My First #Paranormal Investigation! #ghosthunters #ghostadventures #haunted #Harwich #CapeCod

A few months ago--back when people were allowed to go places--I was fortunate enough to be invited to my very first paranormal investigation.  As an author of ghost mysteries, I've been to plenty of haunted locations and spooky sites--some of the creepiest adventures I've been on include the not-quite-legal exploration of an abandoned TB hospital in Glenn Dale, MD, a visit to the Old Jail (oldest wooden jail in the country and setting for a scene in Haunted Souls) in Barnstable Village, MA, and a tour of the skeleton-filled Catacombs beneath the streets of Paris, France.  But this was my first time out with active paranormal investigators, who spend hours in a location armed with a dizzying array of technical equipment designed to pick up any paranormal energy or communication.  The team I went with, Mass Paranormal, are often called out to document a haunting or verify claims.

Just one cluster of all the equipment!

I'll get to the claims, relayed to me in person by the current employees of the library, who were there at the investigation.  First, a little history of the building, which dates back to 1855.  

The Brooks Free Library was established in 1880 and was first free library in Harwich.  It was founded by Col. Henry C. Brooks, and his sister, Tamesin, served as first librarian.  She worked there as a volunteer from 1881 until her death in 1891.  As she never married, she lived in the building, in the attic rooms. 

In the beginning years, shop and apartment rentals throughout the large building helped fund the free library, which was originally on the second floor.  Over the centuries, the building has been the home of many residents, businesses, and government spaces, including law offices, dressmakers, milliners, barber shops, a court house, a bank.  

Two of the Rogers Group Statues still at the library

In 1976, burglars stole 56 Rogers Group Statues, some of which dated back to an 1881 donation of the period statues.  Despite the ensuing FBI investigation, the stolen statues were never recovered.
The two pictured above (which I took photos of because of the spooky aesthetic...I didn't know anything about the robbery at the time) are entitled Uncle Ned's School and Parting Promise.

Now, on to the really spooky stuff.  The librarians have reported many unsettling encounters over the years, especially when alone at night.  Footsteps echoing across the floor.  A presence lurking in the shadows.  The swishing of a full skirt through the aisles.  Scraping overhead, the sound of a chair being pulled across the floor...and a chair positioned differently when the sound was investigated.  Giggling from the children's room.  The soft slide of books being pushed back into place along the shelves.  The tumble of a stack of books falling, when no patrons were in the building.  

One of the cameras

Not being an expert on the technical piece, I can't speak to the exact results the equipment showed that particular night.  I do know the team used a K2 Meter to measure electromagnetic fields, and a full spectrum camera that includes UV light as well as infrared light.  There were microphones and video recorders everywhere, devices that we used to ask questions and hope for answers, and a thermal imaging camera.

Investigating paranormal activity is a long process, and my husband and I were not able to stay the whole night.  In the following days, the team has to review all the recordings, both visually and audibly.  I will say we seemed to have caught whispers on one recording, which I was able to hear on replay that night.  We also had "conversations" using the response device, and I received a wild surge of bright lights when I asked the spirit "Do you like to read?"  This certainly fits with the theory of who at least one of the ghosts is--Tamesin Brooks.

Of course, the Covid-19 pandemic has stalled the remainder of the investigation, as the team usually visits a site multiple times to make an assessment of "haunted".  But I certainly think a building with that type of history, and so many residents, has a good chance of earning the label.  

And, just to be safe, on the way out, I did as the team suggested and said aloud, "Thank you, goodbye, you need to stay here, you can't come with me."  A ghost following someone home is exactly what happens in my novel Haunted Souls.  And while I enjoy all things spooky, I don't want a restless spirit in my home...even if it did give me new inspiration for a book!

Fiction Writing + Publication Course #Hyannis! #CapeCod #amwriting

I'm thrilled to be teaching a new "Fiction Writing and Publication" course this June, back at Hyannis Center on Main Street in Hyannis.  For the last five years, I've taught this popular class for both Cape Cod Community College's Center for Corporate and Professional Education and for the Town of Falmouth's Community School in a number of locations, and I've met so many aspiring authors and hopefully helped them on their writing journey.  I've even read some of their finished manuscripts and visited their writing groups, which has been so rewarding.  If you're interested in writing a novel, or exploring publishing options, and you're in the Cape Cod area, consider joining us!  The press release is below:

Ready to Write That Novel?

