A Haunted Hotel by Tia Dani

As a writer sometimes you need to get away and re-charge your brain.  The best way we found to light a fire under our dormant muse is to hang out with like-minded friends, brainstorming, eating chocolate, and drinking wine.  We do this several times a year by going on a weekend retreat at a fun place in our state.  And nothing is more fun for us than staying in a hotel that is supposedly haunted.  For us half the fun is delving into ghost lore and learning the story behind the haunting then exaggerate it to another level.

A couple of years ago a group of our writer friends reserved the entire third floor of the Jerome Grand Hotel. Jerome AZ is an old mining town set on the side of a mile-high mountain now mostly home to artists who sell their work in the local shops. Originally the Grand Hotel was the United Verde Hospital, but as mine operations phased out the hospital closed and remained vacant until the building was turned into the Jerome Grand Hotel. Local legend tells the story of a lady who roams the building looking for her daughter who died at birth.

"What makes the Jerome Grand Hotel a worthwhile place to stay, is the fact that this is probably one of the most active haunted locations in the world," according to www.ghostlyfavorites.com 

As we checked into the hotel we were told stories of strange noises coming from empty rooms such as coughing, labored breathing, and even voices.  We were told not to be surprised if the lights or TV's turned on and off by themselves.  Spines tingled in anticipation of a ghostly encounter as we made our way toward our rooms.  The first night, several of the girls reported strange sensations and several said they felt cold spots in the hallway but nothing unusual happened to us…yet. 

On Saturday night, the Jerome Grand took our group on a fun ghost hunt where we got some great orb pictures.  We didn't see any ghosts while on the tour, but some creepy events happened to us after we went to bed.  Our room phone rang at midnight waking us up, but when answered, no one was there. The ringing phone was a bit spooky, but the scariest of all was the feeling of panic Bev aka/Dani had as unseen hands tugged on her body as if trying to scoot her off the mattress.  Since the hotel was once a hospital could it have been a nurse trying to move a patient?  Convincing ourselves it was only a dream, we tried to go back to sleep, until Chris aka/Tia screamed that someone had yanked her hair.  After that happened neither of us slept until the sun came up.

When we all met up for breakfast Kathy Twohawks complained that someone or something had pinched her hard during the night. She rolled up her sleeve and showed us the beginning of a large bruise on her arm.

Were all these incidents real or just active imaginations of creative romance writers?  A personal experience can either change your mind or reinforce your belief in paranormal activity.  We believe there are things that can't be explained.  And, besides, who doesn't love a good ghost story?

Our next book has a couple who are trapped in time by an evil shape-shifter. We're finishing up the last chapter as we write this blog. Meanwhile check out our latest release, Time's Enduring Love. It's a time travel set in Kansas during 1866. We think you will enjoy reading it and we promise that you won't be scared.

Happy Halloween,

Tia Dani

http://bookswelove.net/tiadani.php

Jason Voorhees, Jaime Lannister and Me by Jamie Hill

Ah, October. Leaves are changing color, and everyone is talking about football, or the return of The Walking Dead. (YES!) Halloween is just around the corner. As a child I loved everything about Halloween from making decorations to dressing up to trick-or-treating and bringing home a mountain of candy. I didn’t particularly like being scared, but a little bit was okay—the kind of scared when I knew I was really safe, such as a tour of a haunted house, or going to a scary movie. (These days, the prices of the ‘good candy’ alone are enough to scare me!)

We love scary movies in my house. I married a man who grew up watching Vincent Price and shows called Chiller and Thriller and even Twilight Zone. Movies back then used to advertise that there would be a doctor in the theater for those who might find themselves in need of one. One oldie I watched even had flashing lights and a clanging bell when something scary was about to happen, in case the viewer wanted to avert his or her eyes. *snort*

On our first date, my future husband took me to the drive-in movies to watch Friday the 13^th, the first movie starring villain Jason Voorhees. It scared me sufficiently that I spent the second half of the show much closer to my date (possibly his ulterior motive for choosing that movie?) My mother nearly passed out when we told her later. Much later.

That was the beginning of our relationship, and our joint love of scary movies. We’ve seen a good share of them. Many were really awful. Some were just gory. A few were top notch, such as the first Halloween movie. (The sequels slowly went downhill.)

Hubby doesn’t like demonic or satanic themes, so we don’t watch those. I don’t like violent gore-fests where bad things happen to good, innocent people for no reason. (This does not include those teenage camp counselors in the Friday the 13^th movies. Those kids should have known better.)

These days we are slightly choosier about what we watch. We know many scary movies are going to be silly and/or stupid, and if we don’t expect too much going in we aren’t disappointed. That’s part of the fun of it. 

I am guilty of recently watching the 2013 supernatural thriller Mama because it starred Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones). But that’s a whole ‘nother topic, right there. And don’t even get me started on The Walking Dead. Best zombie show ever!

Happy October and Happy Halloween to those who celebrate it!

Jamie Hill

www.jamiehill.biz
http://bookswelove.net/jamiehill.php 

Finding Focus

I find it ironic that when my body and mind are busy and I have "no time" to sit still and write, my body creates time. Usually, I either get sick or sidelined by an injury because I'm too scattered and not paying attention.

September for me has been a blur of deadlines, training an employee, learning a whole new job, kids at school, out of town company, karate gradings (not mine!), and other assorted activities. It was almost expected I would hurt myself during a 5km charity run. I hadn't slowed down in weeks. Thanks to a knee injury, I've been forced to slow down - a little anyway.

When life becomes a blur, we may have momentum, but lose our focus. Whether on writing, raising families, or just our day to day lives, we also lose the joy in doing the things we do. Things we once loved suddenly become a chore. "I have to" replaces "I like to." Hence the creature known as the dreaded Writer's Block.

I would highly recommend slowing down a little before injury or illness occur because sometimes that's exactly what it takes for us to step back and recall the things we "like" to do. To remember how much we like to write when we don't "have" to. To bring back the thrill of being creative, of being able to move without pain, and of taking life one day at a time.

In between all the "have tos" over the past few days, I settled down to write a short story. Something I've wanted to do, but "didn't have time" for. Suddenly, the short story is done and off to a publisher for an anthology. A little bit of fun to wrap up my hectic month. Suddenly, all seems right with the world again and my creativity is re-ignited.

Find your focus. Find your bliss.
Diane Bator
Author of Wild Blue Mystery Series

ROMANTIC CLICHES AND STORYLINES - MARGARET TANNER

THESE ARE MY FAVOURITE ROMANTIC CLICHÉS AND STORYLINES – MARGARET TANNER

I write historical romance, so maybe my take on the cliché and storylines is different from that of contemporary romance authors.

I like to base my stories around:

Love lost and found
The rogue makes good
The poor girl and the rich man
The soft sweet heroine taming the ruthless hero. (This is a particular favourite of mine and one I use a lot).

Then there are the three “Rs” – Revenge, Retribution and Redemption.

There again, what about the clichés used in novels. You know what I mean, those overused phrases:

Crushed her against his hard maleness

Her heart fluttered like a caged bird
The night was as black as ink.
A million stars twinkled
She ran like the wind
He covered her face with hot kisses
His warm breath fanned her cheeks
Cold as ice
The blood flowed through her veins like molten lava.

I have to confess to having used them myself, but in all honesty, I doubt that there would be one romance author who could say she hadn’t used some of these lines at some time or another.

My real favourite is the one that Barbara Cartland, the queen of romance, used for her hero in nearly everyone one of her romance novels. “He was a rake who had lived a life of debauchery.”  

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t see anything wrong with using these clichés, I think they set the scene very well. Many editors don’t like them, of course. The secret is – use them sparingly.

My take is this:  If you want to use clichés be selective. If all else fails you can invent a few of your own.

Margaret writes historical romance set mainly in Australia. Her latest release, The Loves We Left Behind, is a 3 book Combo (three separate novels, all stand-alone stories in the one book.)  This is a special release to mark the centenary of the 1^st World War.

It tells the stories of three different women who triumph over loss, heartache and betrayal.

THE LOVES WE LEFT BEHIND:

A hundred years ago, from the far flung corners of the British Empire, young men rushed to fight for Mother England. They left their wives and sweethearts behind. Many of these brave women waited in vain for their men folk to return. How did they cope with the loss and heartache? Could they ever hope to find happiness with another man? Three full novels, each telling a brave young woman’s story of triumph over tragedy and adversity. Allison’s War, Daring Masquerade and Lauren’s Dilemma.

 http://amzn.com/B00MASTCHM

Available in Print also from your favourite bookstore.

Spirit Travel and Keriam's Dilemma by Shirley Martin

   Imagine a kingdom where magic is forbidden, where guilt of practicing sorcery is punishable by death. In my fantasy romance, "Night Secrets" Princess Keriam has preternatural powers, one of which is spirit travel. This phenomenon also goes by the names of astral travel and out-of-body experience. No matter what it's called, it's an ability that many people possess. Keriam agonizes, what if someone sees her spirit while she's having one of her out-of-body experiences? If found guilty, she will suffer a horrible death, and not even her father--the king--could save her. 

   One night, she has an astral trip that begins thusly:  "A slight tug released Keriam from her body. She floated toward the ceiling, amazed as always that she could look down at herself in bed. With a certainty borne of past experience, she knew this was no dream. Ever since her mother's death two years ago, preternatural powers had evolved within her, and why, she didn't know. Was it her mother's way of watching over her from the Otherworld?  These nightly journeys were even more recent, and something she must learn to control, if only she knew how...

    She drifted outside and traveled over the countryside, her soul finally setting down in the dark forest. While there, she overheard three men plotting her father's assassination. What could she do now? How can she reveal the plot to her father without betraying her supernatural power?

    One of the plotters, Roric Gamal, is about to disclose the details of the plot when Keriam's body calls her spirit back, and she must return...

   "A tug pulled her spirit back. No, not now! She must discover more of the plotters' plan." 

   And is Roric Gamal really one of the plotters, or only pretending to be? Throughout "Night Secrets" Keriam fights her growing attraction for Roric, confused about his loyalty to the kingdom and to her father.

   "Night Secrets" is the first romantic fantasy of the Avador series. I invite you to read this fantasy and the others in the series. 

   "Night Shadows" is the second. 

    "Enchanted Cottage" is the third, followed by "Allegra's Dream" and "Wolf Magic." 

     For lovers of fantasy romance, these romances are bound to please. 

http://bookswelove.net/martin.php