No Rest for the Wicked

The past few weeks have been hectic to say the least! A marathon of events and appearances is finally slowing down for the season and I am really looking forward to a little R&R.

Halloween weekend went off with a bang thanks to the 200+ people who turned out to Shirley Plantation for their annual cemetery walk and book-signing. A costumed interpreter portrayed Virginia's most unusual ghost, Aunt Pratt, and led visitors through time at the 400-year old historic site. Pratt, whose portrait is said to cause quite a disturbance when moved, will definitely be back for another year of haunting!

Again, I am incredibly grateful for all of the open-minded and receptive people I've had a chance to meet and work with this year, especially those at Shirley Plantation. If you have a chance to pay them a visit soon, please tell them I sent you!

My gratitude overfloweth.

I just wanted to take a moment and tell you all how LUCKY I feel to have the opportunity to work with a library system as fantastic as the Appomattox Regional Library! Last night marked the third talk they've hosted for me and I'm not sure I can express how hospitable the library staff is or how amazing energetic and interactive the audiences have been. WOW. Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

Thanks again to all of my friends in the Hopewell area! I hope to see you again soon - and maybe even have a new book to share *wink,wink*

A video in which I break the #1 Rule of Television...

Wearing stripes on camera. Hey, call me a rebel, call me what you like. Here is the FIRST official interview about Wicked Richmond thanks to Cheryl Miller of CBS-6:

 

I confess...

I am a terrible blogger! Sometimes I feel like I have a finite number of words in my head that can escape in a day, and more often than not, those words are focused on writing articles, books, or simply replying to email. Today, I have reserved some of them for use here.

First off, I want to say how grateful and SURPRISED I am that Haunted Plantations of Virginia won the 2010 People's Choice Award from the Library of Virginia. I am still amazed that the book (1) prompted a reader to nominate it, (2) was embraced by the judges and moved to the rank of finalist, and (3) was voted by the people of Virginia as their favorite non-fiction book of the year. The whole thing is incredibly humbling. Again, thank you.

Second, amazing things have been happening for me lately in regard to paranormal investigation. I had THE most remarkable paranormal encounter of my entire life just a few weeks ago while visiting Utah. In a nutshell, I had my whole belief system shocked to the core. All of my time spent searching for "proof" of the existence of human spirit beyond death ended in a moment - truly less than 60 seconds - when an exploration of real-time spirit communication allowed me to hear the voice of a dead relative, one that answered questions (my fail-safe) to which only myself and one other person (not present) knew the answers to. The strangest part of it all was that I recognized the voice.

My journey on this paranormal path is far from over, however. Now it has just taken a different turn.

Something Wicked This Way Comes...

That's right, it's finally here! Wicked Richmond is hot-off-the-presses and makes its local debut this weekend, October 9th & 10th, at the Richmond Folk Festival. Come by Tredegar Ironworks (at the heart of the festival) between 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM on either Saturday or Sunday and say hello and pick up an autographed copy for yourself or a friend!

If you're not in the Richmond area but would still like to check out the salacious stories and scandals of the city's past, you can grab a copy now at Amazon or add it to your holiday Wish-List.

Bumps in the Night (and Morning and Afternoon...)

The family and I have just passed our 8th anniversary here at our current home, and the date did not pass without a few strange happenings.

Before I explain the things that took place over the past week, I should first note that the last year was entirely mundane - no paranormal events were witnessed at all. The last few days have certainly made up for lost time.

On Wednesday, my husband and I were in opposite sides of the house (not terribly far apart) and heard a strange tinkling of bells come from the dining room in between. Immediately noticing an out-of-place sound, we both went in to the dining room to investigate. We found nothing that could have produced the bell-like noise and were unable to replicate the sound by shaking furniture, stomping around, jumping, etc. After discussing it for a while, we wrote off the event as "weird", but were not quick to label it the work of "Bob".

The following afternoon, I came in from running errands and found two items in the dining room (a decorative cake pan and a small painting on a stretched canvas) had fallen off the walls and were sitting on the floor. After examining the nails, which were still firmly set in the plaster, I stretched my mind as far as I could for an alternate explanation but came up empty.

On Thursday evening, and again on Friday and Saturday morning, the entire family detected the uncanny odor of fresh tobacco - NOT SMOKE, but tobacco - in one bedroom of the house. The scent seemed to travel from one area to the next, but no one item in the room had the same smell as what we noticed in the air. After getting a bit annoyed at trying to find the source of the odor for days, my husband (the skeptic, remember?) reminded me that the original owner of the house was a lifelong employee of a local tobacco company.

