Writer Wednesday:Tamara McClintock Greenberg

 

Author Bio:

Tamara McClintock Greenberg, Psy.D., M.S., a licensed clinical psychologist, works with patients and family members affected by acute or chronic illness. She is an associate clinical professor and clinical supervisor at the University of California, San Francisco Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Greenberg has written three books and numerous chapters and articles on aging, illness, as well as issues pertaining to women. She writes for Psychology Today online and The Huffington Post. She also speaks to medical, psychological, and public audiences on the impact of illness, caregiving issues, and dealing with the modern medical system as a patient or loved one. She is in private practice in San Francisco.

Interview between Keira Kroft and Tamara McClintock Greenberg!

Welcome to Keira's Corner!

Keira: You are here today to promote your book When Someone You Love Has a Chronic Illness. Can you tell us a little about it?

Tamara: I offer hope and practical advice to those impacted by a loved one’s chronic illness. Providing easy-to-understand explanations for complicated feelings and behaviors, this book will help you not just cope, but thrive in your day-to-day life. Learn the important tools you need to help lighten the burden we all feel when someone we love is ill.


Keira: What do you wear, to write?

Tamara: Sweats or pajamas.  I can never write if I am in work clothes. 

 

Keira: Is writing your only talent?

Tamara: I hope not!  I am in private practice as a psychologist and so I hope I am good at helping my patients.  That work means a lot to me.  I also do a lot of supervision of younger therapists and I think I can help most people because I do have an ability to hear about a situation and imagine it as if I were there.  I have always been pretty good at trying to think about things from another’s point of view. 

 

Keira: Where do you find time to write?

Tamara: I write best early in the morning or late in the day.  This is based in part, on my schedule, but I often find that at the end of the day, I am energized and inspired by my work as a therapist and so I try to synthesize what my patients are telling me. 

Keira: Why are you a writer? 

Tamara: A few years ago, I would have said because I had to express my ideas and thoughts in writing as a way to organize what I am thinking. At that time, writing felt compulsive to me.  Now, I am just really interested in using my ideas to help others and to address causes that I think are important. 

Keira: If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor?

Tamara: I would love anyone who writes for the New Yorker to be my mentor.  All of the writers are so talented!

 

Keira: How many hours a day do you dedicate to writing?

Tamara: I work full-time outside of writing, so a good day is when I can write for four hours. 

Keira: Do you use a particular writing method?

Tamara: I don’t.  I write ideas down when I have them, and trust that I can synthesize the ideas, though I understand I may have to wait until I am ready to put something coherent together. 

 

Keira: What advice would you give to an unpublished writer?

Tamara: Focus on a good proposal and find people who can help you do this.  A good proposal is the foundation for a book.  If you do the work upfront, you have less to do later on.  Think about a novel idea and one you can sell.  Being a successful writer is only partially about how good of a writer you are.  It is often related to a good and catchy idea. 

Let’s get personal…

Keira: What is your favorite food?

Tamara: Grilled cheese sandwich.  There is a place down the street that makes a different grilled cheese sandwich every day. 

 

Keira: What is your guilty Pleasure?

Tamara: Gossip magazines. 

 

Keira: What is your favorite Smell?

Tamara: Lavender.

 

Keira: If you could change one your physical feature? Would you? What would it be?

 

Tamara: My body from the neck down.  I would want to look like my perfect-bodied pilates instructors.  That said, I can deal with my current body. 

 

Keira: What is your favorite color?

Tamara: My favorite achromatic color is black.  My favorite chromatic color is blue. 

 

Keira: What is your favorite day of the week? 

Tamara: Monday. 

 

Keira: What is your favorite favorite animal?

Tamara: Dogs.

 

Keira: Can you tell us a secret? 

Tamara:My biggest pet peeve is people who sing out loud in public.  Life is not American Idol, right?

 

Keira: Do you have pets? 

Tamara: Yes. Charlie is our rescue dog, now 15, who currently eats out pants.  Max is our pug who has no behavioral problems at all and just wants to be loved.

 

Keira: What do you consider a household staple?

Tamara: All natural lavender dish and laundry soap.

 

Keira: What are you reading? 

