paranormal romance Archives

Ghost Hunting and Haunted Houses

I am absolutely thrilled to introduce today’s guest to you. She and I bonded online through several common interests (sadly the Steelers are not one of them, as she’s a Ravens fan 🙁 ) but for some reason I only recently read one of her books. And now I’m hooked! So today I’m going to turn the reins over to paranormal enthusiast and uber-talented author, Mae Clair. Take it away, Mae…

Can you spot the ghost in this photo? by Mae Clair

A huge thank you to Staci, for hosting me today. Staci and I originally “met” through Triberr and Twitter, and I’m delighted we connected. I’m a PA girl with an Italian family background, so we have a lot in common. 🙂

Today, I’ve brought two treats to share —MYTH AND MAGIC, a novel of mystery and romantic suspense set during Halloween (on sale now for just $.99) and…a ghost.

Recently, my husband and I took a trip to Point Pleasant, West Virginia so I could conduct research for an upcoming series of novels I’ve set in the area. We stayed at the Historic Lowe Hotel. This is a very old four-story behemoth built in 1904.

I can’t begin to relay the mammoth scope of this place. With its long halls, old stairways, elaborate moldings and woodwork, there were times I felt like I stepped into the Overlook hotel in The Shining. Everything was furnished with antiques, and I do mean antiques. I opened the top drawer of the dresser and discovered a songbook from the 1920s, the pages yellowed and tattered. The second-floor landing had a huge parlor with a piano, parlor benches, and chairs—this even before we ventured down the hallway to our room.

So where does the ghost fit in?

When I inquired why the hotel was billed as haunted (something I didn’t realize until our last night there), our host told us a phantom had been spotted occasionally on the third floor. Nothing much appeared to be known about this ghost, but there was a photograph someone had snapped hanging in the second-floor hallway.

Our host told us the spirit was visible in the photo, so my husband and I checked it out. I wasn’t expecting a lot, but was surprised to see the image of a woman in the bottom right-hand corner. I tried to grab a shot of it with my cell phone. Are you able to see the ghost?

I posted this same photo on my blog in July and it was amazed at the number of different entities people saw in this picture. Clearly there is a lot going on in the photograph. I’d love to know what you see.

But before you start contemplating apparitions, I’d like to take a moment to tell you about my Halloween-themed novel, MYTH AND MAGIC. It’s filled with Halloween happenings, pumpkins, hayrides, a mysterious house with an infamous past, and rumors of hauntings.

Here’s the blurb:

AS CHILDREN THEY PLAYED GAMES OF MYTH AND MAGIC…

Veronica Kent fell in love with Caith Breckwood when they were children. As a teenager, she was certain he was the man she was destined to marry. But a traumatic event from Caith’s past led him to fear a future together. He left Veronica, hoping to save her from a terrible fate. Twelve years later, Caith, now a P.I., is hired to investigate bizarre incidents at the secluded retreat Veronica manages. Returning to his hometown, Caith is forced to face his nightmares—and his feelings for the woman he’s always loved.

THEN ONE DAY THE MONSTERS BECAME REAL.

After the callous way Caith broke her heart, Veronica isn’t thrilled to see him again. But strange occurrences have taken a dangerous toll on business at Stone Willow Lodge. Forced to work together, Veronica discovers it isn’t ghostly apparitions that frighten her, but her passion for a man she has never forgotten. Or forgiven. Can two people with a tarnished past unearth a magical future?

~ooOOoo~

And a short excerpt for your reading pleasure:

Veronica’s stomach clenched as a mixture of fear and dread skittered through her. The expression in her eyes must have betrayed her unease because Morgana took her by the arm and drew her aside. Across the hall, the caterer and florist were busily consulting with the head of Morgana’s household staff. Three workers wearing black shirts that proclaimed Ghosts & Ghouls, Inc. wheeled a life-sized coffin through the front door. Having attended a number of Morgana’s Halloween parties, Veronica knew trays would be fitted inside the open lid, bearing all manner of delectable treats.

“I know my son,” Morgana said, cutting through the noise and activity. “He’s stubborn, but he’s not stupid. He isn’t going anywhere, Veronica. He may not be willing to admit it, but he’s in love with you.”

“No.” She tried to draw away. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s the truth.”

She shook her head. “Caith’s terrified of love.”

“He’s terrified of loss.”