A course offered this summer in Hyannis provides instruction on writing fiction and guidance on publishing options.

For many writers, a quote by Nobel Prize-Winning Author Toni Morrison summarizes the beginning of the journey: “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”  Many people dream of writing a novel, but aren’t sure how to begin.  Even once a manuscript is finished, the choices within the publishing industry seem to grow every day.  Literary agents continue to seek clients for the big publishing houses, smaller electronic presses have become a force in the new digital world, and more options than ever exist for those looking to publish independently.  Unfortunately, this type of growth has also resulted in many sites looking to take advantage of authors eager to publish and promote their work.  The entire process can become overwhelming quickly.

A four-week afternoon class offered by Cape Cod Community College’s Center for Corporate and Professional Education aims to offer guidance to aspiring authors.  “Fiction Writing and Publication” will be held at the Hyannis Center on Thursday afternoons, June 7—June 28, from 2:30 – 5:00 p.m.  Bestselling author and Mashpee resident Kathryn Knight will teach the elements of successful fiction writing and outline the various options in the rapidly changing publishing industry.  Key concepts such as voice, POV, the hook, Goal-motivation-conflict, and character development will be discussed. Idea inspiration, common pitfalls, and query letters will also be covered.  Finally, avenues to publication - from self-publishing to small and digital presses to seeking agent representation - will be explored.

Hyannis Center is located at 540 Main Street.  Pre-registration is required; please visit Cape Cod Community College online here (there's a "Register Now" button on the description page) or call 508.375.5010 to register.  Cost is $119, no materials or experience needed.

True #Ghost Story ~ #paranormal #haunting #StephenKing #SalemsLot

It's my favorite time of year, and I'm dedicating my blog this month to Halloween-related posts!  I am fascinated by all things spooky, and stories about actual hauntings are particularly eerie.  While I write about ghosts, I’ve never actually seen one, much to my dismay.  But our good friends have had quite a history with a ghost they've dubbed "Granny Griffin".  Granny Griffin happens to reside on the very farm Stephen King depicts in his novel ‘Salem’s Lot, although he changed the name in the book to Griffen farm.  The farm is located in the Maine town of Durham, where King grew up.  His best friend, Randy, lived on the 200-acre dairy farm, which dates back to the 1860s.

This isn't the actual farm, 
but it gives off that spooky vibe

In the early 1970s, Carlene Griffin was unable to care for the farm and had to walk away from it.  Our friends' parents, Mr. and Mrs. W., bought it, with all its furniture, treasures, and apparent ghosts.  As a child, our friend found photos from the Civil War while exploring the attic!  The first news of the ghost came when Mrs. W. was approached by a medium in town, who insisted she had a message from the other side that needed to be delivered.  The medium wrote a note from Granny Griffin to her daughter Carlene, telling her not to worry about the fight they’d had before she died.  Mrs. W. was charged with delivering the note to Carlene, who was still living on the property in a renovated hen house.

My friend saw the ghost of Granny Griffin on several occasions, the first being one night when he was about 13.  A figure appeared in the doorway of his bedroom, wearing a long house coat.  He assumed it was his mother, but when he asked what she wanted, she did not answer.  As she turned away, her gray bun was clearly visible.  In the morning, Mrs. W. denied checking up on her son during the night—and he realized he had never, ever seen her wear her hair in a bun.

The father, Mr. W., remained skeptical.  Until the night he heard footsteps and rose to check the house.  He saw someone descending the stairs and followed the figure down the steps and into the kitchen, where she disappeared.  When he returned to the bedroom, Mrs. W awoke to ask what was wrong.  Mr. W. replied, “We’ll talk about it in the morning.  But let’s just say I believe you now.” 

This fascinates me as both a fan of all things spooky and an author of ghost stories mixed with romance (my two favorite genres, combined).  The ghost in SILVER LAKE has a message to share as well…and despite their painful past, Rain and Jason are forced to reunite to help the desperate spirit.  The ghost in GULL HARBOR is a bit angrier…but she has her reasons, and Claire is determined to figure them out—and Max is determined to keep Claire safe.  My latest release, HAUNTED SOULS, involves a mystery surrounding a child ghost who follows an unsuspecting mother and her toddler home from a haunted colonial jail.  October is a great month to celebrate the paranormal, so if you enjoy some spooky suspense that will send a shiver down your spine, along with some steamy romance to heat things back up, click on one of the above links!  

