Thursday 30 October 2008
Happy Halloween!!

Today there will be two author interviews and two contests! Maybe a guest blog?? Who knows what magic will be at work?

First up today is the lovely Madelyn Alt! Her 4th book in the Bewitching series called No Rest for the Wiccan has just been released and I got to read it a while back and loved it! I have been following the series since the first book The Trouble With Magic came out and I am really happy to have Madelyn here as a guest.

If you keep reading to the end you will find a contest!!


---------------------------------

Amber - Welcome to Amberkatze's Book Blog Madelyn! It is great to have you here as a guest and I hope you will start us off by telling us all a bit about your Bewitching series?

Madelyn - Thanks so much for inviting me to participate, Amber. :) Okay, to make a long story somewhat short, The Bewitching Mysteries are a bit of a cross-genre blending of several of my favorite elements: mystery, the paranormal world, speculative elements, mysticism, witchery in various forms, wit, and romance. Not necessarily in that order. The stories are told from the viewpoint of Maggie O'Neill, a young woman poised on the brink of her 30s and feeling out of sorts with her life, which is not going quite as she had imagined it would. As she's trying to come to terms with that, she is also being forced to come to terms also with some latent psi abilities that are bringing themselves into focus at the onset of THE TROUBLE WITH MAGIC . . . abilities that she has had all her life, but which she managed to stuff into the back of a closet somewhere in her mind as being imaginary. In fact, all around her, her entire home town seems to be going crazy--between several murders and all of the ghostly goings-on, which both seem to be accellerating in frequency and number, existing in a state of denial is a luxury she can no longer afford.

Amber - No Rest for the Wiccan is the fourth book in the series and it is due on November 4th. How many more books can we expect to see in this series? Do you already know when book 5 will be out or what it will be called?

Madelyn - Right now, I've sold through Book 8 to Berkley, but we are both hoping to keep the series going as long as it makes sense to, and as long as readers want the stories. I have enough ideas to keep me busy for a very long time.

Book 5 is set to hit bookstores around the July 4th weekend, 2009, but as I only just submitted it, I don't have a definite title for you yet. Soon!

Amber - How did the idea for the Bewitching series begin?

Madelyn - As it so happens, with a little bit of magic. :) I was sitting at my desk at work, as I was wont to do, in the middle of placing the purchase orders for the day. My mind was completely engaged, in a kind of absent-minded way, in making the necessary calculations--it was something I was so used to, I could do it without even thinking much. All of a sudden, a flurry of images and thoughts hit me, and I felt this intense need to write it all down. So, I opened up a new Word document, and began to type. Free-flow, in a kind of brain dump that I can't say that I've really ever experienced before. It took me all of fifteen minutes to have three pages, double-spaced, and when it was down on the screen, I sat back and looked at it in awe and not a little bit of confusion. At the time, I thought of myself as a historical romance writer. What I had here was a complete and utter anomaly. It was first person POV; I only wrote third person. It was a mysery; I wrote romance. It was modern; I wrote historical. It was paranormal; while I had always loved that in my reading, I had never written it before. And it was most definitely NOT a romance. In fact, I wasn't quite sure what it was. So I thought, "Huh. Don't know where that came from," and decided I was never going to be able to use it. Still, I had found it all so compelling that I knew I had to keep it. I saved it in my Ideas folder with the document name of 'Mystery Maybe,' then promptly forgot about it.

I thought.

Six months later, I was driving down the highway toward town for lunch, and it happened again. Ideas, characters, thoughts, images, whooshing through my brain from all directions. It was so distracting that I actually pulled my minivan over to the side of the highway and hit the flashers. I knew instantly that the ideas belonged to the mystery idea from months ago, just as I knew how important it was to get it all down. So many thoughts, so many ideas. My son had just cleaned out his locker at school, leaving his discards in the middle seat. I grabbed one of them, flipped it over. All I could find to write with was the dull end of a broken green crayon, but it would have to do. I scrawled it all down as quickly as I could, feeling flush with the experience. And when all was said and done, that afternoon gave me a complete understanding of what would become The Bewitching Mysteries. I had characters, I had setting, I had conflicts. The whole shebang.

