Hey,
look who has stopped in for a little chat today! None other than author James Garcia Jr. Have a seat.
SC:
Tell me a little bit about your main character of this book.
JG:
Joanna Johnson is a middle-aged, African-American woman. Successful Real Estate
Agent, single mother of a grown daughter in college – she thought she had it
all until her fiancé suddenly broke off their engagement. Heartbroken, the last
thing she wants to do is stay home and dwell on it. She just needs to work. Her
best friend is her boss. She disagrees that she should be working but gives her
a project: A very large house in a special neighborhood in Fresno, California.
Her job is to prepare it for renters. What she finds in that house will test
just how strong she really is.
SC:
So, this being a supernatural blog, we're compelled to ask you… do you believe
in the paranormal and if so, do you have an experience you can share?
JG:
Yes, I do believe in paranormal. Sometimes I think we kid ourselves into
thinking we know more than we really do. Too many things have happened to
people, whether we’re talking UFO’s, ghostly occurrences or the spiritual. I
love my paranormal, but I also have a healthy respect. You won’t find me
playing board games that could be dangerous, taking pictures of lit candles or
spending any nights in haunted houses. No, I go to church nearly every Sunday
in part to make sure that sort of thing doesn’t happen to me. *laughs* For me,
dark fiction is like a roller coaster that you enjoy and then get off and go
home. Please don’t tell my oldest son I said anything about roller coasters.
He’s been trying to get me back onto them for years.
SC:
Good answer, lol. What titles are you working on now that you can tell us
about?
JG:
The trend to write about women continues. I have a first draft that is waiting
its turn. I have a troubled young woman in high school who accidentally loses
the scales from her eyes, allowing her to see angels and demons. I intend it to
be an argument that troubled people who hear voices are not ill but are being
terrorized by what we cannot see. This girl will discover this and either use
it to her advantage or buckle under its weight. I want to be very careful with
this one because too many have lost loved ones and I don’t want to make light
of it. I want to be respectful and hopeful.
SC:
Thanks so much for stopping by today. Let's take a look at your book now.
Photographs
James Garcia Jr
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Publisher: James Garcia Jr
James Garcia Jr
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Publisher: James Garcia Jr
Date of Publication: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 9781655811678
ASIN: B083H87YJ6
Number of pages: 390
Word Count: 84,798
Cover Artist: Maria Zannini
Tagline: One night, two exceptional women meet; one black, one white. Both carry broken hearts and one has been dead sixty years.
Book Description:
One night, two exceptional women meet; one black, one white. Both carry broken hearts and one has been dead for sixty years.
In 1956, film actress Allison Belle abandoned the glamour of Hollywood for Fresno, California, and an idyllic new life.
In 1959, she disappeared altogether.
Sixty years later, real estate agent Joanna Johnson steps unsuspectingly into the old Belle house and a story long forgotten.
A devastating personal event opens a hidden door into the actress’s world. The mystery behind what broke Allison’s heart and what ultimately happened to her is revealed slowly by a series of long lost photographs the agent uncovers; the relationship she builds with the actress’s ninety year old husband; and through a series of “dreams” she has where she relives the moments captured by each photograph - herself a participant in them.
The closer Joanna gets to the truth, the closer she gets to suffering the same fate.
Excerpt:
“In these daydreams and dreams that I have glimpsed, I have seen the best of a woman who was so pleased to have left her past life.” She held out her hands and motioned around her. “She loved this place and everything about it. I have seen her happier doing yardwork than she appears in any red-carpet premiere photo on the Internet, and I’ve seen many of those. I have heard her laugh and shared sweet moments with her.”
“So, what happened to her?” John asked.
Joanna grew silent. “I wish I knew.” She sighed and thought it over. “I believe her last moments were spent in isolation. Richard appears in fewer and fewer of the memories toward the end. I’m not sure why. He’s in Hollywood now, so perhaps the pull of that life tugged him back. One of the last moments I spent with her, for lack of a better explanation, she was sitting by this window.” Joanna turned and pointed behind her.
“What was she doing?” John asked.
Joanna stared at the spot. “Nothing. Well, drinking. Drinking pretty heavily, actually. In the end, I think it was all she had.” She turned back around, and her gaze settled on the pool. She lifted a hand to her face.
“What is it?” Shelly asked.
“The first night I stayed here, I found an old bottle of Scotch in a cabinet that would not open to me. When it finally did, that’s when I found the first photo. It was her booze. I had entirely too much of it and ended up in the pool.”
“Why?” Shelly asked.
“I think I was trying to kill myself.”
“Oh, my God,” Shelly said. “Because of your engagement?”
Joanna shook her head. “No. I think it was Ally. I saw an outline of somebody standing on the ledge of the pool. When I came up for air, she was gone. But she had been there. I really don’t understand it myself.” Both faces were glued to hers. “I found the previous renter.”
“The zoo guy?” John asked.
“Director Eggars,” Shelly added.
Joanna nodded. She looked into Shelly’s eyes. “He really didn’t want to talk to me once I told him about the house. Know what he said to me?”
Shelly shook her head.
“He said, ‘Please don’t tell me you ended up in that pool.’” Joanna looked from one to the other and back at the pool. “His wife ended up in the pool, too. I get the feeling it had happened more than once. That last time, he got her and their kids out of here and never came back.”
“Is the pool haunted?” John asked, turning around to face it.
“I don’t think it’s the pool,” Joanna answered. “But I wonder if Ally tried to kill herself and every woman who stays here feels the same compulsion. Perhaps that’s what she was staring at when I sat with her. Maybe she was preparing herself…” She grew silent while she contemplated this.
“Maybe she didn’t try,” John said. “I know it sounds creepy, but maybe she succeeded.”
“John!” Shelly recoiled.
“I told you it was creepy,” he defended himself.
“It would explain much,” Joanna said. “Except what happened to the body.”
About the Author:
James Garcia Jr. was born in Hanford, California. He moved up the road to Kingsburg with his family as a child. After graduating KHS, he attended Reedley College where he met his wife. The family still makes its home in Kingsburg which is typically the setting of his fiction.
He was the 1994 winner of the Writers International Network/Writers Inter-Age Network writing contest in the horror category. He is the author of the Dance on Fire edgy vampire series and the stand-alone paranormal, Seeing Ghosts.
During the day, he is a manager at Sun-Maid Growers of California.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/danceauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danceauthor38/
Website: https://jamesgarciajr.jimdofree.com/
Thank you for sharing, Janine. Good morning and have a good week. *waves*
ReplyDelete-Jim