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!”

I’m a #NaNoWinner, Hooray! #NaNoWriMo

I did it! I survived #NaNoWriMo2015, and I conquered it! This has been a very challenging month for me. Not only did I have the ongoing chaos of domestic family life, I was dealing with emotional and mental health difficulties as a caregiver. By that I mean that I do not have a mental health disorder, but I am close to people that do, and I take on the role as cheerleader, counsellor, and supporter for these people, because I love them, and I want them to be happy.

There was one major trauma during #NaNoWriMo for me this year, and it was the death of my beloved Nanna. I was very fortunate to have her in my life for over 33 years, and I am thankful and happy to hold such precious memories of growing up with her, and with my remaining grandparents. My Nan was my cheerleader. She was incredibly proud of my writing achievements, and she would keep our distant family members well informed of my projects and novels in progress. Therefore, I had no choice but to persevere with #NaNoWriMo this year, even as I was wracked with grief and sadness at her loss. This new novel, Hunting the Hunted, will be dedