Olivia Blacke (she/her) had her first ghost encounter when she was only five years old, but her first involvement with an active crime scene wasn’t until much later, when she accidentally stepped into a chalk outline on a Manhattan sidewalk. Armed with a Criminology and Criminal Justice degree, she finally found a way to channel her love of the supernatural and passion for writing into darkly humorous supernatural mysteries. She is also the author of the Record Shop Mysteries and the Brooklyn Murder Mysteries. She still wants to be a unicorn when she grows up.
I just finished reading your supernatural mystery, A New Lease on Death, and thoroughly enjoyed meeting Cordelia Graves and her lively (pun intended) roommate, Ruby. Could you briefly introduce your new crime-solving duo to readers?
Olivia Blacke: Barely twenty-year-old Ruby Young moved to Boston to get a fresh start and prove that she could make it on her own. Only she soon realizes that she’s not really alone—Cordelia Graves, the former occupant of her apartment refuses to leave, despite being dead. Cordelia doesn’t want a roommate, living or dead, but has to enlist Ruby to help solve their neighbor’s murder.
For Cordelia, a side-effect of becoming a ghost is blowing up any electronics she comes into contact with. What kind of research did you do to… well, normally I’d say bring Cordelia to life for readers, but that doesn’t really apply here. Flesh her out? Let’s rephrase: what was the most surprising thing you learned about ghosts while writing the book?
OB: The word “ghost” conjures the image of an old woman in a high-necked, full-skirted old-fashioned gown. Hardly anyone thinks of ghosts as forty-somethings that died in sweat pants. Part of the fun of writing Cordelia was throwing out old stereotypes like the long lacy dress but keeping other lore, like that ghosts interfere with electricity, but then step it up a notch because we’re surrounded by electronics more than ever before.
In A New Lease on Death, mindset has the power to affect reality. Ghosts can’t exist if they don’t believe in ghosts. How do you ward off doubt as a writer?
OB: There’s a scene in A New Lease on Death where Cordelia has to remind herself to stay in the here-and-now or risk slipping away, so she tells herself “Don’t stop believing.” I think that’s something we all need to remind ourselves of as often as necessary because if you don’t believe in yourself, you probably won’t slip into the cracks of reality, but then again you might and really, do you want to take that chance?
What object(s) in your writing space help to spark your creativity?
OB: My headphones are the object in my writing space that most spark my creativity. I use them to block out the world around me and to create audible writing prompts. For instance, if I’m writing a scene set in a Boston pub, I’m listening to Dropkick Murphys and if I’m working on a scene centered around a ghost that died in the 1980s, I’m listening to Erasure.
What’s your favourite ghost novel and why?
OB: The first book that comes to mind is Charlaine Harris Grave Sight, which is about a living woman who communicates with ghosts to solve their deaths. One of the things I loved about writing A New Lease on Death is that in it, we get to see a murder investigation from the ghost’s point of view.
Cordelia is obsessed with houseplants. Do you have a green thumb or are you a plant killer?
OB: I am 100% Ruby when it comes to plants. Houseplants see me coming and wither up and die. Right now, I’m looking at the Chia pet in my windowsill that has one single wilted sprout on it, and not from lack of care and attention. I don’t have Cordelia’s touch for houseplants.
Final question: What is your go-to Hallowe’en decoration?
OB: I should probably say ghosts, but I have this giant inflatable gargoyle/hellhound that reigns over the yard during Halloween, and gargoyles are fixtures in my home year-round.
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About Vanessa Westermann
Vanessa writes feel-good romantic mysteries. She is the author of Cover Art and other books.