This photo of me and Mickey Mouse was taken thirty-two years ago as he pretended to hand me the giant key to the Chevy Cavalier I’d just won. It was Disneyland’s 30^th anniversary, though I hadn’t paid any attention to the signs that said every 3,000^th visitor would win a Chevy during the celebration. The snapshot doesn’t do justice to the tug of war that had just gone on between us. Mickey may look benign, but he was strong, and he wasn’t about to let me have that key until the PR photographers had gotten this picture.

All that day I walked around the park in shock. That I, me, Annie, who had always driven second- or third- or fourth-hand cars, was actually the winner of a brand new one took a while to sink in.

So maybe it shouldn’t have surprised me that I didn’t shout out in delight when I received the first printed copy of my book. I leafed through it, standing up, nearly burning my spinach omelet. I was unsure I fit this “I-am-the-author-of-a-published-book” role. I’ve since recovered from my shock and become totally thrilled. I’m even easing into comfort in my new role, which I’ll need, to move with grace through all that’s upcoming. The first of my many events are listed below.

Here’s a tiny preview of next week’s blog that will focus on after-death communication through physical and electrical phenomena. These are true incidents when people’s dead beloveds made contact in ways that had particular meaning to the living person:

A woman invites her deceased daughter to join a family photo and later notes a circle of light in the picture, precisely where she’d asked her to stand, that by all logic should not be there.

A daughter smells trumpet oil. Her deceased father had been a trumpet player, so she instantly knows that odor can only come from him.

A cell phone flashes a woman’s deceased husband’s number as though he had called. She checks with her “tech guru,” who tells her this is impossible by normal means.

Saturday, October 7^th, 2 pm, TAOS, NM, Book Release Party & Talking Circle on After-Death Communication, SOMOS, 108 Civic Plaza Drive

 Sunday, October 8^th, 2 pm, QUESTA, NM, Book Release Party & Talking Circle on After-Death Communication, OCHO, #8, NM State Hwy 38 (just east of the Questa  traffic light)

 Saturday, October 14^th, 2 pm,  SANTA FE, NM, Reading/Book Signing & Talking Circle on After-Death Communication, The Ark Bookstore, 33 Romero Street (by the Railyard)

 Saturday, October 28^th, 2 pm, SANTA FE, NM, Reading/Book Signing, Talking Circle on After-Death Communication & Day of the Dead Altar (bring items for the altar), op.cit Bookstore, DeVargas Mall, 157 Paseo de Peralta

 Thursday, November 2^nd, QUESTA, NM, 3-5 pm workshop (and ongoing until 7), Writing Letters to the Dead Workshop as part of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration, OCHO, #8, NM State Hwy 38 (just east of the Questa light) 

Wednesday, November 8^th, 11 am, TAOS, NM, Reading/Book Signing & Talking Circle on After-Death Communication at Noetic Sciences Meeting, Unity Church, 69 Blueberry Hill Road

I would love to hear how your dead beloveds have visited you from beyond the veil that separates life from death. Please share your experiences with me at https://anniemattingley.com/participate/ If you’d prefer to tell me your story verbally, let me know and we can arrange for that.

The After Death Chronicles: True Stories of Comfort, Guidance, and Wisdom from Beyond the Veil. To be released by Hampton Roads on October 6, 2017. Pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBound. Find out more on my Book Page.