Where Spirits Dwell, coming soon!
Where Spirits Dwell, Australian cover
Hello, am so excited to announce that my second book, Where Spirits Dwell, is on its way to the printer. Writing it has a been a trying and thrilling experience, in equal measure, but I hope the end result will make it all worthwhile.
Here is the link to more information on my publisher’s website:
http://www.hachette.com.au/books/9780733624988/
Am looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
“A lot of the scares were taken from real life”
In that dreamy post-delivery-of-manuscript phase (yes, Where Spirits Dwell is with my eternally patient publisher, on its way to a September release!) I found time to enjoy an interview, from The Los Angeles Times, with Australian film-maker James Wan and actor-screenwriter, Leigh Whannell. The pair, whose debut feature Saw was a massive hit seven years ago (not that I’ve seen it, I’m way too much of a wimp), are back with a haunted house film, Insidious, starring Rose Byrne. Now this one I am keen to see (though feeling no less wimpy about it) when it opens here on May 12.
Whannell reveals that one key scene featuring Rose Byrne seeing “an unwanted guest” in her bedroom was taken from a real-life story a friend told him. Another scene is inspired by an experience Wan’s grandmother had. “We think those kind of “real life stories” are so much more scary than anything we could cook up,” said Whannell. “And so we took that as the inspiration and that became our springboard into other scenarios.”
I so agree with them: true stories are infinitely scarier. Actually, I think my exact words (in my head) were: “Boys, have I got some stories for you.” It’s timely that I stumbled upon this interview as I’ve been preoccupied with thoughts of how extraordinary my Where Spirits Dwell interviewees’ experiences are, and how a few of them—one in particular, I wonder if you’ll agree with me—would make amazing movies, in the hands of the right film-makers.
As Whannell and Wan hint, truth is stranger than fiction. I know that much is true. You can read the full interview here: http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/03/30/insidious-filmmakers-on-their-haunted-house-update-a-lot-of-the-scares-were-taken-from-real-life/
It’s been a while …
Ravello, Italy, the setting for a story in WHERE SPIRITS DWELL
But I have a good excuse for neglecting my blog, I think … I’ve been finishing the sequel to Spirit Sisters and yes, I confess, there have been a few less than productive moments in there too, though I like to think it all contributes to the general melting pot of, um, creativity … Googling the music on the Corona TV ads (“A Journey,” by Taylor Steele and “Run River” by Jon Swift); fantasising about million dollar haciendas on the Uruguayan coast; watching Modern Family and The Biggest Loser and reading non-paranormal literature. I loved loved loved Mr Rosenblum’s List, by Natasha Solomon and Dark Matter by Michelle Paver—actually, that is paranormal, but fiction, which is still an indulgence in these last stages of writing.
Aside from that, I waded through seventy thousand freecycle messages and procrastinated about putting my own clutter up for collection (I’ll get there). And then there were the endless stream of offers from “deal of the day” websites, few of which I can resist. My latest acquisition is a brilliant bed-sanitising deal. Who knew that there existed people with special UV-machines who’ll come and zap our beds clean? All they had to do was bang on a bit about bed bugs and their revolting emissions and I was sold.
Somehow, despite all of the above, Where Spirits Dwell is now in the very final stages of submission to my publishers. I’ve been haunted by stories set in my hometown of Sydney to far flung places, like Normanton in Far North Queensland, to Ravello, on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, where a scandalous literary personage made a surprise post-mortem appearance in an interviewee’s tale. To know more, you’ll have to wait for Where Spirits Dwell, out in Australia in September. I hope you’ll love it.
Of distractions and deadlines
I’ve been distracted. Last post was Halloween and here we are, on the last day of November … it floors me how fast this year has zipped by. Christmas is around the corner and the deadline for Where Spirits Dwell is looming in a couple of months. That may mean fewer posts for a while.
I’m very happy to say that my lovely friend, author Wendy J. Dunn, has organised a writers retreat in January, and I can’t wait to carve out the time and head space I need to complete this task. Wish me luck!
Halloween is here
A family "like" the one Amy saw?
I’ve never been one to celebrate or even acknowledge Halloween, unlike my fellow author, the lovely Tara Moss, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing recently. For Tara, it is one of the key dates on the calendar. That’s not me, but I’d still like to honour the occasion, so I’m sharing one of my favourite ghost stories from Spirit Sisters. It’s called The Family, download it as a pdf at the link below.
