I See Dead People

Crazy Weekend Blog Hop #10

2012-02-09T21:27:00.000-06:00

This week I am co-hosting the Crazy Weekend Blog Hop with Angela from Misadventures of a First Time Mom. She's one of my ghosthunting buddies & is the one who had the portal in her house. She and I also did an investigation last week where we helped a crying little boy ghost & murdered young man cross into The Light. I'll tell y'all about that later.

Right now, I want to talk about my latest book, Winter Prey. It evolved out of some of the nasties we run across in the paranormal world. I'm going let you have it free Saturday only...and I suggest that you leave the lights on when you read it.

To participate in the blog hop, follow the rules and fill in the form below. You can link up your blog and/or any of your social network accounts. The linky will close on Sunday night.

Rules:

Follow the host via GFC, Google+, Twitter, RSS or Facebook.
Follow me via GFC, Twitter, RSS or Facebook.
Link up your blog and any of your social media accounts.
If you are a new follower, leave a comment and I will follow you back.

Double Crossing Over

2012-02-08T20:54:00.000-06:00

My friend Angela, my equipment tech Timmy, and I answered a call for an investigation last Friday night, Feb. 3. I didn't know a lot about what was going on before I went, which is one of my rules for most new places I'm called to. All I knew was there was a ghost causing a problem there, not what sort of problem(s). We also went with Angela's mother, Gloria, and two other friends from my writer's group. Floyd and his wife, Sarah.
That night, the weather report called for thunderstorms. Cool! That gives the ghosts an energy source. We watched a great lightning show on the drive there, and just before we arrived at the house, the storm broke loose. We did make it to the covered porch before we got soaked...and Angela and I were contacted immediately by one of the ghosts.
Enough happened during this investigation to call for an entire diary, which I'll probably put into my Ghost Hunting Diary Volume IV when I get ready to publish it. However, a few highlights are worth telling here. The mobile home we arrived at sat on the edge of a large, open field. Angela and I both started hurting really bad on the porch. We had head and chest pains, and I felt like someone had beaten me. Then there was a pain in my chest, although I think it hurt Angela worse. We both knew at once that a young man had been killed in the field beyond the home. He'd been beaten, at times with a piece of concrete block, then shot in the chest. This ghost told me he was ready to cross over right then. However, the homeowners wanted us to come inside and see what had been happening, so I asked him to wait a while.
After we'd been inside a few minutes, a little boy ghost came down the hallway, crying his eyes out. He actually came right up to me and crawled into my lap. Angela, Sarah and I were all on the verge of crying ourselves. As far as I know, I was the only one who saw him, but I believe the male homeowner may have.
I wasn't about to wait to cross this little tike over. We went out on the porch, me holding his hand to lead him. He was afraid at first, but I opened the door in the East and showed him that his grandmother was waiting for him. He was so happy to see her, he didn't hesitate any longer. He did look over his shoulder and say goodbye and thank you to me as he raced down the light path, through the door.
I love helping children into The Light. Well, actually, I love helping any lost soul into The Light. It's where they belong, and they can come back and visit as often as they want.
I have a new ebook out, a scary dark paranormal! Stay tuned here for more information about it, but it is available already. Winter Prey, http://tiny.cc/tn874. The cover was designed by the talented Angela Rogers, my paranormal investigator friend. Enjoy! But you might want to keep the lights on.

T. M.

New Set of Diaries, Portal Problem

2012-01-25T14:00:00.000-06:00

A new set of true ghost stories went up this week. Whew! Hard work. But Ghost Hunting Diary Volume III, written in my T. M. Simmons author life, is now up and available for $1.99 at various sites. Amazon Kindle http://tiny.cc/wdmfv, BN Nook http://tiny.cc/mjf9e, and at Smashwords in various other formats http://tiny.cc/sr67v. Smashwords will eventually distribute it to Apple and various sites for download on other ebook devices. Hope y'all enjoy the new stories! They range from some early stuff to recently banishing a demon with the help of my fellow investigator Angela Rogers.

She and I also have a problem with the danged portal in her house...or we did have, but <knock on wood> we may have it closed finally. It was like Grand Central Station for ghosts there for a while. We'd cross them over and she'd have peace for a week or so. Then here they would come again! They ticked me off because some would decide to camp in her small daughter's room, and that's a no-no big time! So off I went to do some research and contact some old friends, make some new ones, and figure out what to do. I'm not about to outline what we did here in a public forum, because this is an area you don't want to venture into without knowing what the heck you are doing. Frankly, we weren't sure either, when we started out. However, we had sense enough, and experience enough, to tread carefully. Our gifts worked, along with the research and preparation we did. But I can assure you, novices who tried something like this would be in big trouble.

Angela, also, in between all her other busy life chores, designed a beautiful new, totally scary, cover for my next book, Winter Prey. Since I don't know how to put pictures here on the blog, you'll have to go to FB to see it, after I get a chance to put it up there. Or my iseeghost web site, on the ebook page. I did managed to get it up there. This book is very different than anything else I've done. It's not a happy-ever-after romance. It's not a quirky humorous horror mystery with ghosts. It evolved from some of the dark entities I find and fight with in my paranormal investigative life. There's a monster, a windigo, and he's a cannibal. Yep, he eats people. Well, It is his name, but It used to be a he. You'll have to read Winter Prey to see how that happened. I hope to have that book up in another week or so.

