It’s not too early to start that Christmas list – Homecoming will be out December 3.  If Santa comes through with the Kindle or Nook, you’d be all set!

More on the Homecoming page!

Excellent question. I mean I am a girl and should therefore (according to Mom) be attracted to lace and tea and, well you get the idea. Not me.

As far back as I can remember I’ve been drawn to the paranormal. Maybe I have one of those Abby Normal brains. Saturday afternoons was when the science fiction movies were shown – aliens, monsters, vampires, etc. and I was there, mesmerized. I never saw them as horror, they were exploring the unknown. Rod Serling, I love you.

I was a young teenager when Dark Shadows came on. A daily paranormal show! I missed an episode only when there was no other possible recourse. There were no VCRs back then. I was taking shorthand in school and was supposed to practice every day. I literally took down the dialogue of the show, getting every word and still have them in a box in the attic. No I wasn’t obsessed. (And it’s still the only time I’ve actually used Gregg shorthand outside of a classroom).

Bewitched was my kind of show and yes, I did name my daughter Samantha – not for my father-in-law, Samuel, but for the witch who could do all kinds of things long before Harry Potter was born, and was also one of the most beautiful women on TV.

I had such high hopes for the Batman show when it began airing, but they wimped out and made it campy. That was horror to me and I was stunned at the sacrilege. I’ve never really forgiven them or thought much of Batman since, though I understand they have redeemed the franchise.

Years later along comes The X-Files and then Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Talk about heaven on earth for us weirdos. The little redhead and the little blonde could really kick ass and look after themselves and all the big boys around them. (And who wouldn’t want a little David Duchovny to look after).

Now this kind of show is everywhere – Supernatural, The Walking Dead, True Blood, Warehouse 13 and I’m in hog heaven. I’m sure the pendulum will swing away again someday, but I’ve got the DVDs . . .

Okay, everyone who knows me, stop sniggering now. They all know I haven’t done housework in decades – at least not willingly. Not that I was ever very good at it. It helps to marry the perfect man. And as for cooking – when my children bring their children to my home someday for their favorite childhood meal, little Happy Meal boxes will circle the table. I know it. I have a lovely kitchen because it came with the house.

But it’s because I have no passion for it.

It all just has to be done again tomorrow or next weekend. I get rid of the dust but it just comes back. The clean clothes get dirty again and carpet needs vacuuming. I’ll cook whatever you want (I actually can cook – but don’t ask me to decide what to make), but the meal will be over and the next one is coming. The dishes still have to be washed.

But writing . . . I’m creating something that will last. I can read it over and over again. I can write it and put in some little thing that bring a fictional person or place to life. And others will read it and maybe they’ll remember a line or a character and then it’s real and part of their lives forever too. What I write can put a picture in someone’s head and they can follow me. Maybe their picture isn’t exactly like mine, but that’s okay, they’re still seeing something I created in their own way.

I can still remember reading about Trixie Belden’s little house down the road from Honey’s mansion and the fun they had with Jim and Trixie’s brothers. No one better try to tell me that Hogwarts isn’t real or there are no Ents. Now I can be part of the magic.

Now that makes me passionate.