Ghost Bananas, West Virginia, and Paranormal Prison Authors

Starting something is always the hardest part. I'm not great at introductions-- I mostly end up putting my foot in my mouth more often than I respond with any sort of grace. So why do I want to start blogging?

A few reasons, really. I always did like diaries, but haven't had time to keep one up in recent years, so it's nice to look back on old memories. I have a lot of writing and marketing knowledge I'd like to share with people, so there's that, too. And finally, I feel like my fans are a part of my life. Because of that, I think it's important to give them updates on what I'm up to, because for what it's worth, my life is never boring.

It feels fitting to start my first blog post with a recap of my trip to West Virginia. My co-author Alicia Rades and I took a trip to Moundsville in order to sign books at the Locked Up in West Virginia book convention. We met a lot of fans, sold some books, and even got to have our own overnight adventure by signing at the West Virginia Penitentiary by day and staying there to do some ghost hunting overnight.

As an author of paranormal prison romance, I'm a sick individual who thinks spending the witching hour at a place where inmates and guards both were brutally murdered sounds like a blast. West Virginia Penitentiary definitely had plenty of paranormal activity, if you're into that sort of thing. Alicia and I were armed with Phasmabox software in order to transmit radio waves that would (hopefully) transcribe what the ghosts were saying in real time.

A couple of highlights of the trip;

- At the signing, we had the wonderful opportunity to meet two of our fans, who were wearing our "We're the Reject Team, bitch!" fan t-shirts from the Academy of Magical Creatures series. The moment I saw it, I started yelling, "THEY'RE WEARING OUR SHIRT!" and jumping up and down. Rapturous applause from the other authors commenced. I swear, it was like a fantastical dream or something.

- Alicia and I were able to use the Phasmabox to have a twenty minute conversation with a group of ghosts who were involved in some kind of fight club. Ironic, considering the plot of The Criminal Lair focuses on this same subject.

- During our investigation, we found a particular cell that had an oddly placed hole to the other cell beside it. Use your imagination to figure out what it was for. Immediately after leaving, I terribly regretted not using the Phasmabox in order to ask entities for stories involving "said hole."

- I refused to eat the banana I'd bought earlier, because we brought it into the prison and now I feared the fruit had somehow been possessed. I don't take chances with possessed fruit.

You can see the footage we caught of the ghosts on my TikTok, along with all the fun road trip activities we did along the way.

If you're ever near the West Virginia Penitentiary and are interested in ghost hunting, it's a definite not-miss location. Maybe somewhere along the way, you'll even find my stupid ghost banana.

Or me, because I'm certainly curious enough to investigate there again.