Guest Blogger: Mary Dressel

And the winner is . . . Linda LaRoque! Congrats, Linda. Send your contact info to me and I'll pass it along to Mary. Thanks to everyone who participated. Stay tuned . . .


Ghostly Spirit With My Voice

Hi, Everyone!

I’m Mary J. Dressel, and I write Historical, Paranormal, and Contemporary Romance. My most recent published works are part of a romantic time-travel series -- the Enchantment series. The idea for this series came from a little Victorian town I used to drive through to my vacation property in Pennsylvania. I started wondering what it would be like to live in this quaint little town a century ago. So, one night I sat down in my little cabin in the Allegheny Mountains, and I created my own idea of what it could have been like.

No matter what I’m writing it seems that paranormal thoughts and ideas always want to come out and take over the story. For instance, my most recent contemporary work in progress is gnawing at me to do something out of the ordinary. I had to give in, adding a spirit that floated around a couple times! Another work in progress is a Vampyre romance, once again the paranormal called to me. Two more works in progress are also tumbling around in my head and soul, asking me to consider either time traveling or a something ghostly.

It will be easy for me to write something ghostly since I had first hand experience with a ghost who lived in my apartment with me. I can’t say I liked the idea and it was frightening at times, although he never tried to hurt me or my roommate. Sometimes it felt like he was trying to cause trouble between us, and I can’t even explain how that all played out because it was so gradual. He was a young man about 19 years old. He wore a baseball cap cocked sideways on his head. He could speak in my voice, or my roommate’s voice, and he did this on occasion. One night I woke from a dead sleep to the sound of my roommate asking if I was awake. It wasn’t my roommate! He called me by the nickname that no one used but my roommate. That was spooky! Then one day he told my roommate it was time to get up, using my voice. I wasn’t home! That’s when he woke up and saw him standing in the bedroom at the doorway. Really, it was freaky. I could feel him standing near me while I pretended to be asleep, or he would bump into the side of the couch where I fell asleep sometimes. Once, I left the apartment because I was just too scared to be there. When we moved I told him it would be okay for him to find rest, and go where he was supposed to be. I hope he found peace. Unless you’ve experienced something like this, you don’t know what it feels like. So, I would say I have to add some ghostly spirit to something I write!

I didn’t even know I could write paranormal stuff ‘till I sat down and wrote paranormal stuff! My first series of books are about time-travel. I suppose I write it because I’ve always loved the concept of time travel, but more into going back in time over forward. In my current series, my heroine leaves the past year of 1882, going through a Portal to the present time leaving her with no memory of a past time, of her family, or of the man she was betrothed to. Little did she know that Uriah followed her to the present time, waiting 20 years for her, twenty years plus a whole century, until a fateful foggy night brought her back to a town and man she didn’t remember. Picture this: You happen upon a quaint little Victorian town with a beautiful Queen Anne home called The Enchanted Inn. You need to spend the night to get in out of the fog because you’re terrified of it for some unknown reason. Okay, you know this could really happen. Right? But you walk in and the inn’s owner is familiar to you. Turns out you actually dreamed of someone with beautiful amber brown eyes, just like his, for the past 20 years.

Through the past years this man never forgot, and still felt 100% in love just as if it were the same day you left. Eventually he tries to convince you that you loved him a century ago. Would you believe him? Would you believe him if his touch brought back memories of a past time you knew nothing about? And if you did believe him– what would you do about it? Visions of Enchantment and Enchantment’s Embrace tells the story of what could happen. If I had a handsome hero telling me things he told Eryn, and the visions and touch spoke the same, I sure would like a chance to see for myself if what he was saying was, indeed, true. I’m not sure I could take the chance of passing up the opportunity to take a trip back to the 1800's!

Think about the questions I asked above, and feel free to leave a comment or question yourself. Would you time-travel if you could? Would you believe a handsome hunk/ beautiful heroine who told you, you loved them a century ago? How much time would you give him/her to convince you? What lengths would you go to, to convince the one you loved that he/she was from a different time period? I’m interested in finding out, so please leave me a comment! One lucky person leaving a comment will receive a pdf copy of either book! Good luck!

I always answer my emails so if you would like further information about my Enchantment series, or other works in progress, please contact me at my email address or website. Or, if you want to ask about my 19 year old ghostly spirit with my voice! I hope everyone has a wonderful day! Happy traveling, no matter where you go.

Thank you, Lynda, for having me here today!

Official Website: Http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com

Email: Dresselmj@aol.com

Blog: http://www.maryjdresselbooks.blogspot.com

Newsletters (sign up at my website): http://www.maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/maryjdresselbooks





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Mary's winner will be selected on Friday evening and posted here.