Meet Apryl Baker, author of 'The Ghost Files'

Meet my Limitless Publishing teammate Apryl Baker, author of The Ghost Files.  And pick up her scary book, just in time for Halloween. Here's the skinny:

Synopsis:

Available on Amazon

Cherry blossom lipstick: check

Smokey eyes: check

Skinny jeans: check

Dead kid in the mirror: check

For sixteen year old Mattie Hathaway, this is her normal everyday routine. She’s been able to see ghosts since her mother tried to murder her when she was five years old. No way does she want anyone to know she can talk to spooks. Being a foster kid is hard enough without being labeled a freak, too.

Normally, she just ignores the ghosts and they go away. That is until she sees the ghost of her foster sister… Sally.

Everyone thinks Sally’s just another runaway, but Mattie knows the truth — she’s dead. Murdered. Mattie feels like she has to help Sally, but she can’t do it alone. Against her better judgment, she teams up with a young policeman, Officer Dan, and together they set out to discover the real truth behind Sally’s disappearance.

Only to find out she’s dealing with a much bigger problem, a serial killer, and she might be the next victim…

Will Mattie be able to find out the truth before the killer finds her?

Q & A with Apryl

    Q.  Who or what is your inspiration?

  A. I’m a horror movie junkie and that bled over into horror novels.  My brother and I grew up on the old black and white monster movies marathons. We graduated John Carpenter’s Halloween and Wes Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street.  Horror movies today are all about the graphics and CGI instead of the actual horror element. John Carpenter could take a branch waving on the screen and make you tense up in preparation for what was coming. The modern day horror movies lack that and I miss it horribly, so I try to incorporate the actual scare factor in my work. 

The exception to the modern horror movie is The Ring.  That was a freaky scary movie.

Horror novels…It by Stephen King.  Let’s face it, there isn’t a person alive who doesn’t know what movie the line “We all float down here” comes from.  Enough said there.

I’m also an old noir mystery fan.  No matter what I start out writing, it ends up a mystery of some sort or another and I blame it all on those types of books.  I love a good mystery that actually creates more questions for every question answered right up until the bitter end. That is a huge element in everything I write as well.

Q. Any tips for new writers 

       A. Never give up and never let the rejections get the best of you.  It’s hard, I know.  I almost quit writing at one point because I had so many rejection letters, but I am so glad I didn’t.  Now, I have a publisher, an agent, and a fan base that I am extremely grateful for.

Q.   Are there scenes or people in your book that you took from your real life?

       A. I think everything I write comes from one aspect or another in my life. I grew up in a small town.  It is so tiny, it's barely a bleep, but it instilled in me a lot of values and appreciation of friends, family and neighbors.  People come together and help each other. You don’t get that in the big cities. Most of my work is set in a small town setting because of that.  It is what I know and I love.

People inspire me every day.  I keep a notebook with me all the time so I can write stuff down when I see someone do something silly or if I think the expression on their faces tells a certain story.  I write it down then and there so I don’t forget what I was thinking when I try to come back to it later.

Q.  If your book was made into a movie, who would you like to see play your characters?

       A. My Wattpad crew has some very strong opinions on this, but here goes.

Mattie:  Jane Levey

Officer Dan:  Liam Hemsworth

Eric:  Tyler Posey

Mrs. Olson:  Kathy Bates

Q.  Do you use a playlist while you write and what is on it?

      A. I have a playlist for all my books.

 This is the one for The Ghost Files:

My Song Knows What You Did In The Dark by Fall Out Boy

Bring Me Back To Life by Evavescence

You Belong To Me by Taylor Swift

It Will Rain by Bruno Mars

I Waited For You by Valora

Slow Decay by Dashboard Confessional

Heart Attack by Demi Lovato

Angels On The Moon by Thriving Ivory

Give In To Me by Garret Hedlund and Leighton Meester

Wanted by Hunter Hayes

Q.  In a zombie apocalypse, what would be your weapon of choice?

       A. Hmm, so many choices…not a gun.  You’d run out of bullets to fast.  I think I’d go for a good old fashioned axe or machete.  Knives are swell.

      Pick your favorite:

Apple or Droid:  Droid, duh! Apple is limited and my Droid can do anything!

Coffee or Tea: coffee of course!

Ebook or paperback:  paperback.  I love the smell of books and libraries. There is just something about holding a book in your hand you can’t get from an electronic device.

Holiday?   Halloween is MY holiday.  I absolutely adore it even more than Christmas.  My house is always the scariest on the block and the kids start coming by to check out the decorations on Oct.1.Takes me about two weeks to get everything put together right.

Connect with Apryl on Twitter and on Facebook.