Hey everyone! Hope you’re having a wonderful All Hallow’s Eve! I know I usually talk about pumpkins and leaves and trickertreating and all that, but I thought I’d change it up a bit and invite The Grim Reaper. Bwahahahaha!

Actually, I’m inviting the wonderful DARYNDA JONES, and her fabulous character, Charley Davidson, AKA The Grim Reaper. Darynda started this journey with a Golden Heart win with FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT, then once published hit the USA Today Bestsellers list, and the New York Times Bestsellers list, then won a Daphne du Maurier award and a Rita. Whew! Charley’s been BUSY!

In amongst that, she’s also written a YA called DEATH AND THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, which came out earlier this month. The fourth book in Charley’s saga came out YESTERDAY!!! Order it NOW on your Nook or Kindle! WOOT!

(And if I’m slow to comment, it’s probably because I’m reading FOURTH GRAVE UNDER MY FEET!  Of course it could also be because I have no power, thanks to Hurricane Sandy, but…I can still read!  Since Darynda lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys, she’s going to be here even if I can’t be!)

Darynda, WELCOME to the Bandit Lair!

Darynda: Thank you so much for having me!!!

Jeanne: So, first, tell us what got you started in this crazy writing game. Were you like some of the Banditas, writing since you were small? Or did you have one of those epiphanies: “I can DO this!”? Or something entirely different?

Darynda: The making-up-stories part came to me very early. I would pretend to write a story even before I could write, and the minute I learned how to, I started writing stories for real. I would write anything. I started with plays and poetry and advanced to short stories and news stories. If it could be written, I’d do it. But it wasn’t until I was in high school that I realized I wanted to BE a writer. I thought you had to be a stone genius or have a major addiction to even consider writing as a career. I was neither a genius nor an addict, but a friend convinced me I would write despite these drawbacks.

Jeanne: Okay, I’m snickering over the addiction bit. I guess you don’t mean an addiction to books! Hahaha! We love Call Stories in the Lair. In fact, we’d love to hear BOTH your call stories, for FIRST GRAVE and for DEATH AND THE GIRL NEXT DOOR!

Darynda: Winning the Golden Heart helped move the sale along quite a bit. Within days of the win, my newly acquired and super savvy agent, Alexandra Machinist, had several requests. And about a week after she submitted First Grave, we had our first offer from Jennifer Enderlin of St. Martin’s Press for a three-book deal. But I didn’t know that because I was in a district-wide meeting.

I was working for the schools at the time as an interpreter, and this was our first day back. So after a few games of phone tag, Alexandra finally got a hold of me and asked if I was sitting down. The offer was amazing and I admit it, I cried. Then I’m pretty sure I slipped into a state of shock, one I stayed in for quite some time. My husband freaked out too. It was funny.

I still had meetings all that first day and I could barely sit through them. It was quite torturous really. And don’t even ask how I slept that night! By the next morning we had a couple more offers, and just before it went to auction, Jennifer swept in with an amazing preempt we couldn’t turn down. Jennifer called me that afternoon so we could meet “voice to voice”. She was so wonderful. I am so amazingly blessed to be working with her. We are currently on our 7th book together, and I am more convinced she is a genius with each one. Both Alexandra and Jennifer are incredible.

As for the call story for Death and the Girl Next Door, again, I was shocked. Jennifer wanted it too! How lucky can one girl be, honestly?

Jeanne: That’s outstanding! I’m a big fan of Jennifer’s, having worked with her on the Washington Romance Writer’s Retreat for a number of years. And St. Martin’s is a wonderful house to publish with! But, with your success with Charley, what made you turn to YA? Or did you already have the YA written when Charley hit big?

Darynda: You guessed it! I already had the YA written. I wrote it years before FIRST GRAVE, but believing it would never sell, I stole a lot of the elements out of it to put in the Charley Davidson series. So I had to rewrite the whole story with an all-new underlying foundation, and believe me, that is FAR easier to say than do. Never again. LOL

Jeanne: *wince* Yep, I’ve “been there done that” so I can empathize. Ouch. Now, for what I really want to know…How did you dream up the absolutely sexy, delicious character of Reyes?

