Frightening Journeys has an opening

For those of you who are expecting J.K. Mahal to add her thoughts today, sorry.  J.K. has decided that (since she's expecting) she needs to focus elsewhere.

The rest of us here on the Frightening Journey to publication will miss her!  (And we all hope that she changes her mind once the "nesting urge" has passed...)

Until then, we are leaving her Friday spot open.  Kind of.

We would like to offer it up to guest bloggers.  If you're an author (published or not) and would like to blog here one week, let one of us know.  (Our contact info is on the side, or you can leave a comment here.)

Until then, Heather, Beth, Barbra, and I wish J.K. and her family the best of luck (hey, I can say that....I have kids!) and a happy, healthy addition to the family.

Blessings,

Nichole

From Wee Folk to Wariness

When I was a child, I believed in fairies. Beyond the borders of our carefully maintained lawn, in the shoulder-high weeds that separated our New Jersey half acre from the neighbors, I thought shy wee folk cavorted in the Queen Anne's lace.

As I grew older, my level of belief declined. My love of the stories, the lore of the paranormal in all its forms, however, grew.

I don't think I've ever achieved that level of total belief in the unknown again. I'm not a complete skeptic, but I'm more cynical than I was back then, more questioning, less accepting at first glance. I'm probably not the only adult who feels this way.

Writing paranormal fiction hasn't changed how uncommitted I feel to either side of the "existence of paranormal" debate. If anything, resources such as The Skeptical Inquirer have not only given me inspiration when it comes to my fiction, but have made me question more.

I guess I'm more of a Skully than a Mulder, though I do believe there is more out there than we can see.

One thing writing has made me believe in is the power of the imagination. With our imaginations, we can be anything, do anything, go anywhere.

In ghostly spirits,

JK Mahal

Photo by .Catherine.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

That's how I feel on most days, when writing is but a distant dream hidden behind clouds. Of course this column is a day late. Again. Whether it's also a dollar short is a judgment you'll have to make on your own.

John Lennon once famously said that life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. I had grand plans once, I still have grand plans. But then you put your mom into a nursing home, move houses twice, lose a father, have a mother-in-law spend a year in and out of hospitals and spend the first four months of your long awaited pregnancy attached day and night to a toilet and plans go out the window.

I'm still trying to learn how to put pen to paper (or fingers to the keyboard) while rolling with life's punches, because the hits keep coming and I doubt they'll ever stop. Hopefully, they'll just become less dramatic.

A Vampire Walks into a Bar....

I'm not a very funny writer. Scary? Sometimes. Evocative? I'd say yes. But I don't write the kind of laugh out loud moments -- or even quiet chuckle moments -- that would classify me as a humorist.

Which doesn't mean I don't think humor and the paranormal should mix, just that I don't write it. The closest I come is a touch of wit -- like having the Mayor doing a particularly benign crossword puzzle in the spec episode of Buffy I wrote, or pointing out the coroner's love of Grateful Dead teddy bears in my spec X-files.

My favorite kinds of paranormal have moments of levity in them. The snappy one-off comebacks of Buffy. The tomato as villain fruit in the Kim Harrison Witch series.

We laugh when we're amused, but we also laugh when we're afraid. The two are connected on a primal level. But as any comedian will tell you, "dying is easy, comedy is hard." It takes a special type of writer to make people laugh. I think it's as much a natural talent as singing on key. Sure you can learn to warble like a canary, but it's never quite the same as for someone for whom it just flows.

I'm hard-pressed to point out the funny moment in my manuscript. It's not all gloom and doom, mind you, but it's just not funny -- at least not to me. Unless my writing comes across as unintentionally funny, which is possible.

I admire those who can lighten up the darkness. It's not my scene.

Searching Along the Road of Faith

I plead a turkey day-induced coma as to why my column managed to be 23 hours late! - JKM

My religious background contains a hodgepodge of theology. My mother grew up Roman Catholic with a Lutheran father. My father grew up Sikh in a Hindu country. I grew up Quaker, which is the religion both of my parents had found/converted to before I was born. I still believe in the faith and practice of the Religious Society of Friends and identify myself as such to this day.

