James Hicks

About me:

Okay, first off...

...If you received a friend request from me, it's either because a) I know you and I think you're cool, b) Your profile says that you're interested in the paranormal, c) You're a full-time RVer like me, d) You're just so damn cool that I had to add you, or e) A combination of the above.

I am not a bot (I have not yet been assimilated into the collective) or a spammer (I have zero skill in sales). And I'm not cruising Myspace for chicks (already have one, and she's the greatest).

If you accept the friend request, be ready to see an ungodly number of survey dealies appearing in your bulletins, chock-full of info you never wanted to know about me; with half the answers I give being somehow related to my kick-ass, smokin'-hot, super-sexy girlfriend Diane. Just a heads-up. :P

Now, then...

My name is James Hicks, and I'm a writer. Sort of. I'm working on a series of books dealing with strange, haunted, or otherwise interesting locations in the US. But that project is on hold for awhile.

In the meantime, I've turned my attention to a blog that covers more or less the same topic, though it covers all fifty states rather than focusing on one state at a time. You can check it out at Strange Destinations

Diane and I are independent ghost hunters. Independent, as in: we do our own thing and don't belong to a specific group; and ghost hunters, as in: we probably don't qualify for the more prestigious title of "paranormal investigator." I mostly do EVP. Diane does EVP and still photography.

We are full-time RVers, meaning that we live in our motorhome. Eventually we're going to travel from state to state, investigating different locations and writing about our experience. But for now we're still working for The Man, so we need to stay put until we get things going for ourselves.

The writing thing...

I started off wanting to do a syndicated column, but I switched my focus to books. The column was cool, but without the hassle of deadlines, word-counts, and actually syndicating the thing, I could actually focus on writing.

The books will be entitled, The Offbeat Path: Strange Destinations in _________, and will include thirty or so different destinations in each state. Before I put it on hold, I was working on Washington state, with the next in the series to be Oregon.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to work on the book lately, and I've started a new writing project that I'm actually pretty excited about. It's called Strange Destinations, and is a blog covering weird and/or haunted locations across the United States. Each post features a location from a different state of the US--places that you may have never heard of before, but are well worth a visit.

I use my blog here on Myspace for a lot of things. Sometimes just updates on what Diane and I are up to. Sometimes I'll actually have a coherent thought, which I will immortalize in a blog post. I've posted most of the articles I wrote for my column (I'll post the rest later). I think I'm funny, so some posts are humor... I will continue the "Ghost Hunter's Etiquette" series, which is humor with a point. And anything that doesn't make the book will appear as a blog post.

The ghost hunting thing...

Like I said, I do EVP. That's just about all that I do. It's what interests me. I'm not out to prove to the world that ghosts are real. It can probably never be proven. And if it is, then it won't be me doing the proving. And I don't care if other people believe in the paranormal or not.

I like to work with as many groups as possible. If you think I'm cool, and would like to meet up with Diane and I for a little ghost hunting (or even just a meet-and-greet), don't be shy--send me a message and we'll get something going. Myspace is great, but real-life is better.

What I'm looking for...

Stuff to write about. But there are specific things I'm looking for:

1) It has to be accessible by the public. I won't write about cemeteries, residences, hospitals, or any other non- or semi-public place. The last thing I want is to inspire some yahoo to camp out in somebody's front yard.

2) It has to be interesting. Otherwise, who would want to read about it?

3) It has to be fairly unknown. Some places have been done to death by other writers, and that's fine. But I'm looking for things that most people don't know about. I'd love to investigate the Queen Mary, but it wouldn't make it in the book or the blog.

4) For the book, I need to be able to visit the location. Because that's part of what the book is about--unusual places to take a road trip to.

Local legends are also cool, and I'd love to hear them. It doesn't matter how outlandish the story sounds... I really don't care if it's true or not. American culture has no mythology of its own, and these stories are the closest thing that we have... and they're disappearing. I want to get them written down before they're gone forever.

The podcasts...

Every so often, Diane and I put up a podcast. Most of these are to share EVP that we've gotten. Basically, all we do is hit "record" and start talking about (and playing) our EVPs. It's entirely unscripted, and when we mess up we don't edit it out. There is no music, no fancy sound effects, no pre- or post-production... it's all us, and it's all real.

They're not copyrighted, so if you want to add some or all of them to your page, go right on ahead.

CHECK OUT OUR PODCASTS:

In case you miss out on all the touchy-feely, lovey-dovey stuff goin' on between Diane and I, here's a video slideshow thing I made for her on Valentine's Day. Love ya, sweetie!: