Vance Alfaro is the “ghost-hunting
hottie” we meet in Psyched, the guy who hardly knows Aisi
but decides to man up and stick with her through that long, dark
night. He’s a freshman in college and he’s studying paranormal
phenomenon, but other than that, what do we really know about him? In
this exclusive interview with him just for my
readers, you get to meet the ghost-hunting hottie!
Us: So, Vance. Tell us a little
bit about yourself.
Vance: I hate questions like
this! I don’t know how to sum myself up in a sentence or two. I
guess I should go with the basics. My hometown is Webster, New York,
on the shores of Lake Ontario, but right now I’m a freshman at
Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire. I’m youngest
of four boys. For kicks we eat chili and light blue darts while our
poor mom yells at us to tell us how disgusting we are. My dad works a
lot but he joins in when he can.
Us: Blue darts?
Vance: Uh...let me put it this
way. If you do it wrong, you end up in the emergency room.
Us: Okay
then! Let’s talk about college. You’re seriously going to school
to study ghosts? How did you get interested in that?
Vance: People don’t study
paranormal phenomenon unless they have a reason to believe in the
first place.
Us: Sounds like you have a story
to tell.
Vance: I do. Most people think
I’m crazy, my dad especially, but I know what I know.
Us: So what do you know?
Vance: I grew up not too far
from the Webster rural cemetery. I heard weird sounds when I was
growing up, especially on moonless nights. My dad always said there
was no such thing as ghosts. We’re church-going people, so he
taught me to believe in guardian angels and stuff like that, but he
always thought that any spirit around here had a mission to protect
us. Keep us safe. He didn’t think a spirit could get stuck here.
Us: So tell us about the first
ghost you ever saw.
Vance: It’s that obvious, huh?
Okay. I was walking home from school one day. Usually I’d walk with
my brothers, but for some reason I was alone that day. I was about
13. As you go around a bend and up a little hill before you get to my
neighborhood, there’s an old stone cottage set back from the road a
bit. Overgrown weeping willows kind of hide it so it’s not easy to
see unless you know it’s there. That house always kind of creeped
me out, but I’d never had to walk by it alone before. The house has
this historic marker that I never stopped to read with my brothers
there. They just wanted to throw stones and see if we could break
some of the windows because the place has been abandoned for years,
unless you count the occasional homeless squatter or pot party.
Us: Did you stop to read the
sign this time?
Vance: Yeah. I did. It said the
house was one of the first built on Nine Mile Road, back in early
1700’s, and it gave the names of the original owners. For some
reason I said their names out loud. As soon as I did...wow. We’re
not too far from a river where I live, and this little stone cottage
is close to it. So this mist rolled in as I said their names, and at
first I didn’t think much of it. I mean, it’s upstate New York.
Storms roll off the lake all the time, and there’s often fog in the
river bottom. I just wanted to hurry home so I didn’t get drenched
when the storm hit. As I started to walk away, something in the upper
windows caught my eye and I stopped to look. At first it looked like
gray curtains blowing out a window, but as I looked closer I saw a
face. The sad, crying face of a woman. The mist rolled in and blocked
my view of the window. The wind suddenly picked up and I heard this
shriek that was definitely not the wind. It’s a good thing I
didn’t pee my pants right there. I ran up the hill and once I got
out of that little valley where the house was, the mist was gone.
Us: Wow. That’s insane!
Vance: I can’t even explain
how much it scared me. Later, I looked up the name of the woman on
the marker and researched her history. Turns out she died under
suspicious circumstances. She was a newlywed and her husband had just
finished building that house for her. Another woman in town wanted to
marry her husband, and after the woman came to visit her in her new
house, she got really sick. Rumor is she died of poisoning.
Us: Where did you find all this
out?
Vance: Old newspapers.
Libraries. The local historian. Stuff like that.
Us: Sounds like you take a very
academic approach to your ghost hunting.
Vance: Aw, man. That makes me
sound so boring! I just want to help these people if I can. That poor
woman has been stuck in that house for 300 years, trying to find a
way out...If I can help a lost soul like her, what I do is worth it.
Us: I think this brings us to
Aisi. Isn’t that what she does? Help send others to whatever comes
next? Oh, look! I think you’re blushing!
Vance: Aisi is seriously
amazing. She’s haunted in ways a ghost hunter like me isn’t.
She’s smart and sassy, and I think she’s the strongest and most
beautiful girl I’ve ever met. She’s a tough nut to crack, though.
Us: What do you mean, she’s
haunted? Can a person be haunted?
Vance: The stuff I go looking
for? It looks for her. It wakes her up at night. It’s all around
her and she can’t avoid it. If that’s not haunted...
Us: Gotcha. Last question: Team
Edward or Team Jacob?
Vance: I don’t even know what
that means. Is this about hockey or something?
Us: Never mind. You’re such a
guy. Thanks so much for chatting with us, Vance!
Vance: Anytime.
***
So
far, great reviews:
"This
is one of those books you just can't put down. What I love about
Psyched in addition to a great, spooky story is strong characters and
narrative voice. Aisi is the most awesome chick, strong-willed,
sassy, and deals with some crazy stuff happening with a spunkiness
that I loved... Psyched is well-written, riveting, surprising and
genre-busting. Teens will love this book, but it definitely has a
more wide-ranging appeal."
and...
"Aisi
Turay is one awesome girl. She has power to see the dead...as in
their souls...This is a great read, filled with suspense. I NEVER
knew from one chapter to the next what was happening. It is well
written and a very enjoyable...and a bit scary!"
Psyched
is part ghost story, part suspense, part demon-hunting thriller, part
budding romance.It's the story of a girl named Aisi who's doing her
best to keep it together for her wreck of a family. She is smart,
sassy, and sarcastic enough to keep things interesting. When she
meets Vance on the single worst day of her life, she finds a guy who
just might be the first person ever to get her, to believe in her,
and to out-random her with bizarre observations at the worst possible
moment. There's just something about him that she knows she can
trust.
Together,
Aisi and Vance wander through the memories of others to unlock the
secrets of her past while battling a demon who wants to ensure she
never finds what she's looking for. Aisi vanquishes demons all the
time, but Malus Indolus is too strong. And he has plans for her...and
her family.
Psyched is Juli's second novel, the first as an indie writer, and her first experiment with her true love as a reader: paranormal fiction. Her debut novel Beyond Perfection is also available.
You can find Juli on Twitter, Facebook, and her blog.
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