Darynda: Thank you! I’m fond of him, too. Basically, I just wanted a mix of power and bad boy, and who better to carry out that responsibility than the son of evil incarnate? I wanted my hero to be just a TAD more powerful than my heroine. For now, at least. And I wracked my brain trying to come up with a being that would fit in my paranormal world and be able to give Charley a run for her money. I think he does a splendid job! And being the son of the most beautiful angel ever to grace the clouds of heaven? He had to be gorgeous. How could he not be?

Jeanne: *Dreamy sigh* Uh, absolutely. *wipes drool off chin* Sorry. Got lost there for a minute. :> And to completely change the subject so I don’t get any more hot and bothered over Reyes, what does Charley think of Halloween?

Darynda: I asked Charley she said (and I quote), “Halloween is great! I mean, it’s orange! How can any unrecognized holiday that is orange not be great?” In her defense, she does have an attention problem that affects her view of the world.

Jeanne: And what about Reyes? What does HE think about Halloween?

Darynda: Okay, it took a while to track him down (and then I had to stop and stare a bit), but he said Halloween is no different than any other day of the year except for the fact that Charley dresses all sexy sometimes. So that makes it A-OK in his book.

Jeanne: Well there you go! He maybe atypical in some ways, but that is just a typical “GUY” response!  Ha!  Nevertheless, two YES votes for Halloween! Huzzah!   And since we’re on the subject of the spooky and sexy, you must tell us about Lorelei, Jared and Cameron from DEATH AND THE GIRL NEXT DOOR!  Where did this story “come from”?

Darynda: Their story just kind of hit me one day while I was working at the high school in my hometown. I thought how fun it would be to take a bunch of kids and force them to face impossible odds. You know, like a supernatural war on Earth that only they can stop. Fun times, let me tell ya! And the trilogy was born.

Jeanne: Would you like to share an excerpt? Set it up for us…

Darynda: I would love to share an excerpt from Death and the Girl Next Door. This is where our heroine, Lorelei, first meets our hero who is going by the name Jared.

EXCERPT

I scanned the distance back to see if Mr. Davis was still standing watch. Instead, I found Cameron Lusk. He hadn’t gone to class. I could see him through the plate-glass windows that lined the front of Riley High. He stood leaning against the building, looking directly at me, a strange expression I couldn’t decipher shadowing his face.

I offered my own glare, completely perplexed. The guy had never shown the slightest bit of interest in me. Then, out of nowhere, I couldn’t turn around without finding him waiting for me, watching, like he was mentally calculating how long it would take to strangle the life out of my body. A cold chill shimmied down my spine with the thought.

And worse, I didn’t know what to do about it. I didn’t want to alarm my grandparents. They had enough to worry about. The anniversary of my parents’ disappearance always put them in a strange state, as it did me. I didn’t want to call the police. Naturally, they would have to tell my grandparents. And I was nowhere near moronic enough to pretend I could take him. Boys, no matter how lanky, were generally strong.

“I’m stronger.”

I jumped at the sound of a male voice behind me and whirled around to slam face- first into a brick wall. My notebook flew out of my arms, launching a ticker tape parade of science notes into the air. They floated down to land in whispery chaos on the ground.

For a second I just stood there in shock until humiliation took hold and surged through me with a fiery vengeance. I could feel my cheeks heating as I looked up. And up. Into the eyes of the offending wall.

I stilled.

It was the new guy. And his eyes were amazing. Dark, steady, penetrating. Penetrating?

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Where’d penetrating come from? I felt my cheeks grow even hotter. “Of course,” I said, glancing down to hide my face and my bruised pride. I tucked a curl behind an ear and bent to gather my notes.

Supernova knelt to help me.

“You don’t need to do that,” I said, even more embarrassed as he scooped up my messy notes before I could get to them. Honestly, why couldn’t I at least try to write neatly?

“I don’t mind,” he said, lifting the drawing I’d done that morning.

I snatched it out of his hand before he could get a good look. He glanced at me but not in surprise at what I’d done. More like curiosity. His dark gaze was startlingly intense. The contrast of molasses- colored eyes and hair made his flawless skin appear almost translucent. The effect was haunting.

I forced my thoughts back to the present. “I’m Lorelei,” I managed at last.

He hesitated as he had with Mr. Davis. After a quick glance over his shoulder, he stood and offered his hand. “I’m Jared.” I almost looked at the poster again. Instead, I shut my eyes as a slow dawning crept over me. I recognized his face. I’d drawn it that very morning. I’d been dwelling on it for three days. It was him. The boy. Only the puzzle was complete, and what a puzzle it was.