Tamara: The most recent New Yorker. 

 

Visit the Nurture Virtual Book Tourz™ Blog for the complete tour schedule!

 

One lucky commenter will win an eBook copy of When Someone You Love Has a Chronic Illness!

 

Find & Follow Tamara McClintock Greenberg on:

Website

Psychology Today

The Huffington Post

PsychCentral

Facebook

Twitter

 

Buy the BOOK at:

Amazon.com

Amazon.ca

Amazon.co.uk

Barnes & Noble

 

Thank you so much for joining us today,

Much love,

Keira Kroft

www.keirakroft.blogspot.com

Six Sentence Sunday Part 3 of 4

Welcome to Six Sentence Sunday! :D


Here is part three of a four part arc from of Glow in the Dark, on sale now!

“Nah, he knows better than that. Besides, he knows how I feel about Corey. A true friend would never try to hurt me like that.”

“Let’s hope. I hate to lose him as a friend.” Boyd’s statement made Jake feel like a heel.

Check out other awesome Teasers :) Six Sentence Sunday.


I have seen a huge increase in sales since I started Six Sentence Sunday. Thank you to Triple S ladies and everybody that stopped by and the buyers. I love you :)


Have an awesome Sunday!

Cheers,
Keira

Six Sentence Sunday Part 2 of 4

Welcome to Six Sentence Sunday! :D


Here is part two of a four part arc from of Glow in the Dark, on sale now!

“Yeah, I had a feeling.” Jake examined Corey’s movements as she laughed with her friend. He could understand where Charlie was coming from to a point. Corey was officially his girlfriend and had been for some time. That made her off-limits.

“You’re not worried?”

Check out other awesome Teasers :) Six Sentence Sunday.


I have seen a huge increase in sales since I started Six Sentence Sunday. Thank you to Triple S ladies and everybody that stopped by and the buyers. I love you :)


Have an awesome Sunday!

Cheers,
Keira

Fall is on the way

Fall is on the way.

You know me as either Dawn Binkley, executive editor at Hellfire Publishing or as one extreme to another (romance to horror) writer, Keira Kroft.

I would like to talk about my favorite season of all…fall.

Football: There is already a cool crispness in the air, here in Oak Lawn. I was able to kill the air conditioning over the last few days and pre-season football started. Now, I will wait patiently for our first official Sunday game of the Chicago Bears game (da Bears!) Late August begins with preseason football my favorite sport of all and then goes on to the full season in September—yeah baby!

Autumn Television: My fall preview (because it only comes to me, lol) TV guide comes in the mail and I actually take their pre-printed schedule out and sit with the family and highlight what shows we will watch. Big Bang Theory and the new Chicago Fire will be on that list for sure. Then I will fill up the DVR for those moments we can spend together watching a little TV, it’s usually only an hour at dinner each day, but we enjoy it. And let us not forget the hot release of all those Christmas romances, squee.

Like: I love the fall season and all that entails and all of the above mentioned bliss is followed by pumpkin (I love anything pumpkin flavored) season, Affy Tapples and the leaves changing. Then comes Halloween, my favorite time of year. It’s not too hot, nor too cold, is it just right. I absolutely adore the costumes, the parties and the horror stories. I have loved that since I was kid. As an adult I have come to be infatuated with the deep lure of Halloween, as have many of you. We are into another century where people are fascinated by ghost, goblins and all the other creatures that go howl in the night.

Love: My two businesses, my writing career and my family and friends. I am anxious to hear what you love most during the fall season and all year long.

Two lucky commenters will win the Hellfire Hot Reads Collection, volume one.

Happy fall!

Hugs,

Keira

Dawn Binkley

Executive editor

Hellfire Publishing

www.hellfirepublishing.com/

Also known as:

Keira Kroft,

www.keirakroft.com

Switching to Fanpage

ATTENTION: I will no longer be using the regular Keira Kroft page. Come to Keira Kroft’s fan page where I will be posting my daily q and interacting with my awesome FB friends. I will be using the fan page just the same :) TIP: A like and friend take up the same room on your friend list, so feel free to unfriend and like :) Thank you. http://www.facebook.com/keirakroft?cropsuccess#!/pages/Keira-Kroft/171750936213533

Six Sentence Sunday Part 1 of 4

Welcome to Six Sentence Sunday! :D


Here is part one of a four part arc from of Glow in the Dark, on sale now!

