Sylvia Shults's Blog, page 74
July 4, 2017
June 19, 2017
Lights Out!
Thanks for joining me for another episode of Lights Out. We’re going to have a blast with this one. Listen in on a conversation with Aaron G. Thompson and Nick Simons, members of the paranormal investigating team Ghost Crier. Find out why Aaron likes the Spiritus app so much! https://youtu.be/NiiWc3UztYo
[image error]Now available on iHeart Radio
June 12, 2017
Goodwill Wants $7.99 for This…
How do Muppets tell time?
[image error]
June 8, 2017
Thoughts on Neighbors
“If you think about something more than three times a week, you have to write about it.” — Louis CK
So something happened the other day, and I’ve been mulling it over long enough that I think I should post about it.
Readers of this blog will recall that our neighbors … well, they don’t think too highly of us, to put it mildly. I honestly have no idea why. (I wish she’d talk to me like an adult instead of just screaming or muttering under her breath; maybe I could try to fix whatever it is she’s been mad about for the past eleven years.) Anyway, I was sitting on the porch a few weeks ago (middle of May; prom season), when a car pulled up in front of the neighbors’ house. I was reading a book, and the dog was out on the porch with me. We were enjoying the late afternoon sunshine.
A moment after the car door shut, I heard a glorious voice say, “Well, look at you–aren’t you just gorgeous!” The voice was filled with love and pride and warmth, and I looked up from my book with a sense of pleasure. I honestly thought that whoever had gotten out of the car had looked over at my porch, had seen my dog, and was gushing over her. (She’s a Husky, and she is, I’ll admit, quite pretty.)
But I was completely and utterly wrong. When I looked up from my book, a smile already coming to my lips, I realized that the young woman who had gotten out of the car was Belinda’s granddaughter, all dressed up for prom. And she did look stunning in an emerald-green gown.
It was Belinda–the neighbor who hates everyone in this house–who was speaking to her granddaughter with such love and admiration. I did not recognize her voice … it was the first time I had ever heard her speak without screaming. (At me or at someone in my house.) I took one last look at Belinda, hugging the radiant girl in the beautiful dress, and I turned and went into the house. And I felt a bit sad, because I know that Belinda will never speak to me in that kind, happy, friendly tone.
June 4, 2017
Lights Out!
And it’s time for another episode of Lights Out, your virtual campfire. I hope you all brought s’mores fixings, because I could really murder some marshmallow right now.
This episode of Lights Out centers on Native American spirits. The peoples of the First Nations have a rich culture of folklore and supernatural stories. Join me for a taste of this fascinating heritage. https://youtu.be/wrDVI7yYBUg
[image error]Now available on iHeart Radio
May 30, 2017
Lights Out News!
Okay, so you know how at the beginning of the year I said I would soon have a very special surprise for each and every single one of you? Well, here it is, because I just can’t wait any longer.
Lights Out is available on iHeart Radio! (It’s also, I think, on places like Spotify and, I’m told, a podcast app called Overcast. I’m such a technotard that I’m honestly not sure how it all went through, but I’m so glad it did, despite my best efforts.) I am the first to admit that I am NOT technically savvy at all. But just for you guys, I finally found a way to get Lights Out up somewhere else other than just my websites. I won’t bore you with details, but I will say that I am super stoked about Lights Out being available in more places than just YouTube. Hopefully I am able to make people happy with this news.
I do have to say that the monthly fee I sprang for turned out to be a shockingly small amount of data, so it will take me a while to get all of the back episodes up and running. But everything SHOULD be caught up by the end of this summer. Plus I’ll be posting one new episode a month, plus catching up on older stuff. So if you start following Lights Out on iHeart Radio instead of on YouTube, you WILL get new content along with older episodes.
So! This is just the latest facet of an ongoing effort to bring you all the best in true ghost stories. If you’re on iHeart Radio or Overcast, you can now get another podcast fix with Lights Out. And if you’re not yet a subscriber to my YouTube channel, go and sign up! You’ll get sound AND shiny pictures that way.
