Saturday, 20 March 2021

Queer Ghost Stories Volume Three: 3 Tales of Love, Death and Paranormal Encounters

Queer Ghost Stories Volume Three
3 Tales of Love, Death and Paranormal Encounters
By Foxglove Lee


Who needs sleep? Not you! You’d rather stay up late reading these spine-chilling ghost stories!

In these three tales of the paranormal, queer characters encounter the supernatural… with blood-curdling results! Get ready for a fright with three stories from Foxglove Lee’s Queer Ghost Stories series!

Alisha never asked to be a sensitive, but when her nightmares coincide with strange goings-on in her building, she must take action. The victim of a brutal killing keeps coming to her in terrifying dreams. The night terrors won't stop until the murder is brought to light in our first story, Nightmare Heights.

Our second haunting tale, Spooky Little Girl Like You, sees a young girl’s obsession turn terrifying after her tragic death is witnessed by everyone at summer camp. All Melinda wanted in life was Zachary’s undivided attention. Didn’t matter to her that he was five years older or that he was her camp counsellor or even that he was gay. She wanted to be with him always. Now, in death, will she get her wish?

When you’re twenty-one years old, you don’t expect your closest friend to be in her nineties, but housemates Sindara and Eloise from our third story, Off with the Fairies, have more in common than they ever would have guessed. Sindara hears voices in the basement. She feels like she’s being watched by unseen eyes. Is their house haunted… and are they in serious danger?

Delve into three tales of the paranormal by Foxglove Lee… if you dare!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1393657206?tag=foxglovelee-20
Apple: https://books.apple.com/ca/book/queer-ghost-stories-volume-three-3-tales-love-death/id1495846595
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/queer-ghost-stories-volume-three-foxglove-lee/1136177436
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/queer-ghost-stories-volume-three
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=R3C0DwAAQBAJ
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/443764278/Queer-Ghost-Stories-Volume-Three-3-Tales-of-Love-Death-and-Paranormal-Encounters
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/965068

Saturday, 20 February 2021

The Rude, Dirty, Not-So-Nice Lowdown on First Drafts

Whenever you write a new book, people inevitably ask what inspired the story. For me, the idea for a novel is usually sparked by something that happens in real life. All my stories are “what if” scenarios. Maybe I hear a snippet of a conversation on the subway, and I think to myself, “What if this happened, then that happened?” and it builds and builds. Characters jump in to subject themselves to the torment of my imaginary worlds. They volunteer for this, silly rabbits.

I have a very clear recollection of what inspired my latest book, “Truth and Other Lies,” which is now available from Evernight Teen. I visited an old friend (we’ll call her Millie, since that’s “her” character’s name in the book). Millie has a life-threatening condition doctors can’t seem to fix or even properly diagnose.

My friend hasn’t been able to work in… two years? I’m trying to remember when this all started. She’s the kind of person who will suck it up and get the job done even when she’s deathbed-sick, but she kept passing out at work so her employer was like, “Seriously, you need to take it easy!”

Millie is good at everything… except for “taking it easy.” So by the time I went to stay with her, she’d written a novel. Of course she had! What else are you going to do when you’re hospitalized and bedridden for weeks at a time?

But wait… there’s more! She hadn’t just written any old novel. She’d written a 200,000-word tome based largely on her life. And, let me tell you, if you bundled up all your worst nightmares, that’s Millie’s life. She’s had an unbelievably rough time. So now she’s written this book and she wants me to give her feedback.

I wasn’t sure how to react. You’re going to think I’m a horrible person, but when you love someone as much as I love Millie, sometimes you don’t want to be exposed to all the details of tragedies and abuses they’ve endured. I couldn’t see beyond my own fears at a time when my only concern should have been my sick friend. It’s terrible, but I’m being honest with you, here. Humanity isn’t always pretty or kind.

Oh, and did I mention Millie is a genius? Yeah, she is. Like, certifiable Mensa material. Couple that with “good at everything” and I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that her book would be amazing. So why wouldn’t I say, “Yeah, email it to me. I’ll get right on that!”? Was I jealous? Did I think her writing would be better than mine?

Well, yes, absolutely.

But instead of saying any of that, I asked: “Have you revised the book yet?”