Amber - Your books are full of magic and ghosts. Do you have to do alot of research or are these areas you already know alot about?

Madelyn - I think my entire life I have been researching for this series. LOL. I've always been a paranormal buff, so where does research begin and personal knowledge and experience end? Does anyone know?

Amber - Your Bewitching series is a mix of chick-lit and paranormal. Do you like to read this genre of book? Who are your favourite authors?

Madelyn - I love the witty voice that seemingly came to life with the Chick-Lit authors. The paranormal, oh yeah. My favorite authors are Kim Harrison, Charlaine Harris, Mary Janice Davidson, Dolores Stewart Riccio, Rosemary Edghill, Alice Hoffman, Victoria Laurie. Some vintage Barbara Michaels. And for mystery, I would have to say Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. What's not to love?

Amber - How did you get into writing? Did you always want to be a writer?

Madelyn - The first time I ever thought about writing was in the 9th grade, during our career project days in Social Studies. That was when I found out that most authors don't actually make living wages and in fact have to hold down jobs while they write. I decided then that I needed to do something practical. I turned away from dreamy, nebulous thoughts of writing and began to plan for something in business. It wasn't until my third son was born that I decided that it was now or never. Either I give writing a shot and see if I could even finish a manuscript with a viable story from beginning to end, or I let the dream go. That was the year I joined RWA and began my historical romance phase.

Amber - Are you working on any other projects? Or is the Bewitching series keeping you busy enough?

Madelyn - Right now The Bewitching Mysteries are holding me steady, but who knows what the future holds? I have so many ideas for Bewitching and other projects, I'll never be able to write them all.

Amber - If your Bewitching series was going to be made into a TV series, who would you like to see playing the main characters?

Madelyn - Oh, this is such a hard question! You see, I don't see faces for my characters. Body types, yes. More important to me are attitudes and body language, just as a certain dreamy quality of atmosphere in the setting is vital.

Amber - You are stuck on a desert island. Which 5 things would you most like to have with you?

Madelyn - Can I have Gerard Butler? Probably not. Sigh. Hm. I would have to take portable satellite communication, my laptop, some solar power panels to run it all, a sun umbrella (I burn like crazy!) and . . . are you sure I can't take Gerard Butler? ;>

Amber - Thank you so much for your time! I hope you will stop by Amberkatze's Book Blog again sometime!



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Contest Time!

Madelyn has kindly said she will send one lucky winner a signed copy of her latest release - No Rest for the Wiccan!!!

To enter the contest post on this thread and tell us your spooky stories! It can be something you experienced yourself or something scary you heard somewhere!

No story = No entry!

To be entered a second time post somewhere on the web about the Halloween weekend fun here on Amberkatze's Book Blog! Don't forget to leave me a link to check out!

The contest will end on Tuesday 4th of Nov at 4pm CET. You should check back to see if you won anything because I don't hunt down winners and will draw a new name if the prize hasn't been claimed after 7 days.

Enjoy!

Labels: , , ,

 
posted by Unknown at Thursday, October 30, 2008 |


33 Comments:


At 30 October 2008 at 23:35, Blogger Calliope

Spookiest story I've experienced, and first hand too, was when I was twelve and dreamt my grandmother was calling me to tell me everything would be okay and that she loved me. The call ended with her telling me it was time to get up for school and that she's talk to me later.

I found out later that day that my grandmother had died that morning.

 

At 31 October 2008 at 04:53, Blogger ArkieRN

My sister used to live in a house where radios turned on by them selves. The bathtub taps would open on their on. Lights would go on and off and her kids toys would change positions. Really creepy stuff.

 

At 31 October 2008 at 05:38, Blogger Crystal Adkins

For the longest time after we moved into our new house after getting married, I swear that something was following me up the stairs every time. So most of the time I would run up stairs as fast as I could then hurry and look behind me... nothing there!

 

At 31 October 2008 at 05:43, Blogger CrystalGB

My best friend and I lived in a trailor that had a little boy ghost in it. He would turn pictures of my nephew upside down and he drew a picture on her bedroom wall. One morning I opened my eyes and I saw him standing by my bed. He looked so sad.

 

At 31 October 2008 at 07:14, Blogger Shanna Vaughn

When I was about 12 I woke up in the middle of the night and I was sure there was someone else in my room. It was a small room and there was a bit of moonlight and clearly no one was there but I still felt a presence. I swore I could even hear small rustling sounds as if someone was around. Still to this day one of the creepiest things I've ever experienced.

 

At 31 October 2008 at 08:07, Blogger Rebekah E.

When I was about 15 a family friend was moving and giving away some of her stuff. I took a mirror she did want anymore. One day I was in my bedroom watching T.V. and my mother was in the living room watching T.V. I heard a little girl say "Mommy, Mommy" and didn't think much of it. Next thing I new my mother came running into my room saying what you need, is anything wrong. I told her I didn't say anything and that I thought it was her T.V. show. She said that it wasn't and it wasn't mine either. We just let go and figure well that was weird. About to days later I got my film back from being developed and had a very unsettling discovery. I was wasting the film and took a picture of the mirror. In the mirror were things that didn't belong. I checked the negatives to make sure there was a mistake during the developing and everything on my picture was in the negatives. There were flowers that followed the curve of the mirror on the inside of it. A picture hanging in my room that didn't belong there. There was also a face of a little girl. It flipped me out. We put the mirror in our detached garage and never had a problem again. Everytime I look at the picture I wonder if the stuff in it will disappear one of these days, but to this day I pull out that picture see all of the crazy stuff that appear in it and wonder.

 

At 31 October 2008 at 08:49, Blogger Angela @ Reading Angels

I think the most spooky thing I ever experience was when my son was 1-2 and he would look off into space and then talk to something (that we couldn't see) when we would ask who he was talking to he would turn to the other wall and point at a picture of my grandmother (who had passed away several years ago). I still believe that my grandmother was coming back to play with her first great-grandbaby.

 

At 31 October 2008 at 12:12, Blogger Unknown

my bed used to move at this one house we lived in and it was took apart and check to see if anything has gotten in it and everything ,but n ope
it just would move
though the nights the my newborn was borned and she slept with me, it didnt move

 

At 31 October 2008 at 12:30, Blogger Unknown

This comment has been removed by the author.

 

At 31 October 2008 at 12:33, Blogger Unknown

o please enter me
i have never read of any of her books before and would love to!

 

At 31 October 2008 at 12:53, Anonymous Anonymous

Spooky stories? I can't say I have any that I find spooky but others might.. In the last 5 years I have lost a few family members. My Father used to go to bed at 9:45 every night and lately I have heard the light switch in the living room click off at 9:45 every night.. The light stays off though..
My aunt used to pet my hair back, kind of like petting a cat with long strokes. About a year after she passed I would be laying in bed reading and at the time I thought it was time to shut the light off and go to sleep I would feel a smooth stroke through my hair..
I find the above rather comforting rather than spooky though..

 

At 31 October 2008 at 13:22, Blogger Nancy

Madelyn! Sorry I missed you on your actual interview day. I LOVE your books, and can hardly wait for the new release!!

Light,
Nancy Haddock

 

At 31 October 2008 at 15:05, Blogger Stephanie

My mother used to live in the basement of an old hospital that had been converted to apartments. One night she woke up to see the face of a girl at the foot of her bed. She could tell from the face that the person was dead (she has since seen similar faces enough times that she just calls it "the death face) but she recognized the girl as an acquaintance from high school so she knew it wasn't some sort of scary hospital ghost and managed to calm down. The next day she learned that the girl had committed suicide that same night. She still doesn't understand why she would have seen that particular face since she didn't even know the girl very well, but the story has always given me shivers.

