Category Archives: Tina R. McSwain

by | June 26, 2011 · 11:39 pm

Paranormally Speaking

By Tina. R. McSwain

They come to get you when its time…

I have a friend who is dying.  (The reason you did not see a blog from me last week).  She is currently at a hospice facility.  I spent all day with her on Saturday of last week, and yesterday.  I can tell she doesn’t have long.  She asked me to check out her room.  I asked her what she meant by this statement.  She said, you know, do that thing you do and see if anyone is here with us.  I began a short meditation, and did pick up on a man; rugged, tall and was wearing a hat.  I kept this to myself.

She continued and said, well I am seeing people.  I asked her what people, she said she was seeing her dad.  I knew her dad had passed many years ago, but I had never met him.  I asked what he looked like and did he favor wearing hats.  She said that he did, and that he was a tall, rugged man who had been a farmer all his life.  That confirmed what I had suspected.  Her time is drawing near, and her father is there to help her cross into the afterlife. 

What a comforting thought, that you don’t have to make that journey all alone.  Someone who loves you will be there to help, and allieviate any fears you may have. 

Godspeed, my friend.  I will miss you

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by | June 15, 2011 · 1:00 am

Favorite Character

by
Crymsyn Hart

Who is your favorite character? What actor would you see playing that favorite character? What makes one of your characters so endearing to you that you always mention them or write about them? Who, as a reader, do you love in your favorite book?

Those are questions I’ve gotten in regards to some of the characters who keep popping up in my books. I’ve always asked other authors those as well. My favorite character is my Angel of Death, Azrael. He started off being a fly by angel and then demanded being a central angel. Then he makes guest appearances in other series and some random standalones I have.

As a reader, my favorite character is Damon from the Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith. I’d love to have him running around in other books that I read. Damon would add a great discourse to Twilight. I can only imagine him trying to win Bella over from Edward. Lol. He is just so sassy with the edge of evil that you can’t let him out of your sight or he’ll do something evil.

If I could choose an actor to play Azrael, I’d probably pick Hugh Jackman. But there are so many possibilities that all make me go yum.

Those characters that become our favorites, whether you are writing or reading about them, have to have that certain thing about them. That small edge that want to make you revisit them over and over again. I reread books just to read about one character because I enjoy their small quirks. How they laugh or how they interact with other characters. Or just in general how they love to kill people because they do it with a sense of humor.
What do you love about the characters you enjoy so much?

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by | June 11, 2011 · 12:08 am

Paranormally Speaking

By Tina R. McSwain

Physician, heal thyself.  How many times have we heard this metaphor?  Why is it that the caretaker often forgets to care for themselves?  In the case of a “Cleanser” such as myself, this can become downright annoying at best, dangerous at worst. 

After a recent investigation, I was so busy making sure my team was protected and free of any spirit attachments, that I forgot to take care of myself.  Luckily for me, my Mother acts as a backup.  For you see, she sees dead people, and is quick to point out that I have someone hanging around.  In this particular case, she brought up the subject at dinner.  She said, “I have been meaning to tell you for about two weeks now, you brought something home with you.”  So, I immediately begin to think back, where was I two weeks ago?  What was I doing?  As I begin to check my calendar, I ask her, “what did you see?”  She answers, “well I don’t rightly know, I don’t think its human, and it definitely is not good.”  The phrase “Oh crap” leapt to my lips, but I did not let it free.  I grabbed my phone and went outside to make a call to my support system.  After a few minutes of discussion, I had made a battle plan to rid my home of this entity.

I grabbed my “jump box” as I call it.  It has all my oils, salts and herbs and cleansing supplies.  I began to gather my items in earnest.  I grabbed a bottle of this, a sprig of that, and soon had concocted a mixture sure to remedy the situation.  I than begin to cleanse my home and myself.  I enlisted my Mother to help me.  She is amazed at the ability I have to do this type of thing. 

After a rocky start (I was made to feel lightheaded and we both heard a series of growls), I succeeded in riding my home of this unwelcome presence.  My Mother said she watched “something” leave out the front door. 

I learned a valuable lesson from a mistake that I will never make again.  In my line of work, one cannot afford to default on their spiritual maintenance.  Live and learn, as they say.  I’m just glad I lived through this one and emerged healthy and better equipped with one more piece of knowledge under my belt.

