It's spring, and I'm
working on a new book. And trying to recover from a lot of traveling
I've done over the last many months.
It started with
Heather Graham's Writers for New Orleans Conference, end of September.
It was our second year, and a wonderful time, with members of the Killer
Thriller Band, F. Paul Wilson, Nathan Walpol, Dave Simms, Alex Sokoloff
and Harley Jane Kozak (Alex came last year, too!) along with main stay
friends, Lance Taubald, Rich Devin, Mary Stella, Beth Ciotta, and my
family (featuring Chynna this year) for Hoo Do Voodoo You Do. Nicole
Brandon and my daughter in-law, Zhenia, started us off with a
spectacular dance performance. Wait--I need to backtrack to Friday. We
began the workshop with with a band--a fabulous contribution from Erin
McCarthy and Kathy Love--the Impalers, playing for our Friday welcome
cocktail party. Rumor has it that the Impalers may be with us in
Pennsylvania for the Romantic Times Convention, again, thanks to Kathy
Love and Erin McCarthy. Helen Rosburg hosted a terrific evening of fun
at the Cat's Meow, a karaoke club on Bourbon Street, and a super time
was had by all. I love New Orleans, which is pretty obvious to anyone
who knows us, and thanks to Kevin Beard helping out with baskets, we
were able to raffle off amazing gifts from authors to benefit the New
Orleans and region libraries. Connie Perry created the best looking
banquet display I've ever seen, with the center pieces being the most
incredible voodoo masks that people had to politely restrain themselves
from fighting over. Some footage should be up on heathergraham.tv soon.
I was home for a
week, and then off to Boston and Salem for a seance for my newest
novel,The Seance. Boston has long been a special city to me, as well as
Salem, as I have an army of fun and wondeful in-laws in the Mass area.
In Marlborough, I signed and spoke at a Barnes and Noble with a
paranormal reading group, and they were filled with far more stories
than I can ever tell. My thanks to them. Salem was gearing up for
Halloween, their month of October and Haunted Happenings. But the
history of the Salem Witch Trials is still the most haunting aspect of
Salem, and I love being there, seeing the old burial ground, and the
many places that so readily evoke the past. There is nothing of the ills
and evil of man's own tormented mind remaining though; Salemites do not
forget the past, but they study it to learn from it and move on to the
future. In the past, we have to remember, the practice of witchcraft was
a crime punishable by death--not that the condemned in Salem were
practicing witchcraft. But society at the time was terrified of the very
concept of the Devil. Now, we can look back and try to theorize what
caused the panic and the craze, and how adults managed to believe the
antics of the girls who perhaps forced themselves to believe in their
righteousness at the time. We'll never really know. Onward to the Seance.
We were at the House of the Seven Gables, made famous by Hawthorne
(changed the spelling from Hathorne, the name of his ancestor who was a
judge at those trials). Our medium was not dressed up in black, nor did
she have a crystal ball. She met and mingled with people during a
cocktail party, and when we all sat, she cast out descriptions of those
spirits or entities who had passed by her, adding detail upon detail.
Several of the folks attending, from Mira, from Truth Be Told, and the
local news agencies, seemed to know those she spoke about. She was a
kind and gentle person, and though I didn't get to meet with any of my
family, I enjoyed her thoroughly! (Film from the Seance and Salem will
be up soon, too, as well!)
On to Lafayette!
Deborah LeBlanc, thriller writer, was in charge. The Acadian Writer's
Guild hosted their workshop, and the writers there were fun and
informative and I had a great time. Cajun Country! Of course, the food
was excellent. Met many new friends, and got to spend time with Connie
and her family. Oh. And gamble!
Up to Orlando.
That's always great. My little great nephew, Graham Davant, made his
very first trip to Disney World at the age of two months. I watched him
while the group went on roller-coasters--not my favorite! His mom,
Franci, is a great mother, and a super niece-in-law. My nephew is a
great, hands-on dad as well. DJ is an only child, but he has my
kids--Jason, Shayne, Derek, Bryee-Annon, and Chynna, and Derek's wife,
Zhenia, his Davant family, and Franci's family as aunts and uncles. We
all loved being part of the baby's first Disney experience. At night,
went on to an all time family favorite, Horror Nights at Universal. Hm.
That's kind of a scary thought in itself. But we do love it; we go every
year. We are dial-a-party, as my brother-in-law always said. Besides the
family, we had friends, Bobby and Alicia Rosello, recently married along
with us, and expecting their first child very soon. We are dial-a-party,
and growing. My friend--and superstar writer--Christine Feehan, has more
children than I do, and more grands and greats. Between us, I think we
could make up a small city.
Then
I went to Salt Lake City, Utah, for the first Bookwise convention. It
was hosted by Richard Paul Evans, a truly remarkable man. He isn't just
nice--he makes things happen. I was amazed to learn so much about the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or the Mormons. I'm sad to
say that my knowledge wasn't great--only that the church no longer
accepted polygamy and that only offshoot sects were practicing any form
of it. What I found were wonderful people who set great store in their
families, and though they don't smoke, drink, or indulge in any kind of
stimulants, they are fun-loving and tolerant of others. I have seldom
felt quite so welcome anywhere, and I'm especially grateful to Christen
and Bob Allen for sharing so much knowledge with me so kindly, and not
at all looking down upon my rather ignorant questions! I was able to see
Henry Winkler give a speech that was funny, informative, and
uplifting--and it was easy to see why he is such a wonderful performer
and, certainly, so popular as a lecturist! The highlight--a front of the
stage position to see Smashmouth. Richard Paul Evans is not just a true
philanthropist and just plain nice guy, he also knows how to throw a
heck of a good party!
And, oh! In the
midst of all this, Josh Perry, Connie's son, who has Downs syndrome and
is an amazing little actor, was cast in a movie with Peter Falk, Rip
Torn, Diane Ladd and other experienced players. It was fun to talk to
him from his own on-set trailer as we moved around the country.
And then I came
home. Back to the crazy cat, the skunk, the dog, the messy house, and
work. I love traveling, and I love being home. I'm not sure that I love
looking at the messy house and trying to figure out how to clean it.
Thank God I do love the work park. In fact, for me, it's a lie to call
writing work. I'm so grateful to do it for a living.
Now it's spring, and my
book THE DEATH DEALER just came out and I'm busy working on a new
book. Enjoy the excerpt for THE DEATH DEALER!
A
Letter from Heather...
