Sprucing Up the Place with Photos

Balboa Park, San Diego (Photo © Cat Winters)

In my last post I teased readers with a distorted photo of a San Diego landmark that plays a role in my novel. The building is part of the city's beautiful, historic Balboa Park, but that's all I'm going to say about that particular setting for now. How the locale relates to In the Shadow of Blackbirds will need to remain top secret.

I decided to build upon that last post and add a few more of my San Diego photos to the sidebar to spruce up the site. I've aged the pictures to try to make them appear to be straight from my novel, and I'm hoping they do the job of making the website a little more visually interesting. I'll be adding many more goodies once I can reveal more info about the plot, but for now I'll leave you with three aged photos that could have come from one of my characters' personal collections.

Winter Greetings from Winters

My mascot, Winifred, enjoying the holidays.

I'll be taking a break from blogging and the computer in general over the weekend. I hope the holidays find everyone happy, safe, and healthy.

Below is a virtual holiday greeting I created last year. I distorted one of my photographs of a San Diego landmark that appears in In the Shadow of Blackbirds to give the picture a supernatural feel. If you're familiar with that particular region of California, see if you can guess where it is.

Scary Ghost Stories at Christmastime

I've always been fascinated with our tendency to be drawn to dark subject matters during the holidays. Think about our most cherished Christmas movies—the films watched over and over and imitated countless times—and the dark themes they entail:

A Sinister Old Man Who Sees Ghosts

A Christmas Carol

A Sinister Old Man Who Provokes Suicide Attempts

It's a Wonderful Life

A Sinister Old Monster Who Steals Christmas

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Why do we frequently veer toward the scary when it comes to our most cherished holiday?

Have you ever heard the Andy Williams song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," which includes the line “There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago”? Or read Susan Hill's The Woman in Black, which starts with the telling of ghost stories on Christmas Eve?

Victorians in England made a tradition out of sitting around the fire and spinning ghost tales on December 24. In fact, the winter solstice, the lengthiest night of the year, has long been considered one of the best times for paranormal activity. The veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is said to be thinnest when the old sun dies and the new sun waits to be born. Such a belief probably led to the spreading of spine-tingling stories during December's dimmest hours.

So, if you're wondering why you're craving a glimpse of Marley's ghost when winter awakens after midnight tonight, or if Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas wins out over The Santa Clause in your house, keep in mind you're just following a long-standing December tradition of dark, supernatural tales. 

Happy winter!