Showing posts with label Actual Events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Actual Events. Show all posts
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Baby, It's Cold Outside...
I must admit, the local Wal-Mart has never been one of my favorite places, but it serves a purpose. This afternoon I had to venture out in the cold to do some grocery shopping, so off I hied myself, sans children, and sans poochays. Being without one or the other of the two choices can prove a rare event for me, enough to make even Wally World appealing, so I was determined to enjoy my time. I made a point of meandering through the Christmas area, checking out all of the new-and-improved LED lights--seriously cool {and I think that's the point! LOL...}, selecting wrapping paper and curling ribbon, trying to remember whether anyone needed a new stocking this year. And then, because it's something I think I do nearly every shopping trip this time of year, I swung by the big stands of Christmas music to search for new offerings.
I love, love, love Christmas music. There is something about it that makes the season feel real to me, even when I'm not exactly in the holiday spirit. I love the oldies, by artists such as Nat King Cole and Burl Ives, and I love the new and fresh, too. Certain songs bring memories of long ago rushing back to me, crystal clear in the blink of an eye. Silver Bells. Silent Night. Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas. Sleigh Ride. Love, love, love. I came home with a Very Special Christmas CD set that I had managed not to pick up before, so I consider the shopping trip a roaring success.
And movies. Christmas movies galore. Anything that features a Christmas setting within it at some point in time qualifies, in my mind. All of the kid favorites, of course, like Home Alone and Elf and Muppet Christmas Carol and The Santa Clause, and then there are the ones that cater more to the adult audience. Besides the old favorites, like Christmas in Connecticut and White Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life, I love the newer ones like Love, Actually and Serendipity and even Funny Farm. Mood movies to put you in a holiday frame of mind, necessary when one is decorating the house or making designer Christmas cookies or wrapping presents.
Back to Wal-Marting. {Yes, that's a verb. At least it is around here.} Upon leaving the store and braving the danger zone of a parking lot, I found that even the weather was conspiring to ferret out the holiday spirit in even the Scroogiest of Scrooges. An inch of the finest of snowflakes covered the ground, with more coming down all around, blowing and billowing in freshets of wind. With everything loaded up for home, I stood beside my car for a long moment, eyes closed and face raised to the sky as the wind and icy flakes scrubbed away any residual worries I might have been holding onto. I popped my new CDs into the stereo and blasted the music all the way home, where vegetable beef stew was simmering away in the oven. Yum.
And it's still snowing . . . Yay!!
I think I know what I want for Christmas this year, and it doesn't come with a price tag attached. Do you have your heart's desire fixed in your mind?
Love to all,
Mad {madly!}
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Event: Mad & Kristy Put the Normal Back in Paranormal
Madelyn Alt and Kristy Robinett
~~ Putting the Normal Back in Paranormal ~~
National bestselling mystery author Madelyn Alt and internationally renowned Psychic Medium Kristy Robinett are just your average, everyday girls . .. . who share a unique approach to life that includes dealing with the supernatural. But they like to think that's part of their charm!
Have you ever been curious about the paranormal, but are put off by subjects and/or presenters that don't fit into your comfort zone? Want to know if what you've experienced fits into the psychic realm? Have you lived with ghosts and want to know a little bit more about how to live comfortably with them? Or are you perhaps interested in writing the paranormal, and want tips or advice from a successful author in how it's done? You won't want to miss this event.
In celebration of the upcoming release of the 4th book in Madelyn's Bewitching Mysteries, NO REST FOR THE WICCAN, we invite you to join Madelyn and Kristy for a spooktacular event that will include Madelyn speaking about her National Bestselling books and Kristy discussing an array of topics, including that of growing up in a haunted house and what you can do if you are haunted. She will also conduct an audience reading where she will relay messages from the other side.
When: November 8, 2008 from 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Where: South Lyon Hotel
201 N Lafayette St
South Lyon, MI 48178
The South Lyon Hotel was built on a cemetery…now how spooky is that?
Who: Madelyn Alt and Kristy Robinett
Cost: $35.00 per person
Visit http://www.kristyrobinett.com to purchase tickets via PayPal.
(Food and Drinks are NOT provided in the ticket purchase, but available at a reasonable cost).
Madelyn Alt
Madelyn Alt is the national bestselling author of the witchy and hip Bewitching Mysteries, published by Berkley Prime Crime. These Bewitching books features small town single girl and fledgling empath Maggie O'Neill, her witchy boss, and an unlikely circle of ghosthunting friends, the N.I.G.H.T.S., as they investigate an increasing level of paranormal disturbance–not to mention a series of unrelated murders–in Maggie's hometown of Stony Mill, Indiana. In other words, they are: "Mysteries…. with Hex Appeal.."
A late-blooming sensitive/intuitive, Madelyn writes from her home, an 1870's era Victorian in northeast Indiana, which she shares with an extraordinary number of persons of the male persuasion of assorted ages and sizes, two Siamese cats who rule the roost, and a Shepherd-Lab sweetheart who is only too happy to let them.
So what's a nice girl like me doing writing about ghosties, ghoulies, and things that go bump in the night? Truth is, I've always been intrigued by the paranormal. I've experienced many things throughout my lifetime that have fueled that interest, not to mention experiences shared with me by others, people whom I trust. Isolated incidents can be explained away; these are not isolated incidents. They are also not the kind of things that can be proven easily by scientific methods. While that might sound like a pat answer, I've never been convinced that science has enough technology to have the right to pooh-pooh everything away. It seems the height of arrogance to say that we have all the answers.. The fact is, people are experiencing things that their logical minds want to explain away, but can't. That's not to say that science and the mystical won't some day coexist happily and sensibly, but until that day I think it's possible we're not meant to understand everything. Not yet.
