Tell us about No Matter What. What is it about?
The story revolves around two troubled young girls…Clara Mallory who is dead and haunts her family home…and emotionally unbalanced Lynn Michaels, whose parents have just bought the Mallory estate. The story is based on the concept of reincarnation for Lynn is actually the reincarnation of Clara and she has come back to rescue herself. Lynn’s father, a psychiatrist, opens a practice in town all his new patients turn out to be the reincarnations of those responsible for Clara’s death. So obviously there are lots of issues that must be resolved by everyone for this story to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

What genre is it?
You would think that would be an easy answer! It’s obviously paranormal because a ghost factors heavily in the plot but so many people these days consider paranormal stories to be about werewolves and vampires! It also fits within the guidelines of a horror story for Clara is a pretty scary ghost at times! She’s not happy about what’s been done to her so she’s angry about that and confused about who she is. The problem with calling it a “horror” story is the book does bring up the issue of God for all the characters believe in a higher power. Some people don’t think God has a place within the horror genre. When you hear the word “horror” most people think of gore and blood and terrible things. My story is not about trying to terrify the readers but give them something to think about when it comes to life after death and the consequences of our life actions. I like to call it a “Paranormal Thriller” but some would probably argue against that too. So, you see my dilemma? Genres are so mixed up these days…most stories have several elements of other genres and that makes it hard to label sometimes.

We take your point. In that case, what kind of readers will this book appeal to?
It will appeal to people who are intrigued by the idea of life after death, reincarnation, ghosts and the like. People who don’t mind a mild scare (there are some spooky parts after all) might find the story premise intriguing. People looking for a horror story complete with terror and gore…no, they are not going to like this book.

Complete this sentence for us: If you like_____________, you’ll love No Matter What.
“mild horror and stories covering a variety of paranormal and spiritual issues”
(I just can’t think of any book that compares which is what I wanted to put here for an answer!)

Lynn’s dad, Robert Michaels, has to learn to suspend his disbelief. When it comes to the supernatural, is this something you have to do too or do you believe there is more than what we can see?
Oh I totally believe in the concepts brought up in the book. I am intrigued by the idea of reincarnation and how past lives affect our current one. I am fascinated by ghosts and have been since a young child when I lived in a haunted house! My own experiences with the spirit world often help me with the various plot ideas. I write these books because I am fascinated with the paranormal, spiritual and supernatural aspects of our world and our life.

But I do come up against a lot of skeptics in real life so it wouldn’t be believable to have all the characters in my books accept all the strange and bizarre things thrown at them.  Still, I’m not going to waste a lot of the story on the argument of “for” or “against” the beliefs and concepts that are brought before the characters. My goal isn’t to convert anyone’s opinions or beliefs…it’s to simply tell a story that involves various paranormal phenomena and, of course, find readers who enjoy it as much as I do!

You said “these books”. What else have you written that we should look out for?
I have two other books out right now “Be Still, My Love” and “Hidden Voices“. They are in the Tess-Schafer Medium series and book 3 “Vanquishing Ghosts” will be out in early summer (2013).  The series is in first-person POV and is told through medium Tess Schafer. With each book she becomes involved with a haunting and strives throughout the story to solve whatever issue is holding the spirits earthbound. Her goal is always to help them move on in the afterlife. I would definitely put these books in the genre of “cozy paranormal”. There’s no blood and gore and Tess is a strong believer in God and her faith is important to her. Since the stories are focused on figuring out why there’s a haunting going on, there is some sort of mystery involved that must be solved…who are the ghosts? Why are they trapped here? What can she do to release them from their pain? For these stories, I would say if you liked The Sixth Sense then you would probably enjoy these books.

Tell us a bit more about yourself.
Well, as I mentioned, I lived for seven years of my childhood in a haunted old farmhouse. Because of the paranormal activity me and my family experienced there, I started reading anything I could get my hands on concerning the paranormal and supernatural world. I love the shows and movies and documentaries involving the same thing. I’ve experimented a lot with spirit contact (but no, I do not consider myself a medium though I wish I was!) and have had some success and interesting experiences.

I am a member of the Spiritualist Church because I feel it suits my beliefs better than any of the other religions. In truth though, I believe that all the religions have many truths involved with their beliefs and that no ONE church has it ALL right. There’s a growing trend these days for people to say “I am spiritual not religious” and I guess I would fit into that category.

Although I knew I always wanted to be a writer…since the age of eight…I ended up going in the Air Force a year after high school. I grew up in Maine in a small town (Bucksport in fact…the town where Hidden Voices and Vanquishing Ghosts takes place!) and jobs were scarce. I wanted to see the world and get some experience under my belt for the stories I wanted to write so I ended up joining the military and staying in for twenty years, five months and 19 days. Yeah, every day counts. My job was to take care of the Air Force’s munitions inventory…if it blew up or caused any sort of damage…then I handled it, took care of it and was responsible for it. From bullets to nuclear weapons. Not something I ever thought I’d do with my life when growing up, that’s for sure. The Air Force is a demanding life and my writing went on hold for the most part. Although I started writing No Matter What in high school, I finished it the year before I separated from the military.

My husband and I thought running a campground would be a fun retirement activity and so we bought a small one in Maine and ran it for three years. We both decided that the 24/7 demands it made on us was not what we wanted. After being tied to the military for so long (my husband was in the Air Force for 28 years), we wanted a little more freedom. So we closed it down and I turned to my writing. And haven’t looked back!

Have you got a website where readers can keep up with your work? How can we follow you on Twitter and Facebook?
I have a blog, the web address is http://deborahjhughes.com/  and I focus, for the most part, on paranormal subject matter. I share all my experiences in the haunted house and anything else that comes up that I feel compelled to share. I also do interviews with other authors of the paranormal genre.

I am quite active on Twitter and you can find me under @DeborahJHughes.

I have two Facebook pages. One is under Deborah J Hughes Author and the other is Deborah J Hughes. I would be thrilled to make more connections with readers and people interested in the paranormal and all that entails. And even if you aren’t interested…I’m open to friendships regardless of beliefs. Not all of us believe in the same things but that doesn’t mean we can’t get along. Just so long as the beliefs are not harmful to others. It’s our diversity which keeps things interesting!

How true. What’s next?
I’ve been working on another paranormal story involving a legend of three witches who came to America from Scotland. Their destination was a small island off the coast of Maine that was rumored to house a special crystal. What happened to the witches and the crystal no one knows but the island inhabitants are all direct descendants of the three. Strange paranormal events begin to occur there and now it’s up to a couple of the witches’ descendants to figure out what’s happening and possibly stop a major paranormal catastrophe.  The story is still in development but it was inspired by a documentary I watched about the possibility that Viking explorers were actually the first to discover America and that the Knights Templar may even have come over with them! Regardless if it’s true or not, it still has the makings for a pretty great story. I never plan out my stories before writing them…they develop as I go so I’m not sure where this one is leading but it sure has my interest! I also have plans to make book 4 of the Tess Schafer-Medium series. She’s discovered a lot of ghosts in Bucksport and she means to help as many of them as she can!