Haunted Alcatraz

On this blog tour for Tail of the Dragon, the third book in the Zodiac Mysteries, I planned to highlight a few iconic San Francisco locations — places where my sleuth, astrologer Julia Bonatti, might visit or become involved in a crime.  The Island of Alcatraz was one of them.  However, there was a slight problem — there is so much history and so many stories on this tiny island, just a mile and a quarter from the city, it was too much to squeeze into just one post.

So here goes – here’s what I’ve learned about the spirits of the island:  Alcatraz is considered one of the most haunted places in America and certainly the most haunted prison in the country.  Early explorers to the island found an eerie atmosphere.  Native Americans knew of the island for thousands of years and even though they gathered bird eggs and fish for food, believed that evil spirits resided there.  They used the island to deport criminals under tribal law and as a burial site for outcasts.  When the Spanish began to spread Christianity in the 1700’s, natives who did not want to convert used Alcatraz as their refuge.

Long before it was utilized as a federal penitentiary, it was a military prison for America’s earliest wars.  Many were incarcerated there, some were declared insane after their imprisonment, many died and many were horribly tortured.  So it’s no wonder that prisoners, rangers and visitors have reported a wide range of ghostly activity — whispering in empty cells, locked cell doors opening, phantom figures in corridors, cold spots, floating blue lights and figures, moaning, the clanking of chains in unoccupied cells and even the sounds of musical instruments and sewing machines.

Psychics and paranormal investigators believe that D-Block, the worst cell for punishment in the “Hole,” is the prime location of most of the ghostly activity.  Four of its forty-two cells are thought to be haunted.  Cell 14-D in particular is permanently icy cold even during the summer.  One inmate in this block claimed to have seen glowing red eyes in the dark and screamed for hours.  He was found dead the following morning with a purple face, bulging eyes, and unidentified strangle marks around his throat.  Although I suspect it’s likely there was human cause for his death.

In an odd twist of history, Native Americans occupied and held the island from November 1969 to June 1971 in an effort to create a cultural center on the basis of a broken 1868 treaty between the Sioux and U.S. government.  In their statement to the world they said:

“It would be fitting and symbolic that ships from all over the world, entering the Golden Gate, would first see Indian land, and thus be reminded of the true history of this nation. This tiny island would be a symbol of the great lands once ruled by free and noble Indians.”

Their efforts were commendable, but in light of the island’s eerie history, perhaps they should have heeded their ancestors and chosen a less haunted place.

What do you think?  Would you fancy a short ferry ride to Alcatraz?  Would you want to stay there overnight?  Brrrrr . . .

This post first appeared at Varietats2010.blogspot on June 17, 2018. 

The Mystic Eye

If you’re a fan of the Zodiac Mysteries, then you’ve definitely visited the Mystic Eye.  You know a lot about it and have met many of the eccentric characters who hang out there.  The occult shop is owned by my protagonist, Julia Bonatti’s, good friend Gale.  And even though I didn’t plan to set so many scenes there when the series began, it just sort of happened.  It was a great place for the characters to come together, especially at the psychic fairs.

There’s Nikolai, the Russian past life regression hypnotist, a larger than life man with a mysterious background.  There’s Zora, the medium and psychic who scares Julia half to death sometimes, lots of other psychics, Wiccans, Tarot readers and all sorts of characters.

So where did my Mystic Eye come from?  A long time ago, there was a real Mystic Eye, also on Broadway in San Francisco, but a little farther east, past the strip clubs and bars and comedy clubs of North Beach.  I remember it well.  It was a strange, dark little place, draped in black hangings.  It sold books and ointments and image candles for candle burning rituals, books on cultural and religious practices, some of it rather dark.  Not particularly my cup of tea, but I was curious since there was no shop like it in the city at the time.  It’s long gone now, so I felt safe using that name for the Zodiac Mysteries.
Julia’s Mystic Eye of the Zodiac books also has an exotic and mysterious atmosphere – plaster gargoyles, Tarot cards, crystals, books on psychic power and healing and religions of all sorts, candle burning supplies, dreamcatchers, magical herbs and ointments, greeting cards and lots of things that make great gifts.  Here are some photos that in spired me when I was writing the Zodiac Mysteries.  Have a look and see if this looks like your mental image of the Eye.  I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Is there anything happening at The Mystic Eye that you’d like to know more about?  Is there any field of study in the occult world that I haven’t touched upon?  Pyschometry? Remote viewing?  Candle burning?  How about crime or murder?

I hope you’ll stop in at the Eye soon and read about Julia’s adventures in the third book in the Zodiac Mysteries — Tail of the Dragon.  See you at the Eye!
This post first appeared at Island Confidential [frankiebow.com] on June 23, 2018.

Let’s Call It What It Is

It’s murder.  That’s what we love to read and that’s what crime fiction writers write.  But have you ever wondered about all the euphemisms we have for murder and death?  There’s a whole bunch.

There are the obvious ones – Uncle Herbert passed on or maybe Uncle Herbert passed over.
And then of course we have these —
He bought the farm
He’s pushing up daisies
He met his maker
He kicked the bucket
He’s gone to his heavenly reward and if Uncle Herbert was a complete scoundrel then we can assume he’s now roasting in hell!

So that led me to wondering why we’re all so fascinated with crime fiction, no matter the genre, whether we read it or whether we write it.
Is it the puzzle itself?  How many people in the mansion had access to the elderberry wine?
The whodunit?  Any one of the sewing circle could have skewered the victim when no one was looking.
Is it the scary thrills and chills of suspense?  Is my husband really who he says he is?
Is it the determined hunt we find in forensics and police procedurals?  Or is it all of these?

I know why I find it so fascinating.  It’s the psychology of the act.  The burning thing that drives an ordinary person to commit murder.  The exploration of the mind of an absolutely normal, everyday person who finds himself or herself in dire straits and doesn’t see any other way out.  I’m not talking about serial killers here.  They’re just completely nuts.  They need to be locked up forever so they won’t hurt anyone.  But the fascinating thing for me is the inner workings of the mind of an average human being pushed beyond the pale.

What about you?  Why do you read crime fiction – whatever the genre?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

This post first appeared at A Blue Million Books on June 25, 2018.

S is for Sue

I admit I’m late in paying tribute to an amazing writer.  Late in joining the ranks of all those friends and fans who were heartbroken at the news of Sue Grafton’s death at the end of 2017.  I think it’s just taken me this long to accept she’s no longer with us and that, as her daughter Jamie Clark has written, the alphabet now ends at Y.

I was late in discovering Kinsey Millhone as well.  One night, hungry for a good mystery book, I was browsing through a Crown Books.  Yes, that’s how long ago it was.  Remember those stores?  Something caught my eye and I picked up K is for Killer.  That was the beginning and needless to say, you know I went back and started at A is for Alibi and didn’t miss another story from then on.  As I cracked open each book, I took a deep breath and got ready to embark on an adventure with an old friend – with Kinsey.

The California Crime Writers Conference, sponsored by Sisters in Crime and SoCal Mystery Writers of America takes place every other summer.  In 2015, Sue was our guest of honor and I was involved by virtue of organizing the craft track program at the conference.  A dinner was planned to welcome Sue on the Friday night before the start of the conference.

As one of the organizers I was invited to the event.  I was terribly curious to meet the woman who had offered so much entertainment through her books.  But I hesitated.  Part of me wanted to go and part of me held back in trepidation.  I still remember my ambivalence, my hesitation.  I was worried.  What, I thought, if she’s not at all the person I imagine her to be.  What if, heaven forbid, she’s not very likeable?  My image would be shattered.  Would the alphabet series be spoiled for me?  So, for that reason and a few others due to time constraints, I begged off the dinner and to this day I’m still kicking myself.

