I was excited to get my hands on this book. I mean, look at that cover..and his inspiration for writing it. How cool is that? Welcome to fundinmental J T.

How did this book come about?

          While hunting whitetail one year, I stumbled upon a weathered tombstone in the middle of the woods. Waiting patiently for that big buck to cross my path gave me plenty of time to think about that lone grave’s inhabitant and ponder her story, which I was then driven to write.

          Eerily enough, this is the premise of The Legend of Rachel Petersen, my first novel that Damnation Books in California published in 2012, which I have just recently revised, then self-published. Between holding down a job as a transformer repairman, and life in general, it me took two years to write the original book back then.

          However! I am now enjoying retirement; and in the first half of 2023, I revised the story by adding 165 pages and a new ending chapter. My ghost tale is now even more descriptive, has added details, and the final chapter comes out of left field and smacks you upside the head!

Describe your writing habits.

         I simply write when it’s raining, or when the urge hits, but mostly when I think of a good scene and the thoughts are flowing. Sometimes the rough draft will sit on the shelf for a month or longer, then I’ll dust it off and look at it with a fresh perspective.Only after ten or more chapters when I get lost, do I start an outline.

Do you listen to music while writing?

          Sometimes I tell Alexa to play Santa Esmeralda, Supertramp, Bob Seger, INXS, or the Golden Oldies, or the news. At times, silence, especially when I’m using the narrator function during editing.

Which authors influenced your writing?

         I enjoyed Harold Robbins’s The Adventurers, Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer, and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. I know I’m telling my age with that answer, but I enjoyed their books because they wrote captivating stories that held my interest to the last page.

Are there any projects in the works now?

            I’m 32 chapters into a psychological thriller. The plot revolves around a psychologist and an attorney who are planning to rule the world; they both share the same dark secret, but one of them has a deadly, ulterior motive. Three more chapters should finish it. Then edit, edit, edit… Keep your eyes open for, “Tell Me about your Childhood.”

It’s funny, but when I asked you for your thoughts I left it up to you, and you covered all the things I was thinking of. I love when great minds think alike, don’t you? LOL I’m excited to see what you come up with next, since I think The Legend Of Rachel Petersen was a hit!

Amazon / Goodreads

UPDATE: J T Baroni now has an Apple audiobook available, created by AI.

MY REVIEW

I confess. It was the cover that drew me in. It had that horror, paranormal, supernatural feel to it and I investigated further. When I finished the book, I found where the author’s inspiration came from. He was deer hunting and came across a tombstone. As he sat there, waiting for that elusive big buck to come through, he had plenty of time to wonder and ponder…and that What If came to life.

Christian Kane is a sports writer for The Post Gazette. He doesn’t get the anticipated promotion he was expecting and quits to write fiction. The Legend of Rachel Petersen is about the characters finding a tombstone hidden in the briars on their property and what happens after.

“We are living in a house where a twelve year old girl went cuckoo, killed her family, an’ then hanged herself in our barn.”

A book in a book is always a fun concept. J T Baroni did foreshadow what was to come and I love that he did it in such a way that I never took notice. Well done. I found myself laughing…at myself. There are other moments of laughter and I love an author that incorporates fun into some doom and gloom.

The ending was worth a star alone. I love when an author can catch me so off guard I am left with my mouth hanging open. I highly recommend The Legend Of Rachel Petersen by J T Baroni and I would love to know what you think.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Legend of Rachel Petersen by J T Baroni.

GOODREADS BLURB

Did his book raise the dead? Outraged when The Post Gazette overlooks him for a promotion, thirty-nine year old sports writer, Christian Kane quits and moves to the country to write fiction. Inspiration flows from a grave he stumbles upon in the woods. He compiles The Legend of Rachel Petersen, a fascinating story revolving around the dead twelve year old girl lying beneath the weathered tombstone. His book becomes a Best Seller; then Hollywood makes it in to a blockbuster movie. Kane becomes rich and famous, but only to have Rachel rise from the grave to seek revenge on him for slandering her name!

• Genre: Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Supernatural
• Kindle Edition (Revised Edition)
• First published November 23, 2011 by Sky Publishing

EXCERPT

Page 79

               Staring back at him were two large empty eye sockets in a tiny skull, which rested on a satin pillow. Her facial skin, once having a flawless peaches and cream complexion, was now brown, deeply gouged with wrinkles, and drawn tight, exposing her baby teeth. Her nose was reduced to two narrow slits. Red hair, parted in the middle, covered her forehead before coming to rest in curls on her shoulders.

Page 80

               While jumping up and down, he tripped over the shovel’s handle and fell face first over the freshly dug dirt pile back into the grave, landing three inches from Rachel’s mummified face; he swore he saw Rachel smile at him!

Page 82

               His eyes widened and his jaw fell open. Floating on top of the broth were the words… ‘help me’… spelled out with the alphabet macaroni! Thaddeus quickly stirred his soup and watched in awe as the words reappeared amongst the chunks of chicken, chopped celery, and diced carrots — ‘help me.’

ABOUT J T BARONI (from Amazon)

Living in Western Pennsylvania all my life, I have been an avid Whitetail hunter since I was old enough to tote a rifle, which is also about as long as I’ve had a fondness for word games and literature. While hunting last year, I actually did stumble upon a weathered tombstone in the middle of the woods. Waiting patiently for any deer to cross my path gave me plenty of time to think about that lone grave’s inhabitant and ponder her story, which I was then driven to write. Eerily enough, this is the premise of The Legend of Rachel Petersen, my first published novel. I have also composed several songs that are currently signed with a music publisher.

My home is Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a small town outside of Pittsburgh, where my wife Becky and I are both proud members of the Lions International. We share our home with our son, Skyler, and an AKC boxer, Butkus.

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