“Huh?”

“Have you proofread it? Have you re-read what you wrote?”

“No,” she told me. “I just wrote it. Can you read it and tell me if it’s good?”

A wave of guilty relief came over me. I didn’t tell her this (and I beg your forgiveness for the excessively scatological imagery), but writing a book is a little like… a little like…

Okay, I once heard that if a person has gold fillings, then every time they chew their food, teensy bits of gold comes off. Since our bodies don’t digest gold, it’ll go straight through and come out, well, the end.

I don’t know if any of that is true, but it’s the metaphor I like to use for first drafts. A first draft of a book is like a big collection of crap which may or may not be full of gold dust. Only the author can sort through all that sh*t. Honestly, who else would want to?

Write the book. Leave it alone for a while (Stephen King recommends a minimum of 6 weeks, I believe, in his book “On Writing”) and then come back to it. Whooo-eee! You’ll smell that stink a mile away.

Yes, your book will probably stink. Millie’s probably didn’t because, as I said, she’s a genius, but I told her she needed to go through that waiting period and then the revision process before ever showing her book to another living soul.

By the time she got back to me about her novel, I’d already written “Truth and Other Lies.” She phoned me one day and said, “It’s terrible. This book I wrote is just… terrible! I’m so glad I didn’t send the first draft to you—I’d be so embarrassed. I don’t even know if it’s worth working on. It’s so bad.”

“Bad” is relative, of course, and I’m sure her book is better than anything I’ve ever written, but I’ll have to wait to read it until she’s satisfied with her work. Still, I’m indebted to Millie for not only the many years of friendship we’ve shared, but for the spark that drove me to write “Truth and Other Lies.”

Because what if she’d sent that rough draft to me without ever telling another soul it existed? And what if she died before I’d even looked at it (yes, a morbid thought, I know)? And what if, when I opened that document, I realized that her book was solid gold?

That’s what happens to Kenny…

Have you ever wanted to get noticed? Have you ever felt like no matter how hard you worked or how hard you tried, nobody in the entire world cared what you did? Well, what if someone famous—and we’re talking Oprah-famous, here—noticed you for the one thing you wish you could hide? For your one big secret…

That’s exactly what happens to 18-year-old Kenneth McIntyre when television guru Prahna Mehta hails his self-published novel as the next bestseller. Little do his new fans know Truth and Other Lies wasn’t written by Kenny at all… and it isn’t fiction. Sometimes he feels like he’s lying to everybody he loves.

When Kenny gets swept into stardom, how will he hide the secrets he’s kept for years? And, if his lies are exposed, will anyone stay by his side?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Evernight Teen http://www.evernightteen.com/truth-and-other-lies-by-foxglove-lee/

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LICLQBG/ref=foxglovelee-20

Saturday, 30 January 2021

Queer Ghost Stories Volume Two: 3 Tales of Love, Horror and the Supernatural

Queer Ghost Stories Volume Two
3 Tales of Love, Horror and the Supernatural
By Foxglove Lee


Who needs sleep? Not you! You’d rather stay up late reading these spine-chilling ghost stories!

In these three tales of the paranormal, trans, lesbian, bisexual, non-binary and gay characters encounter the supernatural… with blood-curdling results! Get ready for a fright with three stories from Foxglove Lee’s Queer Ghost Stories series!

If moths could kill… In our first story, The Moths, Shay knows her girlfriend Olivia won’t take it well when she finds out an old flame has died. All these years later, he still holds a sordid but special place in her heart. When Olivia pulls his moth-eaten sweater from the back of her closet, she feels the past close at hand. But closer still are the moths. They swarm and surround her, quickly taking over her bedroom… but will they take her very life?

“Transgender Psychic Fights for Ghost Rights!” When a local tabloid gets its grubby paws on Whitney’s story, in Underground Spirit, she doesn’t know what to do. Is she trans? Sure, and a lawyer to boot. But is she also psychic? Not really. Except that the ghost of a girl who died in a gruesome escalator accident has been following her around town. When a handsome banker comes to the young lawyer’s rescue, can they figure out why this dead girl won’t leave Whitney alone? Or will the terror never end?

