Saturday, April 7, 2012

G is for Ghosts - A to Z Challenge


I left my readers at the end of my first book with the news that character Rachel is going to be a paranormal investigator. In preparation for the sequel, I’ve spent a bit of time researching ghost hunters and their techniques.

Oh, who am I kidding? I didn’t have to research all that much. I’m a huge fan of Ghost Hunters on SciFy, have seen every single episode, and subscribed to their magazine. I like that they try to be as scientific about their investigations as possible while still keeping an open mind.

"Where are you from... originally?"
Ghosts and ghost hunters provide great material for fiction. I get to decide what kind of paranormal investigators my characters will be: scientific like the Ghost Hunters, or more open to using psychics, mediums, and divinatory tools like Ouija boards? And what kind of ghosts will populate my story? They might only be felt as chill in the air, or they could be seen as apparitions. They could be benign or vengeful. Or maybe they don’t exist at all and are simply figments of the characters’ imaginations.

I love that there are so many options! This is one of the fun parts of writing paranormal romance. As a writer, what are your favorite parts of the job? Readers — what are your favorite elements in books?

11 comments:

  1. Good luck with your sequel. I love writing about ghosts.

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    1. Thanks! Writing anything paranormal is fun, but it's the first time I've written about ghosts.

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  2. I'm in the midst of writing a ghost story myself (just a short, not a novel) so I've been asking myself similar questions. I think I have all the answers now, unfortunately that means I have to move on to the difficult part -- putting the words on the page LOL

    Good luck with yours :)

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  3. Your sequel is going to be awesome! I just know it!

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  4. I'm not a big fan of ghosts, because I've had two terrifying experiences with them, but I do enjoy reading about them. Good luck writing your sequel. :D

    Over from A-Z.

    My A-Z

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    1. They're unnerving, aren't they? At least in fiction, I want them to be scary!

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  5. Options are awesome, and researching paranormal investigation must have been lots of fun, as well as fascinating.

    My favourite part of the writing job is when my writing self stuffs my inner critic into the trunk of the car and takes off on a long, uninterrupted, joyous spin. The words fly by, the characters cooperate, and by the time the journey's over, the pages are covered in text.

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    1. That's wonderful! I love when the writing flows like that and the characters start doing things you didn't expect.

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  6. I do believe in ghost because I have seen one, my ex.
    Do check out my G at GAC a-z

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    1. I'm always interested to meet people who've seen them!

      Good luck on A-Z!

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