It's #WriterWednesday and even though I mentioned Stephen King a few weeks back, I can't help but to bring him up again because--Well, Stephen King and Halloween go together like Christmas and Santa.

I could list his many books, the movies based on those books, or other accolades, but King also supports many local charities in Maine and provides scholarships for local high school students. 

More recently, according to Wikipedia, King addressed the hot political issue of raising the taxes on the wealthy by publishing an article in The Daily Beast calling for rich Americans, including himself, to pay more taxes, citing it as "a practical necessity and moral imperative that those who have received much should be obligated to pay ... in the same proportion".

So, back to the writer side of King....Thanks to him, clowns are even scarier, darkness a little more frightening, proms and pigs blood now go together, #1 fan takes on a whole new meaning, and Halloween is a little more fun!

What's your favorite King story?

As many of you know, I live in Southern Indiana.  What some of you may not realize is that there is only a river separating me from my all time favorite paranormal site:  Waverly Hills Sanatorium.

Waverly Hills Sanatorium is supposed to be one of the most haunted locations in America.  It has been popularized on Ghost Hunters on the SyFy channel, Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel, and even all the way over to the UK on Brittan's Most Haunted.

The sanatorium opened in 1910 to cope with the "white plague" of tuberculosis.  The hospital was expanded many times until the use of antibiotics made it unnecessary and it closed it's doors in 1961. 

The hospital then became Woodhaven Medical Services in 1962 and opened it's doors to treat aging patients with dementia as well as the severely retarded.  The facility was shut down by the state in 1982 due to patient abuse and neglect.

So considering the sad history of this location, is it any wonder that spirits would linger?  My two favorite tales from the hospital include the "death chute" and room 502.

Waverly Hills Death Chute:  The so called "death chute" was first used as a way to deliver supplies and workers to the hospital without navigating the steep hill, but during the hospitals time as a sanatorium there were no antibiotics for tuberculosis and treatment consisted mostly of high spirits and fresh air.  Obviously, patients often died from the disease at the hospital and doctors felt that the sight of bodies being removed would depress the remaining patients.  The underground tunnel was then used to transport the dead from the hospital, down the chute, to a waiting hearse.  On the Ghost Hunters episode, investigators felt a definite uneasiness in the tunnel.

Room 502 at Waverly Hills:  Legend has it that when an unmarried nurse working at the hospital discovered she was pregnant, she committed suicide in room 502.  Many paranormal investigators have visited that room and most report evidence of paranormal activity in that room.

Do you have a favorite story from Waverly Hills?

I love Halloween!  I also love Hollywood, so it's no surprise that some of my favorite ghost stories are centered around tinsel town.  Here are just a few of my favorites to help get you in the Halloween mood.

If it's ghosts you want to see, you might want to visit the Roosevelt Hotel.  It's on my list of must-see haunted places.  The Roosevelt's most famous haunting centers around a mirror near the lower level elevators.  People often claim to see the reflection of none other than Marilyn Monroe in the mirror.  The mirror was originally hung in the room frequented by Marilyn and some say is still being used by her today.  Other reports from the hotel include cold spots, being touched by unseen entities, and one ghost dressed in a white suit that vanishes when approached.

Is there anything more symbolic of Hollywood than the Hollywood Sign?  The sign was originally supposed to be just a lit billboard for a land development, but became the symbol of the fame and fortune of the silver screen.  For some though, it became a symbol of failure.  After failing to get her big break, struggling actress Peg Entwistle climbed up to the sign and threw herself off the "H".  Ironically, a letter arrived the next day offering her a part.  It is said that her spirit haunts the location and can often be seen leaping from the landmark.

The Hollywood Wax Museum is another haunted location on my list of must-sees.  People often have disturbances show up on pictures taken at night and one story has a reporter from the National Enquirer spending the night locked in the museum to prove that it was haunted.  the next day he was waiting by the door, pale and shaken, the National Enquirer never heard from him again.

I love fall!  I love the scents, the cooler weather, and the food.  Is there anything better than a warm bowl of soup?  A hot cup of cocoa?  Or even better, some Crunch n' Munch?

I know Crunch n' Munch isn't a traditional fall snack, but popcorn balls do fit into that category and since I HATE regular popcorn, Crunch n' Munch takes its place.

How can someone hate popcorn?  Well, spend two years working in a movie theater and you will learn to hate it.  I actually get nauseous when I smell it and often ask people to open a window if they are making it.  Going to a movie is torture until I get through the lobby.

So, because of all of this, my favorite fall snack is Crunch n' Munch, but I'm just curious.....Which do you prefer:  Crunch n' Munch or traditional popcorn balls?

I am so excited to reveal the cover for The Spiritus Series collection!  The collection will feature all three Spiritus Series novels and will be released in mid November just in time for Christmas!

