[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ inner_width=”auto” inner_max_width=”1080px”][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ custom_padding__hover=”|||” custom_padding=”|||”][et_pb_text]<\/p>\n
My big brother passed away nearly thirteen years ago. (Twelve years, nine months, and twenty-five days ago, to be precise.) That means I\u2019ve made it twelve years, ten months, and a couple days since I last heard his voice.<\/p>\n
Since I last got to laugh with him. Since we last watched a movie together. (It was Four Brothers, if you were curious. We were sitting on the old couch I had given to him, in his studio apartment. He was wearing Spongebob Squarepants pajama pants and no shirt, his tattoos on full display. He had them everywhere\u2014his arms, his chest, his back.)<\/p>\n
What would have been his 44th birthday is five days from now.<\/p>\n
Why am I telling you this?<\/p>\n
To flay myself open, to lay it out on the line. To explain why my newest anthology collection, Haunted, is so important to me.<\/p>\n
What got me through the grief of losing my sibling so unexpectedly? The idea that he might still be around, watching out for me. For my daughter, whom he never met. We still talk about him a lot, because my theory was (long before Coco came out, I might add) that if we kept him alive in our memories, he wasn\u2019t really gone.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t want him to be gone. I refused to accept the finality of death, not when it came to my big brother.<\/p>\n
As you can expect, with more than a decade since we lost him, I\u2019ve come to better terms with it. I\u2019ve stopped answering the phone expecting it to be him. I\u2019ve stopped putting things in my cart thinking, \u201cOh, he would love this.\u201d<\/p>\n
That said, I\u2019ve never given up hope that he\u2019s still somehow involved in my life.<\/p>\n
This collection shares the stories of ghosts who are still out there, still a part of people\u2019s lives, for one reason or another.<\/p>\n
Vengeance is at the heart of each one, but so is love. You can\u2019t have one emotion without the other\u2014love doesn\u2019t exist without hate, and vengeance doesn\u2019t exist without hope.<\/p>\n
I loved my brother, but there were times I hated him, too. There were times I wanted to kill him my damn self, but other times when I knew he was looking out for my best interests.<\/p>\n
Relationships thrive on that dichotomy. So, too, does Haunted.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t dedicate this one to my brother. I didn\u2019t dedicate this one to anyone. Which was intentional. As everyone\u2019s thoughts on hauntings and afterlife are so varied, as is witnessed by the wide berth of stories contained in this book, I wanted the readers to put their own spin on it and decide to whom it should be dedicated.<\/p>\n
Will your dedication be grounded in love? Or vengeance? Will it be rooted by a memory? Or hope?<\/p>\n
September is National Suicide Prevention Month here in the United States. <\/strong><\/p>\n Reach out, someone is listening. <\/strong><\/p>\n Do not give up hope. <\/strong><\/p>\n -800-273-8255 #Bethe1to<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”3.27.4″ box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” z_index_tablet=”500″ \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ custom_padding__hover=”|||” custom_padding=”|||”][et_pb_image admin_label=”Haunted Cover 200×300″ _builder_version=”3.27.4″ saved_tabs=”all” src=”http:\/\/www.penandkinkpub.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Haunted_200x300.jpg” align=”center” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” z_index_tablet=”500″ global_module=”6775″ \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ custom_padding__hover=”|||” 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header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” z_index_tablet=”500″ saved_tabs=”all” global_module=”6776″]<\/p>\n Pre-order now<\/strong><\/p>\n Amazon (US<\/a>) (CA<\/a>) (UK<\/a>)<\/p>\n