Thursday, September 04, 2008

Guest Blogger: Kassie Burns


The winner of Kassie's download is: Connie Northrup! Congrats Connie. Send me your email info and I'll pass it along to Kassie. Thanks to everyone for participating. Stay tuned . . .

A Touch of Paranormal

You'll find a lot of paranormal books on the shelves that deal with a hero or heroine who lives in two worlds. This isn't really that surprising when you consider that the authors who wrote them are well practiced at living in two worlds themselves, the world of so-called reality and the world of the imagination.

My own experience with living in two worlds started at birth. I'm half Swiss and half Irish, a strange combination, as my father observed. The Swiss are quite the practical race (you have to be to survive in those mountains), and the Irish are probably the greatest paranormal storytellers of all time. So naturally I ended up as a journalist (writing only the truth, please) who tells paranormal stories on the side.

My sister apparently got a bigger dose of Irish genes than I did, and my paranormal journey started with her. She saw "things that go bump in the night," and they were usually hiding under my bed! It gave me some bad childhood dreams. She also had impressive psychic abilities. There was a game show on TV where they spun a wheel and a number came up, and she would always announce the correct number before the wheel stopped. If only we could have gotten her on that show!

When I went off to college, I discovered that our dorm was located across the street from a cemetery. That might explain the ghost that showed up in our room. Or maybe it was because my roommate Sharon was a full-blown medium who could talk to the dead and see spirits in mirrors. (I'm a little leery of looking too deeply into a mirror to this day).

Sharon was the one who told me I was psychic. I didn't want to believe it, although I saw a lot of strange things happen when I was with her. Among her various talents, she could touch any object, pick up on the energy, and tell you all about who'd owned it. I never got quite that far, but she did teach me how to spread out a deck of cards, face side down, feel the vibrations, and pluck out the very card someone else would ask for.

After college, I got fairly busy with the real world and took a vacation from the paranormal, but it found me again when I developed an interest in tarot cards. That led me on to a fascination with astrology. The stars were my passionate hobby for a number of years. I started to post in various astrology groups online, answering questions, and even developed a following of people who wanted me to do their charts for them.

Of course, there are many astrologers who treat it like a science, but my own belief is that astrology is another form of divination, like tarot cards, full of symbols that speak to the inner psychic awareness of the reader -- or astrologer. Looking into a chart is rather like looking into someone's soul and is an awesome responsibility. It got me to thinking about all the other powers and responsibilities that come with a psychic ability, and that got me to writing.

My first paranormal story is called Gabriel's Gift, and it's about an alien who comes to Earth and uses his psychic abilities to send visions into a young woman's mind, visions that he uses to seduce her.

Next, I wrote about the Eight of Cups for the tarot card series put out by Extasy Books. I called that one Dreams of Desire. It's about a heroine who has the ability to dream the future, and shape existence itself with her thoughts. But will this gift truly satisfy her deepest needs?

Last year, I combined my love of the paranormal and SF by writing Starbound for Samhain Publishing. When a group of human colonists journey into the depths of space on the Starbound, they find their voyage interrupted by aliens of pure energy who can possess their bodies, rather like the demons of legend.

And just this summer, I've written two paranormal stories for Changeling Press. One is called Defiant Love. The heroine in this tale can hear the banshee's cry. Since banshees cry to announce an approaching death, that's not a gift you really want to have -- unless, like the heroine, you think you can figure out a way to save the doomed.

And, of course, every paranormal author needs to write a vampire story at some point. In Night Heat, my vampire stalks the shores of ancient Europe a thousand years from now, and a immortal visitor from the stars comes seeking him, hoping to find release from her endless life.

When I first became aware of the paranormal at such a young age, I thought it was cool. Later, after seeing some of the things these powers can do, I became more interested in the question of how paranormal abilities can be used. If you can see the future, can you stop it? If you can live forever, can you still find a purpose in life?

Do you have a paranormal ability and how do you use it?

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Kassie Burns writes erotic SF and paranormal romances. Anyone interested in learning more can find her online at: http://www.kassieburns.com and http://www.enjoytheburn.blogspot.com
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To enter the giveaway for a download of Kassie's book, Starbound, answer her question here. Winner will be selected Friday evening.

8 Comments:

Blogger Lynda Hilburn said...

Welcome to Paranormality, Kassie! I know Kassie from my favorite critique group, and I can say (enthusiastically) that she's an excellent writer who tells marvelous stories. Have a great day. I'll check back in when I get home from work tonight.
Hugs, Lynda

7:37 AM  
Blogger Katie said...

I wish I had a paranormal ability, but I don't. I'm just little non-paranormal me. As much as I love books about the paranormal, I am kind of glad I don't have an ability. I can see where knowing things before they happen or something like that could be hard to live with.

Thanks!
Katie

3:02 PM  
Blogger Kassie Burns said...

I agree, Katie, having psychic ability can be hard at times. However, I do think we all have psychic ability, only some are naturals and some need nuturing. And some learn to repress it early in life for various reasons.

Kassie

3:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i dont have an ability but my son used to tell me he could see people that died and when he was 33 he went past a garage and told me he had died there and again when he was 5 he told me he had a baby and bleed to death it used to scare me but i think its wonderful that he had this gift

angie

ps he is 21 now

5:40 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I have always had dreams that come true. That's not to say they all do, but some definitely do and I can often tell which ones.

All of the females in my family have some sort of pre-cog ability.

I can also form links with people. My mom can be over 1000 miles away and I know when she winds up in the hospital.

I've also recently met a friend that I have a link to and it's a two-way thing, my friend knows things about me too.

I've always enjoy these gifts.

6:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It would be great if these abilities were real but I guess I need more evidence.I think humans believe they have these abilities because they have brains that make them think this way.

but interesting blog anyway

best

bruce

6:08 AM  
Blogger Kassie Burns said...

Hi, Connie,

Pre-cog ability is one gift I wouldn't want to have. I usually have enough problems in the present without worrying about the future, LOL. However, I do have a rather backward gift. Sometimes as an event starts to happen it suddenly seems eerily familiar and then I remember I had a dream about it. Too late to do anything, though! (If anything could be done, which is a whole other question).

4:54 PM  
Blogger Kassie Burns said...

Hi, Bruce,

Being skeptical is a good thing. I think in a lot of cases what you say about humans wanting to believe and having minds that work that way is true -- and not just when it comes to the paranormal, LOL. I've seen enough of what I think is genuine evidence to believe in supernatural forces. Maybe you will someday and maybe not. Meanwhile, there are plenty of other mysteries in life. :)

4:59 PM  

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