Hi everyone! Wow, two posts in as many weeks! I’m on a roll (smile). My next one is going to cover some of the more common questions I receive on this blog concerning ghost problems and contacting loved ones in spirit, I promise, but this post is to announce the release of my newest book in the Tess Schafer-Medium series Haunting Ground! This is book 6 of the series though each book is a “stand alone”…meaning you don’t have to read them in order. BUT doing does help with understanding the characters’ development and what they’ve gone through. I’m actually finding it quite challenging to write a series in which I don’t give away much of the plot from other books!

The Tess Schafer-Medium series, as I’ve mentioned before, is my way of telling stories that incorporate the things I’ve learned over the years concerning the paranormal. They are the kinds of stories that I like to read! Honestly, is there anything more fascinating than talking to departed loved ones and dealing with spirit guides, angels and the like? Since I’ve done those things, it just seems right and natural for me to write stories including them!

My seven years in a haunted house (pictured on the left of this sentence with an awesome ORB!) incited my interest in paranormal matters and I’ve been fascinated ever since. The more I learn, the more I WANT to learn! As for that spooky old farmhouse…well, it’s gone now. But the spirits that inhabited it…no, I don’t think they are gone. Maybe someday I’ll explore THAT in a book!

Now, as for my main character, Tess, she is not ME (many people write in to ask that very question!)….she’s way more talented and patient than I am! BUT, there’s certainly a lot of me in her. Even so, she’s developing all on her own and now when I sit down to write her stories, I feel I am merely taking dictation! Half the time I have no idea what’s going on. Then when I do figure it out, I’m like…Whoa! No way! (smile) Just like Tess.

Ever since the first book Be Still, My Love, I’ve been wondering about the man who killed Tess’s husband. Now, this series began because I wanted a tragedy to mark my character’s life and send it off into a whole new direction. Besides, I was curious as to how a medium handles death. Also, like Tess, I was mad at my spirit guide! Though my dissatisfaction was because my guide did not protect one of my cats when I specifically asked her to do so! I’m over it, for the most part, though I am still bummed that Milo is gone…and now more recently my cats Odd and Sassy. So anyway, Tess’s husband Mike was killed by a driver who was under the influence of alcohol. He ran a red light and crashed his car into Mike’s, killing them both. Also killed in that crash was Tess’s dog Tootsie.

So, in Be Still, My Love, it’s been two years since the accident and Tess is still grieving. She’s still mad. Her psychiatrist and her friends suggest she go on a vacation, get out of her house of memories. And she does…to a haunted resort on the coast of Maine! Since I grew up in Maine and I think its a beautiful and intriguing state, I couldn’t think of a better setting for the story. I had no plans to make a series. But while writing that story, Tess learns of another supernatural mystery shadowing the town of Bucksport, Maine (my hometown!). The town’s founder, she learns, has a graveside monument that is marked by a witch. As to that, Bucksport really exists and there really is a monument on Jonathan Buck’s grave with markings supposedly made by a witch’s curse! Well…I wanted to explore that story with Tess and so we did in book two Hidden Voices. Tess found her OWN STORY about that monument and a series was born!

In the third book, Vanquishing Ghosts, Tess has decided to make Bucksport her home. There are lots of ghosts there needing her help (the town is absolutely RICH with history!), so how can she walk away from them? The problem, of course, is that the house she’s just bought is seriously haunted! By a bad spirit no less! In this story I was definitely exploring a bit of the dark side! So anyway, she and her boyfriend Kade (yes, she’s moving on!) investigate the situation and go through a lot of interesting paranormal situations. They do manage to vanquish the ghosts but her house will NEVER be free of them! Why? Well, I guess I’ll have to keep writing to find out and people will have to keep reading if they too want to know! (smile)

Book four, Rosemary’s Ghosts, came to me in a flash of inspiration. I was riding with my husband on a business trip and it just plopped into my brain and I couldn’t wait to start writing! Despite knowing MOST of the plot, however, I still discovered some surprises along the way. This book was really an experiment for me as I took Tess way outside her normal reality. It was quite a bizarre situation she found herself in and yet it did a lot to help build her character! Besides, I don’t think that’s all done. Not yet. Seems to me that some things from that book are going to pop up in later stories. We’ll see.

Book five, Ghost Trouble, is Kade’s story. I wanted to write a ghost story involving someone who isn’t a sort of “expert” in the field. With Tess around all the time, he pretty much has nothing more than a supportive role when figuring out what the paranormal hijinks are all about. But with her out of the picture…what will he do? Also, he had some issues needing closure. Kade was in the Marine and had to separate after sixteen years of service because of injuries sustained in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan. Everyone in the Humvee he was traveling in died except for him. That’s a lot to deal with! So we dealt with it.

And so now I’ve written Haunting Ground. Tess has gone back to where her story began and she’s finally going to learn “the rest of the story.” There’s always another side to every situation. Tess knew her side…but what was HIS…the man who killed her husband and dog…what’s HIS story? As usual nothing goes smoothly and she’s as confused as ever when the paranormal activity commences. Dealing with death truly is one of the hardest things we have to endure in life and Tess’s gift of speaking to those who have crossed over really does help to bring about healing. In this story that rings true more so than any of the others.

So, anyway, I wanted to write a quick post about what’s going on with my books! So today, Sunday the 25th of January 2015, Haunting Ground will be available for Kindle readers. In celebration of that fact, Be Still, My Love will be FREE for two days (the 25th and 26th of January)! Book two, Hidden Voices and book three, Vanquishing Ghosts will be reduced to 99 cents at 8 am on Sunday the 25th and will slowly increase in increments back to it’s original price of 2.99 by 8 pm on Monday the 26th of January. I know I announced this in my last blog post but I just wanted to give a bit more of an explanation of the series and refresh memories of those who are reading them! I promise future posts won’t all be about my books. Since these are so dear to me, however, I wanted to share my excitement with you all!

As for future posts, I’ve been trying to figure out what to write about and then it hit me. The many, many comments I receive on this blog are quite similar, many of them sharing a common problem or request. This gave me the idea of tackling the more common concerns in future posts. Stuff like how to KNOW when a loved one is around, how to get rid of a pesky ghost, how to talk to spirits…on and on. This is why most people come to this blog and so that is what I’ll focus on…answers to questions that most of you drop by to ask!

Before I close out, I want to wish all of you a very blessed 2015! I hope this year brings wondrous, glorious things your way! May peace and loving light be with you all!