SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: You’re Dead to Me
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.amychristineparker.com/
CITY: Tampa
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 397
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1972, in Harrisburg, PA; daughter of Tom and Peggy Williams; married; children: Sammi, Riley.
EDUCATION:Southeastern University, B.Ed.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Worked as a schoolteacher, doll maker, and waitress.
AVOCATIONS:Movies, reading, travel.
AWARDS:Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers selection, American Library Association/YALSA, 2014, and Oklahoma Sequoia Book Award nomination, 2016, both for Gated; Silver Falchion Award nomination in young-adult category, Killer Nashville, 2015, for Astray.
WRITINGS
Author’s work has been translated into Danish, Germany, and Turkish; with Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick, she is the author of the nonfiction works Prayer Works, 2015; and Wonderful, 2019.
SIDELIGHTS
Before becoming a published novelist, Amy Christine Parker taught in an inner-city school system and then took on the important job of stay-at-home mom. As time permitted, Parker explored her options as a writer, and the result was her first young-adult novel, Gated. Parker also finds inspiration from watching horror movies or traveling the world with her family.
When readers meet her in Gated, seventeen-year-old Lyla Hamilton lives with her parents in Mandrodage Meadows, a gated community that is home to the followers of the charismatic leader known as Pioneer. Formed after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, this “Community” of “the Chosen” is home to families whose members believe that they have been chosen by aliens to survive Earth’s apocalypse. Lyla’s family’s fears were sparked in the summer of 2001, when her older sister was kidnapped in New York City, and when Lyla was five years old her parents joined the Community and the protection promised by Pioneer. Lyla learns about the outside world through Cody, the son of a local sheriff, who challenges the mythos of the Community and taps her longing for freedom. Autocratic and sometimes brutal Pioneer has become more threat than savior over time, and Lyla worries when he orders members to move into a deep, underground silo and await the end of the world.
Reviewing Gated in the Voice of Youth Advocates, Erin E. Forson wrote that Parker’s story illustrates “how vulnerable and wounded individuals can be manipulated,” and a Publishers Weekly contributor described the “internal conflict” of Parker’s heroine as both “well-played and believable.” A “well-plotted tale,” the author’s debut novel features what Heather M. Campbell described as realistic and sympathetic characters in her School Library Journal review. Continuing her praise of Gated, Forson noted that, with its “heart-pounding action and quick chapters” interspersed with quotes from real-life cult leaders, Parker treats teens to “an eerie and effective novel of suspense.”
Lyla’s life-altering choice is explored in Astray. When readers rejoin her, the teen has left Mandrodage Meadows and is now exploring the outside world. The Community wants her back—badly—and her autonomy now hinges on her ability to uncover the group’s secrets and determine the ultimate intentions of the menacing Pioneer. Calling Lyla “a sympathetic character,” Heather M. Campbell added in her School Library Journal review that Gated treats readers to “a thrilling page-turner that will keep even the most reluctant readers engaged until the end.”
Flight 171 is a horror book for teens. Devon Marsh is still trying to recover after her twin sister was killed in a hit-and-run. She suspects her classmate, Jack, is responsible for her death even though the police have stated that he is not a suspect. After several months pass, Devon and her classmate are catching a flight for their senior year skiing field trip. Her friends suggest that she avoid Jack altogether. She wants revenge but is distracted when an elderly passenger kills a flight attendant with knitting needles. Dorothy claims that an immortal being has possessed her and is looking for a younger host body. Devon and her classmates are forced to choose who will become the host or everyone will die before the flight lands.
In an interview in the Big Thrill, Parker admitted that the limited size of the plane posed a challenge for her when writing the story. She insisted: “No matter how large a plane is, it’s still a very limited space to tell a story in.” Parker continued, noting that “crowding my characters together with the monster of this book for the duration meant coming up with creative ways to allow the monster to withdraw and hide so that it remained somewhat mysterious, and the tension could remain high.”
A Kirkus Reviews contributor said that “a flight takes a nail-biting detour in search of the truth.” The same reviewer observed that the author mixes “realistic themes like grief, human fallibility, and angst with the supernatural.” A contributor to Publishers Weekly noticed that “Parker’s intense adventure, a treat for horror fans, is chock-full of cinematic action and paranormal elements.”