Jeanne: WOW, that’s outstanding! Love it! And can’t wait to finish FOURTH GRAVE and start on DEATH AND THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. (It’s my treat for finishing edits!)

Darynda: Thank you! And I’m convinced rewards like that are essential. Edits are hard!

Jeanne: They are hard, but they do make the book better so I’m slogging through. Ha! Now that I’ve plied you with endless questions, do you have one you’d like to ask our Bandita Buddies and Banditas?

Darynda:  I do! Here’s my question for the Bandits and your readers. If you met Death in any shape or fashion, and he wasn’t there for YOU, what would you ask?

Jeanne:  GREAT question!  Okay, Banditas and Buddies, have at it.  BTW, Darynda is giving away a copy of DEATH AND THE GIRL NEXT DOOR and FOURTH GRAVE UNDER MY FEET – one to a commenter today, and one will be in the Members Only prize package in November!

(Photos are from my own collection, courtesy of Darynda Jones, Wikimedia Commons and Pinterest Free)

It’s Fall.

I thought this stinkin’ hot summer would NEVER end!  Now comes my absolute favorite time of year: AUTUMN!!!  WHEEEEE!!!!

Time for pumpkins, football, sweatshirts, firepits, football, tailgating, potpie and fall foods, getting out the crockpot, chili, football….did I mention football?  OH!  Sorry, guess I mentioned it several times.  Grins.  Oh, and my all-time-favorite….HALLOWEEEN!!!!

Yes, I bought my first Halloween decoration of the year in August.  Go me!  Hahah!  One of the reasons I love fall, other than Halloween and relief from the aforementioned stinkin’ heat, is the food.  I love to eat.  It’s a wonder I don’t weigh as much as  John Deere tractor, but thankfully my metabolism is good.  (Thanks, Mom!) 

 Anyway, I don’t cook a lot in the summer.  The way my house is arranged, the heat just hangs in the kitchen.  Now that’s great on a cold winter day, on a hot summer one, not so much.  So…my point?  Oh, yes, I start cooking again, for real, in the Fall. 

DC had one of the hottest summers on record.  You can guess what that means….very little cooking in my kitchen!  My sons and husband have, by this time, nearly forgotten that I CAN cook since this year I began my heat-induced sabbatical around Flag Day. (June 14, in case you were wondering.) 

So, believe it or not, the Lair kitchen has the same problem – hot as seven hells if you fire up that stove in the summer.  Sven hides it better than I do, and he still manages to make snacks and delicious hors d’oevres for parties and Launch days, but MAN that kitchen gets hot.  Like me, Sven gets a lot happier when the weather starts to get cool.  He’s also a lot less cranky, and will let us start doing some decorating around the place instead of complaining about what he has to dust.

Just last night, I sneaked some spiderweb cloth and giant spiders into the armory and set them up so that they brush your arm when you open the door.  Scared Martin, one of the gladiators, white as a sheet!  HAHAHAH!!!  I’m planning to start the pumpkin trees here shortly when Ermingarde goes to sleep.  Y’see, Ermingarde likes to EAT pumpkins.  She’ll leave them alone once they’re Jack-o-Lanterns, but until then?  Dragon hor d’oevres!  Sven, Paolo and I have been working as fast as we can to get some carving done!

Now, that brings me back to football….no, sorry, to cooking!  Ha!  I have a lot of favorite fall and winter dishes that can now come out of hiding and grace the table once again.  Guiness Beef Brisket.  Chicken Pot Pie.  Sweet Potatoes and Pork in the crock pot.   Chicken Tetrazini.  Seriously meaty chili.  And speaking of pumpkin, Bandita Susan told me that if you put pumpkin on chili, it’s awesome.  Have you tried this?  I must try this, and SOON.

I could go on, but I”m getting really hungry.   :>

On the decorating front, I’m dividing my time between the Lair and my house, because I always host a Halloween party.  C’mon, now, you don’t think I’d miss an opportunity to have an Adams Family Halloween party, do you?  Bwahahahah!  Oh, and this year, I snagged the Grim Reaper to keep me company ON Halloween.  Really.  I did.  Darynda Jones is going to bring Charley Davidson, AKA The Grim Reaper, over to the blog on October 31st.   