In the meantime, happy reading, happy hunting. Be careful. Don't get in trouble out there.

T. M.

New Book/New Ghost

2012-01-06T02:27:00.000-06:00

Well, the book isn't "new" new. It's a time-travel-angel romance that was out in hardcover several years ago. It's never been in ebook form, so I've had an epublisher, Belgrave House, reissue it, rather than do it myself, as I have my other books. Witch Angel, http://tiny.cc/nqab2 is up at the ebook site, in 10 different ebook formats. The editor tells me she will have it up at various other on-line sellers in a week or so, such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I'll let everyone know.

Now, that new ghost. I think I'm going to have to sit down and see who he is. He keeps materializing ever so briefly in full apparation form. I've seen him at least a half-dozen times, if not more. No doubt about it, it's the same man. He's about six foot, broad shoulders, a white shirt, dark hair. I get the impression he's in his early 40's. Belle also saw him when she visited last month. She's coming again this month, in a couple weeks, so if I don't get a chance to sit down and chat with this new ghost before then, I'll make it a point for her and I to do that. I think he has a reason for being here, and it's something I need to find out.

I have a friend who can't believe I don't drop everything and chat with my ghosts whenever they decide to appear or make their presences known. With so many "living" here with me, I just don't have time to befriend all of them. I wouldn't get anything else done, including blogging! Some are only on their way through, wandering to wherever ghosts wander to. Some end up staying around, like this new man. Some I help cross over into The Light if I sense this is what I need to do for them.

I very seldom walk through my house without one or two of the ghosts touching me with their energy. Sometimes it's only a brief "Hi/Hello." Other times they hang around for a while. The kitchen lady ghost does enjoy being there when Sis and I cook, and even when I'm in the kitchen alone. I have dozens of stories I've written down over the years describing the going's on here at my house. One of these days I'll gather them all into one of my ghost hunting diary volumes.

The other day, I visited a friend and helped yet another lost soul cross into The Light. This friend evidently has a vortex under her house, since she gets inundated at times. Or perhaps rather than a vortex, which I always associated with spirits returning for brief visits, there is a portal that ghosts use. I'm not sure about this end of the paranormal world. Anyway, my friend's tiny daughter kept watching someone in her bedroom...once again. We have sent several ghost to The Light from that bedroom. This again was a female ghost, and reluctant as she was, she did end up going through the door. I wish I knew where to go for some research data, such as it might be, on portals and vortexes. We have done cleansings in this house a couple times, but they only seem to work for a few days.

This is one of those insomnia nights, but I'm starting to feel the sleep monster, as Sis calls him, nudge at me. To all a good night and blessings to everyone.

T. M.

Holiday Howdy

2011-12-23T11:02:00.000-06:00

Presents all wrapped and under the tree. (Check)

Now we can start eating! The little lady ghost in my kitchen helped Sis and I make all sorts of delightful yummy goodies. We've got a half-dozen different homemade cookies, some already-made Russell Stovers, several homemade candies, including English toffee and fudge. Today will bake a blueberry and a cherry pie. We have some fruitcakes soaking in their brandy-laced cheesecloth. Yum! Oh, and yeah, we're having a meal, too, not just desserts (although I'm tempted). Turkey and ham, wild rice dressing, homemade noodles, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, crescent rolls, pickle/cheese platter. Shhhh. Don't tell my doctor I'm eating all this cholesterol-laden food. Hub and son will be home from deer camp this afternoon, meatless, unless they got something this morning. We'll start eating then, with the ham. Yum! Have I said yum yet? Tomorrow other son and dil and three grandkids will be here for turkey and fixings. That's always what holidays are about: family gathering. I imagine we will have a few visits from our crossed-over relatives, too. I'll keep a "sense" tuned.

Juan has made an appearance a couple times. Howard, my oldest resident ghost, has popped into visibility a time or two. The new man ghost was here while Belle visited, but haven't "seen" him since. Someone stroked my hair for about five minutes while I was snuggled down to go to sleep last night. Nice! Next thing I knew, I'd been asleep for several hours.

Putting one of my romances as a freebie for the Kindle over the Christmas holidays. It starts tonight at midnight! Mountain Magic, http://tiny.cc/mxhq4. It will stay free until Monday at midnight, from what Amazon tells me. I hope they don't screw up and forget to make it free, but it is scheduled.

Everyone have a Merry Christmas (yes, I still say that and always will) and a fantastic 2012. Timmy and I have to go help a ghost cross over in January. I think Timmy's sister is enjoying having the ghost there right now, but she does want him to go into The Light, where he belongs. Hope all the other paranormal investigators have successful "hunts" next year.

Blessings to everyone! T. M.

Jealous Not-So-Imaginary Friend

2011-12-01T19:17:00.000-06:00

I have a small cousin who is around four years old. A while back, she told her grandma that she had a new friend, Gracie. We all know small kiddos come up with imaginary friends a lot, so Grandma assumed this was what it was. But things happened that pointed to the fact this might not be a totally imaginary friend. It soon became clear this "friend" was the ghost of a small child. I confirmed that one day when I went to visit. Gracie came over to stand by me and held my hand. She was about the same height as my little cousin and didn't appear to be disruptive, so we decided to leave her alone to play.

