Ghost for Rent by Penny Lockwood

This middle grade, paranormal, ghost story is aimed at youth in grades four to six. It is approximately 13,280 words, 10 chapters, and 65 pages long. The story begins when eleven year old Wendy Wiles learns her parents are planning to get divorced. Forced to leave her beloved city home for a cheaper country place, Wendy, her mother, and her twelve year old brother move to rural Warren, Oregon.

On move-in day, Wendy meets a neighbor girl who tells her their quaint country home is haunted. Events proceed quickly as Wendy, her new friend, Jennifer, and Wendy’s brother, Mike, see ghostly figures dancing in the woods. Despite Mom’s claims that “there’s no such thing as ghosts,” paranormal events continue to occur in the Wiles’ home. Meanwhile her brother Mike, arch-tease, continues to torment Wendy, claiming he’s causing the unusual happenings.

Wendy searches through library records to get to the bottom of the mystery. Finally with Jennifer’s help, Wendy begins to unravel the truth. At last even Mike can no longer disbelieve and decides to aid Wendy in her search. By the end of the story, the three young sleuths have uncovered an accidental death, a suicide and a murder.

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Interview with Penny Lockwood:

1. Why did you write this book?

I actually wrote it as a challenge to myself. Previously, all my material was in the form of non-fiction articles and adult short stories for magazines. My daughter,who was still in middle school when I wrote it, had insisted I wasn't an author because I didn't have a book published. Of course, I had to write a book. I wrote this particular book because I have wanted to write children's stories for a long time. There are a lot of ghost sightings in our area and one of the scenes in the story had been described to me by a friend who experienced the incident. It seemed like a natural story to write. The odd thing is when I was a child, one of my first written stories was "Patty and the Country Ghost." :-)

2. What was hardest to write about this book?

Writing a book was hard for me in general. I am used to writing short stories which are quick, to the point, and don't have a lot of "extra" meat in them. Filling up
a whole novel with description, action, extra characters, etc. took a lot of effort.

3. What did you enjoy writing the most?

I loved coming up with the different ways the ghosts communicated with Wendy, my main character. I one of those people who believe in ghosts. I think that spirits can be "stuck" between planes of existence when something is left unsettled in
the "real" world. I also liked making Wendy a strong female character who won't give in even when the adults in her life are telling her ghosts aren't real.

4. What do you hope folks will get from this book?

Mostly, I hope that children will be entertained. That said, I also would like them to realize that families have problems, but they can be worked through.
Big brothers can be a pain, but they are also there for their siblings when they need to be. Finally, moving from someplace you love isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes you can make new friends and have great adventures.

5. What's next for you?

I am working on a sequel to Ghost for Rent. I hope to have it finished within the year. I've also got a picture book which is in a rewrite stage. Finally, I do a lot of article writing - primarily writing tips, parenting tips, and teen self-help. Lately, I've also done some short stories and articles for children.

Read Penny's blog at http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.blogspot.com/

An Interview with Cindi Myers

What led you to write "A Soldier Comes Home"?

This book evolved from a collection of newspaper articles I had about our soldiers in Iraq. One set of articles was about soldiers who got 'Dear John' letters from wives and girlfriends while they were overseas. I thought this was so sad and the romantic in me wanted to give them all happy endings! The other set of articles was about Native American soldiers from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and that gave me my subplot. From there my imagination took over .

What was the hardest part of writing this story?

I think the hardest part was trying to do justice to the men and women serving our country in the armed forces, and to their families waiting at home. I didn't want to misrepresent them in any way. I hope I've succeeded in making the characters and their situations realistic.


What was the easiest?

I really fell in love with these characters! They came to life for me and really spoke to me.

What do you hope readers will get from this story?

I hope they'll enjoy the book -- that it will give them hours of entertainment away from their regular lives, and will be a story that resonates for them and one they'll remember. If any of them are going through difficult times in their own lives, I hope my characters will inspire them to have courage and hope.

What's next for you?

I have a lot of exciting things coming up -- In September and October 2008, look for two Blaze titles -- At Her Pleasure and Her Secret Treasure. Both books are deal with the search for, and recovery of, shipwrecked treasure from an infamous female pirate, Passionata. Both take place in the Caribbean, on deserted Passionata's Island, once the stronghold of the Pirate Queen. They're fun, sexy reads.

In December, I have another Superromance, A Man to Rely On, about a woman who returns to her hometown after a sensational trial in which she was acquitted of murdering her basketball superstar husband. She runs into an old friend who's trying to put his life back together after a few missteps. The attraction is instantaneous, but each is wary of repeating past mistakes.

In May 2009 I have a Superromance that has yet to be titled. I'm finishing it up right now and it features a single pregnant mom and a dad who's trying to regain custody of his six-year old daughter. Neither one of them thinks the time is right to get involved with anyone, but of course, love has its own timing.

I've also completed the third book in my Crested Butte series for Harlequin American and am awaiting a publication date for that. So lots of good things on the horizon.

A Soldier Comes Home by Cindi Myers

It takes courage to start over

No one is waiting for him when Captain Ray Hughes returns from his tour of duty. With his soon-to-be ex-wife gone, it's just him and his little boy now creating their own version of a family. Although he faces a lot of uncertainty, Ray is determined to raise his son the best way he knows how.

Chrissie Evans is a complication Ray didn't expect. Almost against his will, he's drawn into a relationship with his widowed neighbor. Chrissie is everything he could desire in a woman and he wants a future with her. But can he promise her what she needs to hear?



Buy it at Amazon.com.