Perspective by Peter: Author Spotlight: C.L Ragsdale, Fun Fiction With A Pinch of Weird!

Wednesday 22 July 2015

Author Spotlight: C.L Ragsdale, Fun Fiction With A Pinch of Weird!

If there was one cartoon show I loved while growing up it was Scooby Doo!

I loved Shaggy, Daphne, Velma, Freddie, and of course the dog, Scooby Doo! Him and Shaggy were always up to something and it always went pear shaped! I loved the investigative, detective like mind of Velma, the leadership, common sense of Freddie and the practicality of Daphne. What I especially loved about the show was that in each episode, the fist third showed the mystery, the paranormal elements that have been spooking the community, the next third with the team being drawn into the mystery and seeking to solve it, and the last third the revealing of what is really causing this mystery and paranormal events.

I never thought I would come across an author who would write novels with a similar framework like the Scooby Doo cartoon series! I first came across Cindy L. Ragsdale in one of the Facebook groups I belong to when she was asking advice on the reworking of the cover of one of her books, The Mystery of Hurtleberry House. What piqued my interest in her was that she actually mentioned that this cover had a Scooby Doo look about it! Then I looked at it again and I totally agreed. It really does have the Scooby Doo style! I then found out the Cindy creates her novels in a similar way to the Scooby Doo series, with everything not as it first appears.

Based on this I thought it would be good to have Cindy as my latest Author Spotlight guest to see what makes the author of this unique style tick and expose more readers to her and her books. Admittedly, I have not yet read any of her books, but I have bought The Mystery of Hurtleberry House (The Reboot Files Book 1) to get me started.

So sit back and let Cindy entertain you as she takes you into her world.

Over to you, Cindy!

My name is C.L. Ragsdale (the C’s for Cindy, and the L is not what you think) and I write cozy mystery stories.

Just so you know, my stories aren’t exactly like the best sellers you have may read. Mine are what are referred to as grown-up Scooby Doo. Which means rather than romance and murder you get fake paranormal and non-lethal crimes.

It’s a little different, but then so am I.

So, you may ask, how do I get my plot ideas for this different type cozies? From things that creep me out. Where the different comes in is what is creepy to me may seem perfectly harmless to you.

Such as?

Trees.

Seriously. They’re creepy. Just read Algernon Blackwood’s story The Willows sometime. You’ll see. But to be fair to the enemy…I mean the trees, let me state my case.

Behold, the photographic evidence of the extremely creepy looking trees that live behind my house.

See what I mean? They’re just…there. Waiting. For what? Who knows? That's creepy. But that doesn't mean they don't do annoying stuff like leaving disgusting leaves that I will now have to clean up.

Now that is just rude because I have gravel for a lawn. You ever tried to clean up leaves from gravel? But that's not the point, the point is that it never ends! I live in California, so we don’t have a “stop dropping your leaves already” season! They just keep at it all year long!

It's a conspiracy, and the end game is…I don’t know what, but they’re up to something.

Worst of all is their allies, the creepy birds that live in the creepy trees.

Okay, so it's fake chicken on a bush. I couldn't get a real bird to pose. Why? Because they're creepy too, they know it, and they don't want it documented. I’ve read The Birds by Daphne du Maurier (way scarier than the movie by the way). I recommend it, and then you’ll never look at Tweety the same way.

But back to the trees. My mother, a very logical person, so she never listened to me, told me that I needed to get over this tree conspiracy thing because they’re just trees after all. But don't confuse logic with the creepy facts.

Sure they're pretty, but that’s to lure you into their evil, creepy plot to…again, I don’t know what, but it’s going to be bad.

Remember Day of The Triffids by John Wyndham? Sure he doesn't come right out and say that the plants that are getting up and around and eating people are trees, but trees are plants so you can't rule it out.

Mark my words, you’ll change your tune when the creepy trees and birds rise up to destroy us all….oops, sorry, I got a little carried away. I’m a writer, I do that.

So where did all that come from? My relatively normal childhood growing up in a location where scary stories abounded.

I know, it warped me for life.

First, there was The Orchard, the evilest place on earth. It was gone by the time I got old enough to remember things, but I was told by my sisters that it was truly the most frightening place ever. They know because our older brother Jack told them so.

Then there was The Gully, a forest…okay a grove… okay a line of trees (it looked big when I was a kid) where you went in but never came out. I know this because my sisters told me and Jack told them...oh you've noticed a pattern here, huh? It's true, Jack was known to love to torment his little sisters with scary stories, but get tree roots into your plumbing sometime and you begin to wonder if there's not an evil genius at work somewhere.

