A ghost story & CONTEST for Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready!

Since Shade is about ghosts I thought it would be fun to kick off the contest with my one (and only) ghost encounter story.

When I was very young I used to play out in my yard along a rose bush hedge that separated our yard from my neighbors. I knew them a little – they would let me play under their Weeping Willow tree and sometimes invited me in for lemonade.
One day while I was playing on my side of the rose bushes a much older woman in a long white dress came up to me and started talking. She asked me what game I was playing, talked about the roses and talked about the people who lived in the neighborhood. She said it was nice to meet me and left. I didn’t think too much about it (this was in the early 70’s by the way…no weirdo kidnappings and neighbors were still friendly – my mom watched me through the kitchen window) I told my mother about the woman but she said she hadn’t seen anything and she probably thought I was making it up. I was an only child so I did tend to have a bit of an imagination!
A few weeks had passed when my neighbor’s invited me in for a drink after a day of playing under the Willow tree. While in their house I saw a picture on the mantle of the woman I had talked to and told them about our conversation. Well – they completely freaked out! They kept asking if I was sure  it was her. I was positive because I didn’t know anyone else that old at the time other than my grandmother. It turned out the woman was their mother who had died the year before. The things the woman had told me were things that only she would know about their family. Not something a 12 year old would know on her own.
 My neighbor’s brought me home and had a heated discussion with my mother. I have no idea what they said……but they never talked to me again. They still let me play in their yard but they never offered me a drink or came out to talk to me again.

 I’m still not sure I actually saw a ghost and nothing like that ever happened to me again so you can interpret that story as you wish …but there it is!

OK - CONTEST TIME!!

*To win a copy of Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready tell me if you believe in ghosts or not - have a story? Tell me that too!

 *Click HERE to find out more about Shade and Jeri!

Here are the rules!
•You must be 16 years or older to enter•International entries OK ( check this list ) if your country is on it - you can enter and I'll ship it!
•All entries must be received by Sunday 5/2//2010 11:59 pm EST
•Tell me: Do you believe in ghosts or have a ghost story?
•Winner will be posted on this blog Monday 5/3/2010 - it is your responsibility to check back to see if you won.
•The winner has 7 days to email me with their address or I will pick another winner.

 *Extra entries:
+ 2 if you're a follower of my blog
+ 1 if you follow me on Twitter (@teamsheltie)
+1 if you post a link on your blog or tweet about contest (include links for me to check)

Good luck everyone!!