How’s that for a SCORE! on Halloween?  Sweeeeeeeet!

Okay, so I do have the decorating started, as  I mentioned.  The  Jack-o-Lantern wreath is already up on the door at my house, and the one with the skulls, bones and feathers is up on the massive front door of the Lair.  I’ve hauled out the ghoulies and ghosties and goblins and witches and things that go bump in the night at my house, and they will begin to take their places around the varous rooms here in the next few days in anticipation of the big party and such an exalted Halloween guest. 

(My party will be a few days before – can’t interfere with Trick-or-Treat! – but you can bet my ghouls will be tuned in for Charley’s – and Darynda’s! - visit.)

Thankfully, this year, Halloween is on a Wednesday night and doesn’t conflict with the partying.  Also, I won’t miss any football!  Be sure to tune in.  But in the meantime, I have some things I need help with.

What great fall meal should I fix for the Grim Reaper?  Charley’s very nice, but if she brings an entourage (not her style, but hey, I like to plan for any contingency!  Those bikers, from Third Grave Dead Ahead, for instance, would eat a LOT!) I’ll need a hearty meal.

Next, what are some cool, spooky, scary Halloween decorations you’ve seen?  I always like to pick up a few new things every year.  I always get one more witch for my collection, and usually one other thing.  As I mentioned, I got my first thing in August – and yes, it was a thing.  bwahahaha!

Every year, my Halloween party has a theme.  This year, it’s Witches And Wizards: Spells Gone Awry.   I cannot WAIT to see what some of my clever, creative and/or twisted friends come up with for this.  Some will just plunk on a wizard hat and be done with it.  Others…well…you can only imagine the lengths to which they will go!  Someone’s already mentioned splinching.  Ha!

So….what would be some good themes for next year?  We’ve already had the suggestion of Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves.  Give me some other cool ideas!!

In the meantime, the Bears  trounced the Cowboys on Monday Night Football, and it’s almost the weekend so I can look forward to MORE football.  I’ve got the makings for pot pie, and chili, and time to decorate.  Let’s talk food, and fascinating pumpkins, and football…..or rugby, or cricket, or….FOOOTBALLLLLL!

Let’s talk PARTY!!

Yes, I’m making you all work today – it’s Pop Quiz time! I thought it would be fun to do a little Halloween Quiz since we love Trick-Or-Treat time around in the lair *g*

Let’s get started!

1. What was your favorite/best Halloween costume?

2. What was your worst Halloween costume?

3. How old were you the last time you went Trick-Or-Treating?

4. What’s your favorite Halloween treat?

5. What was the worst “Treat” you ever got at Halloween?

6. Did you ever play a “Trick” on anyone?

7. Painted pumpkins or carved pumpkins?

8. Happy Jack O’ Lanterns or scary ones?

9. Favorite scary movie?

10. Have you ever eaten the candy you bought for Trick-Or-Treaters only to eat it before Halloween and have to go out and buy more? (Be honest! You’re among friends here *g*)

Can’t wait to read all your answers! 

Today’s treat is a bundle of books including any two books from my back-list, a signed copy of THE TEXAN’S BRIDE by Linda Warren, signed copy of SURRENDER OF A LADY by Tiffany Clare (she’s also donating a second copy to one of our Halloween prizes!) and a signed copy of DANGEROUS TO HER by Virna di Paul!

A second commenter will win today’s “Trick” and be entered in a special drawing to be held on Halloween! 

Don’t forget to sign up for our Newsletter to be entered into the drawing for a Kindle! To make sure you’re entered in the drawing, join our Members Den and then be sure to respond to the newsletter confirmation (sent to the email addy you used to join the Member Den).

I know it isn’t Halloween just yet but it’s the Friday before, which means it’s officially time to party like the undead.

Now if you’re a kid this means the Weekend of Free Candy is upon you. Get out there & shake down the neighborhood, kiddoes!

A word of advice, though? If you can shave, drive a car or appreciate an ironic costume, you’re too old to trick or treat. Same goes if you either a) want to go as a Naughty Nurse or b) have what it takes to fill out the costume. Time to move on, ‘kay? Hand out candy at home, or get out there & TP the cranky neighbors. (Yes, I know I’m asking for it, but seriously, I’d rather get TP’ed than stare down the six foot tall college freshman at my door wearing a t-shirt that says, “This IS my costume.”)

