Author Gary Starta's Writers' Blog - a forum for novelists
Monday, March 19, 2018
J.M. Northup: Coalescence & Time Wanderer
J.M. Northup: Coalescence & Time Wanderer: The Camden Investigations Series written by Gary Starta AVAILABLE NOW COMING SOON My Book Review of COAL...
Sunday, February 18, 2018
J.M. Northup: COVER REVEAL - TIME WANDERER
J.M. Northup: COVER REVEAL - TIME WANDERER: COMING SOON From GARY STARTA CAMDEN INVESTIGATIONS SERIES CAMDEN INVESTIGATIONS BOOK TWO COMING MARCH 2018 She travels time witho...
Saturday, October 14, 2017
In
January 2017, The Twilight Recorder interviewed
the lead investigators of two major paranormal research groups: Iris Camden of
the Colorado Ghost Hunters, and a man who only would like us to identify him as
“Mitchell” from
the Colorado
Eyes in the Skies.
Skeptics
and believers both, I thought listeners might find it interesting to find such
a division in beliefs as evidenced in the following transcript. As both Iris
and Mitchell investigate the unknown, they both rather have strong
opinions on ghosts and aliens. Iris believes in ghosts, Mitchell in aliens. So,
the more interesting aspect of my interview will be to get both to divulge
their skepticism respectively. Ultimately, you will be the judge if paranormal
investigators residing on different ends of a spectrum can make each other
stronger in the quest to shed the fiction from fact and determine if we are
really “not alone” in both the universe and the spiritual realm. Unfortunately,
the interview gets cuts short. It’s indeterminable if it’s a malfunction or a
paranormal manifestation that interferes. Again, I’ll let you be the judge.
Interviewer
Tim Cage: Good Evening, Mitch and Iris.
I’m finding it hard to pick which of you to go first. But let’s make it Iris. What
made you find ghosts so fascinating?
Iris:
Ghosts kind of found me fascinating, I guess. I have a psychic sense, and I can
sense they are out there. But I’m not a medium like my sister, DJ, who can
actually speak with the dead.
TC:
Mitch, you look like you’re going to burst.
What’s on your mind about this topic?
Mitch:
I’m just wondering if Iris can substantiate how her sister “talks” to the dead.
Without an audio representation, which would still be subject to scrutiny, how
do you know who she is talking to isn’t really alive?
Iris:
Grunts. So you think I’m making this
up? She shakes her head. My sister is
talking to my dead stepmom, Mitch. We know it’s Mom; no one else could pretend
to be that annoying. I must admit I’m not really close to her and that’s why
she is probably attracted to DJ. But, just to let you and the audience know,
it’s not even DJ’s choosing. The girl is freaked out by her mother’s death and
each visit just reminds her of an untimely passing. She is becoming a recluse
and I’m worried about her. Actually, I wish I could just tell my stepmom to
stop!
TC:
This is an interesting take on a
paranormal relationship. I’m wondering if the blood relation is making the
afterlife connection possible. I mean, Iris, you would think your stepmom might
find a way to communicate with you.
Mitch:
Scrubbing at his chin. That’s a
fascinating take, Tim. If what you posit is true, why doesn’t every one of our
parents come back and “annoy” us in the fashion DJ’s mother is said to be
capable of. I’m wondering if DJ is so scarred by the death, the “haunting” is
in her imagination. Perhaps, it’s guilt revisiting her. If so, I would think DJ
might be better served by a counselor who might make the guilt tenable.
Perhaps, she needs the guilt to disappear more than her “visiting mother.”
Iris:
While I’m finding Mitch’s skepticism “fascinating,” I’m also wondering how a
man who chases lights in the sky can be qualified to disqualify the existence
of ghosts. I mean, lights in the sky can be anything, stars, gas, photo
distortion, and even just an earthbound craft.
Mitch:
Rubs his hands together. Of course!
You’re absolutely right…I believe in UFOs—meaning “unidentified” objects. They
could very well be Earth-based ships, but what I find untenable is the
government’s complete denial of the sighting itself. I don’t think every ship
in the sky is from another planet, but I do think that some of “our” ships were
reverse engineered from confiscated alien technology. How else do you explain
the rapid advances of technology since the 1960s? Why were we just learning to
make an automobile and develop a photograph some fifty years or so prior? Who
gave us the edge, and more importantly, why?
TC:
Mitch you’ve stated your case very well.
So, Iris, do you believe every apparition or specter is a ghost?
Iris:
I never made the claim that I do. I head an investigative team where it’s very
important to rule out what things “aren’t”.
My dear friend, a former lead investigator who I won’t name out of respect,
came upon something even I can’t classify to this day. But it did its damage to
him. It disabled him. It’s my duty as the lead investigator to direct my team
in the proper direction and get in the face of danger if necessary. We are not
talking about fantasy or delusions in most cases. I can’t tell you if the
entity was a ghost or even a person. But it was damaging—
Mitch:
Ah! So, you’ve just admitted that even when you think you are classifying a
ghost, you might be experiencing another entity, something not of our known
world…
TC:
Okay, you two are sparring pretty well.