Fortunately, at the conference, I did get to meet Sue and chat with her.  I found her alone at a signing table.  No crowds, no fans.  A rare moment.  She signed her book Kinsey and Me, a revealing autobiographical account of her life and as a gushing fan girl, I told her how much I had enjoyed every single one of her books and how much she had inspired my writing.

And guess what?  She was delightful!  She still had a Kentucky accent even after many years in California.  She was utterly charming, warm and friendly, and put me at ease immediately.  Her daughter said recently at Sue’s memorial service in New York this past April that: “. . . .  no amount of fame, or money, or acclaim changed who my mother was.”

That day Sue and I chatted for a bit and then she did something that I will always remember.  She wiggled her fingers in my direction and said, “Fairy dust . . . fairy dust . . .” to wish me well in my writing journey.

Thank you, Sue.  I hope you’ll forgive me for passing up that first chance to meet you.  And I hope your journey is peaceful and blessed for all time.  You have given us so much.

 

Year’s End

This time of year is magical.  I love the holiday decorations, the lights, and the crispness in the air.  Even though I don’t live in a part of the country where I can enjoy the snow, I like to pretend I’m having a white Christmas.

As the Winter Solstice of 2017 rolls around, I dig out my jewelry collection of reindeer and Santa earrings and boxes of decorations.  Each ornament holds a special memory — the pearl-encrusted heart my daughter chose for our tree many years ago.  The tiny porcelain head of Jerry Garcia – yes, someone, have no idea who, hung it on our Christmas tree a long time ago.  It’s such a hoot I keep it.  Styrofoam balls covered in Stockingribbon and sequins that my aunt, gone many years now, made for every church fair.  But my favorite ornaments are the ones my children made in school.  A felt triangular Christmas tree stitched together with yarn and sequins, a wreath of white fuzzy yarn with red balls, a paper stocking, in need of repair, but I still treasure it.

There’s a reason so many religious holidays occur around the time of the solstice — Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas, Ramadan, Yule, Saturnalia, Bodhi Day.  It’s that special time when our planet tilts away from the life-giving sun.  As if the earth itself pauses in its rotation at that very moment.

This year the solstice occurs today, December 21st at 8:38 a.m. Pacific Standard time.  That’s the moment we creatures of the earth experience the longest night and shortest day.  And if you’re interested in some of the practices and ancient monuments built to celebrate the winter solstice, you can read more here.

Boat ParadeThe first book in the Zodiac Mysteries, The Madness of Mercury, takes place during the holiday season.  Julia, my San Francisco astrologer, knows all the fun and free things to do in her city.  So if you just happen to be in San Francisco this month, don’t miss the Christmas lights, or the tree lighting in Union Square, or the lighted boats at Fisherman’s Wharf.

winter-solsticeTake a moment today, December 21st, to pause and contemplate the magic of the solstice.

Happy holidays!

Blog Talk Radio with Fran Lewis

Today was the last day of my blog tour for All Signs Point to Murder, but the highlight of the tour was my interview and chat with Fran Lewis on her site!  You can listen to it here!

All Signs Point to Murder

Two Astrologers Chatting

When I started writing the Zodiac Mysteries, I didn’t know of Sunny Frazier and her astrologer protagonist, Christie Bristol.  But I was thrilled to discover someone else was writing another astrology mystery series.  Later, I found The Precious Pachyderm, by Karen Christino.  Yes, another astrology mystery!
Thanks to Kings River Life,  Sunny and I interviewed each other about mysteries, astrology and our protagonists.  Read on at Kings River Life to learn how we became fascinated with this subject!

 

Blue Astro Chart

Can you guess?

Sagittarius-Kitab_al-Bulhan_---_zodiac_centaur_sagittarius(1)Julia Bonatti, my protagonist in the Zodiac Mysteries solves crimes using astrology.  And I hear from readers all the time – some love the subject of astrology and want to know more, while others aren’t particularly interested and are happy to skip those parts.  That’s fine with me.  It’s not everyone’s cup of tea.  Julia just happens to have an unusual occupation.  Hopefully, there are enough thrills and chills in her investigations that will keep readers turning the pages.

