My Haunted Hometown - Waverly Hills

'Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world.
~William Shakespeare

Waverly Hills Sanatorium

In the early 1900's, Northern Kentucky was ravaged by an outbreak of the "White Plague" otherwise known as tuberculosis. This prompted the construction of a new state of the art TB hospital.

The building that still stands in Louisville, Kentucky, was opened in 1926 with 435 patient beds, but by 1932, patient numbers had increased to 480 with nearly 100 applicants on a waiting list.

The sprawling 160,000 square foot facility was comprised of five stories and a basement. Like other tuberculosis sanatoriums, it was situated on a hill because elevation to drier, purer air was thought beneficial to sufferers.

Nearly 8000 patients died there from 1926 to 1961 when the hospital was closed. In order to keep up patient morale, a body chute was constructed to dispose of the dead so they would not be visible to the remaining patients. This "death tunnel" stretched 525 feet underground to the bottom of the hill where the bodies of the deceased were collected by the family or cremated.

The sanatorium currently hosts tours with all proceeds going to restoration of the building. The current owners plan on turning it into a bed and breakfast for ghost lovers. If you visit Waverly Hills today, there is a good chance you might run into the spirit of a child that haunts the third floor and has been known to play with toys brought in by visitors. You might also hear the disembodied voices of children chanting "Ring Around The Rosy" up on the roof, encounter an apparition of one of the two nurses who died in room 502, or cross paths with the shadow people of the fourth floor.

The sanatorium has been featured on Ghost Hunters, Scariest Places On Earth, Most Haunted and earlier this month on The Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures.

Are you adventurous at heart? Would you spend the night at Waverly Hills?

Queen of Procrastination

I never thought of myself as a procrastinator, but I've come to the sad conclusion that I'm wrong. NaNo is looming and I'm not getting anything done that I need to get done.

Let me take you through a typical writing session over the last two days (cue Queen's "Under Pressure"):

• Open new document in Word
• Try to locate note cards for this outlining thing I'm trying
• Notice my shredder is getting full 
• Empty shredder since tomorrow is trash day
• Pause to watch miner emerge from gerbil tube *tear up because his kid is crying*
• Wonder how many pages will be in this chapter
• Consider using chapter titles instead of just numbers
• Wonder how many chapters there are in Jane Eyre
• Run to my bookshelf to see (XXXVIII, if you're wondering)
• How many chapters is that in actual numbers? (38)
• Realize I have a headache *take some Tylenol*
• Oh, look, another miner
• Return to Word document 
• Type one sentence and stare at it
• Wow, I never filed that nail that I chipped today at work *file nail*
• Locate note cards on the floor under the desk
• Try to put note cards back in order
• See a spider crawling on the ceiling
• Watch it to make sure it doesn't decide to drop into my hair
• How many of these miners are left?
• Picture a clown car shaped like a gerbil tube *smile*
• Realize it's really getting late *yawn*
• Better get a good night's sleep so I can start fresh tomorrow.
• Word count  - 19

Awesome Piles Of Awesomeness

As you can tell from the title of this post, there are wonderful things happening today.

First, thanks to Tessa for awarding me the Cherry On Top blog award. Her blog is beautiful and fun and not to be missed. You should definitely check it out.

I am now supposed to answer this question:

If you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you, and what would it be?

My answer: I would most definitely have stayed in college and finished my degree. Oh, there are lots of legitimate excuses I could give for why I didn't, but they are still just excuses. At the time, I assumed I couldn't be a Mom and work full time and go to school too. Back then I hadn't yet realized how strong I was. Now I know if I would have put my mind to it, I could have finished. Sure it might have taken me a little longer than the average student, but I could have done it. I try to pass that attitude along to my kids.

I also wanted to pass along a fantastic contest that Beth Revis is having on her blog. Just write about an awesome adventure you've had and link to your post on her blog. The winner gets a signed and doodled ARC of  her highly anticipated novel Across The Universe. Yes, I said doodled. Isn't that cool?

Believe me when I say you should want this one. Have you read the first chapter?

Last, but certainly not least...drumroll...I have reached 100 followers! Please know that I love each and every one of you.  I am so thankful that you choose to spend a little bit of your time with me now and then. The people I've met in the writing/blogging community are amazing and supportive and wonderful.

A giveaway is forthcoming as soon as I decide on a fantabulous prize.

Monster Mash

I'm headed to my local Harvest Homecoming festival this weekend and intend to eat my way through it. The downtown streets are closed and vendors from all across the country converge on our quiet little community. There are 352 booths this year that peddle everything from apple dumplings to authentic gyros. There are handmade crafts and jewelry, but the food is the big draw. The kids and I wouldn't miss it and the weather is supposed to be spectacular.

There is a wonderful giveaway going on this week that I wanted to pass along. Quinn over at Seeing, Dreaming...Writing has reached 100 followers (yay Quinn!) and is giving away a $40.00 Amazon gift card plus a query or chapter critique in celebration of this momentous occasion. Contest ends 10/9 so hurry!

I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to Carolyn V. who awarded me the One Lovely Blog Award. Her own blog is simply wonderful. You should check it out.

I am going to be part of the Tales From Under The Grave blogfest that will run from October 22nd through the 31st. I promise giveaways, ghost stories and CANDY! More details to come as the date looms closer...muwahahaha!

The week of October 17th, I will be doing a series of posts about My Haunted Hometown. I had no idea the places around me were so scary. So cozy up to the screen and share some truly terrifying tales with me over a cup of hot chocolate or a glass of wine (hmmm...choices, choices).

