Shrapnel is a fun, YA paranormal that is filled with ghosts, history, and snarky teens! I really enjoyed Stephanie Lawton’s characters and the pace of the story, and I think you will too!  If you like Maureen Johnson’s The Name of the Star, you’ll love Shrapnel.  I’ve given the novel four books on the bookshelf!

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Shrapnel Interview with Stephanie Lawton

#1 If you could choose three historical figures’ ghosts to ‘hang’ with, who would they be, and what would you ask them?

There are so many, but here are the three that float to the top of the list:
*Jane Austen: I think she and I would get along smashingly. On the surface she’s known for such prim and proper novels, but under the surface there’s a lot of wit and humor. I’d love to ask her if Thomas Lefroy was the inspiration for Mr. Darcy, and if so, to what extent and what aspects.

*Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanova: She was the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and lived from 1901-1918. She was murdered at age 17 by revolutionaries, along with the rest of her family after being held captive for more than a year. For decades, rumors swirled that she had survived the execution, and an American woman even claimed to be her, but in the past few years, the bodies were discovered in two mass graves and DNA tests concluded that all members of the royal family were accounted for and the American woman had been a fraud. I’d love to ask her opinion on the enduring mythology of her family’s demise, and ask her about her time in captivity, as well as her murder.
*Voodoo queen Marie Laveau: Marie was a 19th-century Creole woman born in New Orleans. She had a very colorful personal life in addition to her reputation as a priestess. She’s allegedly buried in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, and it’s a huge tourist attraction. I’d ask her about the various aspects of her personal life, plus I’d want to know if she truly believed she communicated with spirits as she claimed, or if it was an elaborate hoax based on the gossip she collected from her wealthy patrons’ servants.

#2 If you could be a ghost, and haunt any place, where would it be? Why?

I’d love to haunt a cemetery in New Orleans, simply because there would never be a dull moment. The architecture is beautiful, there are tons of crumbling graves to slither in and out of, and there’s an almost constant stream of people wandering through. Besides the regular visitors, there are tours of the cemeteries put on by local companies. Some focus on the beauty and architecture, the history, the famous people buried within (including a certain famous voodoo queen mentioned above!), but there are also night-time ghost tours. Man, would it be fun to mess with their heads!

#3 If you could be a ghost, and haunt anyone, who would it be? Why?

Heh, this is going to make me sound vindictive, but I’d haunt every ex-boyfriend I ever had and drive him insane. Say, for instance, you had an ex who hated cheese–gagged at the thought of it. How much fun would it be to make the smell of Swiss waft through his house and then sit back and watch him retch? Or maybe another who had really great, thick hair that it was fun to run your fingers through? Imagine him sitting in his favorite chair all cozy and relaxed when all of a sudden, he feels invisible fingers combing through his dark waves. Or, even better, a long-distance ex whose computer keeps flicking on to your website, just to remind him of what he gave up.

Actually, this sounds like a good premise for a book … 😉

SHRAPNEL Synopsis:

It’s been six years since Dylanie and her family visited a Civil War site and the place came alive with cannon fire. Problem was, no one could hear it but her.

Now she’s sixteen, her dad’s moved out, her mom’s come out of the closet and Dylan’s got a spot on Paranormal Teen, a reality TV show filming at historic Oakleigh Mansion. She’ll spend a weekend with two other psychic teens—Jake and Ashley—learning how to control her abilities.

None of them realized how much their emotional baggage would put them at the mercy of Oakleigh’s resident spirits, or that they’d find themselves pawns in the 150-year-old battle for the South’s legendary Confederate gold. Each must conquer their personal ghosts to face down Jackson, a seductive spirit who will do anything to protect the gold’s current location and avenge a heinous attack that destroyed his family.

About Stephanie:

After collecting a couple English degrees in the Midwest, Stephanie Lawton suddenly awoke in the deepest reaches of the Deep South. Culture shock inspired her to write about Mobile, Alabama, her adopted city, and all the ways Southern culture, history and attitudes seduce the unsuspecting.

A lover of all things gothic, she can often be spotted photographing old cemeteries, historic buildings and, ironically, the beautiful beaches of the Gulf Coast. She also has a tendency to psychoanalyze people, which comes in handy when creating character profiles.