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?

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!

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?