‘You don’t know me.’ He smiled. ‘My name is Logan de Scott.’
‘Pleased to meet you.’ Karita found herself smiling broadly with no idea why. ‘Won’t you come in?’
Epilogue
The Witches of
Bungan Beach
IN BETWEEN MY school years and the time I started to write, there was this reckless fun period of my life that I spent drifting between the music industry and the film industry. During this time I met many, many wonderful people (including my husband of seventeen years), but there were two girls in particular, who, along with my best friend, Sue, really helped me develop the foundations of the broad belief system I have today. They changed the way I perceived myself and the world around me and introduced me to many of the paths of esoteric investigation that would later so heavily influence my tales. Thus, I could hardly write a book such as this without acknowledging that vital time in my life and the role that the Witches played in it.
Sal — the rock ’n’ roll gal
My husband David was the lighting director for The Radiators for about five years and during this time Sally’s boyfriend was doing stage. Sally and I met at an end-of-tour roadie bash and we hit it off immediately! She was like a bright, bubbly bottle of champagne, definitely one of the most fun gals I’ve ever known … the term ‘party animal’ comes to mind and ‘deviate’, in the cheekiest, nicest possible way. I instantly felt like I’d known Sal forever and pretty soon we got to hanging out together on a regular basis.
Sal worked in the rock’n’roll business. She has tour-managed too many great Aussie acts to count, organied several music festivals and even had her own booking agency for a while — Cool Bananas. Sal was also one of the unsung forces who helped to propel The Wiggles to stardom.
We had just TOO much fun during this era, which lasted for over a decade. I won’t go into the details as I’d get us in WAY too much trouble (Sal breathes a sigh of relief).
Sue — continuity and film production
Now just to confuse things, I come to the second Sue who changed my life. Perhaps I shall call her ‘Wildly’, as that was a nickname I had for her at the time — in retrospect, this seems rather inappropriate as the nickname paints exactly the opposite picture to that of her true character.
I first met Wildly at Sal’s place. She wandered in through the door and I swear the atmosphere of the room changed from pleasant to serene with her entrance, and serene is the perfect word to describe this gal. I sat down with Sal, Sue and Wildly that afternoon and had the most amazing conversation of my life. I never really knew much about esoteric medicine, mystery or doctrine; the ‘New Age’ movement was only just taking off in a big way in this country. Still, anything mysterious or unexplained had always intrigued me, and these girls were full of it! Crystals, Past Lives, OBEs (Out of Body Experiences), Natural Remedies, the Power of the Mind … it was all too interesting. I know we didn’t touch on all those topics that afternoon, but we certainly touched on a few of them and over the years we began to explore and exchange information on all things esoteric. Without even realising it, I was shattering the old fear-based belief system imposed on me by a Catholic education and I slowly came to believe that the world was my oyster and that I could create my own reality — with a lot of help from the universe, of course. This realisation gave me the impetus to try writing down some of my daydreams.
It was Wildly who helped score me my first job in the film industry, at the film studio I mentioned earlier. It was also Wildly who showed me how to convert a handwritten manuscript into a properly formatted film script; she even suggested sending the completed script to the AFC for comment. So, while I finished writing the story, Wildly translated the manuscript into a film script and Sue, my editor, typed it up. The AFC reviewer crucified our efforts, and I was crushed, until …
Wildly rang me soon after to say she’d shown the script to a young producer who ran a film studio at North Sydney; my script had impressed him enough to offer me a job at the studio, and he wanted to develop my script. Well, as I was working as a cleaner at the time, the film industry had to be a step in the right direction. This was the first big break of my life (thanks Wildly, thanks Caggs, thanks girls!).
That first project went by the wayside, as I found myself whipping up scripts like there was no tomorrow. A couple of years later I wrote the aforementioned film script Chairs. The Traci Harding esoteric style of fantasy was born with this script; I found the magical combination that would make my tales unique. Sal, who was running a music agency, Wildly, who was dabbling in film producing, Sue, my editor, and I, formed a production company, ‘Bewitching Films’, and together we set out to make this project happen. And happen things did. Every time we got together and started talking about what we needed to do next, or who we needed to meet, it just happened.
This is, of course, why we were dubbed the Witches of Bungan Beach (Sal lived at Bungan, and this was where we gathered for our little meetings more often than not). The four of us were referred to as the inner sanctum, as we discovered that between us, all the elements were represented astrologically: Sal was a Fire sign; Sue was an Air sign; Wildly was Water; I was Earth. And over the years many others joined our little circle. Kath, Sandy, Angie, Kari, another Sue (this one was an artist) and all the aforementioned girls in this book have gathered for nights of magical conversation over fine food, tea, mead and, of course, CHOCOLATE! Wildly always finds the best chocolates. With friends like these one tends to feel rather privileged. We didn’t just want success, we expected it.
We compiled a full breakdown of costs in order to draw up a budget and proposal for Chairs. We went to the UK to cost that end of the production, so that the last figures could be put in place. Our carefully-costed film came to a little over the $20 million mark, which was to prove too rich for the Australian film industry to digest at that time.
