First, the winner of Lelsie Budewitz's giveaway of BETWEEN A WOK AND A DEAD PLACE is...Elizabeth Varadan!!! You can contact Leslie with your mailing info at: at leslie@lesliebudewitz.com
Jenn McKinlay: And now we have a treat! For those of us who are sick to death of summer (it's 115 here in AZ, so that's me) we have a spooky pumpkin infused post for you today from our guest Darci Hannah to bring on all those autumn vibes!
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Darci: It is such a pleasure to be a guest on Jungle Red Writers today. Thank you so much for inviting me, Jenn, and here’s to the rest of you awesome Jungle Reds!
The fourth book in my deliciously fun Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant, comes out on July 25th, and I am so excited to tell you a little bit about this book and why it means so much to me.
In the summer of 2019, I was just about to start work on the third book of my very first cozy mystery series, The Very Cherry Mystery series. This was going to be my haunted lighthouse book, and I had, like any good author, strategically dropped little hints throughout the first two books in the series foreshadowing my epic (epic in my own mind!) lighthouse adventure. However, just as I was beginning to put the pieces together, I learned that the publisher was closing and book #3 would never happen. That made me very sad.
There’s that old saying, When one door closes another one opens, and I realized pretty quickly that I didn’t have to stop writing my haunted lighthouse book. I could just turn it into something different. Something better. And that’s what I did. I shamelessly combined all my passions—baking, lighthouses, paranormal dealings, Lake Michigan, and dogs-- into one series, the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, and I have loved every minute spent writing it.
Now, this series is really about my protagonist, Lindsey Bakewell, a former Wall Street investment banker who buys a lighthouse in Michigan and opens a bakery. Bodies show up and the mysteries commence. I purposely keep the ghost story to a minimum, because to me that’s what ghosts are, echoes of lives past, poking their heads into our world for a moment or two, and making their presence known. The ghost in this story, Captain Willy Riggs, is based on a real ghost story I once heard while visiting a lighthouse. In fact, among the many lighthouses I’ve visited over the years, there seems to be a common thread regarding ghosts. Sometimes the old lightkeepers remain on duty, even after they’ve died. That stuck with me, and I gently explore it in this series.
One of the former light keepers, who looks a lot like Captain Willy Riggs, and a small lantern he would have carried with him as he made his rounds.
However, when I got the opportunity to write a Halloween book, I thought, “Now’s the time for my haunted lighthouse tale!” I knew that I wanted to make Captain Willy a bigger part of this story. Poor Captain Willy. Because he’s a legend in the town, the kids want to see him. He suffers pranksters, parties, pumpkin spice baked goods, and even a livestream ghost hunt that turns deadly. Through it all he remains true to his earthly calling, a steadfast keeper of the light. Oh, but how Halloween in Beacon Harbor tries his patience!
I know that July is a bit early to start thinking about Halloween and pumpkin spiced baked goods, but what about you?
Jenn: No, it's never too soon! LOL.
Do you believe in ghosts? Do you have a spooky story to share?
Below is a picture I took at a winery on the Old Mission Peninsula near Travers City, MI. I thought the chainmail looked cool. It wasn’t until a few months later that I blew it up and saw a ghostly face peering out of the hood at me. Can you see it? What do you think? Is it ghostly or a trick of the light?
Thank you for joining me today. Wishing you all a beautiful summer and a happy Halloween!
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Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series (Kensington Cozies), as well as the Very Cherry Mystery Series (Midnight Ink), and two works of Scottish historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall (Ballantine Books).
Darci is a native of the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan. She is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. When Darci isn't baking for family and friends, hiking with her furry pals, Ripley, and Finn, or concocting her next cozy mystery, she can be found wandering through picturesque lakeside villages with her hubby, sampling baked goods and breaking for coffee more often than she should.
Purchase links for Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant:
For more information on Darci, her books, and more printable recipes, please visit her website:
Listen to Darci on the Motherboy podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/motherboy/
You can also find Darci on your favorite social media platforms:
Congratulations, Darci, on your newest book. A haunted lighthouse mystery sounds perfect!