This is a photo I took of the Old Jail in Barnstable Village
on Cape Cod, which inspired the ghost story in
Haunted Souls.  It's the oldest wooden jail house in
the country, and reputedly haunted.
Anyone else see something in the upper window?

Price Drop on #Kindle! #Romance + #Ghosts #FridayReads

Exciting news!  HAUNTED SOULS is now a year old this summer--hard to believe--and that makes it eligible for a price drop by my publisher!  The Kindle price is now $3.99, down from $5.99, a bargain for hours of entertainment.  This is a steamy romance with a ghost mystery subplot, set on Cape Cod and inspired by the (haunted) Old Jail in Barnstable Village.  Reviews have been fantastic, and this title came in second last year in Read Free.ly's Top Reads of 2016...out of 100 entries!

So grab a copy at the new lower price, put your feet up, and get pulled into a page-turning story, "packed with angst, turmoil, danger, and romance" (Splashes Into Books Reviews).  Happy Reading!

A damaged soldier, a secret baby, and a haunting mystery collide in Haunted Souls

HAUNTED SOULS on Kindle

#Free Teen #Writing Class ~ Cape Cod #amwriting #CapeCod #YA

The first annual Cape Cod Teen Writers Conference is coming up!  Aspiring young writers can sign up this year for FREE, thanks to the generosity of Marstons Mills library, Barnstable Public Schools, and Titcomb's Bookshop, and organized by my friend and local author (and instructor) K.R. Conway.  More information can be found at the link below, as well as links to register.  The conference is open to writers between the ages of 13 and 19 and runs from July 31st to August 4th, from nine to noon daily.  

On the final day, a YA Author Panel is scheduled for the evening, with 11 authors of Young Adult novels answering questions, signing books, and chatting with attendees...and this is open to ALL age groups, again for free.  I'm thrilled to be part of the panel, and I'll have copies of my YA Paranormal Romance DIVINE FALL, winner of The Romance Review's 2015 Readers' Choice Award in YA Romance, as well as one of the five Finalists for the coveted Reader's Crown Award from RomCon in 2015.  My other titles, which have older protagonists and combine steamy romance with ghost mysteries, will also be available for signing and purchase.

Revenge, Romance, and a Rogue Fallen Angel...

No registration is necessary to come to the Author Panel, so feel free to come visit with us on Friday, August 4th, from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m., at Barnstable United School, 720 Osterville-West Barnstable Road, in Marstons Mills.  

Cape Cod Teen Writers Conference 2017 website 

Multi-Author #Book Signing! #Hyannis Harbor #CapeCod

Me, Katie, & Kate (K.R.) ~ 3 Ks get confusing!

We're gearing up for another weekend-long book signing! I’ll be signing books all weekend at the Hyannis Artist Shanties at Hyannis Harbor with two other Cape Cod authors, Katie O’Sullivan and K.R. Conway.  Between the three of us, we have a dozen titles for adults and teens, in genres including romance, paranormal suspense, urban fantasy, and young adult.  So if you’re in the Cape Cod area, stop by to grab some new summer reads!  We’ll be there in our shanty on Ocean Street (across from The Black Cat Restaurant) from 11 am – 8 pm on Friday, June 9, Saturday June 10, and Sunday, June 11.

The Artist Shanties are a group of cute little stand-alone “studios” right along the water.  Offerings vary by weekend, and all items available are handmade or handcrafted by the artist.  The site has a link to all the artists and their work, along with the dates they’ll be there.

We had a blast last year and we're looking forward to another fun weekend! Many of our books are set on Cape Cod, including my latest release, Haunted Souls, a steamy romance mixed with a ghost mystery, set in historic Barnstable Village.  In fact, the Old Jail House on Rt. 6A, considered actively haunted, served as the initial inspiration for the story.

My other romance/ghost story set on Cape Cod is Gull Harbor, which has been a #1 Kindle Bestseller on several occasions.  While Gull Harbor is a fictional town, I based it on Wellfleet, a beautiful area with kettle ponds and a coast line that's part of the Cape Cod National Seashore.  

