Where do I go from here? Girls & Ghosts Edition

Here's one of my not-so-secret secrets: I have tons of journals filled with ideas and a bunch of half-written stories dispersed in my computer. Oh no sir, I'm not the type of writer who leaves projects unfinished, but it happens that after starting a plot, its complexity or direction isn't working for me. So I let go more than abandon, because one day, I'll come back to it – and I always do.

Not this time, folks. Only fresh ideas for this new collection of ghostly stories where girls confront their deepest fears... and I'm actually scared. Of course I've been thinking about this project for a while, so ideas are slowly growing into creepy plots, but there's nothing already written on my plate like my past collections of novellas, and it makes me jittery.

 

So what is a girl to do? I'm trying to grasp as much information as I can, about things we don't fully understand with the little evidence out there. Like a junkie, I'm watching all these ghost hunters shows where people go willingly to haunted places to poke at spirits and gather EVPs, images of shadow figures and responsive communication – if any. Sceptic or not, it's beginning to form in my mind: girls who are scared, girls who don't believe, girls who are trying to help, girls who see dead people, and girls who won't confront the truth. And very slowly, they tell me their stories and how they deal with the fact that in the end we all die, and that we might become ghosts ourselves.

And then some miracle happens and someone captures such inspiring pictures, I completely lose my breath – and I'm still trying to catch it. Neil Gaiman posted this abandoned amusement park on Tumblr

 

Haunted, much? Seriously, look at the fog and the plants invading the structures – you can almost hear the screams of glee as the roller coaster rides down the rusty rails. But it's only an echo, because like many other places in New Orleans, it never got over the catastrophic disaster and it's slowly dying after being deserted and forgotten.

I can't forget, though – a bit like those ghosts who can't let go of what they knew and who they loved and how they used to be. So that will be my inspiration, an homage to people who are gone, places that are falling apart, and things we used to believe in.

 

 

Wish me luck? I need it, embarking on this Girls & Ghosts quest to give a voice to those who don't have any. One thing for sure: dark it will be, I promise.

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Love Triangles: A Guy, a Girl and a Ghost

by Jennifer Archer

I'm on the road for the next couple weeks, so today I'm recycling a post I did a while back as a guest on another blog about love triangles. Enjoy!

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These days, love triangles in young adult fiction abound. I’ve conducted an informal survey of my reading friends and here’s what I’ve surmised: Readers have strong feelings about love triangles. They seem to either really love them or really hate them.

I enjoy a love triangle in fiction if it’s handled deftly and isn’t the main focus of the story. I mean, let’s face it: Who will she choose? can get a bit old, and besides that, the answer is usually fairly predictable. But as a side plot, a good love triangle can add great conflict to a story. If only someone didn’t have to get hurt! Especially if that someone is a nice, well-meaning guy or girl. That’s another problem with most fictional love triangles – frequently they don’t play out in a realistic way. In real life, love triangles are usually pretty messy and don’t end conveniently, smoothly, or with everyone getting along. But in fiction, often one of the love interests either dies, turns out to be an unworthy person, or is so unbelievably virtuous that they step aside with little display of anger, jealously, or hurt feelings.

In my YA novel THE SHADOW GIRL that will be released next year by Harper Teen, the protagonist, Lily, finds herself in a love triangle. I tried to show as realistically as possible the pain and confusion this causes her, as well as the guy who loses out, without letting that aspect of the book take over the story. My debut YA novel THROUGH HER EYES also contains a love triangle, but one with a twist. The triangle consists of a guy (Tate), a girl (Tansy), and a ghost (Henry).  I had a great time with this element of the book because I’m a sucker for ghost love stories. One of my favorite older movies is one directed by Steven Spielberg called ALWAYS. If you haven’t seen it, take a look at the trailer.

In ALWAYS, Dorinda really doesn’t have the option of a life with Pete, her deceased boyfriend who is now a ghost. But that isn’t necessarily the case for the character Tansy in my novel THROUGH HER EYES. Even though Henry is a ghost, there might be a way for Tansy to choose a life with him, but doing so will involve giving up A LOT on her part.  The things at risk for Tansy are serious ones: family, friends, the life she’s always known in a time period that’s familiar. But what about the smaller things? What would a girl have to deal with if she chose to have a romantic relationship with a ghost? Just for fun, I’ve come up with a list:

Top Ten Reasons a Girl Should Think Carefully

Before Choosing a Ghost Guy Over a Real Guy

1.      Real guys have actual blood running through their veins so they’re warmer. No girl likes to be cold!

2.      Your friends can actually see how hot your real guy is. Not so with your ghost guy. In fact, your friends may not even believe you really have a boyfriend.

3.      Privacy. When you want some time alone, you can tell a real guy ‘goodbye’ and close the door. You never know when a ghost guy’s in the room with you. Creepy.

4.      A ghost guy will stay young while you grow older. Will he still love you when you’re 30 and he’s  18?

5.      Transportation. Ghosts can’t drive so you’ll always have to take your car.

6.      Food. Ghost guys never get hungry. It’s no fun to eat alone!

7.      Strait jackets are uncomfortable and ugly but you might end up in one because people will think you’ve lost it when they see you talking to thin air. 