But I don’t want to talk about kids & costumes. Today I want to talk about grown ups. Because grown ups have totally co-opted this holiday.

I’m not whining. Certainly not. I love Halloween. I met my husband at his annual Halloween bash. (He used to turn his entire basement into a haunted house every year. Then we had kids who lose sleep over movies like UP–”The talking dogs were BAD!”– & that nonsense had to end.)

For us these days Halloween is all about dressing up our little princesses & carving smiley faces into pumpkins but one day…

…one day I want to do the Zombie Pub Crawl.

I want to dress up like the undead, parade all over town & drink like my liver really has kicked it. I can’t explain this fascination with zombies. I don’t normally enjoy dead things, or movies about dead things. Or movies where people make previously alive things dead.

But I thought Shaun of the Dead was one of the funniest movies I’d ever seen.

This shocked the heck out of my husband who, if he wants me to watch a scary movie, has to promise to walk me to the bathroom at any hour of the day or night, and take charge of any household chore which involves going into the basement after dark.

And Zombie Land! Oh! Comic genius! This is a movie in which Woody Harrelson (so often underestimated as an actor) watches a female zombie chowing down on some poor guy and remarks offhandedly, “There’s a lady who likes her Manwich.”

I cried laughing. I still chuckle every time I walk past the cans of Manwich in the grocery store.

Based on this, I feel confident it would give me no end of enjoyment to get dressed up in raggedy clothes and stagger through the streets of St. Paul in search of brains (by which I mean beer) this weekend.

How about you? What are you doing this weekend to celebrate? Are you celebrating kid- or adult-style? Any traditions? Let hear ‘em!

I know, I know, Halloween is really more Jeanne’s province. But we’re
building our haunted mansion this week (cardboard, scrapbook paper, glitter and flocked bats – oh my!) and it got me thinking about the upcoming holiday and all the ensuing fun.

It also got me thinking that, despite my best intentions, every year I’m scrambling the last week to get organized and prepared. We’re hitting the grocery store the week before the holiday, grabbing whatever Halloween=ish ingredients we can. I recall one year, I was up until 1am making witch hats for the annual party while trying to get that stupid iced-up rubber glove for the punch bowl to quit leaking in my freezer. It’s similar to the pre-Thanksgiving craziness of making individual mini pumpkin place settings, or the pre-Christmas ‘have to have a gingerbread house’ race on the 23rd. Or the list of wonderful friends I want to send those handmade cards I never get made.

In other words, I’m an overachieving procrastinator. I’m incapable of letting the holiday’s go with just a celebratory nod, but never quite get my act together early enough to do justice to all my plans.

But this year!!! Oh yeah, this year I’m gonna rock. I’m even taking a workshop that combines crafting and scrapbooking with organizing. I have lists, I have plans, I have many options for distracting myself on the way to achieving those lists and plans. I’ve even bought my first Christmas gift (jammies for my girls).

But before I jump forward that far, I have Halloween to attack… I mean, enjoy. In addition to completing our holiday mansion in a timely manner, we’re creating a costume. I wear my witches garb every year, and my oldest doesn’t dress up any longer (pout) but my youngest is going on safari, complete with a whole host of stuff wild animals And I’m definitely making my very favorite fall treats – caramel apples!

So how about you? Are you holiday organized or joining my procrastinators club? Do you dress up for Halloween yourself? And whats your favorite Halloween treat?

The holiday season begins at my house on October first. Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday and always has been. Given that, I get to start in September these days, which is when I put up the Halloween decorations. Every room gets something, even the half-bath.

For one month, I’m worse than those little old ladies you see with 4000 Santas out all year long.

From September 30th on, I get to read Halloween books to my kids without any remorse (I do it all year long, by the way, I just get to do it guilt-free for the months of September and October) and we get at least one new one every year.

We start planning the outdoor decorations in September and begin issuing the invites for the annual Ad(d)ams Family Halloween Party – a wickedly fun event where the adults get to dress up and say BOO! Of course, if you insist on coming sans costume, you have to bring something to eat. I get about half and half every year. Grins. We had a Cavalier, a Catholic Schoolgirl, an Elfin Warrior and a Karate Master this year along with assorted other characters. It was great fun!

