Today I am interviewing Joseph Stone, author of the new horror and fantasy novel, A Perfect Night, first book in the Haunted Women series.
◊ ◊ ◊
DJ: Hi Joseph! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview!
For readers who aren’t familiar with you, could you tell us a little about yourself?
Joseph Stone: Hello, there! I am a historical and dark fantasy novelist. Aside from regular folks, my characters include ghosts, demons, werewolves, and now witches.
DJ: What is A Perfect Night about?
Joseph: This novel is about a girl named Fran who loses her mother at a young age, only to find the woman’s spirit remains by her side. The spirit comforts Fran when she’s sad or lonely, and disciplines her when she misbehaves. As Fran becomes a teenager, those disciplinary punishments become more severe and terrifying. One day, the estranged family of Fran’s father contacts her, and she learns what her abilities to sense spirits truly is.
DJ: What were some of your influences for A Perfect Night and the series?
Joseph: I’ve always wanted to write about witches since I read Anne Rice’s Lives of the Mayfair Witches as a boy. I loved the enormity of that story and the idea of a human bloodline having significance to the spirit world.
The idea for this story came from a dear friend of mine, also named Fran, who revealed to me how she and her family have been haunted by spirits all their lives. It’s not a matter they’re comfortable discussing, but each of them has had multiple, often unpleasant experiences with ghosts. Fran came to believe ghosts are attracted to her family because she and her siblings can sense the ghosts’ presence. To this day, Fran will not visit her aunt’s house because of the number of angry ghosts in the house who would taunt her as a girl.
The idea of a haunted house simmered with me for years before Fran also revealed that her mother’s spirit has visited her many times. They had a humorous relationship as adults in life, and to this day, her mother’s ghost plays pranks on Fran. A favorite keepsake will go missing for days or weeks, only to reappear on Fran’s pillow one night before going to bed. The idea of a parent remaining on earth to play with their child struck a chord with me, and a much larger story was born in my imagination.
Continue reading “Author Interview: Joseph Stone”
Bookworm M.D. 