Meet the Authors at Sandbach Arts Week

It is almost time for my next public event, and this time I will be in attendance at the Book Bites story competition awards evening at Sandbach Arts Week. My event takes place on Monday 9th May at Sandbach Town Hall, doors open at 7pm. You can meet me there, where I will talk about my work as a British paranormal romance author. You can also meet other authors including Gill Hoffs, Charles Heathcote, Margaret Holbrook and Elizabeth Morgan.

This will be a lovely local event, and there is lots more to see and do throughout the week. #SandbachArtWeek encompasses all kinds of creativity. There will be arts and crafts workshops, musical entertainment, dancing, films and more. See you in Sandbach!

                                

Don’t forget to download your free copy of my werewolf short story, It’s Complicated, which will introduce (or is that initiate?) you to the Redcliffe novels series.

Book Review: Our Doris by Charles Heathcote

It has been a long time since I posted a book review on my blog, but here is one that is truly worthy of sharing. I recently met some wonderful local authors at a library event that I attended, and now I would like to introduce you to Charles Heathcote. 

Our Doris is hilarious! I was hooked right from the first page, as I read about tales of marital woe, and bliss, as told by the long suffering husband, Harold. What I loved most about this book is the fact that I could relate entirely to all of the characters, because I saw them in older people from my own life throughout the years. If you need a comparison, I would say that Doris reminds me of Hyacinth Bucket from the television sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.

I chuckled and laughed all the way through this book, but there was a curious quirk that I developed. Doris Copeland is a very challenging woman to read about. I could only read one chapter at a time, because any more than that was just a bit too much for me to take in. That to me is a sign of bloody good writing.

5 stars all the way, and more!

British Paranormal Romance novels by Catherine Green

Coming Soon: The Vampire of Blackpool by Catherine Green

I have some exciting news! My next novel is finally ready to publish. It is has been very long in the process, mainly due to the fact that I had my second baby just under 3 years ago, and I have been more than a little distracted by motherly duties. Well, I never stopped writing, and very soon you can see the finished result. The Vampire of Blackpool is available for preorder right now, go and get it!

Meredith Hanson lives in Blackpool, the former Victorian holiday hotspot of Northern England. She masquerades as a reclusive author, feeding on the blood of unsuspecting tourists without remorse. Her life takes on new meaning when she meets a young witch in a local pub one evening. Despite Meredith’s cold demeanour, she finds herself oddly fascinated with Samantha Morris, and falls into an accidental relationship with the girl. It is at this time that a vampire hunter arrives in Blackpool. He is tough, he is determined, and his next target is an ancient vampire that has been spotted in the tourist town. He intends to bring her down and destroy her to save the lives of innocent humans. Will he succeed? Or will the experienced vampire seductress be the cause of his undoing? 

In the meantime you can read my brand new contemporary adult fairytale: The Wolf and the Fairy. Available to download now in most digital formats.

The April #AtoZChallenge with SpookyMrsGreen

It might get a little quiet over here during April. That’s because I am devoting most of my time to the #AtoZChallenge over on my pagan housewife blog, SpookyMrsGreen. There you will find ghost hunter stories, pagan housewife adventures, family drama, personal epiphanies, and much more. See you later!

Don’t forget to read my brand new contemporary adult fairytale: The Wolf and the Fairy. Available to download now in most digital formats.

The Wolf and the Fairy: A Contemporary Adult Fairytale

I just released a new short story! The Wolf and the Fairy is a contemporary adult fairytale that I submitted to a competition but was unsuccessful with. I did, however, really enjoy the finished product, and so here it is for the world to see. Please do leave a review and tell me what you think. Thanks!

She is a werewolf hunter, descended from ancient fairies, destined to fulfill her role in the family business. He is a lone wolf, his family brutally torn away, revenge his motivation for existence. The fairy and the wolf come together in a violent union as this modern, adult fairy tale gives us an alternative account of life in ancient Britain, and how it has evolved in the present day.

Available to download now in most digital formats.

Thank You for a Magickal Weekend

Hello my friends, how are you? Today I am preparing to catch up with some work, and I am currently enjoying a week away from home and staying with my Mum. Don't you just love going back home? It is great to catch up with friends and family that you haven't seen for ages, and those memories and new stories offer up some great literary fodder for creative endeavors.

This weekend has been very magickal for me. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Rosemary Douglas mind, body and spirit event in Stafford. I got to know some of my fellow spiritual seekers a little better, I soaked in the atmosphere and energy of the Spiritualist church where we held the event, and I got to play my didgeridoo! It was wonderful to meet some new friends as well. Did you get your free book yet? No? Well, sign up now and I will send it to you. Enjoy!

