Tracy Petry

Most people who know me know that I love a good scary movie, or book... or TV show. I was reading Stephen King when I was ten years old. And Dean Koontz, he was another favorite of mine. I watched The Exorcist every time it was on TV, no matter how late at night it was. And I slept with the TV on until I was in my 40's because having spent years in the "ghost hunting" racket I KNEW what was in the dark. When The Walking Dead first premiered I was pretty excited. I love zombie movies. The idea of a weekly zombie soap opera just lit up my twisted little world. I popped popcorn and made a real event of the series premiere in our house, which included torturing my husband with it - he couldn't really care less about any of this foolishness. Over the course of five years I fell in love with the characters and bit my nails along with the rest of the fan world every time it looked like we might lose someone. Now, there were acceptable losses like Laurie and Andrea... I tho...

It's raining today. First rain we've gotten here in what seems like forever. The summer was beyond brutal - record breaking number of days over 90 degrees. It will be October before the week is over and it's finally just down into the 80's, with some 70 degree days in the ten day forecast. The local folks tell me this has not been a normal summer. The winter weather is the real payoff for me here. No blizzards, no negative number temps. Working was a real challenge this summer for both my husband and myself. We earn the lion's share of our income through doing remodeling and cleaning of mobile homes which are vacant and seldom have power or water on, so no A/C and those tin boxes turn into furnaces once the sun comes up. I've been painting for the last few days, doing the interior of a trailer or two but today... it's raining. Not such a great kind of day to paint - it's too dark inside, and too damp. But later we're going to our church to hang som...

About a year ago I came across this old photo, clipped from the pages of the Ridgefield Press, my old hometown newspaper.  I find interesting little things every time I pack and move.  Mostly I find memories. I grew up in Ridgefield, a small CT town on the NY state line.  I remember most of us kids complaining that there wasn't anything to DO in town.  At least that was our excuse when we got into trouble.  But for me there was always theatre.  When I was a pre-teen I was a member of a group called Spotlight and we met in a little building behind Ballard Park.  Once I hit high school I was able to "graduate" to the teen/adult group in town - Ridgefield Workshop for the Performing Arts. RWPA, for years, had been performing their summer shows on the stage at one of the local schools, and storing sets and props in an old barn on a dead-end street.  My first summer as a member was 1982, right after my freshman year of high school.  That y...

Life rarely seems to pause for anything. Unfortunately the lack of pause means a lack of writing, at least that's what it means for me. A year after the completion of my last book - Cast Down - and I still haven't finished the sequel that I genuinely thought I'd have finished within a month or two. We've moved yet again, in case I hadn't mentioned it. Four times in three years. In September of 2013 we moved from a long time residence in East Haven, CT to Blowing Rock, NC. The winter was just too much for us. Temperatures with wind chills of 30 degrees below zero were not what we were looking for when we moved South, so we came down off the mountain to the city of Gastonia, near Charlotte. We didn't realize when we signed the lease that we were living in the 'hood. The gunshots at night, the drug dealers, the crime... it was an interesting year and we rode out the lease but then we had to go. Our next stop was a pretty little mobile home park in King'...

My husband has been doing the Children's Story in our church these last few months. The story of Marty's transformation is nothing short of miraculous, really. But that's another story for another time. Today's story...is on video and it includes him getting heckled by a toddler.

There are countless beliefs concerning what happens to us after we die.  Some believe that we come back as little children and have to live life after life until we get things right.  Others believe we just wink out like a light being turned off.  One of the most popular is that Heaven or Hell awaits us right after death, depending on our deeds in this lifetime and that some can get lost on their way there - lingering here on earth until they can pass over.  This belief seems to go hand in hand with the theory that our loved ones in Heaven can visit us, or can be contacted by gifted individuals here.  One of the less popular theories is the Biblical theory that asserts that there are no ghosts, only demons who masquerade as the spirits of our deceased loved ones. I know I grew up believing in ghosts - good ones and bad ones.  I spent a large part of my adult life involved in the paranormal world, investigating the unseen world.  Later in life, afte...

A lot goes into having a successful marriage.  I'm sure any of my married readers will agree with that statement!   I was 43 years old before I got married for the first time.  Until then I wasn't particularly interested in getting married.  I wasn't even really interested in a long term relationship.  Frankly, I just couldn't be bothered.  I had a good job, friends, lots of hobbies and activities and the thought of a relationship just seemed like more of a hassle than anything else.  That was until God sent someone back into my life I hadn't seen since 1982.  His name was Martin Petry.  He and I attended the same high school in Ridgefield, Connecticut.  He graduated in 1982, and I was a few years behind him, graduating in 1985 so we were only in school together for a single year.  We were in two school plays together but never really even spoke.  I thought he was cute.  He didn't know I existed.  God told me, "Tha...