Veronica clamped her mouth shut. Morgana was right. Even if Caith wouldn’t admit it, she knew it was the defining emotion that had driven him all of his life. The reason he’d chosen a career designed to keep others safe, the reason he’d given his son another name, the reason he still couldn’t bring himself to visit Trask’s grave.

She wet her lips. “I have to see him.”

“Give him time first,” Morgana suggested. “Stuart said he was up all night working on the case. He’s barely slept and probably isn’t thinking clearly.” She smiled encouragingly, hooking her arm through Veronica’s. “You can stay and help me decide where the band should go. And the goblins. Did I mention we’re having roving goblins?”

Veronica managed a small smile. The Ghosts & Ghouls people were pushing a series of crates through the door. Tall ones, large ones, squat ones.

“Mrs. Breckwood,” a sandy-haired worker called. “Where would you like us to put the trolls?”

~ooOOoo~

E-copies of MYTH AND MAGIC are on sale now for $.99 for a limited time across all major online booksellers:

Mae Clair opened a Pandora’s Box of characters when she was a child and never looked back. Her father, an artist who tinkered with writing, encouraged her to create make-believe worlds by spinning tales of far-off places on summer nights beneath the stars.

Mae loves creating character-driven fiction in settings that vary from contemporary to mythical. Wherever her pen takes her, she flavors her stories with mystery and romance. Married to her high school sweetheart, she lives in Pennsylvania and is passionate about cryptozoology, old photographs, a good Maine lobster tail, and cats.

You can find Mae Clair at the following haunts:

Book Spotlight: Deception, Book One of The Transformed Series by Stacy Claflin

I thought I’d mix things up a little bit, and talk about books this month.

Sure, you can go online and find hundreds of reviews for books by Stephen King, Nora Roberts, James Patterson… If an author is already a NYTBSA, he or she hardly needs a book review from me.

But what about the “little people” that New York has forgotten?

I’m taking books that I like from different genres this month and spotlighting them here.

Hopefully you’re looking for a book in one of these genres, and you’ll give my recommendation a try.

This week’s genre: Young Adult

Sub-genre: Paranormal Romance

Deception by Stacy Claflin is a story of a young girl’s transformation from “normal girl” (which she never was) to vampire royalty, and all the trials she faces as she embraces her new role with her people. Along the way, she finds love, family, danger, and deception.

Deception takes place in contemporary Delphic Cove, a small town in the state of Washington, where the girl Alexis grew up. But Marguerite, the vampire and the sonnast, was born in a castle. Time is spent there, as well as in the woods and in another vampire’s castle too. Readers are really given a sense of who the girl was and who the sonnast is, in part because of the locales Claflin creates.

Deception is an entertaining novel for teens and adults alike. This isn’t just another vampire novel. Claflin creates an interesting world and a compelling mythology never before seen in literature. The characters are easy to relate to, the plot is well-conceived, the pacing is strong, and the rules for the storyworld are new and first rate. I give this book 5 stars, and I’m certain if you give it a chance, you will too.

If you’re looking for a fantasy with romance, intrigue, and action, you’ve found the story. Heck, you’ve found the series you should be reading. Deception, Book One of the Transformed Series by Stacy Claflin is your ticket to an exciting new world.

Stacy lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, their two sons, and their dog. She’s a homeschooler and owner of a daycare, and loves spending time with family and friends. But every spare moment she has is spent writing short stories or novels for one of her three series. Check out the vampire saga (The Transformed Series), the ghost series (The Mercy Series), and soon, her first foray into non-paranormal fiction, Gone (part one of a YA suspense/thriller series).

Connect with Stacy at her website.

Find Deception and all Stacy’s work on Amazon.

Heroes

This past week, the world lost two heroes. One hero lost his standing in society and one hero lost his life. If you believe in a higher power, and I do, you can understand why I believe the former is the greater tragedy.

Lance Armstrong is an American citizen, but he was renowned the world over as a seven-time winner of the Tour de France. Does that make him a hero? Not to me. Sports figures are celebrities, not heroes. His accomplishments were legendary, but not heroic. What made him a hero was his triumph over cancer, combined with his ability to take the adversity he faced, the fame he’d acquired, his innate talent, and his drive and ambition and create an organization that raises money to help cancer patients every day. I don’t know if he’s guilty of the accusations levied against him, nor do I care. What I care about is whether those accusations will ultimately cost his foundation, and therefore, the cancer patients who benefit from it. The loss of the titles isn’t the tragedy; the detriments to the organization is.

