Now Buy My CDs on eBay!

I decided to make it simpler to buy my CDs. Just click on this link to get my newest CD, Beyond the Grave II, 

and on this link to get my first ghost stories CD, Beyond the Grave.

I will add the others soon. eBay accepts credit cards, debit cards and Paypal.

Lots of great, spooky stories from West Virginia! Like the one about the boy who was buried 3 times, how some places got their names by not the most savory means, and even a tale of exorcism.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Now Available! Beyond the Grave II

It's here! It's here!

My latest CD, Beyond the Grave II: More Ghost Stories from West Virginia. Want one? Here's 3 ways to get yours: 1. Message me and I'll send you a Paypal invoice! Or 2. Send $15 to my Paypal: susannaholstein@yahoo.com Or 3. mail me a check, and your CD will be in the mail pronto. Stories include The Last Public Hanging, Gamble's Run, Ikie's Tomb, The Haunting of Cale Betts and many more! Music by the fantastic duo Born Old.



Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Idy Mae's Full Moon: A Little Taste of One Story

I thought you might enjoy a small listen to a clip from one story on my new CD, Idy Mae's Full Moon.

My husband Larry leads into this story; the music is by West Virginia old-time musician Dr. David O'Dell on banjo and Lester McCumbers on fiddle.

The story tells one tale from Larry's adventures with his pet crow. Someday I will need to record his story about his pet groundhog Sally.

The cover photo for this clip is Larry and his twin sister Mary with their mother, Dollie Walls Holstein.

Enjoy!

(PS--you can order the CD by clicking the BUY NOW button on the right side of my blog. $15 and free shipping 😊)

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Coming Soon! Idy Mae's Full Moon and Other Stories and Songs

After much anticipation, I can finally say it: my new CD will be here by the end of next week!

I am so excited about this. It has been a long while since my last CD; my last producer moved away and it took me a while to find someone new to work with. I was so pleased to meet Terry of Lens Creek Studios; not only is he a native of the county where I live, he understood storytelling and has experience in recording spoken word pieces. Not all recording studios are familiar with the art of the spoken word, so I was thrilled to find someone who could work with me on a new recording.

Idy Mae's Full Moon combines stories from my husband's memories of growing up in a coal camp,  an Appalachian tale, and stories based around my life exoeriences, along with a couple traditional folk songs. It's fun, often funny, and was just a blast to record. The cover art is based on a photo I took here on our ridge of two venerable old oaks and a full moon just beginning to set as the sun rose, washing the sky with beautiful shades of color. Music for the CD was provided by the multi-talented old-time musician David O'Dell. It's the perfect accompaniment for this work.

Two more CDs are in the works, and I anticipate having them in late September. These next two will be the next in the series started with my last CD, Beyond the Grave, and will contain more West Virginia ghost stories and ballads. So be on the lookout for them in early Fall.


Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Back in the Recording Studio At Last

I have wanted to start a new CD for some time and today it's finally happening. I have four projects in mind, actually; we laid down the tracks for the first of the four today. The hard work is ahead of course--editing, writing the jacket material, getting the jacket designed, etc. But it's started and that's sometimes the biggest hurdle.

Today's recording was of my family stories. I've told all of them here and there over the past few years and it dawned on me that I had enough of them for a CD. The other projects I want to do are a recording of Appalachian children's stories, a second ghost stories CD, a CD of tall tales and one of world folktales. Hmmm, I guess that's five in all, isn't it?

Right now my goal is to get the stories recorded; then we can work through them and get them ready to publish when the time and money are right. My guy I work with is moving and I want to do as much as possible before he leaves for the West coast. I will surely miss him; he does excellent work and he's a great person too.

It felt good to get started. It will feel even better to see the finished product.

Beyond the Grave News

Since you, my readers, were involved in the naming and planning of this CD, I thought you'd like to know the latest news:

It was exciting to read this review of my CD online.

Then...my first sales at CDBaby.com! CdBaby is an online site that will sell the physical item, or downloads of individual tracks. So you can just buy and listen to Wizard Clipp, Burnt House, Pretty Polly, or any of the other stories and ballads on the CD.


And of course, you know there is still plenty of time to order a CD for Christmas giving. Buy it here by clicking the button to the right (it's an easy process, I promise) and you can tell me who to mail it to and if you'd like it autographed or giftwrapped.

Next steps: sending out review copies to print and online reviewers, and sending our promotional material to libraries. Making the CD is only the beginning--the real work starts after it's done, as I'm sure any writers reading this know.

(If you have a blog and would like to review my CD, please let me know in the comments below or email me and I will contact you to make mailing arrangements.)

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog...

A Simple Holiday Gift Idea

Time is getting short, isn't it? Here's an idea for a gift that will be ready to give, and can even be gift wrapped and mailed directly to the recipient:

My latest CD of ghost stories and ballads from the mountains of West Virginia!

Beyond the Grave (the name was suggested by Jason, a reader of this blog) includes five of West Virginia's best ghost stories and three haunting ballads sung in the traditional mountain style by yours truly.

It's a gift that will please teens who are into vampires and zombies and such, as well as anyone who has roots in these mountains or who studies or just enjoys Appalachian culture. Matthew Burns published a review recently on his blog, so if you'd like to see what one listener thought of the CD, please check out his post on Appalachian Lifestyles.

