Interview with Maureen Johnson for The Hand on The Wall

The Hand on the Wall (Truly Devious #3)

by Maureen Johnson
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: January 21st 2020

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller

Synopsis:

New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson delivers the witty and pulse-pounding conclusion to the Truly Devious series as Stevie Bell solves the mystery that has haunted Ellingham Academy for over 75 years.

Ellingham Academy must be cursed. Three people are now dead. One, a victim of either a prank gone wrong or a murder. Another, dead by misadventure. And now, an accident in Burlington has claimed another life. All three in the wrong place at the wrong time. All at the exact moment of Stevie’s greatest triumph . . .

She knows who Truly Devious is. She’s solved it. The greatest case of the century.

At least, she thinks she has. With this latest tragedy, it’s hard to concentrate on the past. Not only has someone died in town, but David disappeared of his own free will and is up to something. Stevie is sure that somehow—somehow—all these things connect. The three deaths in the present. The deaths in the past. The missing Alice Ellingham and the missing David Eastman. Somewhere in this place of riddles and puzzles there must be answers.

Then another accident occurs as a massive storm heads toward Vermont. This is too much for the parents and administrators. Ellingham Academy is evacuated. Obviously, it’s time for Stevie to do something stupid. It’s time to stay on the mountain and face the storm—and a murderer.

In the tantalizing finale to the Truly Devious trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson expertly tangles her dual narrative threads and ignites an explosive end for all who’ve walked through Ellingham Academy.

Can you briefly describe the TRULY DEVIOUS series and its characters, what’s happening on THE HAND ON THE WALL?

Truly Devious is about Stevie Bell, a true-crime aficionado who wants to be a detective. She’s come to Ellingham Academy, which is one of America’s most prestigious and unusual schools, with the hopes of solving the 1936 kidnapping of the founder’s wife and daughter. The kidnappers sent a mocking riddle signed Truly, Devious. This is an extremely famous case, considered the crime of the century, so the idea that a high school student is going to solve it eighty years later seems absurd to many. While Stevie is at her new school, some strange things happen, including an updated version of the Truly Devious letter being projected on to her wall at night. When a fellow student dies in a freak accident, Stevie is convinced it is murder and sets out on her own investigation that combines past and present. As this investigation continues over the books, Stevie will uncover things that have been buried for many decades, and others will die. In The Hand on the Wall, Stevie discovers how past and present are intertwined, and everything will come to an explosive conclusion up on the mountain.

Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?

Possibly Nate, the writer who is haunted by the fact that everyone wants him to finish his second book. For reasons.

How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere?

The story comes out of my love of mystery and out of some classic crime cases. I wanted to take some of the things I love and have loved about many mystery novels—like the remote mansion as both setting and character, the amateur detective, the analogue clues that you can touch and see. I wanted to make a proper game that readers could play along with.

If you could choose one song to describe each books in the series, which ones would it be?

For Truly Devious, Digital Witness by St. Vincent 

For The Vanishing Stair, Mistake by Fiona Apple

For The Hand on the Wall, let’s go with Bad Guy, because we are going to find out WHODUNNIT.

From the TRULY DEVIOUS series, which book...

A. Has your favourite cover?

I truthfully like them all, but maybe The Hand on the Wall. I really like green.

B. Was the most difficult to write?

The Vanishing Stair. The middle is always hardest for me.

If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?

I get asked this a lot, and I genuinely have no idea. It’s just not how I think.

What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?

Ideally, you’ll want to be snowed in for the last book, and you’ll want something hot to drink. Hot chocolate? Something stronger? 

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish THE HAND ON THE WALL?

There is a giant world of classic mysteries out there. The British Library Crime Classics series is amazing—all of these great mysteries from the 30s and 40s that fell out of print, they’ve brought them back. Get your country house murder on!

What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a book?

Starting. Or finishing. And that middle bit.

Maureen Johnson is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of several YA novels, including 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Suite Scarlett, The Name of the Star, and Truly Devious. She has also done collaborative works, such as Let It Snow (with John Green and Lauren Myracle), and The Bane Chronicles (with Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan). Her work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, Buzzfeed, and The Guardian, and she has also served as a scriptwriter for EA Games. She has an MFA in Writing from Columbia University and lives in New York City.

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Book Blitz + Giveaway: Abe: Four In Hand (Ties of Steel #1) by M.J. Fields

Abe: Four In Hand (Ties of Steel #1)
by M.J. Fields
Published by: Swoon Romance
Publication date: October 28th 2014
Genres: Adult, Erotica, Romance

Synopsis:

Twenty-six-year-old Abraham O’Donnell is the CFO of Steel Inc. After working tirelessly for over a year, he takes a week off to enjoy the sand, surf, and bikini-clad women of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. After all, he’s earned it.