If you're in the area, come by and visit us, and check out all the literary and artistic creations offered by Cape Cod locals!

Exploring #Falmouth Cape Cod #CapeCod #Travel

I've lived on beautiful Cape Cod for nearly 20 years now, and I'm still discovering the rich history, diverse geography, and breathtaking beauty of the 15 towns of the Cape, as well as the nearby islands.  I've done a few posts on My Favorite Spots on Cape Cod, Haunted History of Barnstable, Visiting Cuttyhunk Island, and A Whirlwind Tour of Cape Cod, and while a few Falmouth locations are mentioned (Coonamessett Farm, the Shining Sea Bike Trail, and the Woods Hole Aquarium), I've never done a post specifically on Falmouth, a neighboring town I'm in at least once a week, if not more.  And while it's easy to miss discovering the amazing sites in our own figurative backyards, due to...well, life...I got a chance to explore Falmouth's history with my son as I drove him around to take pictures for a high school geography project.  I've driven by many of these places for years without knowing much about them, and I'm excited about all I learned on our trip!  So I'm sharing some of the town's fascinating history below.

A tip of Washburn Island in the background - we had quite
an experience camping there one night - very rustic!

We stopped first at the Waquoit Bay Natural Estuarine Research Reserve, which is both a Massachusetts State park and a center for education and research.  From there, we took pictures across Waquoit Bay of Washburn Island, an important part of the Reserve only accessible by private boat.  Washburn Island is one of the few large undeveloped coastal areas on the Cape, although it does feature a few rustic campsites which nature lovers may reserve in advance.  During WWII, the island served as an Army camp, and remnants of the abandoned base can still be found.  In addition, Native American artifacts dating between 450-1000 years ago have been found on the island as well.  

An example of a Wampanoag wetu
at the Waquoit Bay Reserve

Bay View Cemetery along Rt. 28

Following one of the trails along the water leads over to the old Bay View Cemetery, which I, as a writer of ghost stories, obviously found fascinating.  Many of the graves dated back to the 1800s.

From there, we got back in the car and drove to downtown Falmouth to the historic Village Green off Main Street (Rt. 28). This area has served as the town center since 1756, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  A few pictures from our walk around the Green are below; of particular note is the home of Katharine Lee Bates, the author of "America the Beautiful".

The home of Katharine Lee Bates, built in 1820.
Katharine was born in the house is 1859.  

First Congregational Church, circa 1796;
contains a bell manufactured by Paul Revere.

Oldest home on the Falmouth Village Green - 1790
Dr. Francis Wick's house - Federal style

From Falmouth's historic district, it's a short drive down to Woods Hole, located in the southwest corner of the Cape.  There is a great deal to see here in terms of history and geography, including many famous marine science organizations, a Coast Guard station, and the Nobska light house, pictured below.  I've actually been up to the top, as we were at a Coast Guard dinner at the house years ago.

Nobska Lighthouse, 1828.  The house is used by the
commander of US Coast Guard Group Woods Hole,
now renamed CG Sector Southeastern New England.

While we couldn't visit every point of interest in Falmouth in the time we had, we did hit a few more...Highfield Hall and Gardens, Beebe Woods, cranberry bogs, Old Silver Beach - there's so much to see in the Cape's second-largest town.  And, as a post-script, my son received an A on the Falmouth project - 100% - and we both learned a lot along the way.

#Haunted Barnstable ~ Cape Cod History + Hauntings #CapeCod

I love old, spooky places, especially when there's some fascinating history involved.  My latest ghost story/romance, Haunted Souls, was inspired by a visit to the Old Jail, the country's oldest wooden jailhouse, built circa 1690 and considered actively haunted.  This historic gem is located in Barnstable Village, on Cape Cod, not far from where I live.

Over the summer, I was honored to be part of an author panel at a charity event which also included very big names in the industry: Mary Higgins Clark, Hank Phillipi Ryan, Sally Gunning, and Jacquelyn Mitchard to name a few!  It was an exciting night, and as you can imagine, these famous authors helped draw a large crowd.

