Spiders, Bears and Moose, Oh My, at the Writer's Retreat

                                                                         

This past Thursday, I had the pleasure of going on a retreat with five fabulous fellow writers. Our team leader, Amy shared her family’s home in Vermont with us so that we could have a secluded spot to work on the upcoming anthology which is planned to be released in the winter, but also to work on our own projects.

                                                                      

                                                           

My husband looked up the address on Google Earth. “I don’t think you’ll have any distractions,” he said.

                                                                              

I stopped packing to look at the picture. “Where is everything? I asked. There were lots of trees, a road here and there, but on Google, we appeared to be very far from any type of civilization.

                     

                      “Do you think there might be bears up there?” I asked.

                                                                 
                                       

                       “You might see a bear, maybe a moose, why?”

                                                                                                        

“Oh nothing,” I replied. I have a civil war sword that I had bought in Gettysburg. Maybe I should take some protection.

                                                                    

I told my husband my plans, but after laughing his head off, he said, “You can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. You’ll wind up killing yourself.”

                                                                                                                                                

The day of the trip, I was packed and ready for the ride up to Vermont. We didn’t get to the house until late and were greeted by very large spiders.

                                                                                      

Who were wondering why we were there and they didn’t look much too friendly either.

                                                                           

Here you see the group having breakfast in town at the Cup and Saucer. Yes there was a town; it just didn’t show up on Google Earth.

                                                                         
                                                   The food and coffee were great.
                                

                                                                           

                                        Here we are working hard at our stories.

                                                                             
                                                                           

More spiders, big spiders and I swear one had on a tee-shirt that said, “Make my Day.”

       This photo does no justice to how big they were. To me, they looked more like this photo.

                                                                       
                                                                                                           

                                       Here we are having a fun dinner.

                                                                              
                                                             We know how to party!

                                                                      

It rained most of the time we were there, but every once in a while we had a break in the downpour and went for a walk.

                                                                      
                                        I want a house like this one day.

                                                                                                                                         

I never did get to see any bears and strangely felt disappointed, go figure?

                                                           
                                                        No moose either,

                                                                    
                                                but I did get to see a steer.

                                                                           
                          It was a good time for all and I’m looking forward to doing this again.

                                                         Packing up to leave.                                  

Part Twenty-six of Lilith's Escape

                                                         

“Why?” Edward asked after the waitress walked away.

“He is a very bad man,” she replied, her fingers tapping at the corner of the menu. “What do you want to eat?

                                                                                                                                  

“I seem to have lost my appetite,” Edward said and placed his menu on the table.

She let out a sigh. “He hurts little boys, kills them. Don’t waste any pity on this man. His death will nourish me and protect the innocent.”

                                                                           

Edward didn’t answer, but not because of what she had just revealed. How could he judge her when he also killed to protect the innocent?

                                                                    

She slid over in the booth, sitting as close as possible. “Ask me your questions,” she said and placed her hand on his.

“Why did you kill Lazarus? Wasn’t he a good man?”

“I was tricked into believing that Lazarus would interfere with events that were meant to happen. He was my friend and I was fooled into poisoning him.

                                                    

There was no way I could correct this horrible error, but luckily this problem was solved by the only one who could.”

                                                                        

“You weren’t punished for your mistake? We’re talking about religious events that changed the world forever.”

“Heaven and Hell have their own game plan and it's not about religion,” she replied.

                                                                             

“What will happen to Lazarus when we find him?”

“I bring him peace.”

                                                                        

“You mean to kill him then?”

“First we must save him from the people who hold him captive.” She leaned in and kissed him on his cheek, adding, “Dearest Edward, there are many ways to bring peace to a man.”

Edward wanted to take off her sunglasses, look into her eyes and see if she was telling him the truth. “And what about me, what happens after we save Lazarus?”

“You must choose.”

                                                                        

“I want to be with you, but you scare me more than death itself.” Edward stood up and walked towards the door. He had to get away, think things through, without the temptation of her body so close to him.

Once outside and in the cool night air of the little town, he began to walk, not knowing where he was going. He had only walked a short way, when the man caught up to him.

Edward found himself staring into the muzzle of a German luger.

                                                        

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When evil begets evil, a choice is forced on Quinn, the one person who can see the danger. Does she save the ones she loves, or does she save the world from Chaos?