Neil Armstrong was also an American citizen, but he didn’t even belong to this planet. He left footprints on the moon. He risked his life for his country when we were engaged in the space race, and he left this earth to help the Unites States win that race. However, when he set foot on our moon and said, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” he wasn’t just talking about our country; he was talking about the world. Decades later, our country collaborates with several other countries in space, working on the International Space Station, an endeavor that probably wouldn’t have been possible without Armstrong’s efforts. His passing is a sad thing for those loved ones he leaves behind, but his legacy is a proud one.

As writers, we will likely never have titles that can be stripped from us. We will probably never have one line that the world stops and listens to us speak. But our words do live on for eternity, so we should choose them carefully. We shouldn’t steal them from others. We shouldn’t carelessly and quickly publish them and move on to the next project without concern for quality or integrity. We may never be heroes, but we do touch people’s lives, and we have a responsibility to do so to the best of our abilities.

What One Online Tool You Might Be Using Incorrectly to Get to Know People

I recently read a post called “eBooks and the Personal Library” (http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2012/08/20/e-books-and-the-personal-library/ ) by Joseph Esposito in which he posits that the day of the personal library is falling by the wayside. He came to that conclusion during a move in which he parted with many books rather than paying for the shipping cost. I, too, have been there. I’ve moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio, to Michigan, back to Ohio, and to Arkansas, and every time my physical library has taken a hit. I’ve built it up in each new residence only to have it reduced in the subsequent move. It is currently the smallest it has ever been, and it’s being replaced by eBooks. It’s a trend that I’m not completely in love with— there’s something about the feel and smell of paper that will always comfort me— but it is convenient and it’s here to stay.

Something Esposito said stuck with me, though. He said that we can’t tell what kind of person someone is by seeing what book is on their table because books aren’t there anymore. We need to see what is in their GoodReads or LibraryThing accounts. That statement really gave me pause.

Maybe I’m just a cynic. Maybe it’s the overprotective mom coming out in me. Maybe I need to stop watching the evening news. But I have a difficult time believing in the sincerity of online profiles, even ones as innocuous as “what I like to read” accounts. I think the only way to really get to know a person is to get to know them personally. If you meet them face-to-face and see for a fact that they are reading A Tale of Two Cities, then it’s highly likely that they are reading it. If they just say they’re reading it on their online profiles, it’s hard to take them at their word. They may be reading it now, but they may have read it years earlier and are secretly reading something they’re too embarrassed to admit to, or even nothing at all. How many authors out there are willing to write to the world that they are reading books that are getting bashed by the media or books whose content would get them looked down upon by friends or associates? Yes, there are people who will be honest about what they read and who they are, but there will also be people who won’t; people who list literary novels in their libraries and spend evenings snuggled up with beach reads (or worse). Furthermore, often authors are asked to review books outside their areas of interest for fellow authors. You could see five star reviews of sci-fi books on author pages who really only read and definitely only write historical westerns. That’s akin to false advertising. The booklist profiles really can’t be trusted as viable sources of information about the readers.

I know in this day of advanced technology we all are just a keystroke away from corresponding with almost anyone around the globe. It’s an exciting and fascinating time. But I just don’t think I can safely say I can make judgment calls on strangers based on booklists, or any online profiles. I guess I just miss the days when I could shake someone’s hand and look them in the eye. Barring that ability, I’m not going to use booklists as a screening tool. I’ll turn to social media avenues (see that word social in there?) to try and determine what kind of people they are. Blog comments, Twitter posts, Facebook presence, WANAtribe… these are the tools I use to interact with people online (huh, interact, another keyword there).

I feel the pain of Mr. Esposito’s loss. I miss my books, too, and I miss the days of libraries and big bookstores and snuggling up with an actual words-on-paper book. He has a fantastic blog (http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/) that I urge you all to visit. But I wish him, and everyone, success at screening booklists when getting to know people online. I’ll stick to actual communications instead.

Back to School Blues

So today is the first day of school for the kids— again. Where did the summer go? We had so many plans: picnics, vacations, honey-do list items… So little of it happened. Twelve weeks came and went as quickly as a visit home (which by the way, we also didn’t manage to squeeze in this summer).

