Hi, everyone! I want to
thank Cia for inviting me to the blog. Curiosity Killed Shaney is my
first published novel and I am thrilled to share this story with all of you.
This blog tour got huge
fast! There are awesome prizes to that will be given away at the end of the
tour. At the end of this post, you will find a link to enter! Check in at www.jcwallacebooks.com for links to all of the blogs in the tour and you
can enter as much as you like!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hey
everyone, Hudson here. JC’s off actually writing another story. I can’t wait
for that one. He wanted to finish the interview for Shaney and me but Shaney is
currently MIA doing something (probably getting into some kind of trouble). JC
asked me to stop by and post a blog for the tour. I decided to share some
interesting paranormal and other some other facts about the Adirondack
Mountains in NY where Shaney and I live. Our town is Tupper Lake and you can
see it on the map below.
Interesting Paranormal and Other Facts about the
Adirondack Mountains
·
Champ, the Lake Champlain monster, is a prehistoric creature such as a plesiosaur (same as the
Loch Ness Monster) or a tanystropheus. Champ is a member of the elite group of
creatures called cryptozoological animals, which include dragons, unicorns,
Pegasus, Sasquatch (see below), Yeti, and of course, Champ's
"cousin", the Loch Ness Monster. Cryptozoological animals are those
whose existence on earth has never been proven or disproven.
·
Abolitionist John Brown’s farm in North Elba (now a NYS
historic site) is said to be haunted by his son, Billy, who died from being
struck by lightning while plowing.
·
Whitehall, NY, at the southern end of the Adirondacks,
has been the site of numerous Sasquatch (Bigfoot) sightings dating back
hundreds of years.
·
In the late 1800’s to mid-1900s, Saranac Lake was a
world-renowned center for the treatment of tuberculosis, which at the time
included fresh air and complete bed-rest. Cure cottages were erected for the
sick. Several of these cottages remain and many are purported to be haunted by
the sick who died there.
·
There are groups of ghost hunters in the Adirondacks
called the Adirondack Ghost Hunters and the NY Shadow Chasers.
·
The cult slasher film, Sleepaway Camp, was filmed in Fort Edward, Glens Falls and
Argyle. The Hudson Falls police let actor
Allen Breton use one of their actual police uniforms for the movie. When Allen
pulled the gun of the holster during a scene, it was the actual police revolver,
not a prop, and was loaded. Luckily, he wasn’t required shoot anyone at that
moment.
·
The Sagamore Hotel in Bolton Landing is said to be the
exclusive haunted home to several lost spirits, including a little ghost boy
who walks about haunting the golf course. A ghostly couple can be seen walking through the dining room where upon the man
flings the woman hard to the floor with a thud where she fades into the carpet.
Another creepy ghost is the mysterious lady in white who enters many rooms and
awakens sleepers by peering into their faces and blowing a cold chill on their
eyelids.
·
Serial Killer Robert Garrow lived in Mineville, NY. In
the early 70s, he murdered four people in July 1973. Two of the victim’s bodies
were never recovered and were believed to have been dumped in a mineshaft near
where Garrow lived.
·
In
Dannemora, many ghosts haunt the house on Flagg Street. The image of a man
committing suicide often appears in a bathroom mirror. He actually hung himself
with an electrical cord in that bathroom. Also, a girl murdered by her father
she can often be heard singing.
·
The
most famous murder in the Adirondacks is said to be that of Grace Gillette. In
1906, her new husband drowned her in Moose Lake however, he’d claimed that
she’d accidentally fallen from their canoe. After being found guilty, he was
executed by electric chair.
·
At the now closed Air Force Base in Plattsburgh, the
entrance to the Old Base still has two pillars that are original architecture.
In the past, Sentries working this gate have reported a Revolutionary War era
soldier marching back and forth between the pillars, standing guard.
·
In
Tupper Lake, NY, Shaney Mills stumbled into a ritualistic circle and was imbued
with an energy that allows him to control matter at the point of creation (read
more of his story in Curiosity Killed Shaney!)
I hope you’ve enjoyed these Adirondack facts. Thanks for stopping by! Tomorrow, the blog tour will visit the blog of
MA Church! Hope
to see you there!
Available at
Blurb: Shaney's curiosity is always getting him into trouble,
including stumbling into a ritualistic circle and being imbued with an energy
that will eventually tear him apart. He soon finds out that Hudson, a man he
cares for deeply, might be responsible for his misfortune. Add in the betrayal
by his best friend Todd and the desire of a demented occultist named Silas to
control the energy inside of him and there seems to be no way out. Can Shaney
find a way to rid his body of the nefarious energy before he dies a horrible
death?
Excerpt
The cabin was dark. Still, the uneasiness plaguing Shaney’s
gut crept through his veins. Todd shifted restlessly beside him.
"Any chanting or pressure to run away?" Todd asked
in a hushed voice.
Shaney peered out into the unnerving darkness. "No
chanting. Running has crossed my mind, but that chicken shit is all on me.”
“Since when does anything remotely interesting scare you
off?” Todd asked.
“Since yesterday,” Shaney replied and waved Todd to follow
him to the stairs leading to the front door.
The dried, crusty remnants of mud crunched beneath Shaney’s
sneakers as he crept up the stairs. Shaney froze on the last step. Shit. The front door was ajar again.
Hudson must have locked it when they’d been there earlier, right? Why would he
have left it open? Shaney’s apprehension kicked into a heart-pounding panic,
but they’d come this far, they couldn’t run now. Using the end of his
flashlight, Shaney warily pushed the door open.
He scanned the interior and his eyes widened as he stepped in
cautiously.
“What the fuck?” he managed to get out.
