Category Archives: Wisdom Court

I’m materializing again…

23 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by in books, e-books, SALE!, Wisdom Court

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No, I haven’t died. I’ve been in a funk–what Holly Golightly called the Mean Reds. It happens sometimes: the fountain of insane notions in my head dries up and I stumble around thinking about such killer ideas as grocery lists and Things I Must Do. Also Things I Haven’t Done. Guilt stew with sad on the side.

Boring.

This time, however, I’ve sweetened the frustration pot by working on short stories–surely you saw my post about writing some set at Wisdom Court. You know, to flesh out characters, see who’s haunting whom? It’s harder than I thought (apologies to all writers of short stories) and I’ve been tripping over my pouty lower lip in the meantime. I’m almost to the point of posting one, so there’s that to force a shred of cheer into my brain.

Just moments ago I found more reasons to fight off a sense of doom: Wisdom Court Book One, Edge of the Shadow, is on sale at Amazon for 99 cents. Cheap thrills, folks, served up hot and haunting. Here’s your chance to see how the hoopla began; an opportunity to get in on the ground floor for not much money; a way to understand the ongoing cheers and applause…<crickets>   http://amzn.to/2s0hdA5

Nook Books at Barnes & Noble is upping the ante on Amazon, offering Edge of the Shadow for 99 cents, and Book Two, A Signal Shown, is selling for $1.99. http://bit.ly/2t4uXJO 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Three, All in Bad Time., is selling for $2.99.   http://bit.ly/2tDEJQy

 

Here’s your chance to revel in my three spooky novels.

 

 

I feel better now. I’m going to go polish that short story. And then I’ll write another.

Cheers!

Walking into another story…

12 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by in Wisdom Court, Writing

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I’m back at my computer, mind reasonably clear, determined to walk through a door of my imagination into another story. Sometimes it’s the hardest thing in the world to let the dust settle from a completed project.

All in Bad Time, Book Three of the Wisdom Court series, came out mid-December. The customary post-partum respiratory bug took hold, and it’s taken a while to run its course.

I had a plan (see previous blog post, Happy New Year, Readers). I’ve begun three different short pieces about further events at Wisdom Court, but haven’t finished any. Yet.

Today is the day I find the words and shape the scenes. Today my characters will take life again and find the next pieces of the story.

Today.

E-book of Edge of the Shadow on tiny sale at Amazon

08 Wednesday Mar 2017

Posted by in Ghosts, Gothic, Hauntings, Wisdom Court

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Bargain basement price of $3.82 (as opposed to $3.99) at Amazon. Why? Dunno. Maybe they have an oversupply of electrons and decided to whittle the amount accordingly.

 

This is your chance to venture into the ghostly world of Wisdom Court, where women go to pursue their dreams.

 

 

http://amzn.to/2mkbTl0

Happy New Year, Readers !

05 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in Ghosts, Hauntings, Wisdom Court

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So I’m a little late. What are a few days among friends?

I’m trying to get my fingers moving, get my brain tumbling, get some words on the page. It’s snowy today, and very cold, so my primary impulse is to wrap up in a blanket and sip cocoa while I read what someone else has written. But what about my characters? The ones I set up a few weeks ago and left looking around, wondering what was to happen to them next. They sit there still, no voices, no ideas, no nothin’.

What I had in mind is to follow a thread about what occurs at Wisdom Court now. The three books containing the story arc I began with are now sitting on the bookshelf. (And available as e-books and trade paperbacks at Amazon, Kobo, Nook, Google, and God knows where else.)

What happens at a women’s institute when everyone there admits the place is thoroughly haunted? Sure, they found out why so many terrifying events happened, and how it all got started, but now what?

Don’t you think there would be a long line of spirits wanting their stories told? After all, the way ghosts are usually laid to rest is to find out why they’re ghosts–what evil in their lives made them hang around after they died. Who cares if that creates problems for Wisdom Court as a place where women can come spend a year working on whatever they want to do–have always wanted to do–completely supported financially and emotionally? Ghosts have rights! They deserve to have their stories told.

