The other day when I passed on the Paranormal Community Leadership Award Dinell Holmes of Weekly Spectre passed to me I failed to include three people:
- Andrea Alison of Ghost Stories – She’s been in this paranormal blogging game longer than anyone else I follow. (In fact, she just celebrated her 6th blogiversary!) It was when I was perusing Area51.org’s blog yesterday and saw Ghost Stories under their Important Sites that I stopped and said to myself, “You know what? You’re a freaking fool for not putting her down. She’s like a Grand Dame among paranormal bloggers.” She’s up on what’s happening on TV, in movies and in books as well as follows the trends on the web like a hawk. It’s no wonder she has acquired as many awards as she has. Andrea, here’s another one to add to your collection!
- Stephen Prosapio, novelist and facilitator of Xavier Paranormal Investigators Fan Club – Stephen is amazing. I really like how he’s blended his fiction with the paranormal community. He’s done a phenomenal job of creating an interactive online world around his books that welcomes readers in with open arms. The Xavier Paranormal Investigators Facebook Group is based on his fictional ghost hunting group, but what a gathering place it’s become! It’s a great place to exchange ideas, ask questions and participate in discussions. (That’s something I really like about it. Every month he launches a new discussion. This month it’s Shadow People.)
- Peter Fenton of Ask Doc Paranormal and founding faculty member of Edgar Allen Poe Community College – Peter brings much needed levity to the community. Yet, even though the stories are humorous, many also bear truth –or the the possibility of truth as lived in an alternate reality. This may just be one of the most brilliant and entertaining blogs I follow. Best part, anyone can enroll in the college. All you have to do is become a fan on Facebook to start enjoying the “privileges, including the company of your fellows.”
As I told Andrea via a HJ Facebook comment:
I decided not to name you so in case anyone else (namely Jessica) might also pass the award on, she’d have someone else to pass it on to. But please know I regret not just going ahead and including you. I DO very much admire your work and how dedicated you are to interacting with others!
The more I thought about it the more it bothered me. All are exemplary leaders of the paranormal community. They facilitate interactions and thought-provoking analysis and exchanges.
Since the Paranormal Community Leadership Award comes with no requirements for passing it on, what if no one else did? I can’t take chances assuming someone might name these individuals. If I’m thinking of them, I have to pass it on to them.
So, please accept both this award and my apologies for not passing it on in the first place, Andrea, Stephen and Peter. Thank you for all you contribute to the paranormal community!
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.