But back to the books…The favorite new book this year is one by Carl Reiner, you know him from all the way back on the Dick Van Dyke show and from his later work in Oceans Eleven. The book is called Tell Me a Scary Story…But Not Too Scary. It’s marvelous! I’ve read it to my youngest about six times per night for the past four or five nights. We’ve even read it during the day sometimes too. Bwah-ha-ha!!!

Past favorites have included The ABC’s of Halloween, The Runaway Pumpkin, and A Very Brave Witch. You’ve never heard anything funnier than a four year old yelling, as you read, “RUNAWAY PUMPKIN!!”

Then there’s the costumes for the kids. We discuss this at length from Labor Day on. This year we have a Football Player (Miami Dolphins, for some unknowable reason) and IronMan.

For the Halloween party, my darling hubby and I were Biker Trailer Trash. There were people who arrived at my door who did not recognize me. I guess I’m glad about that, since I pulled off the trailer trash thing pretty well!

I put the picture down below. What do you think?

And then there’s the pumpkins. Gosh I love carving pumpkins. What is not to love about those fabulous orange canvases? There doesn’t seem to be anything you can’t carve into a pumpkin. From ghosts to vultures to bad-ass bikers, you can create a pumpkin tribute. One of my “Bucket List” items is to get to the famous Keene, NH Pumpkin Festival. It’s one of the world’s largest pumpkin festivals. This year’s count was 22, 596 carved pumpkins. Check it out at http://www.pumpkinfestival.org/

The other fun thing is the Life Is Good Pumpkin Festivals. Wow are they delightful! Life is Good partners with a local charity to set up twelve festivals scattered in various parts of the country and the classic Life Is Good style t-shirts are in full swing.

There’s always a specially designed Festival shirt. Really cool! http://www.lifeisgood.com/festivals/ They also have cool Halloween gear if you want style without costume! http://www.lifeisgood.com/category/search-by-interest/fall-halloween.aspx

And oh…the candy. Considering we’ve had our Halloween party already and there’s still cake, pie, brownies and we’re making cupcakes today (Halloween), I probably should be doing at least three hours on the exercise bike per day for the next ten weeks.

Then again, I also bought five bags of candy. I’ll give ‘em out too. Really. I will. *VEG*

I always buy the candy I like, don’t you? This is just in case I don’t give it all away to the mini-goblins then I’ll have good stuff around. I hate to have leftovers of candy that I won’t eat. *shudder* Now that’s scary. Besides, it hurts my Scotch soul to throw anything away, especially candy!

(By the way, the picture at the left is our pumpkin effort this year…)

As to candy, my favorites are malted milk balls, tootsie roll pops and tootsie rolls. Jeez, they make me drool. I’ve got to stay away from the blinking things until tomorrow night. Cripes. It’s like they call to me.

….Jeanne….we’re heeeeeerrrrreeeeee….we’re deliiiiiciousssssss….

Scary. Verrrrry Scary.

So, are you dressing up this Halloween? What about your kids, if you have any?

When you shed that “normal” face of yours, whose face are you going to assume?

What about candy? What’s your favorite? Mars Bars? Snickers? Tootsie Rolls? What kind of candy do you despise?

Today, we welcome to the Bandit Lair a true Ghost Hunter and seeker of things that go bump in the night. Nikki Nelson-Hicks has pursued knowledge of all things paranormal since she was a child. Nikki is also a writer of short stories with a sometimes slight and sometimes quite lethal paranormal bent. With Halloween just around the corner and the paranormal romance market hot, Hot, HOT, we wanted to take a closer look into this extraordinary field of investigation and see what makes a Ghost Hunter tick. Welcome to Romance Bandits, Nikki!

Can you tell us when and why you became fascinated with all things paranormal?

When I am asked that question, I am always struck with the idea of why wouldn’t anyone be interested? I don’t care how technologically advanced humans become, we will always, at our core, be afraid of the shadows, what is lurking inside them and wondering if it wants to eat us.

I have always been into the dark and weird. [Okay, I knew Nikki in elementary school and this is totally true!]When other kids were reading Nancy Drew stories, I was watching Creature Feature. Other girls wanted to grow up and marry Donny Osmond while I wanted to go off on adventures with Carl Kolchack (and if you don’t know who he is, drop your pen right now and forget ever writing horror).

