Gone Gothic by Jane Toombs

    What attracts some authors and readers to paranormal while others of either breed don’t care for it at all?  That’s a question I can’t answer because I was introduced to E.A. Poe’s poems and stories as a child and loved almost all of them--especially this line in one of the poems--“the ghoul haunted woodland of Weir.”  

   I’ve never written a story about such a place, but I may yet.

   Almost all the stories I’ve written in the past several years contain some paranormal elements. Also most of my gothics do as well. 

   I began my writing career with a modern gothic. Also Champagne has published many of my historical gothics such as Tower of Shadows.  This book actually has a twin called Isle of Shadows that I’ve never finished.  It’s set on Mackinac Island in the past. This island, in the straits where Lake Huron meets Lake Michigan has a fascinating, though really bloody, past.  I hope someday to return to this historical gothic and see it published--I hope by Champagne. 

   Gothics have always appealed to me, especially the historical ones.  There’s something about an isolated old house, a brooding and mysterious hero and a heroine in peril that makes me recall why I loved Poe as a child. Maybe the reason I wrote so many was because creating one was almost as good as reading one.

   I’ve never really understood why paranormal elements fascinate me.  I know some readers don’t care at all for the genre and I think I understand why.   Today reality can be brutal and scary enough so they want a book that takes them away from it.  Still, in gothics everything always turns out great for both hero and heroine, so a reader should know that no matter how frightening the story may get, the end will be at least happy for now, with a strong implication that their happiness will be lasting.

   If I ever do finish Isle Of Shadows, that’s certainly the way I intend to end it.  Everyone needs all the happiness they can get, even when reading books. 

   I should end with a photo of a black cat, but Kinko happens to be a white calico instead.  She did have a back brother, but she chose us and we knew better than to turn down a cat’s choice.  As it turned out she hates everyone else and resents them coming into “her” house.  But then, nobody’s perfect, though Kinko is certain she is. 

Jane Toombs

 www.JaneToombs.com