Ghost for Rent

This paranormal ghost story begins when eleven-year-old Wendy Wiles learns her parents are planning to get divorced. Forced to leave her beloved city home for a cheaper country place, Wendy, her mother, and her twelve-year-old brother move to rural Warren, Oregon. On move-in day, Wendy meets a neighbor girl who tells her their quaint country home is haunted. Events proceed quickly as Wendy, her new friend, Jennifer, and Wendy's brother, Mike, see ghostly figures dancing in the woods. Despite Mom's claims that "there's no such thing as ghosts", paranormal events continue to occur in the Wiles' home. Meanwhile, her brother Mike, arch-tease, torments Wendy, claiming he's causing the unusual events. Wendy searches through library records to get to the bottom of the mystery. Finally, with Jennifer's help, Wendy begins to unravel the truth. At last, even Mike can no longer disbelieve and decides to aid Wendy in her search. By the end, the three young sleuths have uncovered an accidental death, a suicide, and a murder.

Ghost for Rent, written by Penny Lockwood, is geared towards middle grade kids. Even though I'm way past that age, I was totally drawn into the story. I don't read many mysteries, more or less paranormal stories, but I enjoyed this one. I really liked the relationship between Wendy and her brother, Mike. He's constantly teasing his sister and I think most kids can relate to that. I know I could, especially since my brother's name is Mike and he did the same sort of thing. Ghost for Rent is only available as an e-book at this time. You can find it for Kindle on Amazon and online at various other locations. At 16,440-words, it's a quick read, taking you about an hour or so. The story length is perfect for reluctant readers or kids just getting into chapter books. Penny tells me there will be a sequel and hopes it comes out as a printed book. I hope so too.

If you'd like to learn more about Penny Lockwood or Ghost for Rent, check out her blog, One Writer's Journey. She does some wonderful interviews with authors of all sorts of genres. She has even been kind enough to blog about my very own Dilly in the past. Thank you, Penny, for letting me post about your book and I apologize for taking so long to do so. I really enjoyed your story and believe we have a similar style of writing. I wish you much success with Ghost for Hire as well as your upcoming books.

Also, don't forget about my contest for The Marshmallow Man. It runs until August 6th, so there's still time to leave a comment to be entered in the drawing. I'm really enjoying all of your marshmallow stories!

Marshmallow Man Contest!

Run, run, run, as fast as you can,

You can't catch me, I'm the Marshmallow Man!

I'm sure most of you have heard of that goofy, flat Gingerbread Man and how he ran all over the place trying not to get eaten up by all those shady characters. But ... have you heard of The Marshmallow Man? Written for kids ages 4-8 years, this is a retelling of the classic story, but with all-new hungry characters and an all-new, twisted ending.

I've decided to run a contest for an autographed copy of my third picture book, The Marshmallow Man. There are two ways to enter ...

1. Leave a comment here on my blog telling me something about marshmallows. It can be anything you want to share -- a story, how you like to eat them, a favorite recipe, a childhood memory, etc.

2. For those who have read the book already, you can be entered a second time simply by leaving a review on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. You can give the book as a gift, to your child's school, or keep it for yourself.

Pretty simple, huh? The contest will run for two weeks, ending Friday, August 6, 2010. I'll pick a winner (from a hat) that night and announce it the following Saturday. Please help me spread the word by telling your friends (your kids can enter too!), posting on your blog, on Facebook, etc. And don't forget, the book can be ordered through my website, 4RV Publishing, LLC, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, or any bookstore. And finally, I have some fun activities on my website for kids to do, so don't forget about those. Thanks and good luck!

Orange Hawkweed

I'm on a flower kick lately. I can't even drive up my road without wanting to stop and take a picture. I took this one the other day. I kept seeing these, but they were growing in a place I didn't want to stop my car. It was on a blind curve and I would have gotten creamed. I was glad to find the same flowers when we went panning for gold the other day.

I'm pretty sure it's an Orange Hawkweed. I previously had this listed as an Orange Mountain Dandelion, but someone brought it to my attention that it was probably a hawkweed, which is not native to Montana. I'm kind of thinking that the ones I see by my road ARE the dandelions because they look a little different. Anyway, it's still pretty, even if it's just a weed. Thanks to Marilyn for letting me know.

Thar's gold in them thar hills!

Have you ever panned for gold? The only time Rick did was at Knott's Berry Farm. It's an amusement park in California. For about twenty bucks, you could pan in a wooden trough looking for gold flakes. As a kid, my mom would never let me do it because it cost too much. Anyway, there's a place just a few hours away from here where you can pan for gold, but it's not a theme park. This is in an actual creek, way up a mountain. It's not even marked, at least not until you're right in the panning area. You're limited to where you can pan, but whatever you find, you can keep.

I was surprised to see how serious some people took it. There were several motorhomes parked up there with trailers filled with equipment. Everything we had read said you could only pan with non-motorized gear, but that didn't stop these guys. They were serious panners. I'm not sure how much they find, but it must be enough to justify them being there with their gear, RVs, generators, and so forth.

We found a quiet campsite near the creek away from everyone. We'd bought some pans on our way up, so we decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, we didn't find anything, but that's not to say there's nothing there. All those guys wouldn't be there if they weren't finding something. We had fun doing it, which is all that matters. I was surprised how interested the boys were in panning. I thought they'd get bored right away and just want to play in the water. They kept at it though -- Rick too. I think he's found a new hobby to do while I sit in the sun and read.

I'm sure we'll go back sometime. It's a fun way to spend the day getting some sun, playing in the water, enjoying a picnic and maybe even, finding gold. It is, however, right smack in the middle of grizzly habitat, so that's one thing you have to consider. It's in the Kootenai National Forest, so it's absolutely beautiful country!

Meet me on the dandelion!