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by | June 4, 2011 · 7:58 am

Paranormally Speaking

By Tina R. McSwain

From the Con

If you are in Charlotte today, come on out to the Hilton University and join us at the Con.  It is a spectacle of science fiction, gaming, horror, writers, special gusts, independent films, and much much more.  I will be on several of the paranormal tract panel discussions.  Here’s just the Paranormal schedule below.  Hope you will check this out if you have never been to a “Con”.  Its hot outside, and air conditioned inside, Saturday is the day to come according to old-time Con-goers, so come on down…

Saturday – 6/4/2011
9:00 am Ask a Ghost Hunter Walden – Programming 4
11:00 am Too Much of a Good Thing? Walden – Programming 4
12:00 pm Skeptics vs. Believers Walden – Programming 4

07:00 pm Shawn Sellers Walden – Programming 4
07:00 pm – The World Premier of Ghost Trek TV Pilot University Ballroom D/E
Programming 1

Sunday – 6/5/2011
12:00 pm Cryptozoology Walden – Programming 4
01:00 pm Paranormal Then and Now Walden – Programming 4

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by | May 27, 2011 · 12:44 pm

Paranormally Speaking

By Tina R. McSwain

Waverly Hills Sanatorium – Louisville, KY

Has to be one of the most haunted locations in the country.  Given its long history (around 100 years) there has been plenty of time to make a haunting.  Opened in 1910 as a tuberculosis clinic, it was expanded in 1926 to what is seen today.  It remained a tuberculosis hospital until 1961. 

Closed for a year, quarantined, and renovated, it opened back up its doors in 1962 as a geriatric facility called Woodhaven Medical Services.  It remained as such until the state of Kentucky closed it down in 1980.

So much death, dying, deplorable conditions, misery and mistreatment of the elderly, has made this place ripe with ghostly activity.  Add to that, suicide (or was it murder?).  During the time it lay abandoned, rumours of satanic practices within its walls permeated the local folklore. 

With its dark past, The Charlotte Area Paranormal Society decided to travel to Louisville and investigate Waverly.  While personal experiences are not considered evidence, they are deemed important, and almost everyone in the group had at least one.  Four team members experienced the sound of rolling coffin carts, and the bang of them stopping at the bottom of the Body Chute (long after they have been removed.)  Another four team members experienced a dark presence on the 4th floor which left them unnerved.   Still others saw “Shadow People”, and experienced the strange phenomenon of a “doppelganger”.  Two team members encountered the ghost of a dog that had met a tragic end at Waverly. 

We employed a great deal of technology, (8) Sony Hi8 night-shot cameras on tripods with IR illuminators, (3) roving Night Shot cameras with IR illuminators (these accompanied the teams as they investigated), (2) full spectrum HD video recorders on tripods with IR Illuminators, (2) roving full spectrum digital cameras, (1) roving full spectrum video camera with IR Illuminator, and (1) roving FLIR thermal imaging camera. Of course, team members ran digital audio recorders the entire time, and used
digital cameras as well.

With this much footage and audio to review, it will be some time before we can complete our analysis. We will post anything we find on our website. 

On a personal note, I will say that if you ever get a chance to investigate
Waverly, go for it!  But, don’t go alone!  It has been the most active site I have ever seen (and I have been to many across the country). I know I speak for my fellow team members as well when I say that the place, the images and the experience stays with you long after you leave.

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by | May 18, 2011 · 1:00 am

Balancing Act

by Crymsyn Hart

The summer is gearing up with conventions that I’ll be heading out to so I can hang out with some other cool authors and meet some great new people. I’ll be headng to Fandom Fest in Kentucky in July and then Authors After Dark in August. There I’ll be chilling with some more paranormal romance authors. I can just imagine that we will be talking about. Getting up together with more than three hundred women will be an interesting experience and who knows if there will be a cat fight or two.

Before all of that, I’ve found that I’ve been confronted with a balancing act of late. Writing for myself and writing for the market place. Not speaking for anyone else, but over the past couple of years I’ve noticed the market place has changed. Vampires used to be huge (not that they aren’t anymore), but zombies seem to be the in thing this year. At first it was okay to write just one couple in a book and the reading population was happy.

Now it appears that menage a trois and multiple partners are the new rage. Trying to follow the market, I’ve dabbled in this genre of the erotic romance, but find it difficult to keep up. I’m more of a one man and one woman kind of girl even though adding in the other characters makes for an interesting twist on the plot. So the question is, how do I balance everything?

I’ve always stuck by the staying that you have to write for you and not for the market. Most of what I write is for me. And I do admit, I bow and have found myself writing more of the erotic and adding in more of the sex than I find necessary, but hey, people love to read about sex. I find that I write more of the multiple partners as a dare to myself. Just to see if I can do it. And if the dare doesn’t work out, well then I guess I have to write more for me and hope that others en

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by | May 16, 2011 · 10:05 am

Paranormally Speaking

By Tina R. McSwain

Paraskevidekatriaphobia

Paraskevidekatriaphobia, the irrational fear of Friday the 13th. Derived from the Greek for Paraskevi (meaning Friday), dekatreis (meaning thirteen), and phobia (meaning fear).