“Should we go find him?” Boyd asked.

“Nah.” Jake sipped his sugar-polluted coffee.

“You know, I think he has a thing for Corey.”

I knew it, Jake thought.


Check out other awesome Teasers :) Six Sentence Sunday.


I have seen a huge increase in sales since I started Six Sentence Sunday. Thank you to Triple S ladies and everybody that stopped by and the buyers. I love you :)


Have an awesome Sunday!

Cheers,
Keira

Six Sentence Sunday

Welcome to Six Sentence Sunday! :D

Here are six more sentences of Glow in the Dark, on sale now!

 Tears filling her eyes, Corey laced her arm around Charlie’s and they walked out.

 Emptiness filled him, but he made no move to chase after her as their forms disappeared through the crowd. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. But she’d hurt him first, right?

      He caught everyone’s glare and knew he’d been the jerk in the first place. God, I’m just a jealous idiot.

Check out other awesome Teasers :) Six Sentence Sunday.

Have an awesome Sunday!
Cheers,
Keira

Bloody Mary

Some people that I have talked to on the subject think that Resurrection Mary and Bloody Mary are the same person. They are not. I am here to tell you the story of Mary Worth, so that you can compare it to yesterday’s blog and see that there is a difference. But I don’t mind, both are very interesting stories. The first difference is that Bloody Mary...is a drink... :)

Bloody Mary Recipe

Nothing is better in the morning (as a brunch cocktail or hangover cure) or on a cold day than the spicy tomato flavor of a Bloody Mary. You can make it as spicy or mild as you want, using either more or less hot sauce, or (better yet) add the spice of tequila by making a Bloody Maria. Bloody Marys are often garnished with a celery stalk, but many will either use a pickle spear or both. For a non-alcoholic version try a Virgin Mary and you can also make a pitcher-sized batch by using a Bloody Mary mix like this one.

Ingredients:

•3 oz tomato juice or I prefer V8, especially a spicy one
•1 1/2 oz vodka
•1 dash of Worcestershire sauce or I prefer Louisiana Hot Sauce
•celery salt
•celery stalk for garnish
•lime wedge for garnish

Preparation:

1. Build the liquid ingredients in a highball glass over ice cubes.
2. Mix well.
3. Add the seasonings to taste.
4. Squeeze lime, drop in and Garnish with celery stalk.

Read below and then prepare the drink from above, rather quickly, to calm your nerves.

The other Bloody Mary~ The Scary One.

Historically, the ritual encouraged young women to walk up a flight of stairs backwards while holding a candle and a hand mirror, in a darkened house. As they gazed into the mirror, they were supposed to be able to catch a view of their future husband's face. There was, however, a chance that they would see a skull (or the face of the Grim Reaper) instead, indicating that they were destined to die before they married.

In the present day, the summoning ritual requires that the lead participant must not look directly for Bloody Mary, but at their own image in the mirror. Variations of the incantation ritual involves: the number of times Bloody Mary's name is called; spinning (or not) after every repetition of the name; and the adding of the phrase "I've got your baby." The modern ritual addition of taunting Bloody Mary regarding her baby indicates the legendary figure's tenuous connection to Queen Mary I, also known as "Bloody Mary", whose life was marked by a number of miscarriages or false pregnancies

Results

Bloody Mary allegedly appears as a corpse, a witch or a ghost; sometimes covered in blood. The lore surrounding the ritual (if she is summoned properly) states that participants may endure the apparition screaming at them, cursing them, strangling them, stealing their body or soul, or drinking their blood.

Troxler's fading and self hypnosis have been posited as explanations for the Bloody Mary phenomena.

In popular culture

The legend of Bloody Mary has served as inspiration for a number of movies and television shows dealing with the supernatural.

Description according to the TV Show Supernatural

In suburban Nebraska, a group of partying high school teens jokingly dare their friend Charlie (guest star Marnette Patterson) to look into the mirror and repeat 'Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary," not knowing this will unleash a series of mysterious murders. Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) realize that Bloody Mary has the power to travel through all reflective surfaces when she is hunting a victim. Worried that teens are accidentally summoning Bloody Mary, Sam and Dean race to destroy the violent spirit before she can kill again.  add in website.

