Randy Russell

Ghosts on Radio

2011-12-15T08:17:00.000-05:00

Ghost Cats, Ghost Dogs, and Dead Rules on the radio. From June with the fabulous Darkness Dave in Minneapolis.

Want to listen? Click here: Randy Russell on the Radio.

Reversing the Trail of Tears

2011-12-12T07:57:00.000-05:00

My grandfather's mother Maggie is the daughter of renowned one-eyed southeast Missouri desperado and clown killer Jake (Jacob) Killian.

Too good to be true. But it is! Oh, and he lost his eye in the War Between the States -- when he was shot in the face during a card game. Wild Bill Hickock married the clown's widow, btw... Ah, Missouri, you miserable little piece of mud, you.

Jake Killian's father, Cyrus, still a direct grandparent of mine, removed from North Carolina on the 1833 Trail of Tears, ending where I eventually was born and grew up. Jake was murdered in Empire City Kansas, which is now Galena KS - where in my h.s. years I often drank beer and danced like an idiot at a club called The Ranch. I don't know if this is why Cyrus came to the area in 1833, though.

Perhaps more importantly, Cyrus's father was signed up w/ the 3rd regiment of NC Militia in the War of 1812 as a resident in, get this... Buncombe County NC. Asheville is the county seat. Hey, guys, I'm baaaaaaack!

It requires numerous generations of the Monarch butterfly to complete their annual community migration and return home. Might be the same with people. :-) Using my generation to reverse my grandfather's original migration on the Trail of Tears somehow feels right. What's a couple hundred years when you're having fun?

Annual Pumpkin Fesitval in Franklin NC

2011-10-21T09:33:00.002-04:00

The funnest town festival ever!!

And I'll be there from noon to 2 P.M., Saturday, October 22.

Come roll a pumpkin, or enter an eating contest! Everything happens on Main Street at the 15th Annual Franklin, North Carolina Pumpkin Festival.

Getting Scared in Canton NC Today!

2011-10-18T07:19:00.004-04:00

We'll be sharing spooky True Ghost Stories and a few other wild things in the woods today at 5:30 PM at the Haywood County branch library in Canton NC.

Just in time for Halloween and the rustle of fallen leaves.

Time too for some Halloween giveaways from me, Randy Russell, author of Dead Rules, Ghost Cats of the South, and Other Scary Books. Come see.

We'll scare the socks off Socks the cat.

Ghosts and Pancakes for Everyone!

2011-09-30T09:13:00.002-04:00

This time I'm having pancakes. Off I go down the mountain to the Davie County Festival of Booksin Mocksville NC, where I'll be introducing Ghost Cats of the South and a variety of dead high school people from Dead Rules at 11:30 a.m. Saturday Oct 1. And I get my own tent for an hour in Rich Park, just like the circus.

But first I'm getting pancakes on the road somewhere. Meet me there?

I'll be bringing along Ghost Dogs, too, you know, by me, Randy Russell.

Wow in Waynesville NC Saturday, Sept 24

2011-09-23T09:19:00.001-04:00

I'm having hours of goofy fun at BLUE RIDGE BOOKS this Saturday, starting at 3 p.m. What a treat to be in BEAUTIFUL Waynesville, North Carolina ~ one of the great mountain towns in Southern Appalachia.

I'll have some cool Dead Rules giveaways (just drop by and say hi, no need to buy a book).

I'll also share some TRUE local ghost stories. Yup, ghosts live in Waynesville, too.

Elf House, Ghost Dogs of the South

2011-09-22T07:49:00.003-04:00

I'm sharing a letter (anonymously ~ from a reader in Edmond, Oklahoma) I received yesterday from a reader of GHOST DOGS OF THE SOUTH. The best part of writing is when someone likes what they read and takes the time and trouble to let an author know. Thanks, anon!

"I read most of Elf House this afternoon. I fell in love with Stanwell Perpett in the first two pages. Chaucer stole my heart, too. I wanted to live with them both, be a part of their life and the ducks! I loved the ducks, but I couldn't read past the pack of wild dogs and the icy pond... My eyes filled with tears. There was a lump in my throat and I couldn't, didn't want to know what happened, not yet at least.

"I mean I KNOW the story is going to end, but I didn't want it to. I loved those ducks and Chaucer and the thought of them dying and the possibility of Stanwell drowning trying to save them was just too much for me.

"I wanted to stay happy a little bit longer. I will continue reading and finish later, but I just can't now. You had me drawn into that story so deeply that it wasn't a story to me, it was real."

Elf House does NOT end sadly, btw.

My follow-up book of ghost stories, GHOST CATS OF THE SOUTH, is being released in paperback this month. You can browse inside and read one of the stories here: Ghosts by Randy Russell.

Ghost Cats & Dead Rules ... Guess Where?

2011-09-18T10:22:00.001-04:00

Dead Rules, Ghost Cats of the South, and Randy Russell ...all day Monday, Sept 19:

Ghosts & Dead Rules in Charlotte Sep 13

2011-09-11T10:47:00.001-04:00

I'll be happily traveling to Charlotte NC Tuesday September 13 to meet with students at South Meck High School in the morning. I'll be sharing ghost stories and signing boooks at the fabulous PARK ROAD BOOKS in Charlotte at 6 p.m. till we quit.

Of course, my new YA novel DEAD RULES will be on the menu. Also, GHOST CATS OF THE SOUTH has just been released in paperback from John F. Blair. And, you know, wherever Ghost Cats and I show up, GHOST DOGS OF THE SOUTH also comes along.

Should be fun: Ghost cats, ghost dogs, ghost teens... Not to mention the ghost car I'll be driving.

Dead Rules art by Rebecca Mae Gruber

2011-09-06T09:28:00.001-04:00

Fresh from the studio of Rebecca Mae Gruber, Freehold (NJ) High, a rather perfectly realized work of Dead Rules art. Thanks, Rebecca!! ./ Randy Russell.

Ghosts and Girls: Live Chat Wednesday August 31 at Inkpop

2011-08-30T09:44:00.002-04:00

This is going to be too much fun! I'm doing a live chat on writing from a perspective different from your own at 5:30 PM EST Wednesday Aug 31 at the famed Inkpop.com website.

The Q & A about writing a character or a complete novel from the p.o.v. of a gender other than your own will last only one hour.

But you can leave questions for me right now right here and I will answer them during the chat.

Looks like we'll also be talking about writing from a dog's or cat's perspective. I've done quite a bit of that in my short-story collections, Ghost Dogs of the South and Ghost Cats of the South.

And, of course, your own experiences writing from other perspectives are most welcome at the Inkpop live chat. Join us, won't you?

You can join the live chat by clicking here: Dead Rules by Randy Russell.

Or simply drop by and read the discussion as it takes place. Should be fun to see me in a skirt.

You're a YA Cliché! ~ by Cara Best

2011-08-18T09:27:00.005-04:00

Cara Best, one of my favorite teen bloggers, told me she was working on a list of Clichés in YA Novels. I asked (begged!) her to share it with me as a guest post. Lots of fun ensued (see below).

You may read Cara’s regularly irregular and most charming blog posts and YA Book Reviews at Chasing Words. Drop by.

You're a YA Cliché ~ by Cara Best.

Welcome to your very own YA novel: CLICHED. You're the main character and your story has been told by an anonymous writer who's just released the details. Here's your reality CLICHED in list form

1. Your parents are dead.

I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, but your parents are dead. Maybe both, maybe one or the other, at least a sibling. Someone in your immediate family is dead. Because being an orphan, half-orphan, or recent only child makes you relatable because no one has a complete, still living family

2. You’ll be in Science Class a lot.

You're a "typical" high school student, but you only attend science classes. Also, you never have homework. Studying is a foreign concept. In said science classes you only ever do lab work and your lab partner is Hotty McGorgeouson. Hotty thinks you're cute which leads to…

3. Instalove!

McG and you have had two full minute-long conversations and now you're in love.

The only thing you know about him is that he broods a lot {brood is a keyword, it's used often to emphasize his mysterious appeal}, has long, lean pulsating muscles {again, phrasing is key}, and that his past was traumatizing. You don't know what was traumatizing, but you must take Hotty's word that he did nothing wrong and was a helpless victim. The pick axe in the trunk of his car is also just for weekend projects

4. You have no interests whatsoever.

This is key. You must enjoy nothing but spending time with Hotty McG and solving whatever mysterious problem you're “battling.” Your token minority friend will constantly try to convince you to do something with your life, but you manage to resist.

5. You cannot, I repeat, CANNOT do anything for yourself or by yourself.

CLICHED is going for a 1950s housewife mentality in which you may do feminine tasks but are not allowed to save yourself, be heroic in any way, act as anything other than Damsel in Distress, or do anything without Hotty. Think of what the neighbors will say!

6. Stay on script.

Feel like going out of the box? Don't. Have an original, fresh idea? Kill it with fire. The last thing our publisher needs is you becoming a mid-list author because you don't listen. Our study of five real live teenagers has shown that clichés are beloved among YA readers and we must not divert!

There you have it. CLICHED in a nutshell. The next book in the series OVERDONE is set to come out in one year with seventeen more books rounding out the series. Feature films to come. Happy reading everyone!

St Louis, Wichita, Memphis & Blytheville Arkansas

2011-08-08T08:55:00.004-04:00

Boards on the windows, mail by the door...
why would anybody leave so quickly for?

Dead Rules and Randy Russell (me) are on the road this week.

Talking about ghosts and love at these wonderful Independent bookstores:

Wednesday, August 10, Puddnhead Books, St. Louis (Webster Groves) MO, 7 p.m.

Thursday, August 11, Watermark Bookstore, Wichita KS, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, August 16, The Booksellers at Laurelwood, Memphis, TN, 6 p.m.

Short and sweet, due to the heat, Dead Rules & I will only be at the best bookstores ever.

And I’ll also be signing stock at That Bookstore in Blytheville Arkansas because I love this place! Order the signed first edition from Mary Gay after August 15.

Living On the Air in Cincinnati

2011-07-18T09:14:00.002-04:00

Dead Rules in Cincinnati at the Public library:

"Dead Rules. As embarrassing as it was to be killed in a freak bowling accident, high school junior Jana is not finding the afterlife to be all that great, either. Before her death, Jana had envisioned that her boyfriend, Michael, and she would be together forever. Now, though, she is stuck in Dead School, where she is supposed to be studying to become a Riser, and move on. Jana really wants to learn how to be is a Slider, so she can go back and get another chance with Michael. To do this, Jana enlists the help of Mars, a Slider whom, she can’t help noticing, is very handsome. But, nevermind that, Jana wants Michael back. Now if she can just find a way to achieve this without killing him, too. Just like Jana herself, this critically acclaimed, darkly comic story isn’t at all afraid to challenge all the conventions of the paranormal romance genre."

Now you can read the first 75 pages FREE online at Dead Rules by Randy Russell.

Looking for (Ghost) Applause in Virginia

2011-07-03T08:00:00.003-04:00

I'll be traveling through Virginia this week to visit Kelly Justice at her fabulous and famous Fountain Bookstore in Richmond on Saturday, July 9. This reminded me that I might anticipate applause while driving through Va.

I have been fascinated for quite some time by Mary T.'s account of ghost applause in Virginia. She was kind enough to send this along to me and allow me to post her original telling of the encounter. Thanks, Mary!

>>"Randy, When I met you at City Lights bookstore in Sylva, I promised to tell about my experiences when staying in a plantation house in Clarke County, Virginia. In brief,this is what occurred.

I spent 3 nights and parts of 4 days in one of the many plantation houses to be found in Clarke County. The first 2 nights, I awoke to a sensation of extreme cold (the infamous "cold spot".)

The 3rd night I was awakened by what sounded like applause, not in my room, but in the front of the house where the drawing room and dining room/ball room are located.

One afternoon, while standing in the entry hall, I heard what sounded like people talking. I knew I was alone in the house, but nevertheless I turned around. Of course there was nothing to be seen, but the sounds were real.

Perhaps the applause and the voices were connected in some way - a house party of some sort?! None of these caused me any alarm, but there was one further event that did.

If you have any further questions I would be happy to try to answer them for you. I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation, and your book "Ghost Cats of the South."
Sincerely, Mary T.">>

A Summer Ghost for Everyone

2011-06-30T07:40:00.001-04:00

Oh, a summer evening at the haunted Transylvania County Library in Brevard North Carolina is perfect for ghost stories.

Start the 4th of July weekend with a little chill in the air.

I'll be there at 6:30 PM and I'm bringing along a least one ghost for everybody. If you're in the area: Dead Rules in Transylvania County.

Me & Southern Ghosts on Talk Radio

2011-06-23T09:00:00.003-04:00

David Schrader, aka Darkness Dave, invited me to share stories of True Ghosts of the South in a one-hour live interview (gulp!) on KTLK-FM Talk Radio, Minneapolis, tonight at 11 PM CST. I'm bringing as many Southern Ghosts with me as I can round up in a day: ghost dogs, ghost cats, and, oh, a bunch of those lovable dead High School students from Dead Rules. :-)

If you don't know anything about Dead Rules yet, here's a current online review at Fitkshun.com to catch you upon the romantic goings on in Dead School. Click: Dead Rules by Randy Russell.

Read 75 pgs of DEAD RULES free online!