The most important thing about life is the journey. Only at the end should we be able to look back and make sense of the lot of it. Part of the beauty is in the mystery.
Kristy Robinett
There's no flowing gown. There's no crystal ball. There's just Kristy Robinett, Psychic Medium and Life Counselor - an 'Abnormally Normal' all American girl that talks to the dead.
Kristy's involvement with the paranormal began at the tender age of 3 when she began playing and speaking regularly with spirits, labeled "imaginary friends" by her parents. This behavior was unacceptable in her household as her family was very religious. This however did not curb her curiosity for the paranormal and the unknown.
Today, Kristy is an internationally renowned Psychic Medium. Her clientele ranges from young to old, law enforcement, clergy, politicians, celebrities, domestic goddesses, to every day people. Her dedication and passion to her work is performed with honesty, integrity and humor, which sets her apart from the rest.
Kristy donates her time assisting law enforcement agencies with investigations involving missing persons, murder, suicide, arson and psychically profiling criminals. She has earned a solid reputation for Spirit Releases, psychic home inspections for homebuyers and haunted house investigations, lecturer at special events and owner of Encharming Events LLC.
Kristy has the gift of bringing warmth and love when using her gift of insight to help clear the cobwebs of confusion along with helping people embrace their own intuitive gifts. Not always serious, Kristy has a wicked sense of humor that she likes to bring to her readings.
How did I get a gig talking to the dead? It definitely wasn't the profession that my parents were at all thrilled with. Going to parochial school from kindergarten through high school graduation, I was taught that anything to do with psychics were evil, as if I didn't already have a low self-esteem like most kids! It was neat, however, knowing when the pop quizzes would be or when I could shut off the alarm because I knew that there would be a snow day even before the weather men predicted it. So after trying the 'real' world for a long time, I screamed 'Uncle' and gave in to my talent and here I am, day after day, talking to the dead and chasing ghosts.
I believe that we create our own reality. By being passionate about life, you can achieve not just anything, but everything. I mean, it gets boring and depressing waiting for that winning lottery ticket, right?!
~~ Putting the Normal Back in Paranormal ~~
National bestselling mystery author Madelyn Alt and internationally renowned Psychic Medium Kristy Robinett are just your average, everyday girls . .. . who share a unique approach to life that includes dealing with the supernatural. But they like to think that's part of their charm!
Have you ever been curious about the paranormal, but are put off by subjects and/or presenters that don't fit into your comfort zone? Want to know if what you've experienced fits into the psychic realm? Have you lived with ghosts and want to know a little bit more about how to live comfortably with them? Or are you perhaps interested in writing the paranormal, and want tips or advice from a successful author in how it's done? You won't want to miss this event.
In celebration of the upcoming release of the 4th book in Madelyn's Bewitching Mysteries, NO REST FOR THE WICCAN, we invite you to join Madelyn and Kristy for a spooktacular event that will include Madelyn speaking about her National Bestselling books and Kristy discussing an array of topics, including that of growing up in a haunted house and what you can do if you are haunted. She will also conduct an audience reading where she will relay messages from the other side.
When: November 8, 2008 from 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Where: South Lyon Hotel
201 N Lafayette St
South Lyon, MI 48178
The South Lyon Hotel was built on a cemetery…now how spooky is that?
Who: Madelyn Alt and Kristy Robinett
Cost: $35.00 per person
Visit http://www.kristyrobinett.com to purchase tickets via PayPal.
(Food and Drinks are NOT provided in the ticket purchase, but available at a reasonable cost).
Madelyn Alt
Madelyn Alt is the national bestselling author of the witchy and hip Bewitching Mysteries, published by Berkley Prime Crime. These Bewitching books features small town single girl and fledgling empath Maggie O'Neill, her witchy boss, and an unlikely circle of ghosthunting friends, the N.I.G.H.T.S., as they investigate an increasing level of paranormal disturbance–not to mention a series of unrelated murders–in Maggie's hometown of Stony Mill, Indiana. In other words, they are: "Mysteries…. with Hex Appeal.."
A late-blooming sensitive/intuitive, Madelyn writes from her home, an 1870's era Victorian in northeast Indiana, which she shares with an extraordinary number of persons of the male persuasion of assorted ages and sizes, two Siamese cats who rule the roost, and a Shepherd-Lab sweetheart who is only too happy to let them.
So what's a nice girl like me doing writing about ghosties, ghoulies, and things that go bump in the night? Truth is, I've always been intrigued by the paranormal. I've experienced many things throughout my lifetime that have fueled that interest, not to mention experiences shared with me by others, people whom I trust. Isolated incidents can be explained away; these are not isolated incidents. They are also not the kind of things that can be proven easily by scientific methods. While that might sound like a pat answer, I've never been convinced that science has enough technology to have the right to pooh-pooh everything away. It seems the height of arrogance to say that we have all the answers.. The fact is, people are experiencing things that their logical minds want to explain away, but can't. That's not to say that science and the mystical won't some day coexist happily and sensibly, but until that day I think it's possible we're not meant to understand everything. Not yet.
The most important thing about life is the journey. Only at the end should we be able to look back and make sense of the lot of it. Part of the beauty is in the mystery.
Kristy Robinett
There's no flowing gown. There's no crystal ball. There's just Kristy Robinett, Psychic Medium and Life Counselor - an 'Abnormally Normal' all American girl that talks to the dead.
Kristy's involvement with the paranormal began at the tender age of 3 when she began playing and speaking regularly with spirits, labeled "imaginary friends" by her parents. This behavior was unacceptable in her household as her family was very religious. This however did not curb her curiosity for the paranormal and the unknown.
Today, Kristy is an internationally renowned Psychic Medium. Her clientele ranges from young to old, law enforcement, clergy, politicians, celebrities, domestic goddesses, to every day people. Her dedication and passion to her work is performed with honesty, integrity and humor, which sets her apart from the rest.
