I work at a small motel in Tennessee. I've been at this place along time and had heard stories of the owner's first wife passing away on the property. She was said to have fallen down a flight of stairs and died instantly. Years after her death, the upstairs attic area was remodeled and made into rooms. A few months ago, I was alone at the motel working. The front desk was closed due to slow business during the winter months. I had only two or three rooms to clean then I would be heading out. One of my rooms due to check out that day was on the upstairs level. I noticed the car belonging to the lady I saw go into the room the day before was still there. My fist thought was that she had went shopping or walking through town before leaving.

As a writer of Victorian novels that have a definite Gothic twist, I’ve often been asked if I draw upon any personal events regarding ‘ghosts’ which are then included in my work. 

I have had experiences that might be considered ‘supernatural’, but whether this is a real force, or an internal manifestation of extreme emotions such as grief, well, I am in two minds about such things.

But there is one event very clear in mind from the time of the death of my step-father — a man who had loved me as his own and for whom I had the greatest affection.