2011-06-22T10:14:00.001-04:00

HaperTeen released the Dead Rule #4 booktrailer!

Careful, though, this is the world of Sliders from the novel and they're a little scary.

Dare to read a little?

HarperTeen is providing the first 75 pages FREE online.

You can read a portion to see if there's anything you like by clicking here: Dead Rules by Randy Russell.

Ready for Prom Night?

2011-06-14T18:26:00.000-04:00

Are you following the rules? This one starts out at Prom.

HarperTeen released the Dead Rule #3 vid clip today. I love this one, especially the black feather!

There will be two more book trailer videos for Dead Rules by Randy Russell (me -- I have to say that or google won't find my blog post, sorry.) I'll post the new ones here as soon as they show up on youtube.

Dead Rules & Lady Gaga Giveaway

2011-06-07T18:35:00.002-04:00

There's still plenty of time to enter the I.B. Teen giveaway of a copy of Dead Rules and...

get this, win some brand new Deborah Lipmann & Lady Gaga "Bad Romance Nail Lacquer." The nail polish is blackened fuschia glitter!!

You can also read Perla's review of Dead Rules and an interview with Randy Russell (me) while you're entering the giveaway. Oh, you can click a button and listen to a robot read the review! I.B. Teen rocks!!

I HEART INDIES DAY - Caroline Green

2011-05-31T19:30:00.005-04:00

P.S. Yes, there are awesome people who assist readers and browsers alike at MALAPROP'S Bookstore & Cafe.

And my favorite bookseller for I Heart Indies Day is Caroline Green, in charge of everything YA at Malaprop's.

Here's her brief bio at the Malaprop's website. Gotta love it!

"Caroline Green is Malaprop’s children’s book buyer and as such reads lots and lots of young adult lit and picture books. When she does stray from that genre she prefers adult non-fiction, particularly history. She is also the community events coordinator, so if you are a non-author needing a venue for your lecture, talk to her.

"In her non-working moments she sings with the Asheville Choral Society, loves to eat food, drink whiskey, smoke her daily cigarette, laugh embarrassingly loudly, and talk about the meaning of life, the universe, and everything."

Oh, how I love a laugher!!

I HEART INDIES DAY - ASHEVILLE

2011-05-31T09:22:00.012-04:00

May 31 is I Heart Indies Day, (and boy do I!) sponsored by the rollicking, raucous, Sisters of Riot, YA authors Lisa and Laura Roecker.

It's pretty simple for me. One of the BEST reasons to live in or to visit Asheville North Carolina is the incredible independent community-based bookstore, MALAPROP'S.

Founded by Hungarian wonder woman Emoke B'Racz in 1982, Malaprop's is the heartbeatof Asheville culture, alternative culture, and counter culture (oh yeah!) that has drawn artists, witches, writers, chefs, musicians, dancers to these parts. Want to dress like a zombie every day of the week and read your poetry out loud to crowds in the park? Move to Asheville.

Asheville is the place in the South where we live the way we want to and it ain't just on weekends, kids. Asheville is Southern coolsville every day of the week. Oh, and the way we want to live is to have a bookstore exactly like Malaprop's. Whatever you're into, Malaprop's can dig it and has been for a couple decades now. Get yourself there right away. Giddy up.

Oh oh oh, be sure to check out the awesome Caroline Green (the YA goddess at Malaprop's)in my addendum post above. She sings!

Meanwhile, if you want to get Jungian on all things spiritual and philosophical, Asheville has just the bookstore for you, ACCENT ON BOOKS. From Jesus to ghosts to earth religions and back again, Accent on Books can find the perfect read to advance your own self-enlightenment and pair you up with some entertaining contemporary fiction, too.

My favorite "down the road a bit" independent bookstore is HIGHLAND BOOKS in Brevard, North Carolina. They have all the reads to make the scene and an incredible array of crafts and handmade jewelry, too. Oh, and they are mere inches away from Looking Glass Falls -- one of the best waterfalls in all South.

Dead Rules on the Locker of Awesome

2011-05-18T19:51:00.005-04:00

Dead Rules buttons have made their way to San Diego. I think they managed it by rolling on their sides and avoiding heavy traffic.

YA librarian blogger extraordinare Perla sent me a px of her locker at the Imperial Beach Library today. I had to share. :-)

Perla manages the incredible YA lit website IB Teen Blog, which is always worth a read. Please go there right away if you want to know what's cool in Young Adult fiction!

If you would like a Dead Rules button of your own, click on the form at my giveaway pages here: Randy Russell, Dead Rules and I'll get one right to you (while supplies last).

A High School Reader's Fan Notes

2011-05-05T10:26:00.010-04:00

High school sophomore Felecia Johnson just read an early copy of Dead Rules and sent me an email. Felecia took Sarah Andersen's "Young Adult Lit" course at Clio (Michigan) High School last trimester. See Sarah's super cool teaching-Y.A. webpage here: Y.A. Love.

Excerpts (with permission) from Felecia's comments: "Dead Rules is an awesome book. I love love love love love it. Once I picked it up, I could not put it down. How'd you come up with the plot? Wow, it was amazing. :) I'm like Team Sliders... if that makes sense. The Sliders are more... interesting, and I can relate to them... sorta... personally."

I learned earlier this week that Dead Rules received a STARRED Kirkus Review! I'll link it here once it's available online. Or you can read it on my Dead Rules Reviews page. You cannot believe how happy that made me. Yet, it made me even happier to hear from Felecia.

Because she enjoyed the book, for one. Because my protagonist is a female high school student, for another. Because Kirkus Book Reviews are written by adults and they don't really let YA authors know whether teens will like a book or not. And because I am sorta Team Sliders, too.

Short version: Sliders are the bad kids in Dead School (the setting I created in Dead Rules). It tickles me to no end that a reader is rooting for them. Me, too. And, face it, I was one. Maybe still am.

Thank you, Felecia! And thank you, Sarah Andersen, for providing your students with current Young Adult titles to read!

Authors for Japan: Signed Dead Rules arc Snags $329!

2011-03-15T11:42:00.005-04:00

I happily added a donation to the Authors for Japen auction to aid the tsunami relief effort. Here's the listing: Dead Rules by Randy Russell.

Update! I'm thrilled to share the results of what turned out to be an exciting auction to benefit Japan. The signed advanced reviewed copy of Dead Rules was won with a high bid of $329! (204 British pounds.)

The winner and I are already working together to brainstorm her current writing project and to develop a sharp synopsis and tagline for same. It's great fun! She has an absolutely terrific novel in mind and has begun writing. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Junior Library Guild Selection

2011-02-05T08:15:00.002-05:00

I just found out that Dead Rules is a summer Junior Library Guild "High Interest" selection.

It's kinda cool to see a new synposis of the book. I don't know how they get them this short. I sure can't. :-)

"When a fatal bowling accident sends Jana to Dead School, a limbo for teens, she’s determined to reunite with her living boyfriend. No matter what it takes."

Trust me, DEAD RULES is a lot more fun than limbo.

The Junior Library Guild also lists these "sensitive" areas: Strong language; Violence; Strong sexual themes; Underage drinking. Recommended for High School readers.

First High School Reader Review of Dead Rules

2011-01-26T21:25:00.005-05:00

Dead Rules recently received its first review by a high school reader. So cool to know that a few teens are receiving the book early as advanced review copies. Kreag's first review of an ARC turns out to be my first High School review of Dead Rules.

Excerpts from the review by Kreag, at Kreag's YA Chronicles:

"(Dead Rules) is the first ARC book I read from the first package of ARCs I ever received. I really wanted to read them in order of release date, this being the last to be released of the books I received. But, one day, I picked it up, curious just to know a little of what was going on. So I checked out the first page. And then I found myself on page fifty. I couldn't stop.

"It was completely original and it was a whole new take on the Paranormal Romance genre. I loved it…

"I loved the characters in (Dead Rules). Some of them you start out hating and end up loving, and some you start out loving but end up hating. But that's a good thing! I really liked all the dead kids that Jana becomes friends with, and I loved hearing about each of their stories. I really liked the way the story switched to the scene of their death when they were telling their story, so it was like you were with them…

"I couldn't put the book down. So, put this on your to-be-read list, because it is not to be overlooked!"

Randy Russell's Introduction to Rext Stout

2010-12-09T11:17:00.002-05:00

Ever done something and then forgotten about it entirely?

Someone asked me if this Bantam paperback Introduction was written by me. Uh, yes. But I don't remember what I said... I think I called Nero Wolfe a laboratory head in a jar. Funny I never got any hate mail for that. Like, you know, Rex Stout needs an intrduction in the first place. :-)

Beatrice! by fantabulous artist Joëlle Jones

2010-11-26T11:03:00.006-05:00

Joëlle Jones, the comic book and graphic novel artist, found time to sketch a character from DEAD RULES for me.

Beatrice and I are honored and delighted. And, while everyone in Dead School is a little blue, Beatrice is pretty happy to see herself through Joëlle Jones' exceptionally talented hand!

Want to see some really fabulous comics art?

Visit Joëlle's web page by clicking here: Joëlle Jones.

& please keep in mind that the image(s) above cannot be used in any way, including re-posting on line, without the written permission of the artist. Thanks!

You may have seen Joëlle's original Oni Press graphic novel 12 Reasons Why I Love Her, produced in collaboration with writer Jamie S. Rich. Their most recent team effort, the hardboiled crime graphic novel You Have Killed Me, was published by Oni in July 2009. Currently, Joëlle is hard at work on a Dr. Horrible comic written by Zack Whedon for Dark Horse Comics and two issues of Madame Xanadu with Matt Wagner and David Hahn for Vertigo.

Yo ho ho ho! Celebration songs, Anyone?

2010-09-05T10:49:00.016-04:00

Kool and the Gang maybe... What's you favorite Celebration Song? Send me a link in the comments (I'll scroll copy it - don't worry about making it link) and I'll put it up this month.

Why celebrate? Uh, why not?

Oh, I have signed new representation for my little lucky self and the Dead Rules kids. I am now represented by the wonderful literary agent Merrilee Heifetz and her talented assistant Jennifer Escott at Writers House. Y ése es no caca de vaca nada.

¡O sí, esto es bueno!

Make that: Muy bueno todo el tiempo y muy muy muy....

I owe one very special thank you to the unsinkable Stephanie MacLean for introducing me and my work to Merrilee and Jennifer. Gracias el último posible máximo, Stefani!

P.S. If you don't send me a celebration song. I'll just keep putting my own up. Hay te guacho, cucaracho.

1. Here's one from Julia Karr, author of XVI, (because I love GREASE) and have just enough room for it. :-) Youtube has disabled embedding this one, so click here: Celebrate The One That I Want.

And since this dandy celebration song will embed, I'm adding it:

It's a Jungle Out There - Take Notes, 2

2010-09-02T10:17:00.001-04:00

Canteen, pith helmet, bug repellant, gun = Diary, journal, memoir, notebook.

Taking notes of your own life is an act of writer survival. The jungle of emotion, of achievement and failure, that is high school becomes a life-long fascination for most American adults. We all were there.

Some writers are there now. A quick glance at some of the touchstone work of American authors reveals masterwork novels:

SUMMER OF ’42,
THE OUTSIDERS,
THE LAST PICTURE SHOW,
CARRIE,

and movies AMERICAN GRAFFITI, REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, BOYZ N THE HOOD, PRETTY IN PINK, CLUELESS, BREAKFAST CLUB, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, HEATHERS, BRICK, RUSHMORE… well, the list is endless.

What do these outstanding works of fiction, whether originally as breakthrough novels or as stand-alone movies, have in common? They were written by adults.

Meanwhile, a large number of talented young writers in junior high and high school are ignoring the jungle all around them to imagine more fantastic and/or paranormal fictional settings. No argument that these settings and scenarios of created worlds hold magic for all of us. But, so does high school. And so does junior high. The real ones.

How old do you have to be to have written CATCHER IN THE RYE or TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD? How many foreign countries and major American cities would you have to have visited to have written RISKY BUSINESS or FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF or AMERICAN PIE?

There is a novel in every high school.

There is a novel in every last year of junior high.

Is anyone who is actually there writing one? I wish more young American writers would give it a try. Even if you throw in a sparkly Vampire or shapeshifter now and then.

The best works about high school, though, are just that: stories about high school. If you choose not to write about high school or junior high now, about the summers between class years, at least take notes. Trust me, you’ll need them later.

And, if you’re thinking about being published in hardcover while you’re still a teenager, don’t overlook Kody Keplinger’s wonderful high school novel THE D.U.F.F.

Next?

2010-08-31T09:03:00.003-04:00

See book cover.

See book cover now.

Run, book cover, run.

In case you might think I am making this up, click here:

Randy Russell did not make this up.

And, yeah, I kind of want it, too.

Vonnegut: "Don't use semi-colons"

2010-08-30T18:33:00.002-04:00

Kurt Vonnegut's advice to young writers.

It's a Jungle Out There - Take Notes

2010-08-10T20:55:00.008-04:00

Some people think creative writing is look out the window and writing down what you see. It's not really, unless you're writing about a person looking out the window and writing down what she sees.

Writers need to go outdoors to get it right sometimes. Sometimes creative writing is about making it real instead of making it up from... thin... air.

Plein Aire artists go outside and paint what they see while they are seeing it.