Kristy donates her time assisting law enforcement agencies with investigations involving missing persons, murder, suicide, arson and psychically profiling criminals. She has earned a solid reputation for Spirit Releases, psychic home inspections for homebuyers and haunted house investigations, lecturer at special events and owner of Encharming Events LLC.
Kristy has the gift of bringing warmth and love when using her gift of insight to help clear the cobwebs of confusion along with helping people embrace their own intuitive gifts. Not always serious, Kristy has a wicked sense of humor that she likes to bring to her readings.
How did I get a gig talking to the dead? It definitely wasn't the profession that my parents were at all thrilled with. Going to parochial school from kindergarten through high school graduation, I was taught that anything to do with psychics were evil, as if I didn't already have a low self-esteem like most kids! It was neat, however, knowing when the pop quizzes would be or when I could shut off the alarm because I knew that there would be a snow day even before the weather men predicted it. So after trying the 'real' world for a long time, I screamed 'Uncle' and gave in to my talent and here I am, day after day, talking to the dead and chasing ghosts.
I believe that we create our own reality. By being passionate about life, you can achieve not just anything, but everything. I mean, it gets boring and depressing waiting for that winning lottery ticket, right?!
****************************
Madelyn's books will be available for purchase at the event, but you are also welcome to bring your own copies for signing and personalizing.
Again, to purchase tickets, please visit: http://www.kristyrobinett.com
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Friday, July 25, 2008
New Favorite Paranormal Shows
Having been relegated to bedrest a month ago due to back issues, I've been catching up on a lot of paranormal shows that I've missed or don't have access to, all thanks to the wonders of YouTube. In watching such a broad sampling of shows that come out of the US, the UK, and Canada, I've discovered something -- a difference in approach that helped to solidify in my mind what has been bothering me about a lot of the ghosthunting programs I've seen.
So many participants on the paranormal shows we see on TV here in America willingly--almost eagerly--bait the spirits they are investigating in order to gain a response. I have seen this time and again on a variety of programs. They goad, they curse, they insult, they demand, they annoy. They are all-too-often completely and utterly disrespectful, and it makes me uncomfortable to watch. In fact, the groups often comment proudly on the differences between their "American" techniques as opposed to the softer-toned inquiries made by their counterparts in the UK. In my opinion, bad behavior is bad behavior, and is certainly nothing to be proud of.
Let's say you are a visitor at a place that belongs to someone else. Would you go into their house, guns blazing and mouth running, and disparage those who live there? It would be the height of arrogance and bad manners, and will probably get you booted right the heck out. I can't help but compare this to what the ghosthunters do when they bait the resident spirits, hoping to get a response on camera. It is rude, it is unmannerly, and it's liable to get them more than they bargained for.
In sharp contrast, a month ago I attended a paranormal event at the Riders Inn, a bed and breakfast in Painesville, Ohio that just so happens to be haunted. I was excited to go. Not only was I attending with two of my best friends -- Kristy Robinett, an amazingly gifted psychic medium who could give John Edward a run for his money, and Jen H, a super-talented glasswork bead artisan whose artistry makes me drool -- but also because I was able to take part in a spirit contact group meditation lead by Kristy. This group approach is rare for me. I don't trust just anyone with the Other Side. Unfortunately I feel that a lot of people don't know what they're doing, even when they think they do.Kristy's approach is a kinder, gentler approach that mirrors my own. Not only that, but she has the ability to communicate directly with the spirits and her Guides in a way that is fascinating to witness. I am sensitive to energies--living, residual and Spirit--but if I were to compare my abilities with Kristy's, mine would be a teensy pocket flashlight shining dimly into the abyss, whereas Kristy's would be blinding, casting the kind of light that obliterates darkness.
We did have spirits around us that night. Everyone at the table felt it, and for some it was a new experience, an awe-inspiring one. Unfortunately the inn also holds at least one portal, so when a negative energy crouched in the corner of the room, watching us, Kristy closed the link down, unwilling to give it the slightest reason to stick around. She didn't try to annoy or insult it. She didn't give it any attention at all. She merely closed the line of communication and quietly told us why. To me, this demonstrated Kristy's inner strength, a quality that I greatly admire and find so much more inspiring than the brash false bravado people see in the shows on TV.
I had a more personal experience the next morning, but I'll save that story for another time. ;>
Of course I'll still watch all of the paranormal TV, but I have found a couple of new favorites:
Psychic Kids on A&E -- This program is all about teaching gifted children how to handle their abilities. Not only does it help them to understand themselves, but it empowers them, letting them know being different is not something to be ashamed of. Many of us have had to come to that realization on our own, so being allowed to witness the transformation of these wonderful kids coming into their own is so positive and life-affirming. I highly recommend it.
Ghostly Encounters on Bio -- I just happened to catch this show on a Bio Preview, and was instantly captivated. It is put out by our Canadian neighbors, and it, too, seems to have that kinder, gentler, more thoughtful approach to the world of Spirit. Instead of sending in teams of ghosthunters, this show has a distinct storyteller/interview format that allows the individuals who have been witness to ghostly phenomenon to tell what they experienced in their own voice. Being quite a fan of storytelling myself ;>, I was instantly captivated. We don't have access to the Bio Channel here, so I am only able to watch this on YouTube. If you aren't able to find it, try this YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ParanormRUs and search for Ghostly Encounters.
Sharing time: What about you? What are your favorite paranormal shows, and why? And does the antagonistic approach bother you, or is just one of my pet peeves? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Love to all,
Mad {madly!}
Mad and the amazingly cool AshNay, whose mom drove several hours to get to Cleveland for the expo signing... Someone definitely deserves an award!