[OPEN NEW]
You’re Dead to Me was inspired by a television show in which a girl is haunted by her own ghost come to warn her about her impending death. Parker found that so creepy she used it as the starting point for her novel. Ruby is a high school senior who posts anonymous gossip on a social media site. When her identity is exposed, the whole town turns against her. Then, to make matters worse, her ghost appears in a prom dress covered in blood. With prom just a week away, Ruby has to figure out who might want her dead. Her investigation turns up a whole host of scandals and secrets. A contributor in Kirkus Reviews wrote, “Twists and jump scares keep coming in this taut, fast-paced work that will keep readers up at night.”
[CLOSE NEW]
“Writing was not something I gave myself the permission or courage to do until fairly late in life,” Parker once commented. “While I always felt a deep connection to writers, I did not know any personally and was the only avid reader in my family. Having children changed all of that for me. I realized that I was constantly telling them to reach for their dreams, but I hadn’t given myself the same pep talk or consideration. Once I did, my desire to write and to one day be published was an all-consuming desire. Now, I am so very blessed and pleased to be able to make a living at it. While the writing life is by no means an easy one, it is deeply rewarding.”
“My story inspiration always comes from real-world events,” Parker revealed to SATA. “For Gated and Astray, it was the Mayan Apocalypse and the television news programs I saw while growing up on various cults like Heaven’s Gate. Smash and Grab, my third book, sprang from a news article about a father who convinced his teenage son and daughter to rob banks with him. I am fascinated by the people who operate on the fringe of society and how they came to be there.
“If I had any advice for aspiring authors it would be to pay attention to the world around them and always be curious about the things they see, experience, and hear. You never know where inspiration will present itself.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, December 15, 2013, Alison O’ Reilly, review of Gated, p. 55.
Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2013, review of Gated; September 1, 2022, review of Flight 171; October 15, 2024, review of You’re Dead to Me.
Publishers Weekly, March 19, 2012, Rachel Deahl, “Parker Lands at RH Children’s for Debut YA,” p. 10; June 10, 2013, review of Gated, p. 79; September 19, 2022, review of Flight 171, p. 60.
School Library Journal, October 1, 2013, Heather M. Campbell, review of Gated, p. 128; September 1, 2014, Heather M. Campbell, review of Astray, p. 149.
Voice of Youth Advocates, August 1, 2013, Erin E. Forson, review of Gated, p. 66.
ONLINE
Amy Christine Parker website, http://www.amychristineparker.com (April 27, 2025).
Big Thrill, https://www.thebigthrill.org/ (October 31, 2022), author interview.
BookCrushin’, https://bookcrushin.com/ (January 31, 2025), Christy Jane, author interview.
Cynthia Leitich Smith website, http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/ (September 23, 2013), author interview.
Kait Plus Books, https://www.kaitgoodwin.com/ (December 20, 2022), author interview.
School Library Journal, https://teenlibrariantoolbox.com/ (December 12, 2024), “The Importance of Making Stories Personal,” author blog.
YA Books Central, https://yabookscentral.com/ (December 10, 2024), Cherokee Crum, author interview.
about
The Author
Amy Christine Parker was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in1972. She is the oldest daughter of Tom and Peggy Williams and has one younger brother, Tom Jr. Early on, the family moved around a bit, spending time in Atlanta, Georgia and Hendersonville, North Carolina before returning to Pennsylvania for the remainder of Amy's growing up years.
From the start, Amy had a big imagination. She would pretend that her baby dolls were real children with magical powers. They were abandoned on her doorstep by parents on the run from top secret government agents bent on capturing their supernatural kids. Amy had to secretly take care of them without the government agents--or her parents--finding out.
Once she entered school, Amy was often told by her teachers that she should become a writer. Although she didn't show much interest in pursuing the writing craft back then, she did spend most of her waking hours reading and loved to go to the movie theater every chance she got.
After graduating from Southeastern University with a degree in Elementary Education, Amy married Jay Parker and moved to Atlanta where she taught for six years before staying home to raise their two daughters, Sammi and Riley.