The 1948 oil painting at left is of a Georgia graveyard at night by George Ayers Cress, in its original frame. Although Cress lived in Georgia at the time of the painting, he soon moved to Chattanooga Tenn and made a name for himself as an artist there.

I was lucky enough to snag this painting at an auction a few years ago. I collect ghosts, so this is a perfect piece for the guest room. Sweet dreams and all that.

What I like most about the painting is that George Cress was in that graveyard at night to capture the moonlight through the trees, the tilt of the old gravestone, the moss drapery of the Southern tree limbs.

He found his own way of seeing it, his own viewpoint for painting it, his own limit of view for framing it... and those incredible night colors are all his. Painters have voice, too.

My favorite writing reminds me from time to time that the world of the story is real. Good writers lean how to do that by getting out in the world and touching it. Listening to it. I was writing about two young girls who live in a parked car summer nights. It's their perpetual slumber party. They watch the world happen from that car all summer long.

But until I was looking at George's 1948 oil painting of a graveyard today, I'd forgotten that one of the doors on that old car squeaks, like a cat screeching, when you open and close it.

Sometimes writers need to get out in the jungle more often and touch stuff.

DEAD RULES optioned! Hollywood Boogie!

2010-07-23T09:40:00.005-04:00

A major Hollywood propduction company has optioned the movie/TV rigts to DEAD RULES.

I am happy enough to dance all weekend.

Ancient History of Being a Teen 1

2010-07-20T12:33:00.003-04:00

A Date with Woody.

Who Do You Write Like?

2010-07-14T12:32:00.000-04:00

I write like
Chuck Palahniuk

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Everything You Need to Know About Being a Writer

2010-07-05T04:07:00.003-04:00

Thank you, Maureen Johnson.

A Beautiful Capacity to Love - Ruta Sepetys

2010-06-26T08:23:00.008-04:00

Once in a long while, the absolute best of Young Adult literature comes along.

Ruta Sepetys discusses her upcoming novel, Between Shades of Gray from Penguin Young Readers Group on Vimeo.

You may watch this video in a larger format by clicking here:
Between Shades of Gray.

Psst. Ruta wrote a guest post for this blog back in April. Click here: Ruta Sepetys. I am so lucky. :-)

DEAD RULES #1 - The New Girl

2010-06-14T20:41:00.009-04:00

It's bigger and MUCH prettier at youtube.

Click here: Randy Russell.Teen Ghosts.

A big thank you to Madison Meyer, M2 Productions!

DEAD RULES #2 - Dangerous Love

2010-05-20T07:23:00.015-04:00

It's bigger and MUCH prettier at youtube.

Click here: Randy Russell.Teen Ghosts.

A big thank you to Madison Meyer, M2 Productions!

Teen Voice: THE FOUR L's - Ruta Sepetys

2010-04-17T10:11:00.009-04:00

Nashville author Ruta Sepetys debut Young Adult historical novel, BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY, will be published in Spring 2011 (Philomel/Penguin).

Winner of an SCWBI work-in-progress award, Ruta’s novel features a courageous 15-year-old protagonist, Lina Vilkas, a Lithuanian who is arrested by the Soviet Secret Police and deported to Siberia with her mother and younger brother. Her father is sentenced to death in a Soviet prison camp.

Between 1940 and 1953, Stalinist Russia imprisoned and deported more than 300,000 Lithuanians. They were shipped in cattle cars across Europe and into Asia to die in the forests of Siberia. Ruta’s family members were among them.

In BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY, Lina Vilkas struggles to survive, to retain her dignity and to keep from losing all faith in mankind. So that the world may know and to honor her family and the thousands like hers, Lina writes her story, which she buries in a jar.

You may discover more about this exciting new author by clicking: Ruta Sepetys . Or by clicking here: BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY .

Ruta is an incredibly talented writer (and reader!) and I am absolutely delighted she is has agreed to provide a guest post here on Writing Teen Voice.

And let me tell you, I love Ruta’s Four L’s and have found this post one of the most helpful yet in thinking about my own writing. Thank you, Ruta!

Writing Teen Voice: The Four L’s

by Ruta Sepetys

In reading young adult novels I’ve found that voice often falls into one of the four “L’s”:

• Leader
• Loser
• Laugher
• Loner

All four “L’s” can make for a distinct and compelling voice. Below is the loose association of the “L” to the voice and main character:

Leader. Voice has a commanding presence. Main character has a strong internal compass or is popular.

Loser, Voice is succinct or terse. Main character has low self-esteem or is ridiculed by peers.

Laugher. Voice is snappy or humorous. Main character is self-effacing but may be hiding true emotion or using humor to cope.

Loner. Voice is introspective and sometimes poetic. Main character is an observer and often feels misunderstood.

When I read a YA novel I’m always curious how the voice relates to the author’s personal experience as a youth and teen.

For example, let’s say a certain writer (I’m not mentioning any names but maybe her initials are RS) had a big fat wart on her face as a child that caused a lot of ridicule. Perhaps she uses humor to band-aid her trampled heart. She writes with the voice of a Laugher and identifies with characters who are a bit broken or humiliated.

So my question for you writers is: Does your voice reflect your experience as a teen or do you write from a perspective outside of your personal experience? Perhaps you were a Loner in school but now you write from the perspective of a Leader?

Do you fall into any of the “L” categories above? Are you a combination of a couple? Or are you a category all your own?

WRITING TEEN VOICE - MEDEIA SHARIF

2010-03-13T09:34:00.008-05:00

American-born Kurdish author Medeia Sharif currently writes multicultural YA fiction from her home in Miami Beach.

Her first YA novel, THE BESTEST RAMADAN EVER, will see publication by Flux, Summer 2011.

You can find out much more about Medeia’s about humorous and honest approach to writing fiction by visiting her website, http://sharifwrites.com/

In THE BESTEST RAMADAN EVER, fifteen-year-old Almira, besides falling love with the same boy her best friend has a huge crush on, is fasting for Ramadan for the first time while her grandfather, who knocks down mailboxes when parking, is teaching her to drive.

Meanwhile, Almira is busy ducking a new enemy in the catty fellow-Muslim Shakira.

Sounds like your normal teenage week to me. :-)     Medeia was kind enough to share her strategies for creating Teen Voice in this guest post.

                      Writing Teen Voice
                        By Medeia Sharif

I’ve made the mistake of making the teenage voice sound overly mature in my earlier drafts of YA fiction. I had to remind myself that I was writing teen characters for teens.

My own grown-up voice cannot function in this arena. So here are some strategies that I use to create and maintain a teenage voice in my manuscripts.

1. I observe teens whenever I’m out and about. The way they dress, talk, shop, text, speak, write…I take note of everything.

2. I read things written by teens. There are blogs, Myspace pages, Twitter accounts, and other available text that I can learn from. Their voice seeps into what they write.

So when I’m working on a scene that has text messaging, instant messaging or journal entries, I have a good idea of how a teenager writes.

3. This isn’t always fun, but I think back to my own teenage years. Teenagers today may have different slang, fashion trends and forms of expression, but some things don’t change over time. I channel the awkwardness, melodrama, and self-consciousness and use it in my writing.

4. When I revise and edit, I ask myself if a teenager would think and speak in the way portrayed in my manuscript. If the answer is no, I cut and rewrite. I even read my work out loud to make sure it sounds teen.

LOSING YOUR AMNESIA - Shawn Goodman

2010-03-07T08:11:00.007-05:00

Ithaca NY author Shawn Goodman, shown here with his daughter Ella, is the Winner of the prestigious 28th Annual Delacorte Press Contest for a First Young Adult Novel. His blue-ribbon novel, SOMETHING LIKE HOPE will see publication Spring 2011.

You can find out more about Shawn by clicking: SHAWN GOODMAN.

In SOMETHING LIKE HOPE, 17-year-old Shavonne finds herself in a juvenile lockup hundreds of miles from home. She wants to turn her life around before her eighteenth birthday, but her problems seem too big, and time is running out.

As both a talented author of a book about troubled teens and as a real-life psychologist in a girls’ juvenile justice facility, Shawn contributes a unique and intriguing take on Writing Teen Voice.

Losing Your Amnesia
By Shawn Goodman

There's the usual advice about writing teen voice: spend a lot of time around kids, listen to how they talk, etc. Although this sounds sensible enough, there are risks: stilted language, corny dialogue, outdated slang, cliches that don't fit or make sense. Mimicry gone bad.

Of course, you can always write about teen issues like drugs, or pregnancy, or whatever, provided that you have the skill and self-awareness to avoid moralizing or teaching.

It’s best to just tell a good story or capture a strong or unique voice.

How? I think it has something to do with anamnesis, P.K.D.'s word for "the loss of amnesia."

Applied to YA fiction it means that, as adults, we've forgotten what it's like to be an adolescent. Sure, we remember the snapshot moments or the intensely emotional ones. But the truth or magic is really in the small things, like Holden Caulfield's concern over the fate of the ducks. Or the kid in MILKWEED who hunts through the dead city to find a pickled egg for his sad mute friend (in the end he finds just a pickle and an egg - but it's good enough).

Or Vern Tessio's declaration that cherry Pez is the perfect food.

Or the cigarette burns in the vinyl bucket seats of Jeff Riscioli's '73 Camaro (as a dedicated member of the punk scene, Jeff dotted the glowing end of a Marlboro in the shape of an anarchy symbol, then crashed into a dumpster in the Twin Fair parking lot).

The point is that we all have these images and stories; we've just become cut off from them.

In the process of growing up and assuming jobs, and kids, and minivans with fold-down seats, and thirty-year mortgages on split-level three-bedroom ranches, we forget. But it doesn't have to be tragic; we can simply lose our amnesia. How? I don't know. Listen to a song from when you were in high school, like Just One Kiss, by the Violent Femmes.

Say out loud the name of your partner in Biology lab (Jennifer Renkens, a pretty blonde who fainted at the sight of her own blood during the blood-typing unit).

Recall your first car ('59 VW Microbus, bought at Angelo Bomasuto's' father's hot dog stand for $700). Remember the knock-down fist-fight in which you got your ass kicked by Rob Radloff, pummeled, really, on the Washington Avenue train tracks. Remember how he was later hit and killed by a train on those very tracks in your senior year.

Picture your prom date (the same Jennifer who fainted in Biology lab).

In truth, remember whatever you want, whatever you can. What matters is that you get better at this thing of remembering the small things, the details, the half-feelings.

Close your eyes and hear the music. Feel the rhythm of how you and your friends talked. Because that rhythm - the flow, the cadence, the back and forth of whispers in class, and insults in the cafeteria, the laughing and shouting - is what it's all about.

That's how you lose your amnesia.

WRITING TEEN VOICE - Kathy McCullough

2010-03-03T21:44:00.009-05:00

The decidedly talented and generous Kathy McCullough, author of DELANEY COLLINS, F.G. (Random House 2011) has graciously allowed her main character to contribute a guest post to my blog on Writing Teen Voice.

You can learn more about this debut YA author by clicking: Kathy McCullough.

Delaney herself will he happy to tell you more about being a Fairy Godmother at her own on-line blog. To drop by, click Delaney Collins, F.G.

Writing Teen Voice
By Delaney Collins, F.G.

Randy asked me to come up with a guest post about how to write in the “teen voice.” Um, okaaaay.

I’m a teenager – what other kind of voice would I write in?!

But I get it. There’re some authors who’re old but can sound young, and some who’re old and try to sound young and just end up sounding like they’re faking it. And since I like to tell people what to do, especially adults – and especially when adults actually want to hear what I have to say (which is not nearly enough of the time), I’ll give you my opinion on how to be the first kind of writer, and not the second.

To begin with, weren’t you all teenagers once??? I mean, come on. You may be old, but it can’t have been so long ago that you’ve totally forgotten. If you’re anything like the adults I know, you’re always saying stuff like “when I was your age,” which means you do remember.

So think back. Try to relive, in your mind, what it was like. How you thought and felt. Dig up your old journals, diaries, letters, and personal essays from school, if you still have them, and read them. That’s stuff you can use.

I remember my mom once played me this old tape she and her friends made in high school.

They interviewed each other and talked about who they had crushes on and who they hated and which teachers were "adorable" and what their favorite everything was (color, TV show, LP). It was kind of hilariously lame, but even though they did it like a million years ago, they still sounded scarily like kids I know now. The words they used might’ve been different, but how they felt (ecstatic, embarrassed, annoyed) and how intense their feelings came across – that was truth.

Because, you know, teenagers really feel things.

I don’t mean to offend you or anything, and if I do, sorry, but there’s no “Oh, I don’t take it personally,” “I’ve learned to just let it go,” “I take a breath and then move past it” for us.

We might act like we don’t care, or try to be “good little girls and boys,” but it’s not how we really feel, and how a teenage character feels needs to come across in your story, because that’s the voice.

When we’re angry, we’re not “miffed” or “a bit bothered.” We’re nuclear-meltdown-level-pissed-off. And when we’re happy, it’s like we’ve inhaled some sort of bliss-inducing no-side-effects drug that gets us so high we’re literally skirting along the edge of heaven.

Try hanging around some real teenagers, and listen, especially if you don’t have the old journals or can only sort of remember what it was like. Listen close. You’ll get it.