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Is It May Already? Really?!?
What the f*** have I been doing with my time? Work. That's it. Work. Very, very hard. I've been working. A lot.
All paraphrasing of one of my movie favorites aside, I really have been working. I've been on sabbatical for a little while now, just trying to regroup and re-energize and get back to feeling like myself again. The winter was a hard one, but . . . Spring Is Finally Here With a Vengeance {!}, and I caught the fever. Big time.
What is it about spring that makes you feel like everything has to be as fresh and new and bright and shiny? I've been scrubbing like a mad-woman {heh}, cleaning out closets, dragging loads of unneeded items to Goodwill, and just generally driving my family crazy. I've even been shop-vacc'ing the basement. In my defense, it needed it. The spiders were starting to set up subdivisions and cobwebby shopping malls.
Our yard has also been suffering some neglect, so I've been working on that, too, with a little help from some of the big, strong men I have in abundance around here. My biggest flowerbed is now refreshed, restored, and ready for action. I've added a low fence to keep my beloved pooch Daisy from making a bed out of the perennials, a couple of stepping stones to make access to the rambling Cecile Brunner rose easier, and the entire area is free of weeds. I've got my hopes pinned on a bunch of seeds I have sprouting in little peat pots -- every time I see a cottage garden in a magazine, my eyes glaze over and I drift off into that hazy netherworld of foxgloves and violets, lupines and delphiniums, sweet william and garden phlox, cabbage roses and hollyhocks, daisies and black-eyed susans, veronica, sweet alyssum, and more.
My garden space, on the other hand, still needs work! Lemon balm and oregano have launched a combined attack on all of the other herbs, and it looks like they're winning their bid for garden domination. I think I'm going to have to put my foot down. That, and a sturdy spade. =)
My mom thinks it's particularly funny that I've become a gardener these days. When I was little, she was always trying to get me to help her out with the weeding. The trouble was, I was as pale-skinned and freckled as a redhead can be, and I have a tendency to overheat without advance notice, and this was back in the day when people slathered coconut-scented oil all over their sun-loving bodies. She'd take me out to the big, country-style garden on my grandparents' farm, and we'd all weed for hours. HOURS. Did I mention the bugs? I am a bit {okay, a lot} phobic. I jump if something even remotely buggish comes near me, and I have been known to make amazingly agile leaps backward, upward, and sideways, shuddering and cringing and heeby-jeebying all the while. Most of the time I manage not to scream, though. I'm sure the neighbors appreciate that.
In other news, I am 98% done with a complete remodel of my main website, www.MadelynAlt.com, something that I'm actually pretty proud of. With any luck, I'll be loading it all in the next few days.
Aaaaaand, here's something just for fun. Just click on the link to cast your vote:
Choice #1: Tom, duh! He's honorable, he's sexy, what more could you want?
Choice #2: Marcus is my man! Who can resist a man who wears black leather pants while scrubbing a floor?
Choice #3: Neither is right for my Maggie-girl! We need someone new to slay her dragons and capture her heart.
Cast Your Vote Now . . .
Gosh, I hope that works! Bet you all couldn't guess I'm not the most tech-savvy girl out there. :)
Wishing you all a wonderful spring filled with fairy blessings and sweet scented flowers as you wile away the hours beneath a cloud-kissed sky... and a very blessed Beltane!
Love to all,
Mad {madly!}
All paraphrasing of one of my movie favorites aside, I really have been working. I've been on sabbatical for a little while now, just trying to regroup and re-energize and get back to feeling like myself again. The winter was a hard one, but . . . Spring Is Finally Here With a Vengeance {!}, and I caught the fever. Big time.
What is it about spring that makes you feel like everything has to be as fresh and new and bright and shiny? I've been scrubbing like a mad-woman {heh}, cleaning out closets, dragging loads of unneeded items to Goodwill, and just generally driving my family crazy. I've even been shop-vacc'ing the basement. In my defense, it needed it. The spiders were starting to set up subdivisions and cobwebby shopping malls.
Our yard has also been suffering some neglect, so I've been working on that, too, with a little help from some of the big, strong men I have in abundance around here. My biggest flowerbed is now refreshed, restored, and ready for action. I've added a low fence to keep my beloved pooch Daisy from making a bed out of the perennials, a couple of stepping stones to make access to the rambling Cecile Brunner rose easier, and the entire area is free of weeds. I've got my hopes pinned on a bunch of seeds I have sprouting in little peat pots -- every time I see a cottage garden in a magazine, my eyes glaze over and I drift off into that hazy netherworld of foxgloves and violets, lupines and delphiniums, sweet william and garden phlox, cabbage roses and hollyhocks, daisies and black-eyed susans, veronica, sweet alyssum, and more.
My garden space, on the other hand, still needs work! Lemon balm and oregano have launched a combined attack on all of the other herbs, and it looks like they're winning their bid for garden domination. I think I'm going to have to put my foot down. That, and a sturdy spade. =)
My mom thinks it's particularly funny that I've become a gardener these days. When I was little, she was always trying to get me to help her out with the weeding. The trouble was, I was as pale-skinned and freckled as a redhead can be, and I have a tendency to overheat without advance notice, and this was back in the day when people slathered coconut-scented oil all over their sun-loving bodies. She'd take me out to the big, country-style garden on my grandparents' farm, and we'd all weed for hours. HOURS. Did I mention the bugs? I am a bit {okay, a lot} phobic. I jump if something even remotely buggish comes near me, and I have been known to make amazingly agile leaps backward, upward, and sideways, shuddering and cringing and heeby-jeebying all the while. Most of the time I manage not to scream, though. I'm sure the neighbors appreciate that.
In other news, I am 98% done with a complete remodel of my main website, www.MadelynAlt.com, something that I'm actually pretty proud of. With any luck, I'll be loading it all in the next few days.
