2015 Annual Block Party Feature - Apryl Baker






Hi, my name is Thelma and I will be your host.  We have an exciting show for you all today with lots of wonderful character interviews from so many different books. 

Let’s welcome Mattie Hathaway and Dan Richards back to the show tonight.  They are the stars of the Amazon best-selling series, The Ghost Files written by USA Today Bestselling author Apryl Baker.  

They're here to tell us a little about everything that's happened since we last talked with them. First lets recap what happened on our last show.


Mia Mitchell As Mattie Hathaway


Theo James as Officer Dan Richards

Thelma:   Let’s start with Mattie.  Can you tell us a little about yourself Mattie?

Mattie:  Um, what if I don’t want to?

Dan:  Squirt, just answer the questions and stop being a brat.

Mattie:  Make me.

Thelma:  Easy question first.  What describes you in a nutshell, Mattie:

Mattie:  Mutant penguin butterfly.

Dan:  Oh, God, not that again.

Mattie:  Shut up! There is nothing wrong with Pengy!

Dan:  (shakes his head) Five minutes of my life I'll never get back Googling that thing.

Mattie:  It's cute.  Here let me show you!


Thelma:  That is just adorable!

Thelma:   (chuckles) Let's get back to the interview.  I understand your hesitancy to talk, Mattie.  It’s not everyday we meet a real live ghost whisperer.

Mattie: (glares at Thelma) Did we really have to go there first? AGAIN, Thelma?

Dan:  Mattie is sensitive about her…er…gift.

Mattie:  (laughs outright) Dan has issues accepting the fact I can see ghosts.  He didn’t really believe in things that go bump in the night before he met me. Now he's all kinds of turned around.

Thelma:   Have you always been able to see ghosts?

Mattie:  No it started when I was five.

Thelma:  Can you tell us a little bit about it?

Mattie:  (sighs loudly) Well, as you know I grew up in the foster care system.  When I was five, my mom went nuts and tried to kill me.  She stabbed me and when I woke up, I could see the little buggers. 

Thelma:  Wow, that had to be scary.

Mattie:  (shrugs) No big deal.

Dan:  It is a big, deal.  That event shaped her into the person she is today. She’s tough as nails, more street savvy than the average sixteen year old girl, and she hides behind all the walls she put up.

Thelma:  It sounds like you know her pretty well, Dan.  I bet that wasn’t an easy task.

Dan:  You just don’t know the half of it.  Mattie is…well, she’s a handful.

(Mattie kicks Dan, causing him to glare at her.)

Mattie:  I am not a handful, I just don’t take crap from anyone.  When you grow up in the system, you learn to defend yourself.  It’s not my fault I’ve had to fight on more than one occasion over the years. 

Thelma:  So how did you two meet?

Dan:  I was one of the police officers who interviewed her when her foster sister, Sally, went missing.  No one else believed her when she said the girl didn’t run away, but I did.  There was just something about her frustration that rang true.  Then when she started spouting off about Sally being killed and needing to find her killer, I knew there was something going on she wasn’t telling me.  I just never expected it to be the bombshell she dropped on me.  Do you believe in ghosts, Officer Dan she asked me.  (Shakes his head) I still can’t believe it sometimes.

Thelma:  Was it hard to open up to him about your gift, Mattie?

Mattie:  I still blame my blabbing about it on the drugs. He met me in the hospital after I’d had a run in with Mirror Boy.  Up until then I didn’t know ghosts could hurt you physically, but boy was I ever wrong!  They can do some serious damage.  Anyway, I found myself just blurting things out that night and then he wouldn’t leave it alone.  He left me no choice but to tell him.

Dan:  (chuckles with amusement) I thought you said it was my eyes?

Mattie:  What?

Dan:  You talk in your sleep, Squirt.

Thelma:  Are you two…you know together?

Mattie:  No, we’re just good friends.  Dan has stayed with me a few nights in the hospital to keep me company is all.  He shouldn’t be repeating things he hears people mutter in their sleep, though.  It’s rude! You're as bad as Eli.

Thelma:   So back to Sally.  Dan believed you about her not running away?

Mattie:  Yeah. I knew she didn’t run away because I saw her ghost.  She had her hands bound behind her back and her mouth was taped over, but it was the bullet hole in her head that made realize something bad had happened to her.  I had to find out what happened to her.

Thelma:   It sounds like it was very important to you.

Mattie:  Yeah, foster kids take care of each other.  We depend on each other and she needed someone to find her, to let people know she wasn’t just another statistic.  I had to help her even if that meant talking to the ghosts for the first time in my life.  Usually, I just ignored them and they went away, but now they know I see them and I can’t get rid of them. They pop up all the time and the most unexpected moments.

Thelma:   Did you find out what happened to her?

Mattie:  (grimaces)  Yeah, a serial killer had murdered her and then I got taken captive by the killer.  It’s not a pleasant memory.

Dan:  It isn’t for me either.  Worst three days of my life.  I went nuts trying to find her.