This morning, I was up at 4:30, probably because I was dreading the alarm ringing at 6:00. When I woke the kids (who still can’t manage to get up on their own), they both asked for more time. I’m their own personal snooze button. They finally got moving, and I took the obligatory first day photos before we piled in the car and headed off for school. I can’t believe my son is starting high school and my daughter is in her last year of junior high. I remember when I took them to their first day of preschool. They marched in their respective classrooms without so much as a backward glance at me. I sat in the parking lot and cried my eyes out. They might have needed me. I had to be right there, not a phone call and a drive away. Finally the administrator came out to my car and gently but firmly suggested I leave. It was one of the hardest things I ever did. Still today my kids go to school without looking back. Probably because they’re half asleep, but also because they’re ready to start the next phase of their lives. And I know I need to get on with mine.

Writing is very much like that. There is some truth to what people say about written works being like authors’ babies. We grow very attached to our stories and have a hard time letting them go. But there comes a time when we need to realize they are ready to send out into the world, and we need to move on to other ventures.

On the first day every year I send my kids off and have that momentary twinge of panic then I grieve because I miss them like crazy, but I know they’re where they need to be. I also know I’m where I need to be— writing my next story.

It’s Up To You New York, New York

Ah, Old Blue Eyes. I fell in love with Frank Sinatra when I was a young girl and saw Guys and Dolls on television. That’s when I also fell in love with Marlon Brando, but that’s a subject for another post. This post is about New York. Specifically the Big Six publishers. When Sinatra sang “I want to be a part of it, New York, New York” I’m sure he wasn’t singing from a writer’s perspective talking about getting a publishing contract. But I hear that song and it’s like it’s coming from my heart and soul.

I don’t know what route my published works are going to take. I have one finished novel currently with a small publisher, and I don’t know if it will ever see the light of day. I have a finished first draft that I’m currently revising, and I don’t know if I’m going to go the self-publish, small-publish, or New York route with it when I’m done. I see merits to all three.

Self-publishing is great because you have complete control and reap the most rewards. However, all the work and responsibility is yours. Sure, the writing and revising is a given. But cover design, marketing, extra editing, conversion to e-format… all on you. No help. And, while it’s getting better, there has been a stigma in the past with self-publishing because anyone can self-publish (hence the name), so there is no quality control. There are some really bad books out there. Some people assume if you self-publish it’s because you weren’t good enough for a publisher to take a chance on you. Writers know that isn’t the case, but not all readers are on board with that premise yet. It’s getting better. Cream does rise to the top. I’m just not sure yet when the readers will find the cream. I want them to know I’m the cream and I want them to know where to find me.

Small publishers are becoming a popular choice for writers. It’s the route I chose for my first manuscript (knock on wood). They seem to be a nice middle ground between self-publishing and getting that elusive New York contract. Some accept electronic submissions, which is a big plus. Also, they will handle the cover design, the copy editing, the e-format conversion, and even some marketing for you (check your contracts!) but that doesn’t let you off the hook. Distribution will be severely limited to regional stores, if they print books at all, and you’ll still be expected to do a lot of marketing on your own. Plus, you’ll have to share more of the profits than if you self-publish. At this level, an agent is a good idea, as a contract is involved. At the very least, get a lawyer to review the paperwork.

Agents are a definite if you choose to go the New York route. You aren’t going to get your manuscript on an editor’s desk unless an agent puts it there, and it will definitely be a bulky paper copy. Another bonus is the big publishing houses will do all of the heavy lifting for you — above and beyond the efforts of the small publishing houses — but be aware. You have the least control when you go through the Big Six and you share a bigger percentage of the profits than in self-publishing or with small publishers. They’re also the slowest to pay the royalties out, although you do often get an advance. (New authors will get much smaller advances than established authors. Of course, new authors have trouble getting in with the Big Six to begin with.) What is the biggest benefit you get from going the New York route? The backing of one of the Big Six. If you can say that New York is willing to take a chance on you, then cautious readers are more likely to take a chance on you.

So with the trend going to eBooks and the Big Six hesitant to sell eBooks to libraries and having a tenuous relationship with Amazon… it’s hard to know which way to go. Small publishers look like a bargain, but they look like a lot of work, too, when you consider that for just a little more work you get complete autonomy. Still, I hear Sinatra crooning, “If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere, New York, New York.”

At the end of the day, I probably should finish my revisions before I make any decisions. What have you decided, and how is it working for you?

How Project Planning in Corporate America Helped Me Write Novels

Okay, it doesn’t help write the novels, but it did help me plot them. Let me explain.

When I worked for an engineering firm, we went through the ISO 9000 certification process, which probably doesn’t mean anything to most of you. What it does mean, however, is that all work functions, no matter how trivial, had to be documented. Some of the jobs were easy enough to just write out directions for, but others required complex work flow diagrams. We started using Microsoft Project to plot them out. Then we kept using that software to plot out major projects in general.