 

At 31 October 2008 at 18:45, Blogger darbyscloset

My "spooky" experience was when I was in grade school and my Great Grandmother had recently passed; she'd been a school teacher. I was doing my homework outside on our patio and a monarch butterfly landed on my shoulder and stayed there while I finished my work. I "knew" it was my Great Grandmother and to this day when I see a Moarch butterfly I think of her.
Darby
darbyscloset at yahoo dot com

 

At 31 October 2008 at 19:34, Blogger Wrighty

My mom's house used to have the ghost of the man who had lived there. Every now and then a lamp would turn on by itself. It wasn't always the same one either. He was a friendly presence though and they never felt scared so they would call him by name. Several years ago their house burned down. Even though they rebuilt on the same spot their ghost never returned.

Thanks for your contest!

5wrights1(at)verizon(dot)com

 

At 31 October 2008 at 20:22, Blogger Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews

This comment has been removed by the author.

 

At 31 October 2008 at 22:13, Blogger Lori T

I don't really have any super spooky stories...when I was little I have this horrible image of being stuck in my Grandma's garage because I was trapped by worms. Now, I can only believe that this was most likely a figment of my imagaination but my goodness it seems so real. To this day, I absolutely hate worms.

I know pretty lame, but spooky just does not come into my vocatula

 

At 31 October 2008 at 22:14, Blogger Lori T

It is supposed to say vocabulary...not whatever the heck that is that I typed.

Sorry for the double post, but I am always so embarrassed when this happens.

Happy Halloween.

 

At 31 October 2008 at 23:01, Blogger Cherie

OMG! I had the exact same thing happen to me with my own grandmother that Calliope mentioned in her story (the first one). Grandma came to me in a dream, told me to be a good girl, and said goodbye. When the phone rang early the next morning, I already knew the news when my mom told me, and when she asked me how I knew, I told her that grandma had come to me in my sleep to say goodbye. That actually wasn't the one I was going to post, but seeing as how it was so similar, I had to mention it.

Now the one I was going to mention happened when I was in 8th grade, so about 12 years old (my grandma incident above, I was about 8). My friends Tina and Cheryl were over and we were downstairs playing with my Ouija board. We were talking to a spirit that seemed to know a bit about my family, but like always, when you're playing with the Ouija, we thought one of the others was pushing the planchette. We tried to prove that wasn't the case by slowly lifting our hands off at the same time and instead of stopping abrubtly, it slowly slowed down then stopped. Right then, that cemented my belief in the Ouija.

Well then this spirit started saying that something bad was going to happen to Cheryl that night. We thought he meant the other Cheryl (not me) because he was saying earlier that he didn't like her, but he wouldn't give details on exactly what. So the night ends, my friends go home, and we're all still a wee bit spooked about the incident. And then, lo and behold, I wake up in the middle of the night and need to be rushed to the hospital for what turned out to be my very first case of kidney stones, a disease hereditary in my mother's family of which the spirit specifically had mentioned the last name.

Spooky how this spirit warned of this event, and how it turned out he was actually referring to me and not the other Cheryl as we had originally thought.

I was scared of the board for a loooong time after that, certain that it was the spirit to which we'd spoken who had caused my stones and naught to do with the hereditary issue. So I hid it down in the basement, at the very bottom of a stack of games so that it was right next to the cement where it's negative energy could be absorbed back into the earth.

But was it really negative energy, or just the fact that the spirit portended something bad happening to me that got me so spooked?

Since that time though, I never looked at spirits and ghosts the same way again, and since then, I've been much more open and welcome to conversing with them. It was around that time my study of the paranormal began in more earnest and I dedicated myself as a witch a couple years thereafter. :)


Assuming my earlier post regarding your weekend events can count for this entry as well, please enter me twice. The link to the entry I mentioned it can be found at this entry in my blog.