Welcome to the #AtoZChallenge 2016

Phew! We made it to the end of another term at school, and I for one am very glad to have a couple of weeks to recover from the daily challenge of the school run. My daughter received her second certificate for 100% attendance at school this week, and I am taking that as a personal win because I was the one who got her there, every day without fail, with the toddler and the dog in tow. It was tough, but we did it!

This weekend I am looking forward to some spiritual adventures at the Rosemary Douglas Mind, Body and Spirit event in Stafford. Come and see me if you are in the Staffordshire and West Midlands vicinity. I am talking about my Redcliffe novels series and my upcoming release The Vampire of Blackpool, as well as sharing stories of my ghost hunting adventures and my life as the pagan housewife.

And then we have the annual A to Z blogging challenge. It has taken me a bit by surprise this year, although I did remember to sign up a little earlier than I usually do. My theme for the #AtoZChallenge 2016 is, quite simply, all about me. You see I had a little identity crisis a while back, and I realised that my blog needed some direction. So I called myself the pagan housewife. If reflects a little bit of everything that makes up SpookyMrsGreen: author, mother, ghost hunter, pagan, wife and everything else in between.

Come and join me throughout April as I share stories, snippets and anecdotes. I might throw in a Tarot reading, or an Angel card reading. I might share some photographs from my adventures in the natural world in the North West of England. I might talk about my children and my family. Who knows? There is a lot to discuss. See you later, and have a fabulous Easter Weekend!

The Darkness of Love by Catherine Green #histfic #paranormal

Available to buy in paperback and all eBook formats now, see Chances Press for details and buy links.

Have Your #Spiritual Healing in Stafford this #Easter

I have a busy couple of weeks lined up. First off I will be appearing at the newly refurbished Sandbach Library at their “Meet the Authors” event on Wednesday 16th March. Then I have family time arranged for the following weekend, and then my children finish school for the Easter holidays. And then you can come and see me at Stafford!

Our next mind, body and spirit event is at the Arthur Findlay Centre in Stafford on Easter weekend. I will be there to talk about my work as the pagan housewife, and my journey to becoming a published author and solopreneur. You can ask me all about writing, getting published, how to get started, or even about the ghosts I have seen that helped fuel my imagination for the books…

Of course, I will not be alone. There are many fabulous people for you to meet, including fellow authors Christopher Gilmore and Stephanie J. King, international medium Janey Hitchcock, the house dowser Chris Quartermaine, and a vast array of stalls offering crystals, spiritual healing, alternative health remedies, beautiful arts and crafts, and much more.

Show It Off Saturday with Coffee Time Romance #amreading

I am kicking off my Easter Celebrations with a showcase on Coffee Time Romance next weekend. Come and join me on Saturday 19th March for some fun with the Redcliffe Pack, free books, bargain books, and lots of romance and witch activity. See you there!

Love Redeems (A Redcliffe Novel) #amreading #vampire

Love Redeems (A Redcliffe Novel) is widely available in bookshops, libraries and online. 

Meet the Authors at Sandbach Library, #Cheshire

On Wednesday 16th March at 7.00pm we are delighted to be hosting authors Amanda Brooke, Catherine Green, Charles Heathcote, Gill Hoffs and Sarah Ward for a stimulating evening of discussions about books and writing. Tickets £3.00, including refreshments.

For more details, see the Cheshire East Libraries website.

Love Kills (A Redcliffe Novel) #amreading #vampire

LoveKills (A Redcliffe Novel) is widely available in bookshops, libraries, and online

Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel) #amreading #vampire

Special offer on Kindle just 99p! 

Happy #WorldBookDay Everyone!

Every day is #WorldBookDay in our house. It's a fact. We have books strewn all over the place, and my daughters have adopted my habit of falling asleep with books in their beds... what can I say, they take after their mother! I find it incredibly hard to accept that there is such a problem with literacy in the world, but apparently that is a fact. I have grown up surrounded by books.

Most of my childhood photos show me holding a book, reading a book, or with a book somewhere nearby. Books are simply a way of life; a habit. My daughters know that the best way to get my attention is to put a book in front of me, and I will stop what I am doing and read to them. We love story-time. We love books!

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!) 

Excuse Me While I Renovate My Kitchen

You may have noticed that I have been rather quiet over here on the blog this month. I have been slightly distracted by a project that turned into something quite large, and very exciting. After living in our home for almost ten years, my  husband and I finally got round to renovating our kitchen. Yes, you heard me, we are renovating our kitchen!

