In this month’s instalment of “Author(ized) Accounts of the Paranormal and Unexplained,” Jessica Renwick, author of Ghosts of Gastown, will tell us the story of her paranormal encounter on a farm in rural Alberta…
Growing up on a hobby farm in rural Alberta, I’ve had several run-ins with the spooky and unexplained. But there’s one in particular that has stuck with me for years, and it actually happened when I was an adult and living on my own acreage.
I will preface this by letting you know that I am a domestic violence survivor. While that plays into this story, I will keep those details to a minimum.
As someone who loves gardening and keeping chickens, I always felt a bond with my paternal grandmother, who enjoyed those hobbies too (though in her time they were more necessities than hobbies). While raising her five kids, she spent the long summer evenings in her huge garden, and she was always barefoot there. One of our favourite family memories of her is when she was showing off her growing veggies to us and noticed a small thistle that had sprouted where it didn’t belong. Not even pausing the conversation, she plucked it from the soil with her bare toes as if it was nothing more than a blade of grass.
Fast forward about twenty years, and I found myself living on my own acreage with a huge garden. Unfortunately, I was stuck in a violent situation, and working with my plants and caring for my chickens, goats, and sheep were my escapes. Digging potatoes or watching my chickens peck around brought me the peaceful moments I craved. My spouse worked away from home a lot, and I was able to focus on the acreage while he was gone.
The spring my grandma passed away was a tough one. My life was spiralling out of control, and the only thing that soothed my heart was a baby goat born shortly after her death. That goat’s mom was named Gertie, after the nickname our family gave my grandmother, and I couldn’t help but feel like she was a gift from Granny.
As spring moved to summer, things were getting worse in my marriage. My spouse had come home from working away, and I had been spending nights in our holiday trailer to escape the painful evenings. A feeling of dread had overcome me, and I’d gotten so used to it that I barely noticed.
Until late one evening, when I saw a woman who was thin as a rake in my garden with her back to me. I was standing near our shop, so over a hundred feet from the garden, but the tightness in my chest told me I wasn’t seeing things. She glanced over her shoulder at me, and as I blinked, I swear she plucked something from the dirt with her foot. In that split second, she was gone.
My stomach was upset the rest of the evening, and I couldn’t shake the foreboding feeling that had fallen over me. You’d think seeing Granny would be comforting, but it wasn’t. The way she’d looked at me, it felt like a warning. That night, she was in my dreams, screaming “Get out!” over and over and over.
A few days later, something horrible happened. I had to flee my acreage in the middle of the night with only my dog and the clothes on my back. Yet, I felt her with me, as if she was beside me, holding my hand.
Was she really there? Or was it my mind making something up for comfort in a traumatic time? Personally, I believe she was there, still guiding and protecting me.
Author Interview
The Night Librarian: This is a heart-rending, yet comforting story about your grandmother’s spirit protecting you. Can you tell us about the inspiration for your latest project?
Jessica: I got the inspiration for Ghosts of Gastown while doing a walking tour of the Gastown area of Vancouver with my now-partner (who is wonderful, by the way! We are getting married in November). Our guide was in full Victorian costume and telling us the history of the area, along with some haunting tales in the area. During one particularly spooky story she was telling us, a pigeon fell from the building beside us and landed right near our feet. It was dead.
I definitely believe that area is haunted!
The Night Librarian: I also went on a walking tour in the Gastown area! I certainly agree that it’s haunted… I hear that, like me, you work in a library. How has your profession influenced your writing?
Jessica: I am a library assistant at my city’s public library. I’m lucky enough to get to work at our that are attached to schools, so I get to help students pick out books and see exactly what my target readers are interested in. It really helps to keep me in that mindset of being twelve years old and craving that perfect story to get lost in.
The Night Librarian: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Jessica: Being a writer and learning the craft is truly a marathon, not a sprint. Have patience! If you strive to always keep learning and take critical advice as a tool, you will get there. Just keep putting those words down and moving forward. It’s a never-ending journey, there will always be more to learn and improve on. It’s hard, but try not to get discouraged. Finding an engaged writing group or community can really help!
Jessica Renwick dove into the world of writing fiction as a preteen and never looked back. Naturally, this led to a career as a library assistant, and her first middle-grade book, The Book of Chaos, was published in 2018. She lives with her soon-to-be husband, two dogs, and a flock of backyard chickens in Red Deer, Alberta.
Follow Jessica: Website | Instagram | Facebook
Twelve-year-old Hope Graves can see the dead. But nobody believes her. Not even her best friend.
When Hope and her mom move to the Gastown area of Vancouver, their new home isn’t exactly as she imagined. The ancient apartment sits over a weird crystal shop, she misses her dad, and ghosts lurk around every corner. The worst part? The strange boy whose parents own the shop can see spirits too, and he won’t stop bugging her about it.
Hope tries to avoid Oliver, but when a ghost appears in her bedroom with a haunting plea, he’s the only person she can turn to for help. Trying to banish the spirit only leads them down a twisted path far more dangerous than any ghost. Something is hunting the souls of Gastown, and it’s closing in on its next victim.
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