Time Flies When You Are Writing Books

A couple of days ago I decided to clear out a rather large accumulation of paperwork from our coffee table. This piece of furniture has proven very useful in a small house, because it is a decent size, with two storage shelves underneath, which are invariably used as a dumping ground for mail, books, newspapers, magazines, and now my daughter's toys and colouring pencils.

 As I dragged out a pile of newspapers and magazines that had been languishing in the dusty recesses, I discovered the North Staffordshire magazine October 2011 edition, which featured me on the front page and gave me a lovely two-page spread promoting my book Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel). See, there's me, "Love bites for Cheadle author." I was so proud!

I am originally from the small market town of Cheadle in North Staffordshire, probably best known as the nearest large town to the Alton Towers theme park in the wilds of the Staffordshire Moorlands. Now I live in South Cheshire, less than fifty miles away but still quite a change.

You might wonder why I chose Cornwall in South West England as the setting for my paranormal romance novels. It simply fits the story.  I used to holiday in a town called Looe on the south coast, near to the Devon border, and it was this place that inspired my fictional town of Redcliffe. I also used a little of the tiny fishing village of Polperro for its traditional setting and general Cornish ambiance.

So there we have it. A simple act of household chores gave me renewed vigour for my work, and reminded me just how far I have come in the short time of twelve months. To all fellow Indie authors, never give up!

Book Signing Event – Waterstones, Warrington

Join me in Waterstones, Warrington on Saturday 14^th July 2012 from 11:00 – 3:00pm.

I will be on hand to sign copies of my adult paranormal romance novels Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel) and the newly released Love Kills (A Redcliffe Novel).

 Love Kills (A Redcliffe Novel) is book 2 in the developing Redcliffe series. In the quiet Cornish seaside town of Redcliffe, Jessica Stone recovers from an horrific werewolf attack and comes to terms with revelations that her lover, Jack Mason, is a vampire, his brother, Danny, the werewolf pack leader, and her best friend, Simon, is a werewolf.  Add to that her discovery that she is a witch, and life is suddenly a whole lot harder than it used to be. Jessica has to fight for her own life and Jack’s when faced with his jealous vampire master who wants her old lover back. But things are never easy, and a vampire master is not so easy to defeat…

If you are interested I will also tell you about my work as a spiritual advisor for Spirit Sisters, and my training as a shaman… See you there!

The Redcliffe Novels - Meet Jessica Stone

I would like you to meet my Redcliffe heroine, Jessica Stone. She would have liked to be here for an interview, but unfortunately she is currently dealing with a few personal issues. Whoever knew a girl's love life could get so complicated? It wasn't something Jessica planned, and she is not too impressed about the whole situation. Here is her brief introduction:

Jessica Marie Stone is 29 years old at the time of writing this. She has recently begun telling her story in the Redcliffe Novels, kindly written by Catherine Green. Jessica owns and runs a bookshop with her best friend, Elizabeth Gormond. Liz recently had a baby with her husband, Rob, so she is out of action for a while. Jessica was going to run the bookshop alone for a few months, but with her current dramas, she needs a little help. She is recruiting an assistant manager to take some of the stress away on a temporary basis, just until Liz is ready to put her daughter into nursery for a few days a week.

Jessica was just your average single woman up until she met Detective Jack Mason. She lived alone in her apartment above the bookshop. She enjoyed socializing in the local pub, the Ship, on Redcliffe promenade. Her other best friend, Simon Bunce, manages the pub on behalf of its owner, Detective Danny Mason. Yep, you guessed it, that's where the complications arose! Danny is Jack's identical twin brother. Jessica met Jack first, fell in love, and then met Danny. Now she is totally confused.

That isn't the half of it. Jack is a vampire. Danny is a werewolf, and alpha for the Redcliffe wolf pack. It turns out that Simon Bunce is his lieutenant, and he hid the secret of his identity to Jessica for almost five years. Needless to say she is a little angry about that. But she has bigger problems. Around the time that she met Jack, she was having crazy dreams about monsters. Then an older woman started visiting her. The woman is Jessica's deceased mother, Lillian.

Jessica's parents died in a car accident when Jessica was six years old. She grew up in foster homes, and got used to being alone and self sufficient. Now her mother has returned, albeit as a ghost, and is helping Jessica come to terms with the truth about the man she loves. Her revelations were not accidental. Jessica Stone is a witch, born of an ancient line, and her mother wants her to embrace her true abilities and make use of her natural powers. Jessica is very uncertain about all of this. Then again, it might help her deal with the vampires and werewolves a little better.