After eight years as a stay at home mom, Amy finally realized her teachers were right all along. She was meant to be a writer. Telling stories was her destiny. She and her husband agreed she could spend two additional years at home writing full time with the goal of getting published. After that, if it didn't happen, she would have to go back to teaching. Amy managed to get an offer on the second book she wrote from Random House Children's within those two years. Since then she's published two additional novels and has a fourth coming out September 2022. She never went back to teaching.
Photo Credit: @ghostgirlphotography
Presently, Amy writes full-time from her home near Tampa, Florida, where she lives with her husband, their two daughters, and two very mischievous cats.
Ten Interesting Things To Know About Her:
She has an irrational fear of frogs (which is unfortunate since she lives in Florida, aka frog heaven).
Bananas Foster is her favorite dessert.
She once lived in a one hundred year old farmhouse where her bedroom window looked out over the graveyard across the street. Surprise, surprise, it was haunted.
As a child she accidentally set her house on fire...twice.
Her favorite books growing up were: Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Skeleton Crew by Stephen King, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare, and Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson.
Her favorite season is fall.
She loves horror movies and books, but is afraid of the dark.
Her nickname is Fuzzy--she has no idea why.
She was named for Amy in the book, Little Women, but she identifies more with Jo.
She can’t dance. Not even a little bit.
Interview With Amy Christine Parker (You’re Dead to Me)
December 10, 2024No Comments
Written by Cherokee Crum, Blog Manager and Staff Reviewer
Posted in Authors, Interviews, News & Updates
Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Amy Christine Parker (You‘re Dead to Me)!
Meet the Author: Amy Christine Parker
Amy Christine Parker is the author of Flight 171, Gated, Astray, and Smash & Grab. She writes full-time from her home near Tampa, Florida, where she lives with her husband, their two daughters, and two very mischievous cats.
Website * Facebook * Instagram
About the Book: You‘re Dead to Me
Gossip Girl meets Happy Death Day in this YA horror novel following high school outcast and anonymous social media gossip Ruby, who comes face-to-face with her own ghost dressed in a blood-splattered prom dress. With less than a week until the dance, Ruby must unmask her killer—or die trying.
Ruby is a scholarship senior at elite Oleander High School with a chip on her shoulder and an attitude to match—which she puts to good use as the infamous local anonymous gossip blogger ReputationKiller. When she’s outed as the voice behind the account, the entire town turns against her.
But after she’s scared witless by a vision of her own ghost dressed in a blood-splattered prom dress, she is faced with an awful truth. Someone out there doesn’t just hate her—they want her dead.
With less than a week until the prom, Ruby starts investigating. Turns out Oleander Bay isn’t the picture-perfect resort town it appears to be. With so many secrets, scandals, and people hell-bent on covering them up at all costs, the murderer could be anyone. Can Ruby beat the clock counting down to prom—and her death—and survive the night?
Amazon * B&N * IndieBound
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
A few years ago, I was obsessed with the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House, particularly one of the ghosts in it, the Bent Neck Lady. If you haven’t watched it yet, fair warning: I am about to get all spoilery. The Bent Neck Lady was an extremely creepy apparition who haunted one of the main characters, Nell, since she was very young. When it was revealed that this ghost was Nell herself, come to warn her of her future death, I was so shocked and freaked out that I got chills! How creepy is it to have that sort of supernatural glimpse at your own death? I could not stop thinking about it for weeks. Then I started to ruminate over what it would be like if the ghost’s appearance suggested they met with foul play. If you were confronted by your own murdered ghost, could you figure out who the murderer is going to be before they commit the crime and stop them? It was an irresistible question I had to explore. The story grew from there.
YABC: What research did you do to write this book?
Even though this story takes place in my home state of Florida, I did do a fair amount of research. I went to Gatorland to see the park firsthand as it’s the inspiration for the Wonderpark that my main character, Ruby, helps run. I took lots of notes during the alligator shows. I also took an airboat ride to get a real sense of what it’s like—I had ridden one in the past, but I wanted the experience to be as fresh as possible when I started writing.
Then I hired a tarot card reader to help me construct a reading that takes place inside the book. We spent about an hour coming up with this arrangement of cards that actually hints at the murderer’s identity without giving anything away overtly. I wanted readers familiar with tarot to be able to go back to that scene in the book after they’d read the entire novel and be able to see the clues in hindsight or use the reading to solve the crime before my character, Ruby, could. At the end of our session, she also gave me a personal reading and what was eerily fascinating is that several of my character’s cards reappeared in my card spread. That was a very cool research experience because I not only got information for the book, but a glimpse at my future as well. According to my reader, YOU’RE DEAD TO ME is going to do well with readers. It will be interesting to see if she’s right.
YABC: If you could only write one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
The thriller genre, particularly psychological thrillers. I love creating that buildup of tension and unease as my characters work to survive the situations I put them in. And I’m forever fascinated by what people will do in extreme situations—will they give up their morals/values to survive or will they develop an even stronger personal compass? And I love, love, love creating antagonists! People who are morally gray or morally bankrupt but who are convinced they are justified to be that way intrigue me. And if I can find a way to add a little bit of the supernatural and some horror to whatever thriller I’m writing, I’m a very happy writer!
YABC: What can readers expect to find in your books?
My goal is to give them fast paced, first person POV novels with compelling characters and interesting settings. There is always going to be an element of the creepy or supernatural and almost always some moral dilemma the character must face that doesn’t have an obvious right answer. There will be a bit of romance, but it isn’t spicy or a central plotline. When they’re reading, my goal is that it gets harder and harder to put my books down because the tension and pace just keep increasing. And more often than not, there will be some sort of twist.
YABC: Which was the most difficult or emotional scene to narrate?
I have a very hard time with romantic scenes. Anytime my characters have to get vulnerable about their feelings for one another, I struggle. Probably because I’m not good at being vulnerable this way personally. I am the world’s worst flirt and tend to be the type of person who shows my affection through acts of service, not words. But I’m working on it because I love to read a good romantic scene, and I’d love to be able to write something that pulls at readers’ romantic imaginations and makes them swoon over my characters.
YABC: What is your favorite snack when writing?
Normally I don’t snack while I’m writing—except when I’m under deadline. Then I tend to behave like an absolute kid and binge on candy and chips. Orange slices (the gummy candies), gumballs, M&Ms, chips with sour cream and onion dip. It’s super unhealthy, lol, but I tell myself it’s okay if I only eat like this a few times per year!
YABC: What other age group would you consider writing for?
I have also written for middle grade readers, but I have yet to tackle novels for adults. That is my next goal. I always tell people I’d like to be a triple threat and publish in all three age groups. Fingers crossed that I can make that happen in the very near future. I definitely have ideas for adult novels that I’d like to tackle—all in the thriller/horror genre of course.
YABC: What daily thing do you see that brings you joy?
I live in this gorgeous neighborhood in Florida with lots of lakes and wildlife. I never get tired of taking walks around it, especially at sunset. The sandhills cranes I pass and the turtles sunning themselves on rocks by the lakes always make me smile. There is just this pervading sense of peace that helps me unwind after a busy day.
YABC: What do you do when you procrastinate?
I go to the movies! I love the experience of sitting inside a darkened theatre with a box of popcorn. Seeing stories on the big screen always inspires me and ultimately, helps me to stop procrastinating and get back to work. This is because one of my most heartfelt wishes is for my books to be adapted for the big screen someday. When I’m there I always imagine my name in the credits: “based on the novel by Amy Christine Parker.” I leave the theatre pumped up to make that dream come true.
YABC: What is your favorite writing space or routine?
I am a creature of habit big time, so I always write in my office early in the morning—around 7am because I work a nine-to-five job as an engagement writer creating scripts for educational videos. It’s very creatively demanding, so if I don’t squeeze my own writing in before the day job starts, it’s harder to do it later when my brain is fried. Which means sticking to routine is key. I get up, get dressed, then write for a few hours before grabbing breakfast and switching to my day job.
When I’m drafting, I wear headphones and play rain noises with brain wave sounds underneath. I also have my scene cards on bulletin boards on the wall opposite my desk along with inspirational photos so every time I look up, I’m still immersed in the story. Then, when I’m not at my desk, I have a playlist of music with lyrics that fit my story playing so I can think about the story while I’m running errands, working out, or doing chores. This way my brain stays in the story world as much as possible. My routine is really all about making every minute count which means weekend writing is a must too.
