Mystery author Elizabeth Price is back with a new interview! Today we’re chatting about her new paranormal thriller, Haunted Ends 5 – Soul Searcher.
Our prior interview touched on Haunted Ends 3 – Disco Inferno.
During her virtual book tour, Elizabeth will be giving away a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!
Bio:
Elizabeth Price is a native of Southern California. From a young age, she’s enjoyed researching the paranormal, unexplainable, as well as urban myths. This curiosity manifested into her love of mysteries and science fiction – which later led to her career as a writer. In August of 2022, Liminal Books – Between the Lines Publishing released the fifth installment of her popular Haunted Ends novel series. She currently works as a ghostwriter for Fiverr Pro. Elizabeth is a graduate of California State University Fullerton with a bachelor’s degree in Communications. She spends her free time with her husband, Michael, exploring haunted locations and urban myths, daydreaming at the beach, and visiting her favorite mouse-owned theme park.
Welcome back to Reviews and Interviews. Please tell us about your newest release.
On Halloween night, the newly remodeled Juniper Hotel celebrates its grand reopening. That night, the hotel’s new owner, Rocky Rapaport, learns there’s more to the haunted hotel than he bargained for. A dark mystery is hidden within the walls of the old hotel, and it’s up to Rocky, his ghostly partner, Sam, and the Haunted Ends team to save the hotel from demonic destruction.
Meanwhile, the Haunted Ends television show sets off on an RV road trip across the Arizona desert. The cast takes a detour camping trip to Quartzite to explore the mysterious legend of the Red Ghost. After, they continue on to Flagstaff to investigate a haunted hotel with an unusual history.
What inspired you to write this book?
I’ve always enjoyed paranormal stories, especially ones that claim to be authentic. In the past, I would often seek out haunted locations and talk to those who live/work there. There’s usually something exciting or unusual about the site or the ghost(s) who haunt it. The stories are more interesting than the ghosts themselves. In this case, I fell in love with the legend of the Red Ghost – a giant ghost camel that roams the Arizona desert. I’ve spent a lot of time dragging my family around Arizona to research ghost stories, but I kept returning to that one.
Excerpt from Soul Searcher:
It took Sam several minutes floating up and down the aisles of the store before he found Rocky in the luggage department.
“Hey, look, tonight isn’t going to be that bad. You’re not going to need to leave the country, no matter what the others say,” Sam joked.
Rocky chuckled. “Yeah, right. Funny,” he grunted a half-response as he removed umbrellas from hooks on the wall. He opened a clear, bright yellow, smiley face umbrella.
“Too cheerful?” he asked Sam.
“I take it this if for the Halloween party? If so, yes. And you do know it’s bad luck to open an umbrella inside a building?” Sam mentioned.
Rocky closed the umbrella, hanging it on the shelf. “My luck couldn’t be any worse right now.” He began counting the umbrellas in the cart he was using. “Seventeen. I don’t believe we’ll have more guests than that arriving at one time.”
Sam shrugged. “Probably not.”
Rocky hurried to the front of the store to pay. As he sat the umbrellas on the counter, he noticed the same smiley face umbrella among the group. He glanced over to Sam who was floating nearby, perusing the candy bars, and trying not to look suspicious.
The cashier proceeded to ring up the umbrellas. “This is some weather we’re having. Stocking up?” she asked.
“We’re hosting a big party tonight and I don’t want my guests soaked,” Rocky explained.
She took up the umbrellas, smirking when she came across the smiley face one. She held it up in question.
“For a friend,” Rocky returned.
“I take it your friend has a big funny bone?” she asked.
“Well… ah,” Rocky paused, uncertain how to answer the question. “He… used to. Long story.”
“Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere? You’re on TV, aren’t you?” she asked with excitement.
“Well, yes. Haunted Ends. We’re shooting a Halloween show at the Juniper tonight, down the street,” he mentioned.
“$218.72,” she tallied. He handed her a credit card, and she ran it. “Is it true that that old hotel is haunted? I’ve heard rumors,” she asked as she handed back his card.
“Sam, you want to answer her?” he asked, stirring Sam from his bubble gum fantasies.
He floated over to Rocky, setting a pack of gum on the counter. “You wouldn’t happen to have this in wintergreen, would you? I have a serious case of corpse-breath,” he asked.
The cashier’s bottom jaw dropped to her chest.
Rocky gathered his bags of umbrellas. “Yes, it’s haunted,” he returned. “Sam.” He motioned they were leaving.
Sam followed Rocky from the store, not bothering to look at the cashier. He and Rocky had played the same game so many times before, he knew the woman would remain in shock for at least a half-hour. Good thing for her there weren’t many customers in the store.
“It’s a power trip for you, isn’t it?” Sam accused.
“After years…” he quickly opened the van door, slipping inside. He tossed the bags of umbrellas into the back of the van while he adjusted his wet jacket. “Uh.” He flipped the water off the top of his spiky white hair then rung the water from his long ponytail. “Right… yes, it is. After years of being called a freak for seeing ghosts, I can finally have my revenge.”
He turned to the passenger’s seat, noticing Sam watching him. “Let me guess, you want to point out this is one of those times it’s good not to have a body?”
“Actually, I was curious why you bought eighteen umbrellas and didn’t think to use one,” Sam mentioned.
Rocky stared blankly at Sam for a long moment, then glanced at the bags of umbrellas. “Son-of-a-BITCH!”
What’s the next writing project?
I’m currently in the process of multiple personal writing projects, but I’ve decided to stay within the paranormal mystery genre.
What is your biggest challenge when writing a new book? (or the biggest challenge with this book)
Keeping all of my information organized. This is the fifth book in this series, my 12 published novel, and I’ve ghost written many others, so I don’t have the issues with writing a new story as long as I keep good notes.
If your novels require research – please talk about the process. Do you do the research first and then write, while you’re writing, after the novel is complete and you need to fill in the gaps?
I used to be against writing an outline. But, the more books I write, the more I feel outlines are a necessary part of the process. I can tell what information I need and gather it ahead of time with an outline. Occasionally, there’s something I feel needs extra. If it’s just a name, I create a blank with a highlight and continue. But if it’s something more crucial to the plot, it’s all stop until I find that information.
What’s your writing space like? Do you have a particular spot to write where the muse is more active? Please tell us about it.
I don’t have a spot in particular. It can change from day to day. Since the pandemic, my husband has started working from home. He’s on the phone a lot, so I moved out of our home office and into the kitchen/living room so he can have space to work and I can have some quiet time to think. I miss having an office though.
What authors do you enjoy reading within or outside of your genre?
I know this sounds cliché, but I’m a huge Poe fan. I also like Ransom Riggs and Stephen King. Neil Gaimen is awesome too.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers today?
The Red Ghost in Soul Searcher is a real, and very fascinating legend that I highly suggest reading about.
Links:
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Thank you for coming back to Reviews and Interviews!
Thanks for hosting!
Thanks for hosting! The page looks great,
This is right up my alley. Great cover too!
Great excerpt and giveaway. 🙂
Thank you for sharing your interview, bio and book details, I have enjoyed reading about you and your work and I am looking forward to reading Haunted Ends and the other books in this series. Is the series complete now or are their more stories to come?
I haven’t decided. I do have outlines for two more books, so we’ll see what the future holds.
Great cover, this sounds pretty interesting.