Today, Grandma came to see me. She reported that her grandchild had become extremely disrespectful and sassy. She had also started being truly not-nice to her brother, who is two years younger. To top that off, she tried to trip an elderly lady when she was shopping with her mother. Mother said her child actually stuck out her foot in front of this lady as she was walking past, clearly trying to trip the lady. Mother was deeply embarrassed and apologized, since the lady noticed what the child had done. Then Grandma said her son, my extremely psychic cousin, Cody, had overheard Gracie telling the child to hurt her brother, and the ghost child had told Cody she was jealous of the brother.

O.K. Time for Gracie to cross over. I thought perhaps Gracie was indeed ready, was missing her parents and everyone, and just wasn't old enough to realize what she was doing. I'm a very firm believer that children ghosts need to cross into The Light. So off we went to Grandma's house.

My small cousin was asleep, thankfully, so she couldn't interfere. Cody was there, so I asked him to help me (in the form of being there and confirming what I saw and sensed happening). We found Gracie in the bedroom where the small cousin was napping, and she came out into the living room right away. I started talking nicely to her, since I don't like to upset children ghosts, plus I do feel so sorry for them. As soon as Gracie realized what I wanted her to do, she disappeared.

We followed her through the house, into the kitchen, and I kept looking for a place where she could see the door in the East and cross over. We found her again in the kitchen and ended up going out the back door with her. She was a little reluctant, but I mentioned there would be people she loved waiting to welcome her, as well as puppies. Cody added, "Kitties, too." She liked that idea.

In the back yard, we had a clear view of the eastern sky. "Look, Gracie," I said, pointing to the East. "See that door there?" (I had immediately opened the door.) Gracie looked at it, but she shook her head no. She wasn't going there. "But look," I said. "See? There are already some people there waiting for you. Your mom and dad...." She shook her head. I don't know what happened between her and her parents, but she wasn't too happy about going to them. I quickly changed tactics.

"Your grandma is there, see?" That got her attention and she looked. "And see? There's some puppies and kitties. Oh, one is a little cocker spaniel puppy! See it?" (I could actually see these people and animals waiting in the doorway, albeit they were shadowy and faint and I sensed them more than visualized them.)

Gracie stared longingly at the door, then looked up at me. "I want to go now," she mentally said to me. "Go on," I said. "It will be fun and you'll be fine."

Gracie drifted toward the door in the sky, then zipped faster and disappeared inside without a backward glance. "Bye!" I called as I waved while the door closed. I looked at Cody. "She's gone, huh? Did you see her go?" "Yep," he agreed. "And she said to tell her little friend goodbye. Did you hear that?" "I did," he agreed.

Back inside we found our little cousin up. "Gracie said goodbye," I said. "She went home to be with her mommie and daddy." She was rubbing sleep from her eyes and just nodded an O.K. On the front porch a few minutes later, she tried to take the tricycle away from her brother, but not in a nasty way, just insistent. He gave it up with no problem, but when she tried to get on it, she hit her eye on the handlebar. "When you aren't nice, sometimes things hit you back," I said. She rubbed her eye for a while, and when she got on the trike, she rode it pretty carefully, avoiding running over anyone. It will take her a while to forget Gracie and her jealous instructions, but she's already on the right track.

T. M.

Aunt Belle Ghostly Visit

2011-11-27T13:02:00.000-06:00

We plan out Black Friday shopping trip months in advance. This year it looked like Aunt Belle wouldn't get to come. Her job had scheduled her to work Thanksgiving weekend! But y'know what? The job closed down so she's now on unemployment. Good news for our shopping trip, not so great for Aunt Belle's boredom level. Anyway....

My resident ghosts always, yes, always, get active just prior to her visiting. They must have psychic powers...or they overhear Sis and I chatting <grin>. This year we had another new ghost pop in. He was/is a large guy, at least six feet and broad shoulders. He wears a white shirt and is nearly as visible as a complete apparition. I saw him several times, pretty much just a glimpse but a clear glimpse.

So Aunt Belle shows up on Wednesday. That evening, we were standing in the kitchen chatting. All of a sudden the new ghost appears in the dining room. I gasped! Belle gasped!

"Did you see him?" I asked.
"Clear as day!" she said. "He's large, wearing a white shirt and has dark hair."
"You saw him clearer than me," I replied. "But you always do. I've never seen his hair color."

So later that evening we are in the living room, fire in the fireplace, watching TV. I have a clear view into my office, where Aunt Belle sleeps when she visits. I can see our new ghost, pacing back and forth, and I mentioned to Belle that he was in there. Then I decided to go into the kitchen for a snack. As I passed the office doorway, I laughed.

"You'll just have to wait for her," I told the ghost, then turned to Belle. "He wants to know when you are coming to bed." She laughed.

The next morning, she gave a ghost report. The new ghost told her clearly, "Good night." Then at 2 a.m., she woke and decided she really needed one of Sis's gingerbread cookies she had baked. In the kitchen, she saw our little lady ghost. She was clear to her: Very short, white hair, blue dress with a full apron with tiny flowers on it. Back in her bed, she saw a tower of multi-colored lights hovering over the table in here.

