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Friday 25 July 2014

Interview - Michael Haley, author of Lost on the Edge of Forever

Tell me three interesting facts about yourself!
- Although I wrote a ghost story with intensely religious characters and elements, I'm an agnostic who doesn't believe in ghosts, spirits, and most other paranormal stuff.
- I have a zero tolerance policy for illogical conspiracy theories.
- Everyone knows I can sing Ricky Martin's Livin' la Vida Loca en espanol. What they don't know is that I can sing in in English too. 

Summarize your book in one line.
-- A ghost and a dude meet, have a lot of sex, fall in love, then discover who they are in relationship to the universe.

Tell me something cool/crazy/quirky about the book – it can be anything!
-- The only reason the lead male is named Alejandro is because I love Lady Gaga's Alejandro and had been listening to it a lot during the early days of the book's conception.

Why did you decide to write this particular book?
-- I thought it be really cool to tell a ghost story in the vein of Tales of Moonlight and Rain. The finished product only resembles the original intention tangentially, but I love it!

Best part of the writing process?
-- Having a reader respond favorably to a thought and/or feeling that took numerous rewrites to convey simply and effectively makes everything worth it.

Share one thing you learned writing this book.
-- Never, ever, ever, ever again will I use emotions as a foundation for a plot. Building a cohesive plot from a feeling is a nightmare!

Tell me about one strange experience you’ve had. Again, it can be anything!
-- A ouija board precisely predicted the name of someone I'd meet several years prior to actually meeting her. I am a being of science, but I got nothing to explain this one.

Name one fictional place you’d love to visit.
-- This is going to sound so cliche, but it's true - Hogwarts. It's an awesome school!

Name one real place you’d love to visit.
-- The Cinémathèque Française in Paris. To see a movie in the same place where Godard, Truffaut, and the other French New Wave directors received their inspiration would be an amazing experience.

Share one sentence/mini-excerpt from the book!

-- "Alejandro, sometimes pain and sorrow are the only proof we have we're still alive."
Author BioMichael Haley was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and cultivated in its neighboring vicinities. He graduated with a degree in Psychology from Iowa State University, and now lives with his wife and son in Bloomington, Illinois. When not writing, he loves indulging and dissecting books, film, and pop art from all canons and genres. Lost on the Edge of Forever is his first novel.

Lost on the Edge of ForeverBook info: Leila, an ambitious and brilliant student, is murdered during her final semester at college, yet discovers she’s been reborn as a spirit resigned to haunt the school of her death. Alejandro, a listless and depressed freshman, arrives on campus eager to reinvent himself after eighteen years of awkwardness, as well as a devastating family tragedy, shake his sense of worth and faith to their cores.

The two lonely souls meet under the auspice of moonlit rain, and soon find themselves irrevocably, passionately attracted to each other. Leila discovers her spiritual body reawakening with sensations that make her feel alive again, and Alejandro discovers a kindred spirit who understands him like no one else. Intoxicated with each other, the impossible lovers begin to dream of finding a way to hold onto their own private miracle. Forever.

Yet how can Alejandro explain to skeptical friends and family that his soul-mate is dead? Why does Leila get the nagging suspicion that within their relationship lies the secret of her continued existence? An unexpected act of evil ignites these unavoidable questions, only to reveal in its aftermath the true purpose of Leila and Alejandro’s star-crossed romance. Will their love allow them to accept a profound destiny that surpasses time and perhaps even God, or is their love destined to die loud and young?

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