(ghost story friday) Author Interview: LJ Cohen

Today’s author interview is with LJ Cohen, who has written some incredible YA stories. Her newest work is Ithaka Rising, the sequel to her popular science fiction book Derelict. In addition, she’s a New England native! Welcome, Lisa!

DKP: What do you write? What are you working on now?

Lisa: I write science fiction and fantasy novels. The current “WIP” is DREADNOUGHT AND SHUTTLE, book 3 of my SF series, Halcyone Space.

DKP: Do you believe in ghosts? Why or why not?

Lisa: I believe places can have echoes or memories of their past inhabitants.

DKP: Would you like to go on an investigation? If so, where would you like to explore?

Lisa: I don’t think so! I have far too active an imagination and I do like to sleep at night. It’s hard enough for me – as a grown up – to go down to our own basement when I’m alone in the house! Seriously, I have to turn on every light in the house and sing. (I have no idea why I believe things that go bump in the night would be spooked by my singing. . . )

DKP: Tell us a ghost story. 

Lisa: When I was six years old, my family took a vacation to Spain. Most of my memories of that trip are hazy and are probably primarily constructed from photos and the stories my parents told me about our time there. But there is one very strong memory I have carried all these years.

We visited The Alhambra. I remember it was raining and I ran through the formal gardens and among the fountains and pools. There was something about the place that made the skin on the back of my neck tingle, as if I was being watched. I wasn’t scared, as I recall, only overwhelmed by a sense of terrible sadness that I didn’t understand for decades. It wasn’t until I was much, much older that I learned about the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 that occurred at The Alhambra. To this day, I am convinced that I felt the ghosts of the dispossessed that day – both the people who had been killed and the ones who had to leave the only homeland they had known.

DKP: Where can we find you?

Lisa: http://www.ljcohen.net
http://www.ljcbluemuse.blogspot.com (blog)
@lisajanicecohen (twitter)
www.facebook.com/ljcohen
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+LisaCohen/posts