Violet Yorke, Gilded Girl: Ghosts In the Closet
by PJ McIlvaine
Genre: Middle Grade Historical Paranormal Mystery
She sees ghosts...but are they malevolent or friendly?
Poor little rich girl Violet Yorke has seen ghosts for as long as she can remember, but no one believes her.
Not stodgy Grandmother, who took charge of the heiress after her parents were killed in a failed robbery. Nor kind-hearted Aunt Nanette, or Uncle Bertie, a charming rogue. Not even the patient Hugo Hewitt, Violet’s godfather and trustee of her vast fortune.
Everyone dismissed the child’s insistence about ghosts as a harmless eccentricity—until the night her bedroom caught fire. Violet was promptly sent overseas, fueling her anger and resentment.
Two years later, a rebellious twelve-year-old Violet is on her way back to Manhattan on the doomed Titanic. As the ship sinks into the deep Atlantic Ocean, she’s put in a lifeboat by an apparition who rescued her from the clutches of a jewel thief. Presumed lost at sea, Violet shocks everyone by crashing her own funeral.
Following Violet’s recovery, Grandmother has grand high society designs for the girl, but Violet has other ideas. She’s determined to uncover the secret of what really happened to her parents. Then there’s the mystery of the moon-faced boy at gloomy Dunham Hall and his connection to the ghost on Titanic. Also hot on Violet’s trail is the jewel thief, the specter of her murdered governess, and a vengeful ghost lurking in Violet’s childhood home.
Being a poor little rich girl in 1912 Gotham isn’t all it’s cracked up to be in this delightfully dark and droll supernatural historical fantasy.
PJ McIlvaine is a prolific author/screenwriter/writer/journalist.
PJ is the author of the AmazonUS best-selling VIOLET YORKE, GILDED GIRL: GHOSTS IN THE CLOSET (April 2022, Darkstroke Books), her debut middle-grade supernatural historical mystery adventure about a sassy poor little rich girl/Titanic survivor who sees ghosts in 1912 Manhattan.
PJ’s debut picture book LITTLE LENA AND THE BIG TABLE (May 2019, Big Belly Book Co.), with illustrations by Leila Nabih, is about a determined little girl tired of eating with her annoying cousins at the kid’s table, only to discover that the grown-up big table isn’t much better. Her second published picture book, DRAGON ROAR (October 2021, MacLaren-Cochrane Publishing), illustrations by Logan Rogers), is about a lonely, sick dragon who has lost his mighty roar and the brave village girl who helps him find it again. PJ is also under contract with Oghma Creative Media for a series of Creature Feature picture books (2023-2024) and with Orange Blossom Books for her debut Young Adult alternate history adventure THE CONUNDRUM OF CHARLEMAGNE CROSSE set in Victorian London (Fall 2023).
PJ is also a co-host and founding member of #PBPitch, the premiere Twitter pitch party for picture book creators.
PJ has been published in numerous outlets including The New York Times and Newsday. PJ also does features and interviews for The Children’s Book Insider newsletter.
Also, PJ’s critically acclaimed Showtime original family movie MY HORRIBLE YEAR with Mimi Rogers, Karen Allen, and Eric Stoltz, was nominated for a Daytime Emmy.
PJ lives in Eastern Long Island with her family along with Luna, an extremely spoiled French Bulldog, and Sasha the Psycho Cat.
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GUEST POST
What book do you think everyone should read?
To Kill A Mockingbird.
How long have you been writing?
Too long and not long enough.
Do the characters all come to you at the same time or do some of them come to you as you write?
It depends. Some rush at me like a tornado, some are born in the heat of writing, and others reveal themselves slowly.
What kind of research do you do before you begin writing a book?
It depends on the book. With Violet Yorke, I did extensive research into the Gilded Age, the culture of the time, politics, poor little rich girls, Manhattan, the Four Hundred, Titanic, etc. Other books, very little.
Do you see writing as a career?
It is my life, not my career. A career I can quit at any time and not look back, and I’ve done that. I could no more give up writing than cut off my arm.
What do you think about the current publishing market?
Slow as molasses, and just as sticky.
Do you read yourself and if so what is your favorite genre?
I read, but not as much as I used to. Honestly, the time I spend reading books is time I could spend on my own writing. It’s a tough balance.
Do you prefer to write in silence or with noise? Why?
I’ve learned to write with kids screaming around me, so I can write with noise and without.
Do you write one book at a time or do you have several going at a time?
I have multiple books going at any time, but I do like to finish one project at a time. For example, right now I have three different adult thrillers as works in progress--an opening chapter, a synopsis, or even just a few pages--but I concentrate on one until I finish the first draft. That method works best for me.
If you could have been the author of any book ever written, which book would you choose?
Stranger in a Strange Land. It was way above my pay grade, but I loved it.
Pen or type writer or computer?
Computer, baby.
Tell us about a favorite character from a book.
Hmmm…Trixie Belden! She was my favorite teen detective. I don’t think she got as near enough acclaim as Nancy Drew.
What made you want to become an author and do you feel it was the right decision?
I don’t smoke, drink or do drugs…so yes, it was the right decision for me. Has it been easy? No. But no one said it would be.
A day in the life of the author?
Writing, procrastination, heartache…one day you’re high as a kite, the next day you’re a slug. High and lows punctuated by long stretches of silence. Things can come all at one and then not at all.
Do you have any advice to offer for new authors?
Patience, grasshopper. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Describe your writing style.
What style? It’s much easier writing when I’m in the “zone”. By this, I mean when the words are flowing like lava; it’s writing on auto-pilot. I wish I could be in the zone all the time, but the reality is, most of the time it’s wading through a bog. I persist even when I’m ready to junk it all.
What makes a good story?
If I knew that, I’d be Stephen King. But at its core, for me, a good story is a story that rings true to me and that I’m the only one who can tell it.
What is your writing process? For instance do you do an outline first? Do you do the chapters first?
Nope. I’m a panster all the way. Now I may write down a quick synopsis or a brief paragraph of the basic story, but outlines inhibit me. Everything is in my head. Little wonder I don’t have room for anything else!
What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Comparing yourself to other writers. Or trying to write to the market. Write for yourself and keep your expectations low. Everyone wants to write a best seller out of the starting gate. The reality is, that the overnight success was years in the making.
What is your writing Kryptonite?
The movie Prometheus. My family knows that if they put that movie on, I come running.
Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
You have to do both, but do it in your own spin that makes readers want it too even if it wasn’t what they thought they wanted to begin with.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
That I should’ve returned to writing novels sooner than I did rather than sticking to one genre for too long.
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
That depends on the book. My adult thriller suspense noir took me two months to bang out, 92,000 words. I burned my brain on that one. Violet Yorke took me roughly a year or so.
Do you believe in writer’s block?
Not for me! When I hit an impasse, I take a break and do something else. I let my subconscious do the heavy lifting.
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$20 Amazon Giftcard – 1 winner (WW),
Print Copy of book with Magnets & Bookmarks – 2 winners! (US only)
This seems like a really great mystery read-- I can't wait! Thanks so much for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the guest post and Ghosts in the Closet sounds like a thrilling and entertaining read!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing it with me and have a sunshiny day!