THE MISREMEMBERED LIGHTHOUSE
p.m. terrell
GENRE: Mystery
Blurb:
While researching her next book, historian and author Hayley Hunter rents a lighthouse in Southeastern North Carolina. The modern lighthouse and vacation home replaced an original wood structure that only functioned during the Revolutionary War. The old lighthouse may be long gone, but the lightkeeper’s ghost remains.
Hayley becomes increasingly obsessed with finding why the spirit of Jonathan Corbyn lingers between realms. Joined by her lover Shay MacGregor, her search will take her into a world of spies, double agents, and espionage at the dawn of American democracy.
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Excerpt:
I bolted upright and tapped on the latest alert. I found myself staring at the lantern room. The security camera encompassed nearly the entire circular room, save for the wall behind it. My eyes skimmed the walls, alighting briefly on each window. The moon was high and full, and for a moment, I thought the camera might have picked up the glow or perhaps even something flying against the window. But as I continued to stare into my phone, I spotted something moving along the top steps as if ascending.
I quietly tossed the covers off me and glided into my slippers as I grabbed my robe. I cautiously strode to the spiral stairs to peer upward into the stairwell. It was not as dark as I had expected, but a muted light from the moon struggled to illuminate it. I glanced downward to discover it was darker beneath me. Turning my attention again to the stairs leading upward, I remembered the curvature in the design prevented me from seeing to the top. How, then, my mind argued, could the moonlight find its way down?
I stepped onto the staircase. My right hand clenched the phone, while my eyes continually moved from the image on my screen to the steps above me. My naked eyes could see nothing out of the ordinary. The steps appeared just as they had a few hours earlier. But my phone displayed a shadow moving upward.
As I reached the uppermost stairs, I realized the image picked up by the security camera was not a human, but rather a human form. It was opaque, but I detected the outline of a man’s broad shoulders, his torso, arms, and legs. His legs were misshapen, as though he were wearing breeches that ballooned slightly from him. There was something else that extended beyond his body, like a waistcoat. I could see the outline of his head, but it was shadowy, with facial details absorbed into the darkness.
I froze on the step. I could see the image clearly on my phone’s security app. But when I used my naked eyes without the benefit of the phone, I could see nothing at all in the spot where it should have appeared. Shakily, I climbed to the next step and then the next.
The figure moved just beyond me as if to entice me to follow him. As my head topped the floor, it turned to me, as if he was looking straight at me, though I could see nothing but darkness where his face should have been.
Interview with p.m.terrell
What is your favorite part of the book?
I think my favorite part of the book is when the mother of the main character, Hayley Hunter, unexpectedly shows up at the lighthouse Hayley has rented. Her personality is completely the opposite of Hayley’s. She is very forceful and quirky, and she ends up becoming an important part of the story. I enjoyed writing about her so much that I plan to spin off a series with Hayley’s mom as the protagonist.
Does your book have a lesson? Moral?
It does. Hayley discovers a journal kept by the original lighthouse keeper. Jonathan Corbyn had fought in the Battle of Culloden and had immigrated to America soon after. He wants to live out his life in peace and is originally against the American Revolution. His struggles with both sides of the issue are lessons for today, and the high cost in lives and suffering that can ensue.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
I am a persistent people-watcher, so each character embodies the physical, mental, and emotional traits of a variety of people. It is true that truth is often stranger than fiction, and some of the traits I couldn’t begin to dream up!
Of all the characters you have created, which is your favorite and why?
That’s a difficult question! When I am writing, I become very attached to the main characters, so they tend to be my favorites for the duration of the book as I watch them react to all the trials and tribulations I throw at them. However, my readers tell me their favorite character is Dylan Maguire from the Black Swamp Mysteries Series.
What character in your book are you least likely to get along with?
There are two characters, Argo and his son Beckett, who run the general store in the tiny village nearest the lighthouse. They are both very strange, and Argo goes on the offensive toward the end of the book when he decides that Hayley has been poking around too much. I think both of them would have had me running for the hills!
What would the main character in your book have to say about you?
I hope she would say that I am very thoughtful and methodical. And, although I put her in danger more than once, I sent others to help rescue her!
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
The Misremembered Lighthouse is the second in the Hayley Hunter Mystery Series. The first is April in the Back of Beyond, but the reader doesn’t need to read the first one to enjoy the second one. Fun fact: the main character is named after my grandchildren, Hayley and Hunter.
Author Bio and Links
My full name is Patricia McClelland Terrell, and I have been writing under the pen name p.m.terrell ever since a publisher presented me with my first fiction book cover. The graphic designer had also entered my name in lower-case letters; my editor hated it, and I loved it. It’s been p.m.terrell ever since.
I began writing when I was nine years old, inspired by a schoolteacher and elementary school principal. Scott-Foresman published my first book, a computer instructional for universities, in 1984. Scott-Foresman, Dow-Jones (Richard D. Irwin branch), Palari Publishing, Paralee Press, and Drake Valley Press have published 26 books to date.
Before embarking on a full-time writing career, I founded McClelland Enterprises, Inc. in the Washington, D.C. area in 1984, specializing in computer instruction for employees in the workplace. I opened another business, Continental Software Development Corporation, in 1994, which focused on custom application development, programming, website design and development, and computer crime.
I was honored to be the first female President of the Chesterfield County/Colonial Heights Crime Solvers. I also served as the Treasurer for the Virginia Crime Stoppers Association. Since moving to North Carolina, I served on the Robeson County Friends of the Library and Robeson County Arts Council.
I launched The Book ‘Em Foundation with Waynesboro, Virginia Police Officer Mark Kearney, and assisted in Virginia, New Hampshire, and South Carolina events before establishing the Annual Book ‘Em North Carolina Writers Conference and Book Fair, chairing it for several years before turning it over to Robeson Community College in Lumberton, NC.
Connect with p.m.terrell
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