Full Synopsis

Toledo, Ohio: House: Focusing in on a girl party, three young girls are having a slumber party and playing "Truth or Dare". One girls asks another girl, Lilly, an embarassing "would you want to make out with..." question. Lilly doesn't answer it and is forced to do a dare. The dare was to say "Bloody Mary" 3 times in the bathroom, which Lilly does and is scared when her 2 friends shake the door in order to scare her. Then Lilly's dad, Steven Shoemaker, asks them to quiet down, then he goes into the bathroom, looks in a mirror and his eyes start to bleed. An older sister walks in "past curfew" and goes upstairs and sees her father on the floor, dead. Read More

  

I was at a party once and we played the Bloody Mary game. I went into the bathroom, turned off the light and said bloody Mary, three times...suddenly there was this face behind my shoulder and I could see it in the pitch black. Everyone else that went in the bathroom ran out screaming, with the same claims. Was it real? Or were our minds playing tricks on us? They say that groups of people drinking can invoke group paranoia. Did the owners of the apartment have something rigged up in the bathroom?  I will never know, because I won’t be doing that again.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for Six Sentence Sunday.

 Have an awesome Saturday!

Cheers and Hugs,
Keira

Resurrection Mary

Good Morning and welcome to the tie-in to today’s daily Facebook question.

 Daily GTKY question: What spooky legend have you grown up, hearing about, perhaps even believing?

My answer is Resurrection Mary. I grew up not too far away from Resurrection Cemetery and have gone down Archer road on many spooky nights and swearing to God, that I have seen her.

Do you think that, me and the thousands of other Chicagoans that believe, are crazy? Tell us what you think. And tell us about your spooky local legend.

Disbelievers say that this pictures like these are fake. Experiencing it first-hand myself, I say...it’s probably the real deal.

The following Information is provided by the Internet.

Resurrection Mary is a well-known Chicago area ghost story. Of the "vanishing hitchhiker" type, the story takes place outside Resurrection Cemetery in Justice, Illinois, a few miles southwest of Chicago.

Since the 1930s, several men driving northeast along Archer Avenue between the Willowbrook Ballroom and Resurrection Cemetery have reported picking up a young female hitchhiker. This young woman is dressed somewhat formally in a white party dress and is said to have light blond hair and blue eyes. There are other reports that she wore a thin shawl, dancing shoes, that she carried a small clutch purse, and/or that she was very quiet. When the driver nears the Resurrection Cemetery, the young woman asked to be let out, whereupon she disappeared into the cemetery. According to the Chicago Tribune, "full-time ghost hunter" Richard Crowe has collected "three dozen . . . substantiated" reports of Mary from the 1930s to the present.

Mary’s Story

The story goes that Mary had spent the evening dancing with a boyfriend at the Oh Henry Ballroom. At some point, they got into an argument and Mary stormed out. Even though it was a cold winter’s night, she thought she would rather face a cold walk home than spend another minute with her boyfriend.

She left the ballroom and started walking up Archer Avenue. She had not gotten very far when she was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver, who fled the scene leaving Mary to die. Her parents found her and were grief-stricken at the sight of her dead body. They buried her in Resurrection Cemetery, wearing a beautiful white dancing dress and matching dancing shoes. The hit-and-run driver was never found.

 Reported sightings

Jerry Palus, a Chicago southsider, reported that in 1939 he met a person who he came to believe was Resurrection Mary at the Liberty Grove and Hall at 47th and Mozart (and not the Oh Henry/Willowbrook Ballroom). They danced and even kissed and she asked him to drive her home along Archer Avenue, exiting the car and disappearing in front of Resurrection Cemetery.

Burned section of the front gate bars.

In 1973, Resurrection Mary was said to have shown up at Harlow's nightclub, on Cicero Avenue on Chicago's southwest side. That same year, a cab driver came into Chet's Melody Lounge, across the street from Resurrection Cemetery, to inquire about a young lady who had left without paying her fare.

