Lisa Hoskins

Halloween!

2007-10-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

Being a paranormal investigator, I guess it goes hand-in-hand with Halloween. Halloween is my second favorite holiday other than Christmas. I am always watching my money and can't afford to spend a ton of money on Halloween, so I find unusual ways of making things work for me.

A few years ago I made a corpse with little money, and I recently wrote an article about it. So here it is, How to Create Your Own Halloween Props on a Budget!

Ghost Hunts at Prisons

2007-07-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

If you have ever seen an old penitentiary like Eastern State Penitentiary, you know how overwhelmingly creepy the old prisons can be. With some of America's most hardened criminals once living in these prisons, just thinking of what type of occurrences went on in these scary buildings can be hard to handle, let alone deciding to ghost hunt in one of them!

Nowadays there are many ghost tours through these massively-built and sometimes Gothic looking structures. From the basic ghost walk through the building to ghost hunts overnight, you can find some great information online about the prisons and the ghost tours. My recent article about Haunted Prison Tours gives an overview of a couple prisons and links to more specific information about them. This would be a perfect opportunity to use one of the KII EMF detectors that are being talked about so much in paranormal circles online!

I am going with a few people from my paranormal group PRISM to Mansfield in August...we will be investigating the prison on one of the ghost hunts that they host throughout the summer months. I will let you know if we get any interesting evidence!

Ghost Hunting 101!

2007-07-12T19:34:00.001-07:00

My latest article is a how-to for the beginner paranormal investigator. It's not full of in-depth details, but it centers around a few key points and tips that you can use if you are new to the field of paranormal investigations. I hope that some of you will find it useful as a starting point for ghost hunting. Click on Ghost Hunting Tips to see the article. Enjoy and happy hunting!

It's Official!

2007-07-11T19:10:00.001-07:00

I will soon be under contract with a publisher to write a book! It's exciting, yet a bit scary...This is something huge for me and will be an undertaking like no other before. Even though I have butterflies, it's a GOOD thing. I really want to do this and can't wait to get started on this project.
The book will be about ghosts and ghostly tales in the Bay City, MI area. Bay City is a gorgeous city and there are so many historical aspects surrounding this town. I am looking forward to the research and investigation process that will be taking place while writing the book, as well as the writing itself.

A new beginning into the unknown! It doesn't get more exciting than that ;-)

Paranormal Investigations and Religion

2007-07-07T05:54:00.000-07:00

So there are some paranormal investigators who say that their beliefs don't matter when it comes to doing investigations. I don't see how that is possible. We are comprised of so many things...experiences, whether good or bad, social status, our family and yeah, our religious and spiritual beliefs. One might like to say that they don't carry this in with them on a paranormal investigation, but let's face it folks, it happens.. We have baggage, and that includes any beliefs-although I wouldn't define that as "baggage" in a bad way.
Whether we know it or not, we DO bring our beliefs into our investigations. I am not saying it's a bad thing...it's not a bad thing at all. But there is no way that we can not bring that in with us..It would be like cutting off an arm or something, I don't know.....I do know that I bring my belief system through whatever door I am walking through for each and every investigation. I don't believe I would be human if I didn't.

Latest Article- Ghosts & Spirits

2007-07-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

My latest article is about ghosts and spirits. Why they exist, do they exist, and all of that good stuff! People think that ghosts and spirits are the same thing, but there are some big differences between the two, and I tried to highlight some of them in the article. I have to keep the articles smaller in nature..It seems I could go on writing for hours about ghosts and the paranormal!

I want to educate people on spirits, spirit activity and the paranormal. I am by no means an expert on the subject and I feel there are no experts when it comes to the paranormal. There are wonderful researchers of the paranormal though. Some study the technological aspects of it, others study the more spiritual side of the paranormal. I have to admit that I lean more towards the latter.....I am by no means a technology guru! I do enjoy reading articles and books from people who are doing some highly advanced studies of the paranormal, because I feel it's necessary. I also feel that spirituality plays a big role in the paranormal world, but many would agree with me. What makes this field of research so interesting, is there are so many groups doing it and so many points of view, along with some awesome research going on. I am glad to be a part of the whole thing and look forward to advances in the field.

Freelance Writer?

2007-07-04T18:51:00.000-07:00

As I said in the previous blog, I have started to write again recently. After writing a few articles for my paranormal website, I ran across a website called Suite 101. A website full of articles and useful information on hundreds of topics! I browsed around the website a bit, reading a couple of articles in the Mind & Soul and Paranormal categories. Then I browsed some more, and saw the link that said, 'hiring freelance writers'. I thought, well I am no freelance writer, that's for sure!! But after clicking on the link and reading about how to become a contributing writer at Suite 101, I decided to just go for it..and I did.....I filled out the necessary information along with the mandatory sample articles, and to my surprise I was approved!
Then I thought, okay, so I guess they approve anyone! (I have a tendency to downplay myself and my strengths)
Anyway, I was elated that I was selected to be a contributing writer, and I have written seven articles so far...They seem to just keep coming and coming. Are they good? I don't know...Are they quality work? Not sure..But it felt good to write them and I will continue writing them when the mood strikes me. I like the casual style of blog writing, but I also enjoy writing more formal types of articles where I can share information with people, especially dealing with the paranormal, since paranormal activity is something that I study.

So whether or not my writing will lead anywhere that would actually pay me to do it, I have no idea.. I am just enjoying the process.....

New blog, new beginnings

2007-07-04T18:40:00.000-07:00

I have had a couple of blogs in the past, but this is my first blog with my name on it, reflecting just me..Not a blog for a business, or a group, but just me. Of course I will post links to my various hobbies and writings-especially my writing, because it has recently come into my life again.
It has always been in my life, but not on the scale that it is now. I have written articles in the past on my own websites, mostly to gain some much needed web traffic! This time, I am writing just because I have finally come to realize that I simply love to do it...

As an elementary school student, I remember writing in English class and really enjoying it, especially short stories. I would write and write for hours for a project for class, and in the end I was always proud of what I had accomplished. But more than that, writing seemed to take me to a far-away place, some place that only I could go. It took me to the corners of my mind and beyond, and always just felt good. For whatever reason, I stopped writing the way I had when I was young, and slowly it seemed to vanish from my life. I would on occasion, write in a journal for myself, but I never seemed to keep the discipline to do it on a daily basis.

Recently I began to write articles again....and again..and again...All of the old feelings from my youth seemed to creep back again. The simple pleasure and joy of sitting and writing overwhelmed me once again, and I felt a calmness I hadn't felt for a while. It's the same feeling I use to get when I would sit under a weeping willow tree when young and draw...Just sit, observe, and draw...I still draw, and paint, on occasion, just as I would write on occasion. I am glad I have taken writing up again and it seems to be leading me to places I haven't been before, so we shall see. For now, I am just enjoying the act of writing.