Would you like to know more? Read her novels, Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel) and Love Kills (A Redcliffe Novel). Jessica is currently continuing her story in the third book, Love Redeems (A Redcliffe Novel), but it seems I just can't type fast enough for her...

Coffee Time Romance Presents - The Witches of Cornwall

“The Witches of Cornwall” - Join me on Wednesday 27^th June for the Coffee Time Romance Chatters e-Loop, 16:00 - 18:00 EST (21:00 - 23:00 GMT)

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karenfindoutaboutnewbooks

I will be hosting an e-loop chat with Coffee Time Romance to promote my paranormal romance series 'The Redcliffe Novels.' Join me to learn about the newly released Redcliffe sequel Love Kills (A Redcliffe Novel), and hear about British bookshop owner Jessica Stone as she discovers her true self and adjusts to life with a vampire and his werewolf brother…I will also offer free online Goddess Oracle card readings during the chat, on behalf of Spirit Sisters.

Love Kills (A Redcliffe Novel) – Official Paperback Launch

It is finally here! After much speculation and lots of updates on the progress of my writing, I can finally announce the release of my second Redcliffe novel, Love Kills (A Redcliffe Novel). In this book we catch up with bookshop owner Jessica Stone as she recovers from a horrific werewolf attack. She now knows the truth about her vampire boyfriend and his identical twin werewolf brother. Her human best friend is still oblivious to the supernatural community in the seaside town of Redcliffe in Cornwall, England, and Jessica wants to keep it that way.

Love is dangerous. Love is painful. And in Love Kills (A Redcliffe Novel), Jessica Stone learns just how far she is prepared to go for the man she loves. Before she met Detective Jack Mason her life was safe, boring and comfortable. Now it is full of danger and excitement, with secrets and revelations at every turn. In a short space of time Jessica learned that she was a witch and is currently speaking to her deceased mother in dreams and visions. Will Jessica accept her fate? Does she embrace her newly discovered heritage, or does she run away from it? And will her pregnant best friend, Elizabeth Gormond, discover the truth about the people she calls her friends?

Love Kills (A Redcliffe Novel) is available to order in all UK bookshops, and online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The eBook versions will be available shortly; updates will follow.

Dreaming the Characters of your Novel

I am currently writing the third book in my Redcliffe Novels series. What started out as one story has developed into a whole series of novels, which follow the adventures of bookshop owner Jessica Stone in the fictional seaside town of Redcliffe in Cornwall, England. Not only am I writing the third book which will form a trilogy, but after that I have planned out books four, five and six as Jessica Stone begins a new phase in her life, brought about by her relationships with vampires, werewolves and witches.

Jessica Stone is sort of modelled on me. She is taller, sexier and tougher than I am, so effectively she is me in a parallel universe. Being the author, I have the luxury of passing on my favourite traits to my heroine, while adding those that I wish could be mine in real life.  It is a fun task.

But, recently a strange thing has happened. I actually dreamed that I was Jessica, and that I was interacting with Danny Mason, the werewolf protagonist from my Redcliffe novels. It was bizarre. I fell asleep one night, my head buzzing with the latest twists and turns in my plot, mentally planning what I would write the next day. And then I drifted into a version of Redcliffe that was shrouded in mystery and confusion.

The craziest thing to happen was that in my dream I was kissing Danny Mason. Those of you who have read my debut novel Love Hurts (ARedcliffe Novel) will know that Jessica is actually dating his identical twin brother, Jack Mason, the vampire. Anyway, in my dream I was Jessica, and I was kissing Danny Mason. When I drew away from him, he looked very different to what I imagined as the author.

To my mind, the Mason brothers are tall and ruggedly handsome. They have dark hair that is short but long enough to be wavy and a little unkempt. They are both clean-shaven, and they have piercing blue eyes, which change colour to suit their non-human moods. Jack and Danny Mason have tanned skin and muscular bodies, and if I were to compare them to a real-life actor, I would probably choose Aidan Turner, who played ‘Mitchell’ in the BBC3 television series Being Human. The only thing he doesn’t have is blue eyes.

In my dream, when I was Jessica Stone, I looked at Danny Mason to be met with a man who was clean-shaven. He had dark hair, but it was straight and cut in a neat, short style. He also had brown eyes, and that was the strange thing, because the eyes are important to my characters. Another surprise was that this version of Danny Mason looked very young, possibly in his early twenties. My actual characters appear to be in their mid-thirties, although they are in fact much older. As an idea of how he looked, I would say my ‘dream Danny’ was very similar to the actor Damien Molony, who played ‘Hal’ in the latest series of Being Human (yes, this is my favourite show!)

So there we have it. Not only am I obsessively writing my Redcliffe novels and thinking about them all day long. Now I am also dreaming from the perspective of my female protagonist. It was a fun dream, no doubt about that. It confused me, but at the same time it made me smile. I wonder what will happen next time…

Love Kills (A Redcliffe Novel) - Exclusive Preview

For those of you who have read Love Hurts and are thirsty for more sex, blood and secrets, here is a taster from my second Redcliffe novel, Love Kills. This book is due for publication in Summer 2012:   

     I was running through the forest on the outskirts of the Cornish town of Redcliffe.  It was evening and the sky was growing dark with that smooth, silky blackness that descends gradually as night progresses.  There was an eerie feel to my surroundings, where tall trees shadowed me with their heavy green branches, but I saw only light and colour.  The air was clear and fresh, late summer, and I paused and breathed in the delicious scents of plant life and nature.  Here, deep in the forest, I could still taste sea salt on my tongue, and I relished the sensation.  It was beautiful, and I was blissfully happy.
     Suddenly a man burst through the trees into the clearing where I stood, making me jump with surprise.  My fright quickly turned to welcome when I recognized my boyfriend Jack standing before me.  My gaze rose from the ground up, taking in the delicious definition of muscle that showed through the grey t-shirt he wore with black jeans. His skin was glowing with health, he was smiling, and his deep blue eyes were sparkling with a promise of delight and excitement.  As he strode towards me I stood still, waiting for his embrace.  He put a hand on the back of my head, drawing me close, and touched his soft lips to mine. 
    The kiss started out gentle but quickly escalated and I knew this wasn’t Jack; it was his identical twin brother Danny.  I pulled away, gasping.
    “Danny what are you doing?” I said breathlessly, my heart pounding,  “We can’t do this!” 
    He laughed and spoke in a low, deep voice, with a hint of growl betraying his werewolf lineage.  The sound rumbled through my body, setting off shivers of excitement that I tried to suppress. 
    “You know Jack will not mind, Jessica.” he said, “After all that we have been through I am sure you understand.” 

Love Hurts on Valentines Day

I have to say I apologise for the title of my post, but you must forgive me! Actually, I understand love shouldn't hurt on Valentines Day. In fact it should be a beautiful celebration of our love for each other, whether we are  in long-term comfortable relationships, or shorter developing ones. I am simply offering a view of Valentines Day from the perspective of my paranormal romance novel Love Hurts.

Personally I am not celebrating Valentines Day this year. My husband and me are very busy at the moment developing our careers and raising a family, and we simply cannot afford an extravagent celebration. We barely have time to see each other these days. I am not sad about it, and our relationship is strong and secure. We accept that there are many years ahead for us to enjoy Valentines celebrations in romantic and indulgent ways.

I wonder how my characters in Love Hurts will celebrate Valentines Day? Without giving too much away, my protagonist Jessica Stone is an independent woman struggling to acknowledge that she has fallen in love. Jack Mason has his own reasons for not wanting or needing a relationship, but finds himself falling for Jessica against his will. As the old saying goes, we cannot help who we fall in love with. It happens, and we deal with it.

Back to the subject of Valentines Day. At present I am writing the third book in this opening trilogy for the Redcliffe series. It will not cover Valentines Day, because all the events happen at the end of summer, between August and October specifically. Perhaps I will write a short story about Jack and Jessica's Valentines Day. It would certainly be an interesting exercise. There would be some tension with the local werewolves who are inadvertantly involved, not to mention another vampire who keeps drawing Jessica's attention. That is all I will say for now. I do not want to spoil your enjoyment of Love Hurts.

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Love Hurts Book Review

I am very excited to share with you my latest review of Love Hurts on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2HRB8H472W20P/ref=cm_cr_dp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B005AXVDZS&nodeID=341677031&tag=&linkCode=

Writing a good Redcliffe Conclusion

For the last week I have been mentally preparing the conclusion for my latest Redcliffe novel Love Kills. This follows the story of bookshop owner Jessica Stone as she comes to terms with the revelation that her lover is a vampire, his identical twin brother is a werewolf, and that she is a witch who must now learn to accept her heritage and embrace her newly discovered powers. The story is set on the rugged coast in Cornwall, England, and I have a host of vampire and werewolf supporting characters, with a few humans and witches thrown in for good measure.