There were said to be sightings in 1976, 1978, 1980, and 1989, which involved cars striking, or nearly striking, Mary outside Resurrection Cemetery. Mary disappears, however, by the time the motorist exits the car.

She also reportedly burned her handprints into the wrought iron fence around the cemetery, in August 1976, although officials at the cemetery have stated that a truck had damaged the fence and that there is no evidence of a ghost.

In a January 31, 1979 article in the Suburban Trib, columnist Bill Geist detailed the story of a cab driver, Ralph, who picked up a young woman – "a looker. A blonde. . .she was young enough to be my daughter - 21 tops" – near a small shopping center on Archer Avenue.

 "A couple miles up Archer there, she jumped with a start like a horse and said 'Here! Here!' I hit the brakes. I looked around and didn't see no kind of house. 'Where?' I said. And then she sticks out her arm and points across the road to my left and says 'There!' And that's when it happened. I looked to my left, like this, at this little shack. And when I turned she was gone. Vanished! And the car door never opened. May the good Lord strike me dead, it never opened."

Geist described Ralph as "neither an idiot nor a maniac, but rather [in Ralph's own words] 'a typical 52-year-old working guy, a veteran, father, Little League baseball coach, churchgoer, the whole shot'. Geist goes on to say: "The simple explanation, Ralph, is that you picked up the Chicago area's preeminent ghost: Resurrection Mary."

There was a movie a few years ago based on the so-called “legend”.

For those of you that need more information, here is website dedicated to the subject of “Resurrection Mary.”

http://www.prairieghosts.com/resurcem.html

Our recent cool, Halloween like weather has inspired my spooky side. So I decided to add in another blog or too, feating the supernatural and other scary subjects. Many people think that Bloody Mary and Resurrection Mary are the same person, but in fact they are not. Come back tomorrow to see the difference.

To catch a great scary story in the meantime...check out Hellfire Publishing...where the “Scary and Supernatural” are always “in”.

http://www.hellfirepublishing.com/


Leave a comment for a chance to win the eBook version (now) and the print book version of Hellfire's "Hot Reads Horror Collection Volume One" when it comes out next month.

Six Sentence Sunday

Welcome to Six Sentence Sunday! :D

Here are six more sentences of Glow in the Dark, on sale now!

He whirled around and strode out of the office. Corey Nolan sat at a bar table in the back, wrapped in a blanket. With each footstep he took, tension rose along his spine.

He couldn’t deny it any longer. Something was going on here. He watched as her body shook, fingers trembling as she clutched the blanket around her tighter.

Check out other awesome Teasers :) Six Sentence Sunday.

Have an awesome Sunday!
Cheers,
Keira

Six Sentence Sunday

Welcome to Six Sentence Sunday! :D

Here are six more sentences of Glow in the Dark, on sale now!

"I am not even sure if they meant to set him on fire. I really don’t think they did. I think that they were just being stupid and trying to feel powerful. They were dancing around my father like Indians doing a rain dance and singing some sort of song.” Corey started to hum it. “Oh my God.

Check out other awesome Teasers :) Six Sentence Sunday.

Have an awesome Sunday!
Cheers,
Keira

Honey Badger don't care!

I guess this is old. But I found it histarical and you know what?

Honey badger "don't give a shit"

Hugs, Keira Kroft,

Glow in the Dark

Keira Interviews Gary Starta

Hello everybody. Please give a warm Fireplace welcome to Gary Starta.

Hello Gary. Please tell us a bit yourself and awesome work.

I tend to write mix genre, or, what I dub fiction on the fringe of genre.

My new release, Demon Inhibitions, threads sci fi, urban fantasy, suspense, romance, horror and mystery.

I usually anchor my novels in science fiction but find it fascinating and almost impossible not to blend these other genres into the mix. You could compare it to a meal. While there's nothing wrong with eating a piece of fish by itself day after day you might find it more tasty to add broccoli (horror), rice (mystery), salad (romance), bread(fantasy) and dessert (suspense).

To be more precise, Demon Inhibitions consists of:

Sci fi: Agent Caitlin Diggs believes a genetically made soul stealer is responsible for recent murders.

