Today’s Spooky Legend comes in the form of an author interviewing her own character about the Mall Warnings/Flat Tire urban legend. The author is Linda Poitevin and the character is Detective Alexandra Jarvis from The Grigory Legacy urban fantasy debut SINS OF THE ANGELS (available now from Ace Books). Be sure to leave a comment for Linda below!
Click to see the Spooky Legends Master List with links to all the previous posts and giveaways
Alexandra Jarvis on Mall Warnings
by
Linda Poitevin
Hello, everyone, and thanks so much for stopping by. I’m thrilled to be a part of the Spooky Legends event, and to be able to give you the chance to get to know one of my characters from Sins of the Angels. Alexandra Jarvis is a homicide detective with the Toronto Police Service and she seemed like the perfect person to talk to about one of the most widely circulated urban legends out there, the mall warning about the flat tire. Let’s drop in on her for a quick visit.
Author: “Excuse me, Alex— “
Alexandra Jarvis [looks up from series of gruesome photos spread across a desk and frowns]: “Do I know you?”
Author: “Kind of. I’m—“
Alex’s cell phone rings and she plucks it from her waistband: “Jarvis. Yeah, I’m just looking at them now…Another?...Where?...You’re sure it’s the same m.o.?...Right, well, let me know as soon as you find out.” She replaces cell phone and eyes Author impatiently. “Look, whoever you are, I’m kind of busy right now.”
Author: “It will only take a couple of minutes. I just have a quick question.”
Alex: “You have thirty seconds.”
Author: “A friend of mine emailed me a story about a woman handing out flyers at a mall to warn other woman about a man who tried to kidnap her—“
Alex [scowling now]: “You’re not serious.”
Author [blinking]: “Um…maybe?”
Alex sighs and gathers up the photos, stuffing them into a file folder: “I can’t believe that little gem is still circulating.” She shoots Author a disgusted look. “Or that people are still falling for it.”
Author: “But I haven’t even told you the story.”
Alex [sitting down and linking fingers behind head]: “A lady comes out of a mall and sees her tire is flat. Some suited-up guy offers to help change it, puts his briefcase in her trunk, changes the tire, and asks for a ride to where his car is parked. She gets nervous and pretends she forgot to buy something, goes back inside, and returns with mall security. The suited guy is gone, but he left his briefcase behind. Turns out the briefcase contains rope and a knife, and nothing was wrong with tire except that the air was let out. Does that about cover it?”
Author: “Well, yes, actually. So you’re saying it’s not true, then?”
Alex: “I’m saying it was never true. Not now, not when it surfaced in 1998, and not in any of its many other forms. Do yourself a favor, and next time you get something like that in your email, check it out on the Internet. Snopes is a good start.”
Author: “But it sounded so plausible. “
Alex: “So do most urban legends. They’re still legends.”
Author: “So I shouldn’t worry.”
Alex: “You shouldn’t be paranoid. Trust me, there’s enough real crap out there to be afraid of without inventing stuff.”
Author: “Real as in Fallen Angels and Armageddon?”
Alex [going still for a moment, then rising from her seat and settling hands on hips]: “Real as in your thirty seconds are up. How did you get in here, anyway? This is a restricted area and I don’t see a visitor badge.”
Author: “Um, yes, well…”
Alex’s cell phone rings again and she huffs impatiently as she reaches for it: “Jarvis.”
Author thanks her lucky stars and beats a hasty retreat! J
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About the author:
|
Linda Poitevin lives just outside Canada’s capital, Ottawa, with her husband, three daughters, one very large husky/shepherd/Great Dane-cross dog, two cats, three rabbits, and a bearded dragon lizard. Turned down in her pursuit of a police career after a faulty height measurement, Linda vicariously lives out her dream of being a cop through her characters. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found in her garden in the summer, hugging the fireplace in the winter, or walking her dog along the river in any season. |
| Visit Linda Poitevin online: Want to read more from Linda Poitevin? |
Book Details
SINS OF THE ANGELS by Linda Poitevin
Available now from Ace Books
Description:
A detective with a secret lineage. An undercover Hunter with a bullet-proof soul. And a world made to pay for the sins of an angel…
Homicide detective Alexandra Jarvis answers to no one. Especially not to the new partner assigned to her in the middle of a gruesome serial killer case—a partner who is obstructive, irritatingly magnetic, and arrogant as hell.
Aramael is a Power—a hunter of the Fallen Angels. A millennium ago, he sentenced his own brother to eternal exile for crimes against humanity. Now his brother is back and wreaking murderous havoc in the mortal realm. To find him, Aramael must play second to a human police officer who wants nothing to do with him and whose very bloodline threatens both his mission and his soul.
Now, faced with a fallen angel hell-bent on triggering the apocalypse, Alex and Aramael have no choice but to join forces, because only together can they stop the end of days.
Read an excerpt|Read our review
What a cute way to retell an old legend! Linda's book is awesome. Thanks for another great Spooky Legends post Abigail!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the story.
ReplyDeletesgiden at verizon.net
Thanks for the wonderful legend and giveaway! I have been dying to get my hands on this book. bpatrick64113@sbcglobal.net
ReplyDeleteGreat blog and I love character interviews. Thanks for the chance to win a copy of your book Linda.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the story.
ReplyDeletesab5723 at hotmail dot com
I loved the story!
ReplyDeleteLadyVampire2u AT gmail DOT com
Great story! Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteSkk25@aol.com
Wonderful interview. Truly enjoyable! Love the book trailer too! I can't wait to read the book!
ReplyDeleteThank you all so much for stopping by to read Alex's interview -- she and I hope you rest much easier about going to the mall now! ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat interview, that urban legend circulates every few years. Love the book description, sounds great!
ReplyDeleteAreeths at new dot rr dot com
That mall warning story totally sounds like something one of my aunts would forward to me and the rest of her extended family!
ReplyDeleteMickie T
mdturett at juno dot com
Oh that was great! The mall is always a haunted scary place especially when I take my teens. I am doomed. Love the sound of the book!
ReplyDeleteterilhack at gmail dot com
I am having an excellent time following this month:) Thank you so much for helping in bringing back the fun to this season for me!
ReplyDeletedz59001[at]gmail[dot]com
That was a really fun guest post! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the story! I'd just gotten my copy of this book from amazon and I can't wait to start it! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post thank you for sharing! This sounds like a great book would love to read it. Thank you for the great giveaway!
ReplyDeletetishajean@ charter.net