Thanks Amber and Madelyn! :)

 

At 31 October 2008 at 23:07, Blogger Cherie

PS - the drawing date is actually on my birthday (the 4th) which is also election day here in the US. Since everyone's mind will be on the presidential candidates and not on ME where it rightfully should be, I feel that I simply must win for one of the contests drawn on the 4th... so I can continue to feel special and all. ;)

 

At 1 November 2008 at 02:30, Blogger LadyVampire2u

The purchase of my house was a crowning achievement for me. In fact I was so excited I slept on the floor in a sleeping bag because I wanted to spend the night under my own roof the same day the house became offically mine. My brother had complained but had grudgingly agreed to spend the night and was in his own sleeping bag not too far away on the floor next to me. But as everything got quiet and my brother fell asleep, I began to hear things. Footsteps at first, then things banging and sliding and moving all over in the attic of the house. I woke my brother thinking it was an burglar but we couldn't find anyone. Right after we came down out of the attic and got back into the sleeping bags, we both heard it start back up. Again we explored the whole house but no one was there and things were locked down tight. But as we searched I began to notice that boxes of my thngs had been pushed and moved around. When the noise happened a third time, the spirits in my house were no longer subtle. They made a lot of noise and had fun stacking the moving boxes and things in interesting piles. My brother and I couldn't take being at the house so sadly we went to his house for the night. Two days later we got a priest to come bless the house but the haunting continued. It took three blessings to stop the ghosts. But even today odd things happen in my house so I'm sure the blessings helped but I don't think the spirits have completely left.

 

At 1 November 2008 at 03:00, Anonymous Anonymous

The spookiest one I remember must be when I was in a youth camp with disabled people and we had a very good storyteller with us, who was able with a guitar and his voice to make just whatever noise you could expect in a ghosthouse. After that we went for a midnight walk in the neighbourhood forest, and of course imagined every possible noise to be a ghost or something scary. But the worst of all was getting back to the place where we were staying and noticing that the fire was out, electricity didn't work any more and it was freezing cold. Just enough to make it impossible to sleep that night. But it was an experience none of us will ever forget!

 

At 1 November 2008 at 07:09, Blogger Kaye

Not too sure this is spooky, but is sure freaked me out and I have never forgotten it even though it happened in 1975. At the end of May I told my sister I dreamed I saw our father in a coffin with a bunch of 6's floating around. By the 21st it would be over. Since our father was never sick, she blew me off but the dream stuck with me. On 06/06/75 the ambulance took my father to the hospital and he died 4 days later. Obviously by the 21 it was over and done with. I sure pay attention to dreams like that now!

 

At 1 November 2008 at 12:38, Anonymous Anonymous

When I was 11, my mom always used to leave my door open a crack at night. I always woke up with the feeling that someone was watching me, but there was never anyone there. It creeped me out a lot. My mom's boyfriends' sister was a psychic and she came over to see us, so I asked her about it. She said that there was some kind of presence there but not to hurt us in any way. Needless to say, I was happy to move out of there because maelvolent or not, the thought of being "watched" still creeps me out!

 

At 1 November 2008 at 17:51, Blogger Michelle

I posted your Halloween contest info on myspace blog...you can use this link & then click on my blog:

http://www.myspace.com/koshkalady

 

At 1 November 2008 at 18:00, Blogger Michelle

Well,

My cousin & her husband bought this 200 year old house out in the boonies that was haunted. They were only leaving in a couple of rooms while fixing up the rest but my cousin kept feeling like she was being watched & hearing footsteps upstairs. They also kept hearing someone walking across the front porch, which was completely rotted out & had to be replaced & therefore unable to hold anyone. After this went on for awhile they were very on edge & her husband jokingly taunted the "ghost" while they were leaving the house for the day & the caught a flash like a fireball shoot across the front of the house...later when they returned they found a huge boulder on the side of the driveway had been moved. They eventually called in a priest who blessed the home & they found in the attic an old civil war uniform laid out as if someone was going to wear it & one of those glass display things you hang up with little compartments that is usually filled with herbs & such but this had bits of bone & things in it...when they took it out to burn it, it wouldn't burn for quite some time until after it had been blessed with holy water & with the priest praying over it...I NEVER WENT TO THEIR HOUSE...NO THANK YOU!!!