Horror: The soul stealer has escaped custody and crosses a parallel universe dragging Diggs with him via wormhole.

Urban Fantasy: Diggs is assisted by a Wiccan investigator and a succubus. In her parallel universe, demons outnumber humans and a preternatural branch of the FBI deals with their crimes.

Romance: Diggs enters an altered reality and a love triangle emerges. Her new boss Charles Grant is beyond handsome but the other version of her friend Stanford Carter is stirring feelings she never had for his alternate.

Hitches: Grant doesn't know 'his' Diggs has been killed by the soul stealer. Alternate Carter has been turned into a demon. Would romance with Carter change her as well?

Mystery: Why is the soul stealer hell bent on eradicating a teen whose singing voice inhibits demon violence?

Suspense: Diggs faces the prospect that conventional weapons will not subdue her fugitive. Can her newly acquired paranormal abilities give her a fighting chance?

I'm sure we've all read great stories that brought some or all of these elements together. They usually get boxed under one category for sales purposes. Maybe someday a multiple-genre tag will be born. After all, paranormal romance is still a fairly young genre and is ever growing. Change does happen.

Please read on for an excerpt

Demon Inhibitions is out in June. Please stop by my FB page for updates! http://www.facebook.com/GaryStartaSciFiFanPage

Demon Inhibitions Excerpt

When she found I had visited Manners, Briana began scurrying about her house, scooping up a pair of scissors and a red candle. Before I could speak further, she came at me. I backed away from her in fright. Her placid face revealed nothing malevolent. But the shears were headed right for me. I tried to dive away from the contradiction. Who was the real Briana? The sweet woman who made cookies for me--or her shears wielding maniac counterpart now standing before me? She screamed not to worry. I heard a snip. I felt a strange sensation. Not pain. But something was no longer attached to me. It was a piece of my hair. She caught the floating lock in her hands as if it were a runaway feather.

“It is very important we get to work, Caitlin.” Too stunned to process the weird moment, I could barely utter a groan.

Then she explained how she must protect me. “He’ll surely make a visitation now that he has met you.”

I tried to explain it was a good thing. I would probably get a vision of him and then I could determine his part in the slayings.

She interrupted. “A visitation is what he’ll do to you. I don’t know how to break this to you but the cat judge is an incubus. He’ll surely come to you in your dreams. And in case he is our murderer, you’ll need a protection spell, pronto.”

I reminded her I carried a firearm. I had worked in the FBI.

“No earthbound weapons can harm the judge once he joins with you. An incubus enters your dream world.”

“How do you know this?” My tone grew edgy. She had obviously withheld knowledge of Manners. Maybe the two were friends or even lovers. And she just admitted an incubus could have committed these crimes without fear of being harmed or caught.

“I know things because I’m a witch, Caitlin. That explanation will have to suffice for now.”

“If you’re truly a witch, Briana, you must know he’s our best suspect.”

She had me there.

I settled in for the spell.

“I will create a mind shield for you, Caitlin Diggs.”

She began to chant, inviting me to join her.

“I call upon the helpful powers of my ancestors. Please protect and shield me from harm. By the ancient ancestral power, blessed be!”

Briana played soft Celtic music for me as we waited for the spell to take effect. I tried to distract myself with the lovely dulcet tones of harps and violins. It almost worked until my stomach rumbled--again. We never had supper. Briana was too intent on saving my ass. For what seemed hours we held hands waiting for the candle to burn down. I had plenty of time to drink in the ambience of the McFadden household. Floral print furniture and lacy doilies surrounded me. But most disturbing, a poster of Cher is depicting the actress as a witch in the film Witches of Eastwick, hung right before my eyes. When the candle finally expired I yawned and thanked Briana.

“Don’t thank me yet. The night is now upon us. We must return to your house if we hope to engage the judge.”

“Won’t your presence discourage Manners from coming?”

“No.” She paused to smile. “You could have twenty police armed to the hilt and he’d still come. Nothing from the waking world can harm him.”

I muttered something unintelligible even to me.

“I’ll be in the next room to supervise so to speak. When he comes I’ll sense it. I will then cast a binding spell so he can’t attack you – or worse, drain you. Now the spell won’t last indefinitely so you won’t want to waste time with small talk. Hopefully you’ll be able to determine his innocence or guilt in your dream.”