(The fear of just the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia.)

The number 13 itself is feared. Many buildings omit the 13th floor, choosing instead to go from floor 12 to floor 14. The Munsters from the old TV series days lived at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, to be sure the producer’s play on the superstition.

Couple that along with the notion that Fridays are generally regarded as unlucky. Take Black Friday for instance, when in 1929 the stock market fell, leading to many an investor’s death from suicide and the collapse of the US economy. And, you have the fear of Friday the 13th.

Many people postpone trips, refuse to make important decisions, or otherwise react negatively to the date.

Even us paranormal investigators. We did an investigation last year on August 13th (a Friday) in hopes that we would have tremendous luck in gathering evidence. It proved to be one of the quieter investigations we have done. So yes, we too succomb to the bad luck of Friday the 13th and now plan our outings for another time.

What about you, did you change your habits this Friday?

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by | May 9, 2011 · 1:39 pm

Paranormally Speaking

By Tina R. McSwain

(My apologies, the Paranormally Speaking segment is running behind from Friday due to illness in the family)

The Second Instance of a First

Last week, I spoke about firsts in my paranormal career and how they are few and far between. Well lo and behold, I have had another. I was performing a cleansing or spirit rescue and had almost finished the house. When I got to the last room, I felt a heaviness or uneasiness coming from the closet. I went over to start my procedure and actually got grabbed by the arm. I have been grabbed before, so this was not unusual. What was disturbing was that I got scratched. For the first time, I had a physical injury from an entity (albeit rather minor).  Undaunted, I continued my quest to cleanse this home, and put the fears of the homeowner to rest.

I succeeded in the end.  I shall chalk this up to a learning experience and revel in the knowledge that no matter how long you do something, you can always learn something new.

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by | May 2, 2011 · 10:45 am

I Can’t Remember The Last Time I Had a First

By Tina R. McSwain

At this point in my life and paranormal career, it is rare that I experience a “first”. This past week, I had an exceptional one on Monday night. I had completed a speaking engagement in Fort Mill, SC and was returning home. All of a sudden, I noticed the car lights behind me were being blocked out. I thought to myself, “the lid on my travel box must have come off and I am seeing it in the back window”. As I continued down the dark road, trying to see through the back window into the truck bed behind me, I realized it was not the box lid. Instead, it was an unearthly passenger riding along with me in the backseat. Now, this is not the first I am talking about, I have had ghostly hitchhikers before. What happened next was.

I picked up my cell phone to call my CAPS colleague who was driving behind me to advise her that someone had apparently left the speaking venue with me. I dialed the number and waited for her to answer. She has one of those phones that play music before she answers. I heard this music, then nothing. I said her name over and over again but did not get a response from her. What I did get was a response from an elderly lady’s voice saying “help me, I need your help”. That was the first.

I had heard of spirits using the phone lines to communicate, but I had never had this happen to me until Monday night. Quite surprised and somewhat taken aback, I thought about pulling over. It was about this time that my colleague called me. She asked, “Tina, did you call me? I saw the number, the call connected, but I couldn’t hear you”. Excitedly, I began to explain the reason why. I quickly concluded our conversation, and turned my attention to the lady in the backseat. I could now feel her presence as well as see that she had dark gray hair and was wearing a blue blouse or jacket. While driving north on I77, glancing in the rear view mirror from time to time, I began to speak to her directly. And in case you’re wondering, as a Spirit Rescuer, I did give her the aid that she had asked for, and helped her to move on.

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by | April 24, 2011 · 10:48 am

Metaphysical Entity

By Tina R. McSwain

This category includes beings that are neither human nor demon but something in between. While our modern world may scoff at tales of leprechauns, imps, sprites and fairies, centuries of stories and alleged encounters make them all too real for many cultures. Leprechauns are of course associated with Ireland. The other creatures listed above are most notable in Great Britain and other European countries. To this day in Iceland, roads and construction projects are planned very carefully so as not to disturb Elfin dwellings. Such an imposition is said to infuriate the little people, who promptly retaliate by taking apart or destroying any machinery left on the construction site.

There are countless culture-specific supernatural creatures; the hopping ghosts or hungry ghosts of China, the fanciful mix of objects, animals and humans into the ghosts of Japan, the elementals and dragons of medieval society. While some of these seem ridiculous to mention, they are included for reference. The cultural background of your client will determine how they describe paranormal activity as well as how they react to it. These topics need to be presented in order to give a broader view of paranormal beings.

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