Be sure and pick up one of my new ebook romances! Chrissy's Wish has not ghosts, but angels, and is only $.99 at Amazon for Kindle: http://tiny.cc/kgjsi Winter Dreams (no ghosts but a neat romance and sled dog race) is only $2.99 for the Kindle: http://tiny.cc/ssf1u

Hope everyone has a full tummy, found good bargains, and counted zillions of blessings!

TM

Black Friday Warning from a Ghostly Friend

2011-11-17T09:54:00.000-06:00

This seems like a good time of year to relate this story. Aunt Belle and I, Sis and Belle's daughter, Sammi, always hit the stores on Black Friday, usually starting at midnight. We love the crowds and hunting down bargains, trying to beat others to something we really want. We prepare for days, checking BF sales on the internet, pouring over the newspaper ads, watching tv ads. We plan who will drive, which stores have what we want for ourselves...oh, and of course, for presents for others. <grin> We plan our route carefully, with only a stop for either breakfast or lunch, depending on our tummies.

Two years ago, our route took us to the Kohls store in Rockwall, Texas. For years, I had been wanting a pair of diamond earrings. I told hub about the pair for sale at Kohls, a good deal, for us on our limited budget. He always makes me give him a list of what I want, so he can be sure to get me something I will like. He usually throws in at least one surprise or two, which is neat. Anyway, this year he told me to get those earrings for him to give me. Since hub is on 24/7 oxygen, and drags his portable oxygen around with him, he isn't about to buck those BF crowds. Now, if it's a casino trip, that's a different story. But I digress....

So, we hit Kohls about 9 a.m., well into our tour of stores. The lines were humongous, two of them, all the way to the back of the store. Belle and Sammi found what they wanted and joined those lines. I went straight to the jewelry counter, and found out that we could pay for stuff there with no wait. So I had the clerk hold a pair of earrings for me, went through the store and found a couple other things I wanted, then collected Belle and Sammi from the line. "We can pay for our stuff at the jewelry counter," I said. "All of us. So come on."

Delighted, they accompanied me to the jewelry counter. Belle was tired, so she decided to go on to the car and let Sammi pay for her items. Sammi and I both paid, and the clerk handed us our bags of goodies. I took about three steps away from the counter.

"You better check in your bag for those earrings," someone said to me.

"Huh?" I said to Sammi. "What did you say."

"I didn't say a word," she replied.

That voice again warned me to look in my bag for those earrings.

"Don't move another step," I told Sammi, then repeated what I'd picked up with my psychic senses. She nodded, since she is used to those sorts of things with her mother and me.

I checked my bag. I took everything out, piled it on the counter, had Sammi look with me. No damn earrings!

Now, I admit, I was tired and short-tempered, but that clerk really got off easy. I could have demanded she be fired. I stormed back to the counter, shoved to the front of the short line there, and said, "What the hell did you do with my earrings? They aren't in my bag!"

Her face got fiery red. "They're not?" she said in an embarrassed voice.

"You know damn well they aren't," I said. "Where are they?"

She dug under a pile of papers on the counter beside the cash register in the back of the jewelry case. Pulled out the earrings and handed them to me. "I must have forgotten to put them in your bag," she said.

"Like hell." I checked them, turned them over to make sure they were the ones I bought by looking at the price, and snarled at her again. "Bitch. You tried to steal them!"

I should have called a manager and turned her in. I know I should have, but I just wanted out of there...with my earrings. I stormed off. I did remember to thank the "friend" who gave me the warning.

I checked Kohls the next time I was in there, and she wasn't there. Could have not been her shift, something. But enough people heard me, including a couple other clerks behind the jewelry counter, one who looked like a manager, that I hope she got her butt fired. She was young, probably late teens, early twenties. The earrings look better on me than her anyway!

So keep an eye on things when you shop this BF. Or anytime, for that matter. It's so easy these days to get ripped off. I'm lucky my paranoramal friends travel with me and keep an eye on things.

Happy Turkey Day to everyone. Hope you have zillions of blessings to count. May your tummies be full and satisfied and your shopping be fun and productive as to saved $$!

T. M.

New Book and Paranormal Jealousy

2011-10-21T14:14:00.000-05:00

I put up a selection of short stories (fiction) last week for your Halloween reading pleasure. It's titled Grave Yarns and it's in ebook form for only $.99! On Amazon, it's https://tiny.cc/8dlkv. It's also available for Nook and in other formats. You can search on BN and elsewhere. One of these days I'll figure out how to put up the covers and urls here on my blog. I've even been selling in England, by golly, both the ghost stories and the two fiction books, Dead Man Talking and Dead Man Haunt.

I have managed to (barely) get on Twitter. I'm a total newbie there, having just signed up yesterday, so give me a break. I'm at @TMSimmonsauthor.

As to the other part of my title, Paranormal Jealousy, man, have I been seeing that on the reviews for my true ghost stories in Ghost Hunting Diary Volume I (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0053TREPW) since it went free. People seem either to love them or be totally uninformed about how the paranormal world works, as well as how to write. The shortest rebuke I have is as to the writing. If these folks would bother to click on my author page, they'd see I've published quite a few books with the big NY publishers under my romance name. I guess they don't realize that we published authors talk among ourselves and we are well aware of the extreme jealousy from wannabe authors who can't get their books published.