I had once interrogated an evil man named Crowley in a dream state. It didn’t go so well. But at least he didn’t threaten to harm me. Maybe he couldn’t. I still don’t know; but I was sure of one thing if the judge threatened me in any way I would defend myself. I didn’t care what Briana said about the dream and waking worlds. I went to bed packing a handgun.

~ * ~

A full moon bathed my bedroom in bluish haze. It kept my eyes from closing. Normally I would have drawn the curtains on the nocturnal intrusion, but tonight I was hosting so to speak. I felt I was setting a better trap or “invitation” to Manners if I left the light on. Briana would have probably scolded me if she were capable of listening to my silent ranting. She had explained to me several times Manners would not be traveling via car, plane or broom for that matter. His appearance would be completely ethereal to all waking humans. He would meet me via an altered state of mind, in a dream or alpha state, where his thoughts and presence could transcend any physical traps an overly anxious former FBI agent (me) might feel compelled to set. It wouldn’t matter if I shined a lantern in my window or posted Rottweillers on around-the-clock guard duty, Manners would be oblivious to it. Briana stated this very emphatically, employing wild gyrating arm movements that nearly had me fearing she would turn me into a rat if I didn’t give her my undivided attention. So I sat and listened to her for an hour after we completed the spell. When my eyelids began drooping, she ordered me to bed. She took up residence in the adjoining guest room with Celeste. With a click of a doorknob, Briana could be at my bedside in seconds. But when I finally began to absorb the notion that Manners would not be using the front door to meet me, fear began to take hold. How would her presence help me? She could monitor my dreams all she wanted, but ultimately it would be up to me to break free of Manner’s paranormal grip-provided one: he was an incubus and two: he would still deem an appearance necessary to either protest his innocence or quiet my suspicions of him once for and all. My mind finally began to drift into that sleepy state where your thoughts start running into one another. How would I converse with him in the dream world? And would my gun be at my bedside in this dream? My brain felt like rubber. My eyelids finally shut. A faint hint of blue light seeped through them and then the next thing I knew…

“Who, what…what do you want?” I sat straight up and stammered as a presence took shape over my brass four-post bed. At least I determined I could talk, albeit not very intelligently in my dream state. The shape continued to hover over me, within arm’s reach. I twisted in my covers, attempting to lunge towards my dresser drawer where I kept my gun. As my hand continued to fumble for the dresser knob, coldness brushed against my backside. At that instant, I gave up my hunt for the gun and reverted to my backside, hoping confrontation might keep the invading demon at bay. I shouted. “Back off and identify yourself.” I felt silly. I couldn’t very well command this thing to put its hands behind its back--if it had hands--let alone expect it to adhere to laws and protocols devised by those living in the real world.

The thing, best described as a floating transparent body of liquid, actually started to comply. It reversed itself away from me, about a yard or so. Now it hovered over my Victorian vanity chair. I seriously hoped its liquid makeup wouldn’t drip all over my prized antique. It began to glow blue, probably because it was in the direct path of a moonbeam.

“Now tell me who are you.” Hoarse and raspy, my voice no longer sounded like mine. I tried to recall my vision where I had been speaking to the spirit of Alastair Crowley. My voice had sounded like mine then. In fact, I’d felt no different in that dream state whatsoever; I had classified that experience as a vision. But now, as I sat cowering in my bed, I felt more as if in a dream. I willed my legs to move, but like in a dream, they were uncooperative as if an iron vise was keeping them in place. As I struggled to escape my covers, the thing spoke to me in a whispered voice. Whatever it was, it was now inside my head!

Buy Links:  http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Inhibitions-ebook/dp/B0088Q23LW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342458195&sr=8-1&keywords=demon+inhibitions+kindle

http://www.omnilit.com/product-demoninhibitions-819117-234.html

One lucky commenter will win a copy of Extreme Liquidation by Gary Starta.

My moment of fame

I had a very quick, silly moment of feeling like star. I tasted the sun and I hated it.

For those of you that don’t know me. I own a comic book store in a mall, I write books (hence the name Keira Kroft) and I own a publishing company.

