Sunday, September 7, 2008

Guest Blogger - Lynn Lorenz


Common Powers ~ Lynn Lorenz

First let me say, I truly love paranormal stories. I’ve been reading them since dirt was young. As a young girl, I’d been immersed in them. Not just the usual stories of childhood, but I remember watching classic horror movies and gobbling up every book I could find at the Nix Library on Carrolton Ave, in New Orleans. And although those stories were wonderful, the ones that fascinated me most were the ones about my own family. One of my novellas, coming out in October from Liquid Silver Books, is Second Moon, about a werewolf and a witch, and it’s dedicated to my mother and my grandmother, both dead, and their paranormal influence on my life.

Those two women, both gifted in non-normal ways, were open about their gifts, even while denying they were anything special. My mother did astrology charts and made predictions of the future for members of our family and her friends. I can rattle off the many ones that came true, from the sudden death of an uncle to my own marriage, but let’s just say I’ve never not believed.

As for my grandmother, her dreams told of future events. My mother and aunts would gather at every holiday and invariably told stories about Grandma’s dreams and how they’d come true. I listened to them as a child, but hadn’t really experienced them until, while on a summer vacation in Waveland, Mississippi, at a small remote fishing camp in the marshes, she woke up one morning, declared she’d had a dream and made us pack up and leave with two paid weeks left of vacation. My father was furious, but did it, swearing and fussing as he dragged our boat out of the water and back onto the trailer. We drove home to New Orleans in so a thick silence that even I knew to keep my mouth shut. Two days later, Hurricane Camille hit and the camp was wiped from the face of the earth. My dad went back to find his friends, having grown up in Biloxi, who’d stayed, but nothing was left. There were no survivors.

I can even tell you of my own experiences, with my mother and grandmother’s spirits, or of the many haunted houses I’ve been in while living in New Orleans. So, even though I believe in certain paranormal events, writing about werewolves or vampires, which I do, is different than believing in them. And I find it easier to believe in spirits, premonitions, and hauntings, than UFO’s or alien monsters.

All of that exposure led to my new series, Common Powers. I wanted to write about people, like my mom and grandma, who had a gift. Small powers, perhaps not completely developed or accepted, and how they affected the lives of the men who bore them. In Soul Bonds, Sammi has the ability to hear other’s thoughts and feel their emotions, and for lagniappe, he can direct those feelings back to his lovers, making for some truly erotic sex. He’s searching for the one guy who can hear his thoughts and he finds a soul mate in Mitchell. In Rush In The Dark, my new release, Brian has had premonitions all his life and never quite knew what to do with them, until he becomes a PI. Rush can see in the dark, and has kept it hidden, just like being gay, from everyone in his life. Their gifts can either bring them together or tear them apart. I’m already planning my next book in the series, that will be about a man with the power to heal with a touch and a police chief that needs to be touched.

As much as I love to talk about me, what I want to hear about is your experiences with the other world. Are you a believer?

Lynn's Links:

19 comments:

Savanna Kougar said...

Hi Lynn, lots of experiences. But I liked hearing your family story. Thanks for sharing.

Jeanne said...

Thanks for stopping by, Savanna.
I firmly believe in psychic abilities. What I also appreciated about Lynn's post was the love for her family that shone through.

Lynn Lorenz said...

Thanks, Savanna and Jeanne! My family was definitely a matriarch and those wonderful women, including my two aunts, were a great influence in my life. Both aunts are stil alive, still incredibly feisty and both in their eighties.

Savanna, do tell of your favorite, "aha" moment.

Lauralyn said...

Oh. My. Gosh. I forgot that Lynn Lorenz and I are twins separated at birth. Nothing as exciting in my family as any kind of gifts, but we do share mothers who are interested in the 'other'. I noticed that on another blog. (Squee, someone who says lagniappe... Love it!)

BTW, I read Soul Bonds and adored it. What a fun story, and what a lovely character in Sammi. I just loved him and Mitchell, and I'm hoping Brian(? am I remembering right?) gets equal time in a story of his own.

Lynn Lorenz said...

lauralyn, squee back at you!
Yes, Rush In The Dark is Brian's love story and I think you'll like it too.

Yes, it's true, our moms are very similiar...I've always wanted a sister, got stuck with a brother, but after a few decades, he turned out okay.

Lynn Lorenz said...

Hit my website and look in the writing gallery - you can read the opening of Rush there.

Josh Lanyon said...

Hey Lynn! Had to stop buy and say hello. Very interesting how our families provide both the inspiration -- and sometimes the actual material -- for our work.

Really enjoyed this.

Josh Lanyon said...

Jeanne, you manage to draw some of the best blogs out of people!

Well done!

Lynn Lorenz said...

Thanks Josh! I'm so honored that you stopped by! (scraping and bowing and can't wait to buy your new one tomorrow!)

Jeanne said...

Josh said:
Jeanne, you manage to draw some of the best blogs out of people!

Well done!

Can I give an uncharacteristic squee? ;~D

Lauralyn: yeah I forgot to mention that I loved that Lynn used the word lagniappe. ;~D

Lynn Lorenz said...

hey, doesn't everyone? Being a N'awlin's y'at, I have to throw a few of those words around like cheap Mardi Gras beads!
Throw me sumpthin' mista!

Jeanne said...

Here's my contribution to your question:
My mom had a waking dream one day. She dreamt her SIL called to say that they had spayed their cat because she tended to roam.
Okay, sounds nothin weird, except:
My mom didn't know my aunt had a cat
She hadn't spoken to my aunt in months
she wasn't expecting a call
And so when my aunt called a few hours later with the information my mom dreamt, she was a little spooked out.
I bekieve that dreams do open us up to other forces whether it be thoughts or other worldly visions

Josh Lanyon said...

Thanks Josh! I'm so honored that you stopped by! (scraping and bowing and can't wait to buy your new one tomorrow!)

Nah, I really miss hanging out doing the blog scene. Between the wrists and my schedule, I'm pretty cut off these days. It was great to read this.

You know...I don't think I have a new release tomorrow. I've got a sip from Torquere on the 13th and the Adrien English book on the 16th. It just SEEMS like I have a book out every week. *g*

Lynn Lorenz said...

Well, Josh, I thought it was this week...and no it doesn't seem like it, we fans just wish it were so...

Josh Lanyon said...

Well, Josh, I thought it was this week...and no it doesn't seem like it, we fans just wish it were so...

Smooooth, Ms. L. *g*

Lynn Lorenz said...

Okay, here's another one of my grandma's stories...this one comes at the end of her life...she was in the hospital, in the last few days of her life, she'd had a series of strokes. My aunt came into the room to visit and grandma was talking to her brother and sister, who had died ages ago. Grandma told my aunt that they'd come for her and were just chatting while they waited. It totally freaked my aunt out, because she continued to talk to them while my aunt was there.

Lynn Lorenz said...

Like butter, Josh...

K. Z. Snow said...

Fascinating, Lynn. I love hearing about "the story behind the book". I don't have a lick of psychic ability but firmly believe other people do.

Now here's something I've always wondered about. You know those pop-culture mediumistic icons who've become like televangelists? (There's a Sylvia Somebody and a James Somebody and another male Somebody.) Anyway, I've always wondered, when they claim to be communicating with folks on the Other Side, if they aren't just tapping into the their clients' memory banks. Know what I mean?

Christie Craig said...

Ohhh,

I love this topic Lynn.

I have many experiences that make me a believer of special gifts. My great grandmother was known a healer. She was actually called to the hospital to talk the burn out of people.

Great Post.

CC