Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles A to Z Challenge 2014 Posts - GHOSTS

So that's it, the A to Z April Challenge is over for another year! Congratulations to everyone who survived! :D I don't know about anyone else, but it's been a month that has been a mixture of a whirlwind and a marathon.

I can't believe we're on the final day of the A to Z! It's been one hell of a month. I've visited some great blogs and I've had some lovely folks visit me.

The yield, the payoff, every story has one and that's what I'm talking about today in writing. York, ancient viking stronghold, is my choice of haunted location, and my author(s) today is you, the lovely people who have been reading my blog and sharing some of your ghost stories this month :) And, there's part 25 of The Burning Web, where Tris must face the awful truth of what has been happening at Berwick House.

This is it, X marks the spot, what's important about the climatic part of a story? I have to admit, I don't know any ghost story writers beginning with X, so I'm going to be sharing a few stories where the author is unknown. And for my haunting spot today, I'm talking about crossroads.

W already, only four days of the A to Z left - where has it gone?! Today's haunted location is personal, because not only am I going to tell you about the ghosts that appear in the books, but my own personal ghost story too about the place I used to live, Wittersham in Kent :).

Vacuum, emptiness, why is this different from other types of pauses in writing? My author of choice today is Pamela Vincent and my haunted location is actually two today: Verdley Castle and Vernham Dean.

So, into the 20's already with the A to Z and today is U. I'm discussing getting a sense of urgency into a piece, plus I'm talking about one of my favourite paranormal investigators and author, Peter Underwood, plus Uley is my haunted location.

The Tower of London not only holds the crown jewels of Great Britain, but also holds a treasure trove of ghosts as well! Mark Twain called his spooky tale simply, A Ghost Story, and I'm discussing tension in today's section on writing.

Secrets, keeping them and sharing them both make for good plot development. A famous author today, Bram Stoker, of Dracula fame, but he wrote ghost stories too. And Thomas Skelton, jester, is my ghost of choice. Finally, Part 19 of The Burning Web, and keeping secrets gets Tris into trouble.

One of my favourite hauntings is up today, The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall. Plus I'm talking about a story from American Author Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews. Taking a risk is the subject of my section on ghost story writing today and there's Part 18 of The Burning Web, in which Tris is faced with a dilema.

Queer things are happening here today. I'll be introducing you to the collection of dead monarchs we have wandering around Britain. A T Quiller-couch is my chosen author for the day. Plus there's Part 17 of The Burning Web in which Tris gets to return to Berwick House determined to prove Margaret's existence one way or another.

Edgar Allan Poe, master of the macabre, is my choice of author for today. I'm talking about pausing a plot in writing, and I want to introduce you to a village very local to me, and also very haunted, Pluckley in Kent.

Yes, the O2 arena is haunted - don't believe me, check out the details below. Plus, I'm also talking about Vincent O'Sullivan, author, and I'm talking about obscuring things as a writer. And there's Part 15 of The Burning Web, where Tris finds that there is a price for over exerting himself.

So, what do I mean when I say nuance in conjunction with creating a ghost story. Well, what I'm talking about is the subtleties of plot and character that add to the back ground of a story and give it substance.

Okay, so today, I'm going to tell you about a ghost that scared me throughout my teenage years, Mother Leaky. I'm also discussing working mystery into a good spooky tale, and I'm presenting the works of author, Louisa Murray.

On to L, and today I want to talk about Love in ghost stories. Plus how will Tris and Xander deal with their fight in The Burning Web. Also I'd like to introduce you to the works of Sheridan Le Fanu and the ghostly ladies of the British Isles :) Love - a strange topic for a theme of ghost stories you may think.

I'd like to tell you about a place close to where I lived for a while, Knebworth House in Hertfordshire. Also, an author better known for The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling told his share of ghost stories as well. And K is for Kick, in my discussion about writing ghostly tales today.

Jeopardy, danger, threat, all part of ye olde ghost story, so how can we use them in our own work without sounding clichéd? And yes, the Jamaica Inn I am talking about today is the one made famous my Daphne Du Maurier - Cornwall, coast to coast smugglers and spooks :).

Some authors leave a lasting impression, even with just one story, and Peter Ibbotson is one who left a mark on my childhood. I'm also posing the idea of ' is it real?' in spooky stories, and finally I'm talking about haunting moments on the Scottish island of Islay.

I get to talk about one of my favourite authors today, Susan Hill. But to balance that, the ghosts I'm talking about today give me the real creeps. Hitch-hikers and their cousins are interactive and all the more scary for it.

On to G already! And today, you can find out what I mean by the word gift, and I'll also be sharing my appreciation for author, Elizabeth Gaskell and the ghosts of Warwick Castle, in particular, Sir Fulke Greville, an owner of the grand chateau in the 17th Century.

Even plucky protagonists in ghost stories need friends :). Okay, maybe that's a bit flippant, but you'll get what I mean. My author of choice today is Anatole France, and my ghost is that of little Annie Farie. The sky was slate grey and threatening rain, but Tris was not about to let that deter him.

Amelia Edwards, lady Egyptologist and novelist is the subject of my author recommendation today. I'm also delving into a more modern haunting than those which I've discussed so far in the form of the 1970's Enfield Poltergeist. Plus, in my discussion of ghostly tales, I'm talking about endurance, the ability to continue beyond an initial scare.

Today we're visiting Scotland on my tour of British Hauntings, Dean Castle, to be precise. Plus I'll be waxing lyrical about Charles Dickens and what I think makes ghost stories wonderfully disturbing.

The offerings I have for you today, brought to you by the letter C, are a varied bunch, but then that's a good thing, because in my writing subject today I'll be discussing contrast as a tool.