The units were quite dated, very impractical, and offered the worst kind of storage solution for a growing family of four in a small, 2-bed Victorian terraced house.  We couldn’t quite afford to extend, and there isn’t very much land to work with anyway, so for now we are focusing on cosmetic improvements. This begins with a brand new kitchen, and I am incredibly excited as I watch it being installed! See My Kitchen Renovation Project over on my SpookyMrsGreen website.

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!) 

Meet Me in Nantwich for some #Spiritual Healing

I have exciting news, friends! This year you will see me at all of the weekend events run by Rosemary Douglas. I said I wanted to get back out there on the MBS circuit, and Spirit was listening. Now, I am officially back at work.

               

See me at Nantwich Civic Hall on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th March. This is a Yoga event, also featuring folk of the faery and shaman tradition, so you are sure to find something of interest and delight. I will be doing a talk on stage on both days, sharing some insight about how I became the pagan housewife, SpookyMrsGreen, and my journey as an indie author. See you there!

My Vampire Boyfriend (A Redcliffe Short Story Anthology) #ASMSG #amreading

Available exclusively on Amazon Kindle

A Spiritual Home for the Redcliffe Novels

Last weekend I finally got myself back out on the MBS scene, after an absence of about 2 years (maternity leave). For those of you not in the know, MBS is short for Mind, Body and Spirit. These events are incredibly popular, and a wonderful way for spiritual people to come together and share their messages with others. For a long time, I talked myself out of exhibiting my novels, because I didn’t think they were suitable for the events. Rosemary Douglas, the owner, had other ideas. She can be very persuasive, and I am so glad she talked me into doing this event!

Sometimes we have to step outside our own minds in order to make sense of a situation, or find a new way to do something. While I was at the event, I sold some books, told some new people about my novels and my work, and gave out a few flyers and business cards. I also felt incredibly well rested and relaxed by the end of the day, because I was in my spiritual home. Surrounded by like-minded friends, I soaked in the warm, loving energy of Rosemary’s event, and I cannot wait to return for another one very soon. Why don’t you come and see me next time?

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!) 

Meet Author Catherine Green #ASMSG #pagan

Come and read my latest author interview over on the blog of Mercedes Fox. Find out about my journey to publication, my views on Indie vs Tradtional, and my upcoming events and novels:

https://mercedesfoxbooks.com/meet-author-catherine-green/

#ValentinesDay New Release! My Vampire Boyfriend (A Redcliffe Story Anthology) #ASMSG

I have a brand new book out on a #ValentinesDay weekend release! This one contains some rather raunchy stories from our favourite vampires, witches and werewolves in Redcliffe, Cornwall. You have been warned... 

The pretty seaside town of Redcliffe in Cornwall is a popular location for holidaymakers during the summer season. It has good waves for surfing, good pubs for socialising, and a vibrant tourist industry. It is also home to a hidden werewolf pack, and several vampires and witches, who all live within human society, pretending to be just like the rest of us.

Bookshop owner Jessica Stone used to be one of those humans. Then she met Detective Jack Mason and his twin brother, Danny. They took her on a wild adventure that shows no sign of slowing down. Now she is deeply embedded with the vampires and werewolves, and learning the power of their lust, and a magnetic attraction that is just too hard to ignore. She is also learning about her own true heritage, and how to feed her desires and satisfy her powerful animal familiar that resides within.

This anthology contains adult themes, and scenes of a sexual nature. Order it now from Amazon Kindle.

Join us for Made in Middlewich this #ValentinesDay Weekend

Are you searching for a special, personal, handcrafted gift for your loved one this Valentine’s Day? Come along to Made in Middlewich on Saturday 13th February, and I am sure you will find what you are looking for.

We are bringing together the Middlewich Creative, a group of very talented local artists, makers, crafters and authors. Yes, that includes yours truly!

See you on Saturday! *kisses*

Love Redeems (A Redcliffe Novel) #paranormalromance #ASMSG #Supernatural

Soulfully Connecting Interviews SpookyMrsGreen #ASMSG #pagan

Books, Crystals and Holistic Healing for #ValentinesDay

I am pleased to announce that I will be at the annual Valentines Weekend Mind, Body and Spirit event in Stockport, brought to you by Rosemary Douglas. This is a very popular event, where you can indulge in some personal love and romance, serenaded by the gentle sounds of singing bowls, shaman drums, and the healing power of the didgeridoo.

