Murder She Writes

I so apologize for this late post, everyone. Halloween has been ridiculously busy for me this year, running from interview to interview, everybody wanting to hear about ghosts!

Oh, can’t you just hear that witch cackle as she rides across the full moon on her broomstick? EEEHEEHEE!

As many of you might have already guessed, I love this time of year! Ghosts and ghoulies, tricksters and treaters . . . To celebrate this haunting time, I thought I’d share a story from one of my latest ghost hunts.

It was a private residence in south Louisiana, located wayyyy out in the sticks. Just driving to the place was enough to give anyone the willys. But drive it I did, late one night not long ago, following a caravan of local ghost hunters. I hadn’t been told much about the house, other than it was supposed to be haunted of course, so I was anxious to get there, keeping my fingers crossed that we’d come up with some evidence of paranormal activity.

As we pulled up into the driveway, the house seemed benign enough. Relatively small, nothing fancy, and just like the roads that led us here, it was isolated, the nearest neighbor about ½ mile away.

The moment I walked into the house, I felt like a fish that had swallowed a hook and was being reeled over to one particular corner of the living room. (See pic below)

The closer I got to the corner, the heavier my innards felt, and I heard myself say, “Someone died right here, didn’t they?”

I didn’t hear a response from any of the other team members, so I glanced over and saw the two lead guys nodding in unison. One finally responded. “Yeah, the previous owner of the house died right in that corner. Her son decapitated her with an electric guitar.”

Officially creeped out now, I followed this ‘reeling in’ sensation throughout the house. The master bedroom (below) had the same heaviness as the living room, but I didn’t sense a death had taken place there, just a lot of misery. I wasn’t surprised when something turned up in one of the first photos taken in the room. Although the white mist wasn’t evident to the naked eye, it most certainly showed itself on film.

Oddly enough, the strangest sensation of all came from the current owner’s young daughter’s bedroom. As we walked inside the room, I felt we were being watched…by something or someone that definitely didn’t want us there. Most of the reported activity came from this room, according to the owner, so, using a camera and recording device, I started asking questions to ‘whatever’ was watching us, snapping pictures the entire time.

“Who are you?”

Silence.

“Are you Mary?” (Name changed to protect the current owner.)

No answer.

“Are you the woman who was killed in this house?”

Silence, but the being watched sensation grew stronger.

“If you are Mary, can you give us a sign of your presence?”

It was then I heard one of the team members gasp and point. Strings of beads hung over the little girl’s closet and two strands were moving. (See below)

Although my reaction would have typically been to blame a breeze from an air conditioning vent, this movement caught my attention. First of all, only TWO strands were moving, the pink and the yellow as noted in the picture. Secondly, there was NO air conditioner vent in the room. Odder still was the way the yellow beads were moving. Instead of swaying back and forth like the pink ones, only one section at the bottom of the yellow strand moved, like someone crooking his or her finger at us.

Yep, another major creep out moment….

The activity was so strong in this area of the house, that it nearly skewered one of the hunters with her own dowsing rods. (See below)

(Dowsing rods are often used in paranormal hunts by sensitives who want to narrow down the location on the property that has the greatest potential for paranormal activity.)

Evidently, whoever (or whatever) was creeping around the inside of that house had been raised in the south and taught to always follow company outside for a final farewell before they leave…..because this is the last picture we caught before leaving.

If the orb had been any bigger, it would have lit up every back road leading to the swamps, which were only a few miles away.

Was that Mary saying goodbye? A decapitated Mary? I never did find out for sure because everyone was too busy hurrying to their cars so they could get the hell out of there.

I plan to go back there one day soon, and should Mary offer an update on my return visit, I’ll make sure to let you know.

I have accepted an editing position with the Sundance Film Festival, and it’s got me in the “movie” mode. I’ve worked for Sundance before, in 2001 and 2002, and it’s a great time. The atmosphere is artsy and creative, if slightly frantic. The outcome is always great, and you get to see awesome movies…. Last time I worked, in addition to editing, I also served as a filmmaker liaison and met quite a few celebrities. I sat next to Roger Ebert at the screening of Christine Lahti’s film, and later she asked me about his responses, and high fived me when I told her he seemed impressed (he gave it a good review). I met Albert Brooks and his ever-present manager, and Lee Lee Sobieski, who is very tall.

I also calmed down two very nervous young filmmakers when the second reel of their movie began to run upside down and backwards. Yup, it really did. For quite a while, cast members from the movie DONNY DARKO did Q&A’s up front, while we attempted to get the problem fixed. I sat through a film directly behind Danny Glover, and found it hard to focus on the movie, because I was watching him. Poor guy. I have more “celeb” stories, but you are probably bored at this point.

