I love reading and writing ghost romance. If the story has a ghost, it has to be good! The ghosts in my stories are all figments of my imagination, but there are some great 'true' ghost stories out there too...

 For all you daring ghost lovers, I thought I'd put together a list of true haunted places. I plan to add more places as time permits, so check back often to see what's new.

1. "The Buxton Inn"

Since I wrote about a haunted hotel in 'Blue Moon Magic,' I thought I'd start with the story of America's most ghostly Country Inn, The Buxton Inn, Ohio's oldest continuously operated Inn in its original building since 1812.  Visit the website at, http://www.buxtoninn.com/

Major Buxton's ghost is described as being a shadowy figure. He has been seen throughout the house, but he seems to be seen most in the dining room. He is easily identified by the guests because a sizable portrait of him hangs in the inn.

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2. "Resurrection Mary"

"Resurrection Mary," also known as the "Vanishing Hitchhiker," is Chicago's best-known ghost story:

A young, blonde, Polish girl named Mary lived in Chicago in the early 1930s. Mary had gone dancing at the well-known Oh Henry Ballroom in Willow Springs and was returning home when she was killed in some sort of car accident. Buried in Justice, Ilinois, in Resurrection Cemetery, her soul was unable to rest in peace, so her ghost, still wearing her 1930s ballgown, soon began to appear to drivers cruising along Archer Avenue, asking them for rides. Several people who claim to have picked her up say that as the car with Mary in it approaches Resurrection Cemetery, The Vanishing Ghost disappears….

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3. "Lemp Mansion"

Lemp Mansion, located in St. Louis, Missouri, was called one of the ten most haunted places in America by Life magazine in 1982.

Lemp Mansion was built in the early 1860's by William J. Lemp, the son of the founder of Lemp Brewery, John Adam Lemp. The Lemps were one of the richest families in St. Louis due to the great success of the brewery. They were also very eccentric. The decor of the mansion was considered odd in many ways.

Troubles began for the Lemps in 1901, when William Sr.'s favorite son, Frederick, died mysteriously at the age of 28. He was the heir apparent to the Lemp legacy, and his father was crushed. In 1904, still despondent over his loss, William Sr. went into his office and shot himself through the heart. His son, William Lemp, Jr., took over the business. In 1920, William's sister Elsa also committed suicide by shooting herself, although not in the mansion. In 1922, William sold the brewery at a huge loss. After the sale, he went into the same office that his father had nearly two decades before and shot himself.

Despite all the tragic events that transpired in the mansion, the surviving Lemp, Charles, remained there. He was brother to William, Elsa, Frederick and one other surviving Lemp, Edwin. In 1949, at the age of seventy-seven, Charles killed the family dog and then shot himself. The house was then sold and used as a boarding house until 1977, when renovation began to make Lemp mansion into a bed and breakfast. This is when the paranormal events began.

Workers were disturbed by inexplicable banging noises and objects moving about on their own. What was most distressing, though, to the point where several workers quit, was the eerie sensation that they were being watched. Some of the men claimed that the unseen stares practically burned through them.

Today, visitors to the Lemp Bed and Breakfast have claimed to feel cold spots and see strange lights. Both guests and employees have been frightened by a "Lady in Lavender" on the third floor stairwell. She has also been seen in the first floor bathroom. Inexplicable noises still abound, the most notable being piano music and the barking of a phantom dog.

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Hope you enjoyed these true ghost experiences and keep checking back for more additions!

Till next time, happy reading (and ghost hunting),

Ann Marie

I've been away from this blog too long. Not going to bore you with reasons, just say there are a lot of them.

Tonight we took the grandbabies to the county fair. I had the good fortune to meet someone who had seen my books in the local Waldenbooks. He recognized my name from them. Of course I gave him signed bookmarks and kissed his feet. Okay, so I didn't kiss his feet, but he did get signed bookmarks.

More good news from this week--Blue Moon Enchantment got a fab review on Amazon. Here's the part about my story, 'Blue Moon Magic.'

If you are ready for a new computer - beware! They only come with the new windows vista now days and boy is that a mess! We excitedly brought our new super duper computer with all the bells and whistles and 160 GB hard drive home from the store, and life has been upside down every since.

Our internet server is Earthlink. Earthlink TotalAccess Mailbox is NOT compatible with Vista. Joy - not. Okay, I'm resigned to using Outlook Express or Windows Mail. Not. The new Vista does NOT support multiple identities in those programs. Huh? Why not? To drive me crazier, I know.

Find a web page you want to add to favorites? Easy as pie, right? Well, it used to be, but not in dear Vista! You hunt for an hour and find the tiny star (hiding among the many bars at the top, all of which I could do without) Ah, ha, it says favorites. Click it. Tell it to make a new folder, click add. Now WHERE is the dang thing? Can't find it.

And then there is the stupid message that keeps popping up every time you turn on a program. It says, do you really want to continue? Duh, yeah, that's why I clicked on it. Every thing on this computer is upside down, inside out. Vista made it harder to use the computer, not easier. I had no problem going from windows 95, 98, or XP, but this!!!!

