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Sleeping in the Morgue by Jennifer Tressen

7/29/2014

7 Comments

 
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Paige Thorton, a sweet overachieving high school senior only has one month to come up with ten thousand dollars to pay for college, but her family mortuary has no business. Desperate to escape her little town and go to her dream school, she decides to take matters into her own hands and drum up some clients. 

Soon "accidents" begin happening to local residents. However when her boyfriend, Brock Harrington, the rookie hotshot cop begins to investigate things get hairy. Will Paige be able to pull it off in time or will she be doomed to forever sleep in the morgue?

The author will be giving away a  $25 Bath and Body Works gift certificate. Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. Tour dates can be found here: Goddessfish Promotions Blog

An Excerpt from the Book

“So I heard you got a corpse the other day,” Brock said as he drove his large pick-up truck. “Old man? He’ll likely be one of the last, huh?”

Paige twiddled her fingers and tried to figure out how to answer the question. “Yeah, some old man. Not sure how he died....he just sort of...” 

Keep your cool. 

She held her breath and looked at Brock. 

“Old people just die. Happens all the time.” He chuckled. “Just not around here much anymore.” 

“Yeah, he just died,” Paige said. 

That was easy. No need for explanation. He just died. Why didn’t I think of that? It’s not like I killed him or anything. I just...helped him. Yeah, I helped him. There’s nothing wrong with helping people, right? 

“Any more ideas on how to make the cash?” 

Paige shook her head, “Your dad’s giving me a scholarship.”

“Oh is he?”

“Well, the town is. And it’s not official, so don’t quote me or anything; but he said he would. Three thousand dollars.” 

Still not enough. 

“That’s a good start.”

Paige nodded, still lost in her own thoughts. She was trying to avoid letting the guilt of what she had helped the kind old man do get to her. 

“I really wish I could pay for school for you--”

“Brock, don’t.”

“But my rookie salary is barely enough to cover the bills and put a couple bucks away for you know, ‘someday.’” 

“Brock...” She couldn’t help but smile. His sincerity was sweet. He would do anything for her and she knew that. But she didn’t want him to. She wanted to do this on her own, the best she could that is.

About the Author

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Jennifer Tressen is a wife, mother and writer. A former actor, she spent nearly ten years in the entertainment industry appearing in commercials, print ads and television shows. It was her love of storytelling that pushed her to the other side of the camera and sent her to film school at Chapman University. Although she entered as a Cinematography major, Jennifer graduated with a degree in Screenwriting after a single required screenwriting class forever changed her path. She found a passion for writing she had forgotten in her childhood. Everything she learned about screenwriting and especially storytelling she attributes to her mentor, the late Blake Snyder.
After several years of writing and editing for producers and other screenwriters her curiosity led her into writing novels. As a huge fan of Young Adult and New Adult literature this is where her pen tends to lead her. However, she does have plans to release a few middle grade fiction and adult novels in the future.

Jennifer attributes her love of reading and writing to her mother who always reminded her of the power of literacy. Besides telling her and her siblings that they could do anything they wanted if they knew how to read and write, she said, “You can go anywhere in a book. You can be anyone.”

Links: Jennifer's Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon | Barnes and Noble
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7 Comments
Goddess Fish Promotions link
7/29/2014 08:23:39 pm

Thanks for hosting!

Reply
Jennifer Tressen link
7/30/2014 12:32:47 am

Thank you for hosting! I'd love to answer questions from readers or respond to comments.

Reply
Angela Myron link
7/30/2014 03:08:41 am

Thanks for joining me on my blog today, Jennifer!

I've always found the culture around mortuaries fascinating. They surround the final rituals of life, and as such remain on the edge of taboo. What drew you to writing about the daughter of a mortician?

And, since she is drumming up business, does she fall under the anti-hero archetype?

So many things about this story are intriguing! All the best to you in your book launch.

Angela

Reply
Jennifer Tressen link
7/30/2014 03:59:20 am

Angela,
Great questions!

I actually came up with the idea along with my mom during college. The basis of the story was what became my first screenplay. I liked the idea of having a seemingly goody good girl next door character with a really dark side and working in a mortuary seemed like a natural fit.

I do indeed say she is an anti-hero because as much as you're rooting for her to succeed you still know that it's not by the most desirable means...even though her reasoning and choices are interesting!

Although I had originally written it as a single novel (as the screenplay had been), I've found that people were questioning what would happen next and even when I was pitching the screenplay a couple years back one producer suggested it should be a series with one "accident" happening each week. Thus, I have a sequel in the works and can't wait to share with readers what Paige is up to while in college.

Thank you for the insightful questions.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Tressen

jonquil
7/30/2014 05:12:26 am

I most enjoyed that the excerpt raised questions, mainly: why guilt over 'helping'. So many ways to 'help'......

Reply
Jennifer Tressen link
7/30/2014 07:12:35 am

Hi Jonquil,

Glad it raised some questions - that is what it's meant to do. It's a fun little book which does make you wonder what "help" means to some people.....ha, ha. You should check it out. It's included free in the new Amazon Unlimited membership. Have a wonderful day!

Reply
Elena
7/30/2014 06:28:15 am

I like the excerpt

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