Welcome to Josephine's Lair ...
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Meredith Tague and I joined the members of SOLA on a writer’s retreat at Nottoway Plantation. The weekend started with a tour of the plantation. We went through several rooms before ending up in The White Ballroom, where they hold a lot of weddings.
Before I continue, I must state that I am a skeptic. While I have had many personal experiences with premonition type dreams, I have yet to meet a ghost.
In this rounded room is a portrait of Mary Henshaw (painted in 1857), who is not a member of the original family. The painting was procured in 1980 by Nottoway’s previous owner, Arlan Dease.
Everyone entered the ballroom on the east side, and after the tour guide gave a bit of history, she instructed us to look at the woman as we walked to the west side of the room. As instructed, I did just that. Not only did the woman’s eyes follow us, it appeared that her entire body shifted so that we could always see her as if we were standing in front of her.
This was cool. The guide talked about the pulley/bell system that they used long ago to call the servants, and I took a picture of the silver knob by the fireplace. Then I took a picture of the painting from where I stood on the right side of the room. The guide finished her talk, and I decided to take another picture of it from the left side to capture the full effect, which I attributed also to the round shape of the room.
My camera went crazy.
A strange message that the storage card had malfunctioned popped up onto the screen. This had never happened before. I thought there was plenty room on it, but maybe I needed to clean it up again. I turned it off and on, hoping this was not the case. I also feel it important to mention that at work that morning, I had taken several pictures of the hot air balloons. The camera had started making a low whirring noise off and on, which it had continued to do upon arrival at the plantation. I thought my beloved equipment had finally bit the dust.
I turned it back on and the storage malfunction message popped up again, so I again shut it down, took out the card and re-inserted it. Wa-la! It began working, so I shifted through the pictures to make sure they were there.
The last picture on my camera was of the silver pulley. The pictures of the lady were gone.
The weirdest feeling coursed through me. To say it was a chill put it mildly. I looked around but discovered I was the only one actually in the room. I could see everyone in the next room (the dining room), and dazed, I stepped into the hall, trying to grasp what just happened.
The guide finished talking about the dining room and started to proceed to the next room. One of the guests asked if there had been any ghost sightings, and while the guide had never experienced anything, she did not give a straight answer. So basically, she never said there were ghosts on the plantation, and she never said there weren’t.
Thinking how crazy it was that someone asked this right after my strange experience, I simply had to relay what just happened. Then I slipped back into the room to retake the pictures. Before I did, I made sure to ask the lady in the painting for permission, and guess what? I still have those pictures!
Leia Mais...
Nottoway Plantation
Sunday, August 14, 2011.
Nottoway Adventure
Aug 5 & 6, 2011
Aug 5 & 6, 2011
Meredith Tague and I joined the members of SOLA on a writer’s retreat at Nottoway Plantation. The weekend started with a tour of the plantation. We went through several rooms before ending up in The White Ballroom, where they hold a lot of weddings.
Before I continue, I must state that I am a skeptic. While I have had many personal experiences with premonition type dreams, I have yet to meet a ghost.
In this rounded room is a portrait of Mary Henshaw (painted in 1857), who is not a member of the original family. The painting was procured in 1980 by Nottoway’s previous owner, Arlan Dease.
Everyone entered the ballroom on the east side, and after the tour guide gave a bit of history, she instructed us to look at the woman as we walked to the west side of the room. As instructed, I did just that. Not only did the woman’s eyes follow us, it appeared that her entire body shifted so that we could always see her as if we were standing in front of her.
This was cool. The guide talked about the pulley/bell system that they used long ago to call the servants, and I took a picture of the silver knob by the fireplace. Then I took a picture of the painting from where I stood on the right side of the room. The guide finished her talk, and I decided to take another picture of it from the left side to capture the full effect, which I attributed also to the round shape of the room.
My camera went crazy.
A strange message that the storage card had malfunctioned popped up onto the screen. This had never happened before. I thought there was plenty room on it, but maybe I needed to clean it up again. I turned it off and on, hoping this was not the case. I also feel it important to mention that at work that morning, I had taken several pictures of the hot air balloons. The camera had started making a low whirring noise off and on, which it had continued to do upon arrival at the plantation. I thought my beloved equipment had finally bit the dust.
I turned it back on and the storage malfunction message popped up again, so I again shut it down, took out the card and re-inserted it. Wa-la! It began working, so I shifted through the pictures to make sure they were there.
The last picture on my camera was of the silver pulley. The pictures of the lady were gone.
The weirdest feeling coursed through me. To say it was a chill put it mildly. I looked around but discovered I was the only one actually in the room. I could see everyone in the next room (the dining room), and dazed, I stepped into the hall, trying to grasp what just happened.
The guide finished talking about the dining room and started to proceed to the next room. One of the guests asked if there had been any ghost sightings, and while the guide had never experienced anything, she did not give a straight answer. So basically, she never said there were ghosts on the plantation, and she never said there weren’t.
Thinking how crazy it was that someone asked this right after my strange experience, I simply had to relay what just happened. Then I slipped back into the room to retake the pictures. Before I did, I made sure to ask the lady in the painting for permission, and guess what? I still have those pictures!
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Quick Update
Thursday, June 30, 2011.
June 30, 2011
Just wanted to let everyone know that I updated my article section to include 2011 Town Favorite articles thusfar published.
After a crazy two months at my dayjob, I am finally able to return to the world of writing. I missed it terribly! It's hard to write when under mounds of stress ... but that's another story best left untold! :)
My goal is to update the site on a more frequent basis, but time will tell.
For now, keep on rocking!
Carpe amor!
Josephine Templeton
Leia Mais...
Just wanted to let everyone know that I updated my article section to include 2011 Town Favorite articles thusfar published.
After a crazy two months at my dayjob, I am finally able to return to the world of writing. I missed it terribly! It's hard to write when under mounds of stress ... but that's another story best left untold! :)
My goal is to update the site on a more frequent basis, but time will tell.
For now, keep on rocking!
Carpe amor!
Josephine Templeton
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Trip to The Myrtles to Interview Heather Graham and The Peace River Ghost Trackers
Wednesday, February 23, 2011.
About a month or so ago, I contacted Connie Perry to request an interview with Heather Graham. After sending Connie the list of questions, she suggested I meet them at The Myrtles on February 8th to do the interview “live”. Heather has a new series coming out in April, and they were planning on shooting the book trailer. I excitedly agreed and enlisted my trusted wingwoman, Rhonda McKey.
February 8th arrived right on time, and I woke at 4 am, unable to sleep. So I visited with my husband while he got ready for work, and once the family left the house, I set about preparing for the day’s events. I arrived at Rhonda’s house about ten a.m., and we made our way to St. Francisville.
First stop – The Magnolia Café where we grabbed lunch. The staff was very friendly, and the atmosphere warm and cozy. The meal was good – a lot of food for the money. Definitely need to remember that two people can split. Once done, we called Connie to let her know that we were almost there and wanted to ensure they weren’t heading off to lunch. She said they had a table of food setup, which we were welcome to eat. Alas, we were full.
Next stop – The Myrtles. Upon arrival, the grounds appeared empty, but we soon discovered that Heather and her group were just finishing up their guided tour of the plantation. Connie re-introduced us to Heather, who gave us a very warm and excited welcoming. Heather’s family and friends were there as the cast of her book trailer, including her PR from Truth Be Told, Bridget LeVien and author, Kathleen Pickering.
The actual shoot was supposed to start at 1 pm, so while we waited for the camera guy and the paranormal team to show up, I interviewed Heather. Unfortunately, I started off recording with an ancient hand-held mini tape recorder. What was I thinking??? Needless to say, it started malfunctioning toward the end of the interview, but thankfully I only lost one section. I then switched to using the Note Recorder on my BlackBerry, which is what I should have done to begin with! Lesson learned.
The interview went very well. Heather was great at giving in-depth answers to the spontaneous questions. I got a lot of good information.
After the interview, we milled about while continuing to wait for the camera man and paranormal investigators. When they did get there, I spoke with Sprout from The Peace River Ghost Trackers. Very nice, friendly and informative group of people. I’m glad I got my interviews beforehand because later in the day when they were setting up with their equipment in the plantation, they started running into problems because of legality issues of where they could set their cameras and stuff and video equipment. They were upset because they couldn’t put their equipment exactly where they wanted to.
Sitting around waiting on the shoot was the hardest part because there’s long breaks in-between … they did some scenes inside where it was kind of hard for everybody to sit around and watch. I watched all of the ones that were outside and got some good pictures.
Heather works very closely with the cameraman, which was very cool to see. They were all dressed up in period costume. Kathleen Pickering was doing a behind-the-scenes shooting (documentary) of the trailer that she’s going to put on You Tube, and since we weren’t staying the night, hopefully they’ll be able to give me their take on their ghost-hunting ventures.
The most interesting shoot was when “the senator’s wife” fell off the building. Kathy DePalo did a great job. She nailed the “dead” look with her eyes wide open. If they had done it with her eyes closed, it wouldn’t have been as effective or made such an impact. She did such a good job of holding her breath and holding still …
We hadn’t planned on staying past four, but it was such an interesting process to see unfold. I wanted to be there for all the scenes.
We also met a very interesting character who works for The Myrtles – Ginger Snapp. He’s a very colorful individual - friendly and entertaining. I interviewed him for the Myrtles side of my venture.
My take on The Myrtles – during the day, there is nothing spooky about it. Of course, I didn’t go upstairs nor did I take the tour again (I’d gone a few years ago with my kids, niece and sister – even then, I didn’t find anything otherworldly). The stories around the plantation are definitely creepy. It’s like with any paranormal haunting. Sometimes I think the media just over-exploits it, and of course, The Myrtles has to draw the crowds in so they have to hype up the sensationalism of it. But still, it’s worth a trip out there even if its during the day. Perhaps I’ll be able to spend the night there sometime in the future. Although, we did have some friends stay overnight (in the slave quarters) not too long ago, but they didn’t experience anything unusual or spooky except the atmosphere. All in all, it’s a really neat place to go … it has a lot of Louisiana history …
Rhonda and I had a really good time. It was a nice escape. Kathleen enlisted Rhonda’s aide to “shoot the documentary” while they shot the final scene with everyone in it. Then at one point, the camera guy used Rhonda as a sort of stunt double for Heather Graham.
It was definitely worth taking the day off to participate in Heather’s book trailer. I hope her video comes out exactly like she wants it, and I can’t wait to see it. I am also anxiously waiting to see if they had any ghostly visitors during the night!
I've uploaded a few pictures, so check them out on my picture page.
Carpe Amor!
Leia Mais...
February 8th arrived right on time, and I woke at 4 am, unable to sleep. So I visited with my husband while he got ready for work, and once the family left the house, I set about preparing for the day’s events. I arrived at Rhonda’s house about ten a.m., and we made our way to St. Francisville.
First stop – The Magnolia Café where we grabbed lunch. The staff was very friendly, and the atmosphere warm and cozy. The meal was good – a lot of food for the money. Definitely need to remember that two people can split. Once done, we called Connie to let her know that we were almost there and wanted to ensure they weren’t heading off to lunch. She said they had a table of food setup, which we were welcome to eat. Alas, we were full.
Next stop – The Myrtles. Upon arrival, the grounds appeared empty, but we soon discovered that Heather and her group were just finishing up their guided tour of the plantation. Connie re-introduced us to Heather, who gave us a very warm and excited welcoming. Heather’s family and friends were there as the cast of her book trailer, including her PR from Truth Be Told, Bridget LeVien and author, Kathleen Pickering.
