Guest Blogger: Amber Polo

Paranormal Research

Once upon a time, when I was a young librarian, I believed everything could be found in books. Now it's tempting to believe everything is available online. The best research is a combination of books, internet and experience.

When I started writing Romancing Rebecca, I knew this paranormal romance was going to be funny and set in Sedona. What could be funnier than a woman who falls for two men in the same body? So, I created my hero as a trance channeler with a problem - welcome and unwelcome entities take over his body. Actually, the plot is kind of ordinary by Sedona standards where shop clerks miss work because they’re out on Bell Rock waiting for an alien space ship.

I’d been around a lot of psychics and spiritual types, but I’d never seen someone channel. I did some Internet research, then headed to the Sedona Public Library to select a variety of books from their shelves on channeling, from the popular Seth books to some how-to-do-it guides. I sampled, read, and listened to audiotapes to obtain a feel for voice and language used by channelers.

Books and tapes were helpful, but I still felt I was writing from second-hand knowledge. The Well Red Coyote, my favorite Sedona bookstore, hosted a local author who was billed as a channeler. When Summer Bacon, a slight blond, went into a deep trance and turned into a believable fat old man who died in 1922, I was impressed.

I signed up for her channeling workshop and watched Summer go into two more trances and heard her discuss how she became a channeler. Finally I purchased her book, This School Called Planet Earth, and a DVD, “The Incredible 10 Year Anniversary Open Session.” The DVD was the best. I could replay ten historical entities entering her body in a short period and watch the physical changes. I felt like I was there and, after seeing her go into trances, I was certain the video wasn’t a fake. I was ready to write the channeling scenes for Romancing Rebecca.

I also did historical research for an old diary, remembered my trips to the Caribbean, and consulted with a friend who was an intellectual property attorney to make sure my heroine’s career sounded authentic. And I HAS to have lunch at the luxury resort in Sedona where most of the story takes place. Sometimes research is exhausting.

Read excerpts to Romancing Rebecca and check out my other books and free reads at:

http://www.amberpolo.com/index.html

And read interviews with all subgenres of fantasy authors on my blog Wordshaping:

http://amberpolo.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Lynda, for inviting me to Paranormality.
It was fun.
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