Blog hop: When you're strange

Now that I've planted that earworm, you're welcome, I'll get down to business. The lovely and talented, Melanie Hooyenga tagged me in an MG/YA blog hop while promoting her excellent novel, FLICKER (you go buy now), and it's my turn to pass on the favor with a quick series of questions. 

Thanks, Mel!


1. What are you working on right now?

I'm currently editing Haunted Stuff: Demonic Dolls, Screaming Skulls, and Other Creepy Collectibles (Llewellyn - August 2014) but hope to be working on an MG project soon. On the side, I'm plotting a middle-grade project on Poe in elementary school. He'll be the only 3rd grader with a full mustache. 

My past MG projects involved the Girls' Ghost Hunting Guide, which teaches kids (and adults) how to explore the paranormal through responsible investigations and deductive reasoning...and I manage to sneak in some bad jokes. 

Friday the 13th: Ghost hunting at Paxton Manor

I have a long history with Paxton Manor, in Leesburg, Virginia. A dozen years ago, I read about an underground cavern that housed an enormous lake under a Victorian mansion near where I lived and I was determined to find out more about it. I wanted to see the lake where men could paddle a boat in the darkness, and with only a miner's lamp secured to a helmet to guide them. Unfortunately, I had lost the newspaper clipping and couldn't remember the name of the house. My Google-fu had failed and I was left to my imagination to fill in the blanks. 

The Daniel Craig method of writing fiction. You're welcome, Internet.

Yesterday, I sent Haunted Stuff off to my editor with a gentle shove. While I wait for line edits, I'm kicking around some new ideas and reminding myself how to write fiction again. This graphic I made years ago may help a tiny bit -- if I can get past his abs. And legs. And lovely blue eyes.