My Favorite Paranormal Hero

Aside from my own paranormal characters, I’d have to say Odd Thomas, the main  character from Dean Koontz’ novel , ODD THOMAS, is my favorite.

I picked him because he’s an average person with extraordinary abilities. Odd (yes, that’s his name) is a short order cook who sees dead people and spirits of shadowy evil creatures. He also has supernatural intuitive skills, “psychic magnatism,” and uses it to kick evil’s butt and calm restless ghosts. He keeps his abilities secret, except for a select few who aren’t afraid to listen to him. Because of his abilities, he prevents mass killings and disasters, and survives to do it again and again.  My kind of guy.

TOUCH OF DARKNESS by Yelena Casale & Tina Moss cover reveal today!

Exciting news! Yelena Casale and Tina Moss, both award winning authors, have a book cover reveal today. Their Keys series, Book One, TOUCH OF DARKNESS, an Urban Fantasy, will be released in March 2015. Check out Brenda Drake’s Blog Post for an awesome blurb, book teaser, and a peek at the amazing cover. Don’t forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a copy.

Link to Brenda’s Blog: http://www.brenda-drake.com/2014/10/touch-darkness-yelena-casale-tina-moss-cover-reveal-giveaway/

The Seer and the Shaman, revised opening scene

Moonlight shimmering through lacy curtains cast an eerily strange glow over the room. A lone cricket chirped its serenade beneath the open window. Thirty-two-year-old Sarah Nance, in a silent battle of fight or flight, sat on the bed hugging her knees to her chest and shivered despite the warmth of the night. An ominous sense of foreboding kept her eyes wide while she waited. She knew nothing her husband could do would stop the events to come and, for a moment, watched him sleep. Swallowing the knot of fear lodged in her throat, a sigh of resignation slipped past her dry lips as she peered into a shadowy corner. The cricket ceased its beckoning song the moment Sarah detected a familiar shift in the energy surrounding her. Heaviness filled the air. Once again, as it did the last three nights, adrenaline surged through her veins when the chilling apparition floated out of the shadows directly toward her.

Rendered speechless and unable to move, Sarah’s urge to pull the blankets over her head went unheeded. Sweat mingled with tears. Her heart pounded. Her mind screamed, ‘Oh my god!—Go away!—Leave me alone!’

Hovering inches off the floor next to the bed, the wedding dress-clad woman ignored Sarah’s telepathic ranting. Slowly raising an arm, the ghost pointed at Sarah.

A look of determination raged in the specter’s huge eyes, and in a futile attempt to block the visions Sarah knew would come, she squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself.

Without a word the ghost imprinted thoughts in Sarah’s mind, ‘Look at my dress. See my dress. Notice my dress.’

Sarah didn’t respond.

The specter demanded, ‘Look—at—my—dress!’

Sarah squeezed her eyes tighter. ‘I’ve already seen your dress! Go away!’ A cold breeze hit her face; inhaling sharply, her eyes popped open, ‘Oooh crap!’

 

Here my final version of the submission to #QueryKombat :

 

Entry Nickname: Ghosts and Mrs. Chicken

Name: Debbie Dorris

Email address: debradorris@cableone.net

Title: The Seer and the Shaman

Word count: 70K

Genre: Adult, Paranormal Mystery

 

Query:

 

Thirty-two-year-old Sarah Nance’s idea of fun doesn’t include ghosts, and ignoring them is a fiasco. Visions of past, present and future events drive her nuts. She’d rather lead a ‘normal’ life than deal with the troubles and frustrations caused by her gifts.

 

In addition to their individual abilities, Sarah and her sister, Rebecca, share unusual talents, namely telepathy and telekinesis. As much as Sarah fights her talents, Rebecca embraces her intuitive abilities and enhances them every chance she gets. Her energy manipulations and calming effects save the day when things go awry.

 

Snubbing her gifts proves impossible for Sarah when a wedding dress-clad ghost takes desperate measures to get Sarah to solve her murder and protect her teenage daughter. Strangulation marks she leaves on Sarah’s neck spur Sarah to act. Sarah reaches out to Rebecca for help and guidance, and the duo agree to aid the detective working the case. Skeptical of their abilities, he’s in for a rude awakening when the specter herself joins the investigation. When the sisters’ snooping brings them close to answers, the bridal ghost introduces Sarah to three other female ghosts. Visions she sees indicate all four women were murdered by the same killer, and that the killer is controlled by an evil spirit. The sisters combine their skill sets in an effort to identify the ghosts, unravel the murders, and fight to stop the killer and evil being. If they fail, their lives, and the life of the ghostly bride’s daughter, will be lost.