ReplyDeleteAs for believing in ghosts, I most definitely do.
My mom always said a ghost named Pearl lived in the house where Jean and I grew up. I have no idea how my mom knew her name, but she did. There were times that you could hear her walking around upstairs in that old house.
Along with Pearl, my mom said that when Jean and I were very young, we often played with a little girl ghost when we were alone in our cribs. Of this, I have absolutely no recollection, but when our younger sister was a baby, we would hear her laughing and playing with the little ghost whenever she was alone in her crib. If you went into the room, she’d instantly stop laughing and playing. But as soon as everyone left . . . .
I have no idea who that little girl might have been or why she came to play with us when we were babies. Nor do I know if she ever actually lived in the house during her lifetime. But she always seemed to be around to keep the babies company . . . .
Oh my gosh, Joan! This is an absolutely amazing story. I'm so intrigued by this. I do wonder how your mom knew that her name was Pearl? As for the little girl ghost, that is so interesting as well! I've heard that children can often see the things we adults cannot. My middle son told me recently that when he was little and we lived in this older house in Illinois, he used to see this woman dressed all in white standing in the living room as he ran to our bedroom in the middle of the night. I don't think they ever interacted, but he remembers her vividly. I had no idea and really wish that he had told me about it. I would have tried to see her too!
DeleteThank you so very much for this fabulous story!
Congrats on your new book. Love reading about haunted places and I love lighthouses. I do have a story but it's a good story. My son and his wife brought their newborn daughter/my granddaughter Maddie over to my Dad's for a visit. Dad is holding her in his chair and my niece takes a picture. Later she looks at all the pictures she had taken and the one of my Dad holding Maddie shows my Mom standing behind him looking down on them smiling. My Mom had passed away over 2 months before knowing she was going to have a great granddaughter in Sept. and she was so looking forward to her birth.
ReplyDeleteLovely story!
DeleteOh, this is such a beautiful story that it gave me chills just reading it. I totally believe in these angel visits, as I call them, when a departed loved one makes an appearance in a photo. My younger brother and I have a habit of always check our photos for ghosts when we think one might be about. Thank you so very much for sharing this wonderful and special story with us!
DeleteI do believe in ghosts, although I've never seen one. I know someone who did "sort of" see one: She bought an old fashioned wall mirror at a thrift shop years ago and took it home and hung it in her hallway. That night, she woke to light coming down the hall and a murmur of voices. When she went to explore, it was all coming from the mirror, and there were shadowy silhouettes of people. So she took it back the next day to the thrift shop and said she didn't want it after all. The seller said, "Yeah. The people before you brought it back, too. They said there were things in it." Well, that story has stayed with me for over 40 years, and I still am trying to work it into a story, but haven't succeeded yet.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, Jenn, as excited as I was to see I wonde a copy of Between A Wok and a Dead Place, I think it needs to go to someone else, since I'm in Portugal. It would be very complicated to send it to me, it would have to go through customs (which is a big headache: We don't know the language well enough to read the directions for receiving something through customs). But I can order it through Amazon.es, since that is in the EU. Thanks again.
Perhaps she has a way to give you an e-copy of the book. :)
DeleteHmmm. That's an idea. Thanks.
DeleteHi Elizabeth! Oh, this is such a cool story. As I've been told, sometimes items are haunted. And how cool that it was an old mirror. Oh, your poor friend. That would have utterly freaked me out if I'd bought that mirror. On a similar note, I had a friend who bought an old, standing case clock for her house. She swore it was haunted and would hear noises coming from the clock and footsteps. After she told me about this creepy clock, they decided to move and she was trying to sell some of her furniture. She messaged me and wanted me to take the clock. I politely declined, stating that I didn't have the room. Also, I don't really want a ghost wandering around here, lol! What a fabulous story. It should be in a book. Actually, I have another series coming out later next year that explores ghosts a bit more, and I just wrote a little scene with a long mirror like that in it that might have held the image of another woman, and not the woman staring in it. Oooo, ghost stories really get to me! Thank you so much for sharing this!!!