So, Mitch, what are you getting at?
Mitch:
What if an inter-dimensional being were to appear to us? It might be slightly
out of phase with our world. What most think of as apparitions of former living
persons might just be aliens in disguise. It may be capable of appearing to us
in a form we can understand. So, even if you can prove a shadowy being beyond
doubt on an EVP ,
what if it’s impersonating a human?
Iris:
Takes off her spectacles and cleans them
with her shirt. Mitch, what reason would an alien have to do such trickery?
And are you seriously suggesting an alien is impersonating my annoying, but
loving, stepmom?
Mitch:
I think the very nature of an alien encounter would be unclassifiable. I mean,
you’ve got me, Iris. I don’t know how I can prove it because it’s an entity not
previously “officially” categorized. It would break the mold, at least, if you
believe the government’s story that a weather balloon crashed in Roswell in
1947. So, we start from scratch. But we don’t always jump to the ghost
conclusion, either.
Iris:
This is your idea of being fair? Huh. Well, I can’t find the motivation for an
alien to target my lonely stepsister DJ. The only consequence would be cruelty.
I can agree that the entity which harmed
my friend was not your typical specter. It certainly wasn’t just residual
energy, meaning it could react. And its reaction was terrifying.
TC:
And do you have any record of this
entity?
Iris:
It did its best to wipe my memory, Tim.
Mitch:
So, if it did that, what even makes you think you experienced something
formerly alive, and not an entity fully alive, aware, and possibly from another
realm of our universe…? Or, possibly a hallucination….
Iris:
It was a red ball for God’s sake.
Mitch:
Red, and not orange…?
Iris.
It was red, like your shirt, Mitch.
Mitch:
There are orange balls of light known as OBOLs they are thought to precede UFO
sightings. They are even thought to forge the distinct geometrical shapes known
as crop circles. Just wondering…
Iris:
Come now! We have two old men admitting to this forgery.
Mitch:
If you think two old drunken men were capable of crafting such magnificence
with a wooden board in the dead of night, then you are…
TC:
What was that? Ladies and gentleman, we
may be losing our broadcast signal. It appears our lights have just flickered
on and off. Is this a technical malfunction? I’d have to ask my engineer. But
with the very nature of our conversation this evening, do either one of you
think…
Iris.
The problem is we cannot think or even theorize without facts and evidence. So,
you see not every bump in the night is a ghost to me. Nor, is it a deceased and
annoying relative waiting in hiding…
Mitch:
Perhaps I’m such a loner that ghosts don’t think to visit me. But for this
light flickering, I cannot hazard a guess. It would be speculation. And Iris,
you have my respect as an investigator. I just wanted to see if I could rattle
your cage tonight…
At this point in the interview, I hear a
tinkering sound but it’s never found on the tape by my engineer who hears it as
well. Is it the entity which harmed Iris’s friend, or, is it an alien
entity giving us an answer as to its existence…?
Several hours later, a crop circle appears
in the City of Cherry Hills Village…
This reporter dares not speculate further.
The interview you’ve read was fully recorded but without the tinkering clinking
sounds at the interview’s end. Dare I posit that a noise made in another
dimension might not be recordable in ours?
Three months later: A strange light show resembling
the aurora borealis haunts the legendary Chaco Canyon area. Investigators Mitch
and Iris claim they made contact with something but for the safety and good of
the populace they are adamant they cannot make any statements. And I find it
very odd that two people who are both committed to revealing their separate
truths seem to uphold disclosure, something which has
left a bad taste in the paranormal community’s mouth for decades. I must know
what frightened them in Chaco Canyon. I pledge to make an effort to get Iris
and Mitch back on my show in the near future. This is Tim Cage saying goodnight
and make sure to keep the porch light on .
Friday, October 6, 2017
Monday, July 31, 2017
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
THE KILLING
COLLECTIVE : A NEW YORK CITY TOUR GUIDE
The Killing Collective takes the reader on a tour of
New York City as well as the characters, most notably Stanford Carter and his
wife, Jill Seacrest who trade Boston for the Big Apple to take jobs as F.B.I.
agents. Additionally, new agent Shania Deeprose, a native of Alabama, also
comes to the city like a fish out of water. But it’s all about adapting and
enjoying the ride as the characters will find out. I am certain if New York
City were a conscious entity, it would care less about adapting and fitting in.
Lol.
I also feel
that N.Y.C is a character in itself and it provides a terrific backdrop for the
novel whether you are with the agents on a ride-along or with the killers doing
the nasty deeds.
So, first off, how about a bite? F.B.I. Assistant
Director William Fischetti can’t get enough of his carb fix here…
Ess-A-Bagel
831 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
212-980-1010
Hand rolled bagels, voted
the best bagels in NYC. Certified
kosher.
“Essen” is German and
Yiddish for “eat” or “Eating”.
“Delicatessen” is a German loanword which first
appeared in English in 1889 and is the plural of Delikatesse. In German it was
originally a French loanword, délicatesse, meaning "delicious
things (to eat)". Its root word is the Latin adjective
delicatus, meaning "giving pleasure, delightful,
pleasing".
