In this week’s instalment of “Author(ized) Accounts of the Paranormal and Unexplained,” Amber A. Logan, author of The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn, will tell us the story of the library book that refused to be returned…
For someone who loves to write about ghosts and supernatural experiences, I generally consider myself a skeptic. But I have had an experience with a book that gave me pause.
I decided to check out House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski from my local library because my sister told me it gave her the creeps. She loved the story, don’t get me wrong, but the book itself did…weird things for her. Moved around her house when she wasn’t looking. Fell from impossible places when she was in the room, etc. So perhaps I was primed to expect odd things.
I eventually got a copy from the library (it was waitlisted), but life got in the way. Before I knew it, it was time to return the book and I hadn’t had a chance to read it. Regretfully, I loaded it up in a tote bag along with other books to return, and went to the library.
But when I came home from my errands, the book was sitting on a side table in my house.
Huh, I thought, chuckling a little. That’s a bit creepy.
I went back to the library a few days later (not wanting to accrue late fees, after all, and the book had holds on it). This time I made darn sure it made it into the tote bag with the other books, put the bag in my trunk and drove to the library to return the books. This time, when I got back in my car, there was one book still sitting in the trunk, all by itself.
You guessed it, House of Leaves.
I’ll admit to being a bit freaked out as I picked up the book and carried it in my open hands without taking my eyes off it into the library to return it. Thankfully it stayed returned.
Just a few weeks ago, I decided to give the book another chance and checked it out from the library again.
My 12-year-old daughter, who I’d told my creepy story to, saw the book and decided it would be funny to pull an April Fool’s joke on me. She left the book on my bed with a series of “creepy” post-it note messages stuck inside.
Finding the book on my bed sure startled me, but I have to say, the notes were not terribly creepy.
But now my copy of House of Leaves is due back at the library soon, so I’d better start reading so I can actually finish it this time. Wish me luck…
Author Interview
The Night Librarian: There’s nothing more terrifying than library overdue fines! Danielewski’s House of Leaves has been on my to-read list for a while, and I’ve heard great things about his unique storytelling style. Tell us, who is your writing idol?
Amber: I am a huge Haruki Murakami fan. There is just something about how he writes ordinary worlds and ordinary people whose lives have been disrupted by some unusual (and usually lightly supernatural) element that I can’t get enough of. I adore Japan and Japanese culture, too, so that certainly helps my appreciation of his work. If I were ever to meet Murakami in person, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to articulate a coherent sentence.
The Night Librarian: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Amber: Never get too married to one project. I have seen too many folks spend years and years on one project, trying to perfect it despite the universe giving them signs that it’s time to move on. I always like to have multiple irons in the oven at any given time—something I’m brainstorming or outlining, something I’m drafting, something I’m editing, etc. I’m always thinking about the future and what I’ll be doing next. This really helps with rejection: if I’m out on submission to editors with one project, I’m not as nervous about the results because I know I have another manuscript coming down the pipeline soon if the current one doesn’t pan out.
The Night Librarian: That’s great advice! Speaking of, are you working on a new project right now?
Amber: As I mentioned earlier, I’m always working on the next thing! I’m in contract negotiations over my next book, and I’ve just finished writing the first draft of a new story. It was inspired by The Stepford Wives, but with some paranormal elements. The working title is The Forever Widows Book Club and it was a blast to write.
Amber A. Logan is a university professor, freelance editor, and author of speculative fiction living in Kansas with her husband and two children—Fox and Willow. In addition to her degrees in Psychology, Liberal Arts, and International Relations, Amber holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.
When she’s not writing, Amber enjoys trips to Japan, exploring unusual vegetarian foods, and reading Haruki Murakami.
Amber’s debut novel, THE SECRET GARDEN OF YANAGI INN, was published by CamCat Books in Nov. 2022.
Follow Amber: Website | Instagram| Twitter/X | Facebook | TikTok
A Modern Gothic Retelling of The Secret Garden.
Still grieving her mother’s death, American photographer Mari Lennox is sent to document Yanagi Inn, an old, dilapidated ryokan outside Kyoto, Japan. By day, Mari explores the inn and its grounds, taking striking photographs and uncovering layers of mystery shrouding the old resort—including an overgrown, secret garden on a forbidden island. At night, eerie weeping (which no one else seems to hear) keeps her awake.
Despite the warnings of the staff, Mari searches for the source of the ghostly sound—and discovers a devastating secret tying her family’s history to the inn, and its mysterious, forlorn garden.
BibliOccult 
This is awesome. I hope Willow got those Pokemon cards!
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