Author Helen Power: Low Times in the Highlands

Our very first post in this brand new series, “Author(ized) Accounts of the Paranormal and Unexplained,” features Helen Power, author of The Ghosts of Thorwald Place and Phantom, as she tells us the story of the time she was almost lured to her watery grave in the Scottish Highlands…

This past June I was lucky enough to attend a weeklong writing retreat. But this wasn’t just any writing retreat–it was in a castle. In Scotland.

Despite being jetlagged, I was absolutely thrilled when I finally reached my destination. It was just a forty-minute taxi ride from the nearest quaint little town. The castle is isolated in the idyllic Scottish highlands. There is nothing for miles but “hairy coos” and rolling hills. The castle itself was picturesque, and the entire estate was booked for just us writers. There were about twenty of us scattered among the castle rooms and the cottages. Time that wasn’t spent in workshops or writing our novels was spent in the common areas, chatting about books and getting to know each other. One day, I saw Maddi, one of my new friends, weirdly angling herself in the fireplace in the dining hall. I figured she was doing something private, and didn’t ask questions until later that night, when I saw that she’d posted a picture online. It was of her debut book beside the taxidermy pheasant that had been strategically positioned inside the non-functioning fireplace. I commented, saying that we should do a photoshoot together with our books. She responded with a resounding “Sure!”

The next morning, I woke up a little later than usual. I went downstairs to see if I could scrounge up some breakfast and I took it with me to the dining hall. As I sat, I gazed out the window, peering through the faint mist. The dining hall’s glass door opens to a patio engulfed by a sweeping lawn. In the distance, you can see a pond flanked by trees. That morning, I spotted Maddi in the faint mist, standing just beyond the pond as she leaned over the sole bench, taking a picture of something.

I jolted out of my seat, the betrayal sending fire shooting through my veins. She was doing the photoshoot without me! I hurried upstairs to fetch my book. Well, it wasn’t my book because that’s extra weight while travelling, but I’d brought a postcard with the cover of my book on it. I grabbed my windbreaker and boots and hurried outside. Maddi was nowhere to be seen, but I wasn’t deterred. I hurried down the dew-soaked grassy hill toward the pond. The copse of trees is dense and dark, so I was sure she was just around the bend, taking scenic pictures.

Without me.

But as I rounded the bend, I discovered that I was alone. Chills raced each other down my spine. I ignored them. She must have been just ahead. I hurried along the path, around the next bend. But no one was there. Unease settled over me as I retraced my steps. The white park bench looked pristine and untouched. The murky depths of the pond called to me. The trees, though there were few, were large and intimidating. Anything could be hiding within their their drooping, outstretched branches. Anything could be buried in the shadows, watching me.

When I finally wended my way back up to the castle, I found Maddi descending the grand staircase. She looked perplexed at my scowl. As I interrogated her, my accusatory tone turned apologetic, then confused.

Turns out, she’d been in her room all along. It hadn’t been her out there. I suspected she might be pulling my leg, but later I saw her jacket, which was bright pink. The Maddi I’d seen had been wearing a dark green coat. I asked around, subtly questioning the other writers, but nobody would confess to having been outside, taking pictures in the mist at that ungodly hour. Our group were the only guests at the castle. Who could it have been?

And why were they luring me to the pond?

This isn’t the only unexplained occurrence that happened during that retreat. One room had an ominous chair positioned in front of a door that couldn’t open. One evening, at supper, my roommate felt someone brush her shoulder, but no one was there.

Every night, I could feel someone jostling my bed as they walked past. Heart in my throat, I would peer out from under my covers, half expecting to see Maddi’s doppelganger, leaning over me in her dark green overcoat, her face gray and bloated and dripping pond water onto my bed before she’d drag me out into the abyss.

But no one was ever there.

So many strange and unexplained things happened to us on that writing retreat. Even Maddi has a story to tell. But she’ll be sharing another one next week…

Author Interview

The Night Librarian: Wow, that’s a truly chilling story! They say that everyone has a doppelganger somewhere, and maybe some of them are hiding in the Highlands. Now, let’s chat about your writing. I see that you’re a librarian too. How has your profession influenced your writing?

Helen: How has it not? Honestly, a lot of my writing, while fantastical, is inspired by my daily life. With Phantom, my new book coming out on October 10th, I actually got the idea while helping a student with a research question on mirror therapy. The entire plotline came to me that day, and I later wrote the book during National Novel Writing Month. I also love dark academia and books with a university or academic setting, and my newest project dives headlong into a thriller involving tracking down a serial killer targetting his victims around a university campus. But it’s not all scholarly–there are paranormal elements of course.

The Night Librarian: Of course! Sounds like you can find inspiration in anything. Tell us, do you have anything weird or out of the ordinary about your writing process?

Helen: Honestly, my writing process is all over the place. I plan and I plan and I plan, and then when I start writing, things always go off the rails rather quickly. I adore the discovery phase of writing, and often my favourite scenes were not plotted at all. When this happens, it’s back to the drawing board! I use storyboards, apps, notebooks, Scrivener, postits… My ideas and plotting and research tend to be all over the place, but it all comes together in the end, after many, many revisions!

The Night Librarian: One last question! Do you have any advice for aspiring authors of spooky literature?

Helen: I do! Despite a lot of my stories having fantastical elements, I always ground them in reality and make sure I understand what I’m writing. How does magic/the paranormal function in my story? How do I need it to function in order for the plot to make sense? This ensures consistency, which helps to make the story believable. You don’t have to outright explain every little thing to the reader, especially because depending on who the protagonist is, they themselves might not fully understand it. But it’s important to know how things work–as the author–because if you don’t, the readers will sense that. That said, the first draft is a time for creativity! Anchoring your wild ideas with believability is something to focus on in later drafts.

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