When a brief interlude with a flight attendant in her hotel room goes awry, Abe heads to a rental home with a private beach. While floating naked in the pool, he learns a guest house on the property is also occupied. So much for rest and relaxation. Ever the gentleman, Abe tries to make the most of his misfortune, and offers to make the beauties staying on the property some dinner.

It’s senior year and Nikolette (Nikki) Bassett is a few days late for her last college Spring Break with her four best girlfriends. When she arrives, all these ladies can talk about is the guy next door. And once Nikki gets a look at him, she knows what they mean. Fresh from an afternoon of surfing, Nikki can hardly believe her eyes when Abe approaches. The sexual tension and banter between the two of them leads to steamy hot sex on the Atlantic shore.

It’s only a Spring Break fling, and both Abe and Nikki know better than to make it out to be more than that. Or do they? Abe’s calm demeanor changes once he has a taste of Nikki. That night, no location is safe. He takes her on the beach and ravages her in his bed. But despite their mind-blowing sex, Abe’s taste for ultimate control in the bedroom makes Nikki uneasy. Nikki’s just getting over a heartbreak and she can’t afford to let Abe in. So, she pushes aside her budding feelings, and leaves Florida and Abe behind without a backwards glance.

Not used to being dumped and afraid to admit how much it hurts, Abe cuts his loses and heads back to Steel Inc., resume his role at the top of Steel Inc., pouring his heart and soul into his work. But Nikki Moore won’t be forgotten so easily. Her taste, scent, voice, the noises she made when he brought her to ecstasy, the way she tasted on his tongue, and felt under his touch haunts him. Always fighting for control, Abe tries to push Nikki far into the back of his mind, as he fucks the rented women he had grown accustom to.

But Karma is a bitch, and Abe blames her for Nikki leaving him the way she did. So when Nikki shows up unexpectedly, Abe welcomes Karma with open arms. Control has left the building and safety of one’s heart is no longer strong enough to stop what happens next.

ABE, is the first in the TIES OF STEEL series from bestselling erotica author MJ Fields. It is a spin-off of the bestselling MEN OF STEEL series featuring the Steel brothers: Jase, Cyrus, Zandor and Xavier.

by M.J. Fields

The Shock of Lightning by Oasis

I Don’t Care by Fall Out Boy

Control by Puddle of Mudd

Heartless by Call Us Forgotten

Let it Rock by Kevin Rudolph

Thrift Shop by Macklemore

Crazy Bitch by Buckcherry

Fireball by Pitbull

Talk Dirty to Me by Jason Derulo

Trumpets by Jason Derulo

Down With The Sickness by Disturbed

Higher Ground by Red Hot Chili Peppers

MJ Fields's love of writing was in full swing by age eight. Together with her cousins, she wrote a newsletter and they sold it to family members. She self-published her first New Adult romance in January 2013. Today, she has completed four self-published series, The Love series, The Wrapped series, The Burning Souls series, and The Men of Steel series. The Norfolk series has one title self-published so far and Ties of Steel, which was acquired by Swoon Romance in June 2014. Book 1 ABE releases October 28, 2014. MJ is a bestselling erotica author and former small business owner, who recently closed the business so she could write full time.

MJ lives in central New York, surrounded by family and friends. Her house is full of pets, friends, and noise ninety percent of the time, and she would have it no other way.

Win a signed paperback of ABE and Swoon Romance bracelet and Sharpie (INT)

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Cover Reveal + Giveaway: Cephrael's Hand (A Pattern of Shadow & Light #1) by Melissa McPhail

Are you ready for the reveal of the new Cephrael’s Hand cover? Because here it is! What do you think? Does it do a good job conveying the fantasy genre? Is it a book you’d be attracted to in the store? Does it make you want to learn more?

If you’d like to see the new covers for books 2 and 3 in the series stop bywww.MelissaMcPhail.com, and check them out.

Guess what else? The author is offering a special giveaway as part of this grand event. Check out the Rafflecopter form below (it’s also available at www.novelpublicity.com/cephrael-cover-reveal/) to find out how you can win a Kindle Fire. Hooray!

Oh, and don’t miss learning more about Cephrael’s Hand and where you can pick up a copy—that’s below too.