Aaaaaand, here's something just for fun. Just click on the link to cast your vote:
Choice #1: Tom, duh! He's honorable, he's sexy, what more could you want?
Choice #2: Marcus is my man! Who can resist a man who wears black leather pants while scrubbing a floor?
Choice #3: Neither is right for my Maggie-girl! We need someone new to slay her dragons and capture her heart.
Cast Your Vote Now . . .
Gosh, I hope that works! Bet you all couldn't guess I'm not the most tech-savvy girl out there. :)
Wishing you all a wonderful spring filled with fairy blessings and sweet scented flowers as you wile away the hours beneath a cloud-kissed sky... and a very blessed Beltane!
Love to all,
Mad {madly!}
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
On Signs, Banishing Rituals, and the Throne of Reckoning...
What led me to write paranormal? Nothing less than a sign. The kind of spiritual sign that is akin to the slap of a frozen salmon upside the head. The kind of sign that says, "Wake up, stupid! You haven't been listening! Go. Do. This. Now."
I need the big signs. I can be a bit dense... though I prefer to blame the constant need for multi-tasking. :)
I had been sticking to writing straight historical romance for so long that I had convinced myself that I couldn't/shouldn't/wouldn't try anything else. In fact, I had accumulated so many rejections that I had slowly, steadily, painfully arrived at the certainty that I would always be two steps behind the market trends in romance; that I was just not a person who could ever consider herself lucky. It just wasn't in the cards for me to be successful in romance.
I'd hit a particularly low point while attending an all-day workshop with a nearby group of writer friends. By that time, I'd already received the "SIGN!!!!!!"--an epic, fun, cool idea for a paranormal themed mystery series set in modern day Indiana--but didn't have the courage to follow the idea to fruition. At this everyday writers workshop, there was an exercise that we were all supposed to take part in, one that smacked of a banishing ritual to me. All writers present were supposed to take a length of toilet paper, and on it we were supposed to write a list of all the things that we saw as obstacles or challenges in the way of our success as writers, any frustrations that were affecting our work, any whining we needed to get off of our chests, and we weren't supposed to be nice, or hold back in any way. If we needed to bitch about anything and everything under the sun, this was our chance.
Well, I try to be a nice person on a day-to-day basis, but that wasn't what this exercise was about, and on that particular day, something inside me just . . . snapped. {I think maybe, just maybe, it was my niceness bone...} I measured out a length of toilet paper, then measured out a little more, broke out my gel pen, and started writing. And writing. And writing. Everyone present was laughing at how long it was getting, and at how fast and furious my pen was moving across the, um, page. I won't go into the details, but suffice it to say, anything that had or was going wrong at that point in my adult life was touched upon. It was negative, and it was petty, and it felt SO GOOD to flush that toilet paper down the throne of reckoning.
And it was a turning point for me. Somehow, in some way, that simple act of symbolically flushing away all of the negativity in my life cleared the way and began to open new doors for me, both spiritually and mentally. I wrote the book that I worried I wasn't a good enough writer to do justice. I started plotting out the series in my airy-wispy-atmosphere-filled-seat-of-the-pants way -- enough to get the bones of it, but not enough to remove the element of synchronicity that keeps me going. I found an agent who loved it, who found a publisher who thought it could work. And from those baby steps, we moved forward with The Bewitching Mysteries.
What do I like best about telling Maggie's story? The freedom. The absolute, utter freedom of creating a world filled with characters I love. Characters who speak to me and whisper their stories. Characters who could be walking the streets of the town I live in {but who, of course, aren't}, who are familiar and down-to-earth and filled with the quirks and idiosyncrasies we all seem to have in abundance. I love being able to bring a taste of Indiana, one of those forgotten states that exist almost nebulously somewhere in the middle of this great nation, into the public eye {and yes, we are aware that most people know nothing about us beyond the Indy 500}. I love being able to show a variety of spiritual and religious beliefs, and I love being able to talk about religious intolerance and hopefully demonstrate that it is never a one-sided issue. I love exploring the spirit world, and the ways that it touches our own. And I love writing Maggie. She is a searcher, and through her journey toward self-discovery I have learned so much about so many lovely spiritual paths. And what's more, I get to do it with a wink and a smile.
Love to all on this lovely autumn day,
Mad {madly!}
I need the big signs. I can be a bit dense... though I prefer to blame the constant need for multi-tasking. :)
I had been sticking to writing straight historical romance for so long that I had convinced myself that I couldn't/shouldn't/wouldn't try anything else. In fact, I had accumulated so many rejections that I had slowly, steadily, painfully arrived at the certainty that I would always be two steps behind the market trends in romance; that I was just not a person who could ever consider herself lucky. It just wasn't in the cards for me to be successful in romance.
I'd hit a particularly low point while attending an all-day workshop with a nearby group of writer friends. By that time, I'd already received the "SIGN!!!!!!"--an epic, fun, cool idea for a paranormal themed mystery series set in modern day Indiana--but didn't have the courage to follow the idea to fruition. At this everyday writers workshop, there was an exercise that we were all supposed to take part in, one that smacked of a banishing ritual to me. All writers present were supposed to take a length of toilet paper, and on it we were supposed to write a list of all the things that we saw as obstacles or challenges in the way of our success as writers, any frustrations that were affecting our work, any whining we needed to get off of our chests, and we weren't supposed to be nice, or hold back in any way. If we needed to bitch about anything and everything under the sun, this was our chance.
