Dana Michelle Burnett
Follow on
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Contact Dana Michelle Burnett
  • For Readers
  • ♥ FREE Stuff ♥

Dream Craziness and Inspiration

10/28/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Have you ever woke up from a dream and thought WTH? I had a dream last night that I was watching a DVD of a movie and complaining (to no one by the way) that the actor gave away the ending in a recent interview...Oh, did I mention this movie was made in 1991 AND I saw it when it came out?

The movie is actually one of my favorites, which usually means that no one has ever heard of it. Dead Again sort of began my facination with past lives and reincarnation. Without that movie, my Spiritus series probably never would have happened.


Plot Synopsis from Wikipedia (Spoilers)

A series of newspaper articles details the 1949 murder of pianist Margaret Strauss (Emma Thompson), who was stabbed with a pair of antique scissors during an apparent robbery. An anklet worth thousands of dollars is missing. Her husband, composer Roman Strauss (Kenneth Branagh), is found guilty of the crime and sentenced to death. Before his execution, Roman is visited by reporter Gray Baker (Andy Garcia). When asked if he killed Margaret, Roman leans in to whisper in Gray’s ear. Baker does not reveal Roman's answer at the time.

Forty years later, Mike Church (Branagh), a private detective, is asked to investigate the identity of a woman (Thompson) who has appeared at the Catholic orphanage where Mike grew up. She has amnesia, is unable to speak, and suffers from violent nightmares.

Mike takes her in and asks his friend, Pete Dugan (Wayne Knight), to publish her picture in the newspaper along with his contact information. Franklyn Madson (Derek Jacobi), an antique dealer and hypnotist, approaches Church suggesting that hypnosis may help her recover her memories. Mike agrees. When the session is initially unsuccessful, Madson suggests they experiment with past life regression. Mike is skeptical, but the woman suddenly is able to speak and begins detailing the lives of Margaret and Roman in the third person, from their courtship to their wedding day. When the session is over, she is still able to speak but still has amnesia. Madson shows them copies of Life magazine from the time of the murder. Mike and the woman bear a striking resemblance to Roman and Margaret.

Mike visits Cozy Carlisle (Robin Williams), a disgraced psychiatrist. Cozy insists they continue to see Madson, since delving into the problems between Margaret and Roman may help resolve the trauma that triggered the woman's memory loss.

Mike nicknames the woman "Grace" and begins to fall in love with her. After a romantic evening, a man named Doug appears and claims that Grace is his fiancée, Katherine. Mike discovers he is lying and chases him away.

Under hypnosis, Grace recalls that Roman, unable to finish his opera, is frustrated and in debt. He believes that Margaret is flirting with Gray Baker, whom she met on their wedding day. Margaret becomes frustrated when she cannot convince Roman that she is faithful. Margaret catches Frankie, the young son of their housekeeper, Inga, looking through her jewelry box. She asks Roman to dismiss Inga and Frankie. Roman refuses, claiming that they saved his life in Germany.

Grace has a vision of Mike in the past standing over Margaret with a pair of scissors and becomes terrified, convinced he means to kill her. Mike is enraged and insists that he is not Roman and would never hurt Grace. When he accidentally calls her Margaret, he agrees to let Madson regress him as well.

Under hypnosis, Mike discovers he was actually Margaret in the past and Grace was Roman. Mike tries to explain this to Madson and Grace, but Pete Dugan interrupts to announce that someone has identified Grace: her name is actually Amanda, and she is an artist. Amanda, still afraid of Mike, accompanies Pete and Madson to her apartment. Amanda's artwork reveals a recent obsession with scissors. Madson gives her an old gun from his antique shop to protect herself from Mike.

Mike asks Gray Baker about the secret that Roman whispered to him in 1949. Baker insists that Roman said nothing to him and only kissed him on the cheek. Gray is convinced that Roman did not kill his wife and urges Mike to find Inga, who would have known everything that happened in that house. Based on Baker's description, Mike realizes that Madson is Frankie. Mike questions Inga, who explains that shortly before the murder she had confessed her love for Roman. Roman insisted that he loved only Margaret. Inga tried to explain her sorrow to Frankie, but he was unable to understand. Frankie blamed Margaret for his mother's unhappiness and killed her with the scissors. He stole her valuable anklet, a symbol of Roman's love for her. Roman stumbled upon the scene and was found later covered in his wife's blood and holding the murder weapon.

After Roman's execution, Inga took Frankie to London to treat his stammer. From his tutor, Frankie learned about hypnotherapy and ultimately about past life regression. After moving back to Los Angeles, Frankie became convinced that Margaret’s spirit would seek revenge. When he saw Amanda’s picture in the paper, he "knew" she had finally returned. He hired Doug, an actor, to separate Mike and Amanda and direct Amanda's attention away from himself, while he waited for an opportunity to kill her. Inga apologizes for her past sins and refuses to protect Frankie any longer. She hands Mike the missing anklet. Mike leaves to find Amanda. Madson appears from the shadows and smothers Inga with a pillow.

