Posts in Series for American Title V
DEAD PEOPLE by Edie Ramer
Hi everyone,
I am very excited to be launching a series of interviews with the very talented finalists of the American Title V contest, sponsored by Dorchester Publishing and Romantic Times. Thank you so much Sylvia for hosting this again on your blog.
It will be great fun to learn all about our finalists writing style and also, a new feature this year, to have each writer interview their own favorite character. I am very curious to see that part. Aren’t you?
The contest will work just like it did last year, where each rounds of voting will serve to eliminate contestants. This year, because there are only 8 finalists, the first two rounds (first line and characters) will eliminate only one contestant. There will be five rounds of online voting starting on Nov. 10th and ending in April. The last standing finalist will win a publishing contract for their entry with Dorchester Publishing. This year the categories have been opened to feature all kinds of romance genre, including historical and romantic suspense.
The finalists went through a stressful summer preparing and submitting their partial then full manuscripts. You can read what went on behind the scene at Dorchester in the selection process. If I had known all that, I may not have been brave enough to enter!!!
Now, let me introduce you to our finalist Edie Ramer, author of light paranormal DEAD PEOPLE. Her short stories have been published in National magazines and she is also co-creator of an inspirational website for writers, www.writeattitude.net.
M-C: Edie, what is the first thing you did when you found out that you were an American Title V finalist?
EDIE: I emailed my three CPs who were with me through the writing. When I ripped the original DEAD PEOPLE apart, gutted half of it and rewrote, they critiqued it a second time. They supported me all the way. They’re still supporting me.
M-C: And how has the final changed things for you in your life and your writing?
EDIE: In general, my busy life has gotten busier. The PR, the American Title V group blog we’re setting up, the Facebook site, etc., all interrupt my writing. But they’re good interruptions! I’m also helping coordinate a Margie Lawson workshop in Milwaukee on Nov. 1st. . It’s another interruption that’s good.
This is what every published writer I know goes through. They’re writing one book and they get edits on the previous book and have to write a proposal for the next one. So I consider this practice for being published.
M-C: Now, can you tell us a little about DEAD PEOPLE?
EDIE: When Cassie Taylor talks, ghosts listen. She wants to heal their souls so they can leave earth. Brooding songwriter Luke Rivers wants to give his newly found daughter a normal home, but he discovers his new house in small town Wisconsin is haunted by a ghost with an attitude. His ghost whisperer has an attitude too – even before someone tries to kill her. So why does he have the hots for her? And why does she lust after him? He wants conventional. She wants acceptance. No wonder she thinks men are hard and DEAD PEOPLE are easy.
M-C: This looks like such a fun read. Where did you get this idea?
EDIE: I don’t remember what sparked the story premise, but I can talk about a unique aspect of the book. In a previous book, I had a songwriter heroine and had fun writing verses for her. That gave me the idea to begin every other chapter with one or more verses from songs Luke wrote. To give Cassie equal time, I started the even chapters with excerpts from a book about her ghost whispering experiences.
M-C: That is certainly unique. What series of words would choose to best characterize your writing style?
EDIE: Witty, quirky, snarky, dark and light, optimistic, tension, illuminating, insightful. Love.
M-C: Snarky really? How does snarky shows up in DEAD PEOPLE?
EDIE: Cassie’s snarkiness is her defense to keep people from seeing the hurt inside her. Luke likes it. He has his own wounds and her snarky tongue amuses him. It’s a change from being sucked up to by people who want to use him. And when Cassie is with his daughter, he sees her gentle, loving side.
M-C: Do you have any idea how your writing became a little snarky?
EDIE: Not every character I write is snarky, but they’re all damaged in some way, and none of them complain or whine. They just lift their chins and go on with their lives the best they can.
I’m sure I get that from my mother, who was a widow with five young children. I never remember her complaining. I know I’ve handed that down to my son. He has a saying: “It’s all good.” That’s a real optimist!
M-C: You told me the setting of DEAD PEOPLE is important, how so?
EDIE: In DEAD PEOPLE the house is a character. It was part of the Underground Railroad during the pre-Civil War days. It has two turrets and a secret room. It gives my story Gothic undertones. I had fun with that and the Underground Railroad angle was part of the story.
M-C: And would you say the story is character-driven or plot-driven?
EDIE: Characters first. Always. I like a good plot and worked hard on creating tension, but when I think of DEAD PEOPLE, I think of the hero, heroine, the daughter, the ghost, the heroine’s best friend – a good looking cop killed in the 1950s – and of course the villain. I care for all of them. Well, except the villain. My characters came alive to me, whispering in my ear. The hero singing in my ear. They’re very individual and I think it shows in their voices.
M-C: How did you balance the romance with the paranormal elements?
