Spirits and Sourdough by Bailey Cates

Jenn McKinlay: Baking has always seemed magical to me - put in flour bring out cake - so I'm sure it's no surprise that one of my favorite cozy mystery series combines the two principles in the delectable and long running Magical Bakery Mystery series. Here's the wonderful author Bailey Cates to tell us more!

Bailey Cates: Hi all! Jenn, thanks for inviting me to the Jungle Reds. I love this eclectic, smart space that’s so full of moxie.

My latest book, Spirits and Sourdough, is the tenth in the Magical Bakery Mystery series. I try to marry the titles and the content of my books, though that doesn’t always work. Spirits and Sourdough, however, has both spirits and sourdough.

The sourdough starter that herbal witch and baker Katie Lightfoot brought to Savannah, Georgia from Akron, Ohio at the beginning of the series has had its own arc of sorts, gradually replacing the yeasts from where it began its journey with the yeasts of Katie’s new home, thus creating a new flavor profile over time.

The spirits in the title come from the ghost tour Katie goes on with other members of her spellbook club (read: coven). Savannah is known as the most haunted city in the United States, so at some point that had to play a major role in one of the books. In Spirits, the tour guide is a friend of one of the spellbook club members. She is a young woman who can literally see dead people. This makes her an excellent ghost tour guide since she can steer her clients toward brushes with the supernatural but leaves her feeling like an outsider. Katie also felt like an outsider until she discovered her magical gift of hedgewitchery. So, when the young woman tells Katie the ghost of a recently murdered woman wants Katie to find her killer, she steps into the investigation both to find justice for the victim – whom she knew – and to help the tour guide.

In addition, there’s the spirit of Katie’s deceased grandmother, who shows up regularly in the series. Also, Katie’s new husband’s guardian spirit has gone missing, so she’s trying to get him back. Lots of spirits made their way into this one.

Just as I don’t cast spells (though strongly believe in intentions) or have an actual familiar (don’t tell Cheesecat the Orange), I don’t have personal experiences with spirits. Except once, but I’ll get to that. I don’t know that I believe in ghosts. More like I don’t not believe in ghosts.

I’ve sought out paranormal encounters on occasion. One place was The Marshall House in Savannah, where there’s a rich history of hauntings and where the murder victim’s spirit comes to Katie’s tour guide. For me, there were no bumps in the night, no cold spots, no children trying to bite me in my sleep (part of the charming history I left out of the cozy plot). I live relatively near the Stanley Hotel, the inspiration for the Overlook Hotel in the Shining, and have stayed there overnight. I didn’t sleep well, listening for children running in the hallway, and hoped for at least a bit of dizziness in the famous stairway vortex. But nope. Nada.

However, twenty-some years ago I did see a jinn. Djinn. Genie. At least I think I did. It was in a Dubai hotel room on a business trip to vet translation vendors for the Arabic and Hebrew versions of Windows. I was jet lagged, under slept, punchy with exhaustion but too tired to sleep. I turned off the light and sat down to try to meditate myself out of the thrumming hyperactivity of my brain.

As soon as the light went out, I saw something flying around the room. It was a head and shoulders, the rest of the body trailing away to a tapered nothing. The face was genderless, but the hair was long, very long, and wild and red. It was dark, but I could tell the hair was red. The body, by the way, was not blue, which is how so many versions of jinns appear for some reason. Disney, I expect. I didn’t sense malevolence, but it didn’t seem particularly friendly, either.

A few swoops around the room, then it was gone.

It was disturbing for sure, not least because I thought I might have been hallucinating – a real possibility, given my state of mind. But I didn’t have a reference for the jinn, consciously, at least. Once home, I did some research. The history of the jinn is fascinating and varied, and I can’t possibly get into it here, but what I saw fit the bill. At the time, my previous concept of a genie was Barbara Eden in harem pants. Yep – dating myself, there.

So…did I see a spirit that night in Dubai? Maybe. Heaven knows lots of people believe in ghosts or other presences, and I can’t help but wonder about the possibility of other planes of existence that we humans simply aren’t aware of.

What do you think? Have you seen or felt any kind of ghost or spirit? Do you believe in them? Do tell!

Bailey Cates writes the New York Times bestselling Magical Bakery Mysteries. As Bailey Cattrell, she also writes the Enchanted Garden Mysteries featuring aromatherapist Elliana Allbright. Bailey writes, gardens, cooks, and hikes in northern Colorado where she lives with her guy and Cheesecat the Orange.