Excited Beyond Belief - High Rollers is RELEASED!

Good morning! Yes, it is a good morning and I'm more excited than I've been in decades. Why? Because my book High Rollers is on Kindle. Finally! Now you can read the story of how I came to realize that Hanover is not just an ordinary Dick. What, Mary? I didn't mean to be offensive. That's what we called private detectives back in the day when chasing the dragon was vogue and a Death in the Afternoon was a sparkling and refreshing beverage.

I mean, look at the cover! Rodger Francis did a great job portraying the age, don't you think? I mean, there's the piano my Dad used to play in the Ossified Owl. There's the riverboat casino where the story takes place. And there's my sweet little breezer. Oh, how I miss afternoons racing through the streets of New Orleans, the wind rustling my bob. Oh...and the lipstick. Hanover never would tell me who that lipstick belonged too, but he sure got upset when I found it.

Anyway, not only is my book available, but the authors have asked me and Hanover to take you on a ghost tour to celebrate Halloween. It's part of coffin hop and it starts Wednesday, October 24th.  To go on the tour, meet us here, at The Black Cat .

We'll grab a bite to eat before we hop the train and journey to some haunted spots. Hopefully the ghosts will be cooperative.

See you then...and if you want to read a ghost story in the meantime, pick up High Rollers on your Kindle.



Hauntingly Beautiful - Spirits Revealed

Regan Worth

OK, whatever. No one has a clue where to find the spirits? Fine...I'll just have to show you.

I swear, you are all as bad as Hanover. Oblivious.

Maybe you'll see them if you take a closer look.

Can you see them now? I certainly hope so...I mean, they're obvious, right?

Anyway, it's nearly Halloween and we have some exciting things in store for you this week -- ghostly things!

The best thing is that my story High Rollers is finally hitting the shelves. I expect it will be available very soon...maybe even tomorrow. We're putting out a Kindle edition first...mostly because I'm too impatient to wait for print. I want to share my story, after all.

 

The other thing is Coffin Hop. It starts Wednesday. Our authors are participating and we've agreed to do a few guest posts to help them out. So stay tuned.  Look for the #coffinhop posts on Twitter..last I looked there were almost 100 participating authors. That's a lot of great spooky stuff to start your Halloween off right.

 

 

 

Hauntingly Beautiful

Regan Worth

Hauntingly beautiful....yes that term's been used to describe me more than once. Spooky is used even more often. But today, while photographing the lovely fall colors, one of our writers managed to capture a little more than just the leaves turning.

Can you see them? Spirits! Of course, I see spirits all the time. I have since my Mom was shot when I was a little girl. But it's not often a camera finds one. Most don't want to be caught on film.

Look at the picture closely. Do you see them? I see two. What do you see?  Tomorrow I'll post a next picture with them circled, in case you can't find them. I wish I knew their story though...unfortunately, I wasn't along on the walk to talk to them. Maybe I'll wander out later and see if I can find them. After all, October is my month...and I'd like to share a couple ghost stories.

Oh...and, so you know, this is a picture of the hill that inspired The Big Hill a story by Rachelle Reese that is entered in the America's Next Author contest.

Another good place to read about ghosts is Haunted Bedtime Stories by K.F. Kirwin. There's nothing better in October than being haunted...even if you don't believe in ghosts the rest of the year. But you know...if you don't believe in ghosts, whatever. You're just missing out.

Meet Dolce - Regan's best friend

Regan Worth

I am excited beyond belief! Yesterday one of the writers attended a pawty (that's anipals speak for PARTY)  -- I know, I should have been invited, I am the party girl, after all -- but I wasn't. The pawty was a benefit to help a friend of theirs, @MissBusyBiz 's family and it was attended by so many anipals that it was trending. @MissBusyBiz 's family can still use help.

If you want to learn more about their story, and maybe even donate to help them stay together as a family, here are some links:

 

When Life Gives You Lemons

@MissBusyBiz 's Urgent Family Situation

A Veteren Needs Our Help

Ghost of the Wind

A Rallying Cry for a Friend in Need

Anyway, after a few pinktinis, they had a contest to cast one of the anipals at the pawty in Dime Store Novel. And they cast MY DOG!


Dolce

One look at this little girl and I said -- she belongs to MOI. That's French for MINE. You know, I spent some time in Paris after high school and sometimes those French phrases just come naturally.

Anyway, this little girl is named Dolce and she looks just like MY Dolce. Can you believe, I had a Dolce once? I met her back in 1926. You'll get to meet her for real when High Rollers is released this month. For now, I'll just give you a sneak peek. Isn't she adorable? And, you know, the best thing is, she is only 4 lbs. That means I can sneak her with me EVERYWHERE.

So I missed the pawty, but I got a new best friend!

Ghosts in the Moon

Regan Worth

I absolutely love a full moon -- it's a time to get crazy, to open up a bottle of your favorite wine, and howl. Not that I'm a werewolf or anything -- I'm not. Besides, werewolves are so last year.

