Autumn/Halloween Countdown Blitz & Giveaway 2019 Day 2: The Murray's Hidden Treasure By Emily-Jane Hills Orford

An avid gardener, artist, musician and writer, Emily-Jane Hills Orford has fond memories and lots of stories that evolved from a childhood growing up in a haunted Victorian mansion. 

Told she had a ‘vivid imagination’, the author used this talent to create stories in her head to pass tedious hours while sick, waiting in a doctor’s office, listening to a teacher drone on about something she already knew, or enduring the long, stuffy family car rides. The author lived her stories in her head, allowing her imagination to lead her into a different world, one of her own making. As the author grew up, these stories, imaginings and fantasies took to the written form and, over the years, she developed a reputation for telling a good story. 

Emily-Jane can now boast that she is an award-winning author of several books, including King Henry’s Choice (Clean Reads 2019), Mrs. Murray’s Ghost (Telltale Publishing 2018), Mrs. Murray’s Hidden Treasure (Telltale Publishing 2019), Queen Mary’s Daughter (Clean Reads 2018), Gerlinda (CFA 2016) which received an Honorable Mention in the 2016 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, To Be a Duke (CFA 2014) which was named Finalist and Silver Medalist in the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and received an Honorable Mention in the 2015 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards and several other books. 

A retired teacher of music and creative writing, she writes about the extra-ordinary in life and her books, short stories, and articles are receiving considerable attention. For more information on the author, check out her website at: http://emilyjanebooks.ca

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There is a hidden treasure in the grand old mansion on Piccadilly Street, in a place called London, but not the real London of English fame. There’s also a lot of mystery and a murder that’s been unsolved for decades. But it’s the treasure that captures Mary’s interest. 

Mary lives in this house along with her family, her Brownie friends, and a ghost. When the ghost reveals her secret about the hidden treasure, there’s no stopping Mary, her Brownie friends, or her enemies from searching for this treasure. 

Why the intrigue? Apparently, there’s a little bit of magic connected to this treasure. And so the adventure begins. Who will find the treasure first?

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Q & A With the Author:

1.     When did you write your first novel? In the late 1970s? I did manage to finish it, and I probably still have a copy of the novel somewhere, but it was a very weak attempt at writing and not something I'd want to publish. It was a good exercise, though. My next novel was my grandmother's story, "Personal Notes". I wrote it in first-person narrative, from my grandmother's point of view. The publisher commented that when he read it, he could almost see my grandmother sitting in her rocking chair telling her stories, which she often did. I started writing "Person Notes" in 1995, just after my grandmother passed away. It helped me heal from the feeling of loss. She and I were very close.

2.     What drove you to write / why did you become an author? I come from a family of storytellers, but being the youngest, I often didn't have a chance to share my stories in the oral tradition, so, as soon as I could write, I started writing my stories. My mother saved most of my stories and, after she passed away, I was surprised to find them tucked away in a box in the storage space underneath the stairs. 

3.     How do you create your characters? A lot of my characters are people from real life. The saying that goes around on Facebook that you should be nice to a writer because they have the power to do anything with your character in their novels, is very true. But none of my characters is an exact copy of a real-life person. I mix and match characteristics from people I know, people I've studied in history and people I read about in the news. The only character that remains the same is my grandmother, who surprisingly or not, is in most of my novels as Gran, Granny, Grandma or Grandmother. In "Mrs. Murray's Hidden Treasure", she's Granny. My grandmother always claimed we'd soon forget her after she passed away. I've proved her wrong with all the stories I've written in the past 24 years. 

4.     What is one thing you love about Fall / Autumn? I have mixed feelings about Fall, as it always free-falls into winter, which I don't like at all. I guess what I do like, though, are the colors. Living in eastern Ontario, we enjoy a very colorful display of leaves each fall. Living in the country, a walk along our country road is almost magical, the bees are still humming in the hedges along the road (one of our neighbors is a bee-keeper) and the apples are ripe and falling onto the road, along with the bright reds and golds of the maple leaves. 

5.     Who is the person or group of people that most support you in your writing? My husband. My parents, when they were alive, were also supportive. 

6.     What is your favorite Halloween Memory? I remember my best friend's birthday party. She was turning 6. We dressed in costumes made up of this and that from around the house, not the store-bought variety that is a must today. I dressed as a princess in a pink satin gown my mother had cut down from one of her old dresses. She had done up my hair fancy with a crown she created from some old costume jewelry and as we bobbed for apples at the party, I remember being annoyed when my 'crown' kept slipping into the bucket of water. 

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