So the plan: provide a forum for the ghosts, pay attention to them, aid them on their way to the Other Side. Surely the women of Wisdom Court wouldn’t mind helping in their spare time. It’s true that being surprised by entities not totally in control of their abilities to communicate might be a little off-putting. Suddenly seeing an image in the mirror not belonging to the person looking at herself would cause some upset. There are worse things.

I would write the details of these encounters and perhaps collect them in an anthology at the end of the year. A noble goal, right? Well, sure, if I can get my brain functioning, my fingers typing, my will cranked up and humming.

Brrr.  It’s cold up here in my garret. I’m assuming that’s because of the snowstorm. I’m alone here except for my noble cat, Oreo. She hasn’t given any indication of other…persons…being present.

I’m going downstairs to put the kettle on for some cocoa.

31 Days of Spooky Stuff — October 2: Haunted House

02 Sunday Oct 2016

Posted by in Hallowe'en, Hauntings, Wisdom Court

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552050_340069802746868_1757767987_nFor decades I’ve lived in an old three-story house in an older section of Denver. The first night I spent alone in it I was reading in bed, eyes growing heavy as the sounds of traffic and passersby ebbed. I was nearly asleep when I heard footsteps.

My husband had called me earlier that night from his father’s farm not far from Sterling, a nearly four-hour drive from the city. He was the only other person with a key to the house.

My pulse was beating loudly in my ears, muffling all other sounds. I slipped out of bed and tiptoed to the door, standing next to it, listening. I couldn’t hear footsteps, couldn’t hear anything really except my damned heartbeat.

Sweat broke out on my forehead as I stood there, almost feeling my ears grow larger to catch any sound. I argued with myself as to what I should do. Go out on the landing, look down to the living room, dark since I’d turned out all the lights? Call the police over just a sound? Before I could decide, I heard the footsteps again.

I knew I couldn’t just stand at the door all night. I’d swept the bedroom floor earlier, leaving the broom propped against the closet molding. Grabbing it in one hand, turning the door knob with the other, I flung open the door and clumped out into the hall. “Hello?”

I listened to the silence with every pore. Nothing.

Just as I was turning back to the bedroom, I heard voices and saw motion through the window over the landing. In the weak illumination of the apartment building behind our house I saw a man and woman climbing the stairs to the third floor. I heard their footsteps as clearly as if they walked up the stairs to where I stood.

That trick of sound has evoked fear again over the years, catching me off guard, freezing me for an instant as I make sure those steps are occurring outside the house. I just hope, if the footsteps are ever in this house, I can tell the difference.

 

Now it’s your turn to share, dear readers. Do you have favorite haunted house books or movies? Have you had a haunting–real or imagined–in your own houses? Share your comments and you’ll be entered in the Wisdom Court Sweepstakes, the prize a set of the Wisdom Court novels, including the new third book, All In Bad Time, all signed by me.

 

Near the end-end

14 Thursday Jul 2016

Posted by in Uncategorized, Wisdom Court, Writing

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Portrait of crazy stressed young business woman screaming and pulling her hair over white background

No lick and a promise this time. I’ve sent All In Bad Time (Wisdom Court Book III) to beta readers for reactions and commentaries. Until I get feedback, I’m trying to clean up my work area and find and file all the scraps of paper decorating my study.
And how’s your summer going?

The problem with being sort of done with a book is the limbo left behind. I’m still thinking about plot points, still dreaming about scenes, and definitely still waiting to see what kind of comments I get. That’s the scariest part. During all the times I feel I was delusional to become a writer, I’m most convinced when I first show the tender shoots of my prose to someone else. (Can you tell I don’t work with a critique group?) Then I start dreaming about specific words to replace others, curse the plot points I didn’t stress in the “final” draft, and up the amount of antacid to deal with the ball of lead in my gut. Good times.

So, why do I continue to write? I have reasons, most psychiatric, but secretly I yearn for the moments when the world of my book gets several pieces from the universe, all at once. I love the joy of figuring out plot snarls, even as I peer over the edge of the abyss called Stuck In Space. I’m a total sucker for the rare and beautiful moments when characters talk and I just record what they say. I’ve never found any other way but writing to stumble into those highs.