In Ghost Phone, Braden has never had much in common with his stepfather, but that changes when he buys an antique telephone for Father’s Day. The old phone is haunted! Every night, it rings like clockwork. And who is on the line? A ghostly woman who says only, “Operator! Help! My son!” Can Braden and Leon figure out who this ghost woman was in life? And can they help her find peace in the great beyond?

Delve into three tales of the paranormal by Foxglove Lee… if you dare!

Buy Now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RKZVY3P
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/937929?ref=RainbowCrush
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1462787984
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/queer-ghost-stories-volume-two-foxglove-lee/1131511018
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/queer-ghost-stories-volume-two-3-tales-of-love-horror-and-the-supernatural
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/409037881/Queer-Ghost-Stories-Volume-Two-3-Tales-of-Love-Horror-and-the-Supernatural
Hoopla: https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/13431533
Universal link: https://books2read.com/u/mVN9xr

Friday, 16 October 2020

Mystic Ridge: A Lesbian Paranormal Novel by Foxglove Lee


At long last, my new novel has hit the market!

Mystic Ridge is a book that features all your favourite ghost story themes and a queer cast of characters. If you love a supernatural tale that begins with one character inheriting a haunted house from an unknown relative, I'll do you one better: the girlfriends in my novel inherit an entire haunted summer resort!

It's October as I write this--the perfect month to read something spooky. So be sure to get your hands on Mystic Ridge. It's the perfect accompaniment to a grey, rainy day or a long, dark night.


Mystic Ridge: A Novel
By Foxglove Lee
Ebook ISBN: 9781005901394
PRINT ISBN-13: 9798697357880


When Beverly Landry inherits Mystic Ridge, a glorious yet neglected summer resort, she and her girlfriend begin a new life in the small town of Lament. As soon as Bev’s girlfriend, Cate, arrives on the ridge, she’s plagued by terrifying nightmares involving the death of a beautiful young woman. Everywhere Cate goes, she’s followed by black mist and glowing red eyes. When she sleeps, a demonic force guides her toward the ridge. Every day brings a new vision of death. 

If they stay in Lament, someone is sure to die.

Will Mystic Ridge tear Cate and Bev apart for good, or will a league of unlikely friends help the couple defeat the evil living on their land?


There are many places to buy Mystic Ridge. The following list is nowhere near exhaustive. Look for it at your favourite book retailer!



Saturday, 12 October 2019

Why Netflix's "Haunted" is NOT the Ghost Show for Me

Hi. I'm Foxglove and I write ghost stories.

Why do I write ghost stories?  Because I love them. I just can't get enough. I can't tell you how many ghost shows I've binge-watched.  And once I'd watched everything available, I started creating my own--books, not TV shows. I'm only one person! 

When it comes to what I term "ghost shows," there's a plethora available--never enough, but lots.

How do I define a "ghost show"?  

Well, the ones I gravitate toward purport to be TRUE. That's the main attraction, for me, as a viewer. Strangely enough, I don't care whether they are, in actuality, true or entirely manufactured. That part is irrelevant. This is entertainment, folks. As long as I can at least pretend what I'm seeing is real, I'm happy.

So basically what I'm looking for would be classified as documentary or reality (non-fiction), as opposed to drama (fiction). The formats I enjoy are investigation (like the shows I feature in this post) or reenactment, where a real person tells a true tale of ghostly encounters and actors create the visuals. Examples of this style include Paranormal Survivor, A Haunting, and countless others. 

Unfortunately, though there are about a million different ghost shows on the planet, the vast majority are not on Netflix. 

That's why I was really excited when Netflix created their own Original Series: "Haunted."

I watched the first season when it was released. It didn't resonate with me. It should have.  It had everything going for it: the right style, the right format, all that beautiful greased-up Netflix money... and yet, the show just didn't work for me.  

There weren't that many episodes anyway, so I forgot about the show until yesterday, when the second season went live.

I watched three episodes, and I'm now able to articulate why Netflix's "Haunted" is not the ghost show for me:


It's Too Good

What does that mean, "Too Good?" Well, in this case, it means: too polished, too cinematographically sophisticated. When I watch a ghost show, I want it to be borderline bad. I want the acting to be laughable. I want to see the zipper. I want it to have been filmed on location in Oshawa, Ontario (I've got family there). This Netflix series is too beautiful for my glazed-over eyes. It's also too dark--visually. Am I getting old, or is it impossible to actually see what's going on?  