There will be psychic healers, mediums, crystal therapists, holistic therapists, fairy and angel folk, and many more beautiful people to meet and make friends with. And, of course, you can see me and my books (and maybe even a brand new book, if I’m feeling generous!)

See you on #ValentinesDay for our secret date!

Love Kills (A Redcliffe Novel) #paranormalromance #ASMSG #Supernatural

"From the Wild Cornish Coast, to Your Local Library" #NationalStorytellingWeek

Meet me in the library on Monday 1st February, and I will tell you a tale of supernatural secrets, vampires, witches and werewolves, all  hidden in a seaside town in Cornwall, and previously concealed in my very own mind... See you there, at 11:00am sharp!

Their Stories Must Be Told

It is just about 2:00pm and I return to my seat at the dining room table, my make-shift office in a house that has been overtaken by toys, toddler clothes, and a growing pile of important notices from school. All morning I have been glued to my computer, sorting through a collection of short stories that will soon be released as a Redcliffe anthology. They feature characters from the Redcliffe novels, a series of fictional people that have become my secret family in a mundane world.

Soon I will have to shut down my computer, wrestle my toddler into her pushchair, and step out into fierce wind and rain to fetch my older daughter from school. Then the evening will descend into chaos as I fight with the children to eat their tea, get ready for bed, and go to sleep at a reasonable time so that we can do the whole rigmarole again tomorrow.

While I perform my duties as mother and wife, my mind is still occupied by my fictional friends. Jessica Stone, Jack Mason, Danny Mason, and Marcus Scott all jostle for attention. The witch is strong but confused, the vampires are seductive and wicked, the werewolf is playful and proud. What am I supposed to do? Their stories must be told. At present, they are dissatisfied because I cannot reach the audience that that they desire, the audience that they very much deserve. I am doing my best, I tell them. It is not easy being a writer, and a mother, and a housewife. There is so much to organize, so many roles to fulfil, and never enough time in the day.

I push on, as we all must do, because this job is important to me. My stories must be shared with the world, even if that world is often too busy to listen. One day soon, my fortunes will change. I will be the next British bestseller, featured on all the major TV channels, interviewed by all the most influential people. I will. I have to. My dream will never fade.

Their stories must be told.

The Darkness of Love #vampireromance #supernatural #ASMSG

Love Redeems (A Redcliffe Novel) #paranormalromance #ASMSG #Supernatural

Happy Birthday, Book Lover! #amreading #ASMSG

It's my birthday, woo-hoo!!! I have had a very busy week, because we celebrated our elder daughter's 5th birthday just a couple of days ago. Naturally it turned into a big celebration involving two parties, two cakes, and lots of crazy kids running riot. Today I am taking the day off (well, sort of, I mean I still have to do some mothering outside of school). I am going out for afternoon tea with a friend.

Now, since I can't very well share my birthday cake with you here online, I have another treat to share: grab your FREE COPY of my brand new short story It's Complicated (A Redcliffe Short Story) while I am in a good mood... hurry! Have a fabulous weekend my friends.

Love Kills (A Redcliffe Novel) #paranormalromance #ASMSG #Supernatural

The Not so Glamorous Life of an Author

I was scanning the newspaper headlines earlier this week when I came across a couple of stories that made my heart sink. The first one came to my attention via The Guardian newspaper. It’s headline read: “Philip Pullman: Professional Writers Set to become an Endangered Species.”

This was terrible! I read the story, nodding in agreement as I went, and then I found a couple of similar features on other websites. The future of our professional writers hangs in the balance. There are thousands of very talented writers out there in the UK, and yet we cannot gain access to the channels that will properly share our voice, our books, and our work.

I am one such writer. I am very talented, very focused, and very good at the process of assembling words into a coherent and entertaining format. My challenge is getting those words in front of people who want to read them. That is a mammoth task indeed. I am not trained in the ways of  business, marketing, or promoting. I am now partaking in an online training course that will show me how best to progress, and how to drag myself from the proverbial writer’s garret, and bring me something that resembles a decent, livable wage.

Being a writer is an incredible experience. During the course of a day I can travel to faraway worlds, meet exciting and exotic characters, and translate their stories. When I step away from the computer, however, I am faced with the heavy burden of being just another nameless person in the crowd. Nobody knows who I am, or what I do. Nobody really cares, because they have not had the opportunity to sample my work.

I have tried for many years to find an agent and a publisher that has the financial means and the business knowledge to put me “out there” in the public domain. Alas, I cannot break through the perimeter fence in order to face these mythical gods of the literary world. It is down to me, just me. I am but a lone warrior, battling to send my books out into the world, and to persuade people to read them and enjoy them.

