Victoria Ponders

Whoa my goodness. What a good time!

I don’t know if the measure of a great party is the amount of laughter, or the amount of food and drink consumed, but it’s safe to say those targets were met at the Slivers Launch Party…and then some.

I love Barrington’s White House for its rich history and my personal connection to the Classical Revival beauty, dating back to my high school days. Being there to celebrate “Slivers” was surreal but I wasn’t expecting an actual sliver to make an appearance.

Call it what you will, but even my photographer friend, Frank, won’t say for sure where this odd sun streak came from. A nearby window, or not? And my closed eyes? We looked at the pic after he took this shot of me with Rick Kaempfer from Eckhartz Press (my publisher) and it was fine. No sleepy-eyed moi.

Stranger still? The morning after the party, my dear friend Melanie McGauran said she hoped no slivers made a guest appearance at the event. Did she know something I didn’t?

I’ve got a follow-up visit planned with the event coordinator, Sharon, to do a little spelunking in the White House’s attic to review archival pics from its glory days in the early 1900’s. I can’t wait!

I’m on a mission.

A friend from the Barrington Writers Workshop confided in me…sharing she once saw nurses in vintage, starched white uniforms floating down the grand staircase (just over Rick’s shoulder in the pic above). After the Robertson family passed away, the mansion was used as a hospital during the WWI flu epidemic, and later as a rest home. My mind is whirring…wondering what Sharon and I might find.

Here’s what I know for sure. When you write a ghost story, folks have plenty to share.

Quiet, whispered confessions about their own “unexplainable” experiences and I love it. I can’t say categorically that I believe in ghosts, but as the author of “Slivers”, let’s just say I believe in the unbelievable, head scratching events wrapped in magic and mystery.

Thanks to early reader interest, I’m drafting suggested book club questions about “Slivers” and I’ll share those soon. And Mark Petruska — I might call on you for ghost busting services. You’ve been forewarned!

Now for the photo fun…

Purchase my book directly from Eckhartz Press and if you enjoy it, I’d love your thoughts on Goodreads.

Thanks for your support of this indie author and her publisher. Even though you’ll need to hang tight to receive “Slivers” via conventional mail, I hope you’ll find it worth the wait.

Last but never least, hugs and love to you, Joy Neal Kidney, for your fabulous post yesterday about “Slivers” and “Surviving Sue”. I’m a lucky girl to have you in my corner. Many, many thanks!

Vicki 💝

P.S. Lagniappe? A little more? Eagle-eyed readers will appreciate photo #6 in the slideshow (above). I’m not saying an ancestor from the 1600s joined us for the launch party, but I’m not ruling it out, either.

Hi – I’m Victoria, Vicki, Dr. Vicki. I hold a doctorate in Adult Education and I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), and author of Surviving Sue and Slivers.

Check out this link to learn more about my book “Surviving Sue” – all about resilience and love. Check out this link to order “Slivers”…a ghost story with surprising twists.