Saturday, September 19, 2015

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Ebenezer Scrooge: Ghost Hunter

10 questions for Jacqueline Kyle, author of Ebenezer Scrooge: Ghost Hunter.


How did you come up with the mash-up idea?

There are a number of really creative books in the mash-up genre. A few have been made into movies, like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and the upcoming film, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Why A Christmas Carol? What was inspiration?

A few years ago I was wandering around the Dickens Fair that’s held at the Cow Palace in San Francisco every year. There’s a roaming play of A Christmas Carol through the streets of London with Marley’s ghost dragging chains and the Ghost of Christmas Future looking like Death. It’s creepy! It got my brain churning and now here we are!

What authors influence your writing?
Obviously, Charles Dickens is a huge influence in this book. I’d say that 50% of Ebenezer Scrooge: Ghost Hunter is still comprised with his themes and prose. More recently, author Seth Grahame-Smith has really been the leader in the mash-up genre.

What do you do now?

I work with life coaches, speakers and personal development professionals to get their books ready for publication. It depends on the situation, but that might mean consulting, content editing or ghost writing. If Scrooge read a personal development book, what would it be? Without a doubt, Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson. Scrooge is in a real emotional crisis at the beginning of Ebenezer Scrooge: Ghost Hunter. He could use some motivational reading.

I read your author bios. They aren’t exactly standard, are they?

You know, writing about yourself is rather ridiculous. I feel ridiculous doing it. Thus, I write true facts as ridiculously as I can. You’ve got to have a sense of humor about yourself, right?

What is it like running a crowdfunding campaign?

Scary. Like running for class president - only people vote with money. As an introvert and wallflower, this is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

Was your crowdfunding campaign successful?

Yes and no. Some people would say it failed because I didn’t hit my financial goal. But two really positive results came out of the experience. First, I raised enough money to finish illustrating and publishing. The second, was that I felt incredibly blessed and humbled by all the support I did receive.

Do you have plans for future books?


Of course I do! I think my next one will be an original work, but I have another Dickens mashup in mind too.

Has anyone expressed interest in turning the book into a movie?

I wish! That is my ultimate dream for this book. However, typically movie studios want to see a bunch of readers before they approach an author for rights. I’ve got to keep working on getting readers for now.


ABOUT THE BOOK
Ebenezer Scrooge: Ghost Hunter expands the original text of Charles Dicken’s classic with all-new scenes of malicious ghosts, soul devouring wraiths, deadly doppelgangers and other terrors from the netherworld. Our story opens seven years after Marley’s violent death. Ebenezer Scrooge has given up ghost hunting and embraced an inevitable slow death by alcohol poisoning. When the spectre of his deceased partner appears to him on Christmas Eve, Scrooge learns that he must face three Ghosts – one who will try to help him, one who will try to harm him and one that cannot be killed. 

In a story that spans a lifetime of torment, Scrooge must face the demons of his past and his failures in the present in order to prevent the horror that is his future. The stakes for Scrooge’s soul have never been higher than in this wicked retelling of the classic, A Christmas Carol.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jaqueline Kyle once stood on top of an active nuclear reactor. It glowed. She dove the Great Barrier Reef and the fish swarmed to check HER out. On her 16th birthday she flew a plane solo - just to enjoy the view. She once ran a marathon - because it was faster than walking. When she bungee jumps, she always goes first, so her friends can jump off the bridge after her. Jaqueline Kyle is not the most interesting man in the world - because she's a woman.

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