Cephrael's Hand (A Pattern of Shadow & Light #1)
by Melissa McPhail
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Release Date: September 22nd 2010

Synopsis:

"All things are composed of patterns..." And within the pattern of the realm of Alorin, three strands must cross: In Alorin three hundred years after the genocidal Adept Wars, the realm is dying, and the blessed Adept race dies with it. One man holds the secret to reverting this decline: Bjorn van Gelderan, a dangerous and enigmatic man whose shocking betrayal three centuries past earned him a traitor's brand. It is the Adept Vestal Raine D'Lacourte's mission to learn what Bjorn knows in the hope of salvaging his race. But first he'll have to find him. 

In the kingdom of Dannym the young Prince Ean val Lorian faces a tenuous future as the last living heir to the coveted Eagle Throne. When his blood-brother is slain during a failed assassination, Ean embarks on a desperate hunt for the man responsible. Yet his advisors have their own agendas, and his quest for vengeance leads him ever deeper into a sinuous plot masterminded by a mysterious and powerful man, the one they call First Lord. 

In the Nadori desert tormented by the missing pieces of his life, a soldier named Trell heads off to uncover the truth of his shadowed past. But when disaster places him in the debt of Wildlings sworn to the First Lord, Trell begins to suspect a deadlier, darker secret motivating them. Honor-bound to serve the First Lord in return for his life, Trell continues on his appointed path, yet each day unveils new and stranger secrets that eventually call into question everything he knows.

by Melissa McPhail

Having been a fantasy reader for more years than any southern-bred lady should ever admit, I’ve encountered some excellent fantasy novels. Over the decades, I’ve watched many wonderful books rise to a height of popularity, enjoy the thrill of riding that wave of reader buzz, and then bob away to take their place on a shelf with others of like fame. With so many outstanding fantasies rising and ebbing across the years, it’s easy for newer readers to overlook some classics. Since I’ve been swimming this sea for a while, I thought I would share a few favorites you might’ve missed.

All of these novels have inspired my work in some important way.

Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber

“Amber is the one true realm, casting infinite shadows of itself.” Only the royal family of Amber have the innate talent to navigate the shadow realms of Amber, of which Earth is one such shadow. At the beginning of Nine Princes in Amber, the first book in the series, Corwin wakes in a hospital with no memory of his identity. As he learns that he’s a prince of the royal family of Amber, so also is he pulled back into his brothers’ and sisters’ perpetual treacherous vies for their father’s abandoned throne.

Corwin moves from one near-catastrophe to another, each one often devised by a different family member, but his wit and his wry, cynical view make all of his misadventures—and indeed, this series as a whole—a joy to read.

The patterning described in my series is nothing like the pattern the royal family of Amber must walk in order to manipulate the shadow realms of Amber, yet Zelazny’s novels did provide a spark of inspiration for my own realm of Alorin, where “all things are formed of patterns.”

Anne McCaffrey’s The Rowan

The Rowan is a beautiful blending of science fiction and fantasy. The story follows The Rowan’s life from a traumatic disaster on a far colonized planet through her training as a telepathic and telekinetic adept with a powerful gift. Adepts such as The Rowan form the foundation of space travel in McCaffrey’s tale, which is part adventure, part coming of age, and part love-story. Ultimately, in trying to save her true love, The Rowan births a gift that may be the key to saving all of humanity.

The way McCaffrey described The Rowan made an indelible impression on me. The Rowan provided the early inspiration for the Healer Alyneri in my series.

C.S. Friedman’s Coldfire Trilogy

This is one of those series that never really loses that popularity wave. But in case you missed hearing about it the last time it crested, the Coldfire Trilogy, starting with Black Sun Rising, is a must.

Gerald Tarrant is one of the most memorable anti-heroes ever written. More admirable still when you realize Friedman wrote him long before Mark Lawrence made the villainous blackguard interesting. In Gerald Tarrant, Friedman presents a man of cold arrogance and bold evil—and makes you fall in love with him, hook, line and sinker.

The artful way she crafted Tarrant inspired me to explore virtue and vice in my own story’s cast of personalities. Some of my more alarmingly compelling characters have Gerald Tarrant as their distant grandsire.

Melissa McPhail is a classically trained pianist, violinist and composer, a Vinyasa yoga instructor, an avid Fantasy reader, and the author of the award-winning epic fantasy series A Pattern of Shadow & Light. 

A long-time student of philosophy, she is passionate about the Fantasy genre because of its inherent philosophical explorations. 

An Atlanta, Georgia native, Ms. McPhail now lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, their twin daughters and two very large cats.

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