Seeing Ghosts

I suppose you can say this whole thing began and ended with ghosts. Not all my life, of course, but only all that ever really mattered. Everything before meeting Angie happened simply to get me prepared for our life together. No real living had occurred until that moment. After Angie died, I was left only with ghosts. Now tonight I lie beside another woman who is not my wife, and who I have yet to touch. I marvel at her even, peaceful breathing as I stare at the awful ghost that sits calmly, but menacingly, near the foot of the bed.

Aunt Flora is dead and has been for several months. There’s really no reason on God’s green earth why she should be here, in my home, a place she’d never visited in life, but here she sits just the same, and I’m sure I know why. Perhaps it has everything to do with her not having a home of her own any longer, or because she’s lost her husband once again. She seems to grin at me as if she can read my thoughts.

Now she nods dramatically to say that she can, indeed.

“What do you want, Flora?” I finally ask, whispering. I try to be as quiet as possible. It seems like a useless proposition. Peace is an illusion to me at this point; like something so far out of my grasp as to be laughable.

“You know what I want, Paul.” Her voice is low and calm, but seems to reverberate against the walls. “You know very well what I want,” she says as the all-too-familiar lightning flashes outside probe into the bedroom and illuminate her. A gust of wind rattles the window briefly. It must’ve been the reason I awoke in the first place. I’m pretty sure it was just wind, but who could know at this point? In any event, there’d be no more sleeping.

And so begins my third novel. It is entitled Seeing Ghosts. Last week I finally revealed the beautiful cover that Author and Cover Diva Maria Zannini crafted out of thin air. In fact, I’m pretty sure the same muse that gave me the novel also paired the cover with Maria.

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I hope this isn’t the first time you’ve seen this cover. I did my best to blanket the social networks last week, including sending out invites to the June release event. If you have just returned from a glorious week-long vacation…or perhaps I just did a terrible job and did not reach you, I hope you will use this link and sign up.

I am in the very last stages of the novel’s post-production. I am doing the last read through – and by that I mean I’m reading it aloud. I hate this part. It takes so long. *sigh* On the other hand I have used this time to add some final flourishes and have found some last minute corrections. Hopefully very soon I can begin to send out review copies.

I promise not to inundate you with excerpts in the few weeks we have remaining before the release, or thereafter. I will keep that to a minimum. I’m actually not one of those who likes talking about themselves all the time. Believe me.

In the meantime, I’ve got to get back to that post-production I was telling you about. Have a great week, and my thanks to all of you who have taken the time to share my cover or to invite your friends to my event. As always I really appreciate you all.

We’ll talk soon.