Mattie:  You? You weren’t the one who was being tortured!

Thelma:   You were actually kidnapped and tortured by the killer?

Mattie: Yes, but I’d rather not talk about that. It brings up too many painful memories. Why not just watch the book trailer instead of asking questions I’m not going to answer?


Thelma:  I understand completely.  It must be very hard.

(Mattie nods and looks off into space. Dan takes her hand and squeezes it causing her to smile at him.)

Mattie:  Yeah, it is most days, but I finally have people who care about me and that helps a ton.

Thelma:  I take it Dan is one of those people?

(Mattie nods.)

Thelma:  So do you two think you’ll ever hook up in the future?  You’re so cute together.

Mattie:  I’m not sure.  He’s very important to me and I love him, I just don’t know if I love him like that or not.  I don’t do feelings usually.  I know everyone expects me to be this mature person with all this depth because I grew up in the system and I survived being taken captive and tortured, but I’m still just a sixteen year old girl.  I still have the same insecurities and doubts every other sixteen year old has and I get scared sometimes. I usually do stupid stuff when I get scared and lash out at people, but Dan stuck around.  He’s family no matter what else might happen in the future.

Thelma: And you Dan, what do you think?  Will you and Mattie have a relationship in the future?

Dan:  I’m in for the long haul whether that means we are life-long friends or if it develops into something else. Right now we’re friends. And then there is my brother to think about.

Thelma:  Your brother?

(A smile spreads across Mattie's face before a blush heats up her cheeks.)

Mattie:  Eli Malone...he's...well, he's important to me too. We met over the summer when...Dan can I talk about this?

(Dan sighs)

Dan:  I went looking for Mattie's Dad for her. We found him, but we also found out that...well, this is complicated and confusing. Mattie's mom and mine were sisters, who stole us both from different families. I found about it when i went looking for her father. My mom's in jail right now, for murdering my birth mother.

Thelma: (gasps) Oh, Dan, I'm so sorry...

(Dan shrugs)

Mattie: I found my father, Ezekiel Crane and he found his Dad, James Malone, and his brothers: Eli, Caleb, Ben and his sister Ava. Something good came out of all that.


Thelma:  You both sound like you've a lot going on. Mattie how does it feel to have found your father?

Mattie:  It's weird. He's not a very nice man either, not that he isn't nice to me...that's not what I mean. He loves me. I can see it, but he's a man who's not afraid to do bad things to get what he wants. Ezekiel Crane is a dangerous man.



Ezekiel Crane

Dan:  If he were the only one we had to worry about I wouldn't be so worried.

Thelma: What do you mean Dan?

Dan:  Like I said, there's a lot that happened. We met Silas, a demon, who has a fascination with Mattie. I don't know if he wants to protect or her use her.


Silas

Mattie:  I don't think Silas is as bad as Doc. At least the demon's never lied to me.

Dan:  We have to let Doctor Olivet explain himself.

(Mattie glares at Dan, her eyes narrowed)

Dan:  You promised you'd hear him out!

Thelma: Who is Doctor Olivet?

Dan:  The Spook Doctor as Mattie calls him. He's a famous parapsychologist who we've been working with on all things ghostly.

Thelma:  And you don't trust him now?

Mattie:  No, because he LIED and I hate liars.

Dan:  He has a picture of Mattie and her mom when she was a baby, so he knew who she was before he contacted her. Mattie promised she'd listen to his explanation before writing him off.  He's helped us out a lot and deserves the benefit of the doubt. I personally think her father is who she has to worry about.


Thelma: This sounds like a touch situation between you two. Let me ask another question. Aside from family reunions, what else has happened since we last met you?

Mattie: Dan almost died.

Thelma:  What?

Dan:  Silas's fault. He used a curse on me to test it out before he used it on Mattie. Its supposed to keep her safe, but....

Mattie: Dan has a new gift too.

Dan:  Yeah, we don't need to talk about that yet, Squirt. Apryl hasn't even released the fourth book yet, so no one knows about my particular ability.

Mattie:  You just don't want to admit you're as weird and freaky as me.

(Dan rolls his eyes)

Dan:  FINE. When I almost died, my soul was out of my body. When I came back, I could sense things.


Thelma:  Sense things?

Dan:  (shifts nervously) I can touch things that belonged to people who died and see...

Mattie:  He sees visions. Like a real psychic! He helps me solve the murders of a bunch kids down in Charlotte with that awesome gift.

Dan:  Squirt, I love you but I might hurt you if you keep blurting stuff out. I don't go around telling people, "Look at Mattie! She sees ghosts!"

(Mattie laughs)

Mattie: 
Aww, I love you too Officer Dan!

Thelma: 
You two seem so perfect for each other. Are you sure nothings going on between you?

Dan: 
You haven't seen her with my brother Eli, yet, but sometimes, I wonder myself, you know? What would happen if I kissed her? I'm going to...

