Walk-In Investigations: A Paranormal Detective Novel
Our guest tonight is Joyce Kostakis, author of Walk-In Investigations: A Paranormal Detective Novel. We have conducted an interview with her about her new book.
How long did you take to write your recent novel?
I had the idea bouncing around in my head for a few years. Once I put pen to paper or rather fingers to the keyboard it took about one year.
In your opinion as the author, which is the is the most thrilling event in "Walk-In Investigations: A Paranormal Detective Novel"?
The lead Character Detective Katie Hanson channels murder victims for clues in solving their murder. What Katie did not realize was the channeled spirit could highjack her body. The story makes an abrupt twist when Katie’s is unable to return to her body, and she is forced to share the body of her psychic friend as they race against time to not only solve the case but retrieve her body.
Why did you choose this title?
The title describes the process of what happens when Katie channels. In the future, a medium's spirit has to leave their body to prevent any filtering or altering of the channeled message so that the deceased spirit can give their account of who caused their murder. In a sense, the spirit "Walks into the host body" and shares the details of their crossing.
Who inspires you the most in the novel?
It wasn't a who but more of a what. The idea that parallel universes can interact with ours intrigued me. I thought of all the parallel world shows I watched growing up and wondered what if a fragment of ourselves from a parallel world could interact with us and give us signs and guidance on making the right choices or even more altruistic the greatest good of society. I thought it would be amazing if a homicide detective could reach out to her parallel counterpart to receive clues on solving her cold case and the story was born.
How did you further develop the characters?
I thought of people I knew and how they would react to interacting with a parallel universe and blended their personalities into some of the characters. My character lost her mom and twin brother when she was ten. I wondered how that must feel and her character developed from that. She suffered from depression and attempted suicide. The paramedics revive her, but crossing over opened a gateway to the spirit world. She begins to receive messages from dead when she returns home from the hospital. As Katie learns to navigate the waters of being a medium, she finds that she is also able to see through dimensions and receives unexpected help on her current case from her parallel counterpart who she calls P-Kate.
As Katie adjusts to her new skills, she finds a source of strength in helping those that crossed, and develops into a strong, relatable character as her emotional scars heal. She finds a strength she never knew she had. One of the surprising outcomes of the book is the comments I am getting from readers. It turns out, the book is more than an entertaining read. It is thought provoking. The readers journey with Kate as she heals and her responses to the changes in her life, resonates with them. Some of the comments I have received are "Your book has comforted me to a depth I did not know was there. Thank you for sharing your gifts." and "Your book is amazing. I can't express how your book is healing me with every word. Thru tear dimmed eyes, I tell you I have hope again and feel like moving forward is possible." and "However unintended your book is healing my psyche!"
Do you plan to write a sequel to this novel?
I have started the sequel. It is called The Spirit's Oracle. A Paranormal Detective mystery. I'm hoping to have it finished early 2017.
