WordCrafter Blog Tour for Midnight Roost: Christa Planko and MJ Mallon are Spooky Fun Authors

Video Reading from The Cull by MJ Mallon

 

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MJ's writing credits include YA, paranormal, best-selling horror, supernatural short stories, flash fiction, poetry, pandemic inspired poetry and best-selling anthologies. 

Poetry/flash fiction collections include Lockdown Innit, Mr. Sagittarius Poetry & Prose, The Hedge Witch And The Musical Poet and Do What You Love. 

Her eclectic blog shares her love of reading, reviewing, writing, poetry, photography, and travel: https://mjmallon.com.

Visit MJ's Social Media Sites: 

https://linktr.ee/mjmallonauthor/

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Giveaway

A chance to win a free digital copy of Midnight Roost at every stop. Just leave a comment at Writing to Be Read to show your support for the tour, the anthology, and all of the fantastic authors.

To buy the Midnight Roost anthology 

with both author's stories,

 visit: Books2Read.

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Interview with Christa Planko about her short story: The Easterville Glass Ghost


What inspired you to write “The Easterville Glass Ghost?”

My inspiration for “The Easterville Glass Ghost” began with a trip to the Estellville Glassworks, a historic site near me. I first visited the site when I moved to the area in 2008. It has haunted me ever since!

Today, the glassworks is more of a graveyard for the 19th -century factory that bustled with activity from 1825 to 1877. Most of its structures have nothing left beyond their foundations. But the most prominent structure, the melting furnace, has three stone walls remaining. The front of the building features four large arches. Beyond these walls lies brick and stone rubble and the deep pits where glassblowers would form molten glass into cylinders.

Imagine how eerie it is to walk through the woods and happen upon Estellville’s imposing arched structure! As many times as I’ve returned to hike in the surrounding woods, I always get chills when the ruins first come into sight. It has prompted many imaginative musings about the people that lived and worked there. What was it like to work among fiery furnaces, handling molten glass? Was it competitive work? Was it dangerous? So dangerous that anyone ever died?

These musings led to the creation of “The Easterville Glass Ghost.” The story came together based on my own research about the factory and 19th -century glassblowing, coupled with imagination and fictional characters.

Have you ever had a ghostly encounter?

I did have an unexplained experience once. It involved the sensation of a hand sliding down my shoulder to my back. And it so happened that it was at the site of the Estellville Glassworks. This experience is what I fictionalized in my story.

While I’m not sure I had an actual “ghostly” encounter, if a spirit was present that day, it was a protective one. Nobody else was around at the time. I was technically trespassing at the site, climbing on top of a brick pile for a better view. The hand I felt on my shoulder coincided with me losing my footing—kind of like a steadying hand, ensuring my safety.

So, do I believe in spirits? I’m not sure about ghosts, but I do believe in spirit. By that, I mean the spirit that comprises character and lives on after a person expires. Elements of the human spirit—such as love, joy, kindness, gentleness—transcend time and space. These are things that we remember about loved ones and others who have passed. They are the traits written about heroes in history books. They imprint on us, encourage us, and inspire us to be the same—to make a difference in others’ lives. This is also a theme I aim to capture in my story.

Thank you for your questions and the opportunity to participate in the blog tour for Midnight Roost!

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Christa Planko, MA, is a professional writer with a passion for creative expression. She has had her poetry and short stories featured in several publications, including Tanka and Haiku Journal, Poetry Quarterly, New Jersey Bards, and Every Day Fiction. Her story, “The Olde-Tyme Village,” won the 2021 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest. Christa resides in South Jersey with her feline muses. 

Christa graduated from Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ) with a BA in English Literature and from Drew University (Madison, NJ) with an MA in English Literature.  

Website: https://christascorner.godaddysites.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristasCorner2023

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Purchase

To buy the Midnight Roost anthology 

with both author's stories,

 visit: Books2Read. 

 

 

WordCrafter Blog Tour: Where Spirits Linger Review

Out of the corner of your eye you see a shadow move, a presence in the distance. 

Is someone trying to get your attention or hide from you? Ghost stories are as old as human civilization itself. The paranormal intrigues us, shapes our view of the after life, and haunts our dreams. 

The anthology, Where Spirits Linger gives us a taste of the various ways we mere mortals can experience the spirit world. In the six short stories, the reader is transported in time and space into these realms of impossibility. So real in fact that the improbable comes across as probable. 

The People Up Stairs by Kaye Lynne Booth takes on a journey with Cassie. Cassie from an eight year old to a nineteen year old tells her story in diary form about the apparitions living on the second floor of Edna's house. A mystery wrapped in a conundrum. Is Cassie's fate sealed by her acceptance of  the spirits from beyond? 

Listen to the Instructions by Roberta Eaton Cheadle is a tale of twisted fate. If you carried out the will of the deceased, then your life will be tame. But, if you were only in the game for self-indulgence, then your life would exist in misery. Which would you choose? Listen to a ghost? Or listen to yourself? Your life may depend on it. 

The Chosen Few by Enid Holden is a short story from the spirits' point of view. These ghosts control their surroundings and the people who dare live in their dwelling of choice. Would you live in this haunted place? If you knew, the spirits created your experience for their own entertainment? 

The Final Portrait by S.L. Kretschmer asks the reader to understand a spirit. A painting showed how someone died, but would you, if asked by a ghost, to paint them as they were? What would you do? Honor a final request? Or, depart without a second thought? How the living see the dead can leave a lasting impression in this world, and the next 

David’s Revenge by Stevie Turner is a story about plotting. If you died tomorrow, how would you set up everyone in your life? Would you leave them in peace? Or, would you make suspicion the focus? David died and he had everyone on the hook. He even manipulated the police and psychic medium to do his bidding. Is this how you would spend your time before you left your body for good? 

Olde Tyme Village by Christa Planko is about Steve and an old estate belonging to his family. A chance visit that led to many more questions than answers. Could Steve return the property to its former glory? Or was the estate too haunted to become anything more than a ghost asylum? Will the reader ever know? 

Where Spirits Linger gives the audience the ups and downs of different hauntings. From the tame to the problematic, this anthology has a story for everyone's paranormal tastes.  Why not, take a bite?

If you would like to know more, then please stop by Kaye Lynne Booth's websites:

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