Back that ass up

2011 was a good year. 2012 is going to be even better. 

Because I said so, dammit. 

I've been spending a lot of time doing nothing the past couple of weeks. And when I say nothing, I mean not even feeding myself (although I have, admittedly, been showering). With the new year comes new responsibilities, however, and there are some big changes I am looking forward to in 2012. In 2012, I graduate from law school. I will hopefully pass the Bar. I will also hopefully land a job. That is a shit ton of hoping, children.

With a new job presumably comes a move. I'm not sure where I am moving. I am not sure if I will even be hired. Which means I'm designating 2012 as:

THE YEAR OF THE BACKUP....

A backup plan if things don't work out how they should. A backup plan to ensure my continued sanity. A backup plan that somehow doesn't involve my parents paying for my bills and gas.

Because we all know that stripping is a totally legitimate backup plan, right?

Right??????

Goodbye 2011

Tonight, the year closes. 2011 will fade away and the apocalyptic year 2012 will be born from 2011's ashes.   I'm sad to see 2011 go, and not just because the world is supposed to end in 2012.  It has been an amazing year for me and as this year closes, I think I should look back on all the wonderful things that happened in 2011.   Here's a short list of the things that have made this year memorable for me.  These are the haunting highlights of my best year yet for Ghost Stories and Haunted Places.

1.  I've read some amazing ghost books and have been lucky enough to have some of these books sent to me by their authors and editors.  Some of my favorite ghostly reads have been Wichita Haunts by Beth Cooper, True Ghost Stories by Echo Bodine,  The White Devil by Justin Evans , and Fringeology by Steve Volt.  Books are some of my favorite things and discovering new haunts through reading has made my year an unending adventure.

2.  I've found new blogs and enjoyed old blogs.   Connecting with bloggers and reading blogs has always been one of my favorite parts of blogging.  In 2011, I've discovered a lot of new and wonderful blogs and been exited to find my old favorite bloggers covering new ground and taking me to new places.
3.  I've published three books.  This was a big year for writing for me.  This year, Circe, Death's Dream Kingdom, and Haunted Chattanooga were all published and in print.   I've done numerous book signings and talks.   I've found my voice and gotten good reviews.  Circe has been my best reviewed book and Haunted Chattanooga is my best seller of the year.   For making all my dark a ghostly books possible in print, I have to thank my hard working agent, Sharon Belecastro, who is always finding new homes for my dark books.  I'm especially happy to see Circe in print this year.   This horror novel took me two years to write and years to publish.   It inspired my blog and the haunted location it is based on began my interest in haunted places.  

4.  I just signed a two book contract on my new Fantasy series, The Twilight Saint.  I'm looking forward to finish writing this series and seeing my new books published.

5.  I traveled to some amazing haunting places.   My favorite haunts this year were The Ohio State Reformatory,  The Haunted Bissman Building, Fort Morgan,  The Chattanooga Underground, and Cloudland Canyon.  My trip to Mansfield, Ohio was by far my most interesting this year and I was lucky enough to visit some amazing historical haunts and have shivers sent down my spine at some truly terrifying locations.  

6.  I got pregnant, had a baby, and quit my day job.  Of course, these things had the most impact on my real life, but the least on the ghost stories you find in my writing.   However,  they have certainly slowed down my ghost stories and  made my life brighter so I can't forget to mention them.   My new little bundle of joy is by far the best thing to happen to me this year.

So as I enter into 2012, I have to be thankful for everything that happened in 2011.   It has been an amazing year filled with ghosts and wonder.   I'm hoping 2012 will be just as exciting and wonderful.

The Riverhaven Cabin

Most ghost stories are creepy. They hint at some unhappy soul lurking just beyond reality waiting to do us harm. The Riverhaven cabin is haunted, but the ghosts there seem pleasant and inviting.