Mostly, people want to know how Julia figures things out and what she sees in a chart that alerts her to possible danger.  She can tell an awful lot about an individual from a chart and can make an educated guess about how that person approaches life.  Here’s an example that might help explain a few things:

This is a chart of a man born on July 26 at 7:29 p.m. in Kesswil, Switzerland.  I won’t mention the year, not yet.  What can we tell from the chart, without knowing the man’s name or his profession?

ChartHe’s a Leo with a Moon in Taurus and Aquarius rising.  All fixed signs – he’s proud, stubborn and not easily swayed.  There’s a heavy emphasis in his 6th house.  Mercury and Venus are conjunct on the cusp.  And the Sun and Uranus are also in the 6th.  The focus of his life will be his work (6th house).

He’s possibly involved in medicine.  But since Mercury and Venus are in Cancer, a sign ruled by the Moon, there’s an element of “feeling” and “emotion.”  The Moon/Pluto conjunction tells us he’s an intensely emotional individual.  In the 3rd house he’d probably be a writer of some sort.

Aquarius_zodiac_sign,_Jantar_Mantar,_Jaipur,_IndiaAquarius rising — he’s eccentric and marches to the beat of his own drum.  With Saturn on the Ascendant he would appear cold or clinical, but Uranus (the ruler of his Ascendant) is very close to his 7th house cusp.  He’d be radical and eccentric in his relationships.

Sagittarius is on the cusp of his 10th house (Midheaven), along with Mars in Sagittarius.  In his career, he would pay absolutely no attention to what his mentors or colleagues thought.  He’d be fearless and innovative.

Taurus_zodiac_sign,_Jantar_Mantar,_Jaipur,_IndiaNeptune is in square (90 degree) aspect to his Sun sign.  This would give him a mystical bent, but he could possibly misuse the Neptune energies and be vulnerable to addiction.  He might avoid that escape as long as he is dedicated to his work.

Can you guess whose chart this is?  I’ll give you a hint.  He was born in 1875.  He died in 1961 at the age of 86, a nice long life which he dedicated to developing analytical psychiatry (medicine and emotions).  The chart belongs to Carl Jung.  He was a prolific writer and a protégé of Sigmund Freud until he broke from his mentor to pursue his own path.  He was married with five children and maintained an open extra-marital relationship for many years, heedless of what society at the time thought.

CGJungHe was also an astrologer!  (Uranus)  He worked with dream states (Neptune) and observed recurring archetypes in his patients’ dreams.  He came to believe that the archetypal images in astrology represented experiences and emotions common to all people and theorized that humans share a collective unconscious.  He said, “Whatever is born or done at a particular moment of time, has the quality of this moment of time,” i.e., an astrological chart.

All Signs Point to MurderSo that’s how Julia does it.  How I do it is struggling to find a believable chart for my murderer or his victim.  Just in case any astrologers out there are paying attention!

This post first appeared at CMash Reads on August July 23, 2017.

San Francisco Detectives

City FogI knew when I started writing the Zodiac Mysteries . . . well, let me backtrack . . . I knew even before I started working on this series that I wanted it to be set in San Francisco, a city of bright windy days, dank and foggy nights haunted by the baritone voices of the foghorns.  Lots of people think of Los Angeles when they think of noir, but in my opinion, San Francisco is the capital of noir.  And the idea of an astrologer as my amateur sleuth seemed very fitting.

I’ve always known that lots of mysteries have been set in the city, and I thought it would be fun to write a post about fictional San Francisco detectives, but the more I researched and surfed the web, the more overwhelmed I became.  The list is unbelievably long.  The upside of that is that I must be in good company if lots of other authors had the very same idea.

