Interview With Author Charles Lehman
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m 57, happily married, and from New Jersey. In 2010 after watching a popular ghost hunting show on TV, I wanted to try it for myself. I always believed in ghosts and spirits, but I was always curious about how true the TV shows were. After a few months of research, I got myself an audio recorder, digital camera and K2 EMF meter and headed to my local cemetery. After I returned from my first trip, I had 6 EVP (spirit voices) on my audio recorder, voices I never heard when I was there because I was alone. There was not another soul anywhere near the place.
So after a couple of repeat trips and my car alarm going off, I was hooked and knew I would be doing this as long as I physically could get out to investigate.
My book is my first and I went the self-publishing route to get it out there.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My first book is called “Dancing with the Divine and the Darkness: How a Paranormal Curiosity Opened the Gates to a Supernatural Universe”
When I first started investigating in 2010, I joked to myself after 10 years I would have enough material to write a book about my experiences. In 2018, a good friend Christine, also a very gifted medium, told me during a reading that I needed to write a book. Not just about my paranormal experiences, but also about everything that happened to me because of my adventures. Christine told me that I had a lot of stories I never shared with anybody (which was true) and that I had to tell them. She said there were people out there who had similar experiences, but were afraid to talk about them out of fear of being laughed at and ridiculed.
By writing the book, I would be letting them know they were not alone and that there are people out there they could talk to without fear of being scorned. Plus she said a lot of people, in general, would be fascinated by what I experienced. So I started writing the book in 2018 and finally finished in 2022. I learned a lot during those years of writing and rewriting.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I can’t say for sure, though after my first rough draft, I found that I used the word “Really” about 500 times. I learned I had to get rid of repetition such as this. I’d also say that I did not write every day and sometimes I would go a week or two without getting on the keyboard.
In the end, I then found myself reading and rereading, and nitpicking a lot of things too. Again it was all part of the learning process for my first book.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I wouldn’t say I wrote my book with any influence from any author in particular. However, one of my favorite authors is David McCullough, a writer of historical books such as “1776”, “John Adams” and “The Johnstown Flood”, which were among my favorites.
I do enjoy non-fictional historical books very much.
What are you working on now?
I’m taking a break for the moment from writing, other than updating my website/blog about my paranormal adventures.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I promote my books off my website, www.chucksghosts.com, which is primarily devoted to my paranormal investigations going back to 2010. I started promoting on the typical social media sites and I am now expanding to promotional sites such as Awesome Gang and others.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I would say my best piece of advice would be not to have pie-in-the-sky expectations for a new book to sell 1000 copies right off the bat and become a best seller. Especially if you are self-publishing. The marketing of the book is a big deal. Do as much research into that as writing the book itself. That is something I wish I spent more time on, so now I am still piecemealing it together.
Also, the website Fiverr was key in getting my book cover (front and back) design done and it saved me a lot of money. If you have the money to spend to get an illustrator do your cover, go for it. But if you are on a budget like I was, Fiverr was a Godsend.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I got was not directed at me, but found in the many comments sections about the writing and marketing of books. As a self-publisher, you want to sell books, but you don’t want to go broke doing it. Read the comments, you learn a lot of pitfalls that way. Don’t rush to sign up for something, get the reviews and read them before you throw away good money that could have been better spent elsewhere.
What are you reading now?
Nothing on the shelf at the moment, its whatever catches my eye next. Hence why an eye-catching book cover is so important!
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m thinking about writing about my paranormal investigation but from the perspective of the solo investigator, which is how I normally investigate. Solo investigating is kind of frowned upon because of potential dangers, but I look at it like anything else in life. It’s not for everyone, just like ghost hunting, in general, is not for everyone.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d bring books that had to deal with wilderness survival and how to get rescued. I would read those, day and night.
Author Websites and Profiles
Charles Lehman’s Social Media Links