All posts by JanM

EXCITING NEWS!

EXCITING NEWS! When North London Paranormal Investigators investigate the town of Ware over the next 6 months, I have been asked by them to write the whole adventure in book form which will be published by Dave Lyons of Raven Crest Books, entitled Ghost Town. Fans of Mike Travis will probably enjoy reading the real deal.

The team will be conducting thorough and professional investigations into the many and various reputedly haunted locations. There will be historical research including archaeology, witness interviews and vigils.

I will be working alongside the team writing as they go along during the investigation. This is a long-term project with many participants, Mickey and the team, witnesses, and the locations themselves. I have even been promised a part in one of their investigations!

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Exciting News!

EXCITING NEWS! When North London Paranormal Investigators investigate the town of Ware over the next 6 months, I have been asked by them to write the whole adventure in book form which will be published by Dave Lyons of Raven Crest Books, entitled Ghost Town. As each location is investigated I’ll receive the reports and the witness statements to work with. This means that I will be working side by side in real time with Mickey and his team, which is very exciting. I have even been promised a place on one of the investigations. Fans of Mike Travis will probably enjoy reading the real deal.

The team will be conducting thorough and professional investigations into the many and various reputedly haunted locations. There will be historical research including archaeology, witness interviews and vigils. They have already visited Ware a few times and have begun speaking to people out and about. Everyone was welcoming and friendly and Mickey and the team have already had a sneak preview at some of the prime locations that they will be investigating.

Very Much Watch This Space!

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Free Short Stories Exclusive to Subscribers

Have you signed up for my mailing list yet? It’s free and you’ll receive the free download of the short story ‘Shades of the Ocean’ as a thank you, and there’ll be a free short story every month available only to subscribers and published nowhere else. You can unsubscribe at any time and I promise not to bung up your inbox with spam. The whole idea is to form a direct link with my lovely readers where you can leave messages and thoughts and I’ll share what’s going on behind the scenes with you. There will be giveaways and competitions too.

Sign up now

CHRISTMAS SPIRITS – Spooky short stories for the festive season.

No peace for Mike Travis over Christmas it seems. Christmas Spirits is a collection of four short stories with a festive theme. There is a haunted painting, something very wrong at the panto, a Santa that isn’t what he seems and as for the Christmas toy that every little girl wants – well, just don’t go there!

Telling ghost stories round the fire on Christmas Eve has a long tradition, so if you dare , you can pre-order from today for delivery to your kindle or pc in time for a spooky story session before hanging up your stocking.

getBook.at/christmasspirits

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Midnight Wine and Lycan – the Beckett Vampire Trilogy Parts 1 & 2

Everyone enjoys a make-over, and it’s true for vampires and werewolves too!

The Beckett Vampire Trilogy just a whole new look with great new covers.

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Although they aren’t at no.1 ad 2 in Australia any longer, they were right there at the top for the last four weeks or so, and are still both in the top ten. You can check them out at

Midnight Wine – getbook.at/midnightwine

Lycan – getbook.at/lycan

Full Moon Rising

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Tonight is the second night of the full moon of November. Throughout history and folklore it has been known as the Snow Moon, the Fog Moon, The Moon of Storms and the Mourning Moon.

November was the ninth month of the Roman calendar, but in Celtic tradition it was the beginning of the new year, Samhain (31stOctober) marking the end of their yearly cycle. So November has long been associated with endings and beginnings. As November Eve is also known as Halloween/Samhain/Eve of All Souls it’s association with the dead and departed loved ones is firmly entrenched in our psyche and so the name of the Mourning Moon is perhaps the most appropriate.

Our seasons appear to be changing, but back in history, November was known for the cold north winds that would bring the snow, hence the Snow Moon ‘handle’. It seems that the other pseudonyms for the full moon of this month are weather-related too.

The Crone Goddess Hecate has many celebrations throughout the year, but November 16th is known as the Night of Hecate. She is also known as Hecate the Three-formed, being a Goddess of youth, motherhood, and old age, and her celebrations used to take place at a three-way crossroads at night. Food would be left at the crossroads as an offering to her and she was known to rule the passages of life, birth and death.

There are countless sayings and lore associated with the full moon. An old verse tells us:
When the moon is at the full, mushrooms you can safely pull
But when the moon is on the wane, wait ere you think to pluck again

Country folk maintain that the weather is more likely to change at the four quarters than at any other time, and rain is coming when there is a halo around the moon. Gardeners have long planted and harvested according to the phase of the moon and been more successful in their crops.

The pull of the lunar tides is also said to affect mental health, hence the word ‘lunatic’ for someone suffering with intense mental health issues as we now understand it, but way back when the word was first coined it simply meant that the person was ‘mad’.

And don’t get me started on werewolves ….

Ghost Town For Sale!

Picture the scene – Deserted Victorian/Colonial buildings which form the village of Johnsonville in rural Connecticut. No-one lives there and it has been abandoned three times in its history. This quaint village, where no-one lives is up for auction on – you guessed it – Halloween!

So if you fancy owning a ghost-village and have a cool $800,000 going spare, you could be the proud new owner of this picturesque piece of history.

http://www.messynessychic.com/2014/10/24/for-sale-the-ghost-town-that-nobody-wanted/

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Great News from Australia

Thank you Australia! You’ve made Midnight Wine a no.1 best seller on your amazon site, with Lycan right behind it at no.2.

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For all my lovely readers – you can sign up FREE to my newsletter and keep up with all the news on Mike Travis and Father Beckett, be eligible for giveaways and competitions open to subscribers. It’s free, so why not? And you can unsubscribe at any time. You’ll also get a FREE short story to keep you busy over a cuppa.

http://janmcdonaldemailsign-up.gr8.com/

Please feel free to join my blog and have a chat!

What’s new?

Several readers have commented that they are eager to get their next Mike Travis fix. So … with Halloween coming soon, what better time to release 4 short stories about our favourite paranormal investigator and his clan. ‘Halloween’ comprises: Halloween Party, The Ancient Oak Inn, Nine Tenths of the Law and The Woman in the Grey Dress. The stories will be available in the very near future on amazon to pre-order, for delivery to your Kindle/PC on the magic night – 31st October – when ghosts roam, beasties howl, and things go bump in the night. Here’s a cover reveal for you :

Halloween

And there’s a Christmas bonus coming your way too – more on that later.

In the meantime, I’m working on the next full-length novel for you.

Also, the Beckett Vampire Trilogy is getting a make-over. Coming soon Midnight Wine and Lycan will be sporting posh new covers! Lane and Co are the next in line, after the new Mike Travis Paranormal Investigation, for a full-length novel to complete the trilogy.

I hope you enjoy ‘Halloween’, ideal for reading around the fire by candlelight. Trick or Treat!