As to the paranormal jealousy, I just feel sorry for those wannabe investigators. As I state in the books, they are true stories. They are not fabricated nor even embellished. There is a small group of people with psychic abilities who do actually have in-depth paranormal experiences: things beyond "hearing footsteps", "thinking" they might have glimpsed a ghost, hearing an unexplained noise. I happen to be one of them, and my aunt happens to be another. When we are together, we have even more fascinating experiences. When we take part in a circle, we are asked to sit on opposite sides of the room, since our combined energies can totally disrupt the communications. We don't use a lot of the technical equipment ourselves, but we do allow it to be used when we are investigating. And that equipment goes nuts around us. We don't have brief, hello/goodbye communications with entities from the other dimension; we can carry on these communications for a long while, even a half-hour at times. We can speak with the spirits for as long as their spirit energy allows them to chat with us. We also do cleansings when ghosts become troublesome, assist lost souls to cross into The Light, and on occasion, have exorcised demons.

We have many fellow paranormal investigators who will vouch for our abilities. They, in turn, have various levels of abilities of their own, as well as different types of abilities. But we don't tolerate someone approaching us and demanding that we "show them a ghost, right now!" As my aunt says, "Folks, it ain't Dial a Ghost." As far as those who scoff, again, they have our pity since they remain on the outside fringe of what is possible in paranormal communication.

Another conversation that fellow published authors and I have behind closed doors is what happens when we do put a book out there free for promotion: "The weirdos, wannabes and green-eyes swarm out in droves." I still remember the wannabe investigator we had to ban from our group when, on his first investigation, he informed us in all seriousness that yes, pink men did live in the moon and they were the ones who told him to hide in his closet and dress in women's clothing. Now, 99.9% of wannabe investigators are not like this, but this type does exist. Again, they can have our pity but not our tolerance.

The anonymity of the internet allows far too many people to say nasty things about something another person has worked hard to share. It's rather like how some people act when they get behind the wheel to drive. They can turn into road monsters. I guess we could call the people who delight in cutting down another person's work internet monsters, huh? But it's part of the business these days, I guess. Nothing I like, but something I face.

I do wish everyone, though, fans or unfans <grin>, a fantastic Halloween!
T. M.

How to Find my New Books!

2011-09-17T14:34:00.000-05:00

Shhhh. I'll tell you a secret in here. Ghost Hunting Diary Volume I is now free on Smashwords. If you prefer Amazon, it should be free there soon, also, if we get enough peope to report the lower price. That's the only way Amazon will let the author give the book away free. Anyway, at Smashwords, it's at: www.smashwords.com/books/view/63065. If you prefer the Amazon site, you'll need to watch and see when it goes free at: www.amazon.com/ghost-hunting-diary-diaries-ebook/dp/B0053TREPW which will hopefully be soon.

But...I've also got up the second volume of stories! It leads off with the Baker Hotel investigation (which led to my book Dead Man Haunt). It ends with another one of the really nasty tales of evil entity encounters I've had over the years. Both places have it for only $0.99. The Amazon version is at: www.amazon.com/ghost-hunting-diary-diaries-ebook/dp/B005KT0O9I. The Smashwords version is at: www.smashwords.com/books/view/85954. As soon as Smashwords gets busy and distributes it, it should be available at Barnes and Noble for the Nook and other sites in other ebook forms.

And...voila! I also got Dead Man Haunt formatted and posted for sale! This, as alluded to above, is the book that evolved from my encounter with Patrick, the gorgeous naked ghost I "met" at the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, Texas. It's only $2.99 at both Amazon and Smashwords. Amazon is: www.amazon.com/dead-man-haunt-ebook/dp/B005LKMNRM. At Smashwords it's www.smashwords.com/books/view/85962. Again, this one should be available soon in other e-formats.

I'm kicking around publishing a volume of fiction short stories I've written over the years for Halloween. Email me at tmsimmons@iseeghosts.com if you think that would be something you might be interested in. For sure, I hope to have a freebie short story out there for Halloween...if the creek don't rise and all that. Happy reading!

A group of us are going back to Goshen Cemetery this Thursday, the day before the Autumn Solstice. This cemetery is the place I allow no one to accompany me unless they wear a blessed and consecrated protection packet. Keep good thoughts that nothing evil attacks us there this trip!

T.M.

New Books!

2011-09-07T18:33:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if I like this "new" look. Oh, well, guess I will find my way around, although I don't drop in that often. Right now, I've been working on getting two more books up on Amazon and Smashwords. Ghost Hunting Diary Volume II and Dead Man Haunt finally went "live" on both sites. I love the new covers done by Billy and Angela, both ghost hunting buddies.
I'll write more later, and hopefully, get some urls up to buy the books. Also give a look at those neat covers. Stay tuned!
T.M.

Paranormal Week

2011-06-28T10:50:00.000-05:00

Long Post!

What a week for paranormal activity! We actually hunted ghosts on June 21, the day of the solstice. Our reasoning was, with all the Wiccan and other ceremonies that day, the Universe should be filled with activity from believers. That entire investigation is for a separate diary all its own, since there were numerous day- and night-long happenings. The highlights were: two marvelous EVPs (electronic voice phenomenon) (you can hear one on my FB page); my sister accompanying us to a haunted location and chasing off the ghost in an instant; numerous EMF (electro-magnetic field) spikes at the cemetery we visited that evening, along with the flashlight again turning on by itself and a new phenomenon with a ball one of the investigators brought with her. But as to concrete, recorded evidence such as we got during the last investigation, the darn camera film was bad.