As always, thank you for your patronage. I do appreciate it.
[image error]Even more podcasty goodness!
May 19, 2017
Busy Weekend — Let’s Start It Off With a Bang!
Hey all! I’m about to start a whirlwind weekend, and of course it starts on Friday! At 2 pm today, I’ll be giving a talk at Warren County Library in Monmouth on the Peoria State Hospital. I’m really looking forward to this, because it takes me back to my old stomping grounds at Monmouth College. Then from there, I’ll go to the Quad Cities for a book signing at the Barnes and Noble in the North Park Mall from 6 to 8 pm.
The weekend continues in Dubuque, where I’ll be sharing a booth with author Ophelia Julien at the Psychic and Paranormal Expo at Grand River Center. I’ll be giving another talk, again on the Peoria State Hospital, at 11:45 Sunday morning.
If you can make it out to any of these things, I’ll see you there! If you can’t, please to enjoy this lovely article that appeared in the Daily Review-Atlas: http://www.reviewatlas.com/news/20170519/author-happy-ghosts-roam-halls-of-bartonville-asylum
Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you all next week!
May 2, 2017
Some Thoughts
Every so often, because I have the great good fortune to both work at a library and write books, I get to see a book of mine on the shelf, or returned in the book drop, or in passing through Interlibrary Loan. Whenever this happens, part of me says, “Of course! I write books; it’s only natural to see them in the library, in good company.” A bigger part of me, though, is still taken by surprise, then absurdly joyful. “Hey, that’s my book there!”
I’ll never forget the phone call I got in 2000, from a squodgy little POD company I paid to publish my first book (which is now mercifully out of print, and should really have been bottom-drawered in the first place). Yes, it’s true: the first few books of fiction I wrote before finding my groove, I paid to have published. Don’t judge.
But in 2006, I came to a realization. Early in that year, I said to myself, “Hey look, you’ve been writing, and wanting to get published, since 1986. That’s twenty freakin’ years.” And I made myself a promise, that if I didn’t get a book placed with an indie press by the end of the year, I’d pack it in. Twenty years is long enough to try at something without any measurable success. If I didn’t make my own dream come true, at least I would have given it a good solid try.
Fortunately for me (and for all the wonderful fans I’ve collected over the years), my horror book The Dreamwatcher was picked up by StoneGarden Press. And then I got a romance deal with Linden Bay, for Timeless Embrace. I was inspired to keep going. Eventually I landed in paranormal nonfiction, and I am blissfully happy doing this.
I am so very grateful to all the people who have stood by me for all these years — relatives, friends, and people I’ve never even met in person. And no, this post isn’t in acknowledgement of any special anniversary or anything like that. I just wanted to say thanks.
April 24, 2017
Lights Out!
It’s time for another episode of Lights Out, your virtual campfire. I’ve got a treat for you this time! I’m posting three episodes in a row this time, because they all go together.
These three episodes feature the Ghost Head Soup lab. The lab is at an undisclosed location somewhere in northern Illinois, and it is outrageously haunted. When I visited, we started getting activity while we were sitting in the basement of the building just talking, well before we even began the investigation. It was an amazing experience, and it is my privilege to share it with you, the Lights Out audience. Enjoy!
[image error]Now available on iHeart Radio
https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=hxHNqXCcacg
April 18, 2017
Lights Out News!
Great news for fans of Lights Out, your virtual campfire! The show is now available on iHeart Radio. Just visit this link, and you’ll be connected to the show that brings you the best in true ghost stories. Real people, real experiences–it’s all here. And remember, if you’re not listening to Lights Out, it’s like not eating chocolate cake for breakfast; the full richness of life will elude you. So tune in and enjoy chills, laughs, and great storytelling!
[image error]Now available on iHeart Radio
