MUSE MONDAY
Please welcome by guest blogger today, Claire Gem.
I’m
an author who is very much influenced by place.
In fact, every one of my six novels is set in a location I have either lived in
or visited—usually often. I think having spent time in a particular place,
becoming familiar with the scenery, the history, and the people there, makes it
easier for my imagination to take hold and blossom. Some, like Lake George,
N.Y. of A Taming Season, holds many happy memories for me. We vacationed there
often as I was growing up, and still try to make an annual visit to the quaint
lakeside village.
Not
all of those places, though, have happy memories connected with them.
Spirits
of the Heart, one of my Haunted Voices novels, is actually set in my home town.
Middletown, N.Y. was the site of a psychiatric center up until the late 1970s.
That was the time of “de-institutionalization,” when the government closed many
mental asylums all over the country. When I was a child, my father spent a few
stints in Middletown State Hospital. Sadly, he battled with alcoholism all his
life.
My
brother still lives in Middletown, and whenever we visit, I like to drive
around the old campus of the asylum. Many of the buildings have been razed or
re-purposed, but some still stand eerily empty, crumbling under the weight of
time. The biggest building was Talcott Hall. With its barred windows and caged
patios, it was clearly the place where the most disturbed patients were housed.
I thought—what a great place to set a story. A ghost story.
And
so, Spirits of the Heart was born.
Blurb:
An addiction
counselor and a security guard struggle to free a little girl and her father,
two lost spirits trapped inside an abandoned mental asylum.
Addiction counselor Laura Horton returns from college to move in with an old friend and start her career. But her homecoming is jarring. Her friend moves out, leaving Laura alone with the gorgeous but intimidating ex-boyfriend—in a house that snugs up to an ancient graveyard.
Officer Miller Stanford is a man with a shattered past. His alcoholic dad destroyed their family, a weakness Miller is terrified will consume him too. The last thing he needs is a sexy, blonde addiction counselor watching his every move. When he begins to see specters in the dark, he starts questioning his own stability.
But Laura sees her too—a pathetic child-spirit searching for her father. Then Laura starts digging into old asylum records . . . Can Miller and Laura uncover the secrets of Talcott Hall without jeopardizing their love—and lives—in the process?
Addiction counselor Laura Horton returns from college to move in with an old friend and start her career. But her homecoming is jarring. Her friend moves out, leaving Laura alone with the gorgeous but intimidating ex-boyfriend—in a house that snugs up to an ancient graveyard.
Officer Miller Stanford is a man with a shattered past. His alcoholic dad destroyed their family, a weakness Miller is terrified will consume him too. The last thing he needs is a sexy, blonde addiction counselor watching his every move. When he begins to see specters in the dark, he starts questioning his own stability.
But Laura sees her too—a pathetic child-spirit searching for her father. Then Laura starts digging into old asylum records . . . Can Miller and Laura uncover the secrets of Talcott Hall without jeopardizing their love—and lives—in the process?
Spirits of the Heart
Amazon Buy Link:
Youtube Trailer: https://youtu.be/YUa2RALSEm8
****
Claire is a multi-published, award winning author of five titles
in the genres of contemporary romance, supernatural suspense, and women’s
fiction. She also writes Author Resource guide books, and presents
seminars on writing craft and marketing.
Her supernatural suspense, Hearts
Unloched, won the 2016 New York Book Festival, and was a finalist in the
2017 RONE Awards. Also in 2017, her women’s fiction, The Phoenix Syndrome, was a finalist in the National Reader's
Choice Awards, and her contemporary romance, A Taming Season, was a Literary Award of Merit finalist in the HOLT
Medallion Awards. Her latest release, Spirits
of the Heart, was a finalist in the 2017 "I Heart Indie Awards."
Creating cross-genre fiction she calls "supernatural
suspense," Claire loves exploring the paranormal and the unexplained, and
holds a certificate in Parapsychology from the Rhine Research Center of Duke
University.
A New York native, Claire has lived in five of the United States
and held a variety of jobs, from waitress to bridal designer to research
technician—but loves being an author best. She and her happily-ever-after hero,
her husband of 39 years, now live in central Massachusetts.
Claire is available for seminars & media interviews &
loves to travel for book promotional events.
Find Claire here:
Website: http://www.clairegem.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/clairegem.author
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gemwriter
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/2nabvbm
Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO-vB7WDZhEQ8U4YpC937ng
Thank you for hosting me today, Brenda!
ReplyDeleteIt's great to have you here, Claire.
DeleteOh my, I would like to see those old buildings too. And does sound perfect setting. Congratulations!!!
ReplyDeleteSounds pretty cool, Vicki.
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