I realized I had bitten off much more than I could chew.  Then I thought perhaps I should break it down?  Maybe by noir or police procedurals or amateur sleuths or . . . what?  Or maybe by time period or books and films or even TV episodics based on books.  And I was working on a list that didn’t even include “the Bay Area” or Northern California.  I was focused strictly on San Francisco but the more facts I unearthed, the longer the task seemed.
If I only included amateur sleuths, my list wouldn’t be quite that long, but then I’d have to leave out some of my favorite authors and favorite films.  Films like The House Across the Bay where George Raft watches and bides his time through the bars of his prison on Alcatraz.

GG Murders-AdOr The Golden Gate Murders with David Janssen as a cop and Susannah York as a nun who team up to catch a silent murderer.  Those scenes have stayed in my mind for years and I don’t think I’ve ever driven across the Golden Gate Bridge and not remembered the orange-caped (to match the color of the Bridge) murderer.  Perhaps he’s still lurking in the towers of the Bridge.  Lots of foggy atmosphere too!

But my all time favorite fictional San Francisco detective is Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon.  I loved it in book form and in film (the 1941 version) with Humphrey Bogart of course.

Maltese FalconI can just imagine the author at 891 Post Street writing his novel and even using his own apartment as the setting for Sam Spade’s digs.  But the story of the Dingus wasn’t the first crime novel set in the Bay Area. Not by a long shot.  There had been scores of other books.  The earliest I’ve read of is The Mysteries and Miseries of San Francisco (1853) by an anonymous author.  It has the distinction of being the earliest known crime novel with a Bay Area setting.

As for film and television, how could I not mention The Streets of San Francisco?  Starring Karl Malden as Detective Mike Stone with Michael Douglas (1972-1977).  Or the Dirty Harry films (1971-1988) — Inspector Harold Francis “Dirty Harry” Callahan, an icon of an antihero who crosses all sorts of ethical boundaries to pursue justice.   Or even Nash Bridges with Don Johnson and Cheech Marin as inspectors with the SFPD.  Or how about Monk?  Adrian Monk, a truly unique detective with OCD and multiple phobias?

The list goes on and on – there’s Juliet Blackwell’s witchcraft mysteries with Lily Ivory, and Robin Burcell’s inspector Kate Gillespie and Kate Carlisle’s Brooklyn Wainwright, a rare book expert.  There’s Dianne Day’s Fremont Jones series set at the turn of the century and Meg Gardiner’s Jo Beckett and then Marcia Muller, Bill Pronzini, Joe Gores, James Patterson, Laurie R. King’s Kate Martinelli and John Lescroart’s Dismas Hardy.  The more I searched, the more I found.  This couldn’t possibly be covered in a blog post, there’s enough material for ten volumes at least.

But along the way, I stumbled upon some fabulous mystery sites.
Here’s Don Herron’s website.  He’s a collector of San Francisco mysteries.  Or this one – A Woman’s Place is on the Case featuring female sleuths of all sorts.
And then I discovered Golden Gate Mysteries! And guess what?  My San Francisco sleuth is there!  Check out this listing! Golden Gate Mysteries

GG StraitsI breathed a contented sigh of relief.  Julia Bonatti isn’t alone.  She’s in some great company and proud to join the ranks of fictional San Francisco sleuths.  And so am I, thrilled to be able to contribute to a great genre.  I hope every reader will enjoy Julia’s world as much as I enjoy writing about it.

This post first appeared at Jane Reads on August 3, 2017.

A Remarkable Woman

No, I’m not referring to my protagonist in the Zodiac Mysteries – Julia Bonatti — although she is a remarkable character and a very talented San Francisco astrologer who solves crimes.  I’m referring to Gladys Cox Hansen (June 12, 1925 – March 5, 2017).  A Gemini!  I’m sure Julia, the astrologer,  would appreciate that!

QuakeIf you’ve never heard of Gladys Hansen, it’s well worth learning about her work.  Because if it were not for her, we would still be woefully uninformed about the real history and the aftermath of the great earthquake of 1906 that destroyed San Francisco.

