Ghostwriting (33 page)

‘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?'

 

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.

 

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.

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