I See Dead People

I see dead people. I see people who never existed.

A sixth sense, perhaps?

Writers perceive unseen worlds and then put pen to paper to preserve and share those worlds. Do we have ESP, an acute imagination, or both?

Albert Einstein said, "Imagination... is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."

As writers we encircle the world when our imagination soars swiftly into the heights or plummets, wingless and desperate, into the darkest depths. We hold an entire world in our hands. Story-telling unleashes our readers’ imaginations.

Then there’s equilibrioception, our sense of balance, that could also be considered a sixth sense. Our sense of balance is physiological, helps keep us upright. The same holds true in our writing. We want to create a sense of balance. Even if the particular world we’re creating is chaotic, it has its own, innate balance and has to be kept straight. We want readers to see and hear that world, feel a character’s ecstasy. Or their pain.

Where am I going with this? I wanted to pause for a moment simply to remind myself to cherish and respect imagination. We make sense of the world, the anguish of others, their determination, their honor, by imagining a walk in their shoes. Bravery might be a prerequisite to try on those slippers or boots, and courage is necessary to write about the experience.

When I first started writing "seriously" I reined in my story-telling over concern about “what people would think,” whether my aunt or a friend might glimpse some dark recess that I keep hidden, or an effervescent, child-like trait, inappropriate to my own self-image. I imagined the worst of them, and myself, rather than freeing my words and worlds. That was dishonest and fear is my excuse. In my mind my stories were glorious, passionate tales. On paper they were boring.

Verisimilitude is the semblance of reality. We want readers to suspend disbelief. To create a semblance of reality my words need to be bold and fearless. It’s okay to be dark or dorky or dumb, whichever is appropriate, and to do that I have to set aside my worries over what someone might think about me. It’s all about the story, and if a character needs to be tortured I have to do my damndest to make them suffer. I need to be honest.

I see dead people and I’m proud of it. Will I be afraid again? Most likely. But if I let my sixth sense run rampant, and if I’m also open and brave, readers might just see my dead people, too. I look forward to seeing yours.

by Janet Fogg
Janet is the author of Soliloquy, an award-winning historical romance, and co-author of the military history bestseller, Fogg in the Cockpit.

A re-post from April 2011 for our Halloween edition.

My Radio is Possessed!

I rarely listen to the radio in my car, and one day, radio most definitely off, a talk show host spoke to me. Was this some sort of Candid Camera game?

I glanced at nearby cars as I pressed the mute button and once again, blessed silence. The stoplight changed to green and as I drove through the intersection, again, the talk show host spoke!

Was my radio possessed?

I pressed mute a third time and a few seconds later the bloviating invaded my car yet again. Definitely possessed! Or was this the first sign of an alien invasion? Or… or… sentience! A yellow Camaro cruised nearby and my car might transform at any moment!

All of that and more flitted through my mind with each burp of life from the radio. Did I ever really consider it was simply a wayward computer chip? Where's the fun in that? I then wondered whether everyone’s mind worked in this fashion or if it’s a manifestation of story tellers.

When I shared the tale with my Sisters of the Quill, one speculated that it might simply be a right-brain versus left-brain function and that those who are predominantly left-brained might not link such random stories to a cranky radio. So if left-brainers tend toward logical thinking, analysis, and accuracy, and right-brainers are more creative, then my right-brain must have been steering the car on that hot afternoon.

Regardless, I do know that I’m looking forward to the next time I go for a drive.

by Janet Fogg
Janet is the author of Soliloquy, an award-winning historical romance, and co-author of the military history bestseller, Fogg in the Cockpit.


Edited and reprinted from July 2011 for our Halloween edition!

My Radio is Possessed!

Or: Doesn't Everyone Think This Way?

By Janet Fogg

I rarely have my radio on in the car, and a few days ago, radio most definitely off, a talk show host spoke to me. Was this some sort of Candid Camera game? I glanced at nearby cars as I pressed the mute button, and once again, blessed silence. The stoplight changed to green and as I drove on through the intersection, again, he spoke! Was my radio possessed? I pressed mute a third time and a few seconds later the bloviating invaded my car yet again. Definitely possessed! Or was this the first sign of an alien invasion? Or… or… sentience! A yellow Camaro cruised nearby and it was time for my car to transform.

All of that and more flitted through my mind with each burp of life from the radio. Did I ever really consider it was simply a wayward computer chip? Nah. Where's the fun in that? I then wondered whether everyone’s mind works in this fashion, or whether it’s a manifestation of story tellers.

When I shared the tale with my Sisters of the Quill, one speculated that it might simply be a right-brain versus left-brain function and that those who are predominantly “left brained” might not link such random stories to a cranky radio. So if "left-brainers" tend toward logical thinking, analysis, and accuracy, and "right-brainers" are more creative, then my right-brain must have been steering the car on that hot afternoon.

What do you think? Does your imagination run rampant during such simple events?

Regardless of whether I’m right or left brained, or a blend of both, I do know that I’m looking forward to the next time I go for a drive…

Coffee Break: More About Talking to Dead People

By Pat Stoltey

I read Janet Fogg's post on A Sixth Sense? yesterday and spent a little time thinking about the notion of talking to the dead. I believe some people do just that.