You can try to pick up some grammar and slang too if you want, but if it feels like you’re forcing it when you write it, it’ll read that way, so don’t do it. And don’t worry about it. I read lots of books where the main character might sound sometimes like they’re a few years older and maybe more “sophisticated” than most of the brainless kids at school, but if what they feel seems real to me, then I am in. I relate. I care what happens to them.

I could go on and on, but my ghostwriter Kathy McCullough says I have to wrap it up. (I hope Randy likes the “ghost” reference.) She also wants me to end with a list, in case anybody spaced out during my rant, so here it is:

How to Write in a Teen Voice, according to Delaney Collins, F.G.:

1) Read through old diaries and letters from when you were a teenager and try to remember you. Go there.

2) Hang around teenagers to get a sense of how they talk today. But if it’s not working when you write it, don’t stress about it.

3) Instead, hang around teenagers to help you remember how teenagers feel.

4) How they feel is this: intense, extreme, raw, pure, real – the exact definition of whatever emotion is flipped to “on.”

5) Be yourself – but your teen self. Put your writer self in the head of your character.

6) I just thought of this, so I’m adding it now: read book blogs written by teens. There’s like a zillion of them, and it’s just as good or maybe better than spying on kids (because you won’t be mistaken for some creepy stalker). If you need some blog sites to get started, email me.

AT: delaney@delaneycollinsfg.com

Something about DELANEY COLLINS, F.G.

2010-03-03T08:10:00.031-05:00

One thing about Delaney Collins, F.G., this girl likes to talk. (And I like to listen).

Another thing, most Fairy Godmothers have hobbies.

Live and learn, huh? Delaney didn't get to mention hers in the above post on Writing Teen Voice.

I just love what she's doing, so I asked her to share it here.

"I like to get old boots from thrift stores and redesign them," she confessed.

Shown here are sketches of a just few pairs she's made, or plans to make (once she gets the cash to buy more boots).

Forget glass slippers.

Nobody wears those any more.

To see more of Delaney's incredible boot designs, click
Delaney Collins Boots.

P.S. I certainly do like the ghost reference in Delaney Collins' guest post above.

Then again, there's not much about Delaney that I don't like.

Novelist Kathy McCullough is the creator of Delaney Collins, F.G. (Random House 2011). Drop by her website by clicking Kathy McCullough.

If you're like me and would like to hear more about Delaney Collins and how she became a Fairy Godmother at such a young age, she'll tell you all about it herself. Visit Delaney's life by clicking Delaney Collins, F.G.

You won't regret it. Who knows, you may even get your wish.

WRITING TEEN VOICE - MEGAN BOSTIC

2010-02-28T07:46:00.011-05:00

Megan Bostic’s young adult novel LOCKDOWN was recently selected to move to the next round by the judges of the 2010 Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award contest.

Congratulations, Megan!

Megan Bostic is also the creator of a series of popular videos that chronicle the daily struggles and trimuphs of the writing life.

To view one of Megan's videos from the
Chronicles of an Apsiring Writer, please click    HERE.

                   Writing Teen Voice
                        By Megan Bostic.

One of the biggest challenges for me in writing is authenticity. I began re-reading the first YA book I ever wrote, about a thirteen-year-old, and saying to myself, No thirteen year old would ever say that.

It helps that my daughter is now thirteen, and if I can’t picture her saying it, it gets cut.

She’s been helpful to have around these days. She was reading my latest book, LOCKDOWN, and she laughed. Considering that the book is about a school shooting and not funny in the slightest, I asked, “What are you laughing at?”

She had read this passage:

Through the blood, and tears, and muck, I began to recognize faces. Tammy, Keisha, Tyler, the band kids. Thank God. I searched the group for Cameron; I couldn’t wait to kiss his handsome face.

She said, “Handsome? No one would say that.”

Er. So then I had to pick her brain for a better word. You can only say “hot” so many times in a manuscript in my opinion. We settled on “gorgeous” and moved on.

In my book MENDING FENCES, I write in the POV of a 17-year-old boy. Very challenging. Even though my character is highly intelligent, and kind of an old soul, I still had to be careful not to add too much description and to make sure he didn’t sound too feminine. Probably the hardest voice I’ve written thus far.

Here’s a short excerpt:

I grab a shoebox that’s been sitting in my closet. It held the new pair of green Converse high tops my mom bought me before the school year started. Cool shoes.

Originally my character, Austin, goes on and on about the shoes, how much he loved them, how he was excited to get them. Now, they’re just cool. I could probably even take out the words “green” and “high tops” as well and it would be fine.

If teens feel you’re either talking above them or below them, they get turned off, or in my daughter’s case, they laugh at you.

I think the important thing about getting a teen voice right is to talk to teens. Listen to how they speak, what words they use, their slang. Have them read your manuscript and give their opinion on the language.

Nothing like getting a rejection letter that says your main character is too precocious, or sounds too old for their age. Get it right before sending it out to the world.

NOVEL CONTESTS -- A TOUCH OF MAGIC

2010-02-27T08:35:00.009-05:00

About a month ago, I invited two talented YA novelists, who have yet to see their first books published, to guest post on "Writing Teen Voice." Both agreed to participate. That made me very happy.

Each of the writers had entered book manuscripts in the 2010 Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Contest. Ultimately, the winner of the contest in the YA and Adult novel categories will receive publication by Penguin. Many other authors who manage to become finalists will be published as a result of having written wonderful manuscripts.

Making the cut is tough. Just two days ago, the YA and Adult category entrants who made the critical second-round selection in the 2010 ABNA were announced. And I am so tickled to tell you that both visiting "Writing Teen Voice" novelists made the cut!

The guest post by Tracy Walshaw, PAPER TIGERS, appears below. Or you may click on the "Writing High School" articles list name at the lower right side of this blog page (just below the adorable adoptable pet photo) to read her guest blog.

I'll be putting up the guest post by Megan Bostic, LOCKDOWN, later today.

I just wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS to both novelists. And to thank them publicly for being so generous to guest post at my blog. THANK YOU!

WRITING TEEN VOICE - CARRIE HARRIS

2010-02-19T19:56:00.011-05:00

Michigan-based YA author Carrie Harris will see the release of her first novel, NO PAIN, NO BRAIN, by Delacorte Press, Summer 2011.

In Carrie’s exciting and charming hand, the Undead have never been so alive.

I know something about Carrie that I bet you don’t:    She fell off a cliff.

Carrie managed this spectacular feat while taking a Wilderness Rescue Course… learning how to save people who fall off cliffs.

Then she got her book published. In that order. Cause and effect? I’m not saying.

You can visit Carrie’s delightful writerly blog HERE. Drop by. Uh, but not from a cliff’s edge.

                Writing Teen Voice
                        By Carrie Harris

My best advice for someone who's trying to write teen voice is pretty simple: Stop trying so hard!

Teen voice isn't about the latest gadgets or the most up-to-date slang, and honestly? By the time your book is on the shelf, your cutting edge gadgets will be obsolete and the slang will be sooo yesterday.

It's not about run on sentences, or, like, a healthy sprinkling of, like, the word "like." A good teen voice can integrate any or all of these elements, but if you take them away, it'll still be good. Like, really.

So how do you write good teen voice?

Unfortunately, I don't think it can be reduced to a series of tips or list of check boxes. It can't be taught. There's a simple reason for this: All teens are not the same.

There's the good girl, the band geek, the quarterback and prom queen. There are chess nerds and drama nerds and computer nerds, and even within these groups there's a huge amount of variance.

I've met teens who are more mature than most 30-year-olds I know, and some that seem to be permanently stuck at age seven.

What it comes down to for me is less finding a teen voice and more finding my character's voice. That voice is certainly informed by the environment, the character's experiences, and so on, and these things are strongly influenced by age. I think that as long as your voice is consistent with the character's background, it will ring true regardless of age.

Wow. Don't I sound like I know what I'm talking about? I feel all kewl now.

2 TECH or NOT 2 TECH - Maurissa Guibord

2010-02-17T08:55:00.012-05:00

Maine author Maurissa Guibord will see her first YA novel, WARPED, published by Delacorte Press, Spring 2011, in which a young girl releases a Unicorn from its bondage within an antique tapestry by pulling on a silver thread.

That is, if it’s a Unicorn at all.

Drop by Maurissa’s website by clicking HERE.

Writing Teen - To Tech or Not to Tech?
By Maurissa Guiford.

The great thing about writing a teen character is that inside, I’m still a teen.

All the pains and thrills and drama are in there. The laughs and the friendships are all there. And the emotional stuff, the character stuff that’s universal to all of us, that’s there too.

So what’s the problem?

The problem is that the world changes.

One of the biggest challenges for me as a writer is keeping current with technology.

Will my character text, skype, tweet, ichat, blog, vlog or otherwise trip the ether fantastic? Probably not convincingly. Not only am I not as familiar with such things as, say, your average 9-year-old, I don’t like their obsolete-by-the-time-ink-dries little gadgets cluttering up my story.

Since these things change so quickly, how can they not date your story hopelessly?

My solution thus far has been pretty simple. In WARPED, my main character has too many other-worldly, scary and romantic things happening to have time to text about it. And her boyfriend’s from the sixteenth century. He’s just getting used to zippers. Nuff said?

For my current novel-in-progress, I have found another solution. My main character is on an island and has lost her cell phone in the Atlantic by Chapter 3.

So my advice, for whatever age writer you may be, is to write what you know. Write about the journey that we all share to find ourselves, our dreams and desires.

As for the rest? Make it up. Or drop it in the sea.

WRITING TEEN - TRACY WALSHAW

2010-02-13T09:04:00.009-05:00

Tracy Walshaw recently entered her first Young Adult novel, PAPER TIGERS, in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest.

In PAPER TIGERS, Tracy’s young protagonist discovers a secret portal into a world of adventures.

Writing Teen
By Tracy Walshaw

PAPER TIGERS is the story of Rigby Johnson, a nearly fourteen-year-old whose father, Ben, passed away just days before Rigby sees her mother climbing out from the cabinet under the kitchen sink. Worried the only responsible adult in the house has lost her mind, Rigby confronts her mom.

What her mother tells Rigby defies logic, which takes the storyline from tragedy to adventure, appealing to a tween and teen base alike.

Teens have things to do. A book goes beneath piles of Aeropostale hoodies if we don’t keep their attention. I decided I needed two things to keep teens reading: lots of action and a strong lead voice.

Most of PAPER TIGERS is told in first-person by Rigby, who knows nothing of the secrets in her father’s past. [ Excerpt: ]

I was still on my knees and Jude was on his bottom, and we looked at each other. I’ve never wished a dog could talk before, but at that moment I think I would have sold blood to have it be so.

With her father actions as a teenager being key to the story, I switched to third-person for these critical back-story scenes. [ Excerpt: ]

Ben took each step down the stairs slowly. Reverently, even. This was the biggest of birthdays. Never had he felt the electricity in the house more than on this night. This was the birthday to end all birthdays. Okay, not end. Ben hoped it would only surpass the others. And that he’d live through it with minimal discomfort and embarrassment.

My writing seems geared towards tragedy that makes the main character find hope. I have a very strong faith in God which has been a thread running through each novel I’ve written. It’s also strengthened me during my own recent tragedy, the death of my husband. We’d been together since high school and have four children. Three boys, ages 11, 17 and 20 and a girl, 7.

I’m lucky enough to have my children love my company for the most part and want me to be in the middle of their conversations, to watch while they play their X-Box, and look at their text messages from friends. Because of this, I have a front row seat to the authentic young reader, and to ’tween and teen voice.

The love of reading among teens isn’t limited to games and phone texting altogether. Just last night, I told my 17 year old that I’d ordered some old paperbacks on-line. I mentioned that one was S.E. Hinton’s THE OUTSIDERS. My son smiled big and said, “Mom, that is my absolute favorite book ever.”

This is why I write.

WRITING TEEN VOICE - EILEEN COOK

2010-02-12T09:43:00.011-05:00

Having spent most of her teen years wishing she were someone else or somewhere else, Eileen Cook is the author of WHAT WOULD EMMA DO? and the highly anticipated GETTING REVENGE ON LAUREN WOOD (Simon Pulse, January 2010).

Click on the book title above to read sample pages at amazon.com. Or click HERE to visit Eileen’s webpage.

If you thought there was only one take on writing teen voice, better put your seatbelt on.

How I Write Teen Voice
By Eileen Cook

Heck if I know. I didn’t set out to write for teens.

I don’t think choosing to write young adult is different than choosing to write any other genre.

We don’t ask mystery writers how they found their “mystery voice” or sci-fi writers how they channel their inner alien. Why would we assume it’s different for YA?

It just turned out that the story I wanted to tell fell into this genre.

As the writer you have to respect your reader.

You have to love the genre you’re writing in and find yourself reading as much of it as you can.

I grew up reading Judy Blume books and still secretly harbor a fantasy where she asks me to hang out with her talking books and drinking margaritas. Some of her books are 30 years old, but they still resonate with readers. It’s not because she has the latest slang, but because the emotions of characters ring true.

We still feel the sting of rejection, the desire to connect with our friends, the passion of first love, the fear of not fitting in and frustration of being stuck between being a child and an adult.

