Psychic In Suburbia: The Magical Midlife Misadventures of a Medium Mom
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Setting – Georgia
Independently Published
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 23, 2025
Print length ‏ : ‎ 234 pages

Synopsis

There’s nothing magical about midlife for Abby McBride, unless dealing with pesky ghosts counts.

Between hot flashes and brain fog and the dead paying a call at all hours, she’s had her share of spirited mayhem, while trying to hold up a perfect image among her cul-de-sac crowd. Not easy! But, after decades of suppressing her psychic gift, it all comes crashing down at the annual Halloween bash and her quiet suburban life goes up in spectral smoke.

The ghosts of 125 Magnolia Lane have demands and are not opposed to dragging the living into their hellish afterlife if that’s what it takes. Can Abby finally embrace the powers she’s long denied in order to save her family and friends from eternal destruction? But at what cost to her reputation, her sanity, marriage and possibly even her freedom?

When Ghost Whisperer meets Bad Moms, haunted hijinks are inevitable among dysfunctional friendships and an intrepid heroine who’s so done playing nice. That’s right! DONE! Get set for a thrill ride that will leave readers with a tale of laugh out loud, heart-tugging midlife magic and mayhem.

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Character Guest Post

To Smudge or Not to Smudge

By Abby McBride

Feeling uneasy in your own house? Shadows where there shouldn’t be any? Stuff moving of their own accord? Disembodied voices? Spooked yourself by watching too many ghost hunting shows on tv?

Wondering if your house is haunted? Should you call in ghost hunters? Your local priest to bless your home?

Maybe, just maybe, your house simply needs a good, old-fashioned spiritual energy cleansing ~ smudging.

When I first moved into the home in which I know reside, I just didn’t feel right. Nothing wrong with the house. It was perfect for our family’s needs and in the school district we wanted, and it checked off everything on our list. But that didn’t make my stomach any less queasy when we did the inspection, walk-through, and then again on moving day. Something was just…off.

Did I order an exorcism? Well, no. I didn’t find a portal to hell nor did a ghost throw slime in my face so it wasn’t THAT bad. It was just a negative feeling in the house. Not everyone experienced what I did (being an empath this is quite common), or they ignored it because it didn’t make sense. But when something doesn’t make sense, I want to make it make sense. So I opened up my laptop and went straight to Google, then to Amazon to order books, and then to social media to find blogs that may have a nugget or two of wisdom that would help me.

As we had just moved into a home where the previous occupants recently underwent a bitter divorce, our house needed to clean out the negative emotions and energies still residing within its walls.

What I found was by no means revolutionary or hocus-pocus or woo woo in form or fashion. Actually, it was simply feng shui – a commonly used form of design to help one’s own energy harmonize with their surroundings by balancing invisible forces or energies that bind us all together with the planet and the universe.

We could go into all the specifics of feng shui but then this article would become a book, and I know enough to know that I do not know enough about the practice to write a book on it. Besides, there are so many books written by experts out there, blogs online, and your sister’s cousin’s next door neighbor probably studied it in interior design class…so we’ll keep things simple here.

Space clearing is an essential part of modern feng shui and involves clearing the space on an energetic level. Physically, you clean away the dust and dirt and rid yourself of clutter to avoid buildup of clutter and dirt on an emotional or spiritual level. This is recommended when one moves into a home, at least once a year, and particularly after traumatic events, such as divorce.

An example of how well this process works can simply be found when one does an intense spring cleaning of his/her home. It’s exhausting, but quite therapeutic.

In addition to physically cleaning the home, there are other methods to clear negative energy from your home. A common practice is called smudging. This is a symbolic ritual found not only in feng shui, but also in alternative medicine practices. Items you will need are few and easy to come by:

• Smudge stick of sage or bundle of other herb such as lavender, sweetgrass, or cedar. Some feng shui practitioners recommend palo santo, a holy wood found in South America but I find it takes longer for the smoke to dissipate.
• A candle and matches; maybe even a feather (but I find this isn’t 100% necessary) to waft the smoke around.
• Container (some recommend an abalone seashell, but you can simply use a ceramic bowl) to hold the lit smudge stick so you don’t burn yourself. Yes, I learned this from personal experience.
• Sand to extinguish the smudge stick when you are finished.

Light the candle, then light the tip of the bundle of sage or other stick of herbs. A prayer or meditation before starting is also recommended. Slowly and with mindful intent, allow the smoke to waft through the home as you walk around the house in a clockwise manner (I recommend start and end at the front door). Go into each room, paying particular attention to the corners. Also, don’t neglect closets. Keep your mind on loving and positive thoughts as you do this. When you have done this throughout the entire house, go back to where you started and extinguish the lit smudge stick in the sand which should be in a fire-proof container.

That’s it. Quite simple.

A bit of smudging and my house was not only livable, but it was mine without all the emotional and spiritual baggage that had soaked into its walls from previous residents.

There are plenty other methods (including salt rock lamps, incense, and essential oil or holy water sprays), but I’ve found this one is so simple even I can do. And…it works.

If you find your problem is much larger than residual negative energies sticking to your walls, then you will need something more detailed and intense. If in need of that level of help, call your local ghost busters. You’ll be surprised to discover that most major metropolitans areas (and some not so metropolitan) have local paranormal investigation teams. Google it! I bet you’ll find one or two in your area. Some, if not most, will help you out for free.

In the meantime, grab a smudge stick. It can at least leave your home herbal fresh. I highly recommend opening windows and turning on the ceiling fans to assist in the dissipation of the smoke.

Happy Smudging!

About the Author

After leaving the corporate world to raise her five rambunctious children with her husband in North Carolina, KC Freeman eventually found her way back to her lifelong desire to write paranormal fiction.

First, she dipped her toes in the writing world by ghostwriting cozy mysteries and romance novels. Once confident of her creative writing skills, she struck out on her own to write urban fantasy and paranormal romance with her debut novel, Rekindled Prophecy: Greylyn the Guardian Angel Book 1. A few books later, KC added the label, “USA Today Best-Selling Author” with her paranormal romance, Renegade Angel, incorporated into the Realm of Darkness box set.

KC writes mostly urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels. She also spends a lot of time editing manuscripts with her company, Book Mage Editing, and is certified by the Professional Book Editors Association.

Now that her five children are grown and flown, KC spends her time writing, editing, reading, hiking, exercising (in an attempt to get back a semblance of her pre-menopause body), and spoiling her fur baby chihuahua, Harley.

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