The CD is just $14.95 with free shipping if you click on the Buy It Now button on the right of this blog. Your purchase will go through PayPal so you know it's easy and secure.

You can also order through www.cdbaby.com online. Just search Granny Sue. Digital tracks of all stories and songs on the CD will be available within a few days on CDBaby, or you can order a real CD from them if you prefer.

OR you can mail me a check; email me at susannaholstein@yahoo.com if that's the option you prefer. I'm easy to deal with :-)

Enough of this commercial! Marketing is difficult for me to do, but I honestly do think you will enjoy my CD, and it would be exciting to know my blog friends are actually hearing my stories and songs in my voice. That would be just amazing.

CD Title: A Winner!

This is one of the photos I hope to use on the CD. It's my granddaughter Kate in the Greenwood Cemetery near Sistersville, WV.

Thank you all again for the creative suggestions for the title for my new CD of ghost stories.

After reading through all your ideas several times, I decided to use this:

Beyond the Grave: Ghost Stories and Ballads from the Mountains.

And the winner is:

Jason!

Jason gets a free CD as soon as I get the finished product. Congratulations, Jason, and thank you for the suggestion. I tweaked your wording a little, but it fit perfectly what I wanted for the title.

Now, to update you all on the project:

Tonight I finished the editing process with the recording studio. I thought we were finished Monday night, but I discovered an error that had to be corrected--I could not live with it the way it was. So we took care of it tonight, Bob printed out the tracklist and tomorrow I will ship the CD, tracklist and money to the CD company.

I emailed the text for the insert tonight, and I'll send the photos I want the graphics guy to use tomorrow. I still have to write the text for the tray card, which will probbly just be my contact information and track list. And some photos.

Once all that is sent, I wait for the graphics guy to send me proofs to approve. I expect there will be some tweaking to do. I've already told him no blood-and-guts, dripping letters, skulls, etc--these aren't horror stories, they're ghost stories. We'll see if he understands my meaning.

I had really wanted to have the CD finished by the WV Book Festival, which is now only two weeks away. That is not going to happen, unfortunately, so I'm missing a good sales opportunity. But that is what it is and I can't do anything about it. I should certainly have them for several other October performances, so that's good. And I will try to list the CD on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other online sites. Another learning curve ahead. I also hope to have it juried and accepted by Tamarack, the big West Virginia arts and crafts center.

The end is in sight, and I am getting excited. It's been a year since I started this; the project stalled last year and I finally got back to it this month. It will be very good to get it finished.

New CD: In Search of a Name-and a Contest

Last night I worked late on my new CD. We edited, added music and made a few other changes. Bob Webb, who does my recordings, is a master of the art, let me tell you. I think he could make a frog sing soprano. I got home just before midnight with a new copy in my purse. Today I will listen and make notes for whatever editing is still needed. I will also be working on the liner notes for the insert, and contacting the CD reproduction company for prices and to get the project rolling in that arena.

Here's my problem: I don't like the titles I've come up with. First I called it "Appalachian Ghost Stories." All the stories on the CD are ghost stories, and there are also three ballads (murder, mayhem--you know how ballads can be).

Listening to it last night with Bob, I realized that my title wasn't really accurate. The stories are all from West Virginia, and most actually pre-date the formation of the state. If I lived in Tennessee and bought this CD, would I be disappointed to find that the stories were all from West Virginia? I think so. So "Appalachian" isn't the right word. Maybe it should be titled "West Virginia Ghost Stories and Ballads?"

The title was too bland, too. It says what it is, and that's always a good thing. Is it catchy? Would you grab it off the shelf? Find it online? Want to listen to it? That's what I need to know.

The CD will include the stories Wizard Clipp, Burnt House, a local story I call Sidna and the story of the Greenbrier Ghost, and others. The ballads are Pretty Polly, Railroad Boy, and a Greenbrier Ghost ballad that I wrote. The CD title may, of course, influence the cover art.

So I need some ideas from you. What title would grab your attention and make you yank this CD off the shelf and run to plunk down your debit card? If you suggest a title that I use, then you will get a copy of the new CD for free when it's done.

Any suggestions? I need ideas by the weekend so I can get this thing moving to the repro company.

Congratulations, Tammy!

Tammy was one of the readers who commented on the post "What's Wrong with this Picture" and her name was the one I drew from those who participated. Congratulations!




I will be mailing Tammy a copy of my CD "Mountain Story, Mountain Song" as soon as I get her mailing address. Thank you all for participating. Another contest is coming soon, so watch for it.

(By the way, my CD is available for purchase and makes a nice Christmas gift. The price is $10 plus $4 shipping and handling. Please get in touch if you're interested)

EarthHeart's Review of my CD

Hey friends, if you'd like to read what blogger EarthHeart had to say abut my CD "Mountain Story, Mountain Song" click here.

She won the CD in the Great Chicken Riddle Contest. I will offer more riddle contests in the future, so stay tuned!

And maybe by then my new CD, West Virginia Ghost Stories and Ballads, will be ready...

Thank you for the kind words, EarthHeart.