Join me in welcoming author Ripley Patton who interviews her kickass heroine, Olivia Black, from The PSS Chronicles to discover how she uses the special hand she’s been blessed with – or is it cursed with?

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Let me introduce Olivia Black, the main character of my young adult paranormal thriller series, The PSS Chronicles. Olivia was born with a rare birth defect known as Psyche Sans Soma or PSS. She has a ghost hand, a right hand made of ethereal energy instead of flesh. Thus, the name of the first book in the series, GHOST HAND, wherein she discovers her hand can do more than light up a room. It can reach into people and pull things out. Olivia can pickpocket the soul, and there are some serious bad guys after her who want to use that power for their own nefarious purposes.

In GHOST HOLD, book two of the series, Olivia comes into her own kickassery even more when she must save another girl with PSS from a strange cult known as The Hold.

People often ask what the inspiration for Olivia’s character was. Is she like me? Is she like someone I know? Honestly, Olivia is a cross between the teen girl I wish I’d had the guts to be and the teen girl my daughter actually is. And that makes me proud. I’m amazed that I helped mold and create a Kick Ass girl in fiction and in real life.

But the truth is Olivia really doesn’t like anyone to speak for her. So, I thought it would be fun to let her speak for herself by interviewing her about what’s going on in the series, especially since the third book, GHOST HEART, is releasing this summer and I’m currently taking pre-orders for all the book in the series (in e-book and signed paperback) through The GHOST HEART KICKSTARTER Project.

Character Stats:

Name: Olivia Anne Black
Age: Seventeen
Height: 5′ 7″
Hair colour: deep dyed black
Eye Colour: brown
Fashion sense: Small town Goth. My style has been referred to as Emo Ninja.
Born: Greenfield, Illinois. It’s tiny and boring and you’ve never heard of it.

1. Where are you living now? A CAMFer compound, somewhere in Oregon. For those who haven’t read the series, the CAMFers are the bad guys. And I mean really bad, as in psychos-off-their-meds bad.

2. Do you have any defining abilities? Yes, I can pickpocket people’s souls. But I suck at Calculus, so it all evens out.

3. Do you have any defining physical characteristics? Duh. I have a ghost hand. Do you know anyone else who has a ghost hand?

4. What is the most Kick Ass thing about you? I wear good solid boots. Boots are key for kicking ass. Seriously though, the most Kick Ass thing about me is my will. My mom calls me “the steamroller” because my will to be heard, respected, validated and considered equal WILL roll over you and squash you flat. Unless you get out of the way. And that saves you from the boot-kicking too.

5. What is your biggest fear? Helplessness.

6. Do you think you’re attractive? And why or why not? Yes, most of the time. I have good skin and my boobs are nice. I mean they aren’t so big that they get in the way, but they aren’t tiny. But everyone has days when they don’t feel attractive and days when they do.

7. What is the hardest thing you’ve ever done? Watching my dad die of cancer. He was diagnosed when I was eleven and died the summer I turned thirteen. The last few months were horrible. And that’s one reason I think I’ve always felt different, other than my ghost hand, I mean. When you face death that young, you grow up. All the stuff your friends are whining and bitching about at school suddenly seems so stupid and surreal. But they don’t get it. They can’t because they haven’t been through that yet.

8. If you were to describe me, your creator, in 5 words, what would they be? Old, determined, intelligent, creative, female.

9. What’s on your nightstand right now? They don’t give you a nightstand in a prison cell. But recently it was a gasoline soaked matchbook and a Walther handgun.

10. What would you say is your strongest memory from childhood? The time my parents split up for a month when I was four and my mom and I went to live with my witch of a Grandma in Orlando.

11. Have you ever been madly in love, or had your heart broken? Yes and Yes. I am madly in love with David Marcus Jordon, and he seems to manage to break my heart on a regular basis.

12. Are you a lover or a fighter? Oh, a fighter. How can you know someone really loves you unless you’ve gone toe-to-toe with them and come out the other side of it together?

Want to learn more about Olivia and meet her face-to-face? GHOST HAND, book one of the series, is permafree on Kindle and Kobo and only 99 cents on B&N. All three books of the series can be ordered on the GHOST HEART KICKSTARTER Project.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ripley Patton lives in Portland, Oregon with one cat, two teenagers, and a man who wants to live on a boat. She is an award-winning short story writer and author of The PSS Chronicles, a young adult paranormal thriller series. Ripley doesn’t smoke, or drink, or cuss as much as her characters. Her only real vices are writing, eating M&Ms, and watching reality television.

To find out more about Ripley and her fiction you can find her on
Her Website: http://www.ripleypatton.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writerripleypatton
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rippatton
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4340243.Ripley_Patton