It's Too Scary

A ghost show is not a substitute for a horror movie, for me. They're different animals, and "Haunted" too closely replicates the style of a horror flick. It's not what I'm after.  I watch ghost shows when I'm seeking a frisson of fear, not when I want to poop my pants (I never actually want to do that... and I never have... moving right along...)

It's Too Adult

The internet's got plenty of sources for sex and violence. When I'm watching my ghost shows, I'm not in the market for gratuitous adult content. I loved ghost stuff when I was an innocent, apple-cheeked 13-year-old, and watching ghost shows now takes me back to simpler times. For me to love a ghost show, it's got to be suitable for my 13-year-old self. My thirtysomething self can find nudity without your help, thank you very much. I mean, like... on the internet. 

It's Got Too Many Feels

This is the big one. I've saved the best for last--or, if not BEST, at least the most pertinent point: some of these stories are just too intense for me to handle in this particular context. I'm not always psychologically prepared to hear stories about rape, torture and childhood sexual assault. In fact, one of the big reasons I watch ghost shows is to get scared by something otherworldly. The real world is full of awfulness coming at you so fast you don't even have time to deal with one traumatic incident before the next one is upon you. 

I watch ghost shows as an escape, not as a reminder of the world's many atrocities. I watch them to feel mildly frightened, not terrified out of my wits. 

"Haunted" gives me all the wrong feels. It's not what I'm looking for in a ghost show. I'm not telling anyone not to watch it, obviously--you live your life as you see fit--but I would like to caution anyone who is triggered by anything that you will absolutely need to call a hotline after watching this series. I know that sounds jokey, but I'm being serious, here. I'm telling you that my experience of watching just three episodes of this new season has left me feeling pretty destroyed, psychologically.

Last week I found old episodes of Rescue Mediums on YouTube. I think I'll stick with that. They always end with a cheesy joke and, after watching "Haunted," I need all the cheese I can get.


While I'm here, I should also mention that Volume 3 of Queer Ghost Stories has just hit the market. October's always a good month for the ghosts. 

This collection includes my stories Nightmare Heights (one of my absolute favourites--and based on a true story, though wildly embellished), Spooky Little Girl Like You, and fan-fave Off with the Fairies. All these stories involve death--murder, suicide, and the kind where you just stop breathing because you're old--so if you're avoiding death at the moment, be forewarned. 

Find Queer Ghost Stories Volume Three at Kobo and pretty much any other retailer where you buy books.

Monday, 22 April 2019

Queer Ghost Stories Volume One: 4 Tales of the Paranormal

Who needs sleep? Not you! You’d rather stay up late reading these spine-chilling ghost stories!

Throughout four tales of the paranormal, queer characters meet with fates beyond their wildest imaginings as they are confronted by spirits from all walks of life… with shocking results.

In THE WITCH OF THE WINTER WOODS, Nicole couldn’t be more nervous about meeting her girlfriend’s parents this Christmas. On her way to their house in rural Maryland, she nearly collides with a barefoot old woman standing in the road. Strange things happen: a chase through the snow, a stone cottage in the woods, a raging fire. Will Nicole make it out alive?

Tucker and his boyfriend are the best in their field in THE FUTURE IS DEADLY. They organize estate sales, using their keen eyes and marketing know-how to earn big bucks for their clients. But when they’re hired to clear out a mysterious gothic manor house, Tucker discovers a set of vintage sunglasses. Through their shaded lenses, he sees a murder that has yet to take place. What lengths will he go to in order to keep the victim safe?

What could follow in our series of supernatural stories? Why, it’s GHOST RADIO, the tale of a transgender teen spending the summer with her cousin. When the pair finds a mysterious radio in a dilapidated shack in the woods, Emily can’t get enough of the music it plays. There are tales, in town, of a ghostly DJ who draws teens to their deaths. Could Emily be next on his list?