The activity continued through the weekend. Again, nothing on film, just personal incidents. They were pretty darned awesome occurrences, though, even for some veteran investigators.

I had never researched Summer Solstice previously, but (coincidentally?) a few days after the solstice, on Friday, June 24, Aunt Belle came to visit for a few days. She brought me a new ghost book to read. In the introduction, it actually said The Veil is thin around the Summer and Winter Solstices. It truly is, from personal experience.

The ghosts and spirits here at my house always welcome Aunt Belle with confirmation of their presences. Friday afternoon, we were standing in my office, listening to an EVP from the solstice investigation on my Facebook site. All of a sudden, Belle glanced at the ceiling, then at the floor.

"What?" I asked.

She bent down and picked up something. "This just fell from the ceiling, past my face and landed on the floor."

I took it from her to examine. It was a ring, a silver design along the edges of two colored, coated wires, one black, one turquoise, braided together in a circle. The silver was tarnished badly, and the ring appeared extremely old. I looked inside, but found no inscription or identifying information. We each took turns putting the ring on. Whatever came with it was very strong. The energy flowed over us in a distinctly paranormal manner. Neither of us kept that ring on more than a couple seconds.

"You say it fell from the ceiling?" I asked.

"Yes. And I've never seen that ring before in my life."

"Huh." We both just shook our heads.

I took the ring out to show my husband and sister, then laid it with some other artifacts of my paranormal life on the dresser in my office. Belle was still in there as I opened the word processing file of happenings here in the house and started to record the ring incident. I hadn't heard her leave and sensed her standing beside me, watching me type…so I thought.

Finished typing, I looked up and said, "Is that about how it happened?"

She wasn't there. The presence who stood beside me telepathically indicated he thought that was accurate.

I got up and went in search of Belle. She was sitting at the dining room table, talking to my sister.

"I thought you were in there watching me type up what happened."

"I left as soon as you started. I figured you could think better without me watching over your shoulder."

"Well, someone watched. And told me what I recorded was accurate."

"Probably the man who came with the ring," she said.

Later that evening, Belle's daughter and grandson came over. I took the ring out to show to them.

David, her grandson, said to Belle, "That ring was in the bag you had your mail in. I saw it laying there on top of the envelopes. I figured you were taking it with you for some reason, so I left it there and loaded the bag in the car."

So much for our belief the ring teleported from another dimension, as we had seen happen at séances or circles. Still….

"I never saw that ring in my life," Belle repeated. "I didn't put it in that bag."

"And how did it get out of the bag, up to the ceiling, and fall to the floor?" I wondered.

No one had an answer.

"My feeling," I said at last, "is that whoever is attached to the ring wanted to come up here with you. It's definitely a man. We both sense male energy attached to it."

We possibly found out who the man is, albeit only a hint as to his identity. The next morning, June 25, I rose early, around 6:30, so we could visit, then hit some garage sales before our Texas summer weather drove us indoors. Belle was already up by the time I came into the living room. She likes to read in the quiet mornings. This morning, she put her bookmark in her book, closed it, and laid it on her lap.

"Something woke me up last night," she began.

"What? Who?" I asked, knowing already it was paranormal.

"Someone said 'Wake up!' I ignored it at first and tried to go back to sleep. The voice said again, 'Wake up!' So I looked over at the table at the foot of the daybed. A man was sitting in the chair there. I could tell it was a man, even though he was only a dark shape. And the voice had sounded like a man. I asked him what he wanted."

"Did he answer you?" I asked.

"Ashton Wells was all he said, nothing else. I got up to go to the bathroom. He was still sitting there when I got back, so I took my book into the living room and read until 4:15. He was gone then, and I went back to bed. I got back up around 6:15, just before you came out."

"I still believe he came with the ring," I said, and she agreed. But so far, we haven't seen him again.

For now, the ring resides on my dresser. I started to put it on and wear it to my writer's meeting Sunday evening to show them, but I was uncomfortable doing that. I just could not keep the ring on my finger. I decided I would carry it in my pocket, but until I got to the meeting and started to read this short diary to the group, I didn't even remember I had planned to bring it. One of the group said he would love to see the ring. Since the meeting is at my house next time, he should be able to look at it. However, we'll see if the ghost who accompanies the ring thwarts that. It seems as if he doesn't want the ring to leave my house, which appears to have been his destination. He might also block my remembering to show it…or steal the reminder note I made myself!

After a day of garage sales and movies, at around 9:30 p.m., Belle and I were watching Ghost Adventures on the television. Belle sat in her favorite lounge chair, feet propped up, and I lay on the couch in my sleep shirt. The GA guys on TV were having quite a few experiences, but nothing Belle and I hadn't seen before. I was a bit bored, so…

"Do you want a popsicle?" I asked Belle.

"No," she said, then, "yes, bring me one."

"What flavor?"

"Surprise me."

I got up from the couch and started around the end of it. Suddenly, I stopped like I'd hit a brick wall, gasped, and turned to Belle. She was already laughing.

