Mind games: How psychic are YOU?

I always have a hard time deciding what to write when I blog here, so I decided to play it safe and pick a topic related to my most current release, which just happens to be about psychics.

Wait, haven’t I done that already?

Facepalm. Yep. Actually, almost one year ago I blogged at Here Be Magic about what I was going to blog about today — my personal experiences with psychics. Instead of rehashing it, I’ll just redirect you back to that post if you’re interested, and I’ll try to be a little more creative today.

My newest book is On the Scent, which is about a hot private detective protecting a nurse and her snarky cat and goofy dog after they inherit millions, and all kinds of hijinks that happen as a result. The idea for this story came to me after I read an article about an Italian heiress who left her entire fortune of £10 million to a stray black cat she fed regularly, and her nurse was left in charge of the cat. I’m a huge animal lover, but even I thought, “That’s craaazy!” But as my writer's mind has a tendency to do, it started pinging off ideas for a story in different directions. What if this happened to a nurse in America? She might need protection. Oooh, hunky bodyguard! What if he was more than a bodyguard? What if he had psychic abilities and could communicate with the animals? What if the heiress wasn’t who she’d claimed to be? Ooooh.

Plus, I really wanted to have a cat and dog’s thoughts in my story. How do I do that? Duh. One of my characters had to be psychic! That also allowed me to bring in a paranormal element to my series, which gets larger with each book (I promise). Honestly, I didn't even attempt to get into much more world building than "my hero is psychic" until I hit the second book, and that was mainly because I conned the wonderfully talented Jody Wallace into helping me do so. Hugs Jody. And I also have to give props to Jane Kindred who beta read On the Scent for me. High fives Jane. Can I just say how awesome all of the authors at Here Be Magic are? Cause they are. Awesome.

Now that I've dragged you through the scatter-brained writing processes of my mind, please don't leave yet. That's right. I saw your cursor moving toward that X in the corner.

This should be the part where I explain that every writer is different, but I was trained and have worked for many years as a journalist. That means that even when I’m writing fiction, I start with research into the topic I’m writing about and try to find the truth of the matter, no matter how ridiculous the premise might seem. Sometimes I’ll interview people—in this case, I asked questions of a psychic in my area who had a good reputation—and try to get a feel for the characters and circumstances I’m writing about. I can start with the most kooky idea ever, but I always try to ground it in reality by using what I've learned.

Well, I probably shouldn't admit this in a public setting, but I bought a book off Amazon while writing On the Scent called Psychic Development for Beginners. Its summary promised me "You possess a secret power that is just waiting to be harnessed—your natural psychic sense." Fabulous, I thought. Show me what to do. Let's see if this psychic stuff is for real. Bring it on. Well, I've tried some of the "44 fun and simple activities" offered in the book, and guess what? I'm still a poor struggling writer with a sad love life who has no clue how to win the lottery. Nope, I can't even communicate with my cat...or at least, I don't think I can. She's a cat so she could just be ignoring me, but still.

I seem to have the psychic abilities of a dishrag. What about you? Ever had a weird psychic experience you can't explain? If so, I'd love to hear about it. You know, for research purposes and all.

Author's note: I'm such a crazy pet fanatic that I've pledged to donate half of my proceeds from this book to my local animal shelter. You can learn more my pledge, and the animals in my book, by visiting my website: www.AngelaCampbellOnline.com.