I'm closing in on 100 followers myself. Of course there will be a contest, but I can't decide on a prize. That's where you come in. Tell me which new book you've been dying to read. The one at the tippy-top of you list. We'll see how things turn out. Maybe I'll give away several.

As always, have a great weekend!

Memories of Halloweens Past

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. First, there's the candy. M&Ms are my number one, although Snickers are a pretty close second. Then, there's pumpkin carving. If you've never stuck your hand into a pumpkin and yanked its guts out, you haven't lived.

I also consider myself a horror movie aficionado and there is no better time of year to watch them. I prefer the classics: Dracula, Halloween, Night Of The Living Dead and The Exorcist to name a few.

All of the above mentioned items are great, but the costumes are the absolute best part of Halloween. My Aunt made the most wonderful ones for me every year. In chronological order, I was a fairy princess, a witch, Raggedy Ann, a clown, a witch again (loved the green face paint), Sandy from Grease, a gypsy, a hobo, Wonder Woman, an Egyptian queen, a sock hop sweetie (poodle skirt, of course) and the grim reaper (by the time I was thirteen I wanted to scare the crap out of someone. No more cutesy costumes for me).

When I wore a costume, I could be a totally different person and I loved it. I could act completely opposite of my "normal".

Isn't that what we do as writers when we breathe life into a fictional character? We get to shape their actions and personality like a lump of clay. We can make them dark and disturbed or pure as snow. They can go places that we never will and do things that would be unthinkable for us to do ourselves. This is the fun part of being a writer. Sure, it's hard work sometimes, but for me this is the good stuff.

Do you have a favorite Halloween memory or a special way of celebrating?

NaNoWriMo

Well, this will be my first year trying to write 50,000 words in thirty days. This will be a tall order for me because I find it nearly impossible not to edit as I write. This also means I will be outlining (also a tall order for me) the month of October in an attempt not to get to the middle of November and wonder where on earth I was going with the plot.

For those of you who haven't heard of it yet, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short) has run from November 1st to November 30th every year for the past eleven. The goal is to write a novel in thirty days or at least get a damn good start on one. Back in 1999 there were only 21 participants, but this year they expect over 175,000.

And I have to tell you, I'm kind of excited about it. I'm more motivated with a deadline and this is quite a deadline.

I also noticed while browsing the NaNo site that there is a Young Writers Program where kids 17 and under can participate by setting their own word count goal. This sounds like something my aspiring writer daughter might be interested in (plus it might keep her occupied while Mom is writing). She's been working on a great idea for a chapter book, so we'll see.

Now, who's with me? I can use all the support I can get.  Here I am. Won't you join me?

Mash-up Blogfest

The wonderful and funny Steph Sinkhorn is having a Mash-up blogfest today at her blog, Maybe Genius.

We had to write a story, 1000 words or less, that combines two genres that are normally not seen together. Here is my feeble attempt at a Women's fiction/Paranormal, which I've affectionately termed a ParaWom.



The fading sun left bursts of  crimson clouds feathered along the horizon. Theresa pretended to wonder where Michael was even though she knew the unkind truth.

She closed her eyes and fought to remember a time when everything was less complicated, when the words I love you meant simply that. He would never be hers alone. The life he'd promised her had been nothing more than a fantasy.

Standing at the balcony, she looked out onto the beach below knowing it would all be over soon. She silently rehearsed the speech she'd prepared, had been preparing for a month, ever since intercepting the email sent to him from the escort agency. A girl they'd employed had been murdered, drained of blood, and the police had forced them to turn over their client list. They would probably be questioning him soon and wanted him to be prepared. When Theresa had asked him about it, he'd denied any involvement, but she knew.

His lies would end tonight.

She touched the stake, moved her fingers along the wood, marveled at how smooth it was, how impartial. Michael owed her so much more than this, and he was going to pay.

When he opened the door she was waiting, holding the weapon behind her back. Her hands shook, a sign of weakness that sickened her. The surprised look on his face only confirmed she was doing the right thing. He'd even forgotten she was meeting him for dinner.

He started to speak but she interrupted. "Don't say anything, Michael. You're going to listen to me for once."

She motioned for him to sit but he didn't budge. "Stand or sit, it doesn't make any difference. You'll be dead soon."

Finally the reaction she'd been waiting for. He stumbled back toward the chair, almost falling into it. "Theresa, honey, this is crazy. I love you." His voice cracked on the word love.

"You love me? If you love me so much you would give them up!"

He made a move to stand. She showed him the stake and he sat back down. She could see the tips of his fangs as he fought back a snarl.

"Of course I love you. I want to be with you, Theresa, you know that." His fingers shook as he loosened his tie and attempted a smile. "But you have to understand, I need it."

She walked closer, powerless to resist the pull of his gaze, and leaned against his chest. When his arm slipped around her waist, she tilted her head granting him access to the part of her body he loved most.

"No more prostitutes, my darling, I promise," he said running his lips down her neck.

Theresa drove the stake up through his stomach under the rib cage, piercing his heart with no hesitation. She stepped away from him as he crumpled and fell forward onto the floor, his head bouncing off the glass coffee table on the way down.

He twitched as she knelt beside him. Black blood pooled around her knees as she whispered in his ear, "I should have been enough."



Thanks so much for reading my little piece of  Mash-up flash fiction. I'm a little late getting this post up so you've probably already seen them, but if you haven't, don't forget to visit all of the other blogs participating.

Hope you all have a great weekend!