Welcome, Vanessa Hearne

Vanessa was born in England where she grew up in huge and drafty old farm houses. These houses had more than the occasional ghostly visitor and from early childhood on Vanessa could hear the spirits speaking.

She eventually moved to California and while living in the Santa Cruz Mountains found again many a ghostly visitor would wander in, usually without invitation or notice. Vanessa had bought a horse ranch and ran it with her wonderful help, Joanna, friend Christine, some fabulous students and her daughters, Grace and Lucy; who were going back and forth in custody swaps between their mother and their Scottish father. Vanessa put a wild plea out for a man to come into her life to help her - he must look good in a tuxedo and know how to fix a tractor; oh, and one more thing - he had to be able to cope with all the ghosts and weird happenings at the ranch. The call was answered - Wil arrived in her life. He had been drawn to the Santa Cruz mountains on long drives up by her ranch, he knew he was called by something, not knowing who or what until they met outside a bookstore (where else?) one evening. He met the ghosts and spirits at the ranch, fixed the tractor, looked great in a tuxedo and they married on the red rocks of Sedona.

It was not until Wil took Vanessa to Hawaii, though, that a series of events occurred that made it mandatory to write about her experiences. During a session of meditation with Wil at the Kilauea crater she again experienced a spirit’s message. This time Vanessa was given a strong and clear cry of need. She must write the ghost’s stories.

Now living in high deserts of Arizona, Vanessa is a commissioned artist, an Ordained Minister, with a degree in Metaphysical Psychology and a certified riding instructor, voted one of the top instructors in the US in 2009 by the American Riding Instructors Association. She and Wil still get ghostly visitors - he sees them, she hears their stories. Wil is Vanessa's muse and they make a great detective team!

Excerpt from the upcoming book The Black Sand Beach, book one of the Paradise Saved series.

He leaned closer to the silent woman and noticed every feature traced by the moonlight. She sat there with her eyes closed, head hanging forward, and wisps of long hair shading most of her face.

You look so peaceful.

Then a tear running down her face caught his notice. The sight touched him deeply, but his heart began to pound in his chest; she did not look right. Something was wrong.

“It’s okay, girl …wake up, we figure somethin’ out,” he said, but still she sat, her head hung awkwardly, chin on her chest, shoulders rounded and drooping.

Unmoving, she still did not offer an answer.

The surf crashed nearby, with a rattle of pebbles and the hiss of black sand sucked back with the receding wave. Greg’s attention remained focused on the woman before him; nothing else existed as he wrestled with how to gently get her attention. Torn between letting her sleep there and to wake her up so she could go home, he wrung his hands then decided to nudge her and see if she would wake up.

He reached toward her hunched form when a warm hand landed on his shoulder. He jumped back.

“Don’t touch her,” said the male voice behind him.

Greg had not heard anyone else approach due to the roaring of the surf. He tried to duck away from the hand and whipped around, to find the owner, Tom, another of the volunteers.

“Aaagh, dear God, Tom,” Greg gasped, “you scared the crap out a’ me! What you playin’ at creepin’ up like that?”

He looked back down at Kailani to see if she had woken. She was now lying on her side, blanket around her, just collapsed sideways. Her face was in the sand, unmoving. Greg tried to reach for her again, but Thomas held his arm. Greg felt a panic rising in his chest as he stared at the now-prone figure, and he could not speak.

“I just call paramedics,” Tom said, breathless and upset. “…and…and…Kailani’s people,” he continued.

“It’s bad Greg, real bad, man.” Tom choked the words out, still grasping onto Greg’s shoulder, his fingers biting into the flesh.

“What the hell…? “ Greg asked. “What bad? What you talkin’ bout?” Suddenly he couldn’t catch his breath, and his heart pounded.

There was a long pause, and then Thomas said gently, “Greg, man, she pass on…she gone, she…ma’ke – dead, man.” Thomas gulped back a sob as he choked out the words. “I come earlier to help her and…and I couldn’t wake her, man…she got no pulse, man…real cold…not breathing or nothin’, man…just sat there all weird like I found her…an’…an’ I ran…I tried to get help,” he sobbed again, “it’s too late…”

The old man staggered back, managing to pull away from Thomas.

“What you mean…no…no…no…not Kailani,” wailed Greg. “Oh, my God…you sure? She sleepin’ fine, she ok, wake up soon…no…?

Thomas shook his head and put his face in his hands in answer.

Just then the beautiful night exploded with flashing lights and sirens screaming as the emergency vehicles arrived. The paramedics rushed over with radios blaring and floodlights carving into the darkness to join the two men crouched beside their friend, Kailani.

You can view the video here and Vanessa's publishing info here.


A note from Vanessa
About Paradise Saved series:


The stories are all based on true life experiences involving tales of living, historically rich land and local indigenous people versus giant corporations bulldozing and building on their sacred or spiritual land. Sometimes it takes more than a few local voices complaining to stop the big developments destroying paradise, it takes more than passionate pleas. Changes that result in preserving and protecting the paradise we live in, this earth, come from collaboration, cooperation and knowledge. In my stories I share a lot of interesting ideas and facts about the areas through my characters discovering fascinating facts, and experiencing adventures with ghosts and protective spirits which exist around us trying to speak. I hope you all enjoy the stories and learn a little about the wonders on our doorstep.