Saturday March 02, 2012
Karen Vance Hammond
Tonight's guest was paranormal thriller author Karen Vance Hammond, her fortieth interview since her book Shoe Marks was published.
Karen spoke of her rather gruelling, early years with varied learning disabilities. She was adopted from birth, with an ear disfigurment, curving her ear to his cheek (since corrected). At around two years her adoptive parents discovered she had learning disabilities, not reacting to her name, and a seeming reluctance even to vocalize. When she did begin to vocalize it was close to aphasiac. When she tried reading she was extremely dyslexic.
Karen detailed the heart-rending history of her youth.
After extensive testing, she was accepted into the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas and The Jones Learning Center from which Karen graduated with a double major in psychology and sociology.
She also related her experience winning Miss University of the Ozarks and went on to the Miss Arkansas Pageant where she was one of the top ten in the talent competition, singing.
Her initial goal was to work in geriatrics, as such were very loving and accepting.
When living in Maine for a time, she made money as a baby-sitting. On Deer Isle, she was at a 19th century building, and she was actually warned ahead of time about paranormal activity. She didn't believe in it, but within minutes of their exit, Karen could hear footsteps. Her friend, Dolly told her "He's here." A bottle fell but didn't break, it just spun wildly in place. At first when she departed she felt she would never return, but her fascination overrode her fear and brought her back.
Living in Texas she befriended Jennifer Stone of the Horton House, at which the Shoe Marks book true story is based. It took Karen two years to write it, both never having written a book, and making sure the facts were accurate, and that due to her disability, using Dragon narrration-to-text software.
Karen detailed the background of the family moving in and the substantial activity and the terrifying escalation thereof.
Since Shoe Marks has come out, and made #1 best-seller, she's been contacted by film makers and screen writers and about possibly adapting it into a motion picture. She also clarified she's a paranormal investigator, currently associated with Houston Paranormal Research Team.
With the success of her book, she's been nominated for several paranormal awards.
Barbara reported that tonight we had listeners in the US, Canada, England and Finland.
She has been co-working with Kimberly Brouillette (who was our guest two week's earlier). Karen has other two upcoming novels (court drama, mystery, paranormal and romance), The Monastery Murders and its sequel Identity, as well as currently writing Surf-side Erosion, and The Cross Roads Trilogy, and has started her own biography entitled Karen's Story.
Whilest writing Shoe Marks she felt like she was being touched, observed, etc.; the thrill of the writing process and being the captain of the ship just draws her, and she was thereby hooked to be and remain a writer.
Without even being prompted, Karen provided her website information, and her being on Facebook and Twitter.
I gave out the show's various page locations (my hub page, the show's official site, that we're findable on Facebook, et al); Kat gave out her website on which is her graphic novel; and the information on her friends' Relay for life Indiana Ghost Trackers Southeast Central Chapter team event link, as I added to a few of the previous weeks' editions, indicating a "hunt for cancer cure," the fact the cure for cancer exists already notwithstanding.
Henry reported that our subsequent week's guest would be Marie Jones, author of 2013: The End of Days or a New Beginning.