Monday, October 31, 2011

My Halloween Chat with a Ghost Hunter

Happy Halloween! I hope you're enjoying the deliciously dark holiday and have the opportunity to dress up in a costume, if you so desire.

To celebrate, I interviewed the Paranormal Investigation Society of Central Alabama over at Suburban Vampire. If you've ever wondered which types of locations produce the most paranormal activity—or how ghost hunters spend Halloween—check out the interview here.

To further celebrate, here's one of my favorite ghost songs:



HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Monday, October 24, 2011

My Interview with Musician Kristen Lawrence, Creator of HALLOWEEN CAROLS

Head over to Suburban Vampire to check out my chat with Kristen Lawrence.  Kristen is a highly talented writer/musician/composer who decided Halloween needed more music to call its own.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

My New Mascot

Meet Winifred, my new mascot.

I've been collecting blackbird, crow, and raven items ever since I started working on In the Shadow of  Blackbirds, and my daughter found this new little friend for me at our grocery store tonight.  Winifred is eerily realistic for a cheap find in the Halloween discount section, but I'll keep her by my side during my journey with this book.

Monday, October 10, 2011

The Poster for THE RAVEN & One Literary Geek's Feelings about Messing with Poe

As hesitant as I am about seeing the new John Cusack movie, The Raven, I have to say I love the artwork on the poster.  The freaky dark bird/spilled ink motif, along with the use of black and red, pretty much matches the look of my website, so I suppose it's not surprising I'm drawn to the image.

In case you're unfamiliar with this new movie, The Raven is a fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan Poe's life, in which the poet pursues a serial killer whose murders mirror those in the writer's stories.

In August, I offered my two cents on the movie (as well as three other Poe films in the works) over at Suburban Vampire in a post called "Here Come the Poes." In a nutshell, I said, "I'm happy Poe is having his moment in the modern cinematic spotlight, but the guy married his thirteen-year-old cousin, made a huge impact on the horror genre, invented the modern detective story, and struggled with drinking and depression. Do we really need a fictionalized version of him? Isn't he interesting enough as is?"

Maybe this is another moment for me to add a line to my "You Know You're A Historical Fiction-Writing Geek When..." list:

You know you're a historical fiction-writing geek when you feel pangs of guilt about your attraction to the splashy new, historically inaccurate Edgar Allan Poe thriller coming to your theater. 

In case you're also experiencing that curious attraction, here's the newest trailer for The Raven. (Sorry about the ad at the beginning, but the trailer is too new to show up on YouTube.)

Monday, October 3, 2011

Have You Seen the Ghost of John?

During the last week of October, I'll be interviewing Kristen Lawrence, creator of the Halloween Carols, over at Suburban Vampire.  One of the things I love about Kristen is that she revived the classic Halloween song "Ghost of John."  I have fond memories of sitting in my elementary school singing about that poor, eerie ghost with the "long, white bones and the rest all gone," which is probably one of the many explanations behind my ghost and Halloween obsession.  What's creepier than a classroom full of children singing, "Wouldn't it be chilly with no skin on"?

Here's Kristen Lawrence's customized rendition of the traditional American song. If you're looking for music other than "The Monster Mash" this Halloween, make sure you check out her website: www.HalloweenCarols.com