A celebrity ghost tale
The good thing about being stuck at home with a cold for two days last week was that I could catch up on some TV viewing. One DVD that had been gathering dust in the living room contained a couple of old episodes of Celebrity Ghost Stories, which airs on Bio. This was surprisingly good! Low on the cheese factor, compelling, moving and appropriately creepy.
One of the stories resonated with the theme of my next book. Keshia Knight-Pulliam (who got her start in acting playing the little girl in The Cosby Show) told of a visitation she received when she was struggling in a dysfunctional relationship. To recap, briefly, Pulliam, stressed and increasingly fearful of her partner, on three occasions saw a bizarre sight: a dense, contained “cloud” of fog, or mist, floating inside the home she was sharing with her then-boyfriend. The first time she spotted it, it was floating before her eyes in the bathroom; the second time, it was inside her walk-in wardrobe, and the third, it was floating above her bed. Though afraid of what she’d seen, Pulliam also had the feeling the fog represented someone from her family and that it meant her no harm.
Things came to a head one day when the couple were arguing, and Pulliam heard a woman’s voice tell her loudly and firmly to get out. Peace and strength flooded through her. Minutes later, she heard the same motherly female voice tell her that everything would be okay. She packed her bags and left. Shortly afterwards, she learned, for the first time, that her great-grandmother had been in an abusive relationship with her husband, who’d eventually shot her dead.
To Pulliam, it was evident that the love of her relative had reached down through time to pull her out of a souring relationship. And for this she was immensely grateful.
Love, as the biblical quote asserts, “is strong as death.” Do you agree? Researching my previous books, I met many amazing people whose lives have changed for the better following an encounter with the spirit of a late loved one. I’m working on unearthing some more stories like this for my next book. Please get in touch if you’d like to share your experience.
On another note, today is National Bookshops Day, so head to your local bookseller to show your support! Fortunately, it’s great reading weather in wintery Sydney today, perfect, in fact, for a spooky tale or two … fireside position preferable. Enjoy.
Out of the cold
The cover of my latest book.
Apologies. It has been seven months since my last post … that sounds somewhat confessional, and in a sense, it is. I hate that I’ve neglected my website, and would like to put an end to that, starting now.
It’s a wintery Sunday night in Sydney on a long weekend, the perfect time to read one of my stories, and I’ll be opening one of my books as soon as I’m done writing this post. I have the glass of cab-sav in hand, the only thing I’m missing is the open fireplace … since moving out of our home of 11 years last November (probably the biggest culprit for my lack of posts) we have had to make do with an electric fireplace. Yes, we are no longer living in the sweet little 1924 Californian Bungalow I’ve described in both my books, where my husband saw the shades of a mournful lady in a red nightgown and a sepia-toned little boy. A lovely new family is filling its spaces now, and I wish them no end of love and happiness.
Much has happened in the last seven months, especially one major development, which I’ll go into in a moment. I’m always delighted when feedback arrives from fans of WHERE SPIRITS DWELL. I’m very proud of the book and thrilled that it continues to draw in new readers, many of whom were not familiar with my first book, SPIRIT SISTERS. I’m heartened that Hachette, the publishers of both of those titles, believes enough in WHERE SPIRITS DWELL to enter it into several Australian literary awards. Regardless of the outcome, it’s encouraging, and I so appreciate their support.
Back to what I’ve been up to for the last half a year, I’ve spoken at Cronulla library (you can watch it here) and was interviewed by the NSW Writers’ Centre (see it here). It was so rewarding to do both. Thanks to everyone involved in making those things happen. In November, I’ll be speaking at the Sutherland Shire Writers’ Festival, which is exciting.
And now to the news. I am starting work on a third book, what I’m envisaging as the last in the SPIRIT SISTERS series. This one is going to focus on the very personal and moving experiences of sensing the spirit of a loved one. Each of my last books has featured a chapter each dedicated to this phenomena, which I find endlessly fascinating and touching—and hopeful. For my next book, I’m concentrating on these experiences. Have you ever sensed the spirit of a late loved one around you? If you’d like to share your story, please drop me a line and tell me about it.
And now, time to lose myself, once more, in one of my interviewees’ astonishing experiences. I’ll shut down the laptop and pick up a book. The weather calls for it. Will I fish out one of my favourites from WHERE SPIRITS DWELL, or delve back into my beloved SPIRIT SISTERS? As I do, I’ll be thinking about a quote by Australian director James Wan, who helmed the chilling haunted house homage Insidious. In an interview last year, he sagely said: “We all live in a space that is our sanctuary, our fortress. The concept that you cannot control it is scary.” I’ve spoken to many people who’d be nodding their heads to that, their eyes turned inwards in remembrance of sanctuaries undone.
“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/
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.
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.
