NG: Glad to meet you, David Gardner. Oops, I guess we’ve met. For those people who don’t know us, we’re married and both writers. And I’m excited to talk with you about your publishing news, so let’s get on with it!

NG: Your paranormal thriller, “The Journalist,” (Encircle Publications) debuts February 5 on Amazon. It’s a whimsical story pitting the CIA and the mob against your hero, Jeff Beekle, who must save his ghostly visiting ancestors from extinction or he too will disappear. Which of the quirky ancestors was your favorite, and do any resemble your own ancestors?

DG: Colette is my favorite because she was a martyred hero of the French Resistance and, of the bossy ghosts who visit Jeff, she gives him the least grief. Also, she’d been a professional dancer and was sassy and cute. None of my ancestors served as models. They weren’t cute and couldn’t dance.

NG: Your stories are fun. Where did you get your sense of humor?

DG: I believe that people inherit a sense of humor the way they inherit other traits. Some families are tall (not mine), comely (nope), smart (we try), or take joy in laughing (yup). As the youngest of three children, I had to say something funny to get any attention.

And now my son and daughter are a lot funnier than I am. I’m not certain how I feel about that.

NG: For several years, you freelanced travel articles for U.S. and Canadian newspapers. Lucky for me, you took me along! Tell us about your favorite travel experiences.

DG: I don’t really have one favorite because all were exciting and fun. Well, except for the time someone picked my pocket in a Paris subway, or when I got violently sick in Tobago, also the time I suffered from a frightening joint illness in China.

NG: Why did you use the pseudonym David Aldrich for your travel articles?

I sold a number of articles to the Boston Globe and didn’t want my employer to know I was moonlighting.

NG: You get an A+ for honesty! Next question. As part of your wife’s fiction research, you often visited Salem. She says you were a mensch to accompany her and help her see Salem through another set of eyes. What did you enjoy most about your visits to Salem?

DG: Salem is a beautiful and historic town, perfect for a stroll. I’ve always enjoyed our visits.

Well, not always. You, my dear, often prowled through Salem’s cemeteries, sometimes where an accused witch was buried.

I didn’t enjoy that. How could I? One of my ancestors was a witch accuser (which is true). I was always afraid that one of those ghostly and unfortunate victims would rise from the grave, grab me by the throat and pull me underground forever. That’s why I’ve stopped going into cemeteries. (“These new shoes are killing my feet, Nancy, so I think I’ll just sit on that bench over there. But you go. Have a swell time.”)

NG: You have another novel coming out in September, 2021 called “The Last Speaker of Skälwegian.” Tells us about it.

DG: Professor Lenny Thorson lives in a defunct revolving restaurant, obsesses over word derivations and teaches linguistics at a fourth-rate college with a gerbil for a mascot. Desperate to salvage his teaching career, Lenny seizes the opportunity to document the Skälwegian language with its last living speaker, Charlie Fox. Lenny’s troubled life appears to have finally taken a turn for the better.

It hasn’t. Lenny soon learns that Charlie isn’t who he claims to be. Trouble ensues.

NG: Folks who visit your soon-to-go-live website and sign up as a subscriber will get a freebie. Tells us about the freebie.

DG: “The Superhero Manual” contains twelve pages of musings, observations and humor (I hope) that are 100% absolutely guaranteed to possibly turn you into a superhero overnight.

NG: Anything else you want us to tell us before we close shop?

DG: You and I make a great writing team, Nancy. I want to thank you for your kind support over the years and for taking the time for this interview.

I’m getting paid, right?

NG: Interested parties can click on the link below to preorder “The Journalist.” Who said I don’t look out for my dear hubby’s interests?