8.      Ghosts are unemployed since nobody hires them. You’ll have to pay for every date.

9.      You’ll never see your ghost boyfriend in any other clothes than the ones he died wearing; he’s pretty much stuck in those.

10.   Forget going to a crowded movie theater with a ghost; once the seats are filled, he’ll probably get sat on. 

So, what about you? I’d love to know how you feel about love triangles in fiction. If you like them, what are your favorite books or movies with love triangles? And what else do you think a girl should consider carefully before choosing a ghost boyfriend over a real guy?

Close Encounters with my Overactive Imagination - Guest Post YA Author O'Dell Hutchison

Hosted by Jordan Dane


I really excited to have O'Dell Hutchison as guest on ADR3NALIN3 today. O'Dell is a busy guy. He's the head TWIRP at BOOKTWIRPS book blog, he's a new YA author, a theatre director, actor, book trailer maker, systems geek, dog rescuer, and he can probably cook and clean windows too. I'm reading his debut book THE WEEPING now and am totally hooked. Bwah Ha HAAA! Welcome, O to the Dell!


I have a very overactive imagination, especially when I’m scared. It really kicks into high gear when I’m lying in bed at night. I can easily take a small thump, which is more than likely something harmless such as the refrigerator kicking on, or the house settling, and turn it into a full-fledged zombie attack in a matter of seconds. As I lie frozen in my bed, I’ll quickly run through my plan of attack:


1. Grab the old wooden rocking chair in my room and smash it to pieces against the wall.


2. Take one of the wooden legs and use it as a weapon.


3. Run to the living room, wielding said wooden sword and grab my keys, phone and dog.


4. Fight off the zombie who managed to break in through the window.


5. Barely make it to the garage, open the door and prepare for the horde of undead waiting to eat my brains.


6. Start the car (praying it actually does start), then plow my trusty Nissan backward, mowing over the flesh-eating monsters trying to get to me.


7. Flee to safety.


Once I have my plan, I eventually fall asleep, surrendering myself to a barrage of crazy dreams.


About five years ago, I was at a local theatre painting the set for a show I was directing. It was over the Christmas holiday and my entire crew was out of town. It was the perfect time for me to get the painting done without any distractions. I locked all the doors, turned on the stage lights so I could make sure the woodgrain effect had the proper shadowing, and set to work.


About an hour later, as I stood on the ladder painting away, I heard what sounded like footsteps walking up the stairs to the tech booth. I glanced up and thought I saw someone walking through the booth. I called out, asking if anyone was there, but received no answer. A few seconds later, the stage lights went out. Luckily, I still had the work lights for the stage, so I wasn’t totally left in the dark.


I climbed down from the ladder and walked out to the lobby, my mind racing with who it could possibly be. It was well after midnight, and very unlikely that anyone other than my stupid self would be at the theatre that late. The doors were locked and firmly closed and all the lobby lights off, just as I’d left it. I walked up to the booth, calling out for someone, but no one answered.


I walked into the booth, checking both spot lofts and found no one up there. I turned the lights back on and went down to finish painting.


No sooner had I climbed the ladder when the footsteps came back. This time I glanced up to see the shape of a man standing in one of the spot lofts watching me. The stage lights were so bright I couldn’t see who it was. I climbed down from the ladder, shielding my eyes and walked to the edge of the stage. I was both a little freaked out and a little pissed that someone was messing with me. When I got to the edge of the stage, the figure was gone.


I decided I was done for the night, and walked back to put the lid on the paint can when suddenly, all the lights went out - stage lights, work lights - everything. Thankfully, I had a small light on my keychain to help guide me out of the theatre.


Since that night, I’ve had other encounters. One night, several of my crew members for another show I’d directed claimed to see a man standing in the second floor scene shop watching them during the show.


During a sold-out performance of yet another show I’d directed, I went upstairs to watch the show from the spot loft. I was up there alone, but after the show, several of my cast members asked me who was in the loft with me. I insisted that I was there alone, but they all claimed someone was standing behind me.


My logical self has many explanations for what could have happened on those occasions: The power went out the night I was painting and the thumping noises I heard were probably just the ice machine or the building settling. My crew probably just saw a piece of wood in the shape of a man standing in the scene shop, or maybe a homeless person wandered in and got lost (It could happen). Whatever the case may be, I had plenty of inspiration for “The Weeping”. Thanks to my overactive imagination, and maybe even a little help from a wandering soul, I was able to take all of these events and mold them into a tale that combines two things I love the most: Ghost stories and theatre.


Have you ever had a close encounter with a ghost? I’d love to hear about it.


