The Ghost of Jack Kerouac

Yesterday's live talk part of my weekly Free Friday Frights included a talk about the chapter "Kerouac's Favourite Haunt" in my 2014 book Tomes of Terror: Haunted Bookstores and Libraries.

Once you get me talking about the things I am most passionate about, I will go on and on. In the chat, I not only share the stories I had heard about the ghost of the famous author who allegedly haunts this bookstore, but my love for visiting bookstores, especially a place like Haslam's which is the largest and oldest independent bookstore in the state of Florida. (Not to mention that today is Independent Bookstore Day)

I also, of course, introduce other things I am passionate about, such as the discovery of local beers. And there are at least three local beer spots in the neighborhood of Haslam's. One that I visited a few years ago (Urban Brew & BBQ) and two more that I just discovered (Taphouse 61 and Cage Brewing)

Hmm, with Novelists Inc, Haslam's Bookstore and at least four great beer spots to check out (I discovered Mastry's Brewing Co. a couple of years back), I have more reasons than ever to look forward to this fall in St Pete, Florida.

Ghostly Bookish Tales for Halloween

This morning I was a guest on CHCH Morning Live, in studio with Annette Hamm, talking about my latest book, Tomes of Terror.

We had the chance to chat about a few stores, including the tale of Lord Combermere's Chair, The Willard Library Ghost Cams, Waterdown Library and the tales of books bound with human flesh.

Annette is always a fantastic host to chat with and the CHCH staff are a great group of people

Here's a link to the video.

Happy Halloween!

The Eerie Elevator at Waterdown Public Library

It was a slightly rainy, windy and overcast night at Waterdown Public Library

Last night I did a talk and reading from Tomes of Terror: Haunted Bookstores and Libraries at Waterdown Public Library. The location is included in a chapter of my book and talks about the eerie elevators there and the fact that, despite being checked for mechanical error, they often have a life of their own, opening for no reason when nobody has pushed the call button and even trapping people between the two floors.

A #horrorselfie in front of the tombstones at WPL

The elevators started acting in this manner shortly after a pair of tombstones from Waterdown founders Alexander Brown and Merren Grierson were found and placed on display at the library.

One of the many signs advertising this talk/reading

I had a blast with the staff of the library, who were all awesome. But I mean, really, how could bookish people not be amazing? The library was decorated with all kinds of great Halloween displays, appropriate spooky-themed reading for adults and kids alike, and they had wonderfully creative signs hung all over the store announcing the event, which took place on the second floor in the children's section.

Barnaby, all set up and ready for the talk and reading

I casually relayed several of the stories from my new book, as well as from Haunted Hamilton, then I read from two short chapters and wrapped up the evening with the tale of "The Legend of Prospero's Ghost" - a story about my own personal experience with this ghost at McMaster University.

The awesome Waterdown Library staff posing in front of the elevators/tomestones

The interesting thing is that, even though the library was closed and all staff and patrons were upstairs listening to me tell my tale, the elevator door to the second floor opened twice on its own. Sara, one of the staff members there, told me this took place during my talk - it's a good thing I didn't notice it myself, otherwise I might have run screaming from the building.

Sara and Kari posing with Barnaby

I am a big chicken, after all . . .

The Push And Pull Of The Editorial Process

I'm about halfway through the proof version of my latest non-fiction paranormal book for Dundurn, Tomes of Terror: Haunted Bookstores & Libraries and have to say that I'm really pleased with the editorial and design team.

A draft of the cover flat for Tomes of Terror: Haunted Bookstores and Libraries

Yes, I'll admit, the process wasn't without frustration. I'm quite passionate about both bookish locales as well as sharing ghost stories, so there was a lot of me, personally, invested into this manuscript.

Too much me, perhaps.

I spent a bit too much time dwelling on my own passion for bookstores, for libraries, for spooky stories. Content that might bring value to an in person author appearance or talk, but which might be too much for the pages of this particular manuscript.

I needed an unbiased editorial viewpoint to keep me from diverging too far off the path that would appeal to the broadest audience.

I disagreed, of course, with several suggestions for how to revise the book, saw value in many other suggestions, and stubbornly pushed and prodded in that ego-centric way that authors can sometimes fall back to when someone else is trying to "rain on their parade" by suggesting an alternative way to approach something.

So there was push and pull, and disagreement.

But at the end of the day, as I'm halfway through a solid proofing read of the book, I have to say, I'm impressed.

Unedited proof showing sidebar of the "side story" for a chapter

The editorial team at Dundurn took what was a pretty good manuscript that I turned in and they have helped to craft it into something pretty amazing. The book takes just the right balance of speculative wonder about the paranormal and an appreciation for bookstores and libraries, offering something of value for both camps of potential readers without going too far off in one direction. A great editorial suggestion to pull some of the "back-story elements" from the main body of some of the chapters and insert that into sidebar boxes works brilliantly. 

This worked nicely, because, in doing research for the book, I fell in love with the history of the locale I was writing about and wanted to share interesting tidbits of the building's history or some intriguing factual notes that were related to the original story. The problem, though, is they didn't add to the main story as well.


Tomes of Terror isn't exactly the book I had envisioned when I pitched the book to Dundurn.

It's even better.

Tomes of Terror: Haunted Bookstores and Libraries

I am delighted that Dundurn is going to publish my third non-fiction exploration of the paranormal.

Just like my first one (Haunted Hamilton) was about the city I live in and love, and my second one (Spooky Sudbury - co-authored with Jenny Jelen) was about the city I grew up in and continue to adore, this third one is about something VERY close to my heart.

Tomes of Terror: Haunted Bookstores & Libraries (slated for publication in the Fall of 2014) is going to focus on the places I cherish and am quite passionate about. I have been a bookseller since 1992 and have spent my entire life surrounded with books. In my travels, one of the things I enjoy most is checking out local bookstores; and when I'm in a town long enough I like to also investigate the local library. The people who work at these locations are truly my kind of people, and often the stories they share not just about the books they love but about their community and sometimes, when the spirit moves them, about some of the darker stories and local legends, are worth compiling and sharing.

Like my looks at two beloved cities and their people, Tomes of Terror will be as much about the wonder of the places that hold books as much as it will be about the ghost stories that are shared about those spaces.

One of my favourite book quotes is Cicero's "A room without books is like a body without a soul." I hope to capture the very spirit of those words in my book, by celebrating both the wonder and magic of the bookstores and libraries that are written about as well as the thrill and chill of the ghostly tales that accompany those locations.

Though I already have a number of stories compiled, I'm still collecting tales. So if there is a local bookstore or library that you are familiar with that is haunted, has an eerie tale associated with it, or even just some interesting story that might make a person wonder if there are more things "in heaven and earth" than we normally perceive, please feel free to share them using this submission form.  It just could be the chance to have YOUR favourite local bookstore or library featured in my next book.