Enter the ‪#‎giveaway‬ for VOICES by Performing a Random Act of Kindness ‪#‎paranormal‬ ‪#‎suspense

I Smell Sheep: Spotlight: Voices by Clarissa Johal (excerpt) + gi...: VOICES by Clarissa Johal Editor: Bobbie Metevier Genre: Paranormal Psychological Suspense Cover Art: David Walker Published by Per...

**Winner has been announced! Congrats Amy Y., I sent you an email. Thank you to everyone who entered!

BTS Book Reviews July/August Issue 2015

BTS Book Reviews

Your Guide to Great Reading

The July/August 2015 (Issue #28) has hit the virtual stands. 

Read it for free now!

No subscriptions, no login, no hassle!

Southern Writers Magazine Feature Ad - VOICES by Clarissa Johal #paranormal #suspense

How exciting! VOICES is featured on the inside cover of the July/August issue of Southern Writers Magazine

This issue right here ---------------------------->

Here's the teaser for my paranormal suspense novel VOICES  

If you don't have your copy, you can purchase it here:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

KOBO

Smashwords

Tangled Tuesday - Dental Floss, Wands, and the Tooth Fairy

Photo courtesy of Enokson via Flickr

I've been lucky to have good teeth. I'll be 51 this July and yet to suffer a cavity. Part of that is due to growing up with a mom who was a dental assistant. Mom was diligent about dental health. She used to tell me the Tooth Fairy only traded coins for baby teeth with no cavities. I was unsure what the Tooth Fairy did with cavity-filled baby teeth. Maybe she smacked the poor child on the head with her wand. Maybe she took a selfie with the poor, dead tooth, and then flew off laughing. Regardless, I lived in mortal fear that the Tooth Fairy would pass me over.

Anyways, back to the present. My dentist loves that I brush after every meal. But I have a confession--I hate dental floss. I don't hate flossing, I floss every day. I hate the way the little plastic floss dispensers are designed.

You know when you're trying to break off a piece by using that stupid little metal cutter? It never breaks off nicely like it's supposed to, it shreds. So, you pull out a little more floss, hoping to get a clean cut. And it shreds again. So you pull out a little more...and a little more. Until you end up with literally yards of the stuff in the sink. Congratulations! You've wasted six whole dollars, and have nothing but an empty plastic container to show for it. Technically, you could set the floss aside, and cut off pieces with a pair of scissors. But that's not the way it's supposed to work. The floss is designed to snap off by using the little metal cutter. Using scissors would be admitting defeat. In a rage, you throw the plastic container (and the spent floss) into the garbage. Forget the floss, who needs it? Dental health is over-rated. The Tooth Fairy already has all your baby teeth, doing god-knows-what with them.

Curse you, floss--and the little plastic dispenser you came in. I should ditch dispenser floss and buy the wands. But I won't. Wands are for Tooth Fairies--and she's the one who got me into trouble in the first place.

#MeatlessMonday - Zucchini Brownies #dessert

I'll be the first to admit--I'm not a fan of chocolate. Vegetables, yes, chocolate, no. I'll hang my head in shame now. When I announced to my chocolate-loving teenagers that I would be using them as guinea pigs taste-testers of a brownie recipe which included vegetables, there were...protests. I believe one of the comments were, "Why would you ruin perfection??!" There were other comments, but I won't write them here.
The verdict?  "Pretty good, actually!" 

Enjoy!

Zucchini Brownies 

Photo courtesy of Sarah via Flickr

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, salt, soda, cocoa, and sugar. 

Combine eggs, zucchini, oil, and vanilla; blend into dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips.
Coat a 8X10 glass dish with cooking spray. Spread brownie batter evenly.
Bake in preheated 360F oven for 20-30 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.

Frightening Friday - Coming August 5, 2015 - THE ISLAND by Clarissa Johal #paranormal #horror #booktrope #forsaken

THE ISLAND will be released (tentatively) on August 5, 2015 via Booktrope, Forsaken Imprint. This will be my fifth book, and I'm very excited! The story is situated around the west coast of Canada--one of the areas I grew up. It was quite awesome to revisit it last year while working on this novel. (see photo below)

Stay tuned for further details/cover reveal on this newest paranormal horror OR
Follow my Amazon Author Page to receive notices of my new releases

The Island

Exploring a remote island can get you into trouble. 

Especially when you stumble upon a cave and awaken two demons.

Rumors and superstition.
That’s what Emma thinks about local gossip concerning her grandmother’s “cursed” private island. Emma journeys to the island to ready it for sale. While out exploring, she unearths a hidden cave–a cave which holds answers to the island’s dark past.
There may be more to the rumors than she thought.

#Paranormal Wednesday - Pickwick Poltergeist

Photo courtesy of Google Maps

The “Pickwick Poltergeist” house in the Toxteth neighborhood in Liverpool, England is up for sale. The three-bedroom terraced house is currently for rent at £91 a week, and is said to be haunted by a violent ghost, known as the Pickwick poltergeist.

Significant paranormal activity situated around the house goes back as far as the 1800's. The poltergeist not only haunts this particular property, but various houses on the street. Decades of reports, accompanied by the often violent nature of the poltergeist, have been documented.

In one instance, a landlady was reportedly lifted out of her bed by an unseen force, while the house of her neighbor was shaken by violent vibrations. Other incidents include doors slamming and objects flying across the room. Tenants report "feeling uneasy" and that the house is constantly cold.

____________________

I tried to find historical information on the area to see if something out of the ordinary had happened, which might explain the haunting. I couldn't find a specific event, but I was able to find Toxteth Park Cemetery's death records of people who lived on Pickwick Street from 1870 to 2000. There were a lot of deaths. It made me wonder if the "poltergeist" activity was a collective energy, or one death in particular. Here's what I found: 

Keep in mind, these are the deaths of people who lived at what is basically a 2 block area of terraced homes.

1870-1879 26 deaths

1880-1889 51 deaths  

1890-1899 54 deaths 

1900-1909 33 deaths 

1910-1919 44 deaths 

1920-1929 16 deaths

1930-1939 17 deaths

1940-1949 6 deaths 

1950-1959 7 deaths

1960-1969 2 deaths

1970-1979 3 deaths

1980-1989 1 death

1990-1999 1 death

_____________________

*Total: 261 deaths within a 130 year period

           109 of those were an infant or child

Of note: On Dombey Street, which is one street over (a similar 2 block stretch, and also worker housing at the time) there were 162 deaths during the same 130 year period. Significantly lower, and no reports of poltergeist activity on that street. Makes you wonder.

*The first death reported on Pickwick Street was on April 13, 1871. Catherine Newton was listed as a 56 year old "wife." Her husband, Thos Newton, died on February 10, 1880.

*The first death recorded at 62 Pickwick Street (the place up for sale) was on December 16, 1897. Eliza Ann Watts was 18 years old and listed as a "spinster." Her parents, Ellen and George, died at the same location in 1916 and 1926.