If you’re focused on the core of your story, the details will fall in place. When your book is done then you have the chance to get teen feedback. They’ll tell you that no one uses the term dork and that your musical references are a few decades out of date. Those are the easy fixes.

My advice is not to worry about the YA voice and focus on the story you feel a passion to tell. The good news is that it isn’t the teen voice that matters; it’s your voice. Happy writing.

READING - ESCAPE INTO A NEW WORLD

2010-02-11T12:22:00.004-05:00

I took a short break from Writing Teen Voice to put up this wonderful photograph Robin Graf Prehn took of her daughter reading in a box.

The charm of Robin's young daughter climbing into a box to read speaks volumes to me of the work we do to create new worlds for readers. It also reminds me of the youngest years of my life when I would hide under, behind, and inside of almost anything!, to feel the security of my own created world.

Does this photo remind anyone else of the reading or writing of new worlds to dwell within?

WRITING TEEN VOICE - STEPH BOWE

2010-02-10T06:45:00.013-05:00

The incredible Steph Bowe is a 16-year-old Australian YA author.

Her as yet untitled debut novel – a story about love, loss and garden gnomes – is being published in America by Egmont USA in Summer 2011, and in Australia by Text Publishing in September 2010.

You're invited to visit her blog:
Hey! Teenager of the Year. (Click on it.)

Writing Teen Voice
By Steph Bowe

Writing an authentic teen voice comes naturally to me. I am, after all, a teenager. I have teenage friends. I watch movies and TV, read books and magazines, and visit websites all geared towards teenagers. I write in the same way I think. Realistic dialogue is easy, since I hear so many teenagers having conversations on a regular basis.

But what if you’re an adult? What if your dialogue or the thoughts of your main character are too ‘old’?

Do you just insert a bunch of ‘whatever’s and ‘like’s into your novel, and SHAZAM we have realistic teenage characters?

Well, yes and no. Here are some tips.

Do’s:

• Listen to teenagers speak. You should already be good at eavesdropping, if you’re a good writer. Listen to your children, nieces or nephews, friends’ kids, relatives, neighbours, people sitting in a restaurant. Write down teenage conversation. Notice words they use, where conversation pauses, the dynamics among a group of friends. You’ll gradually develop an idea of the way teenagers speak.

• Read and watch things meant for teenagers. Read great YA novels, and think about what makes the teenagers in it authentic. Watch movies and TV shows geared towards teenagers (try Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries on TV, watch movies like Mean Girls, etc. Of course it will vary based on genre, but look for things that are popular among teenagers). Read teen girl magazines, as they are an invaluable resource when it comes to what’s popular (but adding references to popular singers, movies, etc. will probably date your novel. So just look at these things for research purposes).

• Read it out loud. Ask yourself, would this be a realistic way for these characters to speak? Would they use these words? Consider reading dialogues aloud with someone else, like practicing lines for a play. Ask another person – a reader, a writer, a teenager – whether they think the dialogue lacks believability.

Don’ts:

• Don't make your dialogue too realistic. While we want the dialogues our characters to be realistic enough that they could occur in real life, we need to get to the point. Teenagers swear a lot more than is necessary in a novel, and there are a lot more ums and ahs than would make satisfying fictitious dialogue. Find that point between realism and a satisfying book.

• Don’t use slang, unless relevant. Using slang usually comes across as false and forced.

• Don’t try to get it perfect on the first try. Writing is rewriting, dialogue and voice included.

WRITING BOYS' TEEN VOICE - Gae Polisner

2010-02-07T08:42:00.011-05:00

Gae Polisner is the exciting new author of THE PULL OF GRAVITY (Farrar Straus and Giroux), a Frances Foster Book for Young Readers, Spring 2011.

Gae noted that “I have written since I was little. Then I went to law school and thought I wanted to be a hotshot lawyer, until the writing pulled me back again.”

Writing Teen Voice by Gae Polisner

When writing teen voice, I have first learned to listen to how teens talk. I constantly check in with my sons and their friends regarding ‘teen speak.’

In a draft of my manuscript of THE PULL OF GRAVITY, I had the kids referring to their friend’s deadbeat dad as a dirtbag. Who doesn’t know the term dirtbag? Suddenly, in a fit of self doubt, I asked my son what he would call a guy who ditches his family, pays no child support, etc. A dirtbag, right? I asked.

He stared blankly at me. Never heard of it, he answered. I had to try ten words before settling on lowlife, a term he had apparently heard.

The other thing I keep in mind is that when kids think and speak, they have a no-holds-barred honesty. Teen boys, especially, rarely mince words. Even when they should. I have 11- and 14-year-old sons. Trust me, I know this first hand.

Brutal honesty is a hallmark in writing authentic young adult voices.

And then there is the endless editing and restraint that must be exercised. Again, especially when writing boys. Boys may have a long, detailed exposition in their heads, but when it comes out in words (or on paper) it’s usually little more than a grunt.

I recently edited a friend’s manuscript for her, the main character being a 17-year old boy. As he watched a girl he liked sleep, the thoughts in his head were along the lines of, “I watched her sleep, her long, blonde hair splayed across her pillow, her soft lips red and heart-shaped. She was beautiful…”

In providing feedback, I wrote, “Take everything out except, ‘I watched her sleep. She was beautiful,’ and even the ‘she was beautiful,’ can probably come out.”

The point is, teen boys are especially limited with both their descriptive thoughts in their own head, and their expressed emotions. Even if they feel it – or, god forbid, think it – they don’t readily communicate it.

[ Please see Part II of Gae’s guest post for additional examples of Writing Teen Voice. ]

WRITING TEEN VOICE II- GAE POLISNER

2010-02-07T07:23:00.008-05:00

In Gae Polisner’s 2011 debut YA novel, THE PULL OF GRAVITY, main character Nick Gardner and Jaycee Amato, a girl who has newly befriended him, engage in a bit of Teen Voice dialogue below. Jaycee has invited Nick to her stepdad’s gaudy mansion where they now play shuffleboard in the backyard.

Notice that the narrator is Nick himself.

This first-person approach requires a highly skilled writer and places the entire book in Teen Voice. Gae also uses present-tense. A further challenge for the adept writer, present-tense infuses both action and voice with a strong sense of immediacy.

Excerpt, PULL OF GRAVITY
by Gae Polisner.

We walk to the courts, and I sit on a bench on the sidelines. “Okay, Gardner, blue or red?” She clangs the disk carrier down next to me.

“Blue.” I gather my four and head to the far side of the court.

I beat her two games to one without a single word about The Scoot being mentioned, before I demand we stop and sit again, so she can fill me in. Besides, it’s starting to get dark. As if on cue, the lights surrounding the court switch on.

“Did you do that?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “Sensors. Timers. Thousands of dollars of essential, recreational electricity.”

“Right,” I laugh.

“So, you didn’t tell me you were a ringer.” She sits next to me, so close that her knee touches mine. I can’t stop looking at it there. I shove my hands in my pockets, and she pulls her hood up and her sleeves down over her fingers and shivers. It’s officially fall. You can feel the sudden chill in the air.

Up close like this in the bright, artificial lights, I can see Jaycee’s eyes and something I hadn’t noticed before. Her right eye has a pale gold ring around it, between the pupil and the ice blue iris, so that her eyes appear two different colors.

“Weird, I know,” she says, winking the left eye shut, and then the right one. “They’re totally different depending on the light.” I turn bright red. I didn’t know she’d feel me staring.

“They’re cool.” I pick at a spot on my jeans. “I just never saw ones like that before.”

TEX-MEX TEEN VOICE - Bettina Restrepo

2010-02-04T08:46:00.010-05:00

Fourteen-year-old Nora, an illegal Mexican immigrant searches for her missing father, while living under the radar, in Bettina Restrepo’s debut YA novel, ILLEGAL (Harper Collins, 2011). Bettina is also the author of the picture book, Moose and Magpie (Sylvan Dell Publishing, 2009).

You can visit Bettina at her website by clicking HERE ,and see what she’s working on now.

Writing for Teens.
By Bettina Restrepo.

Writing for teens is where I am as a writer, not something I aspire to be. Characters drive the stories I write, so I listen to their voice. The voice tells me what they are doing, how they will dress, and what they see in the world.

I write about things that are still on my mind from over twenty years ago. But, when I address the issue – the character gets to relive it in all their glory. They get to right the wrong. They get to go down in flames from turning the wrong corner. They get to fall in love and then decide when it’s over. I love that my characters hold the power, even though they don’t know it.

I have been criticized for lack of physical character description in my writing. It’s one of the last things I put into my book. I believe the teen reader is incredibly smart, and still holds onto the spark of imagination that seems to vanish with adulthood. I want my reader to become the person in the book. If I bombard them with physical descriptions, it’s like I rob them of the full immersion into the story.

It’s just my little way of saying, “You can be anyone you want.”

Here are my simple writing rules:

1. It’s all about the character and their growth.

2. The character must solve their own problem in their own way. They can seek help, but the solution must be organically their own decision.

3. When in doubt, refer to rule #1.

WRITING TEEN VOICE - AMY HOLDER

2010-02-01T20:35:00.013-05:00

Amy Holder wrote her first chapter book (62 pages) in third grade. Her debut Young Adult novel, The Lipstick Laws, will be published by Graphia (Hougton Mifflin Harcourt) in Spring 2011.

Amy was kind enough to reference my ghost lore background in her guest post. You can visit here blog HERE. And check out her website (currenly under construction) HERE.

Séance Your Inner Teen.
By Amy Holder.

While writing THE LIPSTICK LAWS, I found it helpful to turn off the lights, light some candles, sit cross-legged, and hum methodically to summon my inner teen...

In all reality, writing an authentic teen voice can be hard... especially for adults who've gladly moved on from the dilemmas of adolescence. However, everyone can travel back to the sometimes harrowing memories of peer pressure, teen crushes, insecurities, first kisses, wanting to fit in, breakups, first jobs, jammed lockers, being asked (or not asked) to the prom, and the social hierarchies that went along with high school.

The enduring emotions connected to teenage years are oftentimes so heightened, that the teenage boy or girl wanting so desperately to find his or her place in the world is most likely still lurking somewhere inside of you.

The best advice I can give about writing a teenage voice is to find that lurking teenager and bring him or her to the surface of your current emotions.

Let your keyboard magically transform you into that band geek, prom queen, BFF, wannabe, shy wallflower, star quarterback, new kid, bully, heart-breaker, teacher's pet, or whomever your authentic teenage self was.... and let those raw emotions flow from your fingertips onto the page or computer screen in front of you.

I urge you to remember the highs and lows of that period of time in your life. And once you're writing from a place of true emotion, you'll avoid the common mistake many writers make when writing for teens - writing what they think others want to read, rather than writing authentically.

Teens are smart, and they can spot a fraud from miles away.

WRITING TEEN VOICE - KATHLEEN DUEY

2010-01-31T11:49:00.009-05:00

Kathleen Duey is the author of more than 70 books for K-YA. Her most recent titles are in her series: American Diaries, Survival!, and Hoofbeats.

Dark, atypical fantasy is her new love. Her first YA novel, Skin Hunger, was a 2007 National Book Award finalist. Sacred Scars, the second book in the trilogy was released in August. She is currently working on the final book in the trilogy. You may visit her blog by clicking HERE.

Sometimes writing short says a lot. The incredibly awesome Kathleen Duey was kind enough to post a comment on Writing Teen Voice. Her commentary deserves front page treatment on my humble blog. So I am placing it here:

"I write for several age groups and love the internal-time-machine experience.

"Teens are loyal, certain, acutely aware of injustice. When there are revolutions, teens are generally in the front lines.

"And yes, rooms full of adults intimidate me. People with real jobs--!"

Thank you, Kathleen!

WRITING HIGH SCHOOL - TEEN VOICE

2010-01-30T09:56:00.008-05:00

Comments on my last post asked about writing Teen Voice. I'm going to ask a couple friends who also write Young Adult novels to talk about this topic here in the next few days.

My friend Kathy McCullough, author of DELANEY COLLINS, F.G. [Random House, 2011.], is an absolute master of writing teen voice. In fact, her title character has her own website and blog that you can visit HERE.

F.G. stands for Fairy Godmother, of course. You want teen voice by someone who knows what she's doing, Delaney takes the cake. [She'll probably decorate it in ways you couldn't imagine, but she takes the cake!]

What I consider when I write high school isn't so much teen voice as it is teen thought, teen troubles, teen concerns, and (because I do story) teen actions and reactions.

The one great thing about writing high school is that we were all there at a most impressionable time of our lives. Like Vonnegut said, everything you need to know about life you learned in high school.

The thing I remember most about high school (and still envy) is the incredible sense of loyalty we felt among our friends. BFF meant something. No one bailed. Listen, I would have died for the guys I ran around with. Seriously.

Now that I think about it, I almost did once or twice.

P.S. Okay I was only shot at once and it really wasn't Joe Crawford's fault. Well, kinda.

WRITING HIGH SCHOOL

2010-01-29T05:57:00.003-05:00

The new me is writing high school.

And ghosts, of course. Well, dead people anyway. I've been waiting for the signed contracts to arrive at my agent's office to announce the deal. I forget how PW does this, but it goes something like:

DEAD SCHOOL, a fantastic debut Young Adult novel (Okay, okay, I added the fantastic ) by Randy Russell, acquired by Erica Sussman of Harper/Collins for Summer 2011 release as a HarperTeen imprint hardcover, through Stephanie MacLean, Trident Media Group.

