Day 257 - Water Witch

Water Witch

Deborah LeBlanc

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Release Date: September 2008

Publisher: Leisure Books (Dorchester Publishing)

Pages: 290 (Mass Market Paperback)

Author Site: http://www.deborahleblanc.com/

My Rating: 3.25/5

Synopsis [from author site]:

Dunny knew from an early age what it meant to be an outsider. Her special abilities earned her many names, like freak and water witch. So she vowed to keep her powers a secret.

Now, though, her talents may be the only hope for two missing children. A young boy and girl have vanished, feared lost in the mysterious bayous of Louisiana. But they didn’t just disappear; they were taken. By something far more dangerous than the ghosts and spirits living in the swamp. Something with very special plans for the children—and for anyone who dares to interfere . . .

Review:

Dunny Pollock is a pretty normal gal. She's stresses about paying her bills and dealing with her deadlines at work as a freelance writer. She has a stray dog that keeps scratching at her door and she doesn't have the heart to shoo it away. So instead, she feeds the scraggly thing and even gives the little moocher a name. But there is something different about Dunny. Because of an extra finger on her left hand, she has been given many names in her younger years - like freak and water witch. How can an extra finger cause so much grief?

Well, Dunny's little finger has given her strange abilities. If she concentrates hard enough the extra appendage allows her to find things. It's helped her find water, oil, keys and even her sister's cat. Most of the time her finger gets warm and points Dunny in the right direction. Except when it came to her sister's cat the finger turned ice cold because it turned out the cat was dead.

So ever since that episode Dunny has tried to keep her secret to herself. But she'll have to use her ability when her sister calls on her for help. Angelle is a school teacher in a small Lousiana town. She's worried about two of her children that have dissapeared into the swamp. Dunny may be the only one that can help. But no one knows what's really going on deep in the swamp. A shaman-like ritual gone wrong produces an evil supernatural presence that permeates the town.

The premise itself is alright, but I really enjoyed LeBlanc's characters. Dunny has a very laid back personality. Despite her problems, I feel like she knows how to handle things. After arriving in Louisana, she meets Angelle's mother-in-law, Poochie. Now this lady sure is a character. At first I found her quite annoying, a batty old woman that was a little off her hinges. But her Cajun accent and quirky outbursts really grew on me. Her character development was particularly well-done because towards the end the reader can see a glimpse of who Poochie is despite her old age.

This is my first LeBlanc novel and I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed her simple story telling and the way she wove horror elements with paranomral thrills. I'll definitely be picking up some of her other books.

Day 252 - Paranormal Plus

So I've just read my first Deborah LeBlanc novel, Water Witch (stay tuned for the review), and I'd like to share with you all an article about Deborah's interest in paranormal investigation. It's pretty interesting & creepy!

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Read through the article and see what you think. Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions =)

Has anyone read a novel by Deborah LeBlanc??

If so, did you like it?



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Paranormal Plus

By Deborah LeBlanc,

Author of Water Witch

When I started delving into paranormal investigation years ago, my adventures were done alone and with little more than a disposable camera, compass, flashlight, and a set of brass balls. Over time, I collected more sophisticated tools of the trade, like an EMF detector, infrared cameras, etc. The set of brass balls remained a constant. Eventually, I joined professional paranormal investigation teams, began traveling to purported haunted locations throughout the country, and even did some scouting for MTV's Fear program.

Over the years, I've visited hundreds of cemeteries, and my camera's caught flying orbs near Poe's grave in Baltimore, squiggly strings of white light that wove through tombs in old family plots in Nebraska, and child-size shadows perched atop two headstones in Atlanta, Georgia. Oddly enough, the cemetery known as the most haunted in America, Big Woods Cemetery, offered nothing but hungry mosquitoes.