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 The streets aren't safe when your enemy wears a blue uniform and a gold badge.
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When two strangers have nothing left but their dreams, they must forge a relationship in Nantahala, North Carolina, a small town known as Land of the Noonday Sun.

A man with a traumatic past is able to turn his life around and is happy with his chosen career as a whitewater guide. Everything changes though when fate hurls a woman into his path. His carefree life is in turmoil, and his former weaknesses threaten to overtake him. Will he be strong enough when tragedy strikes and is once again in danger of losing everything he loves?

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Overview of This Time Forever

Delaney Brannigan and Blake Morrisson met at the Cedar Cove annual costume dance, known only to each other as the leopard and the cowboy--but, as Delaney soon discovers, the cowboy she'd thought had ridden off into the sunset never to tempt her again, is none other than the man she came from New York to find and discredit. Against her will, Delaney is drawn deeper and deeper into an overwhelming attraction to Blake--an attraction she can't give in to if she wants to keep the one thing she values more than anything else.

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Who do YOU pledge allegiance to?

After exposing one of the most notorious rings of police corruption in history, lawyer Cruz Marquez planned on starting a new life south of the border. That plan unraveled when an extremist group of Minutemen captured and tortured him and his wife.

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An early posting of Lilith's Escape and Helping out Fellow Writers

I will be posting the next episode of Lilith's Escape tomorrow 7/26 instead of Friday and I'll also be posting some great information of the First Ever Book Pushalooza featuring great writers and stories. I'll be away for a few days, but please check out both posts. Have a great weekend and stay cool:)

What is Lilith up to?

Looking for Ghosts in all the Right Places

                                                                       

On Saturday, Rita a fellow ghost hunter and I had the opportunity of going to the Laurel Hill Cemetery to do a ghost hunt with the amazing Free Spirit Paranormal Investigators.

                                                                            

                      

After paying the low price for this entertaining event, we took our seats and waited for the workshop on ghost hunting to begin. There were plenty of people there and we were all eager to learn the particulars of ghost hunting.

                                                                            

Frank Cassidy and Denise Vacca are the co-founders of this investigative team

                                                         

                                        

The team includes Sue Beatty, Darlene Sharkey, Michelle Books, Christine Napoli, Claire McClean Kyle Cassidy (his son) and Anne (his wife). Here are some of the team.

                                                                          

                                                                                                              

Before we started our tour through the historic cemetery, we were shown a short film and then the workshop began with Michelle explaining the different types of hauntings.

Darlene followed and explained what the group must do before they even bring their equipment to the property of a person seeking their help. There are many questions that need to be asked so that the team knows what type of a spirit they’re dealing with.

Sue was the third speaker up and she explained about the equipment used by the team, which covered everything such as cameras, voice recorders, EMF’s to register the electromagnetic fields. It was noteworthy to learn that they make sure that the sightings or events are not caused by natural occurrences. 

Kyle presented some of the audio evidence collected from the different cases handled by the team. It really sends chills down your spine to hear a spirit’s voice captured on a recorder.

Frank took the spotlight and explained in more detail what is involved with their investigations and what unexpected results they have come across. They are careful not to accidently take home an unwanted guest or two and explained to the crowd how to psychically protect themselves before the tour.

                                                                         

Once the workshop was completed, we all eagerly headed out in three groups. Here are some pictures of this beautiful cemetery.

                                                  some impressive mausoleums
                                                                            

                                                       

I did see something that night and informed Frank, who was in charge of our group. Twice I saw a dark shadow, no distinct shape to tell if it was male or female, but one was within fifteen minutes of our tour

                                                                       

                                      

The other sighting was further down the trail and this shadow was much taller. 

                                                                        

At the end of the tour, after spending some quality time walking through the cemetery, we were treated to snacks and wine, yummy.

                                                                                                  

I would definitely recommend this event the next time Laurel Hills offers it to the public. You will not be disappointed by the staff of the Free Spirit Paranormal Investigators. They are a member of the National Trust Historic Preservation.

If you wish to contact Frank Cassidy, go to www.freespiritpi.com or freespirit.help@gmail.com

Laurel Hills Cemetery has some great fall events coming up. Check them out at www.thelaurelhillcemetery.org

                                            

                    Good booing to all my friends.