During our panel discussion, I mentioned how the Old Jail House inspired my latest novel, and one of the audience members later came up and introduced himself as the County Administrator.  We discussed some of the other very old--and reputedly haunted--buildings in Barnstable, and he offered to arrange a private tour for me.  Needless to say, I was thrilled, and a few weeks later, I went on the tour, and, as an added bonus, I receive a copy of a paranormal report done on the buildings by the Cape and Islands Paranormal Research Society.  According to the report, some incidents reported by employees included: hearing voices with no person present; objects being moved with no explanation; sightings of human figures that vanish; gray clouds moving up stairwells.  During the investigation, according to the report, an unseen woman was recorded coughing, and the scent of cherry tobacco was detected by several team members.  Temperature changes were also noted.

I'm sharing some of the photos I took, along with the stories, below.

The catacombs beneath the
BarnstableSuperior Court House

Copies of old records line one
shelf in the catacombs-
this is 1882-1886

Our first stop was the Barnstable Superior Court House, which was built in 1831.  A plaque inside notes that the building has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the US Dept. of the Interior.  I've been here in the past for jury duty, but I had never known about the catacombs located beneath the building (for my visit to the famous Catacombs of Paris, see this post).  These catacombs were not filled with bones, thankfully, but the space did contain many old records and files, along with a very creepy, claustrophobic atmosphere.  
Many employees refuse to enter the space after experiencing or hearing about paranormal incidents here.

Many of the historical details of the old jail are
being preserved in the remodel - these bars near
the entrance are an example

From the Court House, we climbed the hill leading to the old Barnstable County Jail and House of Corrections - much more modern than the tiny 1690 Old Jail, but still an old, somewhat decrepit building full of history.  This jail was built in 1935 and abandoned in 2004 when the last of the prisoners were moved to a new facility.  Now, thirteen years later, the building is being renovated into office space, so I was very lucky to get to see this site before its destruction.




A central hallway is pictured below, with cells lining both sides.  Metal tables were once bolted in the middle of the hallway for prisoners to use for socializing.

Another area many people try to avoid is the former isolation cells, located on the right in the photo below.  These will be offices eventually.

The doors on the right open to isolation cells

Many of the cells are currently being used for storage, and someone clearly has a sense of humor.  I'm not sure what the skeleton was actually being used for, but it did make me jump!

Below is a photo of one of the two-person cells in another wing.

As I mentioned earlier, this old building is situated at the top of a hill, and many of the cells (which will now be offices) had the amazing view pictured below.  Apparently, when the building was new, the view and shelter made it a somewhat desirable location.  Fisherman who lived on their boats would often attempt to make it their winter home by purposefully getting incarcerated.  In exchange for their freedom, they received warm beds and free meals during the coldest months of the year, and their days were spent in work detail.  Not a bad trade-off!

The view of Barnstable Harbor from the hill top

I hope you enjoyed my summary of my personal haunted, historical tour!  For haunting fiction set on Cape Cod, try Gull Harbor or Haunted Souls ~ Steamy Romance + Spooky Suspense.

link HS and catacombs and MHC event

Cape Cod's #Haunted Jail ~ #Halloween Bloghop

Happy Halloween!  This is one of my favorite seasons—crisp air, crimson and gold leaves, hayrides and corn mazes, crackling fires, and a celebration of all things spooky.  Halloween, or All Hallow's Eve, links back to the Celtic festival of Samhain, a time when the barrier between the paranormal and physical worlds grows thin.  As a writer of ghost stories, it’s the perfect time for me to find new inspiration.  My latest release, HAUNTED SOULS, was inspired by a ghost tour I went on with my sister in Cape Cod’s Barnstable Village.  This “Haunted Tour” offered a guided walk to haunted places and historical sites, and it started and ended at the Old Jail.

I’d never even heard of the Old Jail, and it’s truly a historic gem.  It’s the oldest wooden jail house in the entire country, actually, and is thought to have been built in 1690, on orders from the Plymouth and MA Bay Colony Courts.  It was in use until the 1800s, and was moved around a bit, eventually attached to a barn.  It was rediscovered in 1968, detached from the barn, and moved next to the Coast Guard museum on 6A.

The structure itself is quite small, containing three cells which held large numbers of people sometimes.  According to our guide, conditions were rough and people had to take turns lying down to sleep when cells were crowded.  As you can imagine, many people died, and the site is considered actively haunted. 