Well, I try to be a nice person on a day-to-day basis, but that wasn't what this exercise was about, and on that particular day, something inside me just . . . snapped. {I think maybe, just maybe, it was my niceness bone...} I measured out a length of toilet paper, then measured out a little more, broke out my gel pen, and started writing. And writing. And writing. Everyone present was laughing at how long it was getting, and at how fast and furious my pen was moving across the, um, page. I won't go into the details, but suffice it to say, anything that had or was going wrong at that point in my adult life was touched upon. It was negative, and it was petty, and it felt SO GOOD to flush that toilet paper down the throne of reckoning.
And it was a turning point for me. Somehow, in some way, that simple act of symbolically flushing away all of the negativity in my life cleared the way and began to open new doors for me, both spiritually and mentally. I wrote the book that I worried I wasn't a good enough writer to do justice. I started plotting out the series in my airy-wispy-atmosphere-filled-seat-of-the-pants way -- enough to get the bones of it, but not enough to remove the element of synchronicity that keeps me going. I found an agent who loved it, who found a publisher who thought it could work. And from those baby steps, we moved forward with The Bewitching Mysteries.
What do I like best about telling Maggie's story? The freedom. The absolute, utter freedom of creating a world filled with characters I love. Characters who speak to me and whisper their stories. Characters who could be walking the streets of the town I live in {but who, of course, aren't}, who are familiar and down-to-earth and filled with the quirks and idiosyncrasies we all seem to have in abundance. I love being able to bring a taste of Indiana, one of those forgotten states that exist almost nebulously somewhere in the middle of this great nation, into the public eye {and yes, we are aware that most people know nothing about us beyond the Indy 500}. I love being able to show a variety of spiritual and religious beliefs, and I love being able to talk about religious intolerance and hopefully demonstrate that it is never a one-sided issue. I love exploring the spirit world, and the ways that it touches our own. And I love writing Maggie. She is a searcher, and through her journey toward self-discovery I have learned so much about so many lovely spiritual paths. And what's more, I get to do it with a wink and a smile.
Love to all on this lovely autumn day,
Mad {madly!}
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Stranger than you've dreamt it...
If I tell you that I've never actually seen a ghost, will you hold it against me?
To me, it doesn't matter, really. I don't need to see them to know that they are there. I always have known, even during the years I tried to convince myself that they were figments of my imagination. For me, it's all about sounds, feelings, perceptions, and movement.
Let me share a few glimpses into my world:
1) The first house that we rented when we returned to Indiana ate shoes. Honestly. One half of pairs, and none of them were ever seen again.
2) Another of the houses that we rented had a cold spot in the laundry room, and a very anxious feeling to it. My oldest boys were four and two at the time, and the older of the two would tell me about waking up to find a "chocolate man with red eyes" standing at the end of his bed. Now, we live in rural Indiana, and at the time the population was predominantly caucasian--I don't think my boys had ever actually seen an African American person at the time, which seems terribly odd to me, but that's just the way that it was. We also live in an area that was quite active in the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. Could it have been? Or was this another kind of entity entirely?
3) The chocolate man apparently followed us to our next home, because the younger of the two started seeing him as well. This house had more than one spirit in attendance. Often when I was home alone, I would hear very distinct human footsteps cross the entire length of the two rooms above. We also had a prankster. Things would disappear quite often and then reappear later in places that did not make sense--for example, a recipe card I was using for some cookies I was baking went missing, only to show up three days later in the center of my bed.
The strangest thing that happened at this house, however, occurred on a rare "mental health day" I had taken off work. My employer at the time had a habit of calling with a million questions, no matter if you were sick or on vacation or what, so when I left the house to pick the boys up from school, I took the phone {a wall model... this house was small enough that I just had the one phone, and this was back in the day... ;> } off the hook and laid it on the floor below so that if my employer called, the phone wouldn't just ring and ring, alerting them to the fact that I was not, in fact, at home. I locked the door, and left the house. When the boys and I returned fifteen minutes later, I went to replace the phone, and--you guessed it--the phone was already back on the hook. No one had been there, and the doors were still locked.
4) Most of the dreams I have are just run-of-the-mill dreams {with the odd pre-cog one thrown in for good measure, but always over something trivial}. Some, though, are extremely vivid and detailed and have a sense of urgency to them. That "Hey, pay attention" feeling.
Back when I was searching for an agent for what has become the Bewitching series, I received an offer of representation from two agents on the same day, and I was faced with making a decision between the two. Both had excellent reputations--that wasn't the problem. One of the agencies had irritated a few authors with contract provisions, but the agent was effusive about the first book {TTWM} and felt positive it would sell with only a few very minor revisions prior to submission. The other agent liked the book, liked my writing, but thought that there were elements in it that would need to be completely revised -- but this agent was highly regarded by the authors the agency represented, and I knew more about them than I did the first agency.
I struggled over this dilemma for a few days, knowing that control of my destiny was in my hands, and I would have only myself to blame if things went badly. How was I supposed to choose between two good agents? Which one would be more likely to sell a difficult project? How could I possibly guess? Did my manuscript need a tremendous amount of revision, or would the changes the second agent wanted edit out the things that made the book mine? I had no idea -- agents don't tell you what they want to see without signing you on, so even that was no help. But in reading back over the manuscript itself, it felt right. It felt good. Minor changes I could see, but nothing felt wrong structurally, which is what a major revision would have entailed. But what if I was wrong?
The night before I would have to give my decision {which I still had not made}, I had a conversation with my guides. Look, I told them, I really could use some help here. If you have sent me signs and I've missed them, I'm sorry, but you know that sometimes I get so busy that I can't see what's right in front of me. Help me, please. Help me make the right decision.
