Victoria: Everyone in the book is represented in real life except for Dutch, which I think is so poetic because heÆs the one character that I think abbey doesnÆt really have a handle for, and I really donÆt have a handle for and thatÆs part of the mystery and the intrigue with him like heÆs unpredictable in a world of predictability, heÆs the one character whoÆs unpredictable. And I have things planned for him but his character is really unfolding. It was interesting to write it at a time when I was very single and sort of, I guess, a little bit lonely, because itÆs sort of like ôwhat, on paper, is your dream guy?ö And so, on paper, I came up with Dutch, but heÆs the one character who is more flat than any of the other characters because heÆs really not based on anybody. HeÆs just sort of the perfect figment of my imagination, what a ôguyÆs guyö, a ôhubba-hubbaö could be.

Bookreview: But he is a character of hope.

Victoria: Absolutely. All of us single chickies have hope. We all want to meet Prince Charming. We just donÆt want to clean up after the horse. My sister runs around, as sheÆs handing out copies of my book, and sheÆs saying, ôThe character of Cat is loosely based on meö, while IÆm standing there winking. Cat is absolutely, by far, one of my favorite characters. I absolutely love writing her because sheÆs such a great foil and sheÆs so serious and just gets herself into all sorts of little dizzies, and my sister will do something and IÆll think to myself, ôOh, poor thing, IÆm going to have to use that.ö

I had a handyman named Dave McKenzie down in Florida and heÆs exactly as I described. He was just the find of the century and helped turn a piece of crap condo into something glorious in a very short period of time. And I thought, ôGosh, this is just one of those great characters that you meet that you just have to write downö.

Milo, who is DutchÆs partner, is based on a very dear friend of mine, name Silas, and he plays a major role in the second book thatÆs coming out in June.

What a great thing to be able to sort of thank your friends by characterizing them in a book, as long as you donÆt kill them off, or make them complete a**holes!
Biography:

Victoria Laurie is a professional psychic who has this to say about herself and her series:

'' The idea for the series began because for so long IÆve been frustrated reading books and watching movies where the psychic is always some kook relieving the gullible of their money. It irks me that we psychic-types have gotten such a bad rap from Hollywood, and society in general. So, I wanted to give a different - more accurate - perspective by creating the character of Abby Cooper, Psychic Intuitive.

Many of my own experiences, and certainly my personality and character traits have made their way into the books, and my hope is that people who read the series will have a better understanding about psychics û that weÆre really normal people - truly the gal next dooràwe simply have a heightened sense of awareness. We donÆt go into trances, faint at the drop of a hat, or cast spells on people we donÆt like. WeÆre simply able to glean little hints of things to come, and this is where we can truly come in handy!

Most of my clients come to me because theyÆre at a crossroads, and they need help deciding which path to travel. Many others are just curious, and want to know what events, opportunities, or obstacles are coming up over the course of the next six to twelve months. Generally, I tell people who are hesitant about going to a psychic this analogy: If you had some sort of satellite gizmo on your dashboard that could tell you there was a boulder in the road up ahead, wouldnÆt you want to glance at it? ThatÆs truly all we doà.we just let you know when to speed up, (opportunity coming!) when to slow down, (traffic jam ahead!) and when it might be prudent to take a different path altogether, (short cut - this way!) ThereÆs truly nothing to fear. So if youÆre new to this psychic stuff, I invite you to schedule a reading and see for yourself!''
Books: Abbie Cooper, Psychic Eye