The Spirit Within

(This is a paranormal romance. Perfect for young teens, young adults and everyone who believes in the spirit within. College student, Cassandra Blakemore may seem to have the perfect life on the outside with her loving family and friends, but on the inside she harbors a terror created by her abusive boyfriend, Raleigh Nichols, who quickly sinks his way deep into the bottom of the bottle. Cassandra’s emotional strength suddenly emerges but at a price as she’s faced with her worst fear. Battered and betrayed, she soon discovers hidden abilities while her own secrets unfold. As if levitation, telekinesis and premonitions weren’t enough, what else is Cassandra Blakemore hiding? The Spirit Within is an intoxicating story with a unique supernatural twist.)

 

*** An excerpt from my novel, The Spirit Within***

 

Hmmm… I quietly sighed to myself as I breathed in the scent of the salty air carried
on the gentle breeze, caressing every fiber of my being. I laughed just a little from
watching two seagulls taunt each other off in the distance. I could feel the warm glow
from the sun’s rays as they beamed down on me, causing little beads of sweat to form
on my body.

The sand cradled me beneath my towel as I nestled into a comfortable state of bliss. I
closed my eyes and listened to the soothing sounds of the ocean waves softly rock
back and forth against the shore.

Enjoying the gift that Mother Nature has shared with me on this gorgeous day, I
almost forgot that I was not alone. Suddenly, I felt a shift in weight. Someone was
slowly moving closer to me.

“Cassy?” a deep voice whispered in my ear.
I ignored it. I was too involved in my fantasy to be bothered.

“Baby, it’s time to wake up.” the voice said louder.

“Just a little bit longer.” I begged.

“Cassy….” breathed the voice as he gently kissed me on the cheek.

“What?”

“You’re gonna be late for class.”

“Class?!” I moaned, pulling the comforter over my head with the harsh reality that
the summer beach get-away I just had was the all-too-real experience of a beautiful
dream……

 

Get a copy of my novel, The Spirit Within on Amazon!

~ Sheila Renee Parker on Twitter @sheilarparker.

 

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The Figurines

When I was growing up, in my family’s home we had a china cabinet with glass doors and three shelves on the top level. On the bottom level was a wooden section with doors that could be used for storing small things. This attractive piece of furniture was full of delicate chinaware and other ornate objects that had been collected throughout the years. I remember white dishes beautifully decorated with red intricate design and on the center shelf, just about at eye level, sat two pilgrim looking figurines. One boy and one girl that held primitive fishing poles in their hands. My mother had them proudly displayed facing out for all to see.

So, what’s the significance of these two commonly dressed figurines and why did they make such a lasting impression in my memory? It wasn’t due to their simplicity, nor that my mother cherished them, but rather it was because of what occurred randomly without explanation.

As I said earlier, the boy and girl figurines would always be displayed facing out, but on occasion without any definable reasoning, we would find these two turned completely around, facing inward with their backs to us. Upon questioning, no one knew how it happened. At first, we basically brushed it off until it happened a few more times. It wasn’t a nightly thing, not even something that we would wake up to on a daily basis, but it still happened and we were totally baffled by it.

We tried debunking the phenomenon by coming up with plausible rationalizations, but nothing proved conclusive as far as logic could explain. The boy and girl figurines would be perfectly placed looking outward, but for some strange reason, we would randomly awake to them turned backwards as if on purpose. And each time it happened, never a sound was heard, nor did the atmosphere change. Also, no one was ever afraid, nor felt any kind of malevolence.

We did not live in a haunted house, let me make that clear, but those two figurines simply could not be explained. Perhaps it was a simple gesture from the other side with just enough presence to make itself known…

 

Get a copy of my novel, The Spirit Within on Amazon!

~ Sheila Renee Parker on Twitter @sheilarparker.

 

 

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My Aversion with the Ouija Board

More than two decades have passed since the night I played with the infamous Ouija Board. Thinking back, not really sure what was going through my head and what prompted me to attempt such nefarious communication. Perhaps the notion could have been given credit due to the thought of innocent play, but after witnessing a few things, there was nothing innocent proven about it.

It was at night and I was with two others. We were just three teenagers looking for something to do and there were no adults around. So, we lit some candles in the room we were in and also in the room next to us. The atmosphere was all aglow with amber lighting as we readied the spirit board. Once the planchette was placed, we silenced our speech and cleared our minds. With our fingers on the communicative tool, we asked our first question, “is there anyone here?”. Moments passed and nothing happened. We were patient and asked again. That’s when the planchette moved. Even though the movement was slight, it was still quite detected. Of course, we asked each other who was causing the action, but we all vowed that we weren’t responsible.

The room was beginning to feel a bit tense, but we decided to continue. We asked a few more questions like, “who are you?” and “when did you die?”…. the typical questions of curiosity. What we got in response seemed innocent enough. We were told that the spirit was a female who had died many years prior in a train wreck. That’s when I started to feel uneasy because we were at home, way out in the country and there weren’t any train tracks around for many miles.

Then, we asked if the spirit was there to cause us any harm and we were told “no”. After that, we proceeded to ask if the spirit ever thought about coming back as a living person in the form of reincarnation. It replied that it already had done that, meaning that it had already been reborn.

Our hearts raced and the looks on our faces were of shock and confusion, but we continued by asking “who have you been reincarnated into?” It answered with the name of an individual with whom I hold very, very dear…. someone that I knew in fact had not been inhabited by the spirit. We questioned the spirit on how it could have been reincarnated as someone we knew among the living, if they were communicating with us by use of the Ouija Board. A long, awkward pause lingered. There was no response through the planchette, but a candle that was sitting very securely in the center of a table in the next room, all of a sudden fell over, making a loud noise. There was no explanation to how the candle could have fallen because we were all three hovering over the spirit board and there was no one else in the house.

As frightened as we were, we asked the spirit one last question, “did you cause the candle to fall over?” It’s reply was, “yes”.

Immediately, we stopped playing with the Ouija Board and quickly put it away. The remainder of the night we stayed wide awake, too scared to sleep. To this day I don’t know what ever happened to that Ouija Board and I don’t really care, but I do know one thing for certain and that is…… I will never mess with a spirit board ever again.

 

Get a copy of my novel, The Spirit Within on Amazon!

~ Sheila Renee Parker on Twitter @sheilarparker.

 

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Interview with Steve Di Schiavi

Today I’m welcoming Steve Di Schiavi, co-host of The Travel Channel’s exciting show, The Dead Files. Thank you, Steve for stopping by!

 

Sheila ~ Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Steve ~ I was born & raised in Brooklyn, NY to 1st generation Italian parents…I served 3 years in the USMC after being asked to leave HS.. lol, honorably discharged and joined the NYPD, spent almost 22 years retiring from the Manhattan North Homicide Squad…

 

Sheila~ How did you get to become the co-host of the hit television series, The Dead Files?

Steve ~ ABC News filmed a documentary called NYPD 24/7 that was acclaimed and won an Emmy.. I was the featured detective in the 1st episode..an executive saw it and I was asked if I would be interested in doing television…

 

Sheila ~ What’s it like working with Amy Allan?

Steve ~ She amazes me every week and it’s still hard for a man like me to understand her abilities, she’s amazing!

 

Sheila ~ What was the scariest location you’ve ever investigated?

Steve ~ I don’t ever get scared at a location, I’ve been thru to many horrors in real life to be afraid of a building…

 

Sheila ~ Prior to working on the show, did you ever have any encounters with the paranormal?

Steve ~ I have never and to this day still have not..

 

Sheila ~ Would you consider yourself a skeptic or a believer? Or perhaps a little bit of
both?

Steve ~ I consider myself an open minded skeptic and am more a skeptic of people than the paranormal..

 
Sheila ~ How do you go about collecting the history of the potentially haunted locations? What steps do you take?

Steve ~ It’s a long process starting with a deed and chain of title search on the property, then research on those who lived and died there as well as the surrounding area..

 

Sheila ~ During your career as a homicide detective, what would you say was the most difficult part about your job?

Steve ~ I would say dealing with child deaths and notifying loved ones of a death…

 

Sheila ~ Are there any current or future projects that you’d like to share? What’s next for Steve Di Schiavi?

Steve ~ Right now concentrating on The Dead Files and helping as many as we can, hopefully for many years to come..

 

Sheila ~ Any words of wisdom for those who want to investigate the paranormal?

Steve ~ Not as far as paranormal investigating, but do your homework on the location and the people who call you in as well.. DO NOT BELIEVE everything they say…people tend to blame everything on the paranormal once they’ve had one experience..

 

Follow Steve Di Schiavi on Facebook: Steve Di Schiavi-The Dead Files

Also on Twitter: @stevedischiavi

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