So making the trees the bad guys is all my brother’s fault. He was so effective that to this day I still tend to give them a second or third look before enjoying their shade during hot California summers. When I'm desperate.

You never know, they may be up to something.

Now, you just cannot be introduced to Cindy's world without then seeing how her unique style and view of mystery, suspense and a touch of the weird is expressed in her books! So I have listed them here. Click on the title to view more of the book on Amazon.

The Mystery of Hurtleberry House (The Reboot Files Book 1)

The host of a paranormal investigation show? For REBOOT? The worst TV station EVER?!

Not the career move that reporter Irene Waters ever wanted, but with a scandal now on her resume she can't be picky. So teamed with a cameraman who thinks he’s seen it all, they are sent to a rumored haunted house called Hurtleberry.

With a name like that who wouldn't be terrified?

Things soon take a turn for the weird, just not the kind of weird they were expecting. But it's interesting, and might even be dangerous.

Still, if they pull it off The Reboot Team might actually get a good story out of it. If the story doesn't get them first.

The Island of Living Trees (The Reboot Files Book 2)

Things are looking really bad in Reboot Land just now.

But if host Irene Waters can deal with a few minor issues they just might end up with an exciting episode.

All she has to do is keep her cameraman’s mind on filming and off the pretty environmentalist.

Stop said environmentalist from trying to turn the Reboot Team against each other for reasons unknown.

Getting the would-be politician to keep her opinions to herself (Irene has her doubts on that one).

Then there are those pesky walking trees...

Correction, things are looking really, really bad in Reboot land just now.

The Harbinger of Retribution (The Reboot Files Book 3)

The Harbinger of Retribution is a thing of beauty and of nightmares. A seven foot tall statue depicting a cloaked woman with two swords crossed over her chest. It resides in a back room of a local church in the small town of Redemption which has seen more than its share of unfortunate events due to its mere existence. Truly it is a messanger of doom...

At least that's how the story goes, and why Irene's Eerie Adventures has come to town.

Cameraman Troy Stenson is elated to find that the object of their investigation does not disappoint in the sinister factor, and it even has a curse. His partner, Irene Waters, refuses to judge by appearances alone. To Troy’s chagrin she is proven right, again, when they find out The Harbinger doesn't have a curse, it has two, and they conflict with each other.

So the question becomes is it the statue that's causing the trouble? And is there any trouble at all?

The Wrong Ghost (The Reboot Files Book 4)

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful woman named Virginia whose life was filled with disappointment. With the rejection of her one true love she ended her life. Now her vengeful spirit haunts the shores of Lake Morona seeking the destruction of all who cross her path.

Or so the story goes.

Pretty standard fare for Reboot TV reporter Irene Waters and her cameraman Troy Stenson. But a strange assignment is made even stranger by their station manager tagging along for no apparent reason, and having competition for the first time ever for the story.

Then there is a suspiciously cooperative 'ghost' who, it may turn out, isn't even the right ghost.

The Great Scarecrow Invasion (The Reboot Files Book 5)

After their latest assignment is debunked before they can even get started, Irene Waters and Troy Stenson take the opportunity to help out an old friend.

Bob Cullens has been sidetracked from his retirement to design an elaborate corn maze for the Franklin family. But now he has trouble. Scarecrow trouble.

So what could be the trouble with scarecrows in a cornfield? Well, they’re getting up, walking around and making a general nuisance of themselves. Then there's that pesky legend that this could have dire consequences for the Franklin Clan.

But Bob's not worried.

Because he knows that for Irene and Troy, this is just another day at the office.

The Woolly Weegie: The Reboot Files #6 - A Christian Cozy Mystery

You know the trouble with Monsters? They're never what you think.
That is a lesson Reboot's "ace" reporter Irene Waters and her cameraman Troy Stenson are about to learn the hard way when they find themselves on the hunt for a local legend called The Woolly Weegie. Or so they're telling everyone. Truthfully, they're actually out to uncover a cheating ring at a local private high school.
But just as it seems they have escaped the weirdness they usually find on a story, weirdness finds them. When The Woolly Weegie comes pounding on their door. Literally!

Chasing Lady Midnight: A Superhero Urban Fantasy (The Lady Midnight Series Book 1)

Superheroes exist to "Save The World". But what if the world needs saving from the superheroes?

The Mighty Superhero Security Squad came together to protect mankind. Then something went terribly wrong and they became super control freaks bent on world domination. For everyone's own good of course.

So what happens when you're the only superhero standing in their way? Annie Brunswick is about to find out. But first she has to learn how to control her superpowers, which she just got, figure out what is really going on with The Squad, and then save the world. Nothing to it.

Right.

But in a world where superheroes are out control, she's the only hope left.