The novel writing went very well until I reached the end. Then I began to struggle. I wanted to end the story at a point which leads easily into the third book in my Redcliffe series, but not so that it was too abrupt. While I was away on a short family holiday, I kept repeating the conclusion in my head, and every day it changed slightly. Tonight I finally managed to sit down and actually do the writing.

I was in for a surprise. Once I had settled my daughter in bed, I quickly became engrossed in my work. My fingers flew over the keys, the words appeared as if by magic on the computer before me. And my conclusion to Love Kills began to take shape with a surprisinly dramatic outcome. I still have a little more to write, and I have reached another brick wall of sorts. But I'm not worried. After a good night's sleep and a day of household chores, I have no doubt that my muse will be back on fine form tomorrow evening and I will write the perfect conclusion. Bring it on!

The Redcliffe Trilogy Inspiration

This morning I was feeling a mild sense of panic when I realised that once I finish editing Love Kills and send it off to the publisher, I will then need to start writing the third Redcliffe book. At the time it was only a vague idea in my head, sort of following on from the latest instalment that I just wrote. Determined not to be perturbed, I put the panic out of my mind and sent out a silent plea to my muse.

After lunch I finally dragged myself away from the computer and decided to take myself, the baby and the dog out for our daily walk. The weather was beautiful. It was sunny and fairly mild for a January day in England. We strolled along by the canal, my daughter chattering away happily in her pushchair, the dog running off ahead exploring the undergrowth.

My mind wandered as I stared out at the water, and I admired the way the sunshine reflected in warm colours of orange, yellow, and even hints of blue on the gently rippling surface. There were no boats moored up in their usual spots, which surprised me, but then I remembered, it is winter. We continued on our walk, following the gentle sweep of the recently resurfaced towpath, and we didn’t encounter anybody else on our way.

And then it hit me. I was mentally organizing my current edit of Love Kills, and then I started to think about what would happen next to Jessica Stone and Jack and Danny Mason. The story suddenly panned out in my head, clear and exciting and ready to be written. Hallelujah! My muse has spoken, and my prayers have been answered. As soon as Love Kills has been despatched, I will get started on the next book, as yet untitled.

But that wasn’t all. I was in luck today, and it must have been the sunshine drawing out my inspiration. Not only did I mentally prepare the third Redcliffe book, but an idea for the fourth one started to grow as well.  And it sounds good! And then, to top it off, I came up with a plot for a completely separate novel featuring a character that appeared in another novel. She is a powerful and ancient vampire, and I now have a clear idea of where she came from, and how her story should be told.

All in all, it was a very successful walk. I feel refreshed and invigorated to continue my work, the dog is happy after running round like a puppy and playing with sticks. And my daughter had some fresh air and a little stimulation as she saw the ducks, the water, and the beautiful countryside in which we live. Clearly I was brought to live in Middlewich by some sort of divine intervention!

If you haven't yet read Love Hurts, get it now for Kindle on special offer until the end of January!

Love Hurts New Year Special Offer - Get it Now!

Hello, and Happy Holidays to you all! This time I am shamelessly promoting my novel, but when you read it I am sure you will agree that it is a wonderful story. For two weeks only you can now download your Kindle version of Love Hurts for the special offer price of £1.72 GBP. Take a look at this fabulous paranormal romance, where the sleepy Cornish seaside town of Redcliffe is not as peaceful as you may think...

Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel)

Love Hurts - Love, Vampires and Werewolves

Love Hurts is about a young woman who runs a bookshop in Cornwall with her best friend. She falls in love with a local police detective and later discovers that he is a vampire, and that his identical twin brother is a werewolf. She is dragged into their complicated and dangerous lives, to her detriment, where secrets are told and lives are lost...

Here is a snippet from the novel, to whet your appetite:

“She is connected to the job in Scotland; they both are.” he said, “I’m sorry Jessica; it looks like we have inadvertently drawn you into our mess.  I need to find Jack and go sort this out.  Please promise me you will stay home, don’t answer the door unless you know who it is, and phone Jack or me if you get worried about anything, no matter how small or trivial.  Will you do that?”