This year, we're dedicating October to my favorite subject -- ghosts. We're going to (at last) release a book about me. It's called High Rollers and tells the story of how I got involved with Hanover Fist. We're also going to release a FREE short story on Amazon, if the writers get busy. It's also about me and ghosts. It doesn't have a title yet, but I'll let you know when it does.
Anyway...back to the full moon.

Ghost in the Harvest Moon

Have you ever sat out and looked at the full moon when you can't really see it because there's a tree in the way? That's my favorite way to look at it because you can see the ghosts. If you're lucky, like I am, they will even speak to you. Take the woman in the picture to the right. I saw her last night...she whispered to me about a man she'd been missing. He's coming to meet her soon...she can feel it. She's been waiting for over 30 years. Can you imagine? I can't even DATE a man for 30 days, let alone wait on one for 30 years. Well, unless you consider Hanover, and he doesn't count.



Harvest moon - 2012

 And then there's the moon itself...unatainable for most of us. That makes it exciting. Even I can't travel there and I have been to a lot of places most people can't go -- the chaos realm for instance.

Which brings up another point. Caprice has absolutely no say over the moon. There is no chaos to how it spins around the earth. And sure, I like chaos most of the time. Hell, I thrive on chaos if you want to know the truth. But even I like to take a deep breath now and then, take off my chothes, and dance with moonbeams shining in my eyes. The ghosts dance too.

Hanover, will you join me?  Anyone else?

Black Cat Appreciation Day

Toledo Cats

Some people are superstitious about black cats. I, for one, have never been a bit worried about one crossing my path. If I had been, I'd be in a world of trouble. Voodoo's favorite thing to do is wind around my legs. I can't tell you how many times I've stepped on her.

I think all cats are a little magical -- black cats are a bit more so. If you've ever seen one looking at something you can't see, that's because they have better eyes than you do. They can see the dark shadows of this world. If a black cat hisses, you'd better look twice. The cat is warning you that something's up. If a black cat purrs, you can be sure the world around you is at peace.

My cat Voodoo is black and is even more special than most. You see, Voodoo has been with me since 1905 or so. The first day I met Voodoo was also the first day I crossed over into the fairy realm. Voodoo was the runt of the litter -- last one born, tiny, and bedaggled. I was five years old and I watched her struggle to breath. I saw a flutter of bright blue wings. I thought it was a butterfly at first. It hovered over the stuggling kitten and I saw a whisp of something kitten-shaped follow it into Mama's lavender plants. I followed after it. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by colors -- more colors than I'd ever seen. People fluttered around me with bright-patterned wings. They were like giant butterflies, except with heads like people. I know now they were fairies -- or possibly goblins. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.

John E. Miller - one of the authors with their
black kitten Smidgeon

The kitten jumped into my arms.  I held it to me.

"Give it back," the fairy with bright blue wings tossed her purple hair. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I'm Toledo Cats and I won't give it back. This kitten is mine. Mama told me I could keep any of them I wanted and I choose to keep this one."

"How'd you get here?"

"I followed you through the lavender. But you were small then." I remember scowling at the fairy, trying to puzzle out the size change. Then I shrugged it off. Just because I'd never seen a person shrink and grow doesn't mean they can't when you're five. I decided to warn the person. "You'd better stay small when you're in the lavender. Mama will be mad if you trample it. What's your name, anyway?"

"Hyacinth." She glanced nervously over her shoulder. "Listen, you'd better get back. I hear goblins coming this way. If Grumwald knows your here, no telling what he'll do."

I looked around and didn't see anything familiar. "How do I get back?"

"Follow me."

I held tight to the black kitten and followed Hyacinth through a valley of rainbows to a familiar patch of lavender, holding tight to the struggling black kitten. I made my way through the lavender carefully, breathing in its fragrance. The kitten grew calm in my arms and started to purr. As I stepped onto the walkway, I noticed the still black shape of the kitten lying apart from the mother cat and the other three kittens. I held nothing in my arms. I started to cry and ran to it. I picked it up and held it to my chest. Suddenly, I felt a soft purring. The little kitten was breathing again. I named her Voodoo because that's what some people called the magic Mama did and I was sure that only magic could have brought this kitten to life.

At last - a story about Regan Worth

Regan Worth

Well it's about time! I told a story about one of my adventures to the authors 3 years ago and yet no one has ever read it. Why? The authors had some bizarre idea about telling the earlier stories first.

I mean seriously! Age before beauty and all that melarky. Just because I'm the youngest (and prettiest) of the Dime Store Novel characters doesn't mean I should have to wait to be famous. My stories are FUN. They're filled with parties, good music, wild times and spirits. And not just the tasty drinking kind of spirits either.

Anyway, they finally came to their senses and agreed to publish High Rollers. It's a story about my first adventure with Hanover Fist. I didn't like him very much then, as you'll see in the book. But what's a girl to do when her Daddy insists she take an escort to the social event of the year? Well, if the girl is me, I turn the night into an experience Hanover will never forget. *wink*

You'll find out more about High Rollers soon. The writers plan to contact the artist this week. I hope he does me justice.

Gotta go. Time to crack open a bottle of the bubbly and celebrate my upcoming fame.