What are the new vampires? (or, Katie Hears a Haunt)

Agent Nathan Bransford asked this question at his blog, and all I can say is, if it’s ghosts, I want credit. Yes, there have been a lot of ghost books out this year, but I wrote the first draft of BGDD in 2002! So I win.

That reminds me that Halloween came and went and I didn’t do anything particularly Halloweeny. I haven’t needed scary things like zombies, vampires, werewolves, etc., because I have the writer’s scariest thing hanging over me: a deadline (eek!).

Although many deadlines are scarier than mine, because I keep getting extensions (woohoo!). My editor is wonderful about letting me know if I can have more time, due to her schedule. There is nothing worse than rushing to finish something only to find out that it won’t be looked at for three weeks.

Anyway, I thought I’d come share my only ghost story. It’s short but it was creepy as all get-out.

Several months ago, I was working downstairs in my office, and the husb was working very late. Around 11 p.m., I heard him open the door upstairs. I was in the middle of something, so I kept working for a little while. I heard him walking around and eventually heard him settle down on the couch, presumably to watch TV.

Then I decided I should pack up for the night and go upstairs, so I shut off my lights and saved all my docs and made my way upstairs, expecting to see him on the couch.

But as soon as I was halfway up the stairs, I could see that the couch was empty and the TV was off. Furthermore, the lights were off in the living room. I could see that our bedroom was dark, because the door was open a crack.

I called, “Husb?” (Actually, I used his name, but you know what I mean.) And I still thought he was definitely home. I thought he’d gone to bed and turned off the bedroom lights without telling me.

But he wasn’t in there!

He wasn’t home at all.

Heaven only knows what I actually heard. From what I know of our house, its past isn’t sordid or exciting, but the house next door has a bit of drama going on. Maybe that ghost got bored and came to visit me. To watch some TV and turn in early.

That’s it! My ghost story.

What made me think of this was a contest (which I totally missed) at my friend Laura’s blog, Sew at Sea. Laura is freaking hilarious and I highly recommend that you take a read of her blog, because it’s funny stuff. I never knew that an emergency hospital stay brought on by gastric distress would cause me to laugh out loud, but it did. (My own sister once called me on the phone to tell me how hard she laughed about Laura’s comment on my ant crisis post.)

So check it out… and don’t forget to also check out the contest! Now, if you’re busy like my friend JPK, don’t get intimidated. To enter, you don’t have to do ALL the stuff on the list… you can start with something easy like telling me what you’re thankful for.

And remember, if someone talks about ghosts, interrupt them immediately and remind them that Katie Alender invented ghosts. Also, Post-Its and the Internet.

November 6th, 2009 Katie Alender

Tags: adventure, life