Personal Note: Thank you for interviewing me! I look forward to seeing the final post!
Title: You’re Dead to Me
Author: Amy Christine Parker
Release Date: December 10, 2024
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Genre: YA Horror/Thriller
Age Range: Ages 12 and up
Author Interview: You’re Dead to Me by Amy Christine Parker
Crushed on by Christy Jane, on January 31, 2025, in Author Interview / 1 Comment
Author Interview: You’re Dead to Me by Amy Christine Parker
We are thrilled to ask author Amy Christine Parker a few questions about her newest release You’re Dead to Me, a new YA thriller murder mystery, where the main character who runs a secret online identity, is outed, and then has to uncover who is trying to kill her before the clock runs out and prom starts. You’re Dead to Me is available now!
Author Interview: You’re Dead to Me by Amy Christine Parker
You're Dead to Me
by Amy Christine Parker
Published by: Delacorte Press
on December 10, 2024
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult
Bookshop
Goodreads
Gossip Girl meets Happy Death Day in this YA horror novel following high school outcast and anonymous social media gossip Ruby, who comes face-to-face with her own ghost dressed in a blood-splattered prom dress. With less than a week until the dance, Ruby must unmask her killer—or die trying.
Ruby is a scholarship senior at elite Oleander High School with a chip on her shoulder and an attitude to match—which she puts to good use as the infamous local anonymous gossip blogger ReputationKiller. When she’s outed as the voice behind the account, the entire town turns against her.
But after she’s scared witless by a vision of her own ghost dressed in a blood-splattered prom dress, she is faced with an awful truth. Someone out there doesn’t just hate her—they want her dead.
With less than a week until the prom, Ruby starts investigating. Turns out Oleander Bay isn’t the picture-perfect resort town it purports to be. With so many secrets, scandals, and people hell-bent on covering them up at all costs, the murderer could be anyone. Can Ruby beat the clock counting down to prom—and her death—and survive the night?
Author Interview
1. Ruby runs a gossip blog that shakes up her whole town. If you were running a secret account like ReputationKiller, what kind of dirt would you spill—or would you just post memes?
If I were running a secret account like ReputationKiller, I would probably post dirt on anyone whose whole identity was built on the idea that they are upright and morally just when in reality they are actually very corrupt. People who are absolutely unapologetic in their nastiness. So, the secrets would be a lot like the ones Ruby posts—politicians misusing money or engaging in activities that they publicly decry as immoral. I’d target people who take advantage of others for their own gain like corporations using funds to give their CEO’s bonuses when their regular workers are struggling to make ends meet. I think I would build it to be a sort of online Robin Hood type account where I aimed to steal power away from those who don’t deserve to have it and transfer that power to those who usually don’t have a voice. My goal would be altruism and truth telling…and there might be a few memes sprinkled in to inject an occasional bit of humor (at my targets’ expense of course).
2. Prom with a murderer on the loose? Sounds stressful! If you were in Ruby’s shoes, what’s the first thing you’d do to unmask the killer—and would you even bother showing up to prom?
If I were Ruby I would not show up to prom unless I had no other choice. I have a very healthy survival instinct! But also like her, I would want to unmask my killer to make sure I wasn’t a target after prom as well. I would probably try to do this by setting a trap for the killer–put myself in a place where I seemed to be alone and vulnerable, but have my friends with me and some serious self-defense items. Setting a trap seems like the most logical thing to try first because attempting to reveal who wants to kill me before they actually do—especially if I were to have a lot of enemies like Ruby does is extremely difficult. How do you determine what a clue to your murder is when you aren’t entirely sure how it happens? And who do you trust to help you solve the crime?
3. Oleander Bay is full of scandals and secrets. If you could hang out with one character from the book for a day, who would you pick—and would they survive until the end?
