As I was working on all three books at one time (mind you, there's actually 5 more planned out; 4 for the abandoned series and another one on shadow people), it dawned on me that ya'all read the blog and know me pretty well by now. Maybe you might let me know if I'm on the right track. Mind you, these are unedited pieces, as written in raw form. Right now, I'm just getting the ideas down. The fun comes with editing later (something I actually equally enjoy).
"Abandoned Places: Abandoned Memories (Desert Edition)" is at the publisher's right now being pitched by the editor. Fingers crossed. This is a book Julie from Above-The-Norm and I are working on together and part of a 5-book series. She photographs abandoned sites we go to and I do a psychic read on a person who was there in the past and write up a scene. Here's a sample from the chapter on an abandoned motel.
Joelle was very adept at shoplifting but her choice of items to steal was like the men she slept with; indiscriminate and purely based on a whim at any given moment.
Apparently, today she raided a Circle K on the aisle filled with cat food, can openers, paper cups and tin foil.
“What the hell is this shit?” Mike tossed aside a bottle opener.
Joelle slid down onto the bed and sighed, leaning against the headboard and studying her afternoon’s work. She bit her lip and looked up at him with big pleading eyes.
Mike ran a hand through his hair and took a slow breath. He could swear the woman wasn’t 42. She seemed younger than his 29 years any day. Sometimes, she was so childlike he felt responsible for her and that did not sit well with him. He entered this turbulent relationship with the assumption that she was older, wiser and had a plan.
“Baby, we can’t do shit with this.” He tossed aside a chewy dog bone. “Why would you pick that up?” He gestured.
She shook her head and looked down, her dark roots showing. “I don’t know. I just wanted to get a dog.” She sighed.
“A dog?” He chuckled hopelessly and got up, pacing the floor and testing the air-conditioner again. God, he hated the fucking desert. Why had he let this woman pick him up in a bar in Houston and have him zigzagging the Southwest with some promise of going to California? It had been four weeks and they were plenty close enough in Arizona. Why was she putting it off?
***
The next book I'm working on I plan to put on ebooks. It's called "Was That a Ghost?" and helps people who had something unusual happen to them, figure out if it was paranormal or not. I get asked this question the most from people and I have a method of quizzes and narrowing things down to help them figure out it was ordinary or extraordinary. Here's a sample:
Chapter 4
Personal Explanatory Style
QUIZ:
I see an odd light in the sky moving in a strange way, giving off no sound. My first thought is:
a. It’s just a plane or helicopter too far away to hear yet. Everything in the sky is explainable and man-made. I ignore it and move on to other more important things. I feel indifference.
b. Watch it for a while, trying to figure out what it is. Once I run through all the usual culprits and it doesn’t seem to fit, then I still figure it’s something explainable, but I just don’t have the explanation right now. I feel bewildered.
c. Watch it for a while, run through the usual culprits and when it doesn’t fit them, I assume it’s a UFO. I feel excited.
Explanatory style is the way in you which you explain what happens in your life. This determines your emotional reaction. You cannot have an emotion without first having a thought.
***
The other book I'm working on is also planned for ebooks. This is called "From Fledgling to Full-Fledged Psychic" and this goes on the absolute belief that everyone has a psychic inside and simply needs to work the muscles. Whether you're someone who gets a feeling someone is going to die and they do, knows who's on the phone when it rings, or has a dream and it comes true, we all have it and it just takes practice to go from one of the 5 categories I discuss and become a conscious and practiced psychic.
Here's a sample:
Psychic skills are exactly like playing basketball. We can all make baskets, but only if we stand on the court and shoot all day long until we know just how much force to use, just how to hold our hands on the ball, to judge just how far the basket is. There becomes a feeling in body and mind when we know that the ball we just released will make it into the basket, it’s a sense of “knowing” and that it is “absolute” or “a done deal.” That feeling in our mind and body is what I want us to tune into as we move forward with this book and you learn how to develop your skills. A great shooter has a feeling of fluidity and an internal dance with body and mind that makes the basket target just an extension of his fingertips.
When you recognize that tuned-in feeling in your mind and body, you have just entered your psychic zone. You will learn how your mind and body feel when you have just predicted something accurately.
We could all be great shooters, we simply do not spend the time on the court. It’s there, but it’s in latency.
***
Writing is second nature to me. I don't ignore the ability. It's why my blog is so prolific. Some people are just damned good at predicting the winner of a football game or throwing darts or making a perfect souffle. I write. Only problem is, I write as a second job after the full-time one. Some day, oh some day, I will write full time. Watch out then. I suspect I may have as many books as my mentor and dear friend, Gregory Branson-Trent. We will all be very busy when that happens.
Lovin' the tale in "Abandoned" already. Who wrote the prose? Sounds great.