When I sat down to outline a novel, I did just that — I outlined my novel. But I found that I had trouble keeping track of plots and subplots because they got lost in layers of Roman numerals and lowercase letters. And, because I write romance mysteries, I have three points of view to keep track of as well (those of you who hate head-hopping, please bear with me): the hero, the heroine, and the villain. Then I remembered planning for ISO, and I thought, why not?

I thought about buying Project, but then I realized it didn’t even have to be that complicated, and PowerPoint offered me some advantages that Project didn’t. One advantage I particularly loved… I already owned it.

I’m going to give you the highlights of my plotting here. This is by no means the nitty gritty details of it, but it should be enough to get you started.

Each chapter gets one slide. Each POV character gets one color outline for his or her box. (I keep it simple: pink for the heroine, blue for the hero, black for the villain.) Each scene gets a box in the middle of the page, moving the plot left to right across the slide. If scene descriptions occur, they go above the line so I know where to find them. If new characters are introduced, they go below the line and get their own color so I can distinguish them. These usually coincide with subplots. If a subplot has nothing to do with a secondary character and only involves a main character, I leave it in the main character’s color. By the end of the novel, I can print the whole file and lay it across the floor, slide one to slide whatever and see how everything happens. At a glance I can see whether one POV character has more page time than another. I can scan subplots to see how they are spaced out and when they are resolved. I can look and see how much scene-setting I’ve done and whether I need to dial it back or beef it up.

I know this doesn’t make much sense to you, but it’s enough to get me through chapter six and should be enough to show you what one page would look like. I may or may not stick to this outline… my characters typically have minds of their own and go off on their own paths. And I like it that way. But I like to start with a roadmap, and this is a great visual cue for me. I recommend it for anyone wanting to plot their novel and be able to look at it with a bird’s eye view.

For those of you who don’t head-hop, you can still use this technique. Your boxes just won’t be POV boxes, they’ll be boxes detailing who the POV character interacts with in each scene. Or, of course, you can tailor the color-coding technique to whatever suits you best.

And for those of you who don’t have PowerPoint, a similar layout can be achieved in Word using tables. Just format your cell borders the way I format my text boxes in PowerPoint, or, again, in whatever manner suits you best.

This style is very versatile and very forgiving, and if you’re a visual person, which it seems more and more of us are in this day and age, it’s a great way to see your novel’s layout – scene by scene – at a glance.

Writing Epiphanies at the Chinese Buffet

I ate dinner at a Chinese buffet tonight. I am horrified to think of how many calories I actually consumed, but more importantly, I hate to think about how many of those calories I didn’t enjoy. I saw all those options in front of me, and I partook of them simply because they were there and they looked good. And the price was right.

Then it hit me. E book offerings are kind of like the Chinese buffet. Browse your buffet of downloadable e books and you’ll find a veritable smorgasbord for you to choose from at prices too good to pass up. How do you choose? In the end, you sample many, simply because you can. They make it so easy, and everything looks so good, how can you resist?

Ah, there’s the problem. Caloric overload. Most of what you get leaves you feeling bloated and unsatisfied, and not long from now you’re just going to want more. You can go back to the buffet. It will be there, offering you endless choices. Surely something will be there that is satisfying. You might get lucky. Or you might just get more of the same, more that leaves you feeling like you wasted your money and you’re just going to want something else in a little while.

To the readers, I say this — read the reviews. You don’t want to get stuck with something that has no value. Read the reviews on the site you’re downloading from, but also check elsewhere. There are plenty of book bloggers who give honest reviews on their own sites. A little homework up front will save you money in your pocket and time to read something worth your while.

To the writers, I say this — if you self-publish, only put your best effort up there. Typos, grammatical errors, syntax problems, and of course, poorly written works only strengthen the argument people make against self-published authors. I can hear James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams saying “If you build it, they will come.” Well, if you write it, they will download it. And if it’s written poorly, they won’t download anything else. You’ve got one shot. Make it count.

The readers are hungry and the buffet is open. Don’t send them away wishing they had gone somewhere else.

Inspiring Blogger

I’m grateful and humbled to announce that a blogger I follow has nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blog Award. P. C. Zick (P.C. Zick in the Writing Life) is an author I met through Facebook, and she lives near my old hometown. She shares similar interests as me, and I enjoy reading her thoughts and following her work. I’m inspired by her efforts.

