This is the seventh in a series of articles exploring on-line sources and search strategies for writers. This month, writer's resources for Paranormal, Time Travel, Futuristic and Inspirational romances are featured.

General Reference Sites

http://pantheon.org/mythica - Encyclopedia Mythica is an encyclopedia on mythology, folklore, legends, and more. It contains over 5700 definitions of gods and goddesses, supernatural beings and legendary creatures and monsters from all over the world. Some of the topics you will find: Legendary animals such as unicorns and dragons; Objects like Excalibur and Mjollnir; Gods and goddesses from many religions, including Greek, Japanese, Hindu, and Native American; Imaginative places such as Atlantis, Avalon, and Thule. The site even features supernatural creatures such as gnomes, leprechauns, and fairies.

http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/john_kessler/giordano_bruno.html - Giordano Bruno: The Forgotten Philosopher - A brief history of Giordano Bruno, the spiritual alchemist who was burnt at the stake in the year 1600, by agents of the Inquisition. A fascinating look at how the transitional Church (medieval to reformation) dealt with dissidents. Bruno was reported to have answered the sentence of death by fire with the threatening: "Perhaps you, my judges, pronounce this sentence against me with greater fear than I receive it." Need some serious, external threats for your time-traveling hero. This time and place had it all.

http://www.alchemylab.com The Alchemy Lab - Alchemy Resources for the writer or would-be practitioner. This large, content-rich site has something for everyone. It even presents two search parameters, Solar (logical) and Lunar (intuitive). It is a treasure trove of information concerning both ancient and modern alchemists. There is even a subdirectory http://www.alchemylab.com/dictionary.htm#Earth that offers an alchemist dictionary.

http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/ - Esoterica: The Journal of Esoteric Studies does not endorse any particular methodological approach to the study of esoteric traditions. It offers full-length studies such as, an exceptional examination of Renaissance magic by Wouter Hanegraaff entitled "Sympathy or the Devil" and listings of all recent doctoral dissertations and many current books in the field. The word "esoteric" traditionally refers to spiritual, initiatory, or inner knowledge. The site's primary emphasis is the scholarly investigation of esoteric spiritual traditions, with a special emphasis on Western esotericism. Western esoteric traditions are of a remarkable variety, ranging from Gnosticism and Hermeticism to alchemy, magic, Christian mysticism, Kabbala, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, and other secret or semi-secret societies. Wonderful background material and resources.

http://www.getfed.com/texts/ - This archive of inspirational Christian literature is a collection of essays, stories, thoughts and poetry from many different sources. It was developed to share inspiring stories with people everywhere. The site is a relevant resource for illustrating modern Christian thought and helpful in developing realistic characters for inspirational romance writers.

I used my preferred, innovative search engine, Google, http://directory.google.com/ to find any thing concerning Faith and Spirituality. One of the first listings to come up was the eclectic, but informative, Knowledge Hound. http://www.knowledgehound.com/topics/faithspi.htm This site provides a plethora of inspiration for imaginative writers: A mini-course in Pendulum Dowsing; How to pray the Rosary; When to kneel, stand or sit at Low, High, Requiem or Solemn Mass; Conversion to Judaism; Salat: How To Pray As A Muslim, or my favorite, How does one become a shaman? If you want to research a religious background for your character, this site is a must.

http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/reincar/re-selec.htm this sites offers links to dozens of on-line articles about Reincarnation and Reimbodiment. If you are researching Reincarnation as a possible plot driver, this is a great place to start.

http://www.xproject-paranormal.com/archives/paranormal/eerieland.html - Eerieland: A Paranormal Tour of Ireland Provides a tour of Ireland, a beautiful country filled with folklore and mystery including banshees, leprechauns, fairies, singing ghosts, haunted lakes, and the dobhar-chu.

Retro Search

Sources you can touch, index with sticky tabs, and mark with highlighters.

The Physics of Star Trek, BasicBooks; ISBN 0-465-00559-4, by Lawrence M. Krauss. What warps when you're traveling at warp speed? What's the difference between the holodeck and a hologram? What happens when you get beamed up? What is the difference between a Wormhole and a Black Hole? What is antimatter and why does the Enterprise need it? Discover the answers to these and many other fascinating questions as this renowned physicist and dedicated Trekker explores The Physics of Star Trek. Every futurist needs this on her bookshelf.

On This Day in History by Leonard Spinrad, Thelma Spinrad, Anistatia R. Miller, Jared Brown, Anistatia Miller, and Jared Brown; Prentice Hall Press; ISBN: 0735200645 ; Before you shoot your hero or Heroine back through time, check out this unique historical reference book. It takes the significant events of the world, one day at a time. The book is appealing because it doesn't take a chronological approach to history. Each event stands on it own; you notice it and think about it more freshly, which lets you see it for the accomplishment it is rather than as just another occurrence in the progression of time. On This Day features an index that refers you to the appropriate page for any of more than 1,500 events, where you can discover not only, what day of the year it took place, but also get a full description of what happened and its context.

Hidden Files: Law Enforcement's True Case Stories of the Unexplained and Paranormal by Sue Kovach. NTC/Contemporary Publishing; ISBN: 0809231212. Most of these amazing stories of unexplained events from the files of law enforcement across the U.S. and Canada involve actual police cases, or occurred while an officer was on duty. These are thought-provoking and fascinating accounts, supported by credible witnesses. This book features intriguing stories of ghosts, UFOs, and other reports of paranormal phenomena. In Hidden Files, Sue Kovach presents some of law enforcement's most intriguing files. Such information often test the bounds of credibility, but can such reports be easily dismissed when the witness is an officer of the law trained to make calm, detailed observations under the most stressful situations?

Save yourself some typing. These, as well as other sources not listed here are located on my web site:
http://www.pleiadespublishing.com/research/Paranorma.html

Sandra Chevalier-Batik is senior researcher and technical writer for Pleiades Publishing Services. She develops content and information design for web sites and corporate communications.