I was off from working the comic book store on Sunday. I had to get something from the store and while I was there at the mall, I thought I would grab something for lunch. Hubby was home finding something to watch and he found a Bill Engvall stand-up special that we hadn’t seen yet, which was lucky, because we love him and I thought we’d seen them all. My daughter came and helped me and we did that shit up right. We did! We ordered vanilla shakes from Burger King and then she ordered chicken from KFC and I went to Smokehouse to get chili cheese fries for my husband and daughter, and I got a pizza puff, because I like them...a lot :) The day was shaping up to be perfect.

I had my fries and puff in tow and went back to meet my daughter at KFC. A girl I know from the comic book store came up to me and started talking to me, standing right in between my daughter and I. She acted really excited to see me outside of the comic book store. I was happy with, ‘hi and bye’, but she wanted to like catch up and hang out. I politely declined by saying that I had to go and then walked straight into another girl from the comic book store. I tried my, ‘hi and bye’ with her and she actually called me back. She said wait, how are you? I just looked over my shoulder and said, “fine” and darted away.

Both of these women read my books and that’s  part of the reason they like me, but it’s mostly because I am a business owner that they look up to me. But whatever the reason, these ladies came up to me and tried to dominate my time, I couldn’t allow it. It was my daughter’s time. So I had to be kind of rude by cutting them short and I felt horrible and mean. I imagined for a second, how horrible it would be to be a movie star. I just wanted to to be left alone and spend a few moments with my daughter. Should I be robbed of that, because I own a couple of businesses? I don’t think so.

Don’t get me wrong, when I sell a million eBooks and I am out there signing books and meeting fans, I will love it. But when it’s my time with my family, I will always want to be left to it.

I remember one time I judged Eminem very harshly, because he said something in one of his songs about somebody coming up to him, while he was eating with his daughter. It must be “rough to have all that fame,” I said. But let me tell you, it’s must be a difficult spot. You have to work all those hours, just to be robbed of your private moments that are far and few between to begin with.

What do you think, of me snubbing those ladies? And stars running from fans and paparazzi?

Come back tomorrow (12 am Central) For Keira’s Interview with the awesome Author Gary Starta

Quote from Gary, stolen from tomorrow's Interview...

I usually anchor my novels in science fiction but find it fascinating and almost impossible not to blend these other genres into the mix. You could compare it to a meal. While there's nothing wrong with eating a piece of fish by itself day after day you might find it more tasty to add broccoli (horror), rice (mystery), salad (romance), bread(fantasy) and dessert (suspense).

You can find more about Keira's alter ego Dawn Binkley right now—ironically on Gary's blog.
http://praisegods.blogspot.com/2012/07/authors-guide-to-self-publishing-guest.html

Hugs, Keira Kroft,

www.keirakroft.blogspot.com

Six Sentence Sunday

Welcome to Six Sentence Sunday! :D

Here are six more sentences of Glow in the Dark, on sale now!

She is a toddler, right? Like four or five years old? Her jaw dropped. A chill overwhelmed Corey, and she knew it didn’t have to do with the night air from the open bar door. “How do you know that? Have you been watching me?”

Check out other awesome Teasers :) Six Sentence Sunday.

Have an awesome Sunday!
Cheers,
Keira

Six Sentence Sunday, Inamorata

Welcome to Six Sentence Sunday! :D

Here are six more sentences (unedited) of my work in progress, Inamorata.

Eternal souls come back, body awake.

This is the road they choose to take.

Eternal souls come back, body awake.

This is the road they choose to take.
Lucius Shouted:

Immortals Rise

Have an awesome Sunday!
Cheers,
Keira

Welcome to Six Sentence Sunday! :D

Here are six more sentences Glow in the Dark, on sale now.

http://www.amazon.com/Glow-in-the-Dark-ebook/

“That person, whoever he was had me dead to rights. As soon as he heard your voice, he took off.” She leaned into him, her eyes closing and recalling the scene. She couldn’t help it—the terror, the fear—all struck her at once. Tears flooded her face; her entire body shook. He wrapped his other arm around as she drew in more air.

Have an awesome Sunday!

Cheers,
Keira