Author Interview with Terry Segan ~ Spirit in Tow / Paranormal Mystery

Please help me welcome today’s guest, Terry Segan…

Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets?

I grew up in Commack, NY, which is on Long Island. After nine years in Los Angeles, I finally settled in Las Vegas thirty years ago. Between my husband and I we have three grown daughters, two grandsons, and two grandpuppies. Since we live full time in our RV and travel a lot on weekends, we don’t own pets. The benefit of being in an RV Resort—we get to love on everyone else’s pets.

Where did you get the idea for Spirit in Tow?

I’ve always enjoyed paranormal mysteries, and I combined that with my Long Island roots.

 Why did you choose this genre?

Whenever I’ve tried to write a straight-out mystery, the paranormal side of my brain takes over. I wouldn’t describe it as a hostile takeover, but the voices in my head insist on leading the way. I guess I’ve found my calling. My last book, Precious Treasure, involved a ghost with a mystery. The first one, Photographs in Time, featured a couple who sent women of the present back in time to meet their soulmate in a past decade.

What do you love that most people don’t like and wouldn’t understand why you do?

I love living full time in our RV. When my husband and I first moved in seven years ago, we both had to downsize our belongings. The more we let go of things, the easier it became to not be a slave to our ‘stuff.’ This lifestyle isn’t for everyone, but I find it very liberating. Honestly, I really didn’t need 18 pairs of pumps and a box of rubber Smurfs from the eighties, but I kept my standup mixer. How else could I make gingerbread cookies at Christmas?

Do you collect anything?

Yes, travel memories. When I first met my husband, I told him not to give me stuff but to take me places. Adventures together are so much more valuable to me than things sitting in a drawer or on a shelf.

What was your first job?

Working in a bakery—I discovered almond paste and life on this planet has never been the same for me!

What do you want readers to come away with after they read Spirit in Tow?

It’s okay to laugh at yourself and not always take situations so seriously.

What is your favorite quote?

Not all those who wander are lost.

Your most prized material possession? Why?

A silver ring which belonged to my mother. It had been one of her favorites and, like me, she loved to travel. Whenever I wear it while on a trip, it’s as if she’s traveling along with me.

What do your friends and family think of your writing?

They’re very supportive, especially my husband. His goal is to be a chalk outline in one of my novels one day. All I can say is his death will be epic (fictionally speaking, of course)!

What character in your book are you least likely to get along with?

I’d have to say Murphy. He’s a slimy criminal with poor fashion sense and probably couldn’t spell the word ‘monogamy’ let alone practice it. Me, I’ve caught my limit—it’s one.

How did you come up with the title?

I wanted something to fit with the ghost theme as well as relate to the spirit in this first book of the Marni Legend Series.

Your favorite…

Movie – Shirley Valentine

Music – Classic Rock

Place you’ve visited – Stonehenge

Place you’d like to visit – Australia

TV show from childhood – Dark Shadows

TV show from adulthood – Firefly

Food – Seafood

Sports team – Vegas Golden Knights (hockey)

Which do you prefer: Board games/card games or television? – Board Games, especially Scrabble

Thanks so much for joining me today, Terry…now please tell us about your book…

Can she help a lost soul, jumpstart her love life, and dispatch her nagging mother’s spirit?

Marni Legend is about to publish her thirteenth novel. Gus Zuckerman has been hanging around since his death in nineteen-ninety-five. With her deadline looming and her recently deceased mother refusing to move on, can Marni dispatch both spirits and still have time for romance?

Armed with sarcasm and a warped sense of humor, her innate ability to stumble into awkward situations lands Marni in the midst of a car theft ring. As her circle of friends becomes populated with felons and possible murderers, the lines blur around whom she can trust.

Juggling a hot new beau with one hand and rekindling an old flame with the other, she may need to put on the brakes with one. Should she pick the probable criminal who may know Gus’s fate or play it safe with the sweetheart from her past? She’ll need more than her special abilities and quick wit to navigate the twists and turns of this paranormal mystery.

Excerpt::

The usual cadre of fishermen dotted the docks. If I boldly stepped onto the ship, would they know I didn’t belong? Could one be a sentry in disguise? I sauntered past, trying to catch a glimpse of any crew hanging about. The boat was in complete darkness.

Gus waited on my favorite perch. “It’s about time you showed up. Why aren’t you in all black so nobody can see you? God, you look like an amateur.”

“Perhaps because I am an amateur. I’m not the one with a criminal record.” I sat beside him.

“Who says I got a record? I ain’t never been locked up.”

It never occurred to me he’d never been caught. Maybe I should have consulted him—had he bothered to show up earlier. “This way I blend in with the tourists. If anybody comes, they’ll think nothing of a woman enjoying the fresh air.”

“You got a lot to learn.”

Breaking and Entering 101 wasn’t a class I wanted to take. “Enough about my lack of burglary skills. Go check the boat, and tell me if anybody is aboard.”

“Okay, okay. Stop barking orders.” He disappeared.

I tapped my foot on the wooden dock, concentrating on the staccato noise. It soothed my racing mind as it conjured all the things that could go wrong. My plan had two parts—break in and don’t get caught. Simple, right?

Buy links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Tow-Marni-Legend-Book-ebook/dp/B0B372WLF7

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/spirit-in-tow-terry-segan/1141622246

KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/spirit-in-tow

About Terry:

Terry Segan resides in Nevada. The beach is her happy place, but any opportunity to travel soothes her gypsy soul. The stories conjured by her imagination while riding backseat on her husband’s motorcycle can be found throughout the pages of her paranormal mysteries.

Author Website: https://terrysegan.com/

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/AuthorTerrySegan

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrysegan

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeganTerry

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Terry-Segan/e/B087YQGXMD