 

At 1 November 2008 at 18:34, Blogger StyleVamp

There's a few scary stories that I've experienced...I was dating this guy and I was @ his house watching a movie. He got up and my back was to the living room & I heard the door close. I figured he closed it when he stepped out. so he comes back into the room & says "charlie stop it" ..My ears perked up & asked him who is talking to? He tells me look he's been here since I moved into this apartment & he cosed the doo not me. I'm like what are you talking about? He's like Charlie don't you see him? I respond and say no I don't, he's goes on to tell me come on he's right next to you. I say I don't see charlie, so he tells me he left upset cause I couldn't see him..From this point on the date went down hill lol I left his apartment as tactfully & quickly as possible and never went out with him again!

 

At 1 November 2008 at 22:14, Anonymous Anonymous

I went to camp when I was twelve and when I went to washrooms alone I heard someone whisper my name. It happened more than once, but there was no one in the washroom with me. I went outside to see if it was any of my friends (or foes) outside the cabin trying to scare me, but there wasn't anyone around anywhere close. I still don't know who was calling me.

I've posted a link to your giveaway on my front page.

 

At 3 November 2008 at 17:04, Blogger Asylumgirl

My husband's family has a house where they've seen a man in a top hat, faucets and tvs turn on and phantom footsteps can be heard on the stairs. My daughter had a door slam in her face as well.

Deidre
deidre_durance at hotmail dot com

 

At 3 November 2008 at 21:21, Blogger TestBunny

when i was a kid i started to fall down a flight of stairs i stopped in mid air, was turned around and put on the top of the stairs. my butt was swatted and the door was pushed shut

found out later a grandmother type used to live there and had passed away. figured she was keeping watch over myself and my 4 sisters.

barbkywe \

 

At 4 November 2008 at 03:55, Blogger Ladytink_534

I'm pretty sure that my great-grandmother's old home was haunted. Several family members, not to mention family pets died there. She had this HUGE fenced in yard and I would always feel like something was following me around and other people felt it when they were with me too. I don't know, maybe I'm crazy but after I was born, I spent the first three years of my life living with my grandmother and the family dog Sheba had decided I was hers. She followed me around everywhere and every time I would visit she would stick to me like glue. She was hit by a truck when I was five or six but I still always felt like she or at least something still followed me around whenever I visited. Especially once when I fell out a tree and hit my head on a rock, my grandmother said she thought she heard her dog scratching on the door and whining... but her dog had never left my side.

 

At 4 November 2008 at 08:51, Blogger Shelbycat

This isn't a really scarey story but i tell you it scared the knickers off me when it happened.

On halloween (always a good start) i was baking some cupcakes for my nephews birthday (born on halloweed) in the kitchen. My two cats were sat in the living room nice a quiet. I was just putting the cupcakes into the oven when a cat box upstairs fell off the pile (it had been sat there for months) onto the floor right over my head! I jumped about a foot in the air and went to check it. The box was in pieces on the floor and there was no-one around .... *spooky*

 

At 5 November 2008 at 18:33, Blogger Kathleen

Being Wiccan I'd like to read this for sure.

Scary story? I've seen ghosts many times, a woman in white who was partially see through at the end of my bed when I was an older child. A child like ghost in the top corner of my ceiling. A few other time I don't remember. I wasn't scared with the lady in white though. Just one blink and she was gone. WEird.

callista83 AT cogeco DOT ca

 






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