Monday, October 13, 2008

Gremlins in the Machine

The winner of Carrie’s Answer from the wonderful duo, Violet Summers is Kim Sutton! Congratulations, Kim. I’ll be having the Violets get in touch with you for the transfer. You’re going to love it. This weekend I did get to start Daniel’s Surrender, the third book in the Worthington Group series. Wow! I’m 3/4s through, and...WOW! I’m loving it.

This week as our prize for commenting on the blog, we have Burning Bridges by AnneKrist. Burning Bridges is a wonderful book that I had the pleasure reading in its infancy. Anne also writes as Dee S. Knight. On being a winner, remember, if I don’t hear from you within 24 hours of my posting the winner on the blog, I’ll have to choose another, so be sure to check back next Monday. If you put your email in your blog comment (hint, hint!), then you’re set! Plus you’ll get my newsletter telling you about new releases and contests, and I know you want that!!

I think I have ghosts in the house. I was doing my hair in the bathroom, and suddenly I heard water running in the pipes. I searched all over the house, listened to the toilets, and I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Then I stepped out into the garage, and the washing machine had turned on all by itself and was filling with water. There weren’t any clothes in it. And it was on the rinse cycle! How did it do that?! The garage door was open so I’m thinking some stalker sneaked in and turned it on. But the dog didn’t bark. And really, what stalker is going to start my washing machine? I’m confounded. Of course, so I didn’t waste the water, I filled the tub with clothes and washed them. I still can’t figure it out. But, I know exactly the book I can use it in! I’m working on a Jennifer Skully WIP where my heroine’s house actually has a life of its own. So see, everything can be used in a book, absolutely everything!

But really, how do you think my washing machine turned on all by itself?

Jasmine and Jennifer
http://www.skullybuzz.com/
Newsletter: skullybuzz-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

PS Next week I’ll have some news about Show and Tell to share! At least I hope I will. And don't forget! The week of the 20th, I'll be giving away a download of Dead to the Max to everyone who leaves me their email on their comment!

43 comments:

Debby said...

That is rather strange!! Maybe some animal got inthere and turned it on. Or maybe your garage is haunted. Good luck figuring it out. But now I must go and do laundry.

DEbby236@coomcast.net

Debby said...

Bummer it is debby236@comcast.net

Joan said...

Love the sound of a house with a life of its own. Do hope you write it.

Jennifer Skully/Jasmine Haynes said...

I reminded you to do laundry, Debby! Hah! I thought about the animal, but in order for the machine to turn on, the button has to be pulled out. It stops if pushed in. So if some animal sneaked in, it would have to be a monkey or something else with oposable digits (is that the right term?). Very strange, but it's going in a book and you heard it first here!

Jasmine

Jennifer Skully/Jasmine Haynes said...

Joan, I will definitely write it in. I've got the proposal in with my agent and she's trying to sell the book.

orelukjp0 said...

I wish my ghost would do the laundry for me. He just borrows things for a few months and then will place it on the kitchen table when he is done with it. Frustrating when I want to use something he took.

Love your writings and that of your "sister" Dee. Congrats on Burning Bridges.

Rebekah E. said...

That is weird. My mothers washing machine use to spin even though the lid was up. There was no reason for it, the safety mechanism work just fine, it would alway stop if we lifted the lid when on spin, but sometimes it would just start spinning even though the lid was up. Maybe there is just something going on with washing machines that is unexplainable.

Rhonda said...

To actually think you may have a ghost in your house would be scary. I would be a little scared if that happened to me at first, but it might be fun to discover what it wants, you know unfinished business. It's funny that because you found the machine running that you threw some clothes in. Maybe you have a psychic ghost? or one that just has OCD. Ha!
rhondamv77@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

Maybe you have faeries...you know they can be very naughty when they want to be. There's probably a really mundane explaination - but I'd go with faeries or ghosts....much more interesting.
My washer just buzzed - I must go finish my laundry.

kcnrhtx@gmail.com (I can remember books but anything else can't seem to remember)

Anonymous said...

oOo...I've never lived in a house that may be haunted. It seems like it would be fun though. Have a great week. =)

purpleosiris@hotmail.com

Unknown said...

Sounds like a ghost to me. Must be a friendly one if you've found no damage. Or maybe it was just a "dirty" one. Good luck finding the cause!
rkitche2@tampabay.rr.com

Pat Cochran said...

I live in a subdivision that is
believed to have been built over an old burial ground. Families have
reported stories over the years.
My sister has a corner in her house
that is absolutely freezing cold and a photograph displayed in the area disappeared many years ago. Another family reports seeing a woman in an old-style dress and a man dressed in a uniform of some sort. We have heard a variety of
sounds over the years especially doors that close when there is no one else in the house.