Mike finds Amanda's apartment to tell her the truth, but she is still terrified of him. She accidentally shoots Mike in the shoulder with Madson's gun, and he falls unconscious. Madson arrives and reveals his true identity. Amanda tries to shoot him, but the gun jams. Madson knocks her out. He places the scissors he used to kill Margaret in Mike's hand and tries to make it look like Amanda committed suicide with the gun. As he stoops to pull the trigger, Mike stabs him in the leg with the scissors. In the ensuing struggle, Madson is impaled on a sculpture of giant scissors and dies.

The film ends some time later with Mike and Amanda in a passionate embrace.



So, there I am complaining because Kenneth Branagh gave away the ending...In a recent interview...To a movie I saw in 1991...I think I hear the approach of the men in the white coats with the butterfly nets.



0 Comments

Happy Birthday Spiritus! My Novel About A Vengeful Ghost Is Three Years Old Today!

10/11/2014

0 Comments

 
I can't believe it, but yes, Spiritus is three years old today! I can't believe my story about a Civil War ghost haunting the reincarnation of the wife that murdered him is still going strong after all this time! The best part? You can get it FREE for Kindle, Nook, and iBooks!

Picture
A love that refuses to die...

"As I watched him vanish into a soft mist that faded away, I knew that he was no ordinary spirit...I knew that he was a dangerous entity that could be in some corner of another realm planning his revenge, but I also knew that I was hopelessly in love with him."

When Becca moves into her ancestral home in Corydon, Indiana, her life takes a puzzling and thrilling turn when she meets the ghost haunting the halls. As the seductive spirit lures her closer and closer, she learns about her own past and starts to understand that some mistakes are meant to last.

Becca McAllister has always been different from other girls her age. Never part of the "in crowd", Becca never really fit in anywhere. When her mother dies and her father moves them to the small town of Corydon, Indiana, Becca didn't expect things to change.

But things do change when Becca accidentally makes contact with a one hundred and sixty year old ghost, Alastor Sinclair, that haunts the halls of her new home.

To Becca, Alastor is a seductive spirit that seems to see straight into her soul. To Alastor, Becca is what he has waited a century for--A second chance.

But the closer they get, the more Becca realizes that this isn't the first time she and Alastor have known each other. Worse still, is she the one responsible for his death so long ago? And if so, did he come back for love or revenge?

Read reviews and an excerpt HERE.


Still Want More?

Read the entire Spiritus Series from Alastor's point of view for FREE! Just enter your email list and you'll be sent a confirmation email with the PDF download link!

Enter Your Email For A FREE Copy Of Possessed

* indicates required
Email Format
0 Comments

Margaret Mitchell: How a Twist of Fate Created Gone with the Wind

10/10/2014

2 Comments

 
Picture
What do you do when you've read every book in the library? Write your own of course!

I love reading about my favorite authors and what inspired them to write my favorite books. One that really comes to mind is Margaret Mitchell and the strange twists of fate that made her create Gone with the Wind.

Margaret Mitchell grew up on stories of the Civil War. Sitting on the porch, her grandmother told her about the war, the fall of the south, and the dark days of reconstruction. She carried these stories with her as she married, became a reporter for The Atlanta Journal, divorced, and married again.


Picture
Stuck in bed with an ankle injury in May 1926, Mitchell read books until one day (one version of the story goes), her husband came in and announced that she had read everything in the library and would just have to write her own book. So for the next three years, Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind on a portable typewriter. She wrote in no particular order (sound like someone you know?) and when she would finish a chapter or section, she would put it in a large envelope and seal it shut. 

Gone with the Wind was finally published in 1936, ten years after she first began writing it. The main character's name was changed from Pansy O'Hara to Scarlett and history was made.


Picture
Her work of course went on to inspire the movie featuring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh which is celebrating its 75th anniversary. Gone with the Wind is still the most successful film in box-office history, it launched the Hollywood career of Leigh, helped Gable negotiate a divorce so that he could marry Carol Lumbard, and created the role for which Hattie McDaniel would become the first African American to win an academy award. All because of a broken ankle...


2 Comments

    Romance too Epic for Just One Lifetime...

    Stay up to date with the latest releases from Dana Michelle Burnett!
    Stay Updated

    This Girl Loves Books

    Picture
    Zazzle Store

    RSS Feed


    Affiliate Disclaimer:
    Dana Michelle Burnett is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to (Amazon.com, or Endless.com, MYHABIT.com, SmallParts.com, or AmazonWireless.com).

    Archives

    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photo used under Creative Commons from Wright Way Photography