Riverhaven is a cabin in Gatlinburg, TN. It is described by the reality company as pleasant and comfortable. This historic log home is an antique Chestnut log approx. 200 years old built in 1800. It has unique wormy Chestnut paneling inside. The cabin was constructed in the National Park and was moved in the 1930's to its current location in downtown Gatlinburg. The Realtors website shows many pretty pictures of the cabin and if you rent it, when you enter you'll be pleasantly surprised by its comfort and warmth.

Every cabin in Gatlinburg has a log or journal for visitors to share their experiences in. Typically, these logs are filled with stories of family vacations. Every page has the same bland pleasantries. It is as if they came from a script. Guests tell about their family, what they did, and the great time they had in the cabin. Riverhaven's journal is different. Each guest tells about flickering lights, moving objects, vanishing items, and odd noises. Not every resident there concludes the cabin is haunted, but every page indicated there is something odd about this pleasant cabin nestled by the river.

I only stayed at Riverhaven for three nights and for the most part it was quiet. I stayed with my family and we complained to each other about the lack of linens in the cabin. We searched it from top to bottom, pulling it apart in a futile quest for a table cloth or anything to cover the splintery, ancient dining table. Finally, on the first night we gave up and ate on our laps. We went to bed and dead bolted the door and locked the door with the sliding lock that even someone with a key couldn't open. In the morning, we awoke to find every table set with table cloths and silverware. The cabin was clean and pretty and we certainly hadn't left it that way when we went to sleep. We often laugh about this cabin as we flounder to explain our experiences there, but when I think of the strange journal there and the consistency of all the stories, I have to assume it was haunted by ghosts that liked us.

I’ve posted this ghost story before and interestingly  I was contacted by the new owners of this lovely little cabin to tell us more about it. They loved the blog and invited us to return to the cabin, which they have completely renovated and made even more lovely. Sadly, we couldn’t return to the cabin because it isn’t pet friendly, but it was nice to hear the cabin is being loved and is even nicer. I’m sure the ghosts are happy to see the improvements

Merry Christmas to All and To All a Good Night

The Omen of the Night Owls

Owls are important symbolically in many cultures. In ancient Greece and Rome, they were linked to Athena and considered symbols of knowledge and wisdom.  In Arthurian legend,  Merlin is often depicted with an owl on his shoulder and again, the owl is linked to wisdom.  In Japan,  owl statues are said to ward off plague and illness.  In some Native American cultures owls are linked to knowledge and magic.  I knew all these things when I chose owls as the decorative theme for my new baby's nursery.   I didn't know the darker side of owls.  In many cultures, especially the Apache culture, owls portend death and are associated with the dead.  The Apaches are not alone.  Many other cultures see owls as linked death.    Of course, I choose to ignore all the cultures that see owls as ill omens in the same way I have ignored the ill omens associated with black dogs and cats.  Some of my favorite pets have been black dogs and cats and they've only brought good luck to me.

Therefore, as I sat in my owl themed nursery late at night just before my son was born,   I saw owls only as good omens.  They have become a symbol of my baby boy.   They are wise and beautiful creatures of the night. 

My neighborhood and my house have no trees.   So birds of any sort are a rare commodity in my neighborhood.  The lake brings geese and goose poop, but owls are never seen in my neck of the woods.   However,  the night before my baby was born,   as I sat in the nursery, unable to sleep and very pregnant, the call of three owls filled the night air.  I sat up and listened to them hoot back and forth to each other with their distinct calls for over an hour before I drifted off to sleep.  The next day I held my baby in my arms, making owls forever a good omen for me.  I'm not sure if there was any real significance to the presence of the owls, but to me there was something mystical to their presence that night.  They were omens of life to come.

No Nudity On My Watch

Well that's the end of my stint as a student supervisor at the local college. Just looking forward to a few days next month as exam invigilator. It has been an interesting experience. I've loved every minute and I've learned a lot.