Then, I guess you’ll need something to wash that bagel
down. The killers in this book find one of their victims here…
Pig
'n' Whistle on Third
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
922 Third Avenue (near
55th Street)
New York, NY 10022
212-688-4646 |
The name Pig ‘n’ Whistle
derives from “Piggin” and “Wassail,” a medieval lead cup and the spiced wine
that went in it, but it’s beef and beer that predominate at these midtown pubs.
Sometimes agents Jill
Seacrest and Shania Deeprose like to blow off a little steam, drinking some
firewater and dancing to some classic jazz….
Jazz
Standard
www.jazzstandard.com/Danny
Meyer
116 E 27th St, New York,
NY 10016
One of NYC’s largest jazz
clubs, featuring new & established musicians.
If all that music made
you hungry again, how about a slice here…
Ben’s
Pizzeria
123 MacDougal Street
New York, NY 10012
Open until 5
am ·
Hot slices &
people-watching at a counter with late-night hours near Washington Square Park.
If you’re up for some
entertainment, how about a stroll through a museum? This is one of the first
crime scenes of the novel.
Cloisters
99 Margaret Corbin Drive
New York, NY 10040
Architectural
styles: Romanesque and Medieval
The Cloisters is a museum
in Upper Manhattan, New York City specializing in European medieval
architecture, sculpture and decorative arts, and is part of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
Now for the scary part.
How about a drive along Admiral’s Row? Hint: the big finale for the novel takes
place here.
Admirals’
Row at the Brooklyn Navy Yard
16 Flushing Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Admirals Row was a street
lined with 19th century manor houses built in the architectural style known as
“Second French Empire” at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. It was used as naval officers' housing for
over a century before being abandoned in the 1970s. Once enticingly visible from the street, they
were demolished to build a supermarket and parking lot in early 21st century
America. Nature was increasingly unkind to those 19th century buildings. Prior
to their demise, however, they remained in the same splendorous state of utter
dishevelment that previously transfixed the neighborhood and lured in curious
visitors. During an exploration in 2008, the houses were found to be wide
open to the elements, but with interior details intact, including
chandeliers, wallpaper, plasterwork, bathrooms, and kitchens. The relentless pressures
of winter snow and falling trees crushed many of these features into rubble,
and in 2009, heavy summer rains caused
the collapse of Quarters C, the second oldest building on the row. The
encircling forest rose far above the buildings, all of which had lost roofs,
floors, walls, and windows. The 11 residential buildings on the Admiral's Row
campus became completely overgrown by ivy and trees. The front steps of
Quarters K and L were almost unrecognizable.
Peeling paint, floors with holes, and crooked doorways were some of the
lesser problems found inside the houses. Feral cats, birds, and other wildlife made
them their home. On the buildings' upper
levels, entire rooms went missing over the years, though the exteriors of the
buildings remained intact. Snow, rain,
and falling tree limbs caused walls and windows to cave in. Vines and soil
entered the premises, blurring the boundary between interior and exterior,
nature and fabrication. (Revisiting
Brooklyn's Abandoned Admiral's Row Before It's Gone, Curbed New York, by Nathan
Kensinger, June 11, 2015).
There you have it! More
places and details can be found as extras whether you purchase the kindle or
the paperback version of The Killing Collective: A Stanford Carter Murder
Mystery/Thriller. Please see links below:
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Meet Timothy Ray - I Bought the Sun for a Dollar
Can anyone actually buy peace or happiness? Perplexed by the loss of job and fiancé, Timothy Ray makes a symbolic purchase of the sun for a dollar to try to right things in his slightly off course career trajectory. When he stumbles upon a brilliant, cascading sunrise and then a chance meeting with a statuesque blonde he feels his life is about to change for the better but his new girlfriend is a spy, working for a contracted data mining firm.
Character Interview
Name: Timothy Ray
Gender: Male
Age: 33
Profession: Recently unemployed due to outsourcing.
Do you have any special skills or training?
I seem to have a unique skill of turning good situations into bad. But my recent discovery of a sunrise has given me hope. Plus, I’ve just met a very sexy girlfriend.
How would you describe yourself?
I view the world with a realistic viewpoint. Some see the glass half full, but I know better.
Who is your significant other(s)?
Well I recently started dating this amazing woman, Lou Ann. I’m hoping she’ll be a permanent part of my future.
How would they describe you?
I think she sees me for the real me. But, who am I kidding, I think she likes the physical attraction between us both as much as I do.
Tell us about your family.
I don’t stay in touch much. My parents separated. It’s why I wasn’t too surprised when my recent fiancé called off the wedding.
What do you think was left unsettled in your story?
I want to see life from that full glass perspective. The funny thing a break-in in my home led me to a special place in the woods where I experienced a glorious sunrise. It was spectacular. And I hope Lou Ann will come to see this perspective as well. Right now, I’m just glad to spend nights with her and hold her hand at restaurants. Her voice is like a siren. But as much as I desire her, in every possible way, (Timothy laughs mischievously) I think Lou Ann needs to see the sunrise I see for us to have a lasting relationship, the one I can only dream of.
If you could change anything about your story what would it be?
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