Bookish Lifestyle: Guest Post + Giveaway with Cherie Colyer, author of The Embrace Series

Today I have the great pleasure of sharing with you a spook-tastic guest post by Cherie Colyer, the author of The Embrace Series (YA paranormal). In her post, Cherie talks about a creepy sleepover at her friend's haunted house - oooh! I honestly don't think I'd be brave enough to stay the night, knowing there might be some sort of evil poltergeist lurking around! How brave of you, Cherie!

I also have the pleasure of hosting an awesome giveaway sponsored by Cherie, so be sure to scroll all the way down and enter! :) Trust me, you want it!!!

True Tales Of The Paranormal

Hi everyone. I’m thrilled to be a part of Evie’s month long event. Autumn is my favorite season, and All Hallows’ Eve is one of my favorite holidays. I thought it would be fun to share a true story from my childhood.

When I was in grade school I had a good friend who lived on a farm, and it was always fun to visit her house. The hayloft was the coolest place to be because that was where the adventure was. We’d swing from a thick rope, become suspended high above the hay below, only to let go and plummet into a steep pile of golden straw. Sometimes we’d get to go horseback riding. Then at night we’d roast marshmallows in a towering bonfire—the kind you can’t build in your average backyard. I remember thinking that life on a farm was pretty cool and she was the luckiest girl in school.

You’re probably wondering how this story relates to the paranormal. Well, the farm house had been built ages before my friend was born. To get to her bedroom we had to climb a narrow, creaky set of stairs at the back of the house, walk through this little sitting room that time had forgot, go through her sister’s bedroom, and then duck down low to get through the half door that led into my friend’s room.

So there I was, first time at this friend’s house, eyes taking on everything as we walked passed her sister’s things, when I noticed a rosary and cross hanging above the bed. My friend’s gaze followed mine and she said, “Don’t touch those or the bible under the pillow.” Then she lowered her voice and said, “Our house is haunted.”

Did I mention I was spending the night? This is the type of information one should be told before saying, “Yes, I’d love to sleepover at your house!”

My friend proceeded to tell me that not only was her house haunted (like that wasn’t bad enough) but a poltergeist had threatened her sister. I believe her exact words were that this entity had “tried to suffocate her sister in her sleep” (on more than one occasion, I’ll have you know) and that was why her sister slept with the cross and rosary above her bed and a bible under her pillow.

So there I was, sleeping over at my friend’s house for the very first time, and she tells me her house is not only haunted, but that a poltergeist has attacked her sister while she slept. OH! But we didn’t have to worry because the poltergeist only haunted her sister’s room. Like that little half door that I don’t remember actually having a door (it was more a half doorway) would stop an evil spirit from drifting into the room we’d be sleeping in.

Really? Anyone else questioning this?

But you know what? I stayed, because my friend said we would be safe and I trusted her. We’d race through her sister’s room to my friend’s room and then back to the narrow staircase that lead downstairs. I have to admit, it was creepy and thrilling at the same time. Now that I’m older, and having read up on ghosts and watched specials on the paranormal, I can say, OMG, we were nuts! Seriously, if there was a poltergeist in that house it didn’t even need to duck its head to get through the short little doorway. It could have ghosted right through the wall. We would have been trapped. Then what?

I don’t know if it was the way my friend had mentioned ghosts—very matter-of-factly and yet quite seriously—or if there really was something in that house, but the eerie feeling I’d get when I rushed through her sister’s room was definitely part of the over-night stay.

Have you ever stayed in a haunted house? See any ghosts?

I’d like to thank Evie for having me on her blog. Have a safe (poltergeist free) Halloween everyone!

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Embrace by Cherie Colyer

ebook, 190 pages
Published December 20th 2011 by Omnific Publishing

How far would you go to save the people you love?

Madison is familiar enough with change, and she hates everything about it. Change took her long-term boyfriend away from her. It caused one of her friends to suddenly hate her. It’s responsible for the death of a local along with a host of other mysterious happenings. But when Madison meets a hot new guy, she thinks her luck is about to improve.

Madison is instantly drawn to the handsome and intriguing Isaac Addington. She quickly realizes he’s a guy harboring a secret, but she’s willing to risk the unknown to be with him.

Her world really spins out of control, however, when her best friend becomes delusional, seeing things that aren’t there and desperately trying to escape their evil. When the doctors can’t find the answers, Madison seeks her own.

Nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover.

Dangerous, intoxicating, and darkly romantic, Embrace is a thriller that will leave you spellbound.

WHAT YOU CAN WIN:
1 Ebook of EMBRACE (International)
3 sets of bookmarks (International)
swag package - as shown in the picture below (US only)