The corridors are full of posters. Many of these posters display academic information which has been put together by students of the different faculties. Therefore I've managed to get a bit of an education merely by patrolling past the classrooms. For example I've learned about chemicals associated with death. Poisons such as cyanide, strychnine and arsenic. Gases associated with dying – cadaverine and putrescine. Chemicals used in forensics such as formaldehyde. I have read articles on philosophy, psychology sociology, art and literature. I have discovered what career options are open to students of music, dance and media studies. I found out what the college does to support students with various disabilities and it came as a shock to me that a student can arrive there, having struggled to gain several GCSEs, only to be diagnosed with dyslexia. Surely, in this day and age, it should have been picked up sooner? I now know what mobile phones can do to the capillaries in the brain (something to do with breaking down proteins) and I understand that scientists now think they know what causes ME (something to do with retroviruses – whatever they are).

I've also learned never to underestimate the stupidity of youth. Here is where I explain The Bilborough Challenge. There are four floors and two lifts. The idea of the challenge is that a student gets in one lift on the bottom floor and makes their way to the top while removing all their clothes. They then run along the top landing, past the student lounge, while carrying their clothes. They get into the other lift and get dressed on the way down. It seems harmless fun but if anyone is caught it will go down on their record. We managed to discourage it this Christmas but they got up to other things instead.

Many of the misdemeanours are trivial. Dropping litter, feet on the tables, paper planes off the balcony – stuff like that. Some infractions are more serious and have to be dealt with appropriately. A lot of the time we are trying to stop them injuring themselves. They seem to think it's o.k. to take short cuts across the furniture until one of them slips off a table top and sprains their ankle. They think it's macho to take swigs from a bottle of chilli sauce until several of them get it in their eyes and we have a first aid room full of kids needing treatment.

Fridays are always sexual health day. There are various items they can pick up for free in addition to the opportunity to get checked out. This results in the staff having to clean out the student lounge of inflated condoms, tables covered in spermicidal cream and underwear with 'I've been screened' printed on. In my day they just told us not to do it until we were married.

Having said all this, they are capable of channelling their energy into more productive activities. Just in the few weeks I have been there they have raised hundreds of pounds for various charities via a Santa fun run, a sponsored head shave and selling cakes. Despite the usual stereotype image of idle students, many of them work extremely hard. Even on the final day of term, when Christmassy-type activities were going on all around, I saw many in the refectory, in study areas and sitting under stairwells with their books out. They were either reading, testing each other or scribbling notes. I sincerely wish that they achieve all that they deserve.

A Merry Christmas to them all. And of course to you, my fellow bloggers.

The Naming of Lucien

Naming a child is always a challenge.  It involves months of debate and reviewing long lists of names.  There are fights with family members and long discussions.  Usually, this is not a very haunting process.  It can be tedious, but rarely haunting.  When you find that perfect name,  it is like a revelation.    The name feels right.   When we named our son, Lucien, we went through all these things and I felt that moment of revelation while I laid in my bed listening to my husband recite names from some Internet site about naming your child.  Lucien was right and I couldn't say why.  My husband and I were set.  The name spoke to us.  Everyone else thought the name was odd.    Many people said we were weird for choosing it, but the name called to us and it was ours and there was no changing it.

Those of you who have followed my blog for a long time know that my mother-in- law died over a year ago.  Since that time, we have felt haunted by her.   It isn't a negative haunting.   We just feel her sometimes.   Shadows move and the children hear her calling their names.  There are quiet whispers in the dark.   My mother-in-law was French and she died in France.  We keep her ashes on our fireplace.  Some time after we decided on naming Lucien, we cleaned out some old things and found my mother-in-law's favorite movie with her favorite name in it.    I had never heard of the movie before and my husband had completely forgotten about it.    The movie was Lacombe Lucien.   So, as I hold my little boy in my arms, I can't help but wonder if it wasn't her ghost whispering in our ear as we named our little boy.   I have to wonder if she didn't find a way of making sure her last grandson would know her even if he never knew her.