, you’re a ghost; you no longer have the option of being discerning. And if you don’t wrap up what’s keeping you around, you run the risk of turning into a monster. Then it’s an even bigger pain in the ass to get rid of you. So let’s call our efforts here at Bump and Moan choice A, and murderous monster choice B. Which choice would you like to make?”

 

“A,” Julia said, but she didn’t sound happy about it. I smiled, and grabbed a couple drinks off the tray of a passing waitress. I set them down in front of Julia.

 

“Drink,” I said. “This will help.”

 

“I’m a ghost,” she said. “I thought I was unable to eat or drink.”

 

“You can feel the effects of the alcohol since you’ll be working off my energy, so drink up. I’ve pegged you as a light weight so I think two drinks will be enough.”

 

“But how is this supposed to help?” she asked, frowning.

“Because its job is to help,” I said.

Connect with A.J. Locke

Blog: http://iqurae.blogspot.com/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/maqueripe

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17226279-affairs-of-the-dead

 

Bio:

A.J. Locke is an author and artist, originally from Trinidad, now residing in New York City. Affairs of the Dead is her debut novel, and other than writing she enjoys reading, drawing, painting, graphic design, and watching too much television.

 

 Thanks for joining me today, A.J., and thanks to anyone who has stopped by to chat with us!