Quake.1On April 18, 1906 at 5:12 a.m., a quake, somewhere between 7.8 to 8.3 magnitude, ripped the northern 296 miles of the San Andreas fault.  Geologists now consider it had a Mercalli intensity of XI, i.e., extreme!  It lasted approximately sixty seconds, a very long time for an earthquake.  And if you’ve ever been in a quake, you can appreciate just how torturingly long that time span is, as you hang on and pray and hope to survive.
Approximately 28,000 buildings were destroyed, 498 city blocks were leveled and a quarter of the city burned.  After the dust settled and the ensuing fires were put out, the powers-that-once-were in the city were determined to rebuild.  In order to do that, they had to attract money and investors and there was only one way.  They had to lie.  A lot!

They worked hard to propagate the myth that fire destroyed San Francisco, not earthquake.  They even went so far as to alter photographs to show buildings, destroyed in the quake, still standing.  So began a conspiracy of disinformation that lasted for many decades.

Thanks to dedicated researchers like Gladys Hansen we are now closer to the truth.  Not all the way there, but at least a lot closer.  Gladys was a librarian and City Archivist Emerita of the San Francisco Library system.  One day in 1963, well prior to her retirement, she was asked to provide a list of the dead from that fateful day in 1906.
She was sure the Evening Telegramlibrary could offer accurate records, but when she searched and found no names and only a vague figure of 478 dead, she was positive this number could not be correct.  She later discovered the city never reported casualties from either Chinatown or the slums and she came across many victims with Chinese, Irish and Italian surnames.  She’s quoted as saying, “The lack of death [in these areas] simply isn’t credible.”

Gladys decided to make it her mission in life to find and name the dead.  She searched all available records — birth and death records, tenant rolls of buildings, voter registration lists, military files, church records and coroner’s records.  She requested information nationwide, and letters from other parts of the country came pouring in.  Her task was monumental and it continued for years.

Denial of DisasterMrs. Hansen created an online museum The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco and in 1989 co-authored a book, Denial of Disaster with Emmett Condon, retired Chief of the San Francisco Fire Department.  It’s a shocking account of the disaster and the ensuing political machinations.

Here at the museum site, you can find a partial list of “Who Perished.”  The research she gathered also led to a cookbook:  After the Shake, They Baked, containing actual recipes created by people who were living among the rubble or in Army tents in Golden Gate Park.  In fact, I have met people who as young kids remembered living in Golden Gate Park in order to survive.  Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get a copy of this book from Mrs. Hansen’s heirs, although I would dearly love to have one.  With the museum’s permission, here are a few teasers:

Shrimp salad, to be served in a dozen eggs “boiled hard.”  This specifies the amount of pickles, celery, parsley, radish and onion to be used, but neglects to mention how many shrimp are needed.  The recipe suggests to “chop the shrimps a little.”  I guess it depends on how many shrimps a housewife can get her hands on.  The amount of butter called for in a fricassee of oysters was defined as the size of an egg.   Bread puddings were prepared in covered pots and pies were cooked in Dutch ovens set directly over an open fire.   Every recipe is a tribute to ingenuity under hardship.

Finally, In 2005, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution, co-authored by Hansen, that set aside the official 1907 death count.  At last count, to the best of my knowledge, the number of named dead is well over 6,000 and still counting.  But there are undoubtedly many more souls to be found and named.

Gladys HansenI wish I could have met Mrs. Hansen at some time during the years I lived in San Francisco.  I would have been fascinated by her dedication and persistence.  She died just a few months ago on March 5th at the age of 91 from natural causes.  Even though she has passed on, we can still read her interviews:
SF Gate: Sunday Interview
SF Gate Gladys Hansen
SF Gate San Francisco Archivist

Gladys once said, “Sometimes I think all those who died are right there behind us saying, ‘Keep going.  Keep going.  Keep going.’”  A remarkable woman indeed.  I hope you’ll explore her virtual museum to learn more.

This post first appeared on  July 5, 2017 at The Bookwyrm’s Hoard.