In fifth grade, I went to an Episcopal school where all the classes attended services every morning. I loved the hymns; "Morning has Broken" was a favorite. For college, I attended a Jesuit university and went to mass weekly (a choice, not a requirement). I came thisclose to getting a minor in theology, but decided on writing instead. After college, I attended the Metropolitan Community Church and the Episcopal Church equally in the Florida Keys. My mother now lives at a Jewish nursing home, where she visits with the rabbi and is learning about the Torah. I go to Shabbat dinner when I visit her.

So where does my interest and belief in religion intersect with my interest in paranormal writing and the paranormal? In some ways, the story I've been working on, Walking in the Dark, has always been about faith -- believing in something even when there's no empirical evidence. The first versions even had a pastor as a main character and love interest, until the story decided it didn't need him.

I have read the Bible, the Book of Common Prayers, the Dalai Lama and books by various Christian and Buddhist mystics and saints, though I wouldn't characterize myself as a particularly religious person. One thing I've found in my readings is how much of the mystical appears in religious writings. Psychics, soothsayers and mediums can be found in the Old Testament, as can demons and angels.

I can't say that my research in the paranormal or theology has made me a true believer. I can say that my religion has led me to be unafraid of asking questions and of searching for where the answers take me -- both in life and in fiction.

I come to religion, the possibilities of the paranormal and writing with an open mind, ready to go wherever the road takes me.

In ghostly spirits,

J.K. Mahal

Photo of Haverford Monthly meeting courtesy of Martin Kelley.

Authors Who Chilled and Thrilled Me

For me, being asked to name a favorite paranormal author is like a mother being asked to name which child she loves best. I love so many for different reasons. What I can name are the authors who have influenced me, chilled me, made me cry and made me laugh.

In junior high school, between the school-mandated chills of Edgar Allen Poe and Shakespeare, I discovered a library filled with the works of Victoria Holt. The India Fan and The Curse of the Kings brought high Gothic romance and suspense, complete with curses, into my reading repertoire. She chilled and thrilled many hours of my life with her atmospheric writings.

Anne Rice came next. By high school, The Vampire Lestat was the rage among my friends. I fell for the rock star vampire with mixed morals. Rice's voice was persuasive, hypnotic and far too charming. All other first person vampire narrators (and vampire hunter narrators) owe her. I doubt Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake could exist in a world without Lestat.

Then there's the incomparable Stephen King. My favorite of his works is The Dead Zone. Sure Carrie or The Shining are better known. But The Dead Zone marries great story with unforgettable writing. It's creepy while still being believable and morally complex.

In college, I discovered Nora Roberts. Her Donovan Legacy series, tracing three witches who find love when least expected, married my favorite elements of romance with magic. Her descriptions in these short form Silhoutte books show what can be done with specific detail at the right moment. Each book has scenes that remained on my mind long after I finished reading.

I have other favorites. Lafcadio Hearn seems to haunt me. His Japanese ghost stories keep popping up everywhere. Last year, a friend introduced me to The Dresden Files. I became an instant addict. I love Laurell K. Hamilton's early Anita Blake novels and Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan books. I pre-ordered the last Harry Potter book, wended my way through the paths of Narnia and even read all of the Tolkien Ring series. Just yesterday, I finished Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. A good read.

Which reminds me, I should stop at the library and get my new card....

In ghostly spirits,

J.K. Mahal

Photo courtesy of Your Guide.

Life is a Banquet of Research....

I love research. Asking questions and looking for answers thrills me. I'm always filing things away in my brain and my filing cabinet. I can't tell you exactly why I own a book on how to exterminate insects, but I know someday that sucker will come in handy!

I even research things I think I know. For instance, my book Walking in the Dark takes place in Key West, a town I lived and worked in for three years as a journalist. Now, you'd think someone who beat the streets for stories wouldn't need to find out more about the place she's using as a modern setting. After all, I already know the legend of St. Mary Star of the Sea, what Goombay is and where you can get a good drink away from the crowds of Duval Street. I know Hemingway was as likely to visit Capt. Tony's as he was to go to Sloppy Joe's on Duval. I've flirted with Tony, a local character who passed away two weeks ago.

But memories fade and having a good street map and even, gasp, a tourist guidebook is invaluable for poking at the unsteady memory.

I use life as research, but I also research what's in my life. No matter how good my memory is for things like the feel of peanut shells underfoot at the Chart Room Bar at the Pier House, I know I'll forget whether Frances Street runs past the cemetery or not (it does).