DEAD SCHOOL is my working title. Luck of the world, a new Marvel Comics series will come out in a few months under that title and off I'll go looking for a new one. :-)

HAPPY NEW YEAR - with MUSIC

2009-12-31T22:38:00.014-05:00

Just a quick break from my revisions (work) hiatus to wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR with music!

Please do click on the word "music" above to link to some WONDERFUL songs I have been using to write by.

Courtesy of mediabistro.com/galleycat columnist Jason Boog, who was kind enough to include my favorite music clips in a Dec. 31 article on music for writers.

Thank you, Jason.

From the Library: CATCHING A GHOST

2009-11-20T19:51:00.004-05:00

Legends of Volcanoes is a charming 1916 Arts & Crafts binding of one of W. D. Westervelt's rarer titles. Westervelt translated many of the original ghost stories of Hawaii from the native language of the Kingdom.

Any W.D. Westervelt's titles are worth reading if you want to know how traditional ghost stories in America begin. The collection in Legends of Volcanoes includes a story of catching a ghost.

Catching a ghost is not an an uncommon theme in Native American cultures. It reminds me of the Cherokee story of Spearfinger. Apparently a lost art, ghost catching is a rare motif in European folklore.

MUSICAL MESSENGER GHOST (in the Aires)

2009-11-10T07:17:00.000-05:00

The image reminds me of the Music of the Spheres. This, in turn, reminds me to relate the Burlington, North Carolina musical messenger ghost encounter I heard recently.

A man in his forties sat alone at the back of the small library auditorium where I was sharing true ghost experiences just before Halloween this year. Many people in the audience joined in the conversation, sharing family stories, and we ran about 45 minutes beyond our schedule for the gathering.

Dave waited silently, patiently. He waited until everyone was gone. Over the years, I have learned that when adult males attend my little ghost events alone, they (usually) want to talk to me. Dave said he was raised in a musical family. His parents, aunts and uncles, siblings and cousins, all performed music publicly as regularly as most people eat supper.

The oddity among his family, David never took to music. Or vice versa. He could pick a little guitar, but it never really interested him and he had set it aside, he said, for many years. When his mother died, he got out his guitar and decided to learn to play her favorite song.

The song was difficult for Dave. He got most of it down, but there was one part of that song he just couldn't get right. He would go to bed at night with the guitar propped in the corner of bedroom. And the next day, every day, he would try again. Dave wanted to play the entire piece of music from beginning to end as a tribute to his mother.

I sat across from Dave in a folding chair as he told me the rest of his story.

One night, he said, he dreamed his mother. In this dream, his mother showed him how to pick the portion of the song he couldn't get right. She showed him how to move his fingers on the frets to get the licks moving smoothly from chord to chord. The next day, Dave played the song smoothly from start to finish.

"I never told anyone this," he said. "I was wondering, though, do you think that was her ghost in my dream?"

I smiled and winked.

I won't argue the point with people, but in my heart this certainly is a true ghost experience. I also like the idea his departed mother was listening to him practice that piece of music.

Having heard dozens of examples of recently deceased loved ones appearing in dreams with real life messages, I consider these "sleep" encounters as direct communication with the dead. And that's a ghost to me. I told Dave the same thing and asked if he had his guitar in his car.

"Nope," he said. "I never took to music, really."

He could only play one song.

GONE FOR WEEK - SEE ME IN OKLAHOMA

2009-11-02T08:43:00.000-05:00

I'll be talking ghosts Friday and Saturday at the Red Dirt Literary Festival in the Sooner State, where I was born and went to high school.

I'll also find time to visit my favorite graveyard. It's a small hidden meadow on tribal land near Quapaw. The exsiting graves are simple coffin hollows (depressions in the ground) now, but they are special in other ways.

"Breathing" pipes extend from underground into the air at each gave site.

My Vote: BEST HALLOWEEN COSTUME 2009

2009-10-31T11:22:00.000-04:00

A vampire chihuahua at right! (I think he’s named Edward.)

Cricket Messenger Ghost for Halloween

2009-10-30T09:44:00.001-04:00

Just in time for Halloween, I heard a wonderful ghost experience from an audience member at the May Memorial Library in Burlington, North Carolina, last week.

It was the true story of a Ghost Cricket. No kidding.

I was talking about the ways people experience ghosts, you know, by seeing one, hearing one, feeling an icy presence on the stairs... There are even ghosts you can smell.

I also had spoken about the number of times people have told me they dreamed a ghost of a recently-passed loved one who, in the dream, tells them where something (often money) is hidden.

When they get up the next day, they look in this dream-revealed location and that something (again, often money) is found. Apparently, it troubles people to no end when they die and forget to tell a loved one where to find the rainy-day cash that was hidden away.

Because I have heard explicit examples of this type of ghost visit, I advise people when they do see a ghost to be sure to ask it where the money is.

And up popped a hand from the seats in Burlington followed by the woman's story of a cricket ghost that appeared in her life.

A cricket shows up (well, the sound of a cricket) following the death of a woman's father. She has been staying in her father's house through the last days of his final illness.

The woman follows the cricket chirps all through the house for a period of three days. There's just one circket chriping, but it leads her over the span of time throughout the house.

Finally, she isolates the circket in her father's bedroom. Having drawn her there, the circket is no longer heard in other rooms of the house.

On the second day, the cricket only starts chirping when she enters his room. She leaves the bedroom and goes back. Each time she opens the door, the cricket starts chriping.

No matter where she stands in the room, though, she can't quite tell where the chirps are coming from. Until the third day.

One the third day, the cricket is clearly chriping away inside the dresser. Once she approaches the dresser, it shuts up. She opens and closes each dresser drawer in sequence. When she opens the fourth drawer, the circket chirps.

She takes all the socks and underwear out of the drawer. No cricket. But when she closes the empty drawer, the cricket starts up again. So she removes the drawer from the dresser and sets it on the bed next to the items of clothing.

The empty drawer starts chirping. Frustrated and thinking she might be going nuts, the lady finally turns the drawer upside down. And, you guessed it, there's the cricket. She reaches for it and it jumps away.

"I saw it, then it just left," she told me. "It just wasn't there any longer."

But something else was.

A cardstock business-size envelope had been taped to the bottom of the drawer. Inside, the woman finds a certain number [I won't say the amount here for privacy's sake] of hundred-dollar bills.

Over the course of several weeks, no other money was found while clearing out her father's estate. Oh, and the cricket that "wasn't there any longer" was never heard chriping inside the house again.

TRUE GHOSTS in Burlington, North Carolina

2009-10-19T08:31:00.001-04:00

I will be sharing true ghost experiences this weekend:

2 p.m Sat., Oct. 24
May Memorial Library
Burlington, N.C.

Ghost Cats of the South & Ghost Dogs of the South will be available. But I'm much more interested in hearing ghost experiences than I am in selling a books.

What's NOT a Ghost - And What Is

2009-10-12T12:55:00.001-04:00

First of all, the kid in the sheet is not a ghost.

Still, it's a cute photo. And the outfit being worn is likely most tantalizing to bears in the vicinity. They love it when you can't see them coming.

Things that are told to me as ghost encounters that I get VERY unexcited about are cached photos of orbs.

1. At least 99.99% of the photos of orbs taken by digital cameras are NOT ghosts. That's just an opinion, mind you. But, I really, truly never want to see another orb photo.

Until one talks to me, I remain unconvinced that digital-camera produced orbs have anything to do with ghosts.

Maybe when someone gets a photo of an orb wearing a hat or eating a piece of pizza, you can sign me up as faithful follower of the Orbitists. Until then....

2. Okay, I think it is really nifty when people find things they lost. The fact that I looked for something right there and didn't see it, then looked right there again and find it, does NOT mean a ghost was hiding it from me.

Because people do have near-death experiences, I will accept that near-ghost experiences occur. Perhaps they occur with some frequency. Sometimes when you are alone you have the eerie feeling someone is watching you. Except when someone is (now that's scary), you might be experiencing a ghost.

When you wake up in the morning in a house all by yourself and you hear someone whispering your name over and over again this could very truly be a ghost experience. I know a young woman who moved out of her ground-floor college apartment after two weeks of experiencing this ghostly whispering of her name. An old house near UNC-Asheville had been divided into two apartments downstairs.

She said she felt as if she were being softly touched... that it was this touching that woke her and then she heard the voice. She had never experienced anything similar before moving in or after leaving the apartment. She told me that even driving on the street where the old house is located still fills her with a sense of ominous dread.

Do you believe this is a true ghost experience? I do.

When it comes to ghosts, seeing is sometimes believing. But, believe me, you don't have to see a ghost to encounter a ghost. The ghost only has to see you.

13 TYPES OF GHOSTS

2009-10-05T07:48:00.000-04:00

This is pretty basic stuff. Ghosts tend to be defined by

A.) what they are up to now

and by B.) how they died.

I would add by C.) how they are experienced or encountered by the living.

I have very detailed stories (collected from the people who experienced them) of each.

Let’s go with A.) for now. Ghost Types by What They Are Up To.

1. Stuck Ghosts. Going about their normal routine as if alive. These ghosts seem to get stuck in the real world somehow.

Some are stuck in their favorite earth places. I hear story after story of kitchen ghosts. They just like being there. I also hear of ghosts attached to a particular piece of furniture (watch out for rocking chairs, Lay-Z Boy recliners, and beds!) and small objects, including jewelry.

2. Dying-Again Ghosts. Over and over and over again. Popular, as an idea anyway, on ghost tours.

3. Searching Ghosts. They're looking for something and aren't going away until they find it.

4. Comfort Ghosts. Relatives and loved ones who drop by to let you know that everything is okay and it is time for you to quit grieving.

5. Protecting-You or Warning-You Ghosts. A ghost who appears to keep a wandering child safe from the cliff's edge is an example.

6. Mean Ghosts. They just want attention and don't care how they get it.

7. Sad Ghosts. These ghosts are stuck in re-living their most sorrowful moments in life. You hear them weeping. Oh, and weeping... and weeping some more.

8. Message Ghosts. They have a message for you, specifically for you. Often a relative. They tell you where money is hidden, for example.

9. Messenger Ghosts. They have a message for you. But the message is from someone else, usually dead. Really rare, these courier ghosts are absolutely scream-scary when the messenger is a stranger ghost.

10. Explaining Ghost. This ghost wants someone, anyone, to know what really happened.

Even from this general list, you can see that there are two very basic types of ghosts that people experience:

1. Ghosts who are stuck where they are.

2. Ghosts who go away.

As I hear people tell me of their own ghost encounters, my first division as to type is between ghosts of people you know and ghosts of strangers.

11. Ghost Animals. They fit almost all of the above and include beloved family-member dogs and cats, but also horses and, yes, even cows. I have heard of two first-person encounters with bovine boo-critters.

12. Animal Ghosts. These are people ghosts using the form of an animal to visit you. Common as a comfort ghost, as well. You run across a talking dog, it may not be the dog who is doing the talking.

13. Finally, experiences of God, angels, faeries, cognition of living people in dire straights far away, etc. seem to share some phenomena with ghost experiences. They are different and I don't include them in my own catalog of first-person ghost encounters.

Some people like to say spirits are not tied to earth, ghosts are. I personally think there's a little more overlap than that. I accept that ghosts might make a visit in your dreams (what others would call spirit encounters).

BASIC TYPES OF GHOSTS

2009-10-02T19:24:00.000-04:00

In any number of ways ghosts can be divided into basic types.

There are two basic ways of experiencing a ghost:

1. Ghosts you see.

2. Ghosts who see you.

In ways an individual might become a ghost, there are basically two types again:

1. Ghosts who are ghosts on purpose.

2. Ghosts who are ghosts by accident.

Another old book of True Ghost Stories!

2009-10-01T19:26:00.001-04:00

From Wikipedia: John Kendrick Bangs (1862-1922), an American author and satirist, and the creator of modern Bangsian fantasy, the school of fantasy writing that sets the plot wholly or partially in the afterlife.

I found this little hardcover in a used-books shop and was taken by the color illustration on the black cover, as much as by the title. I knew nothing about this author (who was for some years the editor of Puck).

A bit of synchronicity here, because my new novel (which recently sold to a New York publisher and will be released in 2011) follows in the Bangsian tradition. That makes me a Bangsian.

I had no idea. I just thought I was writing in a fictional arena where I have done lots of research. Ghosts.

Oh, and that other arena. High school is as good a place as any to play dead for a few years.

Before I get too excited about finding Bangs's book as a named historical literary affirmation of my own work, I should point out that he also authored a book called The Idiot.

I might be working in that tradition, as well. Gulp.

DO GHOSTS FLOAT?

2009-09-26T12:31:00.000-04:00

Unhappy or improper burials are known to create ghosts, some of whom are very active and some who just seem to wait around their burial place hoping for help.

Cranky ghosts often result from a person being buried in a crummy manner.

And Sometimes from a proper grave being disturbed.

And sometimes from never being buried at all.

I wonder whether people who drown, and are unlucky enough to never have their remains recovered, become underwater ghosts. This may account for the occasional sighting of a mermaid on a moonlit night.

