Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for The Spirit of Vanderlaan (The Samantha Hayes Series) by Susan Harris Howell. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
The Spirit of Vanderlaan (The Samantha Hayes Series)
by Susan Harris Howell
The Spirit of Vanderlaan (The Samantha Hayes Series)
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting: This story is set on the fictitious campus of Vanderlaan University, in the Midwest or Midsouth region of the United States
Publisher : Wild Rose Press
Publication date : December 2, 2024
Print length : 370 pages
When beloved professor, Samantha Hayes, learns that her favorite four students live in as many of her old dorm rooms, she wonders how it happened and for what purpose. As she and her student entourage explore the possibilities, they uncover a death years ago and what appears to be the ghost of the dearly departed. All of this stirs up Samantha’s long-held fear that she was responsible for that death, challenging all she thought she knew about herself and the work she holds dear. They must figure out what happened before Samantha gets fired for “dabbling in the paranormal.”
Author Guest Post
One Cookie – Two Forks
By Susan Harris Howell
When I was in graduate school at the University of Louisville, I worked in one of the offices on campus. One day I offered to go to a nearby restaurant to pick up lunch for a co-worker and myself. When I got back to our office with salads in tow, it hit me that I hadn’t thought to get forks.
Shoot. I hated to walk all the way back to the restaurant. But wait, with all the offices in the building, surely someone could help a girl out. So, I checked.
The office next door had nothing. Same for the secretary down the hall and the one next to her. Did no one but us ever eat lunch around here? Or did I look like I might become dependent on their fork supply if they let me see their utensil drawer?
Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I admit that one would-be-helper did pull out an actual stainless-steel utensil from her desk drawer, swabbed it several times with a tissue, and held it out to me. Umm… no thanks.
Okay – I had another idea. Instead of schlepping all the way back to the salad place, I’d zip across the street to a fast-food establishment and get what we needed. But how tacky, thought I, to beg free cutlery without buying anything. Ah! I know. I’ll buy one of their big chocolate chip cookies. My co-worker and I would split it for lunch.
And that is how it came to pass that I walked up to the young lady behind the Hardees counter and asked for one cookie and two forks.
After a few blinks, she filled my order and quietly accepted payment. I suppose her need for employment overrode her desire to call me out on my apparent naivete as a patron of fast food.
Of course, the moral of this story could be to keep your workplace stocked with plastic utensils for just such an occasion. (I now do that, by the way.)
But I suspect a more important takeaway is to be kind to those who ask for what they need, even when we don’t have the backstory behind their request. Because we’ve all been there – needing something from a friend, family member, or even an acquaintance – something that, to them, seemed funny, strange, or evidence of our ignorance because they didn’t know what brought us to that point.
And of course, depending on the relationship, we might ask for backstory – to clarify, help us understand, or satisfy our curiosity.
But sometimes we don’t ask. Because, after all, it’s a friend (or a fast-food worker). And we realize we don’t really need to know. So, we blink a few times, then hand over the cookie and two forks.
About Susan Harris Howell
I am a psychologist, speaker, and author of The Spirit of Vanderlaan, my debut novel released in December of 2024. This book is a fun, cozy, ghost story featuring a professor, Samantha Hayes, and her lively band of students who get caught up in solving a campus mystery. This book draws on my teaching career of over thirty years to capture the camaraderie and warmth between a professor and the assortment of personalities which inhabit her office.
I have also published extensively on equality between women and men. My first book, Buried Talents, explores the subtle ways women are discouraged from entering male-dominated occupations. Buried Talents was named a winner in InterVarsity Press’s 2022 Readers’ Choice Awards.
My husband and I have two grown children, a daughter-in-law, one adorable grandson, and an incorrigible beagle named Doc. While Doc doesn’t understand a word I say, he fully supports my speaking and writing endeavors.
Links to My Socials:
Website: https://susanharrishowell.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/susan_h_howell/
Email List & Monthly Blog: https://susanharrishowell.substack.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/susanhowellwriter
Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3Zp0OTN
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22175282.Susan_Harris_Howell
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/susan-harris-howell
Enter the Giveaway
The Spirit of Vanderlaan TOUR PARTICIPANTS
July 21 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR GUEST POST
July 22 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
July 23 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST
July 24 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
July 24 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT
July 25 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
July 25 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
July 26 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
July 27 – Eskimo Princess Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
July 28 – Deal Sharing Aunt – SPOTLIGHT
July 29 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR GUEST POST
July 30 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST
July 31 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
August 1 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – REVIEW
August 2 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
August 3 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
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Thanks, Christy, for featuring The Spirit of Vanderlaan today! I so appreciate the publicity and hope readers will love it!
You’re welcome!