THE WEEPING Trailer & Synopsis:

Twenty years ago, Catherine Whitley was the victim of a horrible crime. Betrayed by her friends, including the boy she loved, she was left to die when the Rock Harbor Opera House caught fire, taking a disturbing secret with her to her grave. Seventeen-year-old Heath Ingram was driving the night his Jeep careened off the road, killing three of his closest friends. His parents send him to live with his uncle for the summer, hoping he can move past the tragedy. When Heath starts working at the newly renovated Rock Harbor Opera House, he meets Molly, a young dancer who awakens in him a desire to start over and move on. But, when he begins having visions of a half-burned girl in a white dress, he starts to think he may be slipping even further over the edge. As the apparent hauntings become more intense, Heath begins to fear for his safety. With the help of his friend Josie, Heath discovers an unsettling secret that ties the mysterious girl to both their families. When two of their friends die unexpectedly, Josie and Heath realize that something, or someone, is after the children of those who wronged Catherine…and they are next.

 
O’Dell Hutchison resides in Katy, Texas. By day, he is a business systems analyst in the medical field. When not working or writing, O’Dell spends most of his free time acting and directing at local Houston theatres. O’Dell enjoyes reading (a lot!), blogging (booktwirps.com) and hanging out with his rescue husky, Gia.



Visit his website at otothedell.com or catch him on tumblr at otothedell.tumblr.com, or on Twitter @otothedell

Houdini, suburban vampires, and ghostly guests...

By A.G. Howard

One of my favorite things about being a writer is meeting other writers. I love to see the way their minds work: what gives them the idea for a story, how they go about researching and plotting, what their writing process is. I always come away feeling like I've learned something about myself and my process just by sharing theirs.

It's also true that I'm a huge fan of historical fiction, romance, and ghost stories which is why I wrote a gothic/literary YA set in Victorian England with a unique love triangle between a deaf heroine, a gypsy viscount, and a ghost ... sort of Jane Eyre meets A Certain Slant of Light. I'm hoping to pique my editor's interest in this story, tenatively titled GhostFlower, when I pitch second book ideas to her this week.

All that to say, when I met the lovely and talented Cat Winters (the brilliant mind behind The Suburban Vampire blog), whose historical ghost YA will be published through Amulet in Spring 2013, I knew I couldn't wait to pick her brain for details.  She graciously accepted my invitation to drop by today and give us the inside scoop. 

Please welcome Cat, and her debut novel In the Shadow of Blackbirds to the ADR3NALIN3 stage.

Cat Winters was born and raised just a short drive down the freeway from Disneyland, which probably explains her obsession with haunted mansions, bygone eras, and fantasylands. Her debut novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, a YA historical ghost tale illustrated with early-twentieth-century photographs, is coming Spring 2013 from Amulet Books. She lives outside of Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two kids.

I suppose I've been preparing to write my upcoming novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, since I first fell in love with ghost stories. My fascination with spirits started way back in elementary school, when a book about haunted locales called to me from a shelf in my school's library. Up until that point, I had only thought of ghosts as fictional creatures that showed up in spooky stories and movies, and because I was growing up in Orange County, California, not far from Disneyland, I thought they looked something like this: 

Yet here was a book telling me that real people believed in real ghosts.

After I read that library text, I found myself continually drawn to spine-chilling tales. One of my favorite movies growing up was The Watcher in the Woods—another one of Disney's contributions to my obsession with all things eerie. The movie is packed with menacing music and so many psychological thrills that both my sister and my daughter refuse to even talk about the film.

Here's the trailer so you can see what appealed to little horror-loving me:

I spent my teen years gobbling up classic Gothic literature (Shelley, Poe, the Brontës, etc.) and watching The Twilight Zone reruns and old Alfred Hitchcock films. Then, in my adulthood, I stumbled upon the history of séances in a Smithsonian Magazine article and started playing around with a historical novel involving séances. That particular book didn't go far, but several years later I landed an agent and chatted with her about an entirely new take on my basic plot ideas. I proposed showing a teen's perspective of the Spiritualism craze that resulted from the horrors of WWI.

One year later, I turned in the first draft of In the Shadow of Blackbirds. A year after that, I received an offer from Amulet Books.

In the Shadow of Blackbirds explores the nightmare world of 1918, when both WWI and the Spanish Influenza killed millions of people around the globe, and desperate Americans turned to séances, spirit photographers, and folk remedies for comfort.

To research the ghostly side of the story, I pored over spirit photographs from the era and read books that tackled the dark and dangerous aspects of spirit communication, like Harry Houdini's A Magician among the Spirits and Mary Roach's Spook.

Click the picture to find on Amazon

I've always felt some of the most moving tales about war and other atrocities are the ones told from the point of view of young people, so I picked a brutally honest sixteen-year-old girl to be my protagonist. She's forced to deal with death, spiritual tricksters, national paranoia, some highly creepy birds … and a ghost (of course).

Would the kid in me who loved to be scared out of her wits enjoy this novel? Definitely.

What about you? Are you typically drawn to ghostly tales? And do you believe in ghosts?

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Want to keep tabs on Cat and her upcoming novel? Check out her online haunts:

http://www.catwinters.com
http://twitter.com/catwinters
http://www.facebook.com/catwintersbooks

http://www.goodreads.com/catwinters
http://suburbanvampire.blogspot.com/