Enjoy the chills! And happy Halloween.
The allure of ghost stories
With Halloween approaching and many of us turning our thoughts to what’s out of this world, I’ve been thinking on the allure of the ghost story. It’s a treat, isn’t it? Something delicious to share. The spookier the content, the sweeter it is … On that note, I really enjoyed this post by author Ilie Ruby, and am looking forward to reading more of her work.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/10/26/we.love.ghost.stories/?hpt=Sbin
Belief in the afterlife: the gift of hope
An artist's impression of the sun consuming the earth
It’s amazing how often stunning synchronicities edge into our lives, though we usually give them little notice. One happened just then, as I was readying to post this link to my guest blog on the lovely Rebecca Dettman’s website (Bec is my former WHO colleague and a talented journalist and intuitive).
The subject of my musings in the guest blog is how a belief in the afterlife affords, above all else, hope. In the post – and in Spirit Sisters – I share the story of how as a child, I’d read a text book which rattled me for months. I’ll never forget how starkly it described how one day, the sun would obliterate the earth. It was a case of when, not if, and I couldn’t sleep afterwards, trying to imagine this vacuum, this vast nothingness.
Only my budding interest in the paranormal assuaged, to some extent, my fears. The promise of something existing in some distant realm, beyond the reach of the wrecking ball sun, was a wonderful gift.
You can read my entire post here:
Lady Gaga the ghost hunter
Lady Gaga about ghosts?
Lady Gaga is reportedly obsessed with ghosts. The Queen of wacky is said to be terrified of negative forces, and “has every hotel and tour venue scanned by a team of paranormal investigators before she will agree to stay there,” says Britain’s Grazia magazine.
A team of paranormal investigators checking out every hotel? She’s been on her massive Monster world tour for months, so this would be a logistical horror story. A source told the magazine: “She believes in paranormal activity and won’t take any risks when she is on the road. It’s important to her to be safe from spirits.”
The report claims that she’s spent around $50,000 on high-tech ghost-detecting equipment including EMF Meters.
What has she got to be so afraid of? Sounds like she needs to pick up a copy of Spirit Sisters asap. The many stories of people gaining comfort and hope after communication from their late loved ones might assuage her fears. And save her some cash.
Famous Picton Ghost Hunts under threat
I was disappointed to read that the days of the Picton Ghost Tours in NSW may be numbered. It’s literally been years since I first made a mental note to travel to Picton, a small township about 80 km southwest of Sydney, and soak in its haunted heritage. Now, according to news.com.au, locals are calling for the tours to end, citing vandals and hooligans wreaking havoc after hours.
St. Mark's Anglican Cemetery, Picton
Picton became a talking point back in January when a woman noticed two strange children in one of her photographs. I’m not sure what the truth isi behind that image, but the disappointing fact is that the children appear to be wearing modern clothing. Personally, I like my ghost kids in Victorian knickerbockers and ringlets. Hoops optional.
Anyway, I hope the council does away with its plans to end the tours. The late local historian Liz Vincent began them many years ago, igniting a wealth of spooky sightings and anecdotes for the files, and boosting tourism in the local area. I interviewed Liz during my research for Spirit Sisters and her enthusiasm for history and the paranormal (preferably together) was contagious. Today, her husband John and daughter Jenny are doing a great job keeping her passion alive. I wish them the best, but in the meantime, I’ve moved that mental note a little higher up the ‘to do’ list.
Oxford tourist captures historical ghost?
A tourist on a ghost tour in the beautiful university city of Oxford, UK, has captured what she thinks may be the ghost of a woman in period dress strolling along New College Lane. “I thought it looked so beautiful glowing with All Soul’s College in the background I had to take a photo,” Sue Tomlinson told the Oxford Mail. “When I first saw [the photo] I thought it looked strange and wanted to get home and put it on the computer so I could see it bigger.
You can see the image here: http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/8427740.Tourist_captures_spooky_image_on_camera/
Looking at the photo, I can make out what appears to be a woman in a skirt (and perhaps a bustle?) Peer a bit closer and she might be wearing a hat and cape and carrying something in her hand. Set your imagination free and she even looks to be in something of a hurry … Then again, I’m ever wary of pareidolia, the psychological phenomenon of a random image being perceived as significant, like seeing patterns in clouds, or deities stamped onto toast …. What else this could be? Well, as the owner of a very sub-standard point-and-click digital camera, I’ll have to reserve judgment, but I’d welcome your thoughts.
