Paranormal Party Guest – Kim MacCarron

Yes, the Paranormal Party is still going! Thanks so much for coming by. I hope you’re having a good time. If this is your first visit, you might be wondering what the occasion is. Some of my YA writer friends are blogging each day to celebrate the release of my debut YA, This Is Your Afterlife. (Hooray!)

Today I’m welcoming Kim MacCarron to the party! Kim is a four-time YA Golden Heart nominee, and no wonder — her books are packed with emotional punch.

Kim MacCarron

Kim MacCarron, Pintip Dunn, Vanessa Barneveld

What can I say about my critique partner Special K? A lot! She’s a wonderful author who writes about strong friendships, courage and love. And as a person, she epitomizes those qualities too. This is a woman who’s legendary for hauling a blender to a conference and making us margaritas in her room. A woman who bought me a Broadway ticket to Wicked and firmly said, “I don’t want to hear a word. Take it.” A woman who took a wrong turn on the way to Albuquerque and ended up in Roswell, where she quickly blended in with the locals. She’s fun. She’s cute. She’s the one and only Kim MacCarron.

Hang out with Kim on Twitter and on her website.

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Kim MacCarron

Vanessa, thanks so much for including me in your Paranormal Party Posts to celebrate the release of your debut, THIS IS YOUR AFTERLIFE.
In keeping with the paranormal theme, I thought about writing about my experience with the Ouija board, but it gives me the heebie jeebies even after all these years. Instead I’ll tell someone else’s experience, which inspired me to write my own short story based on the idea.

My friend had purchased a secretary at an estate sale or auction, but soon after moving the piece into the condo, strange things started to occur. A feeling in the room. A coldness. Creaking noises. She just felt something wasn’t right.

Then the deadbolt started to lock her door at the exact same time every day—right before her husband was due home from work. This caused some irritation because he kept asking my friend why she kept bolting the door when she knew he was on his way. She couldn’t understand how this kept happening. Again and again.

One day her husband called while on his way home, so she went to the door and double checked that the door wasn’t bolted. It wasn’t. She went to the sink to load a few dishes in the dishwasher, but turned off the water when she thought she heard a noise. She heard the distinct click of the deadbolt. She rolled her eyes, thinking her husband had used his key the wrong way, and he clearly had been doing the same thing all along.

She walked to the door to confront him about his mistake, but there was no muttered cursing on the other side. She turned the dead bolt, opened the door, but nobody was there. Just as she was about to close the door, her husband stepped off the elevator.

When she backed into the living room, she felt chilled. She told me later that she wasn’t scared so much as confused. What did it all mean?
So, being a writer, I often wondered about this. Curiosity made me crazy. Why did the ghost always lock the door at the same time? Who was it? And why did he/she hitch a ride to her condo in the secretary? Wouldn’t he/she have felt more comfortable in a familiar place or with family members? Why stick with a piece of furniture and be at the whim of whoever bought the piece?

My friend’s experience always stayed at the back of my mind. I’ve made up many little stories about why the ghost stayed with the antique secretary. Sometimes it was spooky. Sometimes it was a mystery. In the end, I made it into a romance.

– Kim

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Wow, what a creepy story, Kim! Thanks so much for sharing it and your haunting short story, Just Believe. I wonder what secrets the previous owner held in that secretary!

Giveaway!

So, partygoers, how would you like to win a $50 Amazon e-card and a Kindle copy of This Is Your Afterlife? All you have to do is enter using my handy Rafflecopter giveaway mechanism right HERE.

Have you ever experienced a haunting? Had an object or piece of furniture with a life of its own? Leave us a comment below!

Join us tomorrow to mingle with another great YA author, Stephanie Kuehnert!