Saturday, February 19, 2011

Things that go bump in the night...

Hi Everyone,

I'm finally out of the editing cave to take a quick glimpse of the sunshine...ok, what sunshine??

It's hard to believe 'Summer' is almost over...

But all those days cloistered away in my dungeon have been worthwhile, with not one, but two new books hitting the e-shelves as we speak....and, more on the way!

Released last week, "Fire of My Heart" is my first dabble in paranormal romance.

I've had a few fans ask, why a paranormal when I usually write historical?

Good question!

In Fire Of My Heart, my heroine Ellen Quinn, had an eccentric old great-aunt who left her an incomplete family tree and a plane ticket to Ireland. Ellen's task? To complete her great-aunt's legacy.

In reality, I have really do have an elderly great-aunt (90 and still going strong), who has spent a great deal of time travelling from Australia to Ireland over the years in order to complete our family tree.On each occasion, she chooses to go alone.

On her return, she brings no photos...claiming she forgot to take her camera...no postcards or souveniers from places she has been and people she has met.On a later trip, I purchased a disposable camera for her to use, but again on her return - no photos. She claimed to have thought she broke the camera (as disposables wind backwards) and therefore threw it away.

Yet, when I talk to her, she can recount in great detail castles, eccentric Lords and Ladies, distant cousins and fables from a time long past. She has always had a very strong sixth sense about situations and events, often calling me out of the blue when something important has happened wanting to know what was wrong?Strange huh?

Because of her mysterious adventures, she and her travels were the inspiration for 'Fire Of My Heart', and I invite to read and see just how she fits in to the story.

I hadn't told her about the book before, and when I visited her recently I thought I'd surprise her with the news and the fact I'd dedicated it to her. She was very pleased, smiled at me, then handed me a thick tattered envelope.Curious, I slid the contents out and was shocked to see all the papers and information for our incomplete family tree.

"I thought you'd like to finish this now, "She said

....spooky!


Ok, for a chance to win an e-copy of 'Fire Of My Heart', post a response telling me of a time when something made your goosebumps rise and blood chill!

I have three copies to giveaway!

*Winners will be announced 23rd Feb.

8 comments:

Bronwyn said...

What a great story, Erin! I don't have a spooky story but I do love family stuff like this. After the birth of my 1st baby girl, I took her to visit my family interstate and got a picture with my great-grandmother, my grandmother, my mum, me and my little one. I get goosebumps when I look at the picture because its five generations of mums and daughters and we all look so similar its scary!

Good luck with the book, I can't wait to read it!

Bron.

Maggi Andersen said...

Hi Erin,
Leave me out of the contest, I'm half way through your book and enjoying it very much. I wondered what influenced you to write it, and now I know!

Anonymous said...

Wow! What a great tale!

As for things that go bump in the night at Tenbytwo (the name of our house)...a few weeks ago I was doing some small renovations, but like most things in this old cottage small renos become large ones very quickly! I was having a particularly bad day with these renos when I stopped and swore to the air that "I hate this house! I hate it. Hate it. Hate it."
The next thing I know, I wasn't alone...our resident ghost was in the room...he was staring out the window. Needless to say, he startled me. He startled me enough that I stopped my rant and took a deep breath. Fortunately, I also took out the i-pod I had in my ear, because I heard a 'pop'...almost like a car door banging. Initially, I thought to ignore it, but as I looked at the ghost looking out the window something made me move...quickly. I ran outside where he was looking and lucky I did--the 'pop' was our electrical box exploding. It was on fire!
I quickly put the flames out. I looked in the window and the ghost was gone.
Had it not been for our ghost, our house would have burned down!
Dana S
PS I already puchased Fire of my Heart! Thank you.

Kendall Grey said...

Last summer when I went to Gloucester, Massachusetts for my yearly whale watching trip, we rented a house. The owner never said anything about it being haunted, but it had a weird vibe to me. While I lay in bed, I heard what sounded like footsteps climbing the wooden stairs. The upstairs floor creaked in the night. My housemates heard it too. We never saw anything, but the sounds alone were enough to make me not want to rent that house ever again!

Anonymous said...

Hi Erin!
*insert scary music* Now, do I have some stories to tell... But the only one I'll mention now goes something like this.

When I was sixteen we lived in an old railroad masters home. Now, unbeknown to me for many years afterward, what I was experiencing in that house, my mum and sister were as well. Often, I would feel a pressure against my leg, or a dip in my bed as if someone had sat beside me. This continued for months and months (we lived there for 4 years) until one night for some unbeknown reason I sat dead upright in my bed, fully awake from being asleep and looked straight at a laughing/screaming female head, with lots of hair, that flew at me.

Now, you my think I'm crazy after reading this, but apparently if a ghost isn't able to fully form, not strong enough or something, it will manifest a 'part' of it's original self. And lucky for me, or unlucky as I slept with the light on for years afterward, I landed the head part.

She was scary, and she did NOT want me in that room or house. Needless to say, I was glad to leave that place.

Tam :o

Anonymous said...

Hey Erin,
Loved hearing the background to your story - makes it even more exciting! I thought my story was good but just read Tam's - I think she's beaten the scary pants off anything I can tell...that won't stop me tho' :-).

When my son was 10 years old he got up one night to go to the toilet. As he headed down the Hall he saw me from the back, heading towards my bedroom. He called out "good night, Mum" and the woman turned around – you guessed it, it wasn't me. She looked at him, turned back and walked through my bedroom door (and I mean "through"). To him that stuff was normal so he just went back to bed and told me about it in the morning.

Can't wait to read your book...
Jo (Duncan)

Erin Grace said...

Wow..what great stories!!!

Thank you so much to everyone for sharing your creepy tales with me...

...and, congratulations to Bronwyn, Jo and Tamarra! I'll be sending each of you a copy of 'Fire Of My Heart'!!

I hope you all enjoy

xo

Erin

Unknown said...

I love that cover. It's simplistic and beautiful.