Vista is not compatible with your old programs from XP either. Yeah, good ole microsoft wants your money for all new programs.

I DID NOT ask for Vista. I wanted XP. The store gave me no choice. I know several other writers who bought new computers with Vista and no one is pleased. Did I say pleased? Ha! Vista has driven us all over the edge! Run! Stay away from Vista. Think I'll use my left over Easter eggs to throw at the makers of Vista!

There will be no writing from this writer until I figure out this mess of a computer. Geesh, it may be a loooong time. :(
not so happy,
Ann Marie

I'm taking a class on making book trailers!  Surprisingly, I can do it!  Yayyy.   And, it's fun!  I hope to have a fantastic book trailer for you to view soon.  Of course my current computer monitor doesn't have a mic, so I must wait for that if you want to hear the real me.  (yes, I have a dinosaur-no I didn't say I am a dinosaur ) But, I can do music and photos, so that's a start.

Stay tuned for more progress,

until next time,

happy reading,

Ann Marie

Hello from, Ann Marie Bradley,
 
February ~ the month of love! Happy Valentines Day to all you romantics out there!
 
February is also the month the groundhog predicts how much longer winter will hang around. As I write this, it is 3 degrees outside and there is 8 inches of fresh snow on the ground. Did the groundhog see his shadow this year or not? I can never remember which way the saying goes. If he didn't see it (which is what I heard), aren't we supposed to be in for better weather? If this is better, I'm glad we aren't having the worse! School has been closed or on two-hour delays all week. Temperatures have dipped below zero more than once. What happened to that warm weather we had in December--if it couldn't snow for Christmas, why did it have to snow now? *_*
 
Even my Christmas cactus is confused. It's been blooming for the past three weeks! I'm beginning to believe I've gone back in time to December! hehe--the silly thing didn't have one single bloom for Christmas.
 
February also has President's Day and Ash Wednesday. Busy little month.
 
Oh, can't forget--it's also the month for the P.E.A.R.L awards! Highland Press' anthology, BLUE MOON ENCHANTMENT, featuring my story, "Blue Moon Magic" has been nominated for this prestigious award. Final voting is February 14th. Very exciting. The anthology also features stories from award-winning authors, Dawn Thompson, Deborah MacGillivray, Leanne Burroughs, and others. 
 
..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Highland Press is in the running for several P.E.A.R.L awards. Quite an accomplishment for a one-year-old small press!
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All the rage in the writing industry these days is 'branding.' I've been trying for months to come up with a brand for my writing. I've finally decided on ~ Ann Marie Bradley writes haunting, soul-healing romance!  ~ 
 
What do you think? Does it describe my writing? Can you think of anything better? I'm having a contest to brand Ann Marie Bradley (in words, none of those hot irons, please. I'm not into kinky LOL)
 
Contest rules:
1. Email me at annmariebradley@earthlink.net  by February 28th and tell me if you like the brand I've written--or if you don't. If you don't, write your own original   brand for me that will wow editors and agents and get across to readers what I write (paranormal romance--ghost, time-travel, re-incarnation, psychic) and send it in your email.
2. Brands suggested must be original (no borrowing from other authors) and make use of the paranormal romance theme.
3. Must be short enough to fit in my signature line.
 
That's it.  Easy, huh?  I'll look through all entries, then draw a winner from a hat. If I decide not to go with any suggested brands, I'll still put all entries into the hat and draw a winner.
 
The prize?  What else in the month of February from a romance author?  Chocolate!!  A heart-shaped box of chocolates just for you!  So get those entries in.
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Speaking of chocolate, here's a fabulous recipe (and microwave easy!).
 
MICROWAVE HERSHEY BAR PIE
 
Chocolate crumb crust
1 Hershey's milk chocolate bar (8 ounces), broken into pieces
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2  cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
Sweetened whipped cream
 
First, bake chocolate crumb crust -
Grease micro-proof 9 inch pie plate. In small micro-proof bowl, microwave 1/2 cup butter at high for 1 minute or until melted. Stir in 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 6 tablespoons Hersheys cocoa, and 1/3 cup powdered sugar until well blended. Press on bottom and sides of pie plate. Microwave 1 to 1 1/2 minutes until bubbly. Cool completely before filling.
 
Filling -
Combine chocolate bar pieces, milk and miniature marshallows in medium micro-proof bowl. Microwave at high for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 minutes or until chocolate is softened and mixture is melted and smooth when stirred. Cool completely. Whip cream until stiff, fold into chocolate mixture. Spoon into crust. Cover, chill several hours or until firm. Garnish with sweetened whipped cream. Serve with cherry pie filling if desired.
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God bless our troops fighting to keep peace. May God keep them save as they do their job of keeping us safe.
 
Until next time, happy reading,
God bless,
Ann Marie
 
 
Be sure and check out Ann Marie Bradley's website at http://www.annmariebradley.com
Visit her blog at http://spiritedchatter.blogspot.com/
Stop by Ann Marie's new 'myspace' at http://www.myspace.com/annmariebradleyauthor
E-mail Ann Marie at annmariebradley@earthlink.net 
 


  
 
 
 
 


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