Now, as I have to pretend I live in the real world, my hopes for you writers out there are these: may your words flow smoothly; may you enjoy your work in progress; may you finish with real satisfaction; and, of course, may your work hit the bestseller lists.

Cheers!

 

Another Lick and a Promise…

11 Wednesday May 2016

Posted by in Hope, Random Thoughts, Wisdom Court, Writing

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Seedling of narcissus spring flowers growing from ground

Seedling of narcissus spring flowers growing from ground

I’ve been revising like a fool, hoping the revisions aren’t foolish. Thus have Twitter & Facebook lacked for much attention, and I haven’t blogged in a good, long while. So, here’s to spring, my dears, with all the tumult and drama our Colorado springs usually have. Here’s to venturing out to plant seeds and seedlings, even though we know the likelihood of hail and destruction for a few more weeks. Here’s to doing good work and getting enough sleep and finishing the tale.
I’ll be back soon with more reflections about life, liberty, and putting words on the page. Send me good vibes, please, so I’ll see my way clear to the end of the story.

Dear Yvonne…

21 Thursday Jan 2016

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Stick to  your writing today. I know you’re afraid of the plot intricacies in the WIP, All In Bad Time, tearing your hair out because incorporating the first two books of the  trilogy into this third book is exacting and frustrating. You can do it. Just plunge ahead with the action. If you don’t like it when you read it over, you can change it. You’re the goddess at Wisdom Court.

(Easy for you to say. Why the hell did I create so many characters? What possessed me to think I could manage them? By their natures they’re independent, contrary–well, some of them. They keep doing things I hadn’t planned, saying things I didn’t know they thought. WTF?)

Stressful business woman working on computer at the office

This always happens when you write. The characters start coming to life, and once they do, they want to help shape the narrative.

(Right now the narrative looks like that old joke about a blind man describing an elephant.)

Come on, stop whining. Imagine you’re walking through a forest and the goal is to get to the other side. You don’t stop to hear the birds sing, nor to marvel at the fungi. And stop trying to find that bubbling spring to drink from! Just keep going. That means you have to quit noodling around with this blog post.

(Crap. You’re right. I’m sitting here. My fingers are on the keys. It’s time to write. Thanks, I guess.)

You’re welcome. One question: why did you pick a youngish blonde woman for the graphic?

(She reminded me of J.K. Rowling. Not a bad example to have in mind, right?)

Get to work!

 

 

What’s with all the Owls, Yvonne?

13 Monday Apr 2015

Posted by in Plot, Wisdom Court

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Funny you should ask. I’ve been on a tear lately, posting pictures of owls whenever I feel like it. The owl has become the symbol for the novel I’m working on, All In Bad Time, Wisdom Court Book Three. And the reason for that is nicely explained at the website The White Goddess at thewhitegoddess.co.uk:

” In Ancient Greek mythology the Owl was a creature sacred to Athena, Goddess of the night who represented wisdom. Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom had a companion Owl on her shoulder, which revealed unseen truths to her. Owl had the ability to light up Athena’s blind side, enabling her to speak the whole truth, as opposed to only a half truth. The Ainu in Japan trust the Owl because it gives them notice of evil approaching. They revere the Owl, and believe it mediates between the Gods and men. The bird features prominently Celtic folklore where it is considered both to be sacred and to have magical powers, again because of its abilities in the dark. Zulus and other West African nations consider the bird a powerful influence in casting spells, and think that using parts of the owl gives great strength to a person involved with magical incantations.”

If you’ve read my first two Wisdom Court Books, Edge of the Shadow and A Signal Shown, then you already know owls ought to be hanging from the chandeliers at Wisdom Court. But I’ve saved them for the third volume and I’m having a wonderful time researching and finding images of these magnificent birds. They’re inspiring. And you’ll never guess how an owl plays an vital part in the plot of All In Bad Time. (I’m working as fast as I can.)

Cezary Korkosz, Photographer

Cezary Korkosz, Photographer

 

P.S. Edge of the Shadow is still available for 99 cents at Kindle Books and Nook Books. A Signal Shown sells for $3.99 at both places. (And the Finny Aletter mysteries, Scavenger Hunt and Obstacle Course, sell for $3.99 as well.)