ReplyDeleteDP;
ReplyDeleteThanks. The photographs are done by Julie and the psychic reads and narrative are written by me. It was quite the challenge to take a person I honed in on the site and make a scene in his/her life become real. I've been looking for a way forever to show people what a psychic "memory" is like. You get a piece of a person's perspective and memories and hints of their inner workers and those around them. Making a dead sight come to life--was really exciting. I look at abandoned places and touch them and see a history and feel it and "recall" it. I wanted to share that.
Well, as long as Julie doesn't do prank photos too, I think we're okay. Now damn, I want to go out to the desert and start rubbing rocks too. Do ya think I'll see anything??? LoL.
ReplyDeleteYou have to touch the building/objects. If you wanted to know if you could, you'd have to wait for my fledgling book that helps people develop their skills. I think everyone does it. I can't imagine they don't get feelings when touching things. I see people all the time in haunted locations touching the furniture and the walls, people in antique shops picking up objects and putting them back. I don't believe all they receive from the object is the visual. There's more content they receive, but don't recognize the input. Hey, with that knife in your skull, buddy, you might have amplified skills. Might need to twist it a bit, just to tune in, though.
ReplyDeleteMy god, I have no comeback for that other than profuse laughter!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I stay away from antique shops. They creep me out. It's like a museum for the possessions of the dead. Speaking of, I heard some story the other day about a girl in an antique shop who stopped going there because she walked past a mirror and her reflection had a ten-second delay. Whatcha think about that?
She's transitioning to vampire? Don't know. If it's subjective and only she sees it, there's a whole slew of mental/visual processing issues I'd look at first. Would make for a great episode of a horror series, though. Antique stores are hard for me. Part of me loves them, part of me hates them. I try not to touch anything unless I am overwhelmed with the need to do so. Sometimes, I get this weird feeling an object wants me to touch it and I will search the shelves until I hone in on it. I can't explain it other than if you were at home and you heard a weird humming/buzzing sound and you walked around with your ear turned towards the walls, looking for the culprit until you get closer and closer. Sure enough, it seems like the only ones that call to me are the same thing I'm attracted to in men, dark humor/cynicism, hence my acquiring my sidekick Dale the Doll.
ReplyDeleteYou bought that fugly thing from antique shop?!
ReplyDeleteYeah. I kept trying to ignore him. I hated ventriloquist dolls with a passion, but I also tend to be counterphobic and do the thing that scares me to push at my weak points until they're strong. I finally gave in and held him and that was that. He was a bitter, cynical, human-hating, grumpy butted stuffed doll with plastic features but he carried a lifetime of reasons for his suspicious nature and I felt compassion.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you're gong to have a lot of fun with this. Thanks for the tease.
ReplyDeleteMM;
ReplyDeleteWhen I get to be able to sit down and write, it is my bliss.
I am excited about our trip next week to Superior and maybe Miami. Those places are a hotbed of abandoned buildings.
ReplyDeleteSis;
ReplyDeleteI know we'll find plenty of interesting spots and I'm sure I can hone in on some stories from the past that will bring them to life. I'm hoping we might actually get this funny rare phenomenon called "clouds" so we can actually let you take some shots of these places with a more dreary look to them. Fingers crossed.
Very nice teaser piece. It's great to have time fot writing.
ReplyDeleteAll I have to say is GOOD LUCK! It'll be cool to say we all knew you BEFORE you and Julie became rich and famous! ;D
ReplyDeleteEcho;
ReplyDeleteThanks. I hope to arrange my world so I have more time to write. Writing with a full-time job SUCKS.
HN;
Not rich and famous, buddy, but hopefully satisfied with our work and making people go, "huh?" that's sort of my purpose in life both personally and professionally.
You have a unique way with the abandon places book. I wasn't sure what direction you were going with it. I like the "story" direction. It's different, fresh, and you are very talented as well as Ju with her pics. I think this is really cool!
ReplyDeleteThe other books are just a natural for you! I still need to send you my experiences when I can remember. I swear if my head weren't attached to my shoulders I'd lose it!
Tara-Dear
T-Dear;
ReplyDeleteYou will get around to those stories some time and I might find something to use in there. My books have many examples of real life clients and people I've known so I can show how these things apply. I am thrilled by the abandoned book. When I reread the stories from each place, I can go back into the psychic read and these people and their motivations and mannerisms and minds--they are so very real and interesting.
You're such an amazing writer. I'm already hooked just by the teaser on Abandoned Places. The teaser is so sad, so emotively beautiful, and heartbreaking all at the same time. Along with Julie's beautiful photography... well; frankly, words fail me.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm quite thrilled about the book to teach others to exercise their psychic muscles. With your writing and your kind heart; it should do well.
But; oh.... those "Abandoned Places" book. It haunts me already!
Brenda;
ReplyDeleteThanks. Lots of characters have been in and out of these AZ places. There's a wide range of sexes and ages I did reads on. Some stories are dramatic, others are subtle. I really enjoy the opportunity to get into their heads.
I love the first one!! I'd be anxious to read that, I think that'd be pretty cool, and I loved the bit that you shared already. :)
ReplyDeleteThe third one would also be great to read :) I really hope that it all works out for you :)
Good Luck!!! <3