DeleteHi, Darci, I give you this story to do what you will. I did twist it into a haunted painting story that I like, so nothing would make me happier than to see this haunted mirror in the right storytelling hands. ☺️
DeleteI'm in Maine this week. We've visited two lighthouses and seen even more! I agree about the light touch for the ghosts. Congratulations on the new book.
ReplyDeleteI've heard plenty of unexplained noises in the antique New England homes I've lived in for 45 years but never seen a ghost. If I did, I would imagine it to come from my hyperactive imagination. A friend staying overnight did wake up to see a woman in a white nightgown at the end of the guest bed, but the woman has not visited me - yet.
(Hank, my scapes recipe - inspired by Karen of Ohio - is up today: https://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/2023/07/scapes-and-sauce-from-maddiedayauthor.html)
DeleteHi Edith! After Michigan lighthouses, Maine is my favorite place to visit them! Hope you're having a blast over there! Regarding ghosts, I do think there are those who are more sensitive to them and can see them. How interesting that she saw a white woman standing at the end of the bed in your guest room. So cool, but I'm happy you didn't have the same experience. I'm not sure if I'd be okay with something like that myself. Also, I have an active imagination as well, and whenever I'm in an old building that creeks or I hear knocks for no reason, I immediately think, wow, this place is haunted! LOL!
DeleteThank you for sharing that awesome story!
DARCI: I'm glad you are able combine several of your passions in this series.
ReplyDeleteI visited Nova Scotia's iconic Peggy's Cove lighthouse in late June. There is supposed to be the ghost of Margaret wandering the rocks in search of her lost children and husband but I didn't see her!
Hi Grace! Oh, thank goodness you didn't! I do love lighthouse lore and the stories these old lighthouses hold. I was just at the Point Betsy lighthouse again with my kids, and made them take the tour (it's part of being my kid, you have to visit creepy old lighthouses!). While they were having a blast in the lighthouse, one of the docents was telling me about the only ghost the place has. It's also that of a woman, the wife of one of the keepers, who got so fed up with the harsh Michigan winter, she walked out of the lighthouse and headed across the lake. They never saw her again, but they do say that when the ice begins to thaw, this poor woman climbs out of the lake and pays a visit to the lighthouse again. So, I guess that means that I won't be visiting that lighthouse between March and April, lol!
DeleteThank you for the story!!
I see the ghostly face too.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it creepy? One of my sons believes that it's just the lighting on the bricks behind the chainmail, but I'm not convinced. However, that photo remains my greatest "ghost pic" to date.
DeleteThanks for replying!!
I do have a ghost experience. I shared it on a friend's supernatural website, complete with an overshare. ;)
ReplyDeletehttps://dreamwatch.com/2017/09/28/ghost-haunting-connecticut-c-1750-inn/
I haven't been to that particular conference center since then, about six or so years ago, but I'm hoping the ghost found their way into The Light.
Hi Rhonda! I am definitely going to check out that story. How cool that your friend hosts a supernatural website. I must admit, I visit a lot of them while researching! I also love your parting sentiment. I do believe that sometimes these lingering spirits need to find the Light. I hope so too!
DeleteThank you for sharing!!
Never too early for a Halloween story! I'm looking forward to reading this.
ReplyDeleteOf course there are ghosts! I am a firm believer, but you have to be open to seeing them. I live in a house where the former owner visits on occasion. We were great friends. He always knew when I'd baked cookies and would show up. Now his ghost has taken over the cookie duty. My former house was haunted by the wife of the builder/owner. She showed up, always in the dining room, sitting in a chair running her fingers over the table top. Discovered from neighbors who knew the family that my dining room was her music room and held her grand piano.
Hi Kait! Oh, wow! I love that your old friend comes to visit when you're baking cookies! He sounds a little like Captain Willy Campbell, the lighthouse ghost in my story. A benevolent spirit who still pops in for a visit. What a cool experience. I do have visits on occasion from departed loved ones, and I cherish those. Mine are very subtle experiences, but I immediately recognize them when they're happening. Also, the wife of the former builder of the home you once lived in is a cool story. I love that she's still playing her grand piano. It must have brought her such great joy! Those are lovely ghost stories. Thank you so much for sharing those with us today!!
