Let's Talk with Maggie Toussaint

October Scaries
By Maggie Toussaint

Don’t look now, but Halloween has become a big business. It’s easy to buy costumes and props in most big stores. In our county we have people who go all out for Halloween, and their homes become a nightly attraction. As for me, I usually buy a pumpkin and call it good. I don’t want cackling soundtracks, giant spider webs, or tombstones in my yard. They aren’t for me. I just don’t want to go there.
But plenty of others love it. And I appreciate that they respect my tastes as well as embrace theirs. It is this variety of choices that we all love, and most of us are okay with that. But the word “scary” is, well, it’s just plain scary.

Whether scary is used as a noun or a verb, the definition varies by person and life experiences. For instance, I knew at an early age that any roller coaster ride billed as “the most exciting and scary roller coaster on the planet” wasn’t for me. However, I thought I could handle a gentle-looking Ferris wheel, but that turned out to be a big mistake. Years later, I learned that I have vertigo, which explains why a Ferris wheel is scary to me. Once I achieve a certain height and get hit with a swaying motion, I lose my horizon…and my breakfast.

Horror films or books are a road-too-far for me. Nightmare city, in fact. And those high-action books with a lot of violence scare me. I don’t want to fill my mind with gruesome images of a world like that. Reading is my pleasure, my escape, and my happy place.

Speaking of scary, there’s a whole assemblage of supernatural beings portrayed in books, some sparkly, some mean, some good, some bad, some just flat out misbehaving. I enjoy reading about such things as long as they aren’t too frightening or outrageous. For me, supernatural light is a very good reading fit.

As it happens, my writing style reflects that personal taste in “light paranormal.” I have written a sleuth who has dream snippets of a recently deceased person’s life. I’ve written about energy vampires who can steal or give energy to others. And now, in my October 13th release, MANCINI BLUE, my cozy sleuth reads human auras and energy laid down on objects.

Those paranormal subjects don’t scare me, but some readers have different reactions to my light paranormal. Some love it and want more. Some say they were very scared. (And those were reactions to the same story.) It’s hard to please everyone, so I fall back to pleasing myself. I suspect all authors do that, which is why there’s so much variety in how scary a book might be.

What level of scary is right for you? Leave a comment and be entered into a drawing for GONE AND DONE IT, book one in my Dreamwalker series. The book is available in digital and print format. The winner will be randomly selected and announced next Tuesday. I’ll post the winner’s name in the comments and reach out via email.

Want to learn more about our author Maggie Toussaint? Visit her WEBSITE.

While you’re here, check out our October giveaway, with books up for grabs from Maggie and Cheryl Hollon. To enter the contest, please CLICK HERE.