Haunted Halloween 2011: Guest Post - Sara Grant + A Giveaway!

Haunted Halloween 2011
Guest post by Sara Grant, author of Dark Parties

I have an over-active imagination. It’s a perk if you’re a writer but in the wee hours of the night, it’s a definite liability. I’ve spent many-a-night with eyes held painfully wide open, waiting for my bedroom door to creak open and a ghost, demon or serial killer to appear. When I was fourteen, I didn’t sleep for two days after I watched Poltergeist. I was sure the tree outside my window might come to life or that horribly creepy clown might have found its way into the eves, which served as my closet, and strangle me with its oversized mitts.
I don’t often watch scary movies anymore because at 3:22 in the morning, I can still convince myself that Freddie, Jason, Cujo and Norman Bates have formed a posse and are coming after me. It’s irrational, um, yeah, I know, but I’m not at my rational best after midnight.
    So it may seem completely counterintuitive when I tell you that I love graveyards. Graveyards of sorts are featured in both Dark Parties and my next novel, scheduled for publication in 2013. Maybe it’s the storyteller in me that sees a gazillion stories lurking among the heart-felt epitaphs and the weather-worn statues. Or maybe it’s the eerie peace that surprises you like fog on a hilly country road or some connection with eternity. I have no idea. Maybe a high-priced shrink will decipher this for me one day.
    When I lived in Indianapolis, Indiana, I used to write at Crown Hill Cemetery. With more than 185,000 graves dating back as far as 1864, it’s the third largest cemetery in the US not owned by the government. I would spread a blanket near James Whitcomb Riley’s grave and write until I was over taken by ants or the sun began to set. Riley’s gravesite sits on the highest points of the city and offers a stunning view. I was inspired by the sights but also the feeling of being surrounded by stories, all those souls whispering their tales. I never found it spooky or scary – but I also never visited after dark.
James Whitcomb Riley is a Hoosier poet best known for his poem “Little Orphant Annie” (www.poetry-archive.com/r/little_orphant_annie.html). It’s a perfect poem for Halloween with its refrain of ‘An’ the Gobble-uns ‘ll git you Ef you Don’t watch out!’
So my suggestion for this Halloween…visit your nearest graveyard. Be respectful. Be reverent. And listen for voices from the past.
    Happy Halloween to the living and those returning for the night….

Currently available from Little, Brown!

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Neva has been trapped since birth. She was born and raised under the Protectosphere, in an isolated nation ruled by fear, lies, and xenophobia. A shield "protects" them from the outside world, but also locks the citizens inside. But there's nothing left on the outside, ever since the world collapsed from violent warfare. Or so the government says...

Neva and her best friend Sanna believe the government is lying and stage a "dark party" to recruit members for their underground rebellion. But as Neva begins to uncover the truth, she realizes she must question everything she's ever known, including the people she loves the most.

Order Dark Parties Online:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

About Sara Grant

Sara Grant grew up in a small Indiana. She graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, with degrees in journalism and psychology, and later she earned a master’s degree in creative and life writing Goldsmiths College, University of London. Sara now works as a senior commissioning editor for Working Partners, a London-based company creating series fiction for children. Dark Parties is her first young adult novel.

Find Sara Online:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Enter to win a copy of DARK PARTIES!!!

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Giveaway ends: November 2nd, 2011

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A HUGE thank you goes out to Sara for today's post! Thanks so much for stopping by! Another HUGE thank you goes out to Little, Brown for the book provided in this giveaway.

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