EDIE: Because Cassie is trying to clear Luke’s house of the ghost, the suspense/paranormal elements bring them together instead of separating them. And the danger brings them even closer together. It takes them to a higher level of caring. As the tension escalates, so do their emotions.
M-C: Can you tell us more about Luke? What kind of hero is he?
EDIE: Usually my heroes are an alpha/beta mix, but Luke is alpha with very little beta. His mother was part of the hippie culture, and he was raised without structure. As a songwriter, he was thrust into the same lifestyle, but with more money, more drugs and more sex. His ex-wife cheated on him and let him think his daughter was his former friend’s. Only the need to give his daughter a normal home made him hire Cassie. The first time Cassie meets him, she thinks:
“He may as well wear a sign that shouted, THIS WOMAN IS A FAKE. She used to wonder why people like this man called her, begging her to come, paying her a wad of money. By now she knew.
They were desperate.”
M-C: What a great hero. Now I really want to read this. Would you say a happily-ever-after ending is important in your writing?
EDIE: It’s important. Although I don’t need a happily ever after ending, I need to end a story with hope. DEAD PEOPLE has a HEA, but a subplot ends on a sad note. If you watched LOVE ACTUALLY, which has multiple stories, there were a couple endings that weren’t HEA. I think the poignancy made the movie better than if every story had a Disney ending.
M-C: How do you think people will feel as they read DEAD PEOPLE?
EDIE: Readers will smile and chuckle at times, but I don’t intentionally write humorous. It comes from my characters’ thoughts and comments. Mostly readers will care about these damaged people who find the one person who can heal their wounds. This includes Luke’s 11-year-old daughter who has her own wounds that Cassie helps heal. Even the ghost’s wounds are healed by Cassie, Luke and the daughter.
I notice I keep talking about “healing,” so that must be the theme in my book. I have a theme when I start a book, but I don’t think about it when I write or when it’s done. I think about the characters, and I hope that’s what stays with the reader too.
There are books that I close reluctantly when I reach The End, because I don’t want to let go of the characters just yet. I sit and think about them and feel a warm glow inside me. That’s what I want the reader to get out of my story. That warm glow.
M-C: That is wonderful theme, Edie. Do you have any more projects in the works beside your AT entry?
EDIE: My last book, SATURDAYS AT THE KARMA CAFÉ, is women’s fiction, told through the voices of four women, aged 25 – 61, brought together by a weight loss group and the wishes they make together. A nerdy dotcom owner wants a baby but not a husband. A widowed teacher nearing retirement wants to be as free as the wind while her family wants to tie her down. A seemingly confident businesswoman wants to keep her family from finding out the secrets she’d thought safely buried. Their young waitress wants to regain the courage taken from her in an act of violence. A hunky gardener, a Harley-riding neighbor and an alpha neighbor add complications.
My WIP is a return to paranormal romance. It has the women friends’ angle (although in this case they’re family), but with one heroine/hero. My plan is to sell it and write sequels for the other characters. I’m enjoying combining the strong friends/relationship angle with paranormal and the romance. I think it’s the best thing I’ve written. My goal is to write every book better than the last, and for the last couple years I feel I’ve achieved that goal.
M-C: Thank you so much for taking the time to tell us all about your writing. It was neat to get a glimpse of DEAD PEOPLE. Now for Thursday, you chose to interview Cassie. Why her?
EDIE: Both she and Luke are damaged, but in many ways her life is harder. Since she was a child, she was treated as a freak by her father and stepmother. She talks to dead people. Isn’t it hard enough for a normal person to have a social life? Imagine what your life would be like if you saw dead people. The one person she thought loved her turned out to be using her. Her best friend is a ghost.
Both she and Luke are interesting, but she’s more interesting. I hope people will come back on Thursday and find out why.
Well everyone, I certainly look forward to Edie’s upcoming interview with DEAD PEOPLE’s heroine. And thanks to all for visiting today. If you want to learn more about Edie and her writing you can find her at:
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=747112424
See you all on Thursday and don’t forget to comment to get a chance to win some wonderful prices!!!!
Marie-Claude Bourque
Hey all,
Don’t forget! There are lots of great prizes available for those of you who comment on the ATV interviews and prepare to vote for your favorites!
Hugs,
SylviaP.S. I’m over at Murder She Writes today!
I love the premise. How long have you been writing?
EVONNE: Nothing yet, but I’m sure that will change.
MAI: In one word, how would you describe this experience? 
MAI: In one word, how would you describe this experience?
MEL: This is a hard one! Up ‘till now I’ve always been the writer seeking advice. But over the past few years I’ve learned that a writer can only influence those things that she’s in direct control of. The quality of her work, how she presents herself to others, her attitude. She can’t control what a given editor or agent will think or feel on the day she holds the writer’s query in her hands. So concentrate on the things you can control, and don’t worry about the rest. Eventually you’ll find yourself in the right place at the right time.
