Thanks to Barbara for having me on the Roses of Prose blog today. When I asked her if the blog had a theme this month, she said scary, spooky. I’m not sure I can write to spooky or scary...in fact, I hate scary stuff. I avoid all scary movies, and will switch the television station if something scary comes on.
However, I do have a fascination with cemeteries. When I was a young misguided adolescent, I spent many an hour wandering through Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York. Not that wandering through Forest Lawn Cemetery isn’t a lovely thing to do, but I was supposed to be in school. However, I was new in town, had few friends, and the one friend I had spent the hours with me wandering through the cemetery. I haven’t seen the cemetery in years as I moved away the following year, but at the time it was a wonderful park-like setting. It was bright and sunny, and nothing ever scared me there.
I continue to have a fascination with cemeteries. I don’t ditch school any more to wander through them, but I found a calling in doing my family genealogy some years ago, and I must say that has led to wandering through many, many cemeteries over the years. I’ve enjoyed them all, even when none of my relatives were buried there. The inscriptions on the stones bear witness to the lives of those who are buried thee, and the people who loved them.
One cemetery in Iowa caught my imagination such that I wrote a story around it. It was a wonderful cemetery set on a hill above rolling cornfields, filled with wonderful old tombstones and old fir trees that rustled in the wind. The book is called “Across the Winds of Time,” and was just released from the Wild Rose Press. It’s a combination ghost story and time travel. I couldn’t quite decide which, so I’ll let the reader decide.
But no, in case you’re wondering... There is NO way I’d be caught dead in a cemetery at night. Uh uh... NO way!
Bess McBride
"Romances for the Shy Girl in All of Us"
http://www.bessmcbride.com/
12 comments:
Hi Beth,
Lovely to meet up with you here.
I love cemeteries too, they are invaluable for research.
Regards
Margaret
Hi Bess,
I love reading the inscriptions on head stones. Haven't done that in years but can sure see where it could lead it to a book. Thanks for the post. Love your book cover.
Lovely book cover, Bess. And its wonderful to have you here. I love old cemeteries. something about the timlessness attracts me.
Barbara
Lovely blogpost, Bess. My mother and her sister used to love to drag us to cemeteries on Sunday afternoons. So I could identify with what you wrote.
I love old cemetaries and genealogy. The research is fascinating. Your title and book cover are enough to sell me. Good luck with it!
I find cemeteries fascinating also.I think its the history. My husband kids me all the time I haven't met a cemetery I haven't liked.
It's good to see you too, Margaret! I haven't talked to you in a while.
Thank you, Brenda! It's a great blog! Really caught my eye, and I asked Barbara if I could do a guest post.
Thanks, Vonnie. I can't imagine being dragged to cemeteries at an early age. It's only now that I'm searching for my "future home" that they become a bit more...er...more like real estate and less like a spooky place. :-)
Thank you, Jannine! The cover is by Tamra Westberry. She does great work!
Aw, Jerri! You sound like a gal after my own heart... :-)
Thank you for having me, Barbara! It's a lovely blog. Very catchy title!
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