Jeri Smith-Ready

Blogtoberfest Day 12 - Linda Gerber

The winner of a signed copy of Megan Crewe's GIVE UP THE GHOST is...Dena! Dena, I don't have your e-mail, so please send your mailing address to me at jeri AT jerismithready DOT com in the next week.

Today's Blogtoberguest is Linda Gerber, who writes mysteries for teens and 'tweens. Her latest book featuring Aphra Connelly is Death by Denim, described as "Nancy Drew meets Alias." Booklist called it "Heartpounding...taut suspense." Each book in the Death by series features an exotic location (in this case, Paris) and a dead body or two.

And just last week, Publisher's Weekly announced that Linda has sold another novel, Cass Around the World, featuring a world-traveling tween celebritant and vlogger. Congrats, Linda!

Her guest blog is told by Aphra Connelly, the heroine from her Death by series. We love when fictional counterparts tell their behind-the-scenes tales, so give Aphra a warm welcome!


Halloween isn’t something I know much about since I’ve never really experienced it growing up. I say ‘really’ because I guess I have done the Halloween thing, just not in the carve-the-pumpkin, bob-for-apples, trick-or-treating kind of way.

Things I do remember about Halloween… My dad was always managing some hotel or resort somewhere so the only Halloween parties I ever went to were the ones he hosted for his guests. My mom would dress me up and drag me along to show me off – until I was too old to be cute anymore, but still too young to join in the fun.

One Halloween at the resort my dad managed in South Carolina, the staff put on a haunted house. In one of the rooms, there was this guy slumped in a chair, a bloody cleaver sticking out of his chest. He would sit dead still (no pun intended) until someone walked close to him, and then he would jump up and scare the crap out of them. I never saw the whole haunted house, of course - that was for guests and didn’t start until after my bedtime – but I saw the ‘dead’ guy, and that was enough to give me nightmares for a month.

The next year they had a monster ball and my dad hired a makeup artist who worked on one of the Sam Raimi films to turn the staff into zombies, vampires and werewolves. My mom said they looked too real and after my month of night-screams the year before, she wouldn’t even let me go downstairs to see them. I had to sit up in our stupid room with one of the housekeepers and watch old videos of Beetlejuice and Halloweentown and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown while everyone else went to the party. I didn’t even get to dress up. That was the only part I liked about Halloween – getting to pretend I was someone else, if only for a little while.

Fast forward to now.

I’ve still never gone trick-or-treating or been to a party where I’ve bobbed for apples, but I have had four identities in six months. I’ve seen dead people, up close and personal. I’ve been chased by the real-life kind of monsters that make Raimi zombies look like cub scouts.

It’s like I’m living Halloween everyday. And you know what?

Sometimes it’s easier not to know.

To enter to win Death by Denim, leave a comment below. For complete rules, read the introductory post.

Deadline for entry: Thursday, October 22, 11:59pm Eastern. NOTE: THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. The winner is Dawn M.!

Nancy Holder and her 5-pack of novels
Kelly Parra and Invisible Touch
Lauren Baratz-Logsted and Crazy Beautiful
Amanda Ashby and Zombie Queen of Newbury High
Shana Norris and Troy High
Linda Joy Singleton and Dead Girl in Love

Thanks to Linda for giving us a special glimpse into Aphra's past!

Labels: Blogtoberfest, Contests, guests

• posted by Jeri @ 1:53 PM
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