Saturday, March 10, 2012

Guest Author Janine McCaw

Today my guest is Janine McCaw, author of Helens-of-Troy, a YA Supernatural Fantasy novel.    


Janine McCaw

CONFESSIONS OF A GHOST LADY


Ghost stories. I've got a million of them.


Okay, maybe not a million, but more than a dozen. I believe that I saw my first ghost at the age of ten, during a sleep over at my friend's house. I pointed at the apparition that appeared by the window, and my friend calmly said "oh, that's my dead uncle." 'Nuff said.


I come by it genetically. My father, who has since passed, once told me that he left his body not once, but on a couple of occasions. He wasn't a big joker, my Dad, so I have no reason to disbelieve what he told me. He also completely understood when weird things happened to me.


I'm not a "Ghost Whisperer". These things don't happen to me all the time. I can't control it. But from time to time, the beyond tries to communicate with me. Sometimes they tap me on my shoulder. Sometimes they turn on my outdoor Christmas lights without any power. But the story I'm going to share with you today involves my Dad, and a trip he made back home to visit his mother.


My Dad came to Canada when he was young, met my mother, went to war and raised a family. After years of being away from Scotland, his homeland, he knew it was time to get back and visit his mother before she died. He saved his dollars, went there, brought back the requisite souvenirs, and threw his roll of photos in a drawer. He was a bit of a procrastinator.


Months go by, my grandmother passes away and Dad decides to get the film of his trip developed. In one of the pictures, he is gathered around relatives I don't know, but their poses are a bit, well…not quite right. My Dad said the reason it appeared that way, is that his mother was missing from the photo. She was there when it was taken, with them when they gathered before the camera, but now…she was gone. Not only from the photo, but from his life as well.


I wish I had the photo to show you, but I don't. I just know I get goose bumps when I think about it, and I hope you did too, reading this.


If you would like to share your own ghost stories with me, send me a note via Janine@helens-of-troy.com. I won't think you're crazy. I'll share some of them on the website.

Janine, thanks for joining me today and sharing your fascinating story!
Here is some info on Janine's book Helens-of-Troy



Helens-of-Troy

by Janine McCaw

FANTASY/SUPERNATURAL

“The Gilmore Girls meet Buffy the Vampire Slayer”
Fifteen year old Goth-chic Ellie has a lot of explaining to do. She’s just moved to the small town of Troy, fought with her uptight mother Helen, met the boy of her dreams and found a dead body on her sexy “new-age” grandmother Helena’s porch. All on the first night!

But Ellie’s not alone. Helen is hiding something. Helen knows all about the kind of eerie dreams her daughter is having — the dreams that show the whereabouts of the missing children of Troy — because she’s had them herself. But she’ll never admit it. Not while Ellie’s sex-crazed friend Ryan is safely behind bars for the murders. Helen knows what it’s like to be attracted to dangerous men.

Then there’s the little matter between Helena and Gaspar BonVillaine, the teenaged vampire who is learning to feed on young prey. Now that he’s caught Ellie, he doesn’t know whether he wants to kill her or turn her to the dark side and keep her forever. Helena should have finished him off when she had the chance.

To survive the vampire feeding frenzy surrounding them, mom Helen needs to come to terms with her own insecurities and deal with the gifts she has. Helena must learn to ground herself for the good of mankind and more importantly her own family. And Ellie has the toughest choice of all. Ellie must decide whether its time to let her own childhood go and become the woman she is destined to be, one of the ageless and timeless “Helens of Troy”.
Gaspar
Willie

 











Author Janine McCaw (Olivia’s Mine, Feb. 2006,) has written this 100,000 word novel, the first in a fantasy series about “the Helens”. The three generations of gatekeepers will take the reader on a trip to a realm mere mortals fear to visit alone, and they’ll make her want to stay a while.

Contests: Please leave a comment for Janine to be entered in my month-long drawing! I will be giving away an e-copy of My Fearful Symmetry, Book Three of the Immortyl Revolution. (This is not a YA book. It is Urban Fantasy geared toward adults.) For contest details see "Sexy Cedric Interview". Also Lola James is giving away an ebook of Bound to Remember.  Keep stopping back for additional contests!
















2 comments:

Denise Verrico said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Denise Verrico said...

Janine, my keyboard is giving me fits! Let me try this again. Thanks for joining me today. I studied at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. We had lots of resident ghosts, one being an actor named John Johns. There was also a Lady in White and some I don't remember. It was creepy working late at night in this collection of old buildings.