I'm not one of them, at least I don't think I am. There was that one incident with a Ouija Board when I was in my twenties...but I threw the board away and vowed to stick to human communications.

My writer friend Kenneth W. Harmon, however, has had such an intense experience with a ghost in his old house that he wrote a book about it. Ghost Under Foot: The Spirit of Mary Bell (A True Story of One Family's Haunting) will be published by Llewelyn next year. As I fretted about a topic for today's Chiseled in Rock post, I received this e-mail from Ken:

"Well, it looks like our ghost followed us when we moved. I believe I mentioned before that since we moved in, we have experienced things such as, someone knocking on the doors, a door opening on its own, unexplained banging noises etc. I actually made a connection with our ghost using the dowsing rods shortly after we moved in. But I did not pursue an investigation.

One day last week, I was alone in the house during the day when I heard what sounded like someone moving around upstairs.

Last night, we had dinner with my parents and a couple who are their friends. My mom told them about our ghost. I then had to give them the entire story about how we came to find out we had a ghost and what transpired. Later, I was talking to my oldest daughter and she shocked me when she told me that she has seen several orbs flying around the new house during the day. The last time she saw one was about a week ago inside her room. She was doing homework on her computer when an orb appeared and started to fly around her room.

After hearing her story, I decided to get out the dowsing rods and try to contact our ghost. I immediately made a strong connection, and the spirit identified itself more than once as Mary Bell Wilson, our ghost from the old house. I asked Mary Bell if she would let me take her picture and the answer came back as yes.

I turned out the lights downstairs and sat in a chair in the hallway. I decided to film here because my daughter saw one of the orbs inside the laundry room. My camera has a nightshot feature that allows me to film in the darkness. I filmed for a few minutes without recording anything.

I then had my daughter Michelle sit at the end of the hallway and asked Mary Bell telepathically if she would allow me to take her picture with Michelle. Michelle sat at the end of the hall for 3-5 minutes without anything happening. Then she started upstairs to bed. I had the camera aimed at her as she started up the stairs and then swung it back toward the hallway. Within 3 seconds, a small white cloud or orb came flying toward me. As soon as it disappeared from view, two larger white cloud shapes moved very quickly away from me. A couple of minutes passed and then I noticed a fainter white shape near the wall that moved toward the laundry room. Needless to say, I was surprised. I really didn't think she would follow us, but I guess I was wrong."

I've resisted asking to meet Ken's ghost. My fictional character Willie Grisseljon is clairvoyant and also saw a ghost in The Desert Hedge Murders, but Willie resists making contact with the dead. He's afraid that opening that door into another world will change his life, not necessarily for the better. I kind of feel that way.

My so-far-unpublished short story, Oatie's Act of Atonement, features a friendship between a man who has had an accident and needs to be rescued and a ghost who needs to earn his passage into the next world. It's a dilemma, because Oatie the ghost cannot physically lift his friend and carry him to safety, nor can he make contact with any of the other people in his tiny town. I like to imagine stories like this, but am not so sure I'd want to experience one.

There are a couple of revealing comments attached to Janet's post, and that always leads to more questions. Have you had an encounter that mystified, intrigued, or scared you out of your mind? Do you read or write about the paranormal?

A Sixth Sense?

by Janet Fogg

I see dead people. I see people who never existed.

A sixth sense, perhaps?

Writers perceive unseen worlds and then put pen to paper to preserve and share those worlds. Do we have ESP, an acute imagination, or both?

Albert Einstein said, "Imagination... is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."

As writers we encircle the world when our imagination soars swiftly into the heights or plummets, wingless and desperate, into the darkest depths. We hold an entire world in our hands. Story-telling unleashes our readers’ imaginations.

Then there’s equilibrioception, our sense of balance, that could also be considered a sixth sense. Our sense of balance is physiological, helps keep us upright. The same holds true in our writing. We want to create a sense of balance. Even if the particular world we’re creating is chaotic, it has its own, innate balance and has to be kept straight. We want readers to see and hear that world, feel a character’s ecstasy. Or their pain.

Where am I going with this? I wanted to pause for a moment simply to remind myself to cherish and respect imagination. We make sense of the world, the anguish of others, their determination, their honor, by imagining a walk in their shoes. Bravery might be a prerequisite to try on those slippers or boots, and courage is necessary to write about the experience.

When I first started writing "seriously" I reined in my story-telling over concern about “what people would think,” whether my aunt or a friend might glimpse some dark recess that I keep hidden, or an effervescent, child-like trait, inappropriate to my own self-image. I imagined the worst of them, and myself, rather than freeing my words and worlds. That was dishonest and fear is my excuse. In my mind my stories were glorious, passionate tales. On paper they were boring.

Verisimilitude is the semblance of reality. We want readers to suspend disbelief. To create a semblance of reality my words need to be bold and fearless. It’s okay to be dark or dorky or dumb, whichever is appropriate, and to do that I have to set aside my worries over what someone might think about me. It’s all about the story, and if a character needs to be tortured I have to do my damndest to make them suffer. I need to be honest.

I see dead people and I’m proud of it. Will I be afraid again? Most likely. But if I let my sixth sense run rampant, and if I’m also open and brave, readers might just see my dead people, too. I look forward to seeing yours.

(This time next week join me for: Colorado Gold Writers Contest? High Five! )