Did you enjoy this article? 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!) 

Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel) #paranormalromance #ASMSG

Big Plans for a Big 2016 #amwriting #ASMSG

This evening we are preparing to see out 2015, and eager to welcome a very exciting and productive 2016. For me personally this feels like a particularly eventful New Year's Eve, if only as a visualization. Today I have been at home with my children, beginning the slow process of tidying the house and removing all Christmas decorations (I have left my tree up for just a little bit longer, it looks so pretty!) We also spent time with our neighbours, which was very nice as always. And now for a family evening at home, cherishing the safety and security of our place in this hectic world.

My writing plans are well underway for 2016, and I have a rather large project in mind to achieve... all will be revealed in due course. Our Scribe festival dates have been set for October, and there are meetings to attend and more plans to be made for that big event. Much more to come, indeed. See you next year, folks!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Life Behind the Vampire; The Darkness of Love by Catherine Green #ASMSG

The Darkness of Love tells the story of stable boy Marcus Scott and his adventures on the estate of a powerful aristocrat in Victorian England. It takes a darker turn when we discover that the Master of the house, Lord Gregory Stockton, is a vampire and plans to seduce Marcus and turn him into his heir. Marcus, blissfully unaware of this fact, falls into an affair with Lady Stockton when he discovers that she shares the desire he feels for her.

Marcus Scott first made his appearance in my debut novel Love Hurts (A Redcliffe Novel). He is a friend of Jack Mason, and as it turns out, Marcus is something of a mentor to Jack. The two vampires meet during the First World War, when Jack Mason is a young vampire struggling to understand what has happened to him. Marcus teaches him how to live as a vampire without drawing attention from the humans, and the men become firm friends.

While I was planning, or maybe even discovering, the back stories to my vampire characters in the Redcliffe novels, Marcus Scott became very persistent. He is by nature a very charming and irresistible man. When he fixes his ice-blue gaze on you and curves his lips into a mischievous smile, you simply melt before him. Marcus was only twenty-three when Lord Stockton took his human life. Although it was a traumatic transition into immortality, Marcus found that he did, and still does, enjoy being a vampire.

You can read about the human Marcus in The Darkness of Love, and then you can read about one of his vampire adventures in my new short story Christmas with the Vampires, available on Amazon now.

Did you enjoy this article? 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!) 

“But You’re Still in Your Pyjamas!”

This was the incredulous response from my husband sometime during the madness of NaNoWriMo. It was a Sunday morning, and I had got up earlier with our toddler, prepared some breakfast snacks for the children, and then settled down at my computer to tackle the word count. My husband came downstairs after having a lie in bed, and our children kept him busy while I worked.

When he entered the room and I told him I had been busy all morning, he just stared at my dishevelled appearance.
“But,” he said, “You are still in your pyjamas!”
“Yes,” I replied, “But that is the beauty of being a writer and working from home. My pyjamas are my work uniform.”
My husband simply shook his head in despair and walked away.
Ha ha!

Hunting the Hunted - An Excerpt from my #NaNoWriMo WIP

Sometimes I forget that not everybody knows my characters the same way that I do. My Redcliffe series has given me a whole new group of fictional friends that live in a part of my psyche where their lives are real, at least in some alternate universe. It is the same for my characters from other novels, including The Vampire of Blackpool (still seeking a publisher), and my latest work in progress, Hunting the Hunted. To that end I have decided to share an excerpt from my current novel, so that you see a little of the madness I was working with during #NaNoWriMo. Enjoy!

We watched our hunters race along the pavement, disappearing from view as the uniformed police officers followed them. The police were fast. They sent their armed officers after the hunters, and the others quickly closed off the street and worked to ensure their precious human civilians were safe. I leaped up onto the roof of the high building, and Lottie followed. We strode across the base of the sloping roof, and I reached out telepathically to locate my prey. I sensed William almost immediately. He was running down a narrow alley between a hotel and an office building, with his sister close behind. The police were still following them. And they had reached a dead end. I leaped across the wide expanse of road, high enough that the humans below would not see me, and I landed on a high balcony just in time to see my hunters being arrested. William was shouting at them not to grab his injured shoulder, and Samantha was shouting something about them being private investigators. It didn’t help. They were bundled roughly into the back of the waiting police van, having first been relieved of their weapons by the law enforcers. I stood in the shadows and observed the spectacle.
“There you are,” Lottie said as she swooped down to land beside me, “You are fast, for an old vampire!”