Party with Mara Purnhagen

Welcome party girl, Mara Purnhagen to the blog! We hosted Mara here earlier, when her book Tagged came out. Recently, I was able to meet her in person (when we both went to the Smart Chicks Kick It tour in Cincinnati) and she generously offered to add her new book, Past Midnight, to the Trance party prize list.

Cool stuff about Mara:

She writes to music, and creates a playlist when she's working on a book.
Once she got lost in France and ended up camping for a week with Polish tourists. True story.
She loves guacamole, tall caramel lattes, and her iPod.
Mara has died her hair a rainbow of colors, including red, blue, green, purple, and orange.

The official blurb about Past Midnight:


Let me set the record straight. My name is Charlotte Silver and I'm not one of those paranormal-obsessed freaks you see on TV…no, those would be my parents, who have their own ghost-hunting reality show. And while I'm usually roped into the behind-the-scenes work, it turns out that I haven't gone unnoticed. Something happened on my parents' research trip in Charleston—and now I'm being stalked by some truly frightening other beings. Trying to fit into a new school and keeping my parents' creepy occupation a secret from my friends—and potential boyfriends—is hard enough without having angry spirits whispering in my ear. All I ever wanted was to be normal, but with ghosts of my past and present colliding, now I just want to make it out of high school alive….

Mara's reading:

Your compound number vibrations are forty and twelve.
Twelve is a higher octave of the number three. It is considered to be the ancient number of completion and is an indicator of great understanding and creative capacity. Twelve can also foreshadow one being sacrificed for the plans or intrigues of others.
I love that “creative capacity” is mentioned. I’m not sure how much greater understanding I possess, though: I’ve been married for over a decade and have three sons and I still cannot figure out the inner workings of the male brain (except that it seems to be driven by a need to watch football and consume Doritos).
I thought the aspect of “being sacrificed for the plans of others” was interesting. I’m sure we’ve all had experiences in which we felt used, but this really resonated with me. I’ve gone through several serious situations with people I thought were my friends, but they slipped out my life after I helped them in a significant way. It’s made me wary of people’s motives, I think, and it’s something that shows up in my novels.

Forty indicates success in business, literature and statistics. A person influenced by this number gains fame by lecturing, writing, or by occupying an authoritative position. They may have friends who propel them to important positions. They are fun people to be around, while on their road to fame.
Very cool that this mentioned writing. I’m not good with business or statistics, though. I taught high school for six years, and I think that fits the “authoritative position.” I like to think of myself as fun to be around (except in the mornings—I am NOT a morning person). I laughed at the “road to fame” part.

Your name number vibration is three. The number three indicates someone who is artistic, social, friendly, but in some cases, can be wasteful. Threes tend to be creative, sensitive, ambitious and intuitive.
I think this fits me pretty well. And I agree with the wasteful. I went through a period in which I refused to use anyone’s silverware, even in restaurants. It was a germ thing. I carried plasticware with me everywhere. My purse was stuffed with plastic forks. Looking back, it was incredibly wasteful; thankfully, I got over it.

Today's daily freebie is a signed copy of Past Midnight. Because these posts went up so late, the drawing will remain open until Friday, October 8.