I remember when I was in first grade and I tried to check out a book on bats. The librarian wouldn’t let me because she thought it was too advanced for me; it was a third grade book. When I read a few pages out loud, she told my teacher and then, bam, I was shuttled off to some special class for gifted kids. Little did they know that the only reason I wanted the book was because I thought bats were vampires in disguise. I was very disappointed to learn they weren’t.

What convinced you to take your curiosity and interest and make it a hobby?

I kept my hobby in the closet for many years. I would read about a haunted house, say for instance, the Whaley House in San Diego and I would go out, alone, to check it out. Nothing very in depth or with any gear or anything. Just me, walking around and hoping to get a glimpse of something extraordinary.

When I lived in Budapest, I had to check out all the vampire history. Elizabeth Bathory’s family was very powerful there. They have an entire square named for them, Bathory Ter. The ruins of her castle are still there and are supposedly haunted. And, of course, Dracula left his mark. He was married in St. Matthias church in the Var and had been held as a royal prisoner in Solomon’s Tower in Visigrad.

There was one house that was occupied by a State Dept employee that had stories of a ghost. Supposedly, the recent occupants had seen a Hungarian guard in full dress uniform on the staircase. Marines from the barracks also claimed to have seen the guard. I was invited to a tea one Sunday and I snuck away and took photographs hoping to catch something. I had to keep it all hush hush.

When I lived in Muscat, Oman, I was a little more forthright about my interests. There was a place near the Marine house that was reputed to be so haunted that no one could live there. Because the belief in ghosts was not allowed in Islam, they claimed it was djinns. I had to take a look so I had one of the Marines take me over. The courtyard gate was locked so we couldn’t venture in but I can tell you, there was a very bad vibe coming from that place. Bad mojo.

I had a great time in Oman researching their pagan past. In the outer regions, where villagers left candies to appease spirits in caves, belief in the old ways was still evident. I would go hunting in the souqs for old talismans called somts and rings used in exorcisms called Zar rings.

It wasn’t until I came back to Tennessee in 2004, that I became involved with a group actively. Adasagona Paranormal Society (APS) was founded in 1998. There is some confidence that comes with numbers but, frankly, I still do most of my investigations and research alone.

Have your investigations convinced you that ghosts do or do not exist?

Of course, with age, I’ve lost many of my romantic ideals and became the crabby, cynical Scully I am today. I go into every investigation looking for the rational before I begin considering the paranormal. I am a firm believer in the Aristotle idea: it is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain an idea without accepting it.

What is the coolest investigation you’ve ever been on?

Two summers ago, the APS was invited to do an investigation at the J.B. Moore house in Villisca, Iowa.

A little backstory: in 1912, 8 people (two adults, 6 children), were slaughtered with a household axe. The killer (or killers) was never found. There are tons of websites on it, if you’re interested.

The whole crew caravanned from Nashville late Friday evening and arrived in Iowa late Saturday afternoon. Our refuge for the night was a house with no electricity and no running water. Oh, yes. No bathrooms. That, my friends, was in itself an adventure in public peeing. Throughout the night, we would all go across the street and take care of business behind a shack. It wasn’t until the next morning we found out that the shack was in the back yard of a senior citizen’s rest home.

When we first entered the house, I didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary. When I went upstairs to the supposedly haunted store room where they suspect the killers might have hid, I still didn’t feel anything. But when I went into the children’s bedroom, man, it hit you in the solar plexus. Just deep, deep sadness and fear. And anger. It was there that I saw (intuitively) an angry little boy who kept saying, “my head hurts” and “it isn’t fair.” I had brought with me some teddy bears to give to the children. I put them on the beds and then I did a blessing on the house. After that, the atmosphere lifted.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get any empirical evidence: no photos, video or EVPs. I got the blame for doing the blessing so early on. Even our team sensitive said the house was completely quiet. Many other teams have gotten lots of interesting EVPs and videos.

I was actually more afraid of the townsfolk than I was of the spirits. They were courteous until they found out what we were doing there. Afterwards, they were very cold and downright nasty.

What is the “most haunted” site you have ever visited?

We were called in by a woman who was afraid she had a demon in her house. Erk. When I hear “demon”, it makes my hackles go up. She lived in a mobile home out in the boonies. I really put my GPS to the test to find this place.

Her chief complaint was that electrical appliances in the house were malfunctioning: TVs, DVD player, PS2 and even the generator on her hot tub outside went on the fritz. Light bulbs were popping. In spite of all that, what really scared her was this feeling of hostility in the house. She and her family and friends were complaining that her house, normally a social gathering place, felt “uncomfortable”.