 

 

First 250 words:

 

Moonlight shimmering through lacy curtains cast an eerie glow over the room. Thirty-two-year-old Sarah Nance sat on the bed hugging her knees to her chest, trembling. An ominous sense of dread kept her eyes wide as she waited. She knew nothing her husband could do would stop what was to come and, for a moment, watched him sleep. With a sigh, she peered into a shadowy corner and detected a familiar shift in the energy surrounding her. Heaviness filled the air. As it did the last three nights, adrenaline surged through her veins when the chilling apparition floated out of the shadows directly toward her.

 

Rendered speechless and unable to move, Sarah’s urge to pull the blankets over her head went unheeded. Sweat mingled with tears. Her heart pounded. Her mind screamed, ‘Oh my God! — Go away! — Leave me alone!’

 

Hovering inches off the floor next to the bed, the wedding dress-clad woman ignored Sarah’s telepathic ranting. Slowly raising an arm, the ghost pointed at Sarah.

 

A look of determination raged in the specter’s huge eyes, and in a futile attempt to block the visions she knew would come, Sarah squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself.

 

Without a word, the ghost imprinted thoughts in Sarah’s mind. ‘Look at my dress. See my dress. Notice my dress.’

 

Sarah didn’t respond.

 

The specter demanded, ‘Look—at—my—dress!’

 

Sarah squeezed her eyes tighter. ‘I’ve already seen your dress! Go away!’

 

A cold breeze hit her face; her eyes popped open, ‘Oooh crap!’…

Pre-contest query party

For the QueryKombat pre-contest Query Party:

 I’ve done tons of rewrites on both the  query and first 250. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help.

 

Query for The Seer and the Shaman, Adult, Genre: Horror because of ghosts (need help to confirm this) 

Seeing ghosts and visions isn’t thirty-two-year-old Sarah Nance’s idea of fun, and trying to ignore them is a fiasco. Physical side effects from being an empath flat out piss her off. She’d rather lead a ‘normal’ life than deal with the troubles and frustrations caused by her gifts. On the other hand Rebecca, Sarah’s Shaman sister, embraces her intuitive abilities and enhances them every chance she gets. Her calming effects are apt to save the day when things go awry. While Sarah sees ghosts, Rebecca senses their presence and emotions. Since childhood the sisters have shared unusual talents, namely telepathy and telekinesis.

Snubbing her gifts proves impossible when a wedding dress clad ghost decides Sarah is the one to solve her murder. As she tends to do, Sarah reaches out to Rebecca for help and guidance. Much to her chagrin, and Rebecca’s delight, the duo agree to aid the skeptical detective working the case and who’s in for a rude awakening when the specter joins the investigation. The sisters’ amateur sleuthing uncovers information indicating the murderer is a serial killer controlled by an evil spirit. Rebecca gives Sarah on-the-job training in the fine art of dealing with bad spirits, including the not so delicate use of Frog’s Breath. The sisters combine their skill sets in an effort to identify the ghost, unravel the murder secrets, and fight to stop the killer and evil being. If they fail, their lives, and the life of the ghostly bride’s daughter, will be lost.

 

 

First 250 words:

Moonlight shimmering through lacy curtains cast an eerie glow over the room. Thirty-two-year-old Sarah Nance sat on the bed hugging her knees to her chest, trembling. An all-consuming sense of foreboding kept her eyes wide as she nervously waited. Glancing at her sleeping husband she knew nothing he could do would stop what’s coming. With a heavy sigh she peered into a shadowy corner and sensed a familiar shift in the energy surrounding her. Heaviness filled the air. As it did the last three nights, adrenaline surged through her veins when the chilling apparition floated out of the shadows directly toward her.

Rendered speechless and unable to move Sarah couldn’t pull the blankets over her head. Sweat mingling with tears and heart pounding, her mind franticly screamed, ‘What do you want? Go away! Leave me alone!’

Hovering inches off the floor next to the bed, the wedding dress clad woman ignored Sarah’s telepathic ranting. Slowly raising an arm the ghost pointed at Sarah.

By the look of determination raging in the specters huge eyes, Sarah knew the visions would come. In a futile attempt to block them she squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself.

Without saying a word the ghost imprinted thoughts in Sarah’s mind, ‘Look at my dress. See my dress. Notice my dress.’

 Sarah didn’t respond.

The specter vehemently demanded, ‘Look—at—my—dress!’

 She squeezed her eyes tighter. ‘You’ve already shown me your dress! Go away!’ Feeling a cold breeze her eyes popped open, ‘Oooh crap!’…

Work in progress

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