A resultant ghost from an improper burial is one of the most common of all types of hauntings. Seems like every time a person gets sealed inside a wall, you end up with a ghost in the house.

Not all improper burials are accidental or the result of someone hoping to hide a death from the world. There are reasons aside from accident and secrecy for some improper burials. It is a known historical practice to bury the body of someone believed to be evil in a purposefully improper manner.

Those poor folks thought to be witches or believed to be in league with the devil were purposefully buried face-down. This was to keep their remains from digging their way to the surface should their bodies experience post mortem animation. Should they try to claw their way out of the grave, they end up going in the wrong direction.

When a death sentence was not sufficient punishment for a convicted criminal, some communities would see to it that the remains of the executed were interred at a busy crossroads. In this manner, the ghost of the dead might not experience rest in the afterlife.

There was such a case discovered in a community north of Chattanooga and documented by the Tennessee Folklore Society. The remains of the body of a woman was uncovered at a dirt crossroads as the road was being dug for widening and paved surfacing by the WPA in the late 1930s. The skeleton was complete with a wooden stake through the rib bones and the body had been interred face-down.

I wrote about this strange case in The Granny Curse. From time to time on a rainy day here in the mountains, a day like today, I wonder what other secrets rural crossroads might be holding beneath the surface.

As the Asheville area flooded earlier this week, I couldn’t help but also wonder whether ghosts float. If they do, they could end up about anywhere. They could end up tangled in the branches of a tree. If they don't, I wouldn't want to go swimming just anywhere.

Always Close the Gate

2009-09-14T09:32:00.000-04:00

Ghosts, it seems, cannot navigate through a chain-link fence.

Don't Leave the Dead Outdoors

2009-09-10T07:58:00.001-04:00

One way to create a ghost. Leaving dead people lying about outside often results in their getting up and walking away.

GHOSTS IN THE MAIL - With Applause!

2009-08-19T17:43:00.000-04:00

I am fascinated by Mary's account of ghost applause in Virginia. She was kind enough to send this along to me and allow me to post her original telling of the encounter. Thanks, Mary!

>>Randy,

When I met you at "City Lights" bookstore in Sylva, I promised to tell about my experiences when staying in a plantation house in Clarke County, Virginia. In brief,this is what occurred.

I spent 3 nights and parts of 4 days in one of the many plantation houses to be found in Clarke County. The first 2 nights, I awoke to a sensation of extreme cold (the infamous "cold spot".)

The 3rd night I was awakened by what sounded like applause, not in my room, but in the front of the house where the drawing room and dining room/ball room are located.

One afternoon, while standing in the entry hall, I heard what sounded like people talking. I knew I was alone in the house, but nevertheless I turned around. Of course there was nothing to be seen, but the sounds were real.

Perhaps the applause and the voices were connected in some way - a house party of some sort?! None of these caused me any alarm, but there was one further event that did.

I had been visiting friends, and returned after dark. I made my way towards my room, turning off lights as I went. I was in the entry hall, and looked up into the darkness of the stairwell above. It seemed as though there was something decidedly unpleasant/malevolent up there.

There was no way on earth I would have gone up those stairs, and fortunately I didn't have to!

If you have any further questions I would be happy to try to answer them for you. I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation, and your book "Ghost Cats of the South."
Sincerely, Mary T.>>

Dog Dance!

2009-08-08T12:50:00.001-04:00

This wonderful pooch is Walker. But, you know, Walker would rather dance.

Alive and HAPPY... and Just a Little Wet

2009-08-07T05:29:00.000-04:00

Recently I spent five minutes on the phone trying to breathe while simultaneously peeing my pants. My agent called to tell me a publisher has made an offer for my novel of mostly dead people.

The contract is being negotiated by people who know how to do that. I don't want to jinx anything, so I'm waiting a bit to say anything more.

Needless to say, I am as excited as all get out. :-)

This is the most positive turn of events imaginable for anyone who sits alone day after day and week after week and, yes, month after month, writing a book-length work of fiction on the mere hope that someone some day might read it.

Still Alive - But No One Else Is

2009-08-07T05:01:00.000-04:00

My dogs think I am blind. This is because I get up early to write. Very early. The house is dark. I don't live alone. I step on the dogs.

In the dark, I knock over lamps. A bit of irony here, I think. Then I tumble across the floor in my underwear with an upholstered recliner in my arms. And somehow I manage to turn on the coffee.

I keep thinking, if I close one eye and leave the other one open, that I can see in the dark. I can't.

It might be 2:30 in the morning. It might be 3. Once I get the coffee on, I have had a successful day.

I took off a few months from most other activity to write a novel. Sadly, "most other activity" included doing this blog. The book is done now. And it is off to see the world (please, do not open books in the dark -- they don't like it when you do).

All the characters who matter in this novel are dead. What can I say? I do ghosts.

Speaking of having a successful day, the manuscript (is it really a manuscript when it circulates as a digital file?) of mostly dead people recently found a quick and lasting friendship with a wonderful agent, who has my ghosts now. I am very happy about that.

GHOSTS in OKLAHOMA

2009-07-16T08:56:00.000-04:00

I am so pleased to have been asked to present at the 2009 Red Dirt Book Festival in Shawnee, Oklahoma, in November. I just received a few of the posters and aren't they gorgeous?

If you are in the area, be sure to drop by the festival. Send me an e-mail if you have a ghost experience to share and I'm sure we can find a few minutes to talk.

Ghost Cats of the South, Ghost Dogs of the South update. I now have two ghost cow encounters added to the canon of first-person ghost experiences I have collected. One in Tennessee and one in South Carolina.

Not just "Boo Ghosts" now, we also need be leery of things that go Moo in the middle of the night.

2009-06-24T08:51:00.000-04:00

My posts have been few because I have been very busy getting up early to write a new book. I finished it and that's fun to do.

Someone who emails me regularly asked my why I write. She thought a writer must have something to say or something to share with the world. That isn't me. I write to learn.

Until you do it, it is hard to understand just how much a writer learns about life and people and plants and the sky and... love... and... by writing it. Sometimes I think a book writes me. Truly.

It seems like the book was already there and it is telling me stuff, new stuff -- new people, new places, new dreams, new everything. The book tells me what it is and I just write it down and try to spell it right. Sometimes I do.

And this new book was so much fun to learn that I couldn't stay away from it. The characters kept whispering they had more to do and more to say and more to teach me. I even killed some of the characters and they still had things to do and say. In fact, almost every character in this book was dead when the book started.

I learned so much writing this novel that I am currently calling it Dead School.

The one thing I didn't learn was what to do next. Maybe I'll go back to school soon and see if another book is waiting to tell itself to me.

Until then, I'm going to hike around the yard with my dogs and see where the best shade is. You come too?

GHOSTS & THE GRAVELY ILL

2009-05-09T07:12:00.000-04:00

When people are on their death beds they tend to experience ghosts. Most of these experiences are dismissed by others as delusions.

Maybe. Maybe not.

One of the most touching aspects of the nature of dogs and cats is their readiness to provide comfort to, and keep company with, the ill.

And the dying....

And, let's admit it, the recently deceased. Cats and dogs interact with the dead for months and even years after the bodies have been interred. Examples abound.

This is true among their own species and, clearly, among those of other species a dog or a cat may have adopted as family. You, for instance.

It is common for me to hear of a family pet, either dog or cat, continuing to interact with a family member who has passed away. In households who have more than one pet, this is also true when one of their four-legged life companions experience death. I could list dozens of examples I have heard from people who were party to such ghost sensitivity from their family's animals.

I have used examples I have heard as detail and background for stories in both Ghost Dogs of the South and Ghost Cats of the South.

There is another death-bed sort of a ghost I have heard from people who have experienced it. It is a ghost I call The Unknown Comforter. I'll provide a recent true life example in my next blog post.

Hunting the American Witch of Folklore

2009-05-03T07:49:00.001-04:00

As I continue to skulk about collecting antique images of witches and witchcraft of American folklore, I came upon this stunning circa-1910 reproduced painting of the Witches of Harz Mountain (Germany). I have added this antique postcard to the collection as a comparison to American folklore witches.

Hell hounds, pitchforks, bat wings, flying pigs! These are so much more frightening images of witches than found at the same time in American produced images of our supposedly scary Halloween witches.

Many of the German traditions were transplanted in American folklore. The close association of witches with Satan, happily, has not made the transition to the American psyche. Even with our history of having put people to death as witches in Salem Massachusetts, Americans tend to keep our evil witches and Satan apart.

In American folklore, individuals tend to tangle with Satan on his lonesome own. In the South, we out-fiddle him, for one thing.

Still, it is striking to compare our "scary witch" traditonal image to that of Germany's. Copied below, and printed for popular consumption at about the same time as the above Harz Mountain witches, is the American image of a witch in flight on her broom (here depicted as being a Salem Massachusetts witch).

Maybe in America, we prefer happier witches. Even though we killed a bunch of people once for being bewitched.

GHOST CATS IN DURHAM - The Band!

2009-04-28T17:31:00.000-04:00

Many thanks to Zachary Corsa for the honor of having a terrific hot band in Durham North Carolina named after the book!

Ghost Cats of the South is now a band. And Zachary was generous enough to mention the book of the same name on the band's website. Check out the link under websites over in the right column.

Here's how Zach describes the group: "We play a folky alternative country/indie style of music, six of us (guitar, bass, keys, drums, cello, violin), and have begun to gig locally as well as other areas in the state. The name is of course an homage to a book I greatly enjoyed."

Cello! Is this too much fun or what?

P.S. I borrowed the art above form the band's website. You should drop by over there and give their samples an ear. These cats are cookin!

GHOST CATS AWARD FINALIST

2009-02-27T04:22:00.000-05:00

From Barbara Gatewood, Chairperson, 2009 Darrell Awards Jury:

I am pleased to announce that "Eat-Your-Face Cat" as it appears in Ghost Cats of the South, by Randy Russell, is one of four finalists for a 2009 Darrell Award for best short fiction.

The awards will be presented at 27th Annual MidSouthCon on March 21, 2009.

The Con this year is at Whispering Woods Hotel and Conference Center, Olive Branch, Mississippi.

The Darrell Awards are given in memory of Dr. Darrell C. Richardson. His books include Max Brand: The Man and His Work, and three volumes of The Edgar Rice Burroughs Library of Illustration.

FRIDAY THE 13TH - ACCENT ON BOOKS - ASHEVILLE

2009-02-10T11:18:00.000-05:00

I am so happy to be dropping by for a ghost story exchange at my favorite little bookstore in Asheville! My favorite local witch, Byron Ballard, promised to be there, too.

We'll gather at 6 p.m., Friday, February 13, at Accent on Books. 854 Merrimon Avenue, North Asheville, NC 28804. 828-252-6255. For locals, think "Woodfin." :-)

Apologies for the "press release" copied below (for those of you who are tired of seeing my current title Ghost Cats of the South appear on this page time and time again). I was doing Q&A during a live chat festival Sunday night, sponsored by one of the large cat hobbyist websites, and folks wanted to drop by the blog to see what my ghost kitty book was all about.

Ghost Cats of the South press release

2009-02-07T08:08:00.000-05:00

(Written by the editorial staff of John F Blair, Publisher):

You may have heard about Oscar, the cat that makes rounds in a Rhode Island nursing home, just like the doctors. When Oscar senses an elderly resident is near death, he curls up in bed with that person. Sure enough, within a few hours, the resident is gone. Oscar has proven so accurate over the years that staff members now call residents’ families when the cat begins his vigils, to give them advance notice of their loved ones’ deaths.

Don’t believe it? Oscar was written up in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2007.

Randy Russell, a student of cat behavior, is hardly surprised by Oscar. Give Russell half a chance and he’ll tell you about cats that can sit in women’s laps and detect that they’re pregnant, cats that can sense the earliest hints of sickness on your breath, cats that can tell you’re hungry five minutes before you realize it yourself.
The makers of Meow Mix recently placed ten homeless felines in a storefront window in New York City and asked passersby to vote the cats one by one out of the “house.” As with any good promotional gimmick, the contest had a catch—the kitties voted out were placed in permanent homes.

Randy Russell can go Meow Mix one better. He’ll tell you about the stone cottage in the mountain town of Sylva, North Carolina, where the delicious smells of baking attracted countless stray cats over the years. Every Halloween, cats would line up on the porch and select the trick-or-treaters with whom they wanted to live. When those lucky children arrived home and examined their treats, they discovered that the kindly old lady in the stone cottage had made them each a special cat cookie that exactly matched the cats that had chosen them, right down to the color of the fur.

Like the Meow Mix promotion, Russell’s tale has a catch—the kindly old lady in the stone cottage was a witch.

In addition to being a student of cat behavior, Russell is a mutli-published author of Southern States folklore, with a special interest in ghosts. For more than a decade, he has lead an annual week-long Ghost Seminar for the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

“Sadly overlooked in published folklore are people’s encounters with the ghosts of past family members of the four-legged variety,” Russell says. “Conversely, visits from departed pets are easily the most common ghost experiences I hear when people share their real-life encounters with me. And cats refuse to be left out of most anything.”

