🙂 I’m just a little late getting to the office, that’s all.
Like, about six hours late.
This will be one of those rare but lovely days when I write in the late afternoon and evening. Years ago, I wrote an entire book, “Time Without End”, one of the vampire stories, between the hours of 11 pm and 2 am, which is odd, because I’m mostly a morning person. The reasons? 1) It was a vampire story, after all, and 2) my daughter was a teenager at the time, often rehearsing a drama club play until all hours and, on weekends, running around with her friends. Being a mama, I couldn’t really sleep until she was safe at home anyway, so I worked.
This was when we lived in a big Victorian-style (new) house in Port Orchard. Although I was in denial at the time, looking back, I’m pretty well convinced the place was haunted.
No, I never actually saw a ghost, but Wendy did. She swears she saw a woman in Victorian dress, looking out of one of the guest room windows. It scared her half to death–I remember her backing into my room, terrified. (I hope she doesn’ t mind my telling you this.) Along with our cat du jour, Triskit, I had been sound asleep. I still have the scar where Triskit peeled out on the knuckles of my right hand to remember the incident by, though whether the poor critter was afraid of Wendy or the ghost, I couldn’t say. I got up and investigated and, of course, there was nobody, Victorian or otherwise, in the guest room. Just to be sure, I issued fair warning, saying something like, “This is my house, not yours, and if you’re going to hang around, fine, but you have to behave yourself.” She did behave–maybe she knew it was no idle threat. I wouldn’t hesitate to hand the situation over to the Big Guy, then or now.
What I did experience, night after night, was the continual opening and shutting of the doors of the kitchen cupboards. This always happened at night, when Wendy and I were both upstairs in our rooms. The sound was oddly rhythmic, and, as I said, steady. It might have gone on all night, but I’m not sure of that because it was so long ago. I don’t recall being frightened at any time, but I didn’t want my daughter to be scared, so I told her the house was settling. 🙂 She didn’t buy it, naturally, being a very smart cookie, but she went along with my story–probably for my sake. 🙂
To get back to now, I started listening to that book I mentioned yesterday, “Help for the Haunted”, last night. I’m not sure if I like it or not–it’s strange, but not strange enough, if you know what I mean. It’s well-written, though–just not my cup of tea, so to speak. Far be it from me to discourage the sale of another writer’s book–it’s hard work, sometimes heartbreaking, in fact.
This week’s contest winners have been chosen and notified, and I’ll post their names tomorrow. If they’re not you–:)–not to worry. We’ll start all over again on Monday.
The weather was bright and sunny this morning, but this afternoon, as I write this, the sky is overcast and the mood is somewhere between bleak and cozy. I choose cozy.
More tomorrow.
Be well, be safe, and be kind.
About Linda
The daughter of a town marshal, Linda Lael Miller is a #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than 100 historical and contemporary novels, most of which reflect her love of the West.
Raised in Northport, Washington, Linda pursued her wanderlust, living in London and Arizona and traveling the world before returning to the state of her birth to settle down on a horse property outside Spokane.