Oleander Bay is full of secrets! It would be a fascinating place to hang out for a little while—dangerous, but fascinating. If I could go there with one of the characters from the book, hands down it would be Anton. I love him! And if I could cheat and bring two, it would be him and his boyfriend, Xavier. They are two characters who came so alive during the writing process and are genuinely such good guys, I know I would have fun with them. Anton could help me revamp my wardrobe and Xavier could teach me a few parkour moves and yes, they would both surive until the end. I coudn’t bear for them not to.
About Amy Christine Parker
Amy Christine Parker is the author of Flight 171, Gated, Astray, and Smash & Grab. She writes full-time from her home near Tampa, Florida, where she lives with her husband, their two daughters, and two very mischievous cats.
Website | Instagram
The Importance of Making Stories Personal, a guest post by Amy Christine Parker
December 12, 2024 by Amanda MacGregor Leave a Comment
Write what you know. It’s advice every writer gets at some point in their career. But what does that really mean? When I first started out, I thought it meant you could only write about what you had actual experience with—like a particular job or town or something, but as I’ve grown as a writer, I’ve started to develop my own ideas. To me, write what you know isn’t so much about how great an expert I am on certain people, settings, or plot points. It’s more being vulnerable enough to weave myself into my stories—the truth of my lived experiences—but also the quirkier bits that make me who I am. I’ve discovered that the more I do this, the richer my stories ultimately become.
For You’re Dead to Me, I was intentional about trying to do this as much as I could. There are facets of me infused into every page, every piece of dialogue, and every situation my character, Ruby, finds herself in, particularly my fears. Her sessions with a Ouija board are proof. I grew up in a fairly religious household where I was warned never to use one because they attracted evil and were dangerous. The one time I rebelled against this to fit in at a party, the lights flickered, streamers fell from the ceiling, and everyone screamed and ran outside. I nearly had a heart attack. I actually slept with a cross underneath my pillow for a week! In the book Ruby’s best friend, Anton, has similar beliefs about the board and hangs crosses everywhere for protection. By tapping into my own fear my hope is that I gave Anton a layer of authenticity that I don’t think I could fake if it weren’t personal to me.
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Another piece of me that keeps finding its way into my books is my love of movies and television—particularly horror. Ruby’s ghost was heavily influenced by the Bent Neck Lady from The Haunting of Hill House TV series and Samara from the movie The Ring. Both gave me absolute chills and have stuck in my head ever since I first saw them. And there are more than a few references to movies in the book itself—particularly in a certain dress-burning scene. Not to mention a healthy dose of slasher-style violence that comes from my own version of a Michael Myers-type serial killer, the Mannequin Man. Anything I’ve watched that has deeply affected me becomes part of my own mental pantry, a stockpile of ingredients I keep to help me create new fictional recipes.
Maybe the most uncomfortable way I allow myself to be vulnerable in my fiction is through the romantic scenes I write. In interviews or on panels I’ve always told people that I hate writing them the most. This is not completely true. What I hate is being vulnerable when it comes to love—in person or on the page. To me it’s always felt so risky exposing my heart. I don’t know why. Even if the scenes I’m writing are about two characters, not me in real life, I am still imagining how these two people will show their love for each other. How I write them is a combination of what I’ve experienced in relationships and what I think sounds real and sincere and special enough to make readers’ hearts skip a beat. I have to expose my romantic side to do it and it’s sort of terrifying. What if my version of what’s romantic is just plain weird to everyone else? In You’re Dead to Me, Ruby’s romance with Alexander is admittedly light and not a major plot point, but for me, it’s the most real I’ve gotten when it comes to romance so far. And I know the story is better as a result.
There are also pieces of my personal history scattered across the pages of my novels too. Like my character Ruby, I don’t come from a wealthy family. In fact, there were times when my family struggled pretty hard. I went to public school and worked at my family’s business after school and on weekends. Like Ruby’s mom, my dad ran a restaurant—though it was fast food. And like Ruby, I had a very nice guy ask me to his fancy private school’s prom (at a very swanky hotel in Philadelphia)—where I stuck out like a sore thumb because all the other girls were in very classy dresses and pearls while I chose violence—by way of polka dots. Don’t believe me? Here’s the proof. My dress and hair are terrible, I know, but it was the eighties, okay?
