HAUNTED

I remember always wanting to write paranormal romantic suspense of some sort. My editors at Intrigue always told me I couldn’t do it. But somehow I got away with writing HAUNTED, a book set at Halloween, another of many firsts for me. The first Intrigue with a paranormal element – a ghost who provides a fun twist. Well, a couple of twists.

Ever since I can remember, I was in love with the idea of paranormal anything. Blame my mother. She was born on November 1. I think she was born a day late. :)

The costumes she always made for me when I was a kid were spooky. And she took me to spooky movies. I was a latch key kid. I believed The Creature from the Black Lagoon lived in my basement. The basement door was next to my apartment door... Needless to say, I always got inside the apartment fast. And I never went into the basement unless I was forced to do it. I sat my way down, peering around the stairwell to make sure I wasn’t unpleasantly surprised.

As a young adult, I read books that made me keep the lights on all night. Rosemary’s Baby. Jaws. The Exorcist. I swore I would never see any of those movies. I did see them all, of course, and had to hold someone’s hand while doing so. The one I really wanted to avoid was The Exorcist. I think I slept with the lights on for a week after I read that one. And my mother made me take her to the movie anyway. She threatened to disown me if I didn’t. Ack! What else could I do?

Mom really, really was into the paranormal even more than I was. One year she asked if we could go to a haunted house for Halloween. I said sure. I took her to one of those cheesy (but scary) haunted houses that are such fun at Halloween. She was horrified. She meant a REAL haunted house. Yeah, Mom, like the owners would just invite us in.

Mom died at 60 of lung cancer. But every year just before Halloween, I think of her and wish her a happy birthday.

And this year, I get to bring HAUNTED, a Halloween book, to my readers who didn’t get it the first time around. With a new cover, of course.

Mom would approve. Happy Birthday, Mom.

What is the scariest or most fun memory you have of Halloween as a kid? Comment for a chance to win a free digital copy of HAUNTED. It would help if you would provide an email addy in your comment. If you don’t, I’ll announce the winner in -this- blog post on November 1 in my mother’s honor.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!