This doesn't mean I'm held hostage by facts however. It is called imagination for a reason. Sometimes in fiction, when the facts don't fit, I massage them. Not so much that they become unbelievable, but enough so that they exist in that suspension of disbelief mode we enter when we read fiction.

The paranormal part of my book is researched as well. Of course, then the rules or lack thereof are broken and reformed into rules that work better for my character. Consistency may be the hobgoblin of little minds, but it also keeps readers from saying "wait a second, they can't do that."

Details count.

In ghostly spirits,

J.K. Mahal

Photo by LinksmanJD.

Dreaming of NaNoWriMo.

I love National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo as those who participate like to call it. I love the idea of committing to crazy, freethinking writing, where all that matters is that you spew forth letters on the page. As a methodical plotter, it goes against all my instincts to write this way, yet I find it exhilarating.

Last year, NaNoWriMo changed my novel around. Letting myself go with the flow led to major discoveries about what was and wasn't working. It helped me move past a major stumbling block and go on to new and better pages.

I've been hoping that this year will be the same. But so far, I have been unable to put pen to paper. Blame the recent move, which leaves me with an office and house in boxes. Blame the weeks of illness and of unexpected work that put me two weeks behind my unpacking schedule. Blame the upcoming week and a half trip to Florida, my last visit to my mom in the nursing home before I am forced not to fly because of my third trimester. Or just blame my lack of will.

But for the moment, I find myself dreaming of NaNoWriMo. My commitment to it will start on November 20th and go through the holidays, instead of finishing with the end of November. Though I won't be on the same schedule as everyone else, I'm hoping the spirit of NaNoWriMo will carry me through until the words "the end" appear.

In ghostly spirits,

J.K. Mahal

Why I Write on the Spooky Side

I love All Hallows Eve. The spooky spectacle of costumed kiddies parading down the street dressed as ghoulies, goblins and ballerinas. The eerie sight of pumpkins ablaze with their faces on fire, flickering dastardly grins at all who dare appear before them to shout "Trick or Treat." Halloween is my favorite day of the year.

But that's not why I write paranormal fiction.

The first story I have record of writing has a monster as its protagonist. My first play is a one act about a woman who kills a man over and over in her dreams. I've written spec scripts of The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And the book I'm polishing, my first novel, is the story of a psychic with tragedy in her life whose gift has changed to the point that all she can see is how people die.

I think it started with the fairy stories my mother told me, tales she created of a wee one named Bluebell who lived in the Queen Anne's Lace that bordered our New Jersey yard. My interest grew in India, where my first reading material included comic books of Hindu myths. There were sleepover tales of Sleepy Hollow and the New Jersey Devil, the graveyard I played in behind the Quaker meeting house, the books of Greek and Norse myths and the volumes of fairy tales I adored. By junior high, my favorite Nancy Drew book was Nancy Drew Ghost Stories.

By high school, I started to collect nonfiction books, adding tomes on ESP and psychic phenomena to the Vampire Chronicles of Anne Rice. I loved the ghost-oriented episodes of MacGyver and Quantum Leap. Sci-Fi became my favorite channel.

The works of H.P Lovecraft and Stephen King joined L.M. Montgomery and Louisa May Alcott on my reading lists. After all, even Jo March, the scribe sister of Little Women, wrote tales of suspense, horror and intrigue. And while her writing got shut down as moral turpitude, the stories of her creator did not.

I have had friends who lived with ghosts, some who profess psychic gifts and others who had a subscription to Skeptics Magazine. I've met people from all walks of the paranormal spectrum. My own beliefs are personal, but I'm open to the possibilities.

But that's not why I write paranormal fiction. I write it because the real world, the world we live in every day, is scarier to me than any depths of the imagination. I've seen the darkness and it is us. (Don't worry, the light is us too).

I write it because the things that go bump in the night allow us to explore our most human side, whether that side be filled with love and compassion or darkness and hate. I write it because even though uniformly good triumphs over evil in this genre, there's always room for the grey. And because, somedays, it does feel like we've come to The Last Midnight a la Sondheim.

Which is not to say that my book is terribly high brow. In fact, you can get a sneak peek at the first scene here.

Thank you for joining us on this frightening journey. We hope you come back next week.

Have a haunting Halloween,

J.K. Mahal

Photo by Darwin Bell.