Pat Cochran/p-cochran@juno.com

TamiC said...

Dang you caught on to me, I ran out of quarters for the laundrymat so I snuck into your house to use yours.

Martha Lawson said...

I'd definitly go with the ghost theory. Sometimes there is just no other explanation for things!!

Martha
mlawson17@hotmail.com

irish said...

This sounds so scary and so much fun!! My mom lived in a house which everyone said was haunted but she did not believe for a minute.She would hear all kinds of noises but yet she and my sisters slept so well and did not feel like they were in harms way. My dad though was another subject. They would fight and fight and after being married for 20 years he left after being happy for so long. My grandfather would come to the house but not go in as he said that he just felt uneasy but not my grandmother. I lived there for a few months when my husband was sent to Turkey and my young son and I had to wait to go. My son never slept through the night yet I felt peaceful. My mom finally went to a psychic who told her that the spirit of a elderly gentlemen lived there. Without knowing about the story of how all the males felt when in the house, he told her that the ghost would protect women but for some reason hated men. He also told her that she was in danger. Right after my parents divorced they sold the house.

Rita said...

very weird! i live in the home where my great-grandmother lived and died. it's nice to think that any odd things that happen are grandma messing with us.

nothing scary though...and i have to say my grandmother has never attempted to do a load of laundry for me!

though jennifer i must say, this sounds like the ghost of a male...always prodded a woman to get more done!

that story that irish shared was sure a creepy one...MWAAHHH!

Jennifer Skully/Jasmine Haynes said...

LOL, Tami, I should have know it was you!

Wow, you've all got a lot of ghost stories! I like to think of it as a ghost rather than something rational--although I do think there must somehow be a rational explanation. But if it is a ghost, I just wish it would come back and do the ironing this time! Now that's unfinished business for me!

I agree with Rita, Irish, your story is creepy. I wonder, I really do...are there ghosts? part of me likes to think there is.

Jasmmine

catslady said...

Dee sent me so I definitely would love to win the book. Can I assume you don't have children (any age) at home? Sounds like something they would do lol.

catslady5 at aol.com

hotcha12 said...

HEY ALL! WOW WAS THIS BOOK EVER SO GOOD! WOULD LOVE TO GET A PRINT SIGNED BY THIS FANTABULOUS AUTHOR!!!

LOL

hotcha12 said...

oh i had a ghost in my first home and used to call him mr. fields, my kids blamed him for EVERYTHING! LOL

Dee S Knight and Anne Krist said...

Hi, everybody! Hello especially to newsletter readers who want a copy of Burning Bridges--I want a copy in the the grubby little hands of everyone, so thanks for being part of spreading the word.

Hi, Skully--thanks for featuring Burning Bridges in your blog.

Estella said...

I wish a ghost would do my laundry---such a tedious task.
A book about a house with a life of its own sounda very interesting.

Dee S Knight and Anne Krist said...

I forgot!
As to your washing machine, maybe the knob wasn't all the way in (out?) and you had one of those funky little quakes that shakes things up but that a person doesn't feel?

Nah, that's not half as much fun as a ghost who likes to play mind games. ;)

In her last house, my mom had one of those lamps that you touch to turn off and on--it's one step up from a clapper, lol. Some nights she'd be sitting reading or watching TV and the light would go out. Then the light would come on. And go out and come on. After a bit Mom would say, "That's enough playing around for tonight," and it stopped. She said this happened several times.

I'm not sure I could deal with a ghost... But I'm looking forward to your upcoming book, lol!

Unknown said...

Wow I don't have a clue how that could happen. Now I had a washing machine quite on me and I bought a new one and set the old one on the deck. A week later I turned it on and it was working again, my neighbors have been using it ever since. My hubby said I just wanted a new one but I sware it would not go into the spin cycle. I really thing the jaring it around must have started it to working again.

Dee S Knight and Anne Krist said...

Hi, Catslady! I'm glad you made it!

Hotcha12, I have someone hanging around the house that I blame for everything, too--I call him hubby, lol.

Dee S Knight and Anne Krist said...

Orelukjp0, you're a sweetheart for saying you love my work! Thanks for dropping by SKully's blog.

Jennifer Skully/Jasmine Haynes said...

Thanks, everyone, for stopping by, and all the ideas about what my washing machine is doing! Ghosts and ghouls! I can usually find an explanation for everything. But this one has me stumped. Which is exactly why it's worth adding to a book!

I wish I could blame it on kids, but it was just Star and I, home all alone! Maybe it was an earthquake, Dee!

