Not Quite Dead
A Lowcountry Ghost
Story
Lyla Payne
Release Date: April 1, 2014
Genre: New Adult Paranormal Mystery
ISBN: 978-1497319936
ASIN: B00JASQGFQ
Synopsis:
A broken engagement sends Graciela Harper crawling back
to Heron Creek with her tail between her legs, but finds the sleepy little
town too changed to set her life right. Not even her budding drinking
problem can obscure her Gramps’s failing health, or erase the mental
picture of her first love happily married to her childhood best
friend. To top it all off, she’s having a heck of time convincing the
town’s dashing young mayor of her unfit-for-dating status.
When the ghost of 18th century lady pirate Anne Bonny starts insisting on a near daily audience, Graciela has to confront something else she never expected—being certifiably nuts at twenty-five years old.
Her brand new “I don’t give a crap” attitude makes it easy to dismiss the mysterious threats that seem to be tied to her search for more information on the long dead pirate, but when her family becomes a target, Gracie knows she needs to find out why the ghost insists on being a constant, reeking companion.
If Graciela can put aside her prejudice against people without a pulse, she may discover that Anne Bonny’s problems are intricately linked with her own. The past harbors answers could help the cantankerous spirit find closure, but she is, after all, already dead. If Graciela doesn’t move fast, she might find herself doing the haunting, instead of the other way around.
When the ghost of 18th century lady pirate Anne Bonny starts insisting on a near daily audience, Graciela has to confront something else she never expected—being certifiably nuts at twenty-five years old.
Her brand new “I don’t give a crap” attitude makes it easy to dismiss the mysterious threats that seem to be tied to her search for more information on the long dead pirate, but when her family becomes a target, Gracie knows she needs to find out why the ghost insists on being a constant, reeking companion.
If Graciela can put aside her prejudice against people without a pulse, she may discover that Anne Bonny’s problems are intricately linked with her own. The past harbors answers could help the cantankerous spirit find closure, but she is, after all, already dead. If Graciela doesn’t move fast, she might find herself doing the haunting, instead of the other way around.
EXCERPT From 'Not Quite Dead'
Maybe it’s
lingering fear of Anne’s ghost, or a sudden urge to burn some fat, but my feet
find the sidewalk instead of my butt finding the driver’s seat of my car. I
have an hour, and the walk will take fifteen minutes. I’ll regret it later,
when the trek home in a hundred muggy degrees drenches me from head to toe, but
that’s then.
I’m out to
prove that I don’t give a shit about consequences after all. Fuck adulthood.
Avoiding my
car turns out to be a moot point when, less than two blocks from Gramps’ house,
the scraggly redhead from my backseat joins me on the sidewalk. Her gait
matches mine, but her feet don’t make any sound on the concrete despite her
clunky, knee-high leather boots. Lord if she doesn’t smell bad enough to gag a
maggot, even outside.
Yesterday,
I ran. Today, for some reason, it’s as though none of this is happening in real
life and I don’t go faster, or slower, just keep going, eyes forward, clinging
to the hope of waking up. It’s like swimming through the air with my blood
pumping through me ten times too fast, depositing a chilly sweat on my brow and
palms.
She doesn’t
talk, but based on my sideways glances, the premise that she’s Anne Bonny seems
legitimate. The smell and her stiff men’s shirt, trousers, and boots, combined
with the sword and dagger belted at her waist, convince me that she’s Anne
Bonny or that I’m going nuts. Or both.
The
expression on her face wavers between frustration and sorrow, but nothing about
it or her posture suggests causing harm is on her agenda. We walk side by side
a few more steps, me and my reeking ghost, before my nerve returns out of
nowhere.
Dead or
not, she’s kind of starting to bug me.
"What
do you want?" The question would sound more at home in the mouth of the
first victim in a horror flick, but it has to be asked.
Even so,
Anne—if it is Anne—doesn’t reply. Maybe she thinks it’s a dumb thing to
ask, too.
"Okay,
obviously you left your tongue in your grave. Let me guess, you want to grab a
coffee and a bagel? I’m thinking about stopping at Westies, but I’m not
sure…Oh," I gasp as my body turns to ice.
Lyla Payne has been publishing New Adult romance novels
for a little over a year, starting with Broken at Love and continuing with
the rest of the Whitman University series. She loves telling stories,
discovering the little reasons people fall in love, and uncovering hidden
truths in the world around us - past and present. In her spare time
she cuddles her two dogs, pretends to enjoy exercising so that she can eat
as much Chipotle as she wants, and harbors a deep and abiding hope
that Zac Efron likes older women. She loves reading, of course, along
with movies, traveling, and Irish whiskey. Lyla's hard at work,
ALWAYS, and hopes to bring you more Whitman University antics and at least
one more Lowcountry ghost tale before the end of the year.
Lyla Payne is represented by Kathleen Rushall at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
If you're a fan of Young Adult fiction--science fiction
or otherwise--please check out her work that's published under the
name Trisha Leigh. http://trishaleigh.com
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