Thursday, April 10, 2008

Guest Blogger - Judith Rochelle

Digging Into the World of Paranormality

When I sat down to write my first book I had nothing in mind except to try and combine a good love story and a good mystery. And hope that I could do it well enough that someone would buy it. Well, folks, four years later no one has, but my “area of operation’, fueled by my natural curiosity (some might say my essential nosiness) has grown and widened., and with it the sales of my books.

If someone had told me those four years ago I’d be delving into psychic experiences, people with psychic abilities—dogs with psychic abilities—I’d have sent them for counseling. Yet here I am, not only fascinated by it but immersed in it.

The word psychic refers to extra sensory perception and forces of a paranormal nature, as well as to a person who has extra sensory perception or paranormal powers. My Phoenix Agency books deal with former military men who have formed a security agency that contracts for both the government and private corporations. In each of the books, the heroine has special psychic powers.

In Always On My Mind, Faith Wilding is a telepath who becomes the only link to the outside world for her friend and lover, Mark Halloran, who is a prisoner in the Peruvian jungle. She receives fragments of his cries for help because a stronger telepath is working to block them.

In Visions of Darkness, released this month, Mia Fleming is precognitive. Visions come to her in flashes and pieces and aren’t always that easy to interpret. She’s frustrated by the strangeness of them and fears the dark messages they are sending. But with the help of other precogs she helps Phoenix CEO Dan Romeo find a missing high tech robot and solve three murders. In Scent of Danger which is still a work in progress, there is a dog with Psi abilities who communicates with his owner.

So I guess I’ve managed to combine my love of romance and mystery with my new obsession, the paranormal.

Here’s a little blurb of each of the first two books, released by The Lotus Circle.

Always On My Mind
As teenagers Faith Wilding and Mark Halloran discovered they could communicate telepathically. For most of their lives it’s been their private way to send messages, especially when a long weekend brought home the realization that their friendship had become something far more complex. But Faith is busy building a career as a successful author of political thrillers and Mark, a Special Operations team leader, is concerned with the covert missions he leads.
Now someone has betrayed their latest mission, most of his team has been killed and Mark has been captured. His telepathic messages to Faith are his only chance for help. But powerful forces want to sweep the whole episode under the rug and will do anything to make that happen—including killing Faith.

Visions of DarknessDan Romeo CEO of the mysterious Phoenix Agency, has just completed a dangerous mission and wants some down time. But when his friend Chase Carpenters calls with an emergency, how can he refuse him? Someone is threatening to steal Chase’s brand new high tech robot about to be unveiled and all he’s got is an anonymous tip. Art historian Mia Fleming has battled with her precognitive abilities all her life, often shunned by a skeptical public and even more skeptical police. But the visions relating to the robot are so vivid she can’t ignore them. When Dan tracks her down as the source of the anonymous note, he wonders if she’s the culprit or a conduit for a message? Things get complicated when the electricity between Dan and Mia ratchets up into high voltage and they find it’s not something they can ignore. Then bodies begin falling, Mia’s vision escalate in horror and intensity and the tension at Carpenter Techtronics is off the charts. When Mia is shot and almost killed, Dan and his team race to locate the real robot and find the killers before they can strike again.

How do you feel about the paranormal? Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you.