I took this picture the other day on the bike trail. I only spotted the butterfly when I took it, so I was surprised to see the other critters when I got home and looked at the picture closer. I guess this particular dandelion is the happening place for bugs!

I'm not real good at identifying butterflies, but I think this might be an Arctic Fritillary. At least, that's what it looks like to me. Next time I'm at one of the park's bookstores, I'm going to pick up a butterfly field guide. I love the one I have for northwestern wildflowers, so I'm sure I'd get a lot of use out of a butterfly one. I really love butterflies, but they can be tricky to photograph.

Route of the Hiawatha

Yesterday we drove to the Montana/Idaho border to ride on the Route of the Hiawatha Bike Trail. It's an old section of railroad that's no longer used. If you click on the link, you can read all about it as well as watch a really cool video clip. The trail is 13 miles long, but technically it's over 14 because you have to ride through one of the tunnels twice. It's a 1.7% grade, so you can practically coast all the way. At the end there is a shuttle bus service to bring you and your bike back up. Over the trail you traverse through pine forests, travel over 7 high train trestles, and ride through 8 tunnels.

It was an incredible ride. We got there in the early afternoon, so we felt a little rushed at times because we didn't want to miss the last shuttle. If you miss the last bus, the only way to get back to the parking lot would be turning around and doing it all again -- uphill. However, we had a blast and will definitely do it again, hopefully with the girls next time. Here is a picture of the sign, right before the trail begins ...

The very first part of the trail is a tunnel. And, this isn't just ANY tunnel! This one is 1.7 miles in length and there are NO lights inside. It's long, it's cold, and it's darker than dark! Because of this, you can't go on the trail without bike lights and helmets. I wasn't sure how the boys would do in the tunnel, but they did great. The scariest part for me was that there were ditches on both sides near the wall, about a foot wide and filled with water that soaked down from the mountain. It wouldn't be fun if you got too close to the edge and went into that. In addition to the ditches, you have to maneuver through complete darkness and deal with people passing from behind and people coming the other way. Since it was Saturday and a gorgeous day, the trail was packed. However, we never really had a lot of people near us at any time since everyone comes and goes at their own pace. Below is the entrance to the first tunnel. Neil is riding into it and Rick is helping Nathan with his lights. This is the 1.7 mile long tunnel. 1.7 miles doesn't sound that long, but it's different in complete darkness. The shuttle bus brings you back up the trail, but you ride through this tunnel TWICE!

You ride through some amazing wilderness area and some of it was very high up with incredible views. There were wildflowers everywhere. I would have loved to stop and take more pictures, but if I did that, we never would have gotten anywhere and we might still be on the trail. Most of the pictures I took were while I was actually riding my bike. Not exactly safe, but oh well. Here's a picture of everyone riding through the forest ...

This next picture is of one of the train trestles we'd eventually be riding over. Yes, that's it WAY over in the distance. The sky looks white in the picture, but that's just glare. It couldn't have been any bluer and there was hardly a cloud in the sky all day. I think it was in the high 80s most of the time, so you can imagine how good the coolness of the tunnels feels.

Below is a picture of Rick and the boys riding over one of the train trestles. I thought I had gotten a video of them going over one, but I must not have pushed the right button to turn it on. Oh well, maybe next time. I thought I'd really freak out on the trestles, but I was okay just as long as I didn't stop and look over the edge. If you stood on the boardwalks, you could see right through the cracks. Eeek!

Rick took this next picture -- I wasn't brave enough. This was taken from that first trestle I showed you above. This was the longest and highest one. It's 220 feet in the air! Rick was a little braver than I was and took a few pictures looking down. 220 feet is a long way down, especially when you see the tops of pine trees that you know are over a hundred feet tall!

Anyway, it was a fun ride and definitely one we'll do again. You do have to pay to go on the trail and also for the shuttle, but it's not much and worth it. I'd like to get an earlier start next time and not feel so rushed. I believe they're in the process of expanding the trail by 31 miles on the Montana side, so that should be interesting to see what that's like when it's completed. The boys are already asking to go back!

Christmas in July

Now I know what Christmas in July really means. The sky last night was amazing. I couldn't sleep, so I kept getting out of bed to look outside. I probably got more exercise last night getting in and out of bed than I did all day. I wish I'd gotten some pictures, but there was a lot of action here last night. I didn't feel up to fussing with my camera, so I have to settle with this image I snatched online. The action was of the people kind, not wildlife like it normally is. I think there was a fight at our neighbor's house, but the person they took away wasn't anyone we knew. But anyway ...

The star-filled sky was perfectly clear. I sat on my bedroom floor so I could see up as far as possible. Normally, I would have gone on the deck to look, but not last night. Rick was trying to sleep and had been up too late as it was. And, not to mention the bear activity we've had. I probably would have been fine because prior our road was full of police cars, fire trucks, an ambulance, and a tow. However, the stars were shining through the branches of the pine trees. The movement of the trees made them twinkle and they looked like lights on a Christmas tree. It was absolutely beautiful.

We had beautiful, starry nights at my house in California, but it wasn't anything like this. Last July when I was visiting, my mother-in-law said, "Oh, look at the stars!" The sky looked like it always had for me while living in the area. Ojai isn't a big place and the night sky does have a ton of stars sometimes. But suddenly, I realized how different Montana was. We're higher in elevation and there are even less lights to get in the way. The night sky here is nothing short of spectacular and even more in the winter.

It's supposed to be in the 80s again today, so I'm sure the sky will be the same way tonight. Maybe I'll be brave and sit on the deck to enjoy it. Maybe I can get some pictures too, though night photography isn't something I know much about. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. Hopefully, I won't be eaten alive by mosquitoes, or worse, something bigger. But I tell you, if I hear even one stick snap, I'm coming back inside!