Snarkology Paranormal Blog Hop with Tricia Schneider

Time to celebrate  Halloween!! This is the absolute best time of the year. Not only is the weather getting cooler, but the leaves are turning into glorious shades of gold, red and orange. The smell of apples and spice fill the air. Painted or carved pumpkins decorate porches and kitchens. And stories of ghosts, witches, and vampires fuel everyone's imagination! 

My interest in ghosts has kept me firmly rooted in all things paranormal since I was a very young child. 

From my grandmother's haunted house where I played hide-and-seek with my grandfather after he died to my mother-in-law's house where the doors would open and close on their own to my very own house where phantom footsteps can be heard in the hallway, ghosts seem to have followed me all my life. Or I suppose, more accurately, I've just kept my eyes and ears open to my surroundings. 

Are ghosts real? 

It's a question that I've kept trying to answer all of my life. Sometimes, I think the strange happenings that occur must be my imagination. After all, as an author of paranormal fiction, I have a vivid and healthy imagination that keeps me up at night creating emotional stories. Is it possible, I've created ghosts where no ghosts can be?

It's when someone's with me during these events that I begin to realize, it's not just me. My

husband has heard the footsteps in our home. We heard them together only a few nights after we moved in to our house almost 8 years ago. The floor boards were creaking downstairs, as if someone was pacing. We went downstairs to investigate, trying to figure out what could be making such a noise. As we stood in the dining room, we started hearing the footsteps in the hallway above us. So, back upstairs we went. Shortly after, the sounds were heard downstairs again. Finally, we just let it be and went to bed.

The sounds of footsteps have occurred on and off throughout the years. I've heard booted feet of a man walking around my bed at night. My husband has heard the small footsteps of a child in the hallway. He thought at first it was one of our own, but when he went in to check on them, they were fast asleep and snoring softly. 

Last year, when my daughter was 2 years-old, we were sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast when she asked me who the man was standing behind me. No one else was home; my husband was at work and my sons were both in school. Of course, I looked behind me, but I saw no one. When I moved away from the spot, to stand beside my daughter, I saw her gaze was still fixed on the area where I had been standing, where she said she saw the man. I can't remember exactly what I told her, something along the lines of 'I don't know who the man is, but we should be nice and say hello'. I waved and smiled, but she just kept staring as if trying to figure him out.

Then she was back to eating and talk of the man was done.

Was it a child's imagination? Or was there a ghost standing behind me in my kitchen?

I told my husband about the incident and it just so happened he was there when my daughter saw the man again, this time in my bedroom. We were all upstairs getting dressed for bed. The boys were wrestling on my bed, laughing and giggling. I was holding my daughter in my arms when she lifted her hand and pointed to the wall. A plain wall, with no decoration, no paintings or pictures. Just a plain wall. And she said again, "Who is that man?"

My husband heard her and asked about the man. I asked her to try to describe him. Being only 2, it was difficult for her to understand. But, I watched as her gazed moved from that plain wall, across my room to my closet. There she pointed again. She said he went into my closet. Well, I followed with her in my arms and when I opened the door and took her in, we looked around, but she said the man was gone. 

She's 3 now and she hasn't seen the man in quite some time. It does leave me wondering who he was, if he was real. My father-in-law died when my husband was 18. Could it be he was visiting his grandchildren? Or my husband's brother? Was it perhaps one of my grandfathers? Or my uncle? Or was it a former owner of our house? 

Who knows? But, it's interesting. Very interesting! And I keep a journal of the strange, unexplained events as they occur. For now, I'll just keep my eyes and ears open.

Now that I've shared my Halloween post about ghosts in my house, I think you deserve the chance to win something. 

Thanks go to Melissa Snark for organizing this Halloween blog hop event!

CONTEST! 
Since I have a brand new book being released on Kindle today 
(yes, today!!!), 

I will give a copy of The Witch's Thief to a random commenter. 

All you must do is answer this question: 

Do you believe in ghosts? 

Please specify if you'd like a Kindle or a .pdf version 

and don't forget to add your email address in your comment 
so I can send it to you if you win!

Also, I ask if you read my book and like it, 

please take a moment to add a review 

to Amazon, Goodreads, or any other place where reviews are accepted. 

This is a great way for readers to help authors! 

Thank you!

To save her sister’s life, Julia Grey seeks a spell hidden somewhere within Merriweather Manor. Her position as a lady's companion affords her the freedom to search the house. But time is running out. The necromancer she's bargained with is growing impatient. And an unexpected appearance of a man from her past makes matters worse in an already complicated situation.

Basil Merriweather returns to England after ten years abroad to discover his childhood sweetheart living in his home. But, he's no longer the carefree man of his youth and she's hiding something--deadly secrets Basil vows to uncover even as he hides a dark secret of his own.

While neither Basil nor Julia will trust in the other, their hearts speak a truer language.  In a grand attempt to save Julia's sister and Basil's life, the two must finally confess sinister truths. Will their admissions help or hinder any future they may have together? Or will the necromancer destroy all in a vile attempt at revenge.

GRAND PRIZE CONTEST!

THE BLOG HOP WIDE GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY IS 

A $60 AMAZON GIFT CARD! 

 Simply complete the Rafflecopter form below

to enter for the 

GRAND PRIZE!

And, be sure to hop to the next blog 

to discover more great prizes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway