Showing posts with label the mirador fantasmagoria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the mirador fantasmagoria. Show all posts

Wednesday, 12 October 2022

Beware the Wolf in ‘My New Master’ Teen Wolf Horror Story

Today I share an excerpt from my second published short story My New Master, featured in the YA anthology The Mirador Fantasmagoria. This gives some back story to our favourite lieutenant werewolf, Simon Bunce from the Redcliffe novels…

 


Excerpt

 

“Ok Marie, tell me about this family. What do you want me to do?” 

She smiled again. 

“Simon you are so young, so innocent! I know about your mother. But I am not like her. I am like Danny.” 

Here she nodded in his direction, and I half turned to look at him. His face was serious, his blue eyes blazing as he spoke. 

“Marie please don’t do this. You cannot destroy this boy’s life. Let him go.” 

He moved towards Marie and suddenly she lunged at him. I shouted her name and tried to block her, but she was stronger than I thought. Marie shoved me so hard I staggered back to the sofa and suddenly she was on top of me again, her hand clamped around my throat as she hissed in my ear. 

“You shouldn’t have done that, Simon.”

            She lifted her face, and I whimpered as I saw her eyes, not human. They were animal eyes. She sniffed my face and nuzzled my neck. I struggled but she was too strong, and she held me firm against the sofa with her body. I heard Detective Mason behind her and sensed him moving cautiously closer. 

“Mistress please let him go. You are frightening him. Your business is with me now; punish me, not him.”

            She laughed and spoke while looking at my face. 

“Oh, Danny you are so vain! I will deal with you afterwards. But first I must bring Simon into our family.” 

Suddenly she struck my neck, tearing at the flesh and biting me. I cried out but the sound was muffled by her hand over my mouth. I felt something clawing at my stomach, heard cloth and flesh tearing, then I felt searing pain as blood poured from my body. Everything went black.

 



 

Download the book now and follow Simon’s adult adventures in  #TheRedcliffeNovels series. He is not finished with me yet, and now he has a new young submissive wolf under his control… delicious!

 


Download your FREE copy of It’s Complicated (A Redcliffe Short Story) and meet the werewolves of Cornwall, England.  Click here

 

Monday, 8 June 2020

“My New Master” inside The Mirador Fantasmagoria


My New Master is available inside The Mirador Fantasmagoria, on Amazon Kindle and in paperback.



Mirador Publishing invited submissions of short stories celebrating the Weird and the Wonderful. We were overwhelmed by the number and the quality of entries. Choosing the winners proved to be a monumental task. Our criteria centred on the gifts of storytelling and imagination. We believe these should be the overriding considerations, for the exploration of the human condition through the story telling process. We take great pleasure in presenting this selection by some of the world's most promising new writers and we look forward to working with these immensely talented story tellers on future projects. Have fun and lose yourself in the wonderful Mirador Fantasmagoria.




Are you Team Jack or Team Danny? Sign up now and receive your FREE copy of It’s Complicated from #TheRedcliffeNovels series set in Cornwall, England.


Saturday, 26 October 2013

My Journey to Being a Published Author

Since I started actively promoting my novels in my local area, I find an increased number of people asking me how I managed to get published. For me it seems quite strange in this world of eBooks and DIY publishing. I have taken forgranted the fact that for many people, being a published author is still just a distant dream. It was my distant dream only three years ago. My, how things change!

I did not actually self publish my books. I did not have the time or the finances to enable me in that arena. I spent several months writing to agents and trying to secure support for my Redcliffe novels. I began to submit short stories to competitions. And I researched the industry to figure out what my options were. It was the short story competitions that got me my ‘big break.’


I had submitted a short werewolf story, My New Master, to a partnership published in Somerset called Mirador. The editor was compiling stories for a new anthology entitled The Mirador Fantasmagoria. She accepted my story, and then asked if I had anything else to publish. Apparently my genre and style of writing appealed to their business model. I was so excited! I sent an eager reply and an attachment of my first Redcliffe novel Love Hurts. And that was how I got published.


My editor at Mirador very kindly worked out a practical financial agreement, and she gave me some guidance and advice on my manuscript at no extra cost. She really showed an interest in my work, and she gave me such a boost that my Muse went crazy! For the next eighteen months I spent every spare moment writing and editing, and now I have my first three Redcliffe novels published, all by Mirador.

However, I could not sustain that model much longer. I have no access to what I would call ‘serious money’ that would enable me to continue publishing in this way. It is an expensive business, and we have to acknowledge that fact. Fortunately for my fourth novel I was accepted by a traditional publisher, Chances Press. I believe I found their details in the monthly Writing Magazine that I subscribe to. They published The Darkness of Love and now here we are. I am up to date, promoting all my books, and raring to go with the next project on my list.


