The Ancestral Pen

  View in browser   Well, summer is almost over. For me, that means canning season is about to begin—but this year, I’ve added writing a good ghost story into the mix. In my last newsletter, I shared that I’m entering the Writers of the Future contest. The work is well underway: I now have a cover and a first draft. Over the next two weeks, I’ll be polishing it up and preparing to submit it by the end of the month. Here’s a sneak peek from  The Crossing Hour : When Clara invests everything she has into restoring Willowshade Manor, she envisions fresh paint, polished antiques, and a thriving bed-and-breakfast. What she doesn’t expect is the house’s past reaching out to claim her. The Whitmore family’s diaries reveal unspeakable horrors, while strange symbols carved into doorframes hint at a curse that binds the living and the dead... the past and the present. Each discovery pulls Clara deeper into a web of bloodlines, betrayal, and restless spirits. Now Clara must choose—d...