I am not an expert on ghosts. But several experiences have added to my belief in the supernatural. I like to think there’s more “out there” to explore.
As a kid, Halloween was my favorite time of the year. I loved playacting and dressing up. . I didn’t know much mystical stuff at the time but witches,pumpkins, black cats, and of course ghosts. were links to the deepdown feelings of old legends and traditions that I read about in fairy tales.
I stayed away from horror movies with ghosts because they gave me bad dreams, and a fear of spooky attics. However, the TV series, “Ghost and Mrs. Muir” was fun, and kept me wondering how the ghost sea captain and lonely woman were going to cross the time-space barrier. The movie “Ghost”with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore impressed me with its realism about how ghosts communicate.
My communication with otherworldly spirits is that I have a kind of ESP (extrasensory perception) in strange places, often historical. I feel pressure around me, cold, shivery and sometimes see images of people . Here are a couple of my experiences with what seemed to be ghosts.
One of them was in England. My two-year-old daughter and I stayed in an old house in the countryside. We had to walk through long hallways from our bedroom. Frightened and holding hands, we looked back. A dim light followed us every time we walked down the hall.
About six years ago I had another experience. I stayed in an old house turned into a bed and breakfast in Trinidad, Colorado. My room was on the top floor. Walking into a long, dark closet under the roof, my ESP sent a strong feeling circling around my head. I had the immediate impulse to write a story. I imagined a twentieth century boy ghost meeting a twenty-first century real boy in the house.  I published SEAN’S SECRET ROOM about my experience.

Use the form below to answer the question in your own words “What is a Witch?”

Creative responses will be posted to this site and the winning response will receive a free PDF download of Sean’s Secret Room!

Website upgrade! Check out our new and exciting redesigned website PAT’S WITCH’S CORNER with Witch Messages, readers choice of subjects to read and write about.

Second book printing of SEAN’S SECRET ROOM-Ghostly Guide to an Old West Town, out in April-May. In the new printing you will find:

• New price @$14.95, (no change pdf/ebook)
• DVD Trinidad photos separate order @$10.95
• New, easy-to-read cover title
• Updated back cover with pictures.
• Updated contacts in the book for ordering and website.

My first real inspiration was when my mother and I went to see the movie . SNOW
WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. I was six
years old, and it was probably the first movie I ever saw. I was enchanted and changed by the
world of make-believe and storytelling. I dreamed of holding that idea and using it.

Movies became my passion. I went with my parents and to eleven-cent Saturday
matinees. I loved westerns, dramas and World War II films. I wrote to movie stars, drew
costumes for them and sang show tunes. My friends and I playacted the stories. Books, THE
BOXCAR ADVENTURE, NANCY DREW mysteries gave me ideas for writing stories and articles
for school newspapers and magazines. One of my stories was called ADVENTURE and an essay
on the Revolutionary War won a scholarship.

Writing in diaries/journals has been a help for me in remembering everyday happenings
and how I felt about them. It’s easy to laugh later at the silly things you did, or to be proud about
them, and learn from them. I also jotted down ideas, including quotes, madeup names in a little
a little notebook I carried with me. I wrote down name of a bakery in England,GRANNY
SACHWILL’S which made me giggle. I wanted to use it in a story. My writing room is plastered
with stickies and notes to myself on what I’m writing.

I had to research many subjects in high school, university and during the fifteen years I
worked in Occupational Therapy. I constantly searched for ideas to use with handicapped
patients and later with clothing design and writing. Some of it was boring. But I liked looking
things up because of finding fascinating insights and new subjects. I did a long paper on Ernest
Hemingway’s A FAREWELL TO ARMS about the characters. Not really liking the book, I still
learned a great deal.

Travel for ten years in many countries was and is a huge source of ideas—even going to
the supermarket was an adventure. My husband and I lived in Colorado, Mexico,England and
Zambia Africa and visited other countries in Europe. I wrote letters and stories about The
Colorado and Swiss mountains, a Mexican horse show, African game parks, Austrian castles,
Scottish Highland Games. I even had some psychic experiences with places I visited. I made
notes everywhere and collected catalogs and maps.

My experiences did not prepare me for writing a book. Writing had been more of a hobby
and way to express myself. I was scared about the lengthy publishing process and rejection.
Suddenly an event changed everything. I was staying at an inn when I felt a
mysterious “presence” in an attic closet in the old house. A story began to write itself in my
head. I scribbled it down on scrap paper, not knowing that it would become my first book,
SEAN’S SECRET ROOM-Ghostly Guide to an Old West Town.

• Sat. Nov 26, 1-3 pm. Full Moon Books, 9106 W. 6th Ave  (at Garrison) Lakewood, CO 303-233-6666. Meet writers and explore metaphysical stuff. Meet and greet 6 authors and view their books including Melissa Kline, hosting the event, Patricia Reid, Diana Dolan, Breezy Fair, Audrey Smith. W.L. James.
• Friends of Historical Trinidad meet in November for Holiday Banquet. Date & Time: TBA. Membership is open and members like to tell tales about pioneers and ghostly experiences.
• Sat. December 10, 12:30 pm Goozell Yogurt , 1200 Washington Ave.Golden, CO 303-279-2000  Stop for a cool one with authors after big Christmas parade.

JCPL 2012 BUDGET –LIBRARIES MAY CLOSE…COMMISSIONERS MAKE CASE FOR DISTRICT, and CITIZENS RALLYING AROUND LIBRARIES!!!

Most of us take libraries for granted. They are there for us to use, free,with a few exceptions, helpful for browsing everything from maps, books, magazines, newspapers and more. Most.Librarians are helpful, pleasant and energetic in digging out endless details and  information.

I have found the libraries in Jefferson County invaluable in writing two books. But I am dismayed at the current scene that prompts the headlines above. It is part of our current economic fabric. A financial shortfall in county library funds is due to using part of a mill levy for other county expenses. The loser is the library system, with no apparent       ……

What this means to me is a loss of valuable support and information. I grew up with libraries. I discovered my favorite book, THE RED SHOES on my first trip to a library with my father. Since then I have visited twelve or more libraries in different parts of the world. The school library in P.S. 101 in Forest Hills, N.Y. was my escape during free (and not free) periods to read THE THREE MUSKETEERS and  THE COUNT OF MONTE CHRISTO. At the Concord, New Hampshire Library I discovered the full extent of the Dewey Decimal system in writing a detailed term paper about Ernest Hemingway’s A FAREWELL TO ARMS. Recently I donated my first book to the beautiful little Carnegie Library in Trinidad, Colorado.

The current proposal before Jefferson County Commissioners is to establish a library district, independent from county management and funding. I am in favor of this. While the digital age is vastly changing publishing and reading options, I would like to preserve libraries as quiet places to explore, discover and discuss information.

What do YOU think? You may not agree with me. I encourage you to tell county commissioners, librarians, and others  what you think and want.

savejeffcolibraries.org