The Old Jail in the evening...seriously, what's in the
top right window?  And a red flash in bottom left.

Goody Hallett, the lover of the infamous pirate Samuel Bellamy, was imprisoned there in 1716, and is said to be one of the ghosts in residence.  If you’re so inclined, you can even pay to spend the night at the Jail.  On our tour, we were shown photographs with shadowy figures taken by volunteers who work in the jail house.  A few of the volunteers shared their stories as well, and one claimed that a ghost had followed them home and engaged in some poltergeist-like activities.  Well, that got my attention right way, and my imagination started churning.  My sister had her little daughter with her, and I started to wonder what would happen if a young child with sensitive abilities took pity on a lost soul, and actually invited a ghost to come home with them.  The initial idea for my fourth novel was born.

Of course, my stories also have a romantic element, and this one has been dubbed my steamiest yet (from a recent review at Romance 4 the Beach: “Hot damn these two are smokin' hot!”)  So there are plenty of steamy scenes to counter the paranormal chills-up-your-spine ghost mystery.  A perfect read for the Halloween season! 

Two of my other novels, SILVER LAKE and GULL HARBOR, are also ghost stories mixed with romance, so as an additional giveaway, one commenter on my blog today will win a signed copy of the paperback of their choice ~ Silver Lake or Gull Harbor!  To enter to win, comment below and be sure to leave an email address or twitter handle so I can contact you if you win, and don’t forget to enter the grand prize Rafflecopter below for a chance to win one of several gift cards!  Thanks for visiting my stop on the Snarkology Halloween Hop and happy haunted reading! Don't forget to follow the hop here for more posts: Hop Landing Page

a Rafflecopter giveaway

HOP LANDING PAGE

Art, Word, #Wine Cape Cod ~ #Book Signing #Dennis #Barnstable #Brewster

It’s almost here ~ the most exciting book signing I’ve ever done.  Over the years, I have participated in some great events, but this Tuesday night will be more like something out of my wildest dreams: I’ll be part of a nine-author panel which includes some very well-known authors such as Mary Higgins Clark, Hank Phillipi Ryan, Sally Gunning, and Jacquelyn Mitchard.  To say I’m honored to be in such company is an understatement!  We’ll all be there for a fantastic cause: to help raise money for Dream Day on Cape Cod, a wonderful charity that brings children with life-threatening illnesses to the Cape.  I eagerly agreed to do the event with no knowledge of who else would be participating; to combine an opportunity to help children with a chance to share my novels is something I would gladly do any day.  But oh, how I wish I had video of my reaction when I first saw the promotional flyer and understood I’d be sitting at a table with Mary Higgins Clark!  I can still remember discovering her books as a preteen and sharing them with my best friend, a fellow reader.  Clark is an author whose books I read and re-read dozens of times, and the idea of not only meeting her, but signing books alongside her, literally takes my breath away! 

Art, Word, and Wine will be held at the Cape Cod Museum of Art on Tuesday, August 30^th, from 4 pm to 7 pm.  There is a $20 admission at the door, which goes to Dream Day on Cape Cod, and the authors are all donating profits from books toward the fundraising as well.  So if you’re in the area, come meet some famous authors, find some new reads, and enjoy wine, cheese and crackers, and artwork in a beautiful setting, all while helping Dream Day on Cape Cod achieve its mission.

The #Haunted Jail ~ Cape Cod #haunting #ghosts #Barnstable #CapeCod

In 2014, after three books in three years, I decided I would take a little break from writing.  I figured it would be a good opportunity to spend more time in the real world – but then a story idea hit me, and the idea for my new release, Haunted Souls, kept growing in my head.  The initial inspiration came for a ghost tour I went on with my sister in Cape Cod’s Barnstable Village.  It’s probably somewhat obvious that I am a fan of ghosts and other spooky subjects, and my sister is the same way.  Every time we get together, we have scary movie marathons since no one else will watch them with us.  So when she came for a visit that summer, we decided to check out a “Haunted Tour” put on by the Cape and Islands Paranormal Research Society.  It offered a guided walk to haunted places and historical sites, and it started and ended at the Old Jail.

