Talking To Dead People

Everyone loves a good ghost story.  There's real pleasure in the little shiver of fear we get from sharing frightening and unusual circumstances.  But we don't tend to think too much about the actual ghosts.

I guess most people don't really believe ghosts are real, even when they're enjoying the stories.  I lean more towards believing than not, although I like to think I have a healthy skepticism when it comes to most of the reported stories.  I believe most encounters have a rational explanation but there are a small number which aren't easily explained.

What keeps drawing me back are the "what if" questions.  What if some people really did become ghosts?  What would their experience be like?  What circumstances could make someone into a ghost?

My family teases me because I'll often end up crying while watching the various paranormal shows.  I imagine long-dead soldiers still struggling to fulfill their duties or murder victims wandering aimlessly, trying to find their way home.  The idea of people being trapped somewhere between worlds bothers me.  The idea of myself being trapped that way is why I'm so interested in mediums.

Mediums are those who can (or claim to depending on your skepticism level) speak to the dead.  Some mediums describe it as hearing whispering voices, others say it's more like a feeling and still others claim it is indistinguishable from speaking to the living.  Some do it for profit and some do it because they feel an obligation to help trapped spirits and the living people they're tormenting or disturbing.  Some do it for both.

It's not a gift I'd want to have.  When I created my own medium, Gwen Harris, I actually made her crazy because I thought listening to the dead nonstop would do that to anyone.  She's crazy but it doesn't mean she's not aware or trying to convey something important.  Getting to translate her dialogue into metaphors and impressions was a lot of fun.  She turned into a delightfully creepy and surreal character.

Weekly Update: August 2 to 8

Chapters revised for Metamorphosis: 12 out of 23

It's been a productive week for editing.  Next week I go back to my day job so it'll slow down somewhat but I've got until September 25th to get the manuscript ready.  Then it's December 11th for line edits and a final proofread in January, which should put me right on track to release for February.

I spent most of the weekend putting Whispers in the Dark together for pre-order.  I've heard a lot of stories of draft manuscripts getting accidentally released instead of the final, so I think I'll be nervous about that until release day.

I got my cover for Whispers in the Dark as well as the interstitial and they are gorgeous.

 

It's been a great and productive week.  Next on my list is to get in touch with some of the bloggers who reviewed Revelations and see if they'd be interested in reviewing Whispers in the Dark.

Friday Quote Card: Celebrating Our Goddesshood

Remembering Your Inner Goddess

Women spend a lot of time being less than the brilliant goddesses we are.  We're busy managing our lives and usually our kids' and husbands' lives, too.  There always seems like there's something to do, some additional task to make us better or faster, and somehow, our internal awesomeness gets lost.

One of the things I loved about researching for Revelations was going to different burlesque shows and meeting the dancers.  No matter the size or what was going on in their personal lives, they seemed to have a wonderful joy in themselves, a celebration of all aspects of their personality and bodies.  It wasn't just about sex, it was about feeling good and sharing those good feelings with others and encouraging them to feel good about themselves, too.

I was reminded of it last week when I went to see Magic Mike XXL with a girlfriend.  Admittedly, I enjoyed seeing some very good-looking athletic men but I also enjoyed Jada Pinkett Smith's speeches, telling the women in the audience that they were all queens and they should never forget it.  She reminded us that we should be worshipped and exalted as the beauties we are.

I have a quote from Marianne Williamson on a mirror beside my front door.  I look at it before I leave the house:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.  We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?'  Actually who are you not to be?"

I think this is why we love characters like Samantha on Sex in the City.  She is confident and unafraid to enjoy what she enjoys without apologizing to anyone.  We want to feel that, to carry a little piece of it away with us against the moments of feeling small, inadequate and unattractive.

We are all beautiful, powerful and talented.  We are queens and goddesses. 

And we should never let anyone tell us differently.  Not even ourselves.

Weekly Update: July 26 to August 1 (Metamorphosis finished!)

Weekly word count: 7300 and done!

Okay, not done.  I still have to go through and do my polishing and revising.  My first draft always tends to be light on description and point of view depth, so I go back and add those things in my second pass through.  But the story is written through to the last scene.

There are some areas I'd like to tighten up, points in the plot which still feel contrived and artificial.  I always find that's easier once I have the whole story nailed down in terms of the key plot points.

This is the point which I feel separates professional writers from enthusiastic amateurs.  Admittedly, some people like the act of revising and find the blank page intimidating.  Not me.  I love writing new stories and so this is the part where I need to invoke some discipline and stick with making Metamorphosis better rather than starting something new and shiny.  Telling stories is fun.  Making a good story into a great one is work.

Right now, I want to share what I have with everyone.  I know I will never be more excited about this story than I am right at this moment.  By the time I go over it again and again and finish the editing process, I will have started on the next project and be lured in by the shiny newness.

I had this week and next week off work, which let me do more than usual.  I want to have my polished draft done by September 1st so I can get it out to my beta-readers.  Hopefully I can get the bulk of the revisions done before I go back to work.

I also got the final cover for Whispers in the Dark.  Once the business paperwork is done, I'll be sharing it with you all.

Friday Quote Card: Joe and Reality

I Want To Belive: Expanding Reality

Since I write and read urban fantasy, I spend a lot of time thinking about the different ways people would react when learning about an expanded world.

There are already a lot of believers out there: 42% of Americans  and 52% of UK residents believe in ghosts, 57% of Americans believe in psychic phenomena and about 50% of Americans believe in some kind of conspiracy theory, including theories about secret societies and hidden populations.

I think we all have our own area where we keep an "open mind" even if we openly scoff at what we consider to be others' "out there" beliefs.  Strictly from the numbers, at least half of the US population believes there is more out there than science currently explains.  I believe that means the population as a whole would be quite ready to accept something new and beyond their current experience, provided there was some kind of proof.  70% of people polled believed in the Discovery Channel's fake Megalodon documentary, despite having been taught the massive prehistoric shark was long extinct.

However, I think each person would have a different reaction to the proof.  Some would automatically deny it, looking for evidence of special effects or fakery.  Some would do their own investigation to learn the truth, keeping an open mind.  Some would accept the basics but refuse to go any further, lest they be branded as crazy by their peers.  And some would accept it wholeheartedly.

It's not easy to believe in something which is publicly mocked and derided, even if a person has personal evidence to support it.  It's easier to keep their personal experience quiet but that leaves the person feeling isolated and alone.  It's a one-way door, once a person steps through, they can't ever go back to the comfort of mutual ignorance, yet they cannot drag other people after them.

Some people are like Mulder in X-files, they want to believe and will ignore evidence to the contrary.  Some people struggle to fit what they've seen into the worldview they've always had, telling themselves they've hallucinated, misunderstood or been tricked.  And some find themselves convinced despite all their efforts to avoid it. 

But we can't avoid new truths forever.  Eventually the evidence mounts beyond the ability to deny, taking us further than we could have ever imagined.