Micheal Rivers, Ghost Hunter by Day, Paranormal Writer by Night

I’d like to welcome author Micheal Rivers to my blog.

He doesn’t just write about the paranormal,

he lives it!

For those of you intrigued by real life paranormal, you don’t want to miss this interview, so read on.  But first, I’d like to introduce him and get to know him a little bit.

What time of day do you like to write?

I really don’t write a lot during the day. Sometimes I get an idea in my head and it doesn’t seem to want to let go of me until it’s on paper, so I will write at anytime. Basically I write at night. I prefer it because I can get my sanity in order and my story line seems to come to me much easier. It is never a surprise if I am up writing all night.

Coffee or tea?

Blasphemy! LOL I am a dedicated Pepsi drinker. With the amount of Pepsi I drink I really should buy their stock. When I go for a blood test it usually comes out Pepsi. You have to remember ‘man cannot live by Pepsi alone; there must be chocolate, pastry, and really great sandwiches to top off crap for a diet.’ I also have a taste for Japanese food. Anything that doesn’t eat me first is fair game.

Tell us about the Smokey Mountain Ghost Trackers; what is it; what do you do?

Smokey Mountain Ghost Trackers is a professional paranormal investigation team headquartered in the mountains of North Carolina. There are three of us in the main team with a branch in Chicago as well. I am the lead investigator with over thirty years experience to lean on. We have taken a student and tutored them on what a real investigation is about and why we do it. We investigate haunted locations and try to find the reasons for the events causing the disturbance. Sometimes the reasons are simple; a loose widow; high EMF from poorly run electrical wiring among a mountain of other reasons. Then we have my favorite which is actual evidence of a haunting. These are the times when the history of the property and the haunting merge to make one large truth with an identification of the culprit. Sell my clothes I’m going to heaven! We have found a ghost! This is the point where all the hours and work pay off and hopefully answers as to why there is a haunting.

What made you delve into the paranormal world?

I guess you could say it found me, I didn’t find it. I grew up around strange happenings everywhere you turned. A couple of people in my family had gifts so it was hard to get away with anything LOL. The paranormal world is not a bad place but it is one that demands respect and is far from being trivial. For those who don’t believe in the paranormal that is their prerogative. However to deny it when the proof is ready to shake hands with you is another matter. For those who seek the world of the paranormal for entertainment; such as ghost hunting; I give this advice; be careful what you wish for.

You said that 2 family members have gifts.”  What kind, and how has that affected their lives?

Yes, two of my family members had very special gifts that kept life interesting. My Grandmother, on my father’s side, had the ability to tell you what was going to happen in the near future. Telling your past was simple for her, telling the future was a little spooky. I have to say it was a good way to make a child or an adult be careful about their actions. One very good example for you is; I was coming home after an absence of about a year and a half. I had been overseas and did not tell anyone I was coming home.

She called my father and told him to go to the store and purchase a ham. She stated she needed to have it ready by lunch time because I was coming home and I was hungry.

My father told her very quickly she had to be kidding. “Nobody knows where he is or when he will be home.” My Father laughed and asked; “so what time will he be here?” She responded very quickly and said about 11:30. He went to the store, purchased the ham and went about his business. At 11:00 he went to sit in the yard with my Grandfather to see if she was right. Skepticism was running rampant by now.

I arrived at the house at 11:35. This was an instance you would never forget the details of. After we talked I asked my Father what time had she call him. He told me it was at close to 7:00 a.m. that morning.

Strange, I had just crossed the Kentucky border very close to that same time headed for home.

The other family member was my Mother’s youngest sister. She was deadly accurate with anything she told you. She could tell you who was going to die, where, and what time. When I say who, that means she gave them by name not a general reference. The only person’s death that ever happened which did not come to her clearly was the sudden death of my Father.

She was very well known to see and speak with the dead. My uncle felt she was full of crap until he came home one day from work to hear her talking to someone.

He asked who she was talking to this time and she explained. They were sitting on her sofa and talking. These people were apparitions. This was the first and only time he ever saw them for himself, but he never doubted her again. Believe or not folks, true story!

Both of these people lived life with few ever knowing their gifts. It was kept very quiet and to speak with them was never an instance when you felt uncomfortable. I will say their eyes had a look that was anything but ordinary. When my Grandmother held your hand and spoke to you her eyes turned very black. The last of the two passed away a few years ago.

As for me I am a sensitive and life gets strange for me at times. It is not an easy feeling to know about places or things you have never encountered before.

Can you share an experience in your paranormal/ghost hunting that was particularly frightening or creepy?

I have never been afraid so I cannot tell you what that would feel like. I have been in a lot of places where there was a feeling of slight unease until whatever it is gets to know me. Sometimes I call the apparitions out and let them know I am not there to hurt them. Other instances I let them know I won’t tolerate mistreatment.

My team was investigating the former mental hospital; Trans Alleghany Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia. I had just stepped from a room where there was the well documented spirit of a former patient who hates men. Waiting just outside the door was one of the guides investigating with me. Just as I cleared the doorway I was struck in the face hard enough I went down on one knee.

As a former combat Marine I can take a punch with the best of them. Whatever threw this punch was not baby girl. It left a red scratch down the center of my eye that lasted for two days.

A man and woman from West Virginia took a photo as I stood to my feet. The evidence produced a solid black mass between me and the guide from the institution.

I have to say the only truly creepy feeling I have experienced was in an upstairs hallway in a one hundred year old house. Whatever was there made it known to me and it had every intention of doing harm. It was VERY clear my presence there was unwelcome!

Lastly, and on a lighter note, is your glass 1/2 full or 1/2 empty?

Fair question for anyone. I never see the glass either way. Life is good even with its ups and downs. I feel like my glass is running over. I am a truly blessed man. I have a great wife, children, a spoiled dog, and live in the mountains of North Carolina. No problem is so large it can’t be fixed. I live for the music and life is a very sweet song.

Join Micheal and 35 other authors for the 99 Cent Book Event, in celebration of the release of award winning, bestselling author Melissa Foster’s COME BACK TO ME, Tues., Nov. 1 – Thurs., Nov 3. ALL BOOKS99 CENTS, ebook giveaways, and more! www.womensliterarycafe.com

Micheal’s books are available purchase on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, & Smashwords.

You can visit his site at www.michealrivers.com & connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.