Thelma:
  Shh, Dan, don’t give it away!  I have a feeling that we’ll be hearing more from you in the future, but for right now, let’s end it there and leave everyone hanging.

Mattie:  (laughs) I knew I liked you!

Thelma: Thank you both so much for joining us today and sharing a few things! 

Mattie:  (jumps up and waves her hand before the camera pans away) Wait, you didn’t let me tell you about the giveaway Apryl is hosting!

Thelma: Oh, my I forgot!

Mattie:  I did promise I’d tell everyone about it, even though I’m mad at her for all the nonsense she put us through when she wrote the book.  She is giving away a signed set of The Ghost Files V1-3 for US and Canada residents. International winners will get an ebook set in the format of their choice. You can register to win on her blog: My Crazy Corner. Just Google it!

(Flashes card with the website at the camera)



Dan:  Uh, we forgot something else!

Thelma:  (frowns at them and glances at her watch)  Go ahead, Dan.

Dan:  First here's a little bit about Apryl Baker, our creator who we usually love, but sometimes want to strangle for putting us in certain situations...

Mattie:  Like Ollie the snake.

Dan: (shudders) Yeah, Ollie.  Anyway here's a bit about Apryl:

About the Author:  
 
So who am I? Well, I'm the crazy girl with an imagination that never shuts up. I LOVE scary movies. My friends laugh at me when I scare myself watching them and tell me to stop watching them, but who doesn't love to get scared? I grew up in a small town nestled in the southern mountains of West Virginia where I spent days roaming around in the woods, climbing trees, and causing general mayhem. Nights I would stay up reading Nancy Drew by flashlight under the covers until my parents yelled at me to go to sleep.

Growing up in a small town, I learned a lot of values and morals, I also learned parents have spies everywhere and there's always someone to tell your mama on you. So when you get grounded, what is there left to do? Read! My Aunt Jo gave me my first real romance novel. It was a romance titled "Lord Margrave's Deception." I remember it fondly. But I also learned I had a deep and abiding love of mysteries and anything paranormal. As I grew up, I started to write just that and would entertain my friends with stories featuring them as main characters.

Now, I live Huntersville, NC where I entertain my family and watch the cats get teased by the birds and laugh myself silly when they swoop down and then dive back up just out of reach. The cats start yelling something fierce...lol.

I love books, I love writing books, and I love entertaining people with my silly stories.

PS: DO NOT GET IN MY WAY IF THERE IS A SALE ON AT TARGET - my home away from home!

Well you can catch up with Apryl at any of these places:  (PSSST:  Twitter and FB are great if you want to know what's happening with Dan and me!)

Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Wattpad  |  Blog | Amazon

Apryl has also been working on a super-secret project with her friend and fellow Wattpad author, Jonathan Yanez! It's a steampunk novel about...air pirates, Atlantis, and even a dragon or two! It's called The DeCadia Code and she and Jonathan would love for you guys to read through it on Wattpad and leave them some comments. I think it's pretty awesome myself!



And don't forget to check out her other books!


Thelma: Okay, thanks so much for reminding us of that, Mattie!  Thank you both and lets hear it from our sponsor, Writer’s Anonymous, for those who just have a problem with writing way too many stories at one time!

Mattie:  Two more things!  She has her first NA Romance coming out in a couple months too! It's called Broken Paths, book one in the Broken Series. Here's a teaser for that.


AND FINALLY...HER SUPER SECRET PROJECT...SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..................


(Dan and Mattie leave the studio arguing about who is going to drive home)

(Fades to Writer’s Anonymous commercial)

*** PLEASE NOTE - ALL PHOTOS SIMPLY REPRESENT THE AUTHOR'S DREAM CAST!! ***

Apryl Baker

8 comments:

  1. I cannot wait for book 4! Mattie is a tough cookie and I'm ready to see what she does with the reveal at the closing of book 3! The books don't end they just close like a chapter. Apryl is a great author and just when you think you have it figured out she changes the course of the book :-).

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    1. Thanks, Jeff. I think I may bring Eric back in book 4 just for the heck of it.

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  2. I cant wait for book four either! When do you think the movie will be released???

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  3. And I agree w/ EVERYONE above except i didnt picture eli like that .... But its ur movie totaly ur opinion and ur my fav author EVER!!!!!!

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  4. It depends on when it goes into production. Could be as early as this summer or as late as next spring.

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  5. I just read the first book in the Bloodline series, and loved it. So I immediately looked for the second book, only to find it has not yet been published. The first book was published in 2012, and its now 2015. You've started three new series before putting out the second book in the series. It isn't right to leave your readers hanging like this for so long. I see that you are working on it, but there's no release date. So......?

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    1. Love your books!! Your writing style sucked me in from the first page of Ghost Files v.1. Can wait to read the 4th!! The interview was great too! You should do more! :)

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  6. Matte does seem to go from one unexpected adventure to another! To bring Eric back would be a great twist to spruce things up!

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