Photo credit: Prestige Portraits
I have lived in Florida for the past twenty years, so the setting of my novel is very personal to me. I share Ruby’s love of the wild beauty of the Everglades and Anton’s distaste of the sweltering heat and humidity. Like him I carry around a battery-operated fan too. I’m fascinated by places like Palm Beach where there is big wealth and even bigger secrets and have a special place in my heart for old timey tourist attractions. I’ve been to Cassadaga, the Florida town teeming with psychics and mediums and I’ve had tarot card readings on several occasions—I even had one for this book. The tarot scene in You’re Dead to Me was created with the help of a tarot reader here in Florida who helped me develop the card spread so it directly related to Ruby’s impending murder.
Being vulnerable on the page hasn’t been easy. Opening myself up to judgement—both good and bad is terrifying. There is always the possibility that readers might not relate to my stories or not find the bits and pieces of me I’ve added compelling or relatable. And that rejection can feel personal. But at its core, writing is an act of bravery, a willingness to be seen. If I chicken out, the story suffers and so does any connection I try to build with my readers. So, I will continue to put myself out there, on the page for everyone to see and I know my novels will be richer for it.
Meet the author
Photo credit: Ghost Girl
Amy Christine Parker is the author of Flight 171, Gated, Astray, and Smash & Grab. She writes full-time from her home near Tampa, Florida, where she lives with her husband, their two daughters, and two very mischievous cats.
https://www.amychristineparker.com
https://www.instagram.com/amychristinepar/?hl=en
https://www.facebook.com/AmyChristineParker
https://www.tiktok.com/@amychristineparker
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/723039/youre-dead-to-me-by-amy-christine-parker
About You’re Dead to Me
Gossip Girl meets Happy Death Day in this YA horror novel following high school outcast and anonymous social media gossip Ruby, who comes face-to-face with her own ghost dressed in a blood-splattered prom dress. With less than a week until the dance, Ruby must unmask her killer–or die trying.Ruby is a scholarship senior at elite Oleander High School with a chip on her shoulder and an attitude to match–which she puts to good use as the infamous local anonymous gossip blogger ReputationKiller. When she’s outed as the voice behind the account, the entire town turns against her.But after she’s scared witless by a vision of her own ghost dressed in a blood-splattered prom dress, she is faced with an awful truth. Someone out there doesn’t just hate her–they want her dead.With less than a week until the prom, Ruby starts investigating. Turns out Oleander Bay isn’t the picture-perfect resort town it appears to be. With so many secrets, scandals, and people hell-bent on covering them up at all costs, the murderer could be anyone. Can Ruby beat the clock counting down to prom–and her death–and survive the night?
ISBN-13: 9780593650936
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books
Publication date: 12/10/2024
Age Range: 12 – 17 Years
Parker, Amy Christine YOU'RE DEAD TO ME Delacorte (Teen None) $12.99 12, 10 ISBN: 9780593650936
Haunted by her own ghost, a high school senior races to solve her murder before prom night.
Ruby is on scholarship at Oleander Bay Academy, works at her family's animal park, and secretly runs a TikTok account, @reputationkiller. She uses social media to expose the misdeeds of the rich elite in her small town, especially the Bling Brigade, the kids who rule the school. After one of @reputationkiller's biggest posts yet, Ruby's ghost appears in her prom dress, warning that Ruby has less than a week before she's murdered on prom night. While she's still reeling from this encounter, her secret social media identity is discovered. Now Ruby, who reads white, must team up with best friends Anton and Xavier (a gay couple who are cued Latine and Black, respectively) and a member of the Bling Brigade to find out who has it in for her. As they investigate, they realize that the town and those around them hold more secrets than they could have imagined. Through stakeouts and undercover missions, Ruby feels her way toward the truth as her ghost grows closer and continues to decay. As the countdown to prom progresses, Parker infuses a looming sense of dread into her depiction of a claustrophobic small town. The book has enough twists to keep readers guessing, all while examining the effects of Ruby's pursuit of justice.
Twists and jump scares keep coming in this taut, fast-paced work that will keep readers up at night.(Thriller. 12-18)
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"Parker, Amy Christine: YOU'RE DEAD TO ME." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A811898516/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=eb9e13d3. Accessed 17 Mar. 2025.