That night I had a dream, one of the "Pay attention!" kind that you can't mistake for anything other than Notices From On High. The dream took place sometime in the medieval period -- maybe the 1400s from the way I was dressed when I looked down at myself. It felt like England to me, and the place--a big, cavernous place with a round tower --was very familiar to me, as though I'd been there often. The dream started out sunny and clear, the sky brilliantly blue, warm both in actuality and in the overall feeling of the place, but things quickly changed once inside. Suddenly I was being chased by several men along these raised platforms within the big barn structure. The fear was overwhelming--I could taste it in the back of my throat. I can still feel it now, remembering. I ended up running the wrong way. I remember clutching my stomach and thinking, "My baby..." I was trapped, and I knew it, and the men were coming at me from all directions. I looked down over the railing of the catwalk, and I remember hearing this voice in the dream: "You can either stay here and almost certainly die, or you can take a leap of faith now and perhaps live..." I made my decision. I leapt.
And then I woke up.
I knew the dream was more than that the instant I woke up. The symbolism in the dream to me was unmistakable as it related to my situation, and I accepted the answer I was given gratefully. I called agent #1 that morning and accepted her offer. Four months later, 1 month and 1 day after the book was submitted, she sold the first 3 books in what became the Bewitching series to Berkley. I've been very happy with the agency ever since.
But the dream ... I realized later that it worked on more than one level. I've dreamed of the same place since then, the people, snippets, not a continuing dream, just bits and pieces that all fit together like a puzzle. But nothing that relates directly to my life currently, or if it does I haven't figured that out. Just this place. There is a man there, and the feeling of intense love, blindingly sweet. All I can see is his eyes, and the overall sense of him, but I know I adored him.
I love having these dreams. They leave me happy and serene and... I don't know... certain of the continuation of awareness? Of life?
5) While traveling in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, we stopped at a touristy place called The Mystery Spot, just west of St. Ignace. Like its more famous sister in Oregon, this is a place where compasses don't work right, where things seem to roll uphill, where time and space and distance all seem to converge and fold in upon each other. Or that's what they say. ;> I took the boys in for a little bit of fun, expecting optical illusions and the like... and was amazed by my reaction to the spot. I don't know if it's all part and parcel of being a sensitive/intuitive, or whether it's just because I'm sensitive to energy in general, but the moment I crossed a certain line, I felt... off-balance. Heavy, as though something weighty was pressing down upon me from above. My ears rang. My skin buzzed. It wasn't an uncomfortable place, just very different from what I normally experience. And once I left the property, everything was back to normal.
6) Indiana has a lot of places where Indian battles were fought, as well as places that were sacred to the regional tribes. One of these is a place called Seven Sisters, a series of rocky promontories that overlook the Wabash River, where the movement of the river over eons has carved out a series of seven columnar features from the limestone riverbed. We went looking for this place on recommendation from a friend, and were pleased when we managed to find it, considering that it is kind of out of the way. I got out of the car and approached the edge cautiously {this isn't a well-marked place, so apparently they don't feel the need to put up fencing or guard rails for visitors}. Standing there on the edge, surveying the lower floodplain opposite, I had a flash of fires and sound, almost like the overlay effect often used in film. We found a small sign later that told of the sacredness of the site to the Miami tribe, and that they used to hold rituals there.
7) My most recent experience actually took place at work last fall. I was standing in the doorway to an office, chatting with a friend, and all of a sudden felt a puff of very much directed breath against my neck. It surprised the heck out of me -- I stopped mid-sentence and spun around, wondering which of the office goofballs were feeling just a little bit naughty that morning. :) There was no one there, of course, but it was definitely too focused to be a random draft {if you've ever had someone gently blow their breath up the length of your neck, then you know this feeling... }. We did have two vehicular deaths happen a couple of years apart, directly in front of the building, and of course you never know what has happened on open land prior to the building's existence. Whoever or whatever it was was definitely feeling a bit frisky that morning, though.
This is getting way too long so this is it from me for now, but I hope you've enjoyed the tales. For me, what most people view as paranormal or supernatural is just a normal part of life and the way I experience it. And really, I can't imagine living it any other way. :)
What about you? Do you have tales to share?
To me, it doesn't matter, really. I don't need to see them to know that they are there. I always have known, even during the years I tried to convince myself that they were figments of my imagination. For me, it's all about sounds, feelings, perceptions, and movement.
Let me share a few glimpses into my world:
1) The first house that we rented when we returned to Indiana ate shoes. Honestly. One half of pairs, and none of them were ever seen again.
2) Another of the houses that we rented had a cold spot in the laundry room, and a very anxious feeling to it. My oldest boys were four and two at the time, and the older of the two would tell me about waking up to find a "chocolate man with red eyes" standing at the end of his bed. Now, we live in rural Indiana, and at the time the population was predominantly caucasian--I don't think my boys had ever actually seen an African American person at the time, which seems terribly odd to me, but that's just the way that it was. We also live in an area that was quite active in the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. Could it have been? Or was this another kind of entity entirely?
3) The chocolate man apparently followed us to our next home, because the younger of the two started seeing him as well. This house had more than one spirit in attendance. Often when I was home alone, I would hear very distinct human footsteps cross the entire length of the two rooms above. We also had a prankster. Things would disappear quite often and then reappear later in places that did not make sense--for example, a recipe card I was using for some cookies I was baking went missing, only to show up three days later in the center of my bed.
The strangest thing that happened at this house, however, occurred on a rare "mental health day" I had taken off work. My employer at the time had a habit of calling with a million questions, no matter if you were sick or on vacation or what, so when I left the house to pick the boys up from school, I took the phone {a wall model... this house was small enough that I just had the one phone, and this was back in the day... ;> } off the hook and laid it on the floor below so that if my employer called, the phone wouldn't just ring and ring, alerting them to the fact that I was not, in fact, at home. I locked the door, and left the house. When the boys and I returned fifteen minutes later, I went to replace the phone, and--you guessed it--the phone was already back on the hook. No one had been there, and the doors were still locked.