In GHOST GALLERY, Xan has just landed his dream job at a prestigious art gallery. There’s only one problem: the place is haunted. When Xan stays late to meet his favourite transgender artist, will he come face to face with an apparition from another time? And, if he does, can he finally solve the mystery of the gallery ghost?

Dive into four tales of the paranormal in Queer Ghost Stories Volume One by Foxglove Lee.

Get the ebook from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PSLR3JC
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/929346?ref=RainbowCrush
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=p2mNDwAAQBAJ
Or one of many other ebook retailers: https://books2read.com/u/bpjweE

Find the audio version at Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/B07QDNRVCB/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-147633&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_147633_rh_us
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Foxglove_Lee_Queer_Ghost_Stories_Volume_One?id=AQAAAEBM03uTJM&hl=en
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/queer-ghost-stories-volume-one
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/audiobook/396769514/Queer-Ghost-Stories-Volume-One-4-Tales-of-the-Paranormal
Playster: https://play.playster.com/audiobooks/1001800000001001448/queer-ghost-stories-volume-one-foxglove-lee

And keep an eye out for the paperback--coming soon!

Saturday, 16 March 2019

Go Back in Time with Ghost Stories from the Victorian and Edwardian Days

If you enjoy classic ghost stories as much as I do, I know you're going to love these audiobooks narrated by Madeleine Mayfair. You might know her as the narrator of my audiobooks!  Well, she's a huge fan of ghost stories--just like you and me.

Check out these spooky stories from the early 1900s. You'd think they'd feel antiquated, seeing as they were written over 100 years ago, but they're incredibly entertaining. MadMay's done a great job with them.

Haunted Houses of England and Wales
A Collection of Ghost Stories

Prepare for a scare! This collection of bone-chilling ghost stories from England and Wales is certain to send shivers down your spine. Settle in for more than four hours of haunted tales from the early twentieth century—that’s more than four hours of audio!

Listen at iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/audiobook/haunted-houses-england-wales-collection-ghost-stories/id1450618101?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Elliott_O_Donnell_Haunted_Houses_of_England_and_Wa?id=AQAAAEDMgGrAtM&hl=en
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/haunted-houses-of-england-and-wales
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/audiobook/398022786/Haunted-Houses-of-England-and-Wales-A-Collection-of-Ghost-Stories
Playster: https://play.playster.com/audiobooks/1001800000001001697/haunted-houses-of-england-and-wales-elliott-odonnell


Scottish Ghost Stories
Victorian and Edwardian Tales of the Supernatural

From castles to country houses to the battlegrounds of a bygone era, Scotland boasts an impressive host of haunted locales. This impressive collection of bone-chilling ghost stories is certain to send shivers down your spine. Travel from Edinburgh to Aberdeen to Glasgow and all points in between with nearly twenty tingling tales of ghostly encounters from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Settle in for more than five hours of audio and get ready for a scare!

Listen at iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/audiobook/scottish-ghost-stories-victorian-edwardian-tales-supernatural/id1449910637?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Elliott_O_Donnell_Scottish_Ghost_Stories?id=AQAAAEBMyz6LYM&hl=en
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/scottish-ghost-stories-17
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/audiobook/396891679/Scottish-Ghost-Stories-Victorian-and-Edwardian-Tales-of-the-Supernatural
Playster: https://play.playster.com/audiobooks/1001800000001001536/scottish-ghost-stories-elliott-odonnell


The Invisible Hand and Other Ghost Stories

Ten haunting tales from the book of True Ghost Stories compiled by Hereward Carrington in 1915. Included in this audio collection are the following Victorian and Edwardian stories: The Cut Across the Cheek, “Julia, Darling,” Face to Face, Willington Mill, The Invisible Hand, Face Slapped by a Ghost, Alone with a Ghost in a Church, A Haunted House in France, I Am Shot, and Shaken by a Ghost.

Listen at Nook: https://www.nookaudiobooks.com/audiobook/256756/invisible-hand-and-other-ghost-stories-the
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/invisible-hand-and-other-ghost-stories-the
Audiobooks.com: https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/invisible-hand-and-other-ghost-stories/360166
Playster: https://play.playster.com/audiobooks/1001800000000256756/the-invisible-hand-and-other-ghost-stories-hereward-carrington