And Dee, thank you for letting me give away your book on my blog. I love the story, as you well know. And the lucky winner will be lucky indeed!

Dee S Knight and Anne Krist said...

Skully, thank you!

Maybe you should always leave some clothes in the washer and the next time ghostie stops by it'll be ready to go.

Martha Eskuchen said...

Ha- I liked your comments and was thinking before I got to the end - bet she could use this in a book!
I'll have to ask my DH how that might happen - he is MR. FIX-IT!!

Anonymous said...

I came over to your blog from Dee's newsletter. I would love to win! About your washing machine - if it was a ghost it certainly seems like a friendly one. Are you sure that you didn't start the washer and forget about it? I've done that a few times. LOL

Jennifer Skully/Jasmine Haynes said...

I swear you guys, there was nothing in the washing machine. The lid was open. I'd done a load of laundry three days before. And the button has to be pushed in before the water starts. I was thinking that if for some reason the load had gotten unbalanced right at the end of the wash cycle after the water had been spun out of it, and I thought it was all done and just loaded it into the dryer...well, maybe that's how it could be on the rinse cycle. But why did it start running three days later!!! Yes, Martha, please ask your husband! But I'm still going to use it in the book!

ArkieRN said...

A racoon could turn on a washing machine. They are very clever critters. And they can use their hands to manipulate tools.

Dena said...

Congrats Kim!

Hi Jas, Well that sure is creepy. That's wonderful about Daniel's Surrender getting done so fast.
I read about Burning Bridges by Anne somewhere and it sounds really really good!!! Have a great week. denwal1@aol.com

Anita Yancey said...

I don't know how your washing machine came on by itself. But I recently had something simular happen to me. My husband works nights so I'm all alone. One night I checked my computer before going to bed to make sure everything was off, and about two hours later I wake up to the sound of my computer coming on. I leave my printer switched to on, so when the computer starts up it makes a real loud noise. I am still wondering how it came on by itself, because I double checked that everything was off even the power switch. I am starting to think it was my mother-in-laws ghost, because she died two weeks prior to it happening. I hope you find out about your washing machine.
ayancey@dishmail.net

Susan B. said...

Hi Jasmine,

Bad switch is what the hubby said. I think you have a helping hand visiting!!! I've had that happen with the dishwasher but at least it was full!!!

Thank you,
Susan

PS I'm glad you are enjoying Worthington 3--I Love that one!!! I hope we haven't seen the last of them!!

sbussey AT windstream.net

Cynthya said...

I don't believe in ghosts so I'd have to say it is some glitch in the washing machine. We used to have a blender that turned on by itself. Although I have to admit I like the idea of elves (brownies? gnomes?) sneaking in to do some laundry! :)

Jennifer Skully/Jasmine Haynes said...

I do think ghosts and gremlins are more fun than a broken switch. But it's probably a broken switch! Or a raccoon. We have lots of them. I have the outside garbage locked up so they can't get to it.

And Dena, Burning Bridges is wonderful! So are the Worthington books. I have just a little bit left of Daniel's Surrender. Can't wait to finish it tonight! Both Anne and the Violets write very emotionally stories!

Thanks everyone for stopping by. This week's blog has been the best ever and it's not even over yet! Come back next week, too, please!

Jasmine

tetewa said...

Sounds like a ghost to me!

Susan said...

If you don't want a ghost who turns on your washing machine I'll take it! I'm not that fond of doing laundry.

schaballa@echoes.net

Jennifer Skully/Jasmine Haynes said...

LOL, Susan and Teresa, I wish the ghost did the laundry! He just started the water running. Sort of like my husband, he thinks that doing laundry is putting the clothes in washing machine and starting it. But I'm the one who has to do all the folding and putting away. Hmm, I think this ghost is definitely male!

Jasmine

Dee S Knight and Anne Krist said...

I've never seen or heard a ghost but I do love ghost stories--I guess that's why I wrote Coming Home and Passionate Destiny.

But I have to say, neither of them are as intense as Cameron in the Max Starr series. Those books are wonderful, Skully! I'm still in love with Witt...

Jennifer Skully/Jasmine Haynes said...

And both Coming Home and Passionate Destiny were wonderful stories, Dee!

I have to admit I am in love with Witt, too. He's totally yummy even if he is my own creation. Hah! That's WHY he's so yummy. I hope everyone stops by on Monday because that's when I'll start giving Dead to the Max away to everyone! Don't miss meeting Witt!

Jasmine

Dee S Knight and Anne Krist said...

Thanks for letting me drop in this week, Skully!

And thanks to everyone who came over to post from my newsletter!! I love you guys!

 

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