The project got shelved. Wildly was in great demand to do continuity and thus kept getting offered great paying film shoots that often took her interstate and overseas. Sal became immersed up to her ears in the Wiggles and I took a job in record retail to pay some bills.
The Witches are spread out all over the place these days, although I do get to see them occasionally. So many wonderful women who have lent their magic to my life, aiding me to where I am and beyond.
For the gals,
who kept me sane,
who helped me explore the many mysteries of this world,
who proved to me that anything is possible,
who showed me what friendship means,
who helped me realise my dream.
I love you’s!
Thankx,
for everything.
Bibliography
Ashley, Leonard R.N., The Complete Book of Ghosts and Poltergeists, Barricade Books Inc, New York, 2000.
Dunne, John J. Irish Ghosts, The Appletree Press Ltd, Belfast, 1977.
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen, The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Cheakmark Books, New York, 1992.
Hanning, Peter, A Dictionary of Ghosts, Robert Hale Limited, London, 1982.
Siblerud, Robert, Keeper of the Secrets, Sacred Science Publications, Colorado, 1999.
Sora, Steven, The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar, Destiny Books, Vermont, 1999.
The Ancient Future:
the Dark Age
The white light surrounded her, exuding from the ground within the circle. The mist rose towards the sky to form a billowing cloud. From within the largest stone a ball of blue light steadily made its way towards her.
ISBN 0 7322 5682 8
An Echo In Time:
Atlantis
The narrow stairway inside the mountain led to a door, that opened onto a huge marble plateau. Upon this stood a stone circle, that consisted of nine of the largest hunks of polished crystal Tory had ever seen. A turbulent cloud erupted overhead, its core alive with electromagnetic activity.
ISBN 0 7322 5889 8
Masters of Real
ity:
the Gathering
An enormous vortex spiralled above the earth, out beyond the orbit of the moon. Its centre was expanding to form a huge glowing corridor through the fabric of space. This brilliant mass shot forth thousands of glowing balls of light that proceeded to descend toward our planet.
ISBN 0 7322 5892 8
The Alchemist’s Key
Wade Ashby has just inherited his grandfather’s estate in England. The Baronage has a business, manor and large fortune. It’s the biggest break of his life — but Wade is inheriting a lot more than he bargained for …
ISBN 0 7322 6672 6
Chronicle of Ages
From deep within the earth there was a great rumble. The sky above clouded over and within moments the day had become as black as night. Red mist began spewing forth from the centre of the temple ruins at Lynn Cerrig Bach …
ISBN 0 7322 6675 0
Tablet of Destinies
The hazy light matter began whirling with hurricane intensity until it formed a perfect globe of light. Within the safety of the light-tube, his body levitated into the air and was spun around to face the activated mound. From this source, images began shooting around the inside of the Sensor-sphere.
ISBN 0 7322 6683 1
About the Author
Since 1996, Traci Harding has had four trilogies and three stand-alone novels published by HarperVoyager Australia. Her books are published in several different languages, and are also available in e-book format from the Apple iBookstore, Amazon, Kobo, Google, ReadCloud, and Booki.sh. Selected titles are also available as a digital audio download through iTunes and Amazon — and as an audio book through Bolinda Audio.
To find quick links to all of the above, Traci’s other websites, and keep abreast of news, competitions and releases by Traci Harding, visit her new website:
traciharding.com
Or visit: www.voyagerblog.com.au/the home on the web for lovers of science fiction and fantasy.
Acknowledgments
A huge hunk of gratitude goes to all my girlfriends, who allowed me to turn them into ghosts for the cover of this work.
Thanks also to my father, Terry Ludgate, who had the megachore of doing all the photography for this jacket. A big kiss and hug to Dad’s lady, Gill Moran (Gillybean), for feeding and accommodating all the girls at their wonderful B&B, whilst we did the shoot for this cover — a great time was had by all.
Special thanks to my husband, David, and his amazing knowledge of energy and its workings. I would not have been able to complete ‘Curses’ were it not for his input.
Thanks also to Linda at Harper Collins who made the photo shoot for the jacket of this book possible.
OTHER BOOKS BY TRACI HARDING
The Ancient Future Trilogy
The Ancient Future: the Dark Age (Book One)
An Echo in Time: Atlantis (Book Two)
Masters of Reality: the Gathering (Book Three)
The Alchemist’s Key
The Celestial Triad
Chronicle of Ages (Book One)
Tablet of Destinies (Book Two)
The Cosmic Logos (Book Three)
Copyright
Voyager
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia
First published in 2002
This edition published in 2012
by HarperCollinsPublishers Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
A member of the HarperCollinsPublishers (Australia) Pty Limited Group
www.harpercollins.com.au
Text copyright © Traci Harding 2002
Cover illustration copyright © David Harding 2002
The right of Traci Harding to be identified as the moral rights author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000 (Cth).
This book is copyright.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publishers.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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10 East 53rd Street, New York NY 10022, USA
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Harding, Traci.
Ghostwriting.
ISBN 0 7322 7414 1.
ISBN: 978-1-74309-618-5 (epub)
I.Title
A823.3
Cover design by David Harding
Traci Harding, Ghostwriting
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