Pushing in behind him, Todd let out a loud gasp, and then
took a step back. “No.”
What little furniture there had been was piled into the
corners. Complex symbols and shapes drawn in black covered the walls and the
ceiling. Rendered on the old wood floor were more symbols and shapes in what
looked like white chalk.
“I’ve seen these before,” Todd whispered, gesturing to the
cryptic graffiti covering every surface.
“And?” Shaney asked, waiting for the punch line.
“And, fuck, this is bad.”
“Define ‘bad,’” Shaney croaked out.
“Like oh-shit-you-don’t-mess-with-anything-this-powerful
bad.” Todd sounded a bit awestruck.
Shaney continued to run the beam of the flashlight over the
symbols, which looked like a cross between something occult, Egyptian, and
tenth grade geometry class. The symbols ranged from small, about a foot wide,
to massive, like the one on the floor that spanned at least eight feet. Taken
as a whole, each symbol was a dizzying array of angles and intersecting lines.
But looking closely, Shaney could discern repeating patterns such as triangles,
squares, and circles. Other odd shapes and numbers rounded out the symbols. It
was as if he’d jumped straight into an episode of Supernatural. Maybe last year’s attempted exorcism of Shaney’s
alleged demon hadn’t been so far-fetched.
“How fucking long would it take draw something like this?”
The angles were too precise, the lines too straight. Someone had taken
painstaking care in executing these images.
“So not the part
to be focusing on,” Todd said dryly.
“So what’s all of this for? Some kind of magic spell? Some
occult shit? Exorcism? Voodoo?” Shaney
was trying for sarcasm, but with the hair standing up on his neck and tremors
rippling his skin, he couldn’t pull it off. He stared at the massive circular
symbol that consumed the floor and swore the lines were vibrating. He opened
and closed his eyes to try and stop the visual disturbance.
“Yes and no to all of the above,” Todd stated matter-of-factly
while pulling out his phone.
“What’re you doing?”
“Taking pictures.” The blinding white flash lit the room as
Todd methodically documented the symbols without moving closer into the room.
“Change places with me,” Todd said, scooting past Shaney to
capture the symbols on the wall behind him. “Whatever you do don’t step on any
symbols,” Todd said just as Shaney was about to lay his shoe on one.
Shaney twisted mid-step to avoid the small S-shaped symbol
beneath his foot, but his center of balance shifted when he knocked his
shoulder against the open door. The momentum slammed the door shut and Shaney
stumbled back into the room. Flailing his arms, he managed to remain upright.
Todd turned to Shaney. His face paled in the illumination
from their flashlights. His eyes widened in what Shaney could only describe as
unadulterated horror.
Shaney chuckled nervously. “Umm, Todd, I stepped on a
symbol,” Shaney said, standing almost dead center of the largest one on the
floor. No answer. When Shaney tried to move, his lower body wouldn’t respond. Oh, shit. “Todd, I stepped on a fucking
symbol and I can’t move!” Panic flooded his system with adrenaline as he
repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to move. That seemed to snap Todd out of his
trance.
Todd glanced around the room, and Shaney hoped he was
looking for a solution to his dilemma. Todd’s eyes stopped on the closed door.
A partial symbol covering the door lined up with a symbol that was its mirror
image on the wall adjacent to it. Closing the door had made the two halves a
whole.
“Damn it!” Todd sprinted to the door, leaping over symbols
on the floor. He grabbed the handle and yanked hard on the door, but it didn’t
budge.
A low vibration beneath Shaney’s feet pulled his attention
away from Todd’s struggle. He frowned. The vibrations reminded him of an
approaching train on the railroad tracks—and his foot was caught in the
proverbial rails.
“Todd?” Shaney swallowed hard as the vibrating intensified
and filled his legs.
Todd stilled his attempts to open the door and turned back
to Shaney.
“Todd, something’s happening. Get me off of here!” Shaney
pleaded as all of the hairs on his body stood on end. A shot of tingling energy
pulsed up through the soles of his cross trainers, and flashed through his
entire body.
Curiosity Killed Shaney Blog Tour
Giveaway!!
Shaney
is so excited about his story being told that he is giving away some great
prizes!
P.S.
He’s really excited to give them away!
Prizes:
1- $25 Amazon Gift Card
2 Curiosity Killed Shaney Ebooks
2 of Maximus’ “Duct Tape” T-shirts
3 “Freeze Warlock” Coffee Mugs
2 $5 Amazon Gift Cards
You
can enter daily along the blog tour, as often as you like!
About JC Wallace
I have been writing all of my life, however it was just
this year that I ventured out to be published. In my day job, I am a behavior
analyst. At night and on the weekends, I write about all things men. I believe
there is nothing hotter than two men finding and loving one another, whether
for a night or forever. An avid reader of M/M romance, I love a good twist of a
plot, HEA, HFN, or tragic ending.
I am owned by three kids, one grandchild and one on the way, two dogs and one cat. I live in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains in Northern NY
I am owned by three kids, one grandchild and one on the way, two dogs and one cat. I live in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains in Northern NY
Great interview as usual! Thanks JC and Cia!
ReplyDeleteAwesome interview. Had not heard of some of those things.
ReplyDeleteRegional curiosities are always so intriguing!
ReplyDeletevitajex(At)Aol(Dot)com
I love the paranormal and I also love the area this takes place in. So, this book sounds like a great one. I was going to ask you how far you were from Lake George. I LOVE it up there and try to go every year. I've never stayed in the Sagamore, but I've driven by it and seen it on boat rides on the lake many times. It would be really cool to see a ghost! As long as they aren't harmful. The book sounds really interesting, so good luck with it!
ReplyDeleteCannd
cden23@aol.com