The actual shoot was supposed to start at 1 pm, so while we waited for the camera guy and the paranormal team to show up, I interviewed Heather. Unfortunately, I started off recording with an ancient hand-held mini tape recorder. What was I thinking??? Needless to say, it started malfunctioning toward the end of the interview, but thankfully I only lost one section. I then switched to using the Note Recorder on my BlackBerry, which is what I should have done to begin with! Lesson learned.
The interview went very well. Heather was great at giving in-depth answers to the spontaneous questions. I got a lot of good information.
After the interview, we milled about while continuing to wait for the camera man and paranormal investigators. When they did get there, I spoke with Sprout from The Peace River Ghost Trackers. Very nice, friendly and informative group of people. I’m glad I got my interviews beforehand because later in the day when they were setting up with their equipment in the plantation, they started running into problems because of legality issues of where they could set their cameras and stuff and video equipment. They were upset because they couldn’t put their equipment exactly where they wanted to.
Sitting around waiting on the shoot was the hardest part because there’s long breaks in-between … they did some scenes inside where it was kind of hard for everybody to sit around and watch. I watched all of the ones that were outside and got some good pictures.
Heather works very closely with the cameraman, which was very cool to see. They were all dressed up in period costume. Kathleen Pickering was doing a behind-the-scenes shooting (documentary) of the trailer that she’s going to put on You Tube, and since we weren’t staying the night, hopefully they’ll be able to give me their take on their ghost-hunting ventures.
The most interesting shoot was when “the senator’s wife” fell off the building. Kathy DePalo did a great job. She nailed the “dead” look with her eyes wide open. If they had done it with her eyes closed, it wouldn’t have been as effective or made such an impact. She did such a good job of holding her breath and holding still …
We hadn’t planned on staying past four, but it was such an interesting process to see unfold. I wanted to be there for all the scenes.
We also met a very interesting character who works for The Myrtles – Ginger Snapp. He’s a very colorful individual - friendly and entertaining. I interviewed him for the Myrtles side of my venture.
My take on The Myrtles – during the day, there is nothing spooky about it. Of course, I didn’t go upstairs nor did I take the tour again (I’d gone a few years ago with my kids, niece and sister – even then, I didn’t find anything otherworldly). The stories around the plantation are definitely creepy. It’s like with any paranormal haunting. Sometimes I think the media just over-exploits it, and of course, The Myrtles has to draw the crowds in so they have to hype up the sensationalism of it. But still, it’s worth a trip out there even if its during the day. Perhaps I’ll be able to spend the night there sometime in the future. Although, we did have some friends stay overnight (in the slave quarters) not too long ago, but they didn’t experience anything unusual or spooky except the atmosphere. All in all, it’s a really neat place to go … it has a lot of Louisiana history …
Rhonda and I had a really good time. It was a nice escape. Kathleen enlisted Rhonda’s aide to “shoot the documentary” while they shot the final scene with everyone in it. Then at one point, the camera guy used Rhonda as a sort of stunt double for Heather Graham.
It was definitely worth taking the day off to participate in Heather’s book trailer. I hope her video comes out exactly like she wants it, and I can’t wait to see it. I am also anxiously waiting to see if they had any ghostly visitors during the night!
I've uploaded a few pictures, so check them out on my picture page.
Carpe Amor!
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Check out my Guest Blog over at Beth Carter's Blogsite ...
Tuesday, February 8, 2011.
written butterfly...let romance take flight: Welcome Josephine Templeton: "When the opportunity arose for me to participate in Beth Carter’s Guest Blogging venture, I leapt before I looked. I am not an everyda..."
Beth Carter - "I first met Jo through our local RWA Chapter, HeartLA, when I lived in Baton Rouge. She's funny, smart, and really great person. Come read about her and leave a comment to be entered to win a free pdf download of my latest novella, A Man After Midnight, at the end of February!"
Thank you for the kind words, Beth!
Carpe Amor!
Jo
Leia Mais...
