I love all things psychic, intuitive, and spiritual. After reading several blog posts on the Paranormalist, I began telling you about my actual job. It was the late 80s, the internet recently introduced to the family living room and the privacy it afforded those who wanted psychic readings bloomed.
I began working for PsychicChat, the first commercial psychic line on the web. The fun thing for me, I did readings without cards and could plug in and type nonstop as I channeled their information to them. But offline at psychic fairs clients wanted to know what you saw, and another tarot reader introduced me to the tarot.
Tarot decks are available in many styles and designs. My two favorite decks are the Gilded and Steampunk. They adorned the Gilded deck with jewel tones and vibrant drawings of the traditional Rider-Waite deck. Steampunk boosts gadgets, gears, steam contraptions and all things Victorian.
When my main female character Selena arrived to tell her story, she had a rear booth in her best friend’s, grandmother’s diner. Granny Nettie, a true Spiritualist and entrepreneur, taught Lizzy and Selena about mediumship, tarot, and embracing your spiritual abilities. She may have pushed Selena a bit to get her to accept the booth, but she had a solid clientele that visited every Friday evening. My main character’s introduction began with her doing a reading for Lizzy and not included in the novella. A tarot reader inspired Selena, who had her table set up in the rear of a bar.
The main male character, Steven, was inspired by a wizard I met one evening. Truly a fine male specimen that may have time traveled. Sir Wizard shared that weekend’s metaphysical fair booth with me, and mentioned his father, a CEO, showed signs of Alzheimer’s. My imagination ran scenarios about how that degenerative memory dis-at-easement might affect his family.
When I learned tarot, I used a mirror and pretended to sit across from myself. I conducted my readings this way until the cards talked to me. They tell a story and clairvoyance adds to the details as well as the shifting colors of each card. My card definitions vary from the standard interpretations. This is a good reason to discourage others from handling your spiritual tools. Your symbols for communication may differ greatly from the person who wants to play with your tools.
Be kind and accept the blessings you receive today, for there will be a few drifting your way.
Cabin Fever Anthology
Genre: Romance/Love stories
Publisher: Indie Amazon
Date of Publication: Aug 7, 2020
ASIN: B08FGGGWDF
Number of pages: 347
Word Count: 89,119
Cover Artist: Donna Parrish
@ DJASP Book Covers
REWRITE - Renee Pellegrino
Savannah Giuseppe, best-selling author is summoned home. She returned to the cabin remembering the magic of Earth Day and the man who broke her heart.
WORTH IT! - Stephanie Spicer
High school sweethearts, Robin and Cody Carmichael thought their marriage could overcome any obstacle. The only problem is Robin doesn't remember this hurdle.
HALLOWEEN MASQUERADE - Cynthia Carver
Every Friday night, tarot reader Selena is at Nettie's Diner. Steven visits her for a reading about his son. Fate intervenes in their destinies.
UNEXPECTED FAMILY - Roxi St. James
After a special night with a handsome stranger, Piper Kendrick is shocked when she discovers his identity and he is closer than she ever expected.
LIAR IN THE CABIN - Sunny Abernathy
In 1908 Beth is expected to look forward to marriage. She'd rather be independent, which means staying away from Benjamin.
REWRITE - Renee Pellegrino.
CHAPTER 1 SAVANNAH
“Will you read something for us?” One of the ladies in front shouted out.
Savannah glanced up from her seat at a book signing in a large bookstore located in the heart of Lexington Kentucky. The store owners underestimated the amount of people that would come to hear her speak. It was one of the biggest mom and pop stores in the area.
“Of course,” she fiddled with all the pages, but already had her mind set on her favorite ones.
“Let these words carry across time.’ Michael reached out to Athlena, “love doesn’t die.” Savannah paused lifting her eyes off the page to weigh the crowd's reaction, “it gets carried through time. And once I am gone, you will always remember to look to the stars and I will be there waiting for you.”
The crowd applauded the story that changed her life.
“I just want to thank everyone for coming.” Savannah said. Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. It was a promise that came to core right at most opinion times. Every word meant something to Savannah. A dream Savannah channeled into story formed. In that year Athlena’s voice became loud and clear. Savannah felt Athlena’s pain.. Compelled to tell her story, Savannah found herself within Athlena’s story. Her love to write became her journey.
As people lined up, she closed her eyes to the outside world; the connection to the past pulling at her. She sat at the four foot table provided by the bookstore management.
Her hardback and paperback books scattered in an organized chaos around her. Savannah’s fans lined up hugging their chosen book. She silently thanked Quinton, her agent for overthinking and insisting she bring an extra one hundred hardbacks with her. Each book carried the message, “Don’t quit your daydream.” xo Savannah.
By the time she finished handing off the last book and signature, Savannah smelled freshly brewed espresso and buy one alongside the italian biscotti. Just as she finished it, her cell phone buzzed.
“Hey Tess.”
“How did the book signing go?” Her best friend asked from the loud mix of background noise that could have placed her in a free for all fight.
“It was amazing, it never really gets old. so what’s up,” Savannah juggled her attaché case and the box of goodies she handed out with each book sale.
“I think you should come home.” Tess had a houseful of boys, her oldest son now in the military but the youngest turned eight last month and there was never a quiet moment even when she was on the phone.
“And why would I do that?” She couldn’t imagine returning to her hometown and the memories would cause her to regress. “Didn’t Art Frank accept your invitation?”
Tess burst out laughing, “Yes, he backed out, Joclyn Aiken accepted and dropped out.”
“What about Taneyhill?” Savanna caught her reflection in the rear view mirror. Her strawberry blonde straight hair provided a different look than her naturally dark curls. One trip to the salon on Rodeo Drive and she made changes as an attempt to erase the past. “I’ll need to check with my agent.”
“Already spoke to Quinton, he said you have no upcoming book signings, and as a matter of fact you have a deadline that is looming.”
Savannah rolled her eyes, “that man.”
“Please, you owe me one.”
“How do you figure?”
“Woman going into labor.” Tess jump started the memory, they went to Altoona high school which had two buildings connected by a high bridge. The challenge of getting from building A to the B building before it crowded rarely happened. No matter how she would race to get across, it became jammed packed, and they all moved like a bunch of zombies. One more warning from her biology teacher and she would end up in detention. Savannah took it upon herself to get through and shouted, “Woman in labor.”
“It worked you know. It cleared a path for us to make it to class on time.” Savannah snorted.Yet the plan she made didn’t happen exactly in that way, a little hysteria happened causing a stampede when someone fell and a chain reaction caused the hall monitors to take control. Despite her attempts to not be late, Savannah got detention anyway.
“Yeah it got us detention, even with telling Mr. Poland that you acted alone.” Tess yelled at one of the boys before he jumped off the back of the couch to land on his brother.
Savannah released a soft sigh,“Fine I’ll come.”
“Oh thank god, it would be hard to get ahold of the high school this weekend to tell them to take the announcement down.”
“And what if I said no.”
“The one thing I know about you, is you never let your friends down. I knew you would come.”
“Tess.” Savannah attempted through the years to not make the phone calls about Stu. As far as her friends knew she moved on.
“Huh?”
Savannah fiddled with the steering wheel, “How is he?”
“Who?”
“Michael.” No matter how hard she tried to erase the past to forget him, he still visited her in her dreams.
“Stu.” Tess corrected, “But you always called him Michael.”
“Yes.”
“I haven’t seen him in a while.” Tess' voice cracked, it was a lie, “I will tell you this, he divorced again.”
All Savannah ever wanted for him was to find happiness.
“So are you coming?”
Going home meant reliving all the memories, but the universe seemed determined to make it some kind of sick joke. The idea of letting go, forgetting Stu became impossible. Dreams of him would persist and no matter how many relationships she had, nothing would ever compare.
“Fine, I’ll do it.”
“Thank you.” Tess screamed into the phone.
“So when is it?” Savannah popped open her briefcase trying to find her datebook. .
“April 22.”
“Earth day.” Savannah leaned back in the seat, remember one special earth day.
About Renee Pellegrino:
From the author of Because of You and co-author on the Missing Locket.
Born in a small-town Pennsylvania town called Altoona with five German shepherds, August, Roman, Rey, Tori and Sophia. After Covid - 19, she hopes to return to the dog show world.
Storytelling first stated when a priest asked everyone if they had something to say.
Renee told everyone about her brother peeing like a Shamu. Laughter filled the church, but her la Nonna not so much.
About Stephanie Spicer:
Stephanie Spicer is from a military family which meant she spent the majority of her life traveling. She has since made Atlanta, Ga her home and is raising her three kids with her husband who has been the love of her life for over seventeen years.
She's always been an avid reader, finding romance novels when she was fifteen and promptly falling in love. She reads most anything she can get her hands on and when she couldn't find books that matched the stories in her head she decided to start writing her own. Once she did, it was like a light had gone off.
She hopes you enjoy her stories as much as she enjoys writing them.
About Cynthia Carver:
Cynthia Carver, born in Dayton, Ohio to Métis parents and a veteran of the US Navy, puts a paranormal spin on everything she does whether it is ghost hunting or camping. Often the photos she takes and shares on her website have images of other-dimensional beings. Her failure in life is cooking. At her family’s request, she brings items such as paper plates, napkins, and utensils to family gatherings.
Her dyslexia leaks into all phases of her life including her published work. She released the second story featuring her main character, Tracy Richards first. Meet Tracy Richards in Tracy's debut novella, 'The Missing Locket.'
On a timeline, 'Small Bit of Justice' happened to Tracy Richards before 'Missing Locket.' Each novelette, novella, and novel are stand-alone stories.
Each November, Cynthia accepts the NaNoWriMo.org challenge of writing a 50,000-word novel within thirty days. She is a cheerleader for those in the writer's facebook group ‘Writing Support Sisters' who have joined her in the writing madness.
Rosa Pearl - Realities of the Paranormal
About Roxie St. James:
Roxi St. James was born and raised in Georgia, but has traveled all over the country. She has read every romance novel she could get her hands on for her entire life. After writing privately for just as long, she is excited to make this her debut as a published author.
About Sunny Abernathy:
An overly caffeinated Author and Artist who believes one can never have enough cats or books. Writes "Red Flag" Love stories in historical and contemporary settings. She sometimes gives her characters a Happily Ever After as she did in Cabin Fever Anthology.
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Sirens Unbound
