Now available on Evernight Publishing is the paranormal romance The Chef and The Ghost of Bartholomew Addison Jenkins by Aletta Thorne.
The author has taken a few minutes out of her busy schedule to talk about her new book.
When did you become interested in storytelling?
I honestly can’t remember. I started writing stories as a little girl. Then, when I was in my teens and undergrad college, I switched over to writing poems and feature journalism, and wrote in both those genres for years. About five years ago, I started thinking about writing book-length fiction.What was your first book/story published?
I published poems from the time I was in my early twenties—and I sold stories about food and music to newspapers then, too. Then I taught and cooked. The Chef and the Ghost of Bartholomew Addison Jenkins is my first grownup romance. Only took me forty years to get there!
What inspired you to write The Chef and the Ghost of Bartholomew Addison Jenkins?
I like ghosts! My house has been investigated for them, and we have two. And my husband and I have experienced ghosts in places we’ve traveled. The woman who did the investigation in our house, Linda Zimmerman (who writes on the subject), says that ghosts know when they have friends among the living. The Chef and The Ghost of Bartholomew Addison Jenkins just takes that thought to the next level!
What character in The Chef and The Ghost of Bartholomew Addison Jenkins is the most/least like you, and in what ways?
Alma, the protagonist, is a chef—and I was one too, back in the 80’s, when the book is set. She’s a lot gutsier than I was then, and a lot tougher. She has some of my insecurities, but not about what she looks like, which was something I struggled with back then. Which, of course, was silly. I looked fine.
What is your favorite part in The Chef And The Ghost of Bartholomew Addison Jenkins?
I like the funny parts, and there are lots of them. There’s a lot of kitchen humor: raccoons in the bread order, a wire scrubber hidden in my main character’s bra! I like the ending a lot. There are a lot of twists at the end of the book, and knitting everything together was very satisfying to me as I wrote the last couple of chapters.
What was the hardest part to write?
I hadn’t written adult romance before—I have a bunch of YA out under another name—and while I loved the freedom to write sex scenes, I am grateful for my anatomy-specific editor! (Managed to shock my husband with that part of the book when it was all done, I did!)
What would your ideal career be, if you couldn't be an author?