The first two times I worked the festival, I was only self-published, and I thought that every New York published book got a film option. I had a lot to learn. (In many, many things, but this is the one we are talking about today. Okay? Tomorrow we’ll talk about the little myth that all authors are well-to-do and can make a living writing books.)

I’m sometimes surprised at what gets made into film, and what does not. I’ve always felt that WIVES AND SISTERS would make a good film, but no one else seems to agree.

I think that just like getting published, you have to hit the right person, on the right day. Except in the film business, you have to hit the right person, on the right day, when they have the right funding and the right contacts.

Two books I’ve read recently that I think would make good movies are: CHILL FACTOR by Sandra Brown and TRACELESS by Debra Webb.

How about you? Any books you’ve read that would make good movies?

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Halloween is almost here. I’ve always thought Halloween was the coolest holiday. It’s the one day you can be anything you want.

I always wanted to be a witch. Anyone who has read my bio on my website knows the story. I loved BEWITCHED. I loved Samantha.

And for the record, Jeannie annoyed the crap out of me. First off, unless I’m training in Tae Kwon Do, I’m not calling some man master.

Ugh.

Secondly, she lived in a bottle. A freaking bottle. Isn’t that what we say about alcoholics? They live in the bottle? Go to AA, Jeanie, grow a spine, and stop calling men master!

Now Samantha was one cool witch. Darwood, oops, sorry, I mean, Darrin, THOUGHT he was running the show. That he was in charge. That Samantha did whatever he said.

That poor fool.

Samantha and her scary mom Endora ran the show! They just let Darrin think that because it kept Darrin busy and out of the way.

Uber cool.

Plus Samantha did awesome magic.

I so totally wanted to be a witch. And on Halloween I got to be one. The best witch ever!

And now, even better, I get to write about witches! See all that imaging on Halloween paid off! And to all those teachers who claimed that I day dreamed my way through school, and that I’d never amount to anything because daydreaming is a waste of time?

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Okay, yeah, I’ve probably had too much coffee. Sorry.

Here on MSW, I’ve decided that for Halloween, I want to be The Contest Witch. To celebrate the release of my latest Brava book EXTREMELY HOT; I’m asking a question in the paragraph below, and I’ll randomly choose two answers in the comments to win a signed copy of EXTREMELY HOT and a $10.00 Barnes and Noble Gift Card. You can comment all week until midnight Friday, and I’ll announce the two winners Saturday on the blog.

What is the one thing you always wanted (or still want) to be for Halloween?

Good Luck!

Over at Novel Journey yesterday, they interviewed master storyteller Dean Koontz.

I’ve been a fan of Koontz for years. Not only is he prolific, he has an amazing voice and the way he says things is almost as important as the story itself–except you don’t lose yourself in the words to the detriment of the story. He often inserts dogs in his books, and WATCHERS is probably one of my all-time favorite books. However, THE DARKEST EVENING OF THE YEAR may come up there because it’s another dog book, this one the protagonist rescues golden retrievers.

Ironically, I hadn’t read anything about this book until this morning, but yesterday Karin and I (with the help of Officer Friendly) worked through a story-essential plot point (one of those plot points you need to know before you start . . . though already I’m starting to change some things. I just needed to know that my “what if” worked. If does, so I can play around . . . anyway, Karin and I were chatting about Claire O’Brien, my heroine, and what type of person she would be. Her father murdered her mother (she believes) while her mother was in bed with a lover. Claire knew about the affair and feels guilty because she told her dad about it. She blames herself–and her mother for sleeping around and her father for losing his temper–and grows up bitter and lost–a lost soul, Karin says. We figured out she’s a fraud investigator because she assumes everyone is lying and she can dig out the truth. And it popped into my head: she loves animals. Humans, she can’t trust–they lie, commit adultery, kill–but animals, particularly dogs, inspire trust and love unconditionally. So she has a houseful of animals she’s rescued and is trying to find homes for–which I hope will redeem her for some of the not-so-heroic things she does.

Anyway, Koontz doesn’t plot and I thought the interview was fascinating on many levels. Enjoy!

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When does an author get too big for her spandex?

But it ended up being a rant, and while it was a justifiable rant, I’m just really not in a ranting mood. I’m in a mood where I’m just looking around and smiling all of the time. I’m not sure if it’s age, the fact that I have one child left at home, my husband’s football season is nearly at an end, or that for the time being, I’m a gainfully employed writer.
Whatever the reason, I just know I’m really diggin’ life right now.

