St. Louis Cemetery #1

Saint Louis Cemetery is the name of three Roman Catholic cemeteries in New Orleans. Most of these graves were constructed in the 18th and 19th century. Since St. Louis Cemetery #1 is the oldest and most famous we will focus on it for the purpose of our virtual vacation. This cemetery opened in 1789, replacing the city's older St. Peter Cemetery (no longer in existence) as the main burial ground when the city was redesigned after a fire in 1788. For more pictures of this beautiful historic cemetery go here http://images.travelpod.co.uk/users/lgthib/1.1247098243.st-louis-cemetery-nox-1.jpg

Some of the more interesting tombs in St. Louis # 1 are a huge tomb that holds the remains of some of the participants in the Battle of New Orleans; chess champion Paul Morphy; New Orleans' first black mayor, Ernest N. "Dutch" Morial. But the most famous and interesting tomb here is said to be where Voodoo Queen Marie Leveaux is buried.Even though she died 130 years ago people still flock to her tomb in hopes of  being blessed by her supernatural powers.  

To see the full article go here http://www.hauntedneworleanstours.com/cemeteries/nolacemeteries/

Marie Laveaus Ghost is said to haunt the cemetery and many Ghost photos, and EVP's occur. This New Orleans graveyard is said to be haunted by the ghost of the world famous Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Marie Laveau. Her spirit has been reported inside of the cemetery, walking between the tombs wearing a turban , and mumbling a New Orleans Santeria Voodoo curse to trespassers.
Her Voodoo curse is loud and even heard by passerby's on nearby Rampart Street. Locals say this has started in recent years for she is alarmed by the many vandals and state of the cemetery. Voudon Believers and Tourist and locals still come to her tomb every day and leave many, many Voodoo offerings (candles, flowers, buttons, monke cock good luck statue, Mardi Gras beads, Gris Gris bags, Voodoo dolls, and food in hopes of being blessed by her supernatural powers from beyond the grave.) Many have been known to make a wish at her tomb marking three X's. While others say they have her Ghost on film emerging undead from her tomb. They say her soul appears here as a shiny black Voodoo cat with read eyes. If you see it run!
The Tomb is also said to be haunted by her great Voodoo snake called Zombi. Some say they have felt her touch them letting them know their wish will come true. One recent haunted Cemtery tour guest at Marie laveus tomb states that she picked up a statue on the ground of a Monkey and cock. The Tour guide explained it was left there and meant to be taken as a good luck statue and that it grants three wishes.""as I picked it up, some strange force ripped it out of my hands.""Marie Laveau did not want me to have it ." She said. "It landed un broken back where I picked it up from, another person on the tour picked it up and the same thing happened." then another lady picked it up and nothing happened. The entire tour was stunned and the guide too."

Marie Laveau

Where, but New Orleans, could you expect to go on a haunted cemetery tour? As part of our virtual vacation package, we are going to tour the most popular one. Before we go to the St. Louis Cemetery #1 we need to learn a little bit about its most famous occupant—Marie Laveau.  
http://www.voodooonthebayou.net/marie_laveau.html

Marie Laveau

New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum

Marie Laveau lived in New Orleans and became the Queen of the Voodoos.

"The beautiful Marie Laveau, and yes she was beautiful, was born a Free Woman of Color in 1794 and died an old woman in 1881. She became the most famous and powerful Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. She was respected and feared by all. Voodoo in New Orleans was a blend of West African religion and Catholicism. Voodoo deities are called Loahs and they are closely paired with the Catholic Saints. All people in New Orleans were Catholic and slaves were baptized. Marie was a devout Catholic and attended Mass daily. Marie began as a hairdresser and later became a nurse during the Yellow Fever epidemics. She was skilled in the practice of medicine and knew the healing qualities of indigenous herbs. Concerned about the soul too, she would sit with the condemned in their last moments sometimes serving them their last meal. She was the first commercial Voodoo Queen and she specialized in romance and finance. She was an astute business woman. Marie was all-knowing and all-powerful. She could easily help you get a lover, keep a lover or get rid of a lover. Marie married Jacques Paris at St. Louis Cathedral when she was 25. He disappeared 6 months later and from then on she became known as "The Widow Paris". A year later she became the common law wife of Christopher Glapion and had some 15 children by him. The youngest of these, also Marie, followed in her mother's footsteps and succeeded her. It is believed that you can come to Marie's tomb and ask for something. She accepts money, cigars, white rum and candy as offerings. Appeals must be made 3 times with full concentration. In voodoo it is believed that when a Voodoo Queen dies her spirit re-enters the river of life and moves to the next realm, adjacent to this one.

