Young Adult Paranormal
Date Published: October 2012
Orphans Astrid Chalke and Max Fisher meet when they’re sent to live at Wakefield, a residential and educational facility for teens with psychiatric and behavioral problems. Astrid’s roommate cuts herself with anything sharp she can get her hands on and Max’s roommate threatens him upon introduction.
Just as Astrid and Max develop a strong bond and begin to adjust to the constant chaos surrounding them, a charming and mysterious resident of Wakefield named Teddy claims he has unexplainable abilities. Sometimes he can move things without touching them. Sometimes he can see people’s voices emanating from their mouths. Teddy also thinks that some of the Wakefield staff are on to him.
At first, Astrid and Max think Teddy is paranoid, but Max’s strange, recurring dreams and a series of unsettling events force them to reconsider Teddy’s claims. Are they a product of his supposedly disturbed mind or is the truth stranger than insanity?
Top 5 songs on your playlist?
Troy: Next to Normal soundtrack, Rebel Rebel, It Was Our Season, Carry On My Wayward Son, The Who’s Tommy
Erin: Here’s my top five of the moment:
1. Counting - Autre Ne Veut
2. Retrograde - James Blake
3. Don’t Save Me - Haim
4. 24 Hours - Sky Ferreira
5. Pink Slips - Okkervil River
How much time do you spend reading each week?
Troy: Not nearly enough. Probably only 5 to 10 hours.
Erin: Probably about the same as Troy. I usually read during my lunch breaks.
What is the last thing you Googled?
Troy: The release date for the next Game of Thrones graphic novel.
Erin: The grammatical rule for apostrophe use.
Favorite places to travel?
Troy: Scotland and London.
Erin: I’ve been to the Greek Islands a few times. The scenery is spectacular and the food is even better.
What is your favorite way to spend a rainy day?
Troy: Listening to music and writing, or getting sucked into an RPG video game.
Erin: Rainy days are definitely good days for writing, or curling up on the couch and binge watching something on Netflix.
Favorite TV Shows?
Troy: I just finished a Dr. Who marathon to get caught up. I’m partial to Community, Agents of SHIELD, and Hannibal. And Erin got me watching Girls, which I’m thankful for.
Erin: L-O-V-E HBO’s Girls. I’m also catching up on Downton Abbey right now and slowly working my way through Dexter. I feel like we’re living in a new golden era of television. Shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men have really raised the bar and, in many ways, TV has become a better storytelling medium than film.
If you had a time machine, where would you go (past or future) and who would you like to visit?
Troy: It would be L.A. in the 1960s and I’d hang out with Paul Lynde.
Erin: LOL. I don’t think I can possibly top Troy’s answer. But I’d probably go for late-60s / early-70s New York so I could meet Andy Warhol and hang out at all the early punk rock clubs.
What’s next on your TBR Pile?
Troy: I’m reading Tex, the Witch Boy from fellow MuseitUp author Stuart R. West and I can already tell I’m going to read the sequel, Tex, and the Gangs of Suburbia.
Erin: I’m trying to finish up four different books right now, but next up I’m planning on Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and then delving into neo-noir with The Last Policeman and Gone Girl.
Where is your favorite spot to read?
Troy: Probably in bed, but an ereader makes a long plane or car ride go so much quicker.
Erin: My parents own a boat on a lake in New Hampshire. It’s a great spot for summer reading.
If you were on Death Row what would your last meal be?
Troy: I love shrimp but it disagrees with me, so for my last meal, I’d go all out and have a fantastic shrimp meal.
Erin: I’d go for comfort food and make the powers that be hunt down the greatest mac and cheese ever made.
Favorite vacation spot?
Troy: Florida, because I have lots of family there.
Erin: I know it’s cheesy, but my husband and I love Walt Disney World. There’s something so surreal and ridiculous about it. Plus, I never get sick of thrill rides.
Can we get a hint on what you are working on? What are your future plans?
Troy: I’ve got a few more entries in my comedy/fantasy short series, Evermore Island, coming out soon. You can find out more about those at troyhgardner.com.
Erin: We’re planning on a total of six books in the Mad World series. Book three, titled Perfection, has already been contracted with MuseItUp and is scheduled for release in late spring / early summer. We’re working on a first draft of book four in the series now, and I’m also about halfway through the first draft of a solo YA novel about a teenage escape artist.
Erin Callahan lives with her husband in the bustling metropolis of Hooksett, New Hampshire, and works for the federal government. She enjoys reading and writing young adult fiction, playing recreational volleyball, and mining the depths of pop culture for new and interesting ideas. A year after graduating from law school, she found herself unemployed and took a job as a case manager at a residential facility similar to the one featured in Wakefield. Though she worked there for just over a year, the strange and amazing kids she met will forever serve as a well of inspiration.
Troy H. Gardner grew up in New Hampshire and graduated with a B.A. in English/Communications with a dual concentration in film and writing from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. He spent ten years working in the banking industry dreaming up numerous stories to write. When not writing, which is seldom, Troy busies himself jet-setting from Sunapee, NH to Moultonborough, NH.
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