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Ghost Tamer the paranormal debut by Meredith R Lyons

Author Interview + Book & Author Info + Author Pet Corner!

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Ghost Tamer

Sarcastic, aspiring-comedian Raely is the sole survivor of a disastrous train wreck. While faced with the intense grief of losing her best friend, she acquires a stalker… that no one else sees. For a ghostly tag-along, Casper’s not so bad. He might even be the partner Raely needs to fight the evil spirit hell-bent on destroying her.

Raely and her transparent friend must learn who this demonic spirit is, why he’s after Raely, and what she has to do to stop him before he destroys her life—and potentially her soul. Which, much to her chagrin, means she’s going to need the help of a psychic, and she’s going to have to rid herself of the pesky ghost hunter who’s interested in exploiting her new abilities.

To purchase Ghost Tamer, click on any of the following links: CamCat Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Bookshop, Kobo, Audible.

Interview with Meredith R. Lyons

Ghost Tamer features aspiring-comedian Raely. What would you like readers to know about her?

Like a lot of comedians, Raely has trauma in her life that she sometimes works through with humor, but it’s failing her after this recent accident where she loses her best friend.

Snark also proves ineffective against ghosts.

While grappling with her best friend’s death, she’s forced to face the fact that her preferred coping mechanism of denial won’t help her survive this time.

Ghost Tamer is considered paranormal/speculative fiction. What do those genres mean to you?

I had a tough time picking a genre for this book. I was so happy when marketing eventually did it for me.

To me, paranormal means existing adjacent to the real world, like ghosts and spirits. Speculative fiction explores the possibilities of what could be. Could there not be ghosts? And if there were, what would that look like?

Ghost Tamer is set in Chicago. You grew up in the New Orleans area, lived in Chicago, and now live in Nashville. What made you set your debut in Chicago rather than somewhere else you’re familiar with?

I had a nightmare that I was riding the el train with a friend, coming back from an improv class, and the train flew off the rails. I had nothing new to write at the time, so I wrote the nightmare, thinking it might end up a short story.

We know how that ended.

But as the story started on the el train, Chicago was the only natural location. I never considered putting it anywhere else.

You have a background in acting. How did your theater experience impact the writing of your debut novel?

I think it’s given me an elevated sense of dialogue.

I met my audio book narrator when I was at ThrillerFest in New York and when she found out I was an actor, she said it made sense because my dialogue flowed.

I often start a scene with dialogue and fill in everything else later. I like to write with character first, then throw the characters into situations, which makes sense, as acting is the embodiment of a character. I also used my personal experience in the theatre scene in Chicago to color Raely’s experience as an aspiring comedian.

What would you like people to ask about Ghost Tamer?

I’ve been waiting for someone to ask about the theme of forgiveness in Ghost Tamer and whether or not I believe everyone deserves forgiveness. 

I had a huge group beta read for an early draft and this topic was hotly debated. There were those who felt that forgiveness was very powerful and those who felt that not all things should be forgiven.

Among the fifteen or so readers, they were split pretty much down the middle. I agree with both perspectives, but mostly I believe that forgiveness does just as much, if not more, for the person doing the forgiving as the person being forgiven. I also believe that just because you forgive someone, doesn’t necessarily mean you let them into your life again or even that they have to know you’ve forgiven them.

It’s a moving on within oneself and a release of resentment, anger, fear, and other corrosive emotions so that they can no longer stain your inner life.

What are you working on now?

I have two different books on submission right now. One to agents (I submitted Ghost Tamer direct to publisher, so I’m still agent-free) and one that I’m submitting direct. I’m also writing a few new things.

Last year I churned out four books, which isn’t possible this year with everything that goes into a release and submissions, but I try to get a little writing done every day. And yes, I do have a sequel idea for Ghost Tamer.

We’ll see what happens with it.

Words of Wisdom for Aspiring Writers:

Find a support network because the rejection is everlasting and you never know when a comment is going to hit just so. Cultivate a trusted writer circle for perspective, whether the comment was accurate, merely one person’s opinion, or just plain mean spirited. Stay in there long enough and you’ll collect them all.

And most of all don’t stop writing. It’s okay to take a break, but keep your toe in the water somehow. Do some reading. Either books in your genre or for friends who need an eye. 

One of the best pieces of advice a friend told me was to have something to write that isn’t connected to anything that’s currently causing your stress. (Like a work you’re editing or one your on submission with.) It doesn’t matter if it’s so outlandish that it will “never be marketable.” Have something to play with that reminds you of why you started writing in the first place.

Author Pet Corner!

I have two kitties that often help me write.

Aang is close to thirteen pounds and enjoys riding on my shoulders. When I write, he likes to lay on or near my right arm, preferably on top of the mouse with at least one foot obscuring the keyboard. Aang loves gentle belly rubs and hates thunderstorms.

Cloud is nearly twelve pounds and enjoys cuddling with me only in the wee hours of the morning. I’ll often wake up just before my alarm to find him draped around me. He doesn’t much care about my writing unless I’m trying to have a snack while I work. Cloud enjoys rough scratches and hates loud motors.

We adopted both boys during the pandemic a few months after losing my sixteen year old cat, Jake. They’re now three years old, still inseparable, and enjoy wrestling together, leaping to the top of our kitchen cabinets, and occasional strolls in the backyard on their leashes.

Meredith R. Lyons

Meredith grew up in New Orleans, collecting two degrees from Louisiana State University before running away to Chicago to be an actor.

In between plays, she got her black belt and made martial arts and yoga her full-time day job. She fought in the Chicago Golden Gloves, ran the Chicago Marathon, and competed for team U.S.A. in the savate world championships in Paris. In spite of doing each of these things twice, she couldn’t stay warm and relocated to Nashville.

She owns several swords, but lives a non-violent life, saving all swashbuckling for the page, knitting scarves, gardening, visiting coffee shops, and cuddling with her husband and two panther-sized cats. She’s a member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime. Her debut novel, Ghost Tamer, comes out September ’23 with CamCat Publishing.

To find out more about Meredith click on any of the following links: Website, Facebook, X (formally Twitter), Goodreads, BookBub, TikTok.

Header Image by David Mark from Pixabay