Joan S. Peck was reared in a family of readers in the small town of Elmira, New York. Growing up, Sunday afternoons were special times when each member of her family was able to relax with a good book.

In addition, Joan was raised to be open-minded and came to the understanding that we are all connected energetically, and are able to communicate with others who have passed on. She brings that idea into her Death Card Series by having the spirit of Rosie’s grandmother pop into Rosie’s life with advice or loving messages. Rosie, the main character, is portrayed as a psychic, which means she is able to have visions of what is yet to come about.

Did you always want to be a writer?

I’ve wanted to write since I was young. I took a writing course in college, and tried my hand at writing short stories. However, an early marriage, kids, and a more involved business career kept any writing at bay. It wasn’t until 2006 that I began writing—spiritual books. But I always had yearned to write mysteries, so two years ago, I began my Death Card Series. I will have four books out for publication by January, 2019.

We all have a story to tell, for we each experience life differently, and because so, it makes each story and book unique. Through my writing, I hope my readers are able to experience the thoughts and emotions of each of my characters enough to make them relatable as a human being.

Where do you get your inspiration?

I get my inspiration from my characters, believe it or not. They’ve become real people to me, so it’s possible to see and hear them in my mind.

Tell us a bit about this book series:

Thirty-two-year-old, Rosalie Bennett, lives in Las Vegas and writes a column for Women Living Well magazine on What’s Hip in Vegas. To make extra money she uses her psychic ability and tarot cards to predict the future for her clients. But when the death card shows up and murders follow, she must use her talents in a whole new way and becomes embroiled in cases to either save people or solve murders.

After the death of her fiancé, she vows to find his killer and make him pay the price. She goes undercover at the Purple Passion Lounge. Things aren’t as simple as they appear causing Rosie to take things into her own hands to save the day. Her silky dog, Sweet Pea, is her sidekick, and her grandmother’s spirit still pops into her life with advice or simple expressions of love — sometimes at the most ill-timed moments.

Have you written other books?

I written four spiritual books – the first three concentrating on the energy of the seven major chakras. My fourth book is called Prime Threat – Shattering the Power of Addiction, written with my son who died of a drug overdose. By means of messages channeled in, it is a fascinating look at his different lifetimes of addiction, a look at the possibility of carrying addictive energies forward, and what anyone can do today to shatter their own power of addiction.

Why the change in genre?

I decided to gift myself the pleasure of writing fiction, where I can control what happens to my characters, instead of the reality of being on the sidelines and watching another out-of-control person making poor decisions.

Who influenced you?

It was when I began reading the Nancy Drew series that I became intrigued with mysteries. To me, the fun of reading mystery books is to become so intrigued with the story it becomes impossible to put the book down. Many times, a good mystery has caused me to stay up all night to finish it to see if I was able to figure out ‘whodunnit’. For anyone who is hooked on reading mystery books, there’s nothing better than that.

But really, Mary Higgins Clark was the first writer to claim me as a solid fan of all her books, while James Patterson had me hooked on several of his series. Since then, I have fallen in love with many fine authors of mystery and crime.

Did you get a formal education in writing?

With the exception of the one course I took in college, I haven’t had any formal training.

Who are the authors you admire?

I love so many of them. Here are a few: Lisa Scottoline; Sandra Brown, David Baldacci, John Grisham, Dean Koontz, John Sanford, and Michael Connelly.

Thank you, Joan, for sharing your story with our readers. I have read the first three books in the series and I loved them. You kept me on the edge of my chair. I’m anxious to see who plays Rosalie when the movie comes out.

This article originally appeared in the Autumn 2018 issue of CHOICES Magazine