Coincidence? Possibly. We are not discounting the idea that there is a perfectly normal reason for all of these experiences, we've simply not found one yet.

The Mysterious Haunting of Ancient Greece

Lately I have been studying historical hauntings, specifically poltergeist disturbances, which have better-than-average documentation. Because of differing views of the Church over the centuries, many of these cases were simply swept under the rug (which often happened when clergy were unable to help those afflicted) or hidden away in Church records as instances of "demonic visitation." One particular case, however, stood out above all the others because it was documented in 858 B.C., long before the influence of the Christian views on spirituality.

The haunting was recorded by Pliny the Younger, and focused on a house in Athens where no one had resided for over a decade because of the bizarre events occurring there. The philosopher Athenodorus decided to rent the house because of its large size and reasonable price, presumably unaware or merely unconcerned about any kind of paranormal activity.

Not long after moving in, Athenodorus was hard at work writing when the sounds of rattling chains disturbed his concentration. These sounds repeated nightly for a number of weeks, until eventually the philosopher noticed the noise was accompanied by an apparition of a man. The man made beckoning motions with his hand, but Athenodorus continued to ignore the disturbance for several nights.

Eventually, lack of concentration prompted the philosopher to try and help the spectral man find rest. When the apparition came to him the next night, he followed it out to the garden where it led him to a hedgerow near the back of the property. The spirit pointed to the shrubs and vanished.

Curious as to what mystery may reside with the spirit, Athenodorus hired men the following morning to dig out the hedges where the apparition had led him. There they made the grisly discovery of skeletal remains with its hands still in shackles. The body was exhumed and given a proper burial shortly after, and Athenodorus enjoyed his peace and quiet from that point onward.

This story is fascinating in that it begins as a classic poltergeist case (only noises) and evolves into an intelligent haunt in which the spirit and the living communicate or interact. It is also notable that the entity appeared to have some sort of unfinished business tying him to the earthly plane - business that the living were able to assist in completing, therefore releasing the spirit to move to its next destination.

Tick, Tock!

Great news - Wicked Richmond is currently going through the editorial steps and is rapidly approaching publication! I feel like a kid at Christmas, too excited to sleep and waiting for the news of the book's official release date.

To keep you in as much suspense as I am, here are a few of the juicy bits of history included in the final cut:

• William Byrd III and his Lottery
• The fall of the Randolph Family
• Pirates at the Penitentiary
• The Espionage of Elizabeth Van Lew
• Richmond's Boy Gangs
• The Murder of Lillian Madison
• Henry Beattie and Beulah Binford
• The Tri-State Gang Takes Richmond
• MORE!

You can be certain that I'll keep you posted on any and all release information as I receive it. The publisher is already hard at work putting together the marketing schedule for Wicked Richmond and tour dates for signings and author appearances. If you'd like me to present a talk about the city's scandalous history somewhere near you, please request a visit at BookTour.com so that I may try and accommodate it!

Keeping in Touch

Long time, no see! I have been busy with lots of white-glove research for Wicked Richmond, which seems to be the project that never ends. Each time I delve into a juicy story or scandal from the city's past, another seems to crop up. Now I'm left with the difficult job of sorting which are the cream of the crop and are worthy of making it into the final cut of the manuscript. I'm certainly not complaining!

I never thought when I took on this book that so many things would slow me down, most certainly not the death of someone close to me. I feel that in wrapping up this eighteen months of work, maybe a bit more, that I'm closing a sad chapter of my life. My hope is that the eventual publication of the words I've amassed during that time will rise up and thrive, like some sort of literary Phoenix from the ashes.

Rest assured, I am NOT becoming a recluse or a hermit with only my research as company! I'm back in action and ready to tackle the next project. First on my list? Twenty-two more (that's right - in addition to the dozens already conducted) paranormal field investigations for the current ghost books in the works. This is going to be my BIGGEST and BEST book on Virginia haunts yet - stay tuned for developments!

Take care,
Beth

Exciting News About "Haunted Plantations of Virginia"!

Thanks in part to your support over the past year, Haunted Plantations of Virginia has earned a place as a non-fiction finalist in the Annual Library of Virginia Literary Awards. This is especially exciting news for me, because not only is this my first time nominated, it is the first time ANY ghost book has ever made it to the final five!

I hope that you will continue to keep local ghosts and legends in the spotlight by casting your vote for Haunted Plantations of Virginia at the link below.

YOU MAY VOTE AT:
http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/litawards/vote.asp

Many thanks <3