Thursday, April 21, 2011

A Vision in Red with Guest Blogger: Louisa Bacio














Win a Copy of The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf: A New Orleans Threesome and meet author Louisa Bacio today at the Book Boost!

Here's what she had to say...


A Ghostly Watcher

In the darkness of night, the seam between reality and The Other blurs. The trip to New Orleans mixed business with pleasure. While visiting, I hoped to find inspiration and gather information on setting for my latest novel The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf: A New Orleans Threesome.


Little did I know that I’d get way more than I wanted.


On my first night in the hotel, I woke in the middle of the night with the impression that a woman in a red dress had visited the room while I slept. She wanted to know what information I had collected so far. At that time: Nothing. But that feeling of being watched persisted.


Now, months later I can still picture her, long blond hair hanging down over her face, obscuring her features, except for her eyes. She watched me while I slept. Her wicked, penetrating eyes as she shuffled through my paperwork, and that red dress ... What reasonable ghost wears a red dress while haunting a hotel room? Wouldn’t they want to spend the afterlife wearing something more comfortable?


Unless, you are one that believes that a ghost wears what they died in … was she murdered on a date night? Did she entertain at night?


My overall impression was that she wasn’t a “new” spirit, but one that had been around for a while, and possessed an agenda. There also didn’t seem to be a connection with the bed and breakfast where I slept. Maybe the general vicinity of the French Quarter?


Two days later my husband and I took a cemetery tour. We met the tour group in front of one of the voodoo tourist shops, and the plan was to walk through the French Quarter, eventually making our way toward the cemetery. After a few blocks, the guide stopped and gave some background about the area. At one set of buildings, she mentioned how during a remodel a few years prior, they found bones while digging out for a pool. Although we were on a backing street, the location seemed very close to the hotel.


Most certainly it could have been a dream. After a long day of traveling, arriving at the hotel past 10 p.m., and a late-night dinner on Bourbon Street where the senses were immediately assaulted definitely can result in realistic sleeping excursions.


But dreams don’t persist so long. Dreams don’t cling to reality six months later. The memory makes me wonder exactly what she was looking for? What she did or didn’t want me to find. And, if I got the facts right in The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf: A New Orleans Threesome. Because if I didn’t, I’m very much afraid that she’ll be back.


The ghost in the red dress didn’t directly make it into my book. Hers was not the story I was telling. That said, upon reflection maybe I need to revisit her tale in the future, and do it right.


A Note from the Book Boost: What a great story...and I'm totally creeped out by it. Yikes! Thanks for joining us today and please tell us more about your new book.


Blurb:


Haunted by paranormal abilities that she can’t control, and plagued by nightmares about a demon that seeks her soul, Lily Anima travels to New Orleans in search of salvation.


In the French Quarter, Lily dives into the paranormal world and enlists the help of an unlikely couple: a vampire, Lawrence Justice, and a werewolf, Trevor Pack.


As the trio encounters ghosts, voodoo and unspeakable evil, will Trevor and Lawrence be able to help Lily turn her powers into a gift rather than a curse? And when Lily discovers that she needs to lose her virginity in order to embrace her powers and get the demon off her back, will the twosome be able to survive as a threesome?


Excerpt:

“I thought you two were supposed to hate each other.”


The question came out of the darkness, and beneath him, Lawrence could feel Trevor’s muscles flex, as if his werewolf lover were readying himself for combat.


The coppery taste of Trevor’s blood filled Lawrence’s mouth, and he stroked his tongue over his lips, making sure to catch every drop, always careful to avoid the sharp points of his teeth. By now, the act had become more than second nature. A young vamp had only to cut his tongue a few times on his own teeth before learning an ever-after lesson. As for Lawrence, he’d learned that trick of the trade more years ago than he’d care to count.


“And where did you get that mythos? That saccharine ’tween series that teaches abstinence?” Lawrence retorted, talking while getting a bearing on their intruder. “No one has sex in those stories. Just because the elusive and tortured vampire and the lovely nubile werewolf pretend not to like each other, doesn’t mean that the entire species feels the same way.”