That was my story to being a published author. Now you tell me yours…

Wednesday, 9 October 2013

#ReadMe – Beware the Wolf in My New Master - #HDH

Hello and welcome to the Hump Day Hook. Today I share an excerpt from my second published short story My New Master, featured in the YA anthology The Mirador Fantasmagoria. This gives some back story to our favourite lieutenant werewolf, Simon Bunce from the Redcliffe novels…

 
“Ok Marie, tell me about this family.  What do you want me to do?” 
She smiled again. 
“Simon you are so young, so innocent!  I know about your mother.  But I am not like her.  Actually I am like Danny.” 
Here she nodded in his direction and I half turned to look at him.  His face was serious, his blue eyes blazing as he spoke. 
“Marie please don’t do this.  You cannot destroy this boy’s life.  Let him go.” 
He moved towards Marie and suddenly she lunged at him.  I shouted her name and tried to block her but she was stronger than I thought.  Marie shoved me so hard I staggered back to the sofa and suddenly she was on top of me again, her hand clamped around my throat as she hissed in my ear. 
“You shouldn’t have done that, Simon.”
            She lifted her face and I whimpered as I saw her eyes, not human.  They were animal eyes.  She sniffed my face and nuzzled my neck.  I struggled but she was too strong and she held me firm against the sofa with her body.  I heard Detective Mason behind her and sensed him moving cautiously closer. 
“Mistress please let him go.  You are frightening him.  Your business is with me now;, punish me, not him.”
            She laughed and spoke while looking at my face. 
“Oh Danny you are so vain!  I will deal with you afterwards.  But first I must bring Simon into our family.” 
Suddenly she struck my neck, tearing at the flesh and biting me.  I cried out but the sound was muffled by the sound of her hand over my mouth.  I felt something clawing at my stomach, heard the sound of cloth and flesh tearing, then I felt searing pain as blood poured from my body.  Everything went black.

 
If you enjoyed this one, why not pop over to our dedicated Hump Day Hook blog and peruse some new and exciting authors. We write about romance, love, science fiction, fantasy, erotica and everything in-between, so you are sure to find something that delights the senses. You can also find us on Facebook. Happy Humping! 
 

Wednesday, 14 August 2013

#ReadMe Young Adult Werewolf Tension in My New Master #HDH

Hello and welcome to the Hump Day Hook. Here is an excerpt from my published short story telling the tale of how Redcliffe wolf lieutenant Simon Bunce became the beast he is today…This is taken from My New Master.


            You might be gay Simon Bunce but you will not disobey me.  I am offering you a great gift.  If you join my family here I will offer you protection and excitement.  Isnt that what you want? 
            Now I was confused.  What was she talking about?  I suddenly wondered if she was completely sane.  My mother had been psychologically damaged and I recognized the signs in Maries behavior.  I swallowed nervously then stepped back away from the door and spoke in a calm voice.  
            “Ok Marie I am sorry but Im not quite sure what you mean.  Yes I would love to be bar manager but I will not give you any sort of intimate relationship.  You are a beautiful and attractive woman but I am only attracted to men, do you understand that?
             She smiled and then laughed, throwing back her head.  When she spoke her voice had changed, it was deeper, almost a growl, and I was suddenly frightened as my instinct kicked in. 
            “Oh Simon it is such a shame.  Are you sure though?  Perhaps you havent found the right woman yet?  Perhaps you need a woman rather than a girl?
            I tried to move towards the door again. 
            “Marie thanks again but maybe I should go home.  We can talk in the morning, ok? 
            I opened the door and jumped as I almost walked right into another man.  He was gorgeous!  He was tall, about my height, with dark hair and amazing blue eyes.  He smiled. 
            “I am sorry did I startle you?  I was looking for Marie, is she here? 
            I smiled and nodded, stepping to the side so he could walk past me.  Before I could walk away Marie spoke again. 
            “Simon dont go.  Please come back into the office, I want you to meet my friend! 


If you enjoyed this one, why not pop over to our dedicated Hump Day Hook blog and peruse some new and exciting authors. We write about romance, love, science fiction, fantasy, erotica and everything in-between, so you are sure to find something that delights the senses. You can also find us on Facebook. Happy Humping! 
 

Saturday, 22 September 2012

Unfinished Business, Short Stories and New Novels

I have been looking through my files of short stories, searching for something to post on my blog. It occurred to me that I have several short stories, but about three of them are variations of the same theme, as yet unfinished. I have a few more still in progress, and the completed ones have already been shared. I have also finished writing a couple of novels and started another one. Oops! I tend to start something, then get distracted, and return to it at a later date. I think it might be time for some file organizing and spring cleaning, so I can figure out where I stand with works in progress.


In the meantime, you can view my edited short stories at Wattpad and a Redcliffe werewolf story on my author website or in the young adult anthology The Mirador Fantasmagoria. You can also find a vampire short story published under my maiden name Catherine Hargreaves in Devils, Demons and Werewolves.

Happy reading!

Friday, 4 May 2012

Spirit Sisters and the Redcliffe Novels

This weekend (Sunday 6th May) I will be at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Chester, UK to talk about my Redcliffe novels. I will sell signed copies of Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel) and The Mirador Fantasmagoria, and I will tell people about the upcoming release of Love Kills (A Redcliffe Novel). As part of this promotion I will do a free talk about my books and my work as a spiritual advisor for Spirit Sisters.







There have been several occurrences lately which led me to believe in the connection between myself as a psychic medium and my work as an author. For example, I described to my editor how I envisioned the artwork for Love Kills (A Redcliffe Novel). She responded very excitedly by saying I had described almost exactly what she and her design team had been considering. Coincidence or psychic knowledge? I prefer the latter explanation.

The more I progress on my spiritual pagan path, the more excited and amazed I become at the events that unfold around me. Two years ago I never considered the fact that I would be preparing to launch my second novel, having written a third and currently writing a fourth. It seems that once I stepped out of my rational, restrictive mindset, I was set free to truly express myself and do what is natural. And the result is exhilarating, exciting and totally rewarding. Now you must excuse me, I have some writing to do...