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Joan is proud to announce the publication of The Shadow of Excalibur, Book 2 in her Arthurian trilogy. Please visit her books page to see the cover image and details. Those of you familiar with Book 1, Arturo el Rey, know that this urban fantasy saga begins with the idea: "King Arthur promised to return when we need him. How bad does it have to get?"

Whether or not you've read the first book, and whether or not you know Arthurian legend, the reincarnated characters placed in a new and bleak setting offer plenty to keep you turning pages. In Book 2, Arturo el Rey (Arthur the King) and Queen Shanna have established an orderly post-plague civilization. But on top of new baggage, the reincarnated characters must meet dilemmas from their past lives: The Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot love triangle; an ex-mistress's vengeance; and an illegitimate son's drive to takeover the throne, to name a few.

I'd love to hear what you think too. Want to see what other readers thought of these books? Check a few reviews at: "ARTURO" Reviews

Think green! Try ebooks and save a tree or two. But if ebooks aren't your thing, you can probably find a print version of the title you want.

Choices, Choices

Check out the article about ebooks in March, 2009 issue of Page Turners.

Have a spine-chilling ghost story to tell? E-mail me and get it printed here!

Both the following stories came from authors who contributed chapters to my anthology,

Montana's territorial prison at Deer Lodge is not the state's only place where things go bump in the night. The gold rush bred a violent past and a history fraught with spectral visits and many haunted places. One grisly murder and the subsequent hanging of Peter Pelkey in Lewis and Clark County was the catalyst for the well-publicized appearance of ghost lights in the Helena Valley. The lights appeared on the ranch of Charles Tacke, Pelkey's victim. They played around Tacke's ranch every night for several weeks in the spring of 1881 following Pelkey's execution. The spectacle drew crowds who drove their buggies out to park along the road and watch. The lights appeared, moving over the fence posts and corrals and in the barn and outbuildings. They moved inside Tacke's house, flitting from room to room as if looking for something. Some believed the lights were the ghost of Tacke, watching over his property. Others thought they were the ghost of Pelkey, searching for the money Tacke reportedly had hidden away. Still others maintained, with all the interest in the new electric lighting, that ghost lights had escaped from Thomas Edison's laboratory. Whatever they were, the lights eventually faded. Father Lawrence Palladino, S.J., Peter Pelkey's confessor, wrote in the 1920s that the lights were then, and remained to that day, a mystery to him.

Read more about the ghost lights in Ellen Baumler's Beyond Spirit Tailings, available in both print and audio book form, on website: montanahistoricalsociety.com/pub/press/newbooks.asp
Ms. Baumler is the recipient of a 2006 Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History.
(Read also her chapter about the Montana Territorial Prison in Ghostly Tales from America's Jails)

While in Gettysburg, PA, I stayed alone at The Farnsworth House, a bed and breakfast famous for the number of haunting experiences. After arriving, I strongly felt a woman's presence, warm and helpful, in the room with me. I mentioned to her aloud that I will be staying in this room and that I wasn't there to wish her harm or compromise her status in any way.

On the first night, I heard what sounded like children's marbles on the hardwood floor above me. The clock read 12:30 AM. Was there an actual child playing upstairs at this hour? Or was it the sound of the young boy, reported to be present?

The following night, I awoke around the same time, to the sound of a cracker being eaten by the foot of the bed. Because I was tired, I returned to sleep. I then fully awoke from a dead sleep to discover someone was sitting on the bed against me. I didn't feel frightened or nervous; however, I felt very vulnerable having just awoken. This spirit's energy was the same energy as the woman's the day before. Should I turn around and look? What would I see? I turned my head and although I still felt this energy against me I saw nothing but am indentation. I thanked this spirit for allowing me to stay here and returned my head back and went back to sleep feeling relieved. (Read also her chapter about the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, PA in in Ghostly Tales from America's Jails, soon to be released.)

Novel Spin-Off - Short Story Contest
Promote yourself: Show your talent!
Offered by: Joan Upton Hall

Write a short story (up to 800 words). The story must include:
(a) any setting used in my EXCALIBUR REGAINED series
(b) one or more of my characters (even minor ones)
(c) an understanding of the situations, places, and characters' personalities
Hint: Even if you don't have the books yet, you can read FREE the first chapters of both books published so far: Arturo el Rey and Shadow of Excalibur by visiting the book page. Just click the cover image of either book to open a beginning chapter. Who knows? You just might want to read all the rest and get to know all the locations and characters.
Early bird advantage: Freelance editor, Joan Hall will give a full professional edit to the first 15 story entries that follow the rules
.

Finalists: The best 5 stories will be published on my website along with the authors' bios (further chance for readers to know you!). The link to these stories & bios will be published for an international audience in PageTurner newsletter, as well as other places to be determined, and authors will be encouraged to send friends and relatives to that link. (Author photos optional)
The Winner: The winning author's name will be used for a character in my next book (or winner may name a character) and will be noted in the book's Acknowledgement page.
No Deadline: Contest and selection are on-going.

Submission requirements:
1. Email your story to JMUHall@aol.com either as an attached Word document OR pasted into the body of the email.
2. Type "Story Contest" in the subject line of the email.
3. Include a 50-word bio about yourself.

Debating about creating a website of your own? Revamping one you already have? Joan's article published in the Jan. '06 issue of ByLine magazine, "This Little Writer Had a Website…" could be quite helpful. It was later reprinted in The Scribe, a monthly magazine published by The Writers' League of Texas. To read it, click Writer..Website.

Ask the Book Doctor
Click “Ask Doc” Q&A's for other issues
Address questions and comments to: “Ask the Book Doctor,”

Do demons bedevil your writing? Similar, confusing words? Grammar, punctuation, or capitalization rules? Freelance editor, Joan Hall, will demystify the problem (primary reference: Garner, Bryan A. Dictionary of Modern American Usage. N.Y.: Oxford University Press).

Address questions and comments by email to: jmuHall@aol.com. More problems like the one above are demystified in the booklet, 50 Writers' Tips. Find a few of them at "books, etc." and click "Samples" beside the cover on website: www.JoanUptonHall.com.

What's showing at a theater near you? At least in Texas, you can find a whole list of vintage Texas theaters by going to the books page. Just click the cover of Grand Old Texas Theaters That Won't Quit. Many of the theaters listed there have a website link.

GHOSTLY TALES FROM AMERICA'S JAILS
(Atriad Press) Coming winter, '06:
JUST VISITIN' OLD TEXAS JAILS
(State House Press, McMurry U.) Coming spring '07