Blog Party Day 27: Partying with author Megan Crewe

Last week of the blog party! TROY HIGH’s official release date is this Saturday, August 1, but I’ve heard that it has already been spotted in one Barnes & Noble, so it may already be in stores near you!

Today we’re partying with Megan Crewe, author of the upcoming GIVE UP THE GHOST, which is due out September 15, 2009.

About the book:
Cass McKenna much prefers the company of ghosts over “breathers.” Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody… and Cass loves dirt. She’s on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.

As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim’s life, she’s surprised to realize he’s not so bad–and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it’s time to give the living another chance…

Thanks for stopping by and joining in the blog party, Megan! Let’s start off with some music: What song always makes you want to dance whenever you hear it?

Thanks for having me! This probably isn’t the kind of dancing you’re thinking of, but Kate Bush’s “Jig of Life” always makes me want to get on my feet and move. 🙂

I’m a huge fan of ghost stories so I’m really looking forward to reading your book! Where did the idea for GIVE UP THE GHOST come from?

It really all started with the scene that opens the book–I got this image in my head of a girl talking to her dead sister, as if it was a normal thing for them to be hanging out together, even though her sister was a ghost. So I knew I had a character who reached out to ghosts instead of running away from them, and then I had to figure out why, and what might change things for her, and that turned into GHOST.

The relationship between Cass and her sister really intrigues me from the little bit we learn in the snippet on your website. What made you decide to write Paige as a ghost?

As I mentioned, that was really the kernel of the idea: a girl and her dead sister. But Paige came into her own as a character very quickly, despite being, well, dead. I loved writing the interactions between them, what with the complicated past where they grew apart that never got dealt with because of Paige’s death, and the present day awkwardness where Paige still thinks she’s the big sister and tries to act like one, but in reality Cass is “older” than her now. It let me play with some fairly normal sibling dynamics in a novel way.

Have you had any encounters with ghosts you can tell us about? If not, would you want to see a ghost?

I think maybe my cat saw a ghost in my room when I was a teenager. He certainly got very freaked out (more than I’d ever seen him before, or have since) about something and refused to come back into the room for hours afterward. But I’ve never seen anything myself. I think, if ghost do exist, I would like to see one. Just so I knew they existed! (Well, unless they’re really scary.)

Can you tell us one weird fact about you that makes you the life of the party?

I tend to remember all sorts of random (not particularly useful) facts about people, which can seem a little weird (I don’t memorize things on purpose, really!), but it means I pretty much always have something I can talk about with everyone. 🙂

Where can you be found during a party? Are you making the rounds talking to everyone, enjoying all the great food, or doing something else?

I’m usually hanging out with the people I know best, catching up and definitely grabbing some food. And hopefully getting to know some new people, too! But I admit I’m a bit of a wallflower.

Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on now?

Right now I’m working on a draft of a fantasy YA novel called (for the moment) LOKI’S BOY. I’ve loved Norse mythology since my first introduction to it and it’s been so much fun delving into and playing with those tales.

Thanks for stopping by, Megan! I can’t wait to read GIVE UP THE GHOST!

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Megan Crewe lives in Toronto, Canada, where she tutors children and teens with special needs. She has yet to make friends with a ghost, though she welcomes the opportunity. GIVE UP THE GHOST is her first novel.

Visit Megan online at www.megancrewe.com and look for GIVE UP THE GHOST in September!