All posts tagged: ghosts

Is a ghost a commitment? What do we inherit? Laraine Herring talks about her new memoir, A CONSTELLATION OF GHOSTS, speculative work, epigenetics, ravens, and more

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By Leslie Lindsay A truly unique slant to a traditional genre, A CONSTELLATION OF GHOSTS is just that–a cacophony of voices from the past, present, and maybe future–surrounding strong themes of life, death, grief, ancestry, shunning and estrangement. ~WRITERS INTERVIEWING WRITERS~ ALWAYS WITH A BOOK|MEMOIR MONDAY Leslie Lindsay & Laraine Herring in conversation Author, lover of cats, creative writing professor, grief counselor, illustrator, book coach (focusing exclusively on women over 40), and founder of Hags on Fire, a ‘zine for women to write about aging through perimenopause, menopause, and croning, Laraine Herring is multitalented and constantly juggling. A CONSTELLATION OF GHOSTS is her most recent memoir. ABOUT A CONSTELLATION OF GHOSTS: A CONSTELLATION OF GHOSTS (forthcoming Oct 19 2021 from Regal House Publishing), is unlike any other, inviting you to think deeply about your ancestors, loss/death, your body, and more. Like a murder of crows or an unkindness of ravens, A CONSTELLATION OF GHOSTS is just that: a boisterous and magical exchange of voices in the dark, from within and with…out. It’s a bit poetic in a sense, but …

WHAT IF THE GHOST OF MARGARET WISE BROWN visited you? THE UPSTAIRS HOUSE by julia fine delves into the delicate postpartum period, children’s literature, and so much more

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By Leslie Lindsay  A terribly haunting and visceral take on the delicate postpartum period, featuring the ghost of children’s author Margaret Wise Brown. ~WRITERS INTERVIEWING WRITERS|ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ When I first learned of THE UPSTAIRS HOUSE (Harper, February 2021) by Julia Fine, I knew I had to get my hands on it. Not only does it feature ‘house’ in the title and cover, but it’s surrealistic, feministic, and provocative, melding present-day with the past, a genre-bending exploration of children’s literature, folktale, literature, horror, and more. Truly, THE UPSTAIRS HOUSE is a read unlike any other. Megan Weiler is home from the hospital after giving birth to a beautiful baby girl, her first child. Her husband, Ben is around, but not near enough, he must travel for work (in this sense, THE UPSTAIRS HOUSE reminds me a bit of Helen Phillips’s THE NEED), leaving Megan alone with infant Clara. Megan is physically exhausted and mentally drained plus, she’s still stewing on that unfinished dissertation, the one about midcentury children’s literature, specifically the life and contribution of Margaret …

Amy ShEARN talks about her sublime new book, UNSEEN CITY, BROOKLYN, how she believes in ghosts, old houses, books she was influenced by and asks me a question, too

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By Leslie Lindsay  A multigenerational tapestry of homes, neighborhoods, ghosts, and more in this bold and atmospheric novel. ~WRITERS INTERVIEWING WRITERS|ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ When I heard UNSEEN CITY by Amy Shearn (Red Hen Press, September 2020), I knew I had to get my hands on it. It’s a bit of a love letter to NYC (Brooklyn, in particular), but also to those childhood books that shaped us as readers (and writers!) and also about a little-known neighborhood called Weeksville. But it’s also about love and grief and ghosts and oh gosh…it’s just so good. Meg Rhys is a self-identified spinster librarian. She lives alone–with her beloved cat–in a rent-controlled Brooklyn apartment. On Friday evenings, she grabs her pile of holds from the library and bikes home, staying in most of the weekend, because that’s how she likes it. But she’s mourning the loss of her dead sister, who died tragically in an accident. She soon becomes obsessed with a library patron who is researching a possibly haunted house. His house. Rather, his parents. That house has it’s own story to …

Julie Kibler talks about her new historical fiction, HOME FOR ERRING AND OUTCAST GIRLS set in the early 1900s, how family–humans in general–will always disappoint, why second books are challenging, and a fabulous reading list

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By Leslie Lindsay  Resonate story of love, loss, and friendship, inspired by historical events and connected by the Berachah Home for the Redemption and Protection of Erring Girls. In the early 1900s, on a dusky speck of land just outside Arlington, Texas, a home is built and curated by Reverend J.T. Upchurch and his wife, Maggie May for the protection and redemption of ‘erring girls,’ whether by life circumstance, prostitution, rape, birth, poverty, addiction, widowhood, or more. At the time, the home is progressive, and perhaps shunned by townspeople. Who would want to do what the Upchurches are doing? Who would take that on? That’s the premise of Julie Kibler’s second book, HOME FOR ERRING AND OUTCAST GIRLS (Crown, July 20 2019). The main difference with the Berachah Home is that it offers faith/religion, a safe haven for these women (and their infants/children), training/work, and they don’t force women to give their children up for adoption. Told by three vibrant narrators, spanning decades, we ‘meet’ present-day Cate, a university librarian working in the archive section, along with her mentee/work-study student, Laurel. …

Wednesdays with Writers: Abandoned insane asylums, ghosts, lush prose, a mystery, writing amidst chaos, a brief tutorial in short stories and linked novels, and so much more from Karen Brown. Oh, and her new novel, THE CLAIRVOYANTS.

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By Leslie Lindsay  Lush, descriptive, wholly original psychological mystery in which one woman’s desires and abilities are put to the test. THE CLAIRVOYANTS is the second novel of Karen Brown (her first, THE LONGINGS OF WAYWARD GIRLS came out in 2013. Be sure to check out my interview with her here. Karen’s prose is complex, vivid, and poetic. THE CLAIRVOYANTS is a hot, roiling simmer encased with erotic undertones, complex layers, a highly Gothic vibe that will have you wrapped in a hypnotic dream-state questioning your own reality.  Martha Mary and her slightly unstable younger sister, Del (Delores) claim to see ghosts. They are the charlatans of their small coastal town, offering seances and readings of the dead in exchange for a few bucks to buy lip gloss and drug-store flip-flops. But maybe she *can* see ghosts after all? Martha Mary leaves that coastal town and settles in Ithaca, New York in attempt to be a bit more ‘grounded,’ to attend college. There she falls in love with photographer/professor William Bell and together, along with her …

Wednesdays with Writers: Karen White on her TRADD STREET series, how some of the best ideas come from the shower, ghosts, old homes, mysterious town floods, a GIVEAWAY, and so much more!

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By Leslie Lindsay  Old homes. Secret Passages. A decades-old mystery. Ghosts. I’m pleased to welcome New York Times Bestselling Author Karen White to the…shall I say—parlor—to discuss her newest book, THE GUESTS ON SOUTH BATTERY (just released yesterday, January 3rd 2017 from Penguin/Random House/Berkeley). ***PLUS…You’ll want to get in on the re-read tour and enter to win a complete set of Karen White’s TRADD STREET series! Follow instructions at the end of Karen’s interview to learn more. *** This is my first Karen White book and my attention was drawn to it much for the same reason anyone else who loves old homes, the languid days of old Charleston, and the allure of mystery, intrigue, and well, ghosts. What can I say? I loved Nancy Drew as a kid, Lois Duncan and Joan Lowry Nixon, too. Old habits die hard. Even though THE GUESTS ON SOUTH BATTERY is the fifth in the TRADD STREET series, you can pick right up at any book; they stand-alone quite well. Leslie Lindsay: Karen, I’m delighted to have you. …