A Look at Souls Unknowing

Today, I'm going to give you all a peek into my next novel, Souls Unknowing, which will be released February 28, 2014. It is the first of a three book series revolving around ghosts that I've been writing and editing for a long time.

Something has caused the spirits of Rolling Hills Preparatory School to grow extremely restless, and it is up to a small group of mediators to discover long buried secrets to prevent such a tragedy from occurring once more. 

Unfortunately there are a number of hurdles to overcome and there are more secrets than just what happened preceding the fire that destroyed the school fifty years earlier. 

Tru Martin struggles with accepting her true place as one who communicates with spirits, due to a desire for normalcy. Veteran mediators Megan, Allie, and Ian all seem to have different opinions on how to proceed with crossing over the spirits. And the arrival of another mediator who has a history with one person in particular may lead to the greatest shock of all. 

With time running out and graduation looming around the corner, can this friendship formed out of a shared ability survive all the secrets, spirits, and dangers, and solve a mystery before tragedy strikes again?

By the way, this current synopsis is not completely set in stone, so if you have any suggestions then feel free to comment on the blog, send me a Tweet @DanielleThamasa, find me on Facebook, or send me an e-mail to daniellethamasa@yahoo.com with the subject as Souls Unknowing synopsis.

I am working really hard to get this done and published for my current deadline. Thanks to everyone who has stuck by me through this writing and editing process and I hope you enjoy the finished product. Tru and the rest of the gang have been constant companions of mine since 2004 and living with people for that long makes you think of them as family. I care about basically all of my characters (there are a few villains that I would really like to just disappear, lol) and I sincerely hope that other people feel some sort of connection with them as well.

Okay, and just for those of you who are reading this and have stuck with it, how about a sneak preview of the prologue for Souls Unknowing?

Prologue: Let the Flames Begin, 1964

This place has always felt like a prison to me, with the bars on the windows and all of the rules and restrictions. Yet if I had known then what I know now, then perhaps a lot of this could have been prevented. Looking back it all should have been clear to me, each event and strange occurrence clearly revealed the tragedy that was to come as well as who was responsible. One thing is absolutely certain though: I will not let it happen again.

I am dead. That is the one absolute, the unchanging fact, and it is something I wish I could have known of in advance. There are so many things I never got to do, and so much I never could tell my family. But I am not the only one who died and I am certainly not the only one who feels trapped in this school, waiting and watching for something to change.

I can feel that the time is growing near and when the chance comes to me, I know I must do what I can to help, which seems ridiculous as no one can truly see me, hear me, touch me. It has been fifty years and even with all of the others like me, it feels quite lonely here. Watching all of the youth as they grow and make mistakes and figure out what is next for their futures is incredibly bittersweet. I remember when I was once that way, when the future held nothing but possibilities, when I was ready to graduate from high school and truly start my life.

Patton High School was once a glorious place, despite some of the outward appearances. If you simply looked at it from the road then it looked more like a juvenile correction facility, complete with bars over the windows, as if they expected some sort of danger or breakout attempt. I though it nothing more than a safety hazard and it was that point alone that led to the demise of so many of us that spring morning.

The day had started off like any other. I had been dropped off at the school by my father, my little brother following at my heels, acting more like a child than a freshman, but I suppose it had been a difficult first year of high school for him, and really, I thought of him as one of my best friends. Still, I had not said much to him that morning, instead lost in the thoughts of my looming graduation and what would happen when I moved away for college in the fall. Would my father and brother be fine on their own? I hoped so but most days I had my doubts.

We parted ways as I reached my locker. He had to walk all the way upstairs and to the other side of the building to reach the wing of freshman lockers and all I said to him was that I would see him at lunch. That never happened; I lost my brother that day and no matter how hard I have looked, I still have not managed to find him. If he somehow survived I would have known, I should have felt it or seen him at some point, but the void in my chest tells me that he too passed away in the tragedy of Patton High School.

It was during third period history that I started to think that something was off. The desk to my right was empty, a sight I had not witnessed in the whole four years of classes here. The young man who sat there had not missed a day, obsessively coming, even when ill. I had always thought it annoying, but now I was unsure what to think.

I supposed I was the only one who noticed his absence before the Mrs. Johnson took attendance. She had called out his name twice before the others started looking around. “Has anyone seen Trevor today?”

Not a single person answered, which wasn’t surprising. Trevor had no friends and most people avoided him. It had nothing to do with his appearance, his home, or his family, but because he was just a bit odd. He really enjoyed discussing different methods of warfare and weaponry and along with most other people, I found that to be quite unnerving.

After that awkward few moments, Mrs. Johnson finished up her attendance call and jumped straight into the lesson, continuing our discussion of World War II. I could not help but think that there would have been more back and forth conversation that period if Trevor had come to school. Then again, if he had, then he too would have been wandering these halls as a ghost.

I have made my peace with what I am, with my existence, though I still long for the future that was taken from me. The fire ruined all of it. It was at lunchtime that the pieces began to fall together. When some of the seniors tried to take their lunch out to the courtyard, they found the doors locked, or blocked.

They called out for the cafeteria monitors, who rushed over to the doors to help out. One pulled out keys, but whatever prevented the doors from opening was not simply a lock. As the chatter in the room grew louder, I found myself looking for my brother. He should have arrived to sit with me, but I could not see his face in the crowd of students.

I stood up and walked out into the hall, scanning back and forth, but aside from more and more students filing out to see what the commotion was, there was no sign of Logan anywhere. A shout came from down the hall, followed by several others. It took a few repetitions before I could tell what they were yelling…fire.

When the fire alarm started blaring, it became even more apparent that it was not a drill. Chaos followed in the next minutes, as students ran out of their classrooms and towards the nearest doors. I stood frozen for longer than I sometimes cared to admit to myself, thinking that maybe by not moving it would be proved as nothing more than a rather lucid nightmare. Then I finally moved, making my way to the nearest exit; I could find Logan when we were all outside. There was no way I would find him inside the school.

Yet when I reached the doors I found teachers and athletes alike shoving and groaning against the thick doors. It seemed that much like the doors in the cafeteria leading to the courtyard, these were blocked closed. The panic in those around me seemed to intensify with that realization. Their cries filled the air as thick dark smoke crept into the halls, beginning to obscure everything in sight.

I simply felt numb, detached from what was going on all around, as if I was watching it from outside my body. Where was Logan? I needed to find my brother, to make sure he was all right. The thought should have struck me then that none of us would be all right. We were trapped in the school as the smoke overtook everything and it became harder to breathe or think clearly.

The intensity of the heat down the south wing was what truly brought me into the reality of the situation. If the fire had started that way then it was the worst possible scenario. My mind latched onto the realization that the flames would soon reach the boiler room and that would cause an explosion, which would only make the fire stronger.

“Logan!” I yelled before choking on the smoke and falling into a coughing fit. I couldn’t draw in enough air to continue on with anything, nor could I see more than a few inches in front of my face. Dropping to the ground I hoped that would help with something, and it allowed me to draw in a few breaths but it would not last long.

My last thoughts as I heard a large boom from down the hall was that I had not been able to voice my concerns of the future with my brother.

Aside from all of the dead who linger in this place, there is one other fact that is without question: We were murdered and our killer is still out there.