DeleteCongrats on your upcoming book release and yes I believe in ghosts. I've *seen* them in the strangest places.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Dru Ann! I love that you believe in ghosts. I hope you haven't been frightened by them showing up in strange places, just intrigued. Thank you for sharing that with us today!!
DeleteCongratulations, Darci, stepping through that open door into a new series! I'm not a Halloween nut, but a good story is a good story, no matter the time of year. Looking forward to checking out this series! As for ghosts, yes, I believe. I haven't personally seen any, but my sisters have.
ReplyDeleteHi Flora! Thank you so much for checking out my series. It's been so much fun writing it. I believe in ghosts too, but prefer, like yourself, to live vicariously through someone who has experiences and tells us their stories! Thank you for replying!!
DeleteCongratulations on your new book. I can remember hearing the phrase “Someone is walking on my grave” and not understanding it. Later, I lived in a 180 year old farmhouse and would often feel a chill and shudder, then I understood.
ReplyDeleteDarci, you prove what I've always said: writers are the ultimate recyclers. If an idea is good enough - in this case, who wouldn't love a haunted lighthouse? - you can rework it and transplant it. Congratulations on MURDER AT THE PUMPKIN PAGEANT!
ReplyDeleteThe older I get the more I love a good ghost story. Can't wait to read Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenn! Oh, I hear you! I do love a good ghost story too. They're fun, mysterious, and spark the imagination. Thank you for hosting me on Jungle Red Writers today!!
DeleteDARCI, welcome to JRW! I'm always looking for books to read during the Halloween season. Now adding this to my TBR list. Though I'll buy this book now, I am saving it for that day.
ReplyDeleteGhosts...I love ghost stories. I watched Caspar the Friendly Ghost cartoons as a child. Before I saw the cartoons, I remember going to Catholic school. We went to church on site once and I remember thinking that I saw a ghost in the church. Maybe it was a ghost. Maybe it was the light? it was very dark in the church with candles and stained glass windows.
If I ever met a ghost, will the ghost know sign language?
Diana
Thank you!! I'm so happy to hear that you're adding this to your TBR list! I'm smiling from ear-to-ear! I love that you're not sure of what you saw that day in the church. I feel much the same way whenever I might have had a strange encounter. It stays with you, and sometimes that enough! If it was a ghost, then it was a very good one, a very special one. And, should you encounter a ghost, I honestly think that you don't even need to say or sign a word. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us!!
DeleteI love the Bakeshop series and I quite enjoyed the Cherry books too- Cherry Scones and Broken Bones was the first book I read of yours.
ReplyDeleteHi Alicia! Oh, thank you so much for reading my books! I'm so happy to hear that you've enjoyed my cherry series as well! Thank you for replying!!
DeleteI love ghost stories! I'm certainly willing to believe in their existence. Unfortunately I seem to be a ghost repeller. Every tour I've taken of a supposedly haunted place has been quiet. Ghosts go on vacation. I do admit there was a short period of time when the long, shared drive of one of our former homes was very creepy at night. I felt very uneasy being out there. Heard later that a neighbor had been playing with a Ouija board. Wonder if she called something up?
ReplyDeleteI'm originally from Michigan and plan on your new book. moving back soon. I enjoy reading books set in Michigan with lighthouses and ghosts. I believe in spirits, I guess it's pretty much the same thing. It sure looks like a ghost/spirit in the picture. Can't wait to read your new book.
ReplyDeleteHooray for you, Darci, for finding another way to get your stories to the reading public! I admire your creativity and resilience, and look forward to reading your latest. The photo of the chainmail is very Shroud of Turin. While it's not exactly a ghost story, I do have a spooky tale. When my four year old great-niece heard her mom talking to a friend about my brother (great-niece's grandpa), who had died five years before G-N was born, with tears in her eyes she asked, "Are you talking about Grandpa Tom? I miss him."