Speaking of gainfully employed, my revision letter and heavily marked historical ms is due to land on my doorstep today. After the conversation I had with my editor last week, methinks I will be rewriting almost the entire book. But, it’s ok. Between us we will make the book better, stronger. In my editor’s words, ‘this book will be great.’ And she doesn’t throw that word around willy-nilly.

So, once again I have put the family on alert. I have a novella to complete. I’m about a third of the way there and will jam, despite a loaded weekend to have the story complete by Monday. Let it sit, then jump on the rewrite of MASTER OF SURRENDER. Oh, and this brings me to another topic. Research. I have been banging my head against the wall looking for information on the internet about Moorish prisons in Iberia in the 11th century. While I have had some success, if there is anyone out there who has a site they know of that can get me to more info I’d appreciate it. My friend Lee has a book on torture which she is going to dig it up, but that’s next week.

I have thoroughly enjoyed researching for this book, but when I realize hours have passed and my neck is crinked and my eyes have blurred, I sigh and realize, while in search of one fact, I have gone off on several tangents and lost sight of what I needed. History is fascinating! I have so many stories burning to be told!

How about you? Do you like research? Do you find stories in stories as you pour through data, facts and myth? Or do you just stick to the facts ma’am and move on?

Added one p.m.:
I meant to link up to the new excerpts on my webpage! Silly me. HERE is the first chapter to KILLING FEAR, and HERE is the first chapter to “Deliver Us From Evil.”
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Today is a clean-up day for me, and I don’t mean the house (though it needs it!) There comes a time when I just have to put the book aside and spend the day catching up on all the little things I’ve put aside.

First, I wanted to share my UK cover. I love it. It’s very subtle but suspenseful at the same time.

Then there are some bills I need to pay, books I need to send out–apparently, the post office damaged my box for my Rita entries and I need to resend a couple books. Water damage. Makes you wonder how four of fifteen books were water damaged . . . but I’ll leave that up to my imagination another day.

And then there’s the copy I need to write for the AuthorBuzz I’m doing for KILLING FEAR. Below is what I wrote for WHAT YOU CAN’T SEE:

But it’s not just the SA ad, it’s a librarian letter and a reader letter, the latter of which is sent out the week the book comes out.

And . . . I have the ad for the RWR for WYCS. I waited too long to order (story of my life) for both the antho and my single title, so I didn’t get an cover page (inside back or front cover), but I’m doing a full-page in B&W. Better than nothing, though I’ll admit I’m bummed that I forgot. The RWR is, I think, one of the most cost-effective forms of advertising a romance author can do. It’s not expensive, and the magazine goes to over 9,000 readers. Because what are writers first and foremost? Readers.

And then the reviews I’m writing for a new site called (I think) “Writers Are Readers Too” (or something like that.) I’m reviewing three books–all books I’ve read and loved (two fiction, one non-fiction). More later–I’ll be linking to the site when it goes live. But I want to do this not only because I like the concept of the site (which will be very positive, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it at all), but because I really loved these three books, all debuts.

And finally . . . I’m getting my hair cut and colored. My gray is so widespread I feel much older than 38. I might be struggling to lose weight (really, though, I’m not suffering. I’ve given up a lot of high-fat foods, but I haven’t given up my margaritas . . . ) but hair is SOOO easy to fix. I may even do something different with the color–my daughter thinks I need to go lighter and redder. I usually get my hair dyed my natural color and then add in a couple lighter highlights. We’ll see–I’ll ask my hairdresser. I trust her

Then there are a few other little things–emails to answer and delete, books to ship out, sending my new bookmarks to the printer. All those things that I keep pushing back until I “have time.” But the truth is, I have to make the time.

I’m working on the revisions for TEMPTING EVIL (oh, did I tell you? They changed the title of SILENT SCREAM to TEMPTING EVIL, which I love. Much stronger, I think.) The story is sound, the pacing is off in the first third of the book. I’m starting at a different place and changing some of the backstory to make the characters stronger overall. I’m excited about the revisions. I love this part of the process, almost as much as the original creation. I’ve already written a completely new beginning, and I’m letting it sit today because I want to make sure I’m starting right. I’ll re-read the first fifty pages again tomorrow morning and edit them, then I’ll be good to go, I think, and hopefully knock out the rest of the revisions in 7-10 days.

Tomorrow I’m also having lunch with Karin, and I’m excited about that. I’m going to pick her brain on something. This is NOT plotting for DYING BREATH. It’s mostly a major plot point that I need the answer to before I can write, one of those research points that the book hinges on. Basically, I just need someone to talk through my ideas with. And Gary will be there to help with the cop stuff. As soon as the revisions for TE are done, it’s off to the next book.

Because writing is like walking–one word in front of the other. Keep going. And when you get to THE END, it’s the end of one book . . . and the beginning of the next.

First, I want to apologize for missing my post last week. I was in the middle of a hectic travel schedule and manuscript deadline and doe-doe brain here simply forgot. ARG!

As I was reading Natalie’s post yesterday, I couldn’t help but wonder about the survival instincts that must have kicked in (and are still kicking in) for the folks living in Southern California. For a few days now, with fires raging in every direction, it looks like, from an outsider’s perspective, that San Diego itself will soon be….well, gone.

I have an elderly aunt who lives in Rancho Bernardo, and from what I’ve heard, that area has all been destroyed. And I don’t know where she is. Knowing her, however, she is either running one of the shelters, (not running it as in orchestrating the flow of evacuees through the facility, but running it as in telling everyone else what to do! That’s just her survival instinct.) or was smart enough, which she is, to high-tail it out of the state before things got out of hand. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to locate her or my cousins to find out if she’s okay. Gut instinct tells me she’s fine, though, only temporarily relocated and probably scared as hell. She’s in her late seventies, and I can’t imagine what it must feel like having to consider starting all over again at that age.

As I watch all familiar CNN crews run through the gazillion video clips of those fires and the devastation in California, I can’t help but think about those who lost everything during hurricane Katrina. To start over again from scratch after working so hard to simply get to the point where you were before a natural disaster wipes it all away must be pain of the highest order. My heart goes out to these folks, as do my thoughts and prayers that all of them will be able to find hope and comfort in this time of distress.

I’m slowly learning in life that the only constant in life is change, and the most difficult challenge of that change is when it’s controlled by factors beyond our control. From life to death, bounty to homelessness, one can only keep his or her fingers crossed that tomorrow’s changes will be gentle and merciful.

If we have any MSW’s readers out there in California, my hopes and prayers go out to you and your families. And if by chance you happen upon a tall, auburn-haired woman who’s demanding that the Red Cross give her REAL utensils to eat with instead of a plastic fork, please let me know. Chances are it’ll be my aunt.

May all the changes coming in your tomorrows bring you nothing but peace and joy!

So, there was a mother driving drunk, and her son called 911. While he was in the CAR with his mother, who was driving drunk.

VANCOUVER, Wash. — An 8-year-old boy called 911 about his mother’s driving Saturday night, leading Clark County deputies to arrest her.

“I don’t know where we are and mom’s not acting normal,” the boy told a 911 dispatcher.

The mother tried to hang up the phone, but the boy called back. The mother tried to bite the boy’s hand, to keep him from calling. And in a very ODD twist, the mother’s last name is SPEARS. No, her first name is not Britney, but for a minute there, as I read the story, I wondered….

The dispatcher asked the boy to point out businesses or landmarks that he saw.

With information from the 8-year-old and call-tracking technology, deputies eventually found the car in the parking lot of a fire station and arrested Spears.

Deputies said several drivers called to report the car Saturday afternoon.

Spears, of Vancouver, faces charges of drunken driving, reckless endangerment and assault of a child.

She is being held on $10,000 bail.

The boy and his 5-year-old sister who was also in the car were placed with a family friend.

It seems to me that some children have a finely tuned survival instinct, while others do not. I’m not sure what puts this instinct into gear, but it has long fascinated me.

Sometimes, it seems, the adults aren’t ADULTS at all, and the children are the ones with the only common sense. Take, for instance, this case, where an adult couple left two children alone, ages nine and five, so they could party in Vegas. One of the boys–the five year old–was autistic.

The boys fended for themselves, until their grandmother turned the parents in.

Years ago I remember reading the story of a couple in the midwest who went on a cruise, and left their two young daughters behind at home. Alone, with no adult supervision. We are taking about people who went away for more than a week, and left their children behind without remorse or a second thought. I don’t get this. So many things can happen.

But it didn’t, and the children survived. Survival instinct. Maybe like the one living inside the boy who called 911 on his drunken mother.

Survival instinct tells us to run when someone who may harm us approaches. It also makes us swerve to avoid hitting a car that has stopped suddenly in front of us. Some of us have keen instincts, and some have no instincts at all.

When I was six years old, a man held a gun on me, my sister and two of our friends. He told us to strip. We refused. He shot the gun in the air. We still refused. Then he told us to run for our lives, and never look back, or he would shoot us.

We ran, and I didn’t look back. I lost my shoes. I didn’t care, at least for that moment. I was determined to live.

I survived. And from that event came the opening to WIVES AND SISTERS.

I think that survival instinct must fascinate all writers, or at least those who write suspense and thrillers.

What Survival Instinct Story has affected you the most? Do any stick out in your mind?

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