The most fascinating experience I've had in a cemetery came from a small town in Mire, La., where my maternal grandfather is buried. One evening I took my youngest daughter (who was fourteen at the time) and two of her friends out for burgers. While we're eating, my daughter decides to tell her friends about the weird things her mom does for fun . . . like ghost hunting. They grow wide-eyed, of course, and ask a million questions, their last one being, "Can you take us to a cemetery and show us how to hunt for ghosts . . . like now?"

My daughter then gives me that, "You've gotta, Mom, 'cause they'll think I'm so cool!" look. Geez . . .

Before long I had three fourteen year-olds (2 girls, 1 boy) begging -- loudly -- to ghost hunt. Although I envisioned angry parents pounding on my front door later that night, insisting I be taken away to a mental ward, I couldn't resist those cherub faces. That, and the fact that they pooled their money and bribed me with a slice of chocolate cake did me in.

Wanting to minimize any risks, I thought of the most benign cemetery I knew -- St. Theresa's in Mire, La. The cemetery sits on a corner lot in the middle of town. Beside it is a church and across the street is a gas station and Mire City Hall. Streetlights line both sides of the street, so in truth, the spookiest thing about the place is the creak of the cemetery gate when you open it.

So, armed with a digital camera and a flashlight, both of which are always in my car, we head for the cemetery. Once there, the kids stay glued to my side, whispering to each other, looking over their shoulder every few minutes as we walked amongst the graves. A car backfired in the distance, and the boy gasped so loudly, I thought he'd swallowed his tongue. We had a good laugh over that, which helped the kids to relax and eventually wonder off on their own to different tombs. All the while I'm snapping pictures, hoping for an orb or two, but getting absolutely nothing -- note the picture below.

It wasn't long before I spotted my grandfather's grave, (below). I was three when he passed away, so my daughters never knew him.

As I drew closer to the tomb, I got a sudden, overwhelming urge to 'introduce' my grandfather to my youngest. So I called my daughter over, showed her the tomb, then said aloud, "Pop-pop, (which is what everyone called him) this is your great-granddaughter, Sarah." No sooner did the words leave my mouth than another urge hit. Take a picture . . . now! So I did.And this is what showed up.

This image, which stood at the foot of my grandfather's tomb, wasn't physically seen by any of us. Had it not been for the camera, we would have never known it was there. Is this my grandfather stopping by to say hello? I don't know. But it sure is cool to consider the possibility!

In my many travels, and with the aid of better equipment, I've managed to capture oddities, like the one, as well as strange, disjointed voices on digital recorders. But after fifteen years of investigating, I still can't lay claim to having seen a full-bodied apparition. Maybe I'm too much of a Doubting Thomas for spirits to bother materializing when I'm around. I did learn the hard way, though, that you don't have to see a ghost to make it angry.

©2009 Deborah LeBlanc, author of Water Witch

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Author Bio:

Deborah LeBlanc, author of Water Witch, is an award-winning author from Lafayette, Louisiana. She is also a business owner, a licensed death scene investigator, and an active member of two national paranormal investigation teams. Deborah's unique experiences, enthusiasm, and high-energy level make her a much sought-after speaker at writer's conferences across the nation. She also takes her passion for literacy and a powerful ability to motivate to high schools around the country.

She is the president of the Horror Writers Association, the Writers' Guild of Acadiana, Mystery Writers of America's Southwest Chapter, and an active member of Sisters in Crime, the National Association of Women Writers, and International Thriller Writers Inc. In 2004, Deborah created the LeBlanc Literacy Challenge, an annual national campaign designed to encourage more people to read, and soon after founded Literacy Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting illiteracy in America.

For more information please visit http://www.theleblancchallenge.com/

Day 248 - Teaser Tuesday [22]

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:






-Grab your current read.
-Let the book fall open to a random page.
-Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
-You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
-Please avoid spoilers!






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"I had to admit spending that much time in a car with Poochie Blackledge prattling on nonstop was tiring. Although far from boring, being confined in a small space with her was like playing tennis in a closet - in the dark." (61)

Water Witch :: Deborah LeBlanc