ReplyDeleteMy favorite lighthouse is at Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, California. These days I'm not up to taking the 313 steps down (and back!) to the lighthouse itself, so I'm super grateful I did it years ago. The National Park Service maintains a website with loads of fascinating info about the history of the lighthouse, which operated from 1870 to 1975. ~Lynda
https://www.nps.gov/pore/learn/historyculture/stories_maritime_lighthouse.htm
Oh, thank you so very much for this! I'm so happy to learn that you enjoy the stories I write!! That truly means the world to me! I love your "Shroud of Turin" comment. It kind of struck me like that as well the first time I noticed that face in there. I was pretty thrilled with it!
DeleteThe story about your great-niece gave me chills! I love it! I had a similar experience with my oldest son. When he was about 4, I was giving him a bath and he started crying for no reason. He was so sad and I asked him why. He said, "I'm crying because of grandma's dad. He died and I miss him." I think he was talking about my grandpa who died when I was 8. It was very strange. He said other things as well, but when he got a little older, it stopped. He doesn't remember any of it, but it really made me wonder about the nature of life and death, and how connected we are to those we love. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us as well as that lighthouse link! I will have to check it out!!
Darci, your new book/new series sound like fun. All of us have learned to pivot in our careers... Though I love a good ghost story I'm afraid I have never heard anything go bump in the night. But what fascinates me is grief and vivid dreams of lost loved ones. Fertile ground for fiction.
ReplyDeleteHi Hallie! Thank you for this message. I'm also fascinated by vivid dreams of recently departed loved ones. I've experienced a few and my mom has some amazing "angel visit" dreams as well. We love talking about them. I was told once that if a departed loved one talks to you in your dreams, it's an angel visit, meaning they are actually contacting you from beyond. I don't know if that's true, but I believe it. I think they are very special indeed. Thank you for posting!!
DeleteDarci, I am reminded of what Sheila Connolly once told me when I asked if she'd ever see a ghost. She said no, but was delighted at the prospect. She said she thought one needed to remain open to the possibility (except see my prev. comment about my imagination...), and that most spirits would be benign, not something to fear. I liked that attitude, and it changed my own.
ReplyDeleteHi, Darci! Love ghost sightings, lighthouses, and Northern Michigan! In fact, I'm staying with my daughter near the north end of Torch Lake right now, and bought a bunch of goodies at the Cherry Republic in Charlevoix this afternoon. They live in Traverse City, so I've spent a lot of time in this beautiful part of the country, including Old Mission, but have not yet seen Point Betsy. Thanks for the idea.
ReplyDeleteWhich winery is the photo from? Chateau Chantal, maybe?
DeleteI accidentally hit "publish" before I could congratulate you on your ingenuity in redirecting your story. Sounds great!
I do see the face in the chainmail and I do believe in ghosts. We have Ghost Dog in our house. Our previous dog Needa died in our house with heart problems though we were giving her meds. A few weeks later, a very good neighbor was driving over and saw Needa looking out the front window where she always looked outside while alive. Then when almost a year later we brought a new puppy home, she used to jump at the food (she was one of 12 and the runt) as soon as we put it down. About three weeks later, all of a sudden, she sat and waited until we released her to eat. We had never tried to teach her that, but Needa had been taught that. There are several more examples of Ghost Dog Needa teaching Texie all of the things that we taught her.
ReplyDeleteMadeleine Spangler madspangler@comcast.net
Sorry I’m late to this ghost story party. I have not seen one but have sensed some things. Once we went to an open house at an old Tudor house my dad had always admired from the outside. The back stairs gave my sister and i seriously bad vibes. We couldn’t get out of that section fast enough.
ReplyDeleteA much more positive experience was that my Gran-Gran checked up on us about a year after she passed. Mom and I both smelled her. Youth Dew, Aqua Net and cigarettes, none of which was in our house.
I saw a ghost standing by a curtain in my bedroom when I turned to look at him he disappeared. I have heard foot steps and cooing noises. I lit a candle at midnight and told him to move on his spirit could rest. I did not have problems after that. deborahortega229@yahoo.com
ReplyDelete