Here are the requirements for this award:

Display the award logo on your blog.
Link back to the person who nominated you.
State 7 things about yourself.
Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them.
Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements.

Seven things about myself

I’ve never had a cavity.
I can do a split.
I am the only child in my family with brown hair and brown eyes (despite those being the dominant traits and being half Italian).
I’ve seen lightning strike right in front of me three times.
I’ve lived through a tornado passing through my town.
I played four instruments in school, clarinet for the longest.
I changed my major three times in college, but still managed to graduate in four years and with good enough grades to get a scholarship to grad school.

My nominations for the Very Inspiring Blog Award – I chose the following blogs for various reasons, but each because of how it touches me. Some help me in my profession, some simply touch my soul.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pen
The Red Kimono
Five Reflections (prefers not to accept awards, but I find the site inspiring, nonetheless)
Janna Hill
InkWell
My Perfect Pitch
Jan Morrill
Bottomline English
Velda Brotherton
Joy Keeney
Pamela Foster
Truths by Ruth
Italian American Writer’s Cafe
Claire Croxton
A Writer’s Universe

Who Wrote That?

My in-laws are in town. I was worried about how I was going to get a blog written today. But, as luck would have it, a guest blogger fell right in my lap with a post ready to go for me. No, it’s not my usual Italian heritage memories, but it is about writing, and it suits this entry perfectly. Having been a ghost writer myself, I know what she means. So, without further ado, I give you Karen Cole, Executive Director of Ghost Writer, Inc.

How to be a Righteous Ghost Writer

What is the point of writing or ghost writing, or even being a ghost writer or author of a novel, book, memoir or screenplay, if nobody else reads it or them? One reader does an experience make whether it is a ghost writer book, ghost writing screenplay or author memoirs. The point has always been the reader, your readers. You think when you ghost write a book between the many of you, what am I going to be an author or screenwriter about, how am I going to have a ghost writer talk, and how am I making ample money for my business, for my family, for myself – how about simply caring about your readers for a change?

What do they want, what sells you to them, how would you go about being a ghost writer or book author client for your readers? Whether you are a ghost writer or book author, it tends to be the case that your readers get awfully lost in the shuffle. The mental picture is somebody so important; they have their pick of all media on the face of the planet – why would they want to view yours? You do have to pick out your audience instead, aiming for something a bit shorter than best sellers, a bit longer than eBooks that make ten cents for you if you don’t aim it, hugging and arming instead a smaller group. Who would be interested in reading your idea book the most and whom are you as a ghost writer or book author writing it for?

It’s not a matter of what you want to say, it’s not a matter of satisfying your own selfish desires. It’s not a matter of how well your book is going to sell; it’s a matter of the nature of your audience. What are their needs? If you haven’t got an idea yet, what do you think is a Big Idea out there, what would appeal to a vast audience? If you do have an idea and you need to fulfill it, who needs that idea, who needs to be a ghost writer for it, who needs it? It’s not a matter of who you already happen to be – it’s largely a matter of where you can take a realistic appraisal. This is what I want ghost writers to consider.

Not the thing everybody else is doing, not the best rewrite, not the kitchen sink of each book or screenplay author’s prose that can be found somewhere else. Something else that is news to your readers, your audience. Not the past, not the present, not the future. Not sexual matters, not war, not how to make peace in our time by selling million dollar babies. Understand this example – books on self-help have sold like hotcakes because they have a readymade audience, namely people who need help. Who needs help, who beseeches a way to find that help, who hires a ghost writer who needs to help an author achieve an audience – who actually needs you?

You should be able, as either a ghost writer or book author, to think about somebody else for a change. Go find your people, and write, draw, plan, dream and implement fantasia for a pared down, niche, select series of groups of them. When you are a ghost writer, find somebody and write only for them – see it now. Give it your all, or give it something, but don’t just write for yourself – unless you really must pass it around to your family, friends and colleagues. Which can be the fairest audiences of some smaller types, of a different drummer, as long as you do realize that you are writing? Who are you a ghost writing team of – you, or all of those others?

Executive Director of Ghost Writer, Inc., Karen Cole writes. GWI at http://www.rainbowriting.com/ghostwritertos.htm is a renowned affordable online professional copy writers, book authors, ghost writers, copy editors, proof readers, coauthors, rewriters, book cover creation, graphics and CAD, digital and other photography, publishing assistance and book and screenplay writers, editors, developers and paid analysts service. We also do presentation and pitch services for your book and/or screenplay ideas to major TV and film industry representatives.