4) Most of the dreams I have are just run-of-the-mill dreams {with the odd pre-cog one thrown in for good measure, but always over something trivial}. Some, though, are extremely vivid and detailed and have a sense of urgency to them. That "Hey, pay attention" feeling.
Back when I was searching for an agent for what has become the Bewitching series, I received an offer of representation from two agents on the same day, and I was faced with making a decision between the two. Both had excellent reputations--that wasn't the problem. One of the agencies had irritated a few authors with contract provisions, but the agent was effusive about the first book {TTWM} and felt positive it would sell with only a few very minor revisions prior to submission. The other agent liked the book, liked my writing, but thought that there were elements in it that would need to be completely revised -- but this agent was highly regarded by the authors the agency represented, and I knew more about them than I did the first agency.
I struggled over this dilemma for a few days, knowing that control of my destiny was in my hands, and I would have only myself to blame if things went badly. How was I supposed to choose between two good agents? Which one would be more likely to sell a difficult project? How could I possibly guess? Did my manuscript need a tremendous amount of revision, or would the changes the second agent wanted edit out the things that made the book mine? I had no idea -- agents don't tell you what they want to see without signing you on, so even that was no help. But in reading back over the manuscript itself, it felt right. It felt good. Minor changes I could see, but nothing felt wrong structurally, which is what a major revision would have entailed. But what if I was wrong?
The night before I would have to give my decision {which I still had not made}, I had a conversation with my guides. Look, I told them, I really could use some help here. If you have sent me signs and I've missed them, I'm sorry, but you know that sometimes I get so busy that I can't see what's right in front of me. Help me, please. Help me make the right decision.
That night I had a dream, one of the "Pay attention!" kind that you can't mistake for anything other than Notices From On High. The dream took place sometime in the medieval period -- maybe the 1400s from the way I was dressed when I looked down at myself. It felt like England to me, and the place--a big, cavernous place with a round tower --was very familiar to me, as though I'd been there often. The dream started out sunny and clear, the sky brilliantly blue, warm both in actuality and in the overall feeling of the place, but things quickly changed once inside. Suddenly I was being chased by several men along these raised platforms within the big barn structure. The fear was overwhelming--I could taste it in the back of my throat. I can still feel it now, remembering. I ended up running the wrong way. I remember clutching my stomach and thinking, "My baby..." I was trapped, and I knew it, and the men were coming at me from all directions. I looked down over the railing of the catwalk, and I remember hearing this voice in the dream: "You can either stay here and almost certainly die, or you can take a leap of faith now and perhaps live..." I made my decision. I leapt.
And then I woke up.
I knew the dream was more than that the instant I woke up. The symbolism in the dream to me was unmistakable as it related to my situation, and I accepted the answer I was given gratefully. I called agent #1 that morning and accepted her offer. Four months later, 1 month and 1 day after the book was submitted, she sold the first 3 books in what became the Bewitching series to Berkley. I've been very happy with the agency ever since.
But the dream ... I realized later that it worked on more than one level. I've dreamed of the same place since then, the people, snippets, not a continuing dream, just bits and pieces that all fit together like a puzzle. But nothing that relates directly to my life currently, or if it does I haven't figured that out. Just this place. There is a man there, and the feeling of intense love, blindingly sweet. All I can see is his eyes, and the overall sense of him, but I know I adored him.
I love having these dreams. They leave me happy and serene and... I don't know... certain of the continuation of awareness? Of life?
5) While traveling in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, we stopped at a touristy place called The Mystery Spot, just west of St. Ignace. Like its more famous sister in Oregon, this is a place where compasses don't work right, where things seem to roll uphill, where time and space and distance all seem to converge and fold in upon each other. Or that's what they say. ;> I took the boys in for a little bit of fun, expecting optical illusions and the like... and was amazed by my reaction to the spot. I don't know if it's all part and parcel of being a sensitive/intuitive, or whether it's just because I'm sensitive to energy in general, but the moment I crossed a certain line, I felt... off-balance. Heavy, as though something weighty was pressing down upon me from above. My ears rang. My skin buzzed. It wasn't an uncomfortable place, just very different from what I normally experience. And once I left the property, everything was back to normal.
6) Indiana has a lot of places where Indian battles were fought, as well as places that were sacred to the regional tribes. One of these is a place called Seven Sisters, a series of rocky promontories that overlook the Wabash River, where the movement of the river over eons has carved out a series of seven columnar features from the limestone riverbed. We went looking for this place on recommendation from a friend, and were pleased when we managed to find it, considering that it is kind of out of the way. I got out of the car and approached the edge cautiously {this isn't a well-marked place, so apparently they don't feel the need to put up fencing or guard rails for visitors}. Standing there on the edge, surveying the lower floodplain opposite, I had a flash of fires and sound, almost like the overlay effect often used in film. We found a small sign later that told of the sacredness of the site to the Miami tribe, and that they used to hold rituals there.
7) My most recent experience actually took place at work last fall. I was standing in the doorway to an office, chatting with a friend, and all of a sudden felt a puff of very much directed breath against my neck. It surprised the heck out of me -- I stopped mid-sentence and spun around, wondering which of the office goofballs were feeling just a little bit naughty that morning. :) There was no one there, of course, but it was definitely too focused to be a random draft {if you've ever had someone gently blow their breath up the length of your neck, then you know this feeling... }. We did have two vehicular deaths happen a couple of years apart, directly in front of the building, and of course you never know what has happened on open land prior to the building's existence. Whoever or whatever it was was definitely feeling a bit frisky that morning, though.
This is getting way too long so this is it from me for now, but I hope you've enjoyed the tales. For me, what most people view as paranormal or supernatural is just a normal part of life and the way I experience it. And really, I can't imagine living it any other way. :)
What about you? Do you have tales to share?
Love to all,
Mad {madly!}
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