As she stepped out of the darkness and into the shadows, her beauty struck him: petite, but muscular, well built, and well proportioned. Legs that took up more than half her body length, with a tanned creaminess that most people associated with beach bunnies slathered in silky suntan oil. Oh, baby, he could almost smell the sweet coconut allure and feel the sun’s warm rays from memory alone. Her short red leather skirt provided plenty of bare thigh to draw him in.



Want more Louisa?


Visit here website here: http://www.louisabacio.com

Visit her blog here: http://louisabacio.blogspot.com

Pick up your copy of her book today! Click here.


Contest Time:

Do you have a haunting/ghost story, or a weird inspiration for writing a story? Please share for an entry to win a copy of The Vampire, The Witch & The Werewolf: A New Orleans Threesome.


**Winners for Book Boost prizes are drawn the first week of the following month and posted in the Recent Winners box in the right hand side of the blog. Check back to see if you are a winner and to claim your prize! Please leave your contact information in your blog post!**

8 comments:

jeff7salter said...

The red dress woman visiting your room that night is a VERY spooky story.
Okay, here's mine. We were about to move from a house where we'd lived for over 25 years --- during most of those years, I continually heard noises from doors and 'footsteps' even though no other live humans were present (at the times of the noises).
Anyway, shortly before we moved, my daughter and I were sitting on the couch and talking about that house seemingly being haunted ... and related matters. Just at that instant, the large clock on the wall directly above our heads made a 'ching' noise -- the chimes which no longer worked -- and the little door (to the chamber with the 'clanger') flipped over by itself! That had never happened before in the 30 years we owned that clock.

Louisa Bacio said...

Jeff,

Definitely gave me chills! And, on a few different levels. You know when you're talking about something, and a person will make that "ding, ding, ding" to illustrate you got it right? Sounds like you were being told you were correct about the haunting!

The question is: Did it move with you?

Maureen said...

Sounds like a great read... And I love that you went to NO to research. I so want to do that! Not necessarily NO, but a few other places come to mind.

No real ghost story to tell. My dad passed four years ago and every now and then, I wake up with the sensation that he's been there. And usually I've been talking to him... Not a bad haunt, at all!

PamelaTurner said...

My ghostly encounter happened at the home of my husband's first ex-wife. She had recently passed away.

We were at her house at night with my daughter and my husband's adult son. They were in front of the car, my daughter was on the side, and I was behind the vehicle. Alone. No one was near me.

My husband and stepson were talking when all of a sudden I felt something invisible shove me. Hard. We figured it was his ex-wife who probably was angry about my being there.

Another encounter occurred when I was in my bedroom. There was no breeze, but the sheet hanging off the closet door suddenly moved as if someone had pushed it aside to walk by.

To be honest, I've seen a few "shadow people" in my house. They cross from one corner of the hallway and pass through a closet downstairs. Not as common as in the past, though. Pretty quiet now. :-)

Louisa Bacio said...

Maureen,

I've visited with several loved ones who have passed on in a similar manner. It's a comfort, knowing that they check up on us every now and then.

Thank you for sharing.

Louisa Bacio said...

Pamela,

Not sure if I'd want to be "haunted" by a disturbed ex. Wow. I took part in an investigation over New Year's weekend, and there was one moment when I was sitting on a couch next to a woman and it felt like someone physically sat between us. She looked at me and said, "was that you touching me?" Not consciously ... she said it felt like someone ran their hand down the outside of her thigh. Definitely NOT me, then.

So, I totally believe in that physical sensation.

"Shadow" people can even be more scary. My oldest daughter, 8, has started sleeping with her light on, and I'm not arguing about it with her. I understand at that age.

Shelley Munro said...

Wow, that is a bit spooky. I got tingles reading it.

When my husband and I worked in London pubs, one worked in one almost opposite Kensington Palace called The Goat. It was an old pub and had been there for hundreds of years. I didn't actually see any ghosts, but several of the guys used to wake up and find themselves in the bathroom with the bath running. It happened to my husband and a couple of the others. One of the guys caused a flood when the bath ran over and flooded the floor below. It was very weird and a little creepy.

Good luck with your book. It sounds awesome.

Louisa Bacio said...

Shelley,

Definitely creepy, and *they* do say that one thing that can be affected by ghosts is water. It tends to happen. Just like lights flashing or electrical pulses.

Thanks for your kind words!

Louisa