Living With the Past

By Dayle A. Dermatis

Former Hollywood party girl Nikki Ashburne sees ghosts—in fact, many of them are her friends. Okay, they’re kind of her only friends. Most ghosts stick around because they’re happy here and have no desire to move on…but sometimes, they need help.

Like when a decades-dead Marilyn Monroe impersonator wants Nikki to find her granddaughter. In Los Angeles.

Yeah. That’ll be easy.

Another story in the Nikki Ashburne urban fantasy series, “Living With the Past” originally appeared in Fantastic Detectives (Fiction River, 2014).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Soul's Road Press
• Release date: Mar 20, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386750420

Dayle A. Dermatis

Dayle A. Dermatis is the author or coauthor of many novels (including snarky urban fantasies Ghosted and the forthcoming Shaded and Spectered) and more than a hundred short stories in multiple genres, appearing in such venues as Fiction River, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and DAW Books.Called the mastermind behind the Uncollected Anthology project, she also guest edits anthologies for Fiction River, and her own short fiction has been lauded in many year's best anthologies in erotica, mystery, and horror.She lives in a book- and cat-filled historic English-style cottage in the wild greenscapes of the Pacific Northwest. In her spare time she follows Styx around the country and travels the world, which inspires her writing.To find out where she’s wandered off to (and to get free fiction!), check out DayleDermatis.com and sign up for her newsletter or support her on Patreon.* * *I value honest feedback, and would love to hear your opinion in a review, if you’re so inclined, on your favorite book retailer’s site.* * *For more information:www.dayledermatis.com

Book preview

Living With the Past

Living With the Past

Dayle A. Dermatis

Soul’s Road Press

Contents

About This Book

Living With the Past

Also by Dayle A. Dermatis

Ghosted

Chapter 1

About the Author

Be the First to Know!

Written on the Coast

About This Book

LIVING WITH THE PAST

a Ghosted urban fantasy short story

Former Hollywood party girl Nikki Ashburne sees ghosts—in fact, many of them are her friends. Okay, they’re kind of her only friends. Most ghosts stick around because they’re happy here and have no desire to move on…but sometimes, they need help .

Like when a decades-dead Marilyn Monroe impersonator wants Nikki to find her granddaughter. In Los Angeles.

Yeah. That’ll be easy.

Another story in the Ghosted urban fantasy series featuring Nikki Ashburne.

Living With the Past

It’s a well-known legend that the ghost of Marilyn Monroe haunts a mirror next to the lower-level elevator of the famed Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood—which is, in fact, only partly correct. Two things :

One, she haunts the first-floor ladies room for the most part, although she can go anywhere she really wants.

Two, it’s not Marilyn. It’s a Marilyn impersonator. The real Marilyn had died at her home in tony LA community of Brentwood, so it didn’t make sense she’d be haunting the Roosevelt. But nobody thinks about that.

On this morning, she’d chosen to waft into my room. I was sprawled facedown across the king-sized bed in a pair of navy-and-white pinstriped silk pajamas with white satin piping on the edges, which I’d been wearing for longer than I care to admit. A tray with the remains of a caramelized onions and smoked mozzarella scramble sat on the floor, because no matter how miserable I am, I can still eat. I’d gone back to drinking coffee, though; recent events had put me off tea in a major way.

A tall screen of dark wood carved with ornate slats hung between the sitting room and bed area, and