"Did you see him?" I asked her.

"I thought you were going to walk right through him!" she said when she could control her giggles.

"It was a ghost!"

"Yeah, he was sitting there on the arm of the couch, watching the show with us. I didn't see him, either, until you got up and started to walk through him."

"He ran off in front of me. I saw him take off."

"Uh huh."

I went in and got the popsicles, then stopped off in my office to shut down the computer. As soon as I walked out, I sniffed, looked at one dog on the floor, the other on the couch, and then Belle.

"Who farted?" I asked. "It's a horrible smell."

"Not me," Belle denied. The dogs didn't answer, but suddenly I knew who it was. I looked over at Belle and could see the same thought occurred to her.

"Juan's here," I said, and she nodded. We had experienced Juan, our gorgeous but smelly Mexican guy, before. I'd even researched him and found his name in the local high school graduates. I haven't followed up yet to see how he died, but it's fairly certain he is a ghost. I doubt spirits emit the type of smell Juan uses to let us know he has come to visit again.

I went over and handed Belle the popsicle, then sat on the couch. The smell followed me. I said, "Juan, you either get rid of that smell or I'll get the air freshener. If that doesn't work, you're outta here."

The smell disappeared in a flash.

"That was Juan, wasn't it?" I said to Belle. "Did you see a white shirt?"

"Yes."

"That's what he wears. I saw that and saw it racing away from me."

She giggled again. Juan wasn't quite done, though. A moment later, my feet started freezing.

"My feet are icy," I said. "And the left one hurts where I broke it."

"My right arm is freezing," she acknowledged.

I pulled my feet beneath the couch cover, and they warmed up. She didn't mention her cold arm again.

A while later, I said, "It's neat to have someone experience the same things and be able to talk with them about what happened."

"I know. When something happens to me, or I see a ghost when I'm alone, I just go on about my business."

It's a fun part of my paranormal life when Belle comes to town. She, too, enjoys visiting with the living entities here, as well as my other-world residents or passing-through beings. We had our share this paranormal week.

New E-Book up at Amazon!!

2011-06-12T14:07:00.000-05:00

Wow! Two posts in one day. I'm smokin'! But truly, it's falling down on the job. This collection of ghost hunting diaries has been up at Amazon for over a week, but I'm just now getting around to letting folks know about it. I was waiting until I got the first paranormal mystery, Dead Man Talking, up for sale, plus I wanted Smashwords to get the darn book available in the other formats. Oh, well, Amazon has a lot of formats you can download, and I'll work on Dead Man Talking this coming week.

Ghost Hunting Diary Volume I by moi, T. M. Simmons, is now up for sale at Amazon for a whopping $.99. It's partially a promotion piece for Dead Man Talking, which I hope to get up sometime this week. For now, you can get Ghost Hunting Diary Volume I, with a neat cover design done by Billy York at BigDPhoto.com at: www.Amazon.com/dp/B0053TREPW.

Even without advertising on my end, it's selling. I've sold a lot of copies on Amazon and TWO so far over in Great Britain! WTG for me.

T.M.

Dry Creek Ghost Hunt on April Fool's Day

2011-06-12T13:57:00.000-05:00

I've spent the morning and part of the afternoon working on my web site. Whew! Still got a wonky page, but too stressed to work on that project any longer. Am also a bit witless right now! I don't believe I ever put up any information here on the great ghost hunt three other investigators and I had out at Dry Creek Cemetery in Poetry, Texas, on April Fool's Day. It's going to take an entire ghost hunting diary to get all the information about that one down! For now, you can go to http://tiny.cc/ba9ls to see a small portion of the cool happenings of that night!

Hub's Experience

2011-06-08T21:16:00.000-05:00

Hub came home from hospital Monday, 6/6/11. He is getting over pneumonia, so isn't supposed to spend too much time lying down in bed. He sits in a lounger in the living room, in a corner by the fireplace. Yesterday, he said he was watching tv and all of a sudden, "something" ran across his legs. He looked to see what it was, but there was nothing there! He said it felt like one of my cats, that weight, etc. They have done this before. But there was no cat in the living room. We are missing one of our cats. It went outside and hasn't been seen for several days. I can't help but think something did happen to it and it's coming back now in spirit, to the home where it lived its entire life. Hope it still shows up, but I am starting to grieve. But I'll see her and all my other pets at the Rainbow Bridge some day.

News on My End

2011-06-01T22:25:00.000-05:00

Where to start? Well, since it's about ghosts in here, I should tell a ghost story, huh? But the only thing that has happened recently is that Howard, one of my resident ghosts, walked past my office window yesterday. I've seen him before, so was pretty sure that's who it was. Hurried to the porch, but no one there or anywhere around. He likes to do that, pull me off the computer and make me take a break.

Next, I've actually got one of my books of ghost hunting diaries up on both Smashwords and Amazon, pending review to go live for sale. It's called Ghost Hunting Diary Volume I by T. M. Simmons, and should be available soon in all ebook formats. It has six different tales of my ghost hunting life. One is The Myrtles in St. Francisville, LA, called Down the Ghost Trail. Crossing Over is the story of the first time I helped two lost souls cross into The Light. Casino Carouser and Lakeside Lurker are a couple short tales of ghosts I encountered on a family vaction. Cry Baby Cry is about one of my trips to the extremely haunted Goshen Cemetery in East Texas. The Pissed-Off Ghost is about a house cleansing. And Midnight Ferry is about a dangerous encounter I had with the ghost of a black witch.

