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Showing posts with label paranormal author post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paranormal author post. Show all posts

Monday, April 24, 2017

Guest Author Post - Lena Gregory

Welcome Ms. Lena Gregory, the author of the new Bay Island Psychic mystery series.  She lives on the south shore of eastern Long Island with her husband and three children.  As far as I know, she is a newly published author and this is her first published series.  

Do You Believe in Ghosts?

Whether or not ghosts exist is a big debate in my house. My daughter and I firmly believe in ghosts, while my husband and one of my sons do not. My youngest son, Logan, who is only
six years old now, has no firm opinion yet, but he is part of the reason I believe so strongly. Of course, I had other…encounters before these, but that’s another story.

My younger brother, Chris, passed away when my son was only four months old. Chris and I shared a love of reading, especially mysteries, and I often feel his presence while I’m writing. Chris always had the best hair, thick, full, and loaded with natural highlights. And he always kept it long, at least past his shoulders, even after he became an air traffic controller.

Late one night—we don’t keep normal hours in my house—I was sitting on my bed writing.

My youngest, who was about two at the time, was lying across the bottom of the bed watching his iPad. He looked over, then past me, and frowned. “Who’s that?” he asked.

I turned around but didn’t see anything. “Who’s what?”

“That guy with the long hair?”

I jumped and spun toward the direction he indicated—because, you know, that freaked me out a little—but I still didn’t see anything.

He just shrugged and went back to watching his show as if nothing unusual had happened.

I continued writing, a little spooked but kind of comforted too. I’d always felt Chris’s presence, but Logan kind of confirmed it.

Four generations of my family lived in the same small town, and most of those who have passed on are buried in the local cemetery, so Logan and I often walk through the cemetery, and Logan collects rocks and sticks to leave on the headstones.

One day, while we were walking through the cemetery, alone, he pointed toward a small, closed, locked storage shed in the middle of the cemetery, not far from my mother-in-law’s grave. “I want to go in there,” he said.

“In where?” I asked.

“In that house where the lady just went.”

I’m not gonna lie. We left, then. Quickly. Because believing in ghosts in an odd, detached sort of way is one thing, but I can assure you, having your two-year-old point out a woman entering a locked building in a completely deserted cemetery is something else entirely.

While writing Cass’s story, I tried to keep that debate in mind. Cass sort of believes in ghosts, but she doesn’t believe she actually talks to them. She thinks she uses years of psychiatric training and her uncanny ability to interpret people’s feelings to form a logical opinion and turn it into a “reading.” Of course, her customers think otherwise.

Her friend, Stephanie, believes completely.

Bee is another story. He swears he doesn’t believe in any of that mumbo-jumbo, but he really goes out of his way to avoid anything otherworldly. So, is he a true non-believer, or is he terrified ghosts might actually be real? I’ll leave it up to you to figure it out.

So, what do you think? Do you believe in ghosts? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think and if you’ve had any experiences that contributed to your opinion.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thank you Ms. Gregory.  Well, I spent a few years growing up in a haunted house - until my mother couldn't deal with the stuff that kept happening and we moved...quickly.



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Monday, July 20, 2015

Guest Post - Juliet Blackwell

I have been fortunate to have interviewed the author twice before: interview #2 (click here), and interview #1 (click here).  Today, we are once again welcoming author Juliet Blackwell to our little slice of the internet.

10 ways to get ideas for your next witchcraft novel

When setting out to write my Witchcraft Mystery series, I was determined not to create a Bewitched-style witch as my protagonist. As much as I loved that show as a girl (Endora was the best, and remember Dr. Bombay? And Aunt Clara?), I knew that witchcraft was a serious subject with an important history. So I set out to portray witches and witchcraft with respect for their diversity, both past and present. Want to know more? Read the Witchcraft Mystery series! Or…check out these suggestions:

1. Visit your friendly local coven. I kid you not; many covens are open to the public (at least on certain days) and would love the opportunity to explain some aspects of their belief system. And if you think there aren’t any covens near you…you may be surprised. They’re everywhere!

2. Wander the aisles of a botanica. This is a kind of traditional latino herbal/spiritual supply store; there are botanicas in most large cities in the U.S. The owners are usually women with a wealth of information about folk medicine, everyday “magic”, and basic human psychology.

3. Talk to your mother-in-law. This might work better if you have my mother-in-law (ex-mother-in-law, actually, but that’s another story). But still, the elders in your life might well offer vast well of knowledge about traditional remedies and “folk” beliefs. Remember, “witches” were usually considered community healers and Wise Women, so there’s a lot of overlap.

4. Go to Pantheacon, a conference dedicated to all things pagan/Wiccan/etc. Seriously. Amazing.

5. Read anti-magic websites and tracts. I learned this trick one October when a very sweet woman approached me at a gas station and handed me a pamphlet on the evils of Halloween. These tracts go into great detail about fascinating demons and unruly desires and all sorts of flights of fancy that are perfect fodder for a novel. I’m not coming down on anyone’s belief system; but I’m just saying…I couldn’t make this up!

6. Read folklore. There are traditions of witchcraft, magical thinking, and “folk” healing in every culture around the world. Again, I couldn’t make all this up – it’s fascinating stuff. And you just might learn a cure for warts, while you’re at it.

7. Spend a night in the woods (far from city lights) during a full moon. Gaze at the sky, peruse the shadowy woods, and imagine there is energy and life in the rocks and trees and stars that surround you. This is what witches have done throughout the millennia…you might just feel a connection! If not, it’s still a nice night out in the woods ;-)

8. Wander the aisles of the Halloween supply store. I know, I know, these are stereotypical renditions of witches and the like, but sometimes they get things right. And most witches I know have a great sense of humor and a true appreciation for Halloween, even the kitschy bits.

9. Invite a few good friends to hold a ceremony in a beautiful place outside, at night. Look up a simple ceremony for promoting harmony, lay out a few items that are meaningful to you, and speak a few words of friendship and communion. You might feel silly. On the other hand, you might feel stronger for having focused your intent in a circle of friends. It’s powerful stuff, witch or no.

10. Adopt a black cat. Because…shouldn’t everyone have a black cat?

BIO:
Juliet Blackwell was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, the youngest child of a jet pilot from New York and an editor from Texas. She graduated with a degree in Latin American Studies from University of California, Santa Cruz, and went on to earn Masters degrees in Anthropology and Social Work from the State University of New York, Albany. Upon her return to California she owned and operated her own decorative painting, historical renovation, and domestic design studio for more than a decade. Juliet pens the New York Times Bestselling Witchcraft Mysteries and the Haunted Home Renovation series, and will release her first mainstream novel, The Paris Key, in September. As Hailey Lind she wrote the Agatha-Award nominated Art Lover’s Mystery series. She is past president of Northern California Sisters in Crime and former board member of Mystery Writers of America. Juliet lives in a hundred-year-old house with extensive botanical gardens in Northern California, but spends as much time as possible in Europe and Latin America. Juliet believes in the magic of language, travel, and cultural exchange to open hearts, minds, and souls.

Please join her on line:  WebsiteFacebook, Twitter


  THANK YOU for that great guest post.  It's always a pleasure!


 
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