             

He grabbed my shoulders, staring directly into my eyes, and I gasped, shocked at his forcefulness.  I nodded, feeling sick with nerves. 

             

“Yes of course.” I said, “Am I in danger?  What about Liz?” 

         

  He relaxed slightly and eased his grip on me.  

             

“Liz will be fine,” he said, “she is of no concern to them.  But they seem to have found out about you and your relationship with Jack and me.  You don’t need to be overly concerned just yet; hopefully we can settle this tonight.  Please just stay home and keep all your doors locked and your mobile phone handy, ok?” 

           

I nodded and Danny left, saying he would call Jack on the way. (END)

If you want to know more about Jessica Stone and Jack and Danny Mason, check out my website http://www.catherine-green.co.uk

On there you will find a free short story featuring the Redcliffe werewolf pack, and more details about my book.  

Merry Christmas!

'Love Hurts' Book Signing Event at Waterstones Warrington, Cheshire, UK

Join me on Saturday 10th December at Waterstones in Warrington, Cheshire, where I will be signing copies of my debut paranormal romance novel Love Hurts.  I will be at the book shop from 11:00am - 3:00pm and I look forward to seeing you there!

Love Hurts is about a young woman who runs a bookshop in Cornwall with her best friend. She falls in love with a local police detective and later discovers that he is a vampire, and that his identical twin brother is a werewolf. She is dragged into their complicated and dangerous lives, to her detriment, where secrets are told and lives are lost...

Paranormal Book Signing at Waterstones Knutsford

Join me tomorrow (Saturday 3rd December) at Waterstones Knutsford where I will be signing copies of my paranormal romance novel Love Hurts.

This is the first in the series set  in a fictional Cornish town called Redcliffe, and the story is told by bookshop owner Jessica Stone.  She is in love with police detective Jack Mason, but there is more to him than meets the eye. When Jessica meets his identical twin brother Danny, her comfortable life descends into chaos and tragedy as the Mason brothers introduce Jessica to a whole new way of life in picturesque, coastal Redcliffe.

I will be at Waterstones from 11:30am until 3:30pm and I look forward to meeting you there...

My First Book Signing Event

I recently attended my very first book-signing event. It took place at Waterstones bookseller in Crewe, Cheshire in the North of England. I did not know what to expect so I was faintly nervous but approached it with an open mind. I would surely sell some books, even if no one came specifically to see me. I had been publicizing it widely in local newspapers and on the Internet so I was hopeful.

As it was, I sold 6 books. This may not sound like a lot, but for an unknown author with a new book, it was pretty damn good! I am very pleased with the result, and with the whole experience in general. It has filled me with renewed vigor and hope for my second book-signing event in two weeks. The people that I met were very supportive and the bookshop staff was really helpful and accommodating.

Although I didn’t really expect my friends and family to drop everything and come and see me on their precious weekend day off, I must admit it was a little disappointing to see no familiar faces. Well, my father-in-law did turn up and he took some professional photographs (he is a photographer by trade, very useful!) to use on my websites. I did have a wonderful surprise when a great-Uncle and Aunt came to see me. I was really touched that even though they haven’t see me since I was a child, they took the time to come and show some support, and more importantly, bought some books.

When I first arrived there was a customer waiting for me, a lovely woman who supports local authors and wanted to read my book especially because of its Cornish setting. It was very amusing that every time I stood up to stretch my legs, customers would approach me to ask for assistance in the shop. Even though I wasn’t in uniform and had no name badge, apparently I looked like a member of staff! I suppose once you work in retail and customer service, you never really lose that professional, helpful stance and persona.

It was a useful learning experience. I had recently read a lot of negative stories in the media, saying that bookshops are in decline and people are no longer interested. Even in this small retail center, there were enough customers coming and going to fill me with confidence that the industry is still strong, and is still worth pursuing as a viable career. There were a lot of parents with young children, and many teenagers buying books. Not everyone has defected to the digital revolution just yet.

The Road to Literary Fame

Here is an excellent feature article in my local regional newspaper The Sentinel (North Staffordshire and South Cheshire) - Family Holidays on Cornish Coast set scene for Ghostly Tale

It feels like I'm on a wild roller coaster at the moment, and it is fantastic! A word of advice for budding writers out there: just get out and broadcast the news about your book. You will be surprised at how many people take in interest in your work. Go get 'em!

Join my tribe today, and I will send you a fabulous FREE book to get you started… (be warned, my vampires do not sparkle, and my wolves will bite!)