The Old Jail at night

I’d never even heard of the Old Jail, and it’s truly a historic gem.  It’s the oldest wooden jail house in the entire country, actually, and is thought to have been built in 1690, on orders from the Plymouth and MA Bay Colony Courts.  It was in use until the 1800s, and was moved around a bit, eventually attached to a barn.  It was rediscovered in 1968, detached from the barn, and moved next to the Coast Guard museum on 6A.

The structure itself is quite small, containing three cells which held large numbers of people sometimes.  According to our guide, conditions were rough and people had to take turns lying down to sleep when cells were crowded.  As you can imagine, many people died, and the site is considered actively haunted. 

Goody Hallett, the lover of the infamous pirate Samuel Bellamy, was imprisoned there in 1716, and is said to be one of the ghosts in residence.  If you’re so inclined, you can even pay to spend the night at the Jail.  On our tour, we were shown photographs with shadowy figures taken by volunteers who work in the jail house.  A few of the volunteers shared their stories as well, and one claimed that a ghost had followed them home and engaged in some poltergeist-like activities.  Well, that got my attention right way, and my imagination started churning.  My sister had her little daughter with her, and I started to wonder what would happen if a young child with sensitive abilities took pity on a lost soul, and actually invited a ghost to come home with them.  The initial idea was born.

Of course, my stories also have a romantic element, and that aspect turned out perfectly suited for Cape Cod as well, since it soon became clear to me that the male main character in my story was in the military—and Joint Base Cape Cod hosts a number of branches.  I met with neighbor, who is a Colonel in the Air National Guard and was deployed for a year in Afghanistan and another year in Iraq.  We discussed different occupations that would cause a person to be sent overseas often and for long periods of time, since that’s what I needed to make the story work.  We came up with EOD tech, which stands for Explosive Ordnance Disposal.  This is the elite bomb squad made up of members from four branches of military who pass the rigorous schooling requirements.  It’s an important and dangerous job, and I would have to say that between this aspect and the historical facts, this latest book required the most research on my part.

Two lonely souls...and one lost spirit.  From the author of #1 Kindle
Bestsellers Silver Lake and Gull Harbor.

So far, it’s getting great reviews, so I hope you’ll give this military romance and ghost mystery a try…a new steamy beach read with a chilling twist!

HAUNTED SOULS on Kindle

Other links click here

Book Signing Weekend at #Hyannis Harbor! #CapeCod #Barnstable #amwriting

Two of the Artist Shanties, a group of
studios along Hyannis Harbor
featuring hand-crafted work of
Cape Cod artists and authors -
the blue one will be ours!

I have a busy weekend lined up!  I’ll be signing books all weekend at the Hyannis Artist Shanties at Hyannis Harbor with two other Cape Cod authors, Katie O’Sullivan and K.R. Conway.  Between the three of us, we have a dozen titles for adults and teens, in genres including romance, paranormal suspense, urban fantasy, and young adult.  So if you’re in the Cape Cod area, stop by to grab some new summer reads!  We’ll be there in the Barnstable Shanty from 11 am – 7 pm on Friday, May 20, Saturday May 21, and Sunday, May 22.

Unfortunately, my upcoming release HAUNTED SOULS, a military romance/ghost mystery set in Barnstable Village, will not be available yet, but you can pre-order on Kindle or Nook to have it automatically download on June 1, the official release date.  GULL HARBOR, a #1 Amazon Bestseller, will be available in print copies, and this is also a steamy romance + spooky ghost story set on Cape.  Between the three authors, we’ll have a number of novels with local settings, so if you’re just visiting, you can take a piece of Cape Cod home with you.

Love that my new earrings
look like both leaves and
hearts...it echoes the multiple
meanings of "Fall" in Divine
Fall's title: falling in love, the
season fall, & fallen angels.

The Artist Shanties are a group of cute little stand-alone “studios” right along the water, and offerings vary by weekend, and all items available are handmade or handcrafted by the artist.  The site has a link to all the artists and their work, along with the dates they’ll be there.  I visited last weekend and ended up buying some beautiful earrings from the jewelry artists in the Shanty we’ll be in this weekend.  They go perfectly with my DIVINE FALL book cover pendant, which is one of my favorite necklaces.

So we’re keeping our fingers crossed for gorgeous weather and lots of visitors, as spring seems to have finally arrived here.  Find us in the light blue Barnstable Shanty on Ocean Street, across from The Black Cat restaurant, and pick out your next great read!