The time I heard M.T. Anderson speak, he said he always begins by asking the audience about their local ghost stories.  This kind of fascinated me because I’d been writing about a local ghost story, and the people in the folding chairs around me alluded to a lot of the ghostly legends I’d been uncovering in the process –from our very own town.  And M.T. Anderson said in every town he visits people have these ghost stories to tell.  That got me thinking about my characters and people in general –why do we love ghost stories?