Hotel Monteleone

Unlike my real pockets, my virtual pockets are deep, so I spared no expense in choosing the hotel for our trip to New Orleans. I booked each of us a room at the Hotel Monteleone. Like all of my favorite hotels, the Monteleone is an historic land mark and a member of Historic Hotels of America. It was built in 1886 and has documented more than a dozen earthbound entities.  Not only does this hotel have ghosts, but it boast of a state-of-the-art fitness room, a heated rooftop pool with breathtaking views of downtown New Orleans. Of course, it also has a full service day spa to help relieve our tired muscles from all of the sightseeing, shopping, and ghost hunting we are going to do. For more information on this beautiful hotel you can go here:
http://hotelmonteleone.com/

To learn more about the ghosts and things we might get to experience while staying here be sure to watch the attached video.

Have a haunting experience.

Many people who come to Hotel Monteleone don’t want to leave. Some never do…
Generations of hotel guests and staff have regularly experienced haunted events that would cause even the staunchest skeptic to take pause. This haunted hotel has a restaurant door that opens almost every evening and then closes again, even though it is locked. An elevator that stops on the wrong floor, leading a curious couple down a hallway that grows chilly and reveals the ghostly images of children playing. Hotel Monteleone is known for being one of the premier haunted hotels in North America.
In March 2003, the International Society of Paranormal Research spent several days investigating Hotel Monteleone. While at the hotel, the team made contact with more than a dozen earthbound entities. Among them were several former employees, a man named William Wildemere who died inside the hotel of natural causes, and a boy who was much older when he died but enjoys returning to Hotel Monteleone as a 10-year-old to play hide-and-seek with another young spirit.

Read our Ghost Story,
“There’s A Ghost In My Room”

Virtual Vacation

Doing back-to-back edits on my fiction and non-fiction books has caused the little gears in my brain to quit functioning and I find myself in desperate need of a vacation. Unfortunately, neither time nor money will allow for such frivolity. For now, I have to settle for a virtual vacation and I invite all of you to join me.

Think about it, we could go anywhere! The virtual world is literally at our fingertips. We could take a luxurious cruise to the Bahamas’s, ski the glorious mountains in Colorado, or enjoy the beaches of California. Ahhhhhh, as good as all of that sounds—it’s not for me.

The best way for me to relax and unwind is to visit places that are rumored to be haunted. I like to delve deep into the history of such places and learn all I can about them and then of course I like to see if I can find any truth behind the haunting rumors.

For this virtual vacation, we will be going to New Orleans. While many of us may wonder if ghosts really exists, I’ve heard it said that in New Orleans most people don’t even question it. Instead of asking you if you believe in ghosts, they ask if you’ve met any of their ghosts.

Even though I’ve never gotten to visit this great city, I’m intrigued with their many tales of ghosts. So get your virtual suitcases packed we will be leaving bright and early Monday morning, and don’t forget the coffee.

YEE-HAW

Angelina’s Secret has gone into the galleys!!!!!!

And what does this mean? Well…it means it’s getting closer and closer to its release date. It also means the ARC’s will be coming out soon. If you are a YA book reviewer and you’d like to receive an ARC of Angelina's Secret Please contact Spencer Hill Press. (http://www.site.spencerhillpress.com/Contact.html)

Or

 e-mail  (editor (at) spencerhillpress (dot) com) 

So again, YEE-HAW, and yes it’s okay for me to say that I’m from Oklahoma.