Beth Carter - "I first met Jo through our local RWA Chapter, HeartLA, when I lived in Baton Rouge. She's funny, smart, and really great person. Come read about her and leave a comment to be entered to win a free pdf download of my latest novella, A Man After Midnight, at the end of February!"
Thank you for the kind words, Beth!
Carpe Amor!
Jo
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Laura Burks and Nick Saban
(Dianna Love, Josephine Templeton, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Leo Honeycutt)
Leia Mais...
Update on Heart of Louisiana's Romance Readers' Luncheon
Saturday, November 13, 2010.
Hard to believe a week ago was my writing group's luncheon. All that planning ... all that hard work ... and I am pleased to announce that it was quite a success! Sure, we had a few glitches, but what function doesn't? For the most part, everyone had a great time, and hey, we learn from our mistakes, right? So next year ... when Sabrina Jeffries is our speaker ... watch out! :)
To recap the event ...
Friday night, we had a wonderful dinner with Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love at Drusilla's Seafood Restaurant. I admit I was super nervous, but Sherrilyn was just like I remembered from the Birmingham luncheon - sweet and down to earth!
To recap the event ...
Friday night, we had a wonderful dinner with Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love at Drusilla's Seafood Restaurant. I admit I was super nervous, but Sherrilyn was just like I remembered from the Birmingham luncheon - sweet and down to earth!
Saturday, I operated on four and a half hours of sleep. I had stayed up until 1:30 am working on attendee badges, envelopes, etc. Next year, Beth Bares ... I WILL take you up on your offer to help!
Strangely enough, I actually woke up at 5:30 am and could not go back to sleep. As I had gone to bed without having finished my "assignment" (my body pretty much forced me), I did what I could until it was time to get dressed and head to Crowne Plaza in Baton Rouge. Show time!
While we were unloading stuff from our vehicles and setting up, we saw Nick Saban leave out with his bodyguards. Saban used to be LSU's head coach but now heads up Alabama's team. They were playing one another that day - one of the biggest games of the season. I sent my hubby a text saying I wished I could've gotten a picture of him but oh well. So ... went on about the business of helping set up.
A little while later, Beth Bares and Laura Burks were determined to snag a picture with him, so I followed them with my camera. The spunky minxes raced up to him and politely asked to take a few pictures, to which he agreed. So ... all three of us snapped pictures of a smiling Nick Saban ... Of course, THAT was before the game ... I don't suppose he smiled too much later that night ...
Nick Saban and Josephine Templeton
Nick Saban and Beth Bares
Laura Burks and Nick Saban
Back to the event ...
Leo Honeycutt is a wondrously funny and entertaining Emcee. He regaled us with the story of how he ended up writing the book on Governor Edwards, and his help in passing out raffle and door prizes was quite humorous. Well done, Leo! Thank you!
Sherrilyn's speech was quite moving and encouraging. Her determination to keep writing is very inspiring. She's gone through the trenches every writer must go through, and she is one of my heroes (my hubby being my first). While she's hit the New York Times numerous times, she is still just this down to earth woman with many tales of life as a mother and wife. Thank you, Sherrilyn, for taking the time to visit us in Louisiana!
On to the book signing ...
I sat beside Dianna Rowland, whom I interviewed via email for Town Favorites. Very nice lady who will be at our next HeartLa meeting on November 20th. Our book signing table had a constant stream of fans ... mostly for Dianna Rowland ... but ... well ... hey ... I did sell two books! :)
So all in all, Heart of Louisiana's 4th Annual Romance Readers' Luncheon was a smashing success!
(Dianna Love, Josephine Templeton, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Leo Honeycutt)
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Duran Duran
Wednesday, October 27, 2010.
Happy birthday, Simon Le Bon!!!
Fun fact - my vampire romance, Forever Yours, blossomed from a short story inspired by the video Nightboat.
Hope everyone has a truly spooky Halloween!
Leia Mais...
Fun fact - my vampire romance, Forever Yours, blossomed from a short story inspired by the video Nightboat.
Hope everyone has a truly spooky Halloween!
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