We got to the house and did a quick walk thru before interviewing her. You didn’t need to be shown the heart of the problem. It screamed out to you. The back bedroom. Nasty place.

During the interview, we learned that, six months earlier, she had taken in a teenage boy she knew from church who had been sexually assaulted by his step mother. On top of that, his father had sexually abused his stepsister, the daughter of the woman he had married. Sort of a backwoods criss-cross.

The boy was doing well until she took him back to his home to get some personal belongings. After that, the boy’s behavior began to change. He became surly and disrespectful. He started sneaking into her teenage daughter’s room during the night. After that, she had the boy’s grandmother come and take him away.

We didn’t even need to ask which bedroom had been the boy’s.

Our team sensitive said she could feel the presence of something but that she couldn’t sense anything sentient. It was just a boiling of dark emotions, rolling around and around.

Turns out, what we had there wasn’t so much a spirit or demon but a case of a very sad, angry teenage boy who had projected his emotions into something tangible. Well, as tangible as a residual energy imprint can be. It’s very common in poltergeist cases.

We did a blessing and a cleansing and told her that the energy would dissipate on its own as long.

Interestingly, we had a call from a couple three weeks ago that was having poltergeist problems. They were terrified. But during the interview we found out they were in the middle of a very contentious divorce. Ah-ha. We explained the idea of emotional residue and that the only one haunting that house was themselves. The husband moved out and the problems stopped.

Does your family share your interest in the paranormal?

Both of my kids are deeply agnostic and find most things spiritual highly suspect. However, they are also writers and find that most of this stuff is great story fodder.

My husband doesn’t really care one way or the other. His main worry is the fringe that I often come in contact with. When your hobby takes one into dark places, you meet some real weirdos.

As me about the Email Chick sometime. Whooo, boy.

I think most of us–I know I–would be way too chicken to do the sort of investigation you do. Are you ever afraid? What do you think it is in you that makes you hunt for the things most people don’t want to see?

The Masonic Lodge in Franklin, TN is the oldest lodge in the state. Andrew Jackson screwed over some Indians right there on the front steps. There is Civil War graffiti in the bathroom. And the third floor is haunted.

Only members of a certain degree are allowed to go to the third floor. Luckily, my husband, a 32 degree Knights Templar, is but, unfortunately, I am still a woman and no matter how highly elevated I am, I cannot go to the third floor. Well, as far as the Lodge is concerned. Ha. During a tour, Brian snuck me up to the third floor. He watched the staircase while I prowled around. I found the door that led to the main meeting room and opened it. Instantly, I felt a sickening pull at my solar plexus, my breath was taken away and I felt pushed out of the doorway. Whatever was in that room, did not want me, a woman of all things, coming in there.

That was probably the most uneasy I have ever felt. Mostly, I’m too curious to be afraid.

So, what is different about my makeup that keeps me doing this sort of stuff instead of taking up some respectable hobby? I honestly don’t know. There are many days I think to myself that I am a blind man, in a dark room, looking for a black cat that probably isn’t even there.

And then I’ll hear a rapping on my wall. It’s been doing that ever since I brought that wood back from Gettysburg. And the hunt is back on.

How do you feel about Halloween?

As a holiday, I love it. It’s great macabre fun.

But, man, it brings the whackos out of the woodworks. I have a standard response when I am asked by anyone “Where is the best place to go to see ghosts?” I tell them, “Blockbuster. Rent a movie.”

While it’s nice that the idea of paranormal research has some popularity right now, the pendulum has swung to the far side and there are lots of Scoobies out there, mucking about in graveyards, with EMF meters and digital cameras. It’s a real pain in the butt for people who are doing analytical investigations.

So, Banditas, are you brave enough to be a ghost hunter? Are you fascinated with the paranormal? Do you have a paranormal idea and need some detail to make it ring true? I’m sure our readers and writers have many questions to ask of our paranormal expert, so fire away! We are giving away a $10 Borders gift card to a lucky commentor. We will, naturally, select a winner at midnight. [cue creepy music and add a "bwahaha" *g*]

Thank you, Nikki, for being with us today and sharing your expertise. Banditas, you can catch up with Nikki at her blog Nik Cubed. Happy ghost hunting!