During his travels across the South, Russell has heard tales of a ghost cat who digs for buried treasure on the beach, a ghost cat who fell into a vat of boiling mash and became part of a batch of meowing moonshine, a ghost cat who helps a truck driver rescue a pair of accident victims in an overturned car. Some ghostly cats are devoted enough to help bereaved parents deal with loss. Others are vicious enough to return in the afterlife to take vengeance on cat-killing lawyers and philanderers.
Not wanting such rich folk tales to be lost, Russell has collected them in a new volume called Ghost Cats of the South, a companion to his highly successful Ghost Dogs of the South.

“For me, being asked if I believe in ghosts is the same as being asked if I believe in mountains,” Russell says. “Yes, of course I do. They’re right there."

As for first-person experiences of ghostly cats, Russell has found them highly unpredictable. “Ghost cats, like cats themselves, don’t always behave the way we would want them to,” he says. “But cats are their own reward, of course. Just ask one.”

Kitty Sings to Dead Girl

2009-02-07T07:58:00.000-05:00

While in Newberry, South Carolina I was taken aside and told about a family cat in the local household of a mother who had just lost a young daughter to a fatal illness. The cat and girl had been constant companions throughout the young girl's short life.

The mother told me when she brought her daughter's ashes home, the cat fawned over the urn. It stood on its hind legs and batted at the air above it as if playing with something that was there. And then the cat began to mew and sing as it played.

The cat still does it. The mother thinks the cat is talking to the deceased daughter. I wouldn't disagree. Maybe it's quirky of me, but I like to think the daughter may be talking back. I see no harm in that.

Ghost Cats of the South, by Randy Russell. Have you seen a Ghost?

The Halloween Witch

2009-01-28T19:20:00.000-05:00

This painting has come to be the classic image of the American Halloween witch. The copy shown here was published in 1903 and is truer to the original art than most later copies I have seen. Like the predecessor from 1864 below, it was published as a representation of a witch at (over) Salem Massachusetts in 1692.

By the turn of the century, the Halloween witch in America has moved far toward a rather merry, if not down right mirthful image of witchcraft.

Witches and Ghosts

2009-01-25T08:39:00.000-05:00

I am delighted to have recently acquired this original 1864 American image of a witch. Published as an historical “view” from 1690 Salem Mass, the depiction of a flying witch in this image says much more about Americans’ idea of a witch at the time of the War Between the States than it speaks of anything Cotton Mather might have had in mind in pre-Colonial America.

In each of my four books based on Appalachian and Southern States folklore, I have included a few stories of witches and witchcraft. I do not believe that witches are ghosts, of course. But the folklore of the witch in American life accepts the idea that witches communicate with and sometimes control people and animals who dwell in the spirit world. Or vice versa.

The 1864 depiction of an American witch includes a very traditional Victorian idealized image of children. Are they being abducted or rescued?

Two important things to notice here:

1. One is the depiction of human flight in 1864. There were no airplanes in 1864. It is interesting to me that the broom is business-end forward and it appears to propel itself in flight, with the witch holding on for the ride. The witch is not so much “riding” the broom as she is being dragged through the sky holding on for dear life.

In short, the broom could fly. The witch, not so much. In early Appalachian folklore of the American witch, witches fly all by themselves. They do so by covering their naked bodies with grease and, in two 19th-Century accounts I have read, by slipping up the chimney and into the sky with the smoke from a fireplace.

I don’t know if this idea of greasy witches is a concept of witchcraft, though. It seems to have more to do with the concept of aviation that a greased human body can slide through sky.

Also note the flowing robes of the witch herself. This would change into a cloak or a cape in later American images of witches in flight. Another fifty years later, this cape would be borrowed by the artists and writers who created American super heroes such as Superman and Batman. Witches were there first.

Ghosts, by the way, don't need a silly cape or cloak to fly. They don't need brooms to ride. Casper gets around real well on his lonesome.

Witches and Horses.

2. In the upper right corner of this 1864 witch scene, a flying horse is hidden in (or emerging from) the clouds. A human form is being held close to the horse. Perhaps this person is clinging to the horse itself. One of the accepted 19th-Century folk believes of the American witch is that witches changed people into horses while the people were asleep in their beds and rode the horses on wild escapades through the night.

People used in this way by witches woke up sore, tired, thirsty and covered with bramble scratches. They could get very little work done during the course of their days unless the witch’s spell was broken. Apparently, witches had somewhere to ride horses to every night.

The more common depiction of the American broom-flying witch is firmly established by 1900 or so as a witch straddling a broom (business-end of the broom behind her) with a black cat coming along for the ride. By 1905 or thereabouts this image is so closely associated with Halloween that many people refer to a witch thus depicted as a Halloween Witch.

It is interesting to me that later images of American witches show them in pointed pre-Colonial style hats, while earlier depictions of American witches do not.

How to Grow A Ghost

2009-01-24T09:18:00.001-05:00

1. My understanding of ghost experiences comes from decades of talking with people who have “seen” a ghost in their lives.

2. Almost equally, I have engaging conversations with people who want to see a ghost and are making an effort to do so.

3. And, finally, people who don’t believe in ghosts at all speak to me at will on the subject. Their conversations are as likely filled with interesting ideas as everyone else’s.

In trying to understand how the ghost world exists parallel to our real-life world, I benefit in understanding (and in finding my own limits of understanding) from close conversation with all three groups. I can draw few, if any conclusions about ghosts. But I can tell you how most people experience a ghost.

First, you should know that I am one of those individuals who is content to “let the mystery be” (with a nod of thank you to Iris Dement for having written such a wonderful song on the subject). I am vastly, but specifically, interested in how people encounter and experience ghosts in their lives.

I am not intent on discovering, explaining, or proving how those experiences might physically (or not so physically) occur within the laws of science, nature, religion, etc.

Because I am interested in the heart of a ghost experience and not so much in the science of a ghost encounter, I do not make limiting definitions of what a ghost is or is not. I keep an open mind on the subject. People who have pat definitions of such things bore me. Even in hard science, we need a little wiggle room of thought if we are to continue to learn and to discover.

Love.

Back to the beginning of this post, I have found a divide exists between people who have a ghost encounter and people who want to (and set out to) “see” a ghost. Most people who share their ghost encounters with me did not seek a ghost experience on purpose.

Ghosts happen. For now, let me note that people who do not believe in ghosts in any manner or form are as likely to have a ghost experience in their lives as people who openly embrace the idea that dead people can and do interact with our living world.

The most common thread and perhaps the most important thing to understand about ghost experiences is that such encounters are most often involved with heart ties. That’s right, love.

Love is center and foremost in almost all ghost encounters.

Sadly, this also means that love’s counter-balance, hate, can also create a ghost. There are hateful ghosts. Hate can bind a spirit to the real world as surely as love does.

Hate, however, does not often bind a close tie between a dead person and a living person. Hate-filled ghosts are more often tied to place and objects. As are the ghosts of people who experience traumatic and/or fearful death.

Love-based ghosts are most often tied directly to another person or living thing. By a wide margin, the great majority of ghost experiences I have collected are love-based interactions between the living and the dead. This includes ghosts that are seen, ghosts that are heard, ghosts that are smelled, ghosts that are touched, and ghosts that touch you. This includes ghosts that visit people in their dreams.

Conversely, hateful ghosts are likely the type of ghost that might be experienced or encountered by strangers who live entirely outside the realm of the ghost’s influences. Otherwise, love is the key. Many ghost encounters are private experiences.

In short, you grow a ghost from the heart. You grow a ghost from being able to love and from being loved.

A ghost experience is not all roses and Valentines. Love is not a red paper heart decorated with lace, and neither is a ghost encounter. But love is the key.

Yes, this includes obsessive love. Obsessive love and misplaced love are rarely good for anyone (although, they have their moments in our lives). Both are fertile soil for a ghost experience. I have even heard a few ghost experiences based on erotic love.

Still, the vast majority of ghost experiences I have collected grow out of a close and relatively normal experience of human love, of loving someone and/or being loved by someone.

Have you seen a ghost?

Tennessee Ghost Cow

2008-12-29T08:40:00.000-05:00

I met Mrs. Karyl Stewart at a book event in Knoxville and she told our little gathering about her experiences with a Tennessee ghost cow. Karyl recently posted to one of my October blog entries, asking if I would like to know more about her cow ghost experience. Yes!

If Karyl doesn't mind, I will provide a synopsis of her cow ghost encounter in a future blog post.

If you have had any encounters with animal ghosts, please feel free to post to this blog, or email me directly through my profile page. Thank you!

LIVE INTERVIEW! : CAT GHOSTS

2008-12-20T12:41:00.000-05:00

A professionally edited few minutes of an interview with Mississippi Public Broadcasting includes the author's oral synopsis of the Ghost Cat story, A Patch of Fog.

I hope I got it right.

It may take a minute to load. My utter failure to use proper subject-verb agreement in conversation is worth the wait. :-)

http://www.mpbonline.org/

Click on the "Don't Lecture Me" logo.

I answer the age-old question of why there are more Ghost Stories in the South. I fogrot to mention that Southern dirt is old dirt and it holds ghosts like toast holds butter.

FLYING WITCHES OF THE SOUTH

2008-12-20T11:06:00.001-05:00

This is an illustration among those being considerd for my work-in-progress.

GHOST MOON

2008-12-13T09:42:00.001-05:00

Photo by Beach Baby Beth.

More Ghost Cats

2008-10-19T08:56:00.001-04:00

I am meeting so many wonderful people while driving the Southern highways this month. And nearly everyone has a ghost cat story to tell me, including my co-presenter at the Nashville's Southern Festival of Books, Camille Moffitt Headley. Camille's delightful family attended the festival and her mother verified the experiences of a family ghost cat.

Camille also showed photographs of ghostly presences in and about the haunted cave on the old Bell Witch plantation. These photos appear in her book, Bell Witch: The Truth Exposed. It was wonderful to see these images in large format. And it was wonderful to co-present with Camille, who has made a serious investigation of a previous overlooked haunted site in America.

If you are interested in haunted places in the South, this cave qualifies in trumps. Ghosts are so surely present that even the owner refuses to enter the caverns alone.

People I've met on the tour have been sharing many ghost encounters with me, and others are kind enough to take the time to email me complete run-downs of their ghost experiences. I am literally darting in and then back out of my house this weekend. As time allows I will share some of these intriguing ghost encounters with you (once permission is granted).

For now, I am off to Myrtle Beach, Charleston and Savannah. How fun is that! I'll wrap up the week at the Aiken SC County Library on Friday, October 24. Library appearances are my favorite because 1.) there is time to leisurely share stories with people, and 2.) we get to talk loud in a library. :-)

Nashville Dog Ghost

2008-10-19T08:43:00.000-04:00

If it's Sunday, I am doing laundry for another week on the road. While in Nashville, I got to meet Stephen Doster, author of the inventive and wonderful novel, Lord Baltimore. Stephen had recently experienced a dog ghost while driving home in Nashville.

A dog, he told me, moved into the road in front of his car. Then disappeared. Poof! It was just gone.

Of course, he was braking as fast and as hard as he could to keep from hitting the dog, which, Stephen said, was definitely no longer there. Or anywhere else.

Driving on, but much more slowly, a real dog then wandered into the street in front of Stephen's car in the same block. He easily avoided running into the real critter because the ghost dog had caused him to be going so much more slowly than he usually would.

The ghost dog and the real dog were different breeds, different colors, and different sizes. If occasionally ghosts have a purpose in mind, this Nashville ghost dog certainly did.

House of Ghosts - Gastonia S.C.

2008-10-09T21:54:00.000-04:00

'Hi, Just a quick note to say I really enjoyed your presentation on ghosts at the Gaston County Library here in Gastonia. I thought the woman who said, "There were so many ghosts around our house they couldn't all get in," was really funny, but I could identify.' -- Marijoyce Porcelli

Gastonia was so much fun! About 50 people gathered and the ghost stories I heard couldn't have been better --- or more real.

I'm off to Knoxville Tennessee in the morning for a quicky TV nooner and then a visit to Carpe Librum Booksellers on the Kingston Pike. If you're in the area, check my schedule (at link upper right side on this page: Places I'll be in 2008) and drop by!

Then it's off to Nashville from there and onto Mississippi, Louisiana, etc. I'll be away from my computer and unable to post. I promise, though, that I'll be hearing several new ghost encounters along the way and I'll bring them all home with me.

Marijoyce, who wrote the note above, is an accomplished writer herself and has been sharing a couple wonderful family ghost stories with me. I'll tell more as time allows (if she doesn't mind) and my little Ghost Cats of the South tour winds to an end on Halloween.

Lost post

2008-10-07T12:27:00.000-04:00

...

Quirkiest Book of the Week!

2008-10-07T11:59:00.000-04:00

Asheville is one of the few places left where the filling stations keep running out of gasoline.

If I can find gas, I'll be driving down Black Mountain soon on my way to the Gaston County Library in Gastonia, North Carolina, this evening to share ghost stories with the Friends of the Library there. It's our debate prep.

Opening my email, on my way out the door, I just discovered that Ghost Cats of the South was named Quirkiest Book of the Week by the august Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Yay!!!!!

The paper did, though, seem to confuse the fact that, while I collect real-life ghost encounters and other living history, I also write stories. Oh well. That's what I get for having more than one interest in life. I think they were expecting a recitation of ghost sightings, instead of fully-developed stories based on the living folklore of the South.

Still, Quirkiest Book of the Week is quite a thrill for both of me.