Well, I'm done.  It took a lot of work, but I finally got the book trailer for Incarnate finished.  I really think it's the best one so far, but that could just be because it's the most recent.  So, what do you think?

For #ThrowbackThursday, I thought I'd step back a year to last Halloween.  This is my little one at The World's Largest Halloween party at the Louisville Zoo.

She was so proud and got tons of compliments!

I absolutely LOVE Anne Rice's work.  First she brought us Lestat, which is accomplishment enough, but then she turned around and wrote an amazingly sensual ghost story in The Witching Hour.  Now we all know that I have a huge love for spirits back from the dead, but she weaves a tale that is more beautiful and tragic than any novel I have read to date.  Take a few moments to learn more about Anne Rice and her amazing career.

Anne Rice's Biography from Amazon.com
Anne Rice was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in English and Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, as well as a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science.

She is the author of over 30 books, most recently the Toby O'Dare novels Of Love and Evil, and Angel Time; the memoir, Called Out of Darkness;and her two novels about Jesus, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana,

Anne publicly broke with organized religion in July of 2010 on moral grounds, affirming her faith in God, but refusing any longer to be called "Christian." The story attracted surprising media attention, with Rice's remarks being quoted in stories all over the world.

Anne is very active on her FaceBook Fan Page and has over 550,000 followers. She answers questions every day on the page, and also posts on a variety of topics, including literature, film, music, politics, religion, and her own writings. She welcomes discussion there on numerous topics.

Her latest novel, The Wolf Gift, a werewolf story set in Northern California in the present time, will be published on February 14th, 2012. With this book, Anne returns to the classic monsters and themes of supernatural literature, similar to those she explored in her Vampire Chronicles, and tales of the Mayfair Witches.

Her first novel, Interview with the Vampire, was published in 1976 and has gone on to become one of the best-selling novels of all time. She continued her saga of the Vampire Lestat in a series of books, collectively known as The Vampire Chronicles, which have had both great mainstream and cult followings.

Interview with the Vampire was made into a motion picture in 1994, starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst and Antonio Banderas. Anne's novel, Feast of All Saints about the free people of color of ante-bellum New Orleans became a Showtime mini series in 2001.

Anne Rice is also the author of other novels, including The Witching Hour, Servant of the Bones, Merrick, Blackwood Farm, Blood Canticle, Violin, and Cry to Heaven. She lives in Palm Desert, California.

Amazon Product Description:
"We watch and we are always here" is the motto of the Talamasca, a saintly group with extrasensory powers which has for centuries chronicled the lives of the Mayfairs--a dynasty of witches that brought down a shower of flames in 17th-century Scotland, fled to the plantations of Haiti and on to the New World, where they settled in the haunted city of New Orleans. Rice ( The Queen of the Damned ) plumbs a rich vein of witchcraft lore, conjuring in her overheated, florid prose the decayed antebellum mansion where incest rules, dolls are made of human bone and hair, and violent storms sweep the skies each time a witch dies and the power passes on.

Newly annointed is Rowan Mayfair, a brilliant California neurosurgeon kept in ignorance of her heritage by her adoptive parents. She returns to the fold after bringing back Michael Curry from the dead; he, too, has unwanted extrasensory gifts and, like Rowan and the 12 Mayfairs before her, has beheld Lasher: devil, seducer, spirit. Now Lasher wants to come through to this world forever and Rowan is the Mayfair who can open the door. This massive tome repeatedly slows, then speeds when Rice casts off the Talamasca's pretentious, scholarly tones and goes for the jugular with morbid delights, sexually charged passages and wicked, wild tragedy.

So, I'm just about finished with all of my research and I looked over my outline for my next project. Wow!  That's all I have to say, but not "Wow" in a good way.

The story is interesting and the characters are intriguing.   The problem is that while all these amazing events happen, I'm missing the big thing in any book.....The why.

Now I'm going back and trying to pull all of the character motivations together to make the big why of the book.  I'm starting to feel like I'm sinking in this project!

Spiritus was easy.  I lived with those characters in my head for so long, they translated easily on paper, but this is different.  These characters and I have just met and now I have to take the time to get to know each of them personally.

So fellow writers, does the overall "why" sometimes escape you?

It was a crazy week last week!  I don't know why I don't just torture myself!  I came up with the bright idea that I should release Incarnate, run a Free promotion of Spiritus, and do a huge giveaway all in the same week! 

Now that the dust has settled, I have to say thanks to all my readers.  Because of you, all three books of the Spiritus series stayed on the bestseller lists all week.  You guys rock!

I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to the generous book bloggers that took their time to review my books and help spread the word. 

So, I just want to thank everyone that bought, downloaded, or reviewed my books.