And That's Research, Folks! A Weekend in the Only Town in America Founded by Mediums
When you write historical fiction, you don't just research from a desk — sometimes you have to go stand where it happened. For The Knocking — out July 14th — that meant a trip to Lilydale, New York. Founded in the early 1900s, Lilydale is a real, still-active hamlet where the residents are Spiritualists — mediums, healers, and their families. It's not a theme or an aesthetic there. You actually have to be a Spiritualist to live in the town. I happened to visit during a medium
And That's Research, Folks! The Gravestone, the Bird, and the Birthplace of American Spiritualism
When you write historical fiction, you don't just research from a desk — sometimes you have to go stand where it happened. The Knocking — out July 14, 2026 — is built around the real story of Katie (Kate) Fox and her sister, two girls in an 1848 haunted farmhouse in Hydesville, New York, who did something no one had quite done before: they talked back. One knock for yes. Two for no. A whole alphabet's worth of raps to spell out messages from whatever — or whoever — was makin
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