Love Your Entity by Cat Devon

not the twenty-first. Her husband built the Palmer House Hotel for her. It burned down two weeks later in the Chicago Fire.”
    “I did consider having a ghost from that time period,” Sierra said. “I still might for another book.”
    “Much of the city was burned to the ground. But it’s one of the reasons Chicago is now famous for its architecture. Those buildings had to be rebuilt, and they used new technology to do so. New to that time period anyway. Steel and concrete. The Palmer Hotel was rebuilt and promoted as the first fireproof hotel. The gala balls put on there were really something.”
    “You make it seem like you were there at the time. That’s a real talent. I’m guessing your family has lived in this area for a long time?”
    “A very long time,” Pat said.
    “That must be nice,” Sierra said somewhat wistfully. “We never stayed in one place very long. It meant I got to see a lot of the country but I’ve always tried to imagine what it must be like to have deep roots to one place.”
    “One of the ghosts in your first book has very deep roots to one place,” Zoe said. “A funeral home, wasn’t it?”
    Sierra noticed a flash of suspicion cross Pat’s face before it was gone. Instead he sounded calm as he asked, “What made you choose that location?”
    Sierra shrugged. “I heard him say that’s where he was. I write a character-driven book. They’re real to me. I’ve often said if I could teach them how to type I’d be in great shape.”
    “Your characters are real?” Pat said.
    “Obviously they aren’t really real,” Sierra said. “I write fiction.”
    “Why ghosts?” Pat asked.
    “Why not?” Sierra said. She’d heard this question before.
    “How do you do your research?” he asked.
    Another common question, but something about the way he asked it was new.
    “The same way other writers do. Research books and the Internet,” Sierra replied.
    “Do you have any paranormal skills yourself?” he added.
    Again, not a new question.
    For some reason she didn’t give her standard reply of no. Instead she said, “Maybe.”
    “Really? Do tell,” Pat said.
    Sierra vehemently shook her head. “I was just kidding.” What was wrong with her? Why had she said that? Granted, she hadn’t confessed she spoke to dead people but she’d left the door open.
    It’s good PR, she told herself. Let readers think there is a chance you know things about the other side without going into specifics.
    The silent pep talk had her pulling on her author mantle and becoming S. J. Brennan instead of Sierra. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a bookmark with her current and future books listed as well as her author website, Facebook, and Twitter pages. “Would you like one?”
    Zoe nodded eagerly. Pat paused before nodding.
    “Do you want me to sign it for you?” Sierra asked.
    “That would be great,” Zoe said before confessing, “I didn’t just look you up on Amazon. I actually downloaded your first book onto my iPad yesterday evening and was up most of the night reading it. I didn’t say anything before because I didn’t want you to think I was a crazy fan girl or something.”
    “I’m her number one fan,” Tanya shouted from outside the window before running inside and repeating the words. “Not you. Me! ”
    “I’ll sign a bookmark for you too,” Sierra said. “Spell your name for me.”
    Tanya did. “Write ‘To my number one fan,’” she added.
    Tanya leaned over Sierra’s shoulder as she wrote.
    “Why are you bothering Sierra?” Tanya asked Zoe and Pat. “Don’t you know that she has a book to write?”
    “They weren’t bothering me. In fact, Pat was telling me a little bit about the local history.”
    Tanya looked at Pat in surprise. “Really?”
    Pat gave Tanya a look Sierra couldn’t decipher.
    “He told me the name of the man who owned my house during Prohibition,” Sierra said.
    “That was before my time,” Tanya said.
    “Mine too,” Zoe