Ghostly Inspiration #amwriting #ghosts #haunting #paranormal

I’ve always wanted to see a ghost.  If there’s a Haunted Walking Tour to be found wherever I happen to be, I buy tickets.  In fact, going on a Haunted Historical Tour of Barnstable Village, Cape Cod, gave me the inspiration for my upcoming release, HAUNTED SOULS.  The oldest wooden jailhouse in the country was part of that tour, and I had a vision of a young colonial ghost lingering in a cramped cell for centuries, until an invitation from a sensitive little boy leads him to follow the family home.  But that vision was in my mind, so...still no luck actually seeing an image.  I have had some other experiences, though, that convince me that some kind of spiritual energy lives on, even after death.  

My stairs don't look anything
like that, actually!

But then the other night, I thought I heard someone climbing the stairs over and over, up and down, accompanied by the sound of change jingling in a pocket.  Now, my husband runs a few mornings a week, training for triathlons, and sometimes he does the stairs a few times to warm up, but I lay there in the dark thinking, why does he have a pocketful of change when he’s going running?  Then I rolled over and saw that he was still in bed next to me, and both our sons were at sleepovers.

The noise stopped, but I still had to get up and investigate.  I didn’t find anything, but in the darkness of 1:30 a.m., I decided maybe it wouldn’t be all that great to see a ghost.  At least not in my own home!

But I admit I had a lot of fun writing the scenes in SILVER LAKE when our heroine Rain Anderson actually sees the ghost.  As much as she wants to help her old friend’s spirit find peace, encountering her ghost is terrifying.  The man she loved--and discarded--back in high school, Jason Lansing, is at the lake house reunion too—but even he, a fourth degree black belt in Karate, can’t do much to protect anyone from a desperate spirit determined to expose the truth...even if it means putting former friends in danger.

I had to tap into a more sinister place to bring the ghost in GULL HARBOR “to life”.  While I would never define my novels as horror stories, the paranormal parts are designed to elicit a few chills.  And the ghost in Gull Harbor is very angry and aggressive—for a good reason.  Can psychic medium Claire Linden figure out what happened before tragedy strikes again?  And can Max Baron, her former boyfriend, get past Claire’s resentment in enough time to try to help keep her safe?

How about you?  Ever seen a ghost?  I’d love to hear your haunting stories - and it just might help kick my imagination into gear for my next ghost story :)  And stay tuned for more details on a release date for Haunted Souls...for now, I'll leave you with a reveal of the beautiful cover and a link to the Pinterest board with more pictures of the setting and characters.

My dream cover for this book,
courtesy of Debbie Taylor at
The Wild Rose Press