Last for this entry, a good friend and fellow ghost hunter of mine, Tim Smith, has been invited to join an East Texas group to investigate a haunting down in a place no investigative group has ever gone into before. I'll report back later on the results of that, sometime after the end of June. The group is lucky to have Tim. If you'd like to see Tim in action, along with a couple of my other ghost hunting friends, go to Youtube and search for Dry Creek Cemetery. You'll see us actually talking to a ghost out there who speaks telepathically to me but also answers questions by turning on my friend Angela's flashlight! It's way cool.

Catch y'all later. In the meantime, BOO!

T.M.

Updated Web Site & Ghosts

2011-04-17T14:30:00.000-05:00

Whew! Wonder what I've been doing? Re-learning to update my web site. I want to get some of my ghost diaries out as e-books and also re-publish some of my other books in e-book form for Kindle, Smashwords, and more (soon to come, I promise). Keeps the brain active, too, to learn new stuff! Anyway, the web site is updated a bit with some fantastic new covers for Dead Man Talking and Dead Man Haunt, my first two paranormal mysteries. A great designer friend, Angela Rogers, did these covers for me. <smooches> Angela! Next have to pick out a few of my short stories or diaries for a short to help promote my new e-books. Then have to learn an entirely new format process.

As to ghost hunting, Angela and I went out to Dry Creek Cemetery in Poetry, Texas, on April 1. Angela's mother, Gloria, and our friend, Timmy, went with us. What a hunt! Another friend of ours (who can't hunt right now due to numerous surgeries) said what I showed him on DVD was better than anything he'd seen on TAPS or Ghost Adventures. There's a short clip (15 minutes) out of an awesome hour and a half up on YouTube. If you search for Dry Creek Cemetery, it should show up for you. It still always amazes me when things like this happen, confirming the existence of that dimension across The Veil. I hope I never lose that awe.

Happy Hunting and Reading. See you next time.
T.M.

I'm so slow

2011-03-17T18:48:00.000-05:00

By the time I get back in here, I've forgotten how to use the blog. Sheesh. Today I tried to post to a friend's blog and it asked me for my user name and url. Well, I wasn't sure which url to put, my web site or the one from here. And I couldn't remember the one for here. Gotta call my friend and ask her, I guess.

We've had a few incidents here at the house involving my sister, who is living with me for a while. The latest one was "someone" turning on her ceiling fan in the middle of the night. And it was cold, so it sure woke her up! A while back, our aunt was coming to visit. The ghosts woke her up early, early and told her to get out of bed and get busy, we had company coming. She was a bit ticked at them, so they better watch out. She won't forget to read her Bible every night now.

A couple days ago, I went over to a friend's house and sent one of the ghosts there that was bothering her into The Light. He wasn't necessarily an evil ghost, but he wasn't real nice, either. And he was on the verge of turning into a troublemaker. Funny. Her other ghost was the one who insisted that I handle this new intruder!

I also had a rather bad experience with a black witch ghost who was bent on evil. She actually was trying to burn down the garage apartment where my cousin lived. Took a while, a lot of concentrated effort, and even scared me a bit, but I sent her packing. This will be one of the free stories I put up when I start selling my ebooks.

Working on my web site and the ebooks. More soon, I hope.

My Blog Rationale

2010-08-15T20:11:00.000-05:00

I guess there's no sense having a blog if I don't use it. Angela was so great to set it up for me, and I've put off posting. There are two reasons, actually, for my blog. One is, of course, my ghost hunting. The blog is called "I See Dead People" because "I See Ghosts" was already taken here, although I have it for my web site. The second reason is to help folks find out what I'm writing and where it's available...which isn't anything right now. I'm in the process of doing some stuff in e-book form, but I imagine it will be sometime in October before any of that is ready. Most of my other books are out of print, but you can usually find them used.

So...I'll content myself with ghost hunting for now. If you'll go to my web site sometime, you'll find a list of definitions. They explain what I believe. The most important thing is that I believe ghosts are tied to this world for some reason and have never crossed through The Light. We'll talk about the reasons as we go along. Spirits, on the other hand, have crossed through The Light and can come back and visit for brief periods. I personally have helped quite a few ghosts cross into The Light and I know for a fact these former ghosts are lots happier. How? They come back and tell me, of course.

I'll have more things to report as we go along, since I live in a haunted house. There are various ghosts here, some spirits. I don't allow anything else and I have a firm handle on how to banish anything like that. Today, I was making up some protection packets for house cleansing and to protect us when we happen on somewhere that has evil lurking. I had one of those horrible feelings I hate, like something was terribly wrong. The last time this happened, a man up the street was dying. So far this time, I haven't found out what is going on, but I have called lots of loved ones to make sure they are all right. I hope no one else in my neighborhood is in for some grief, but I'm afraid they are.

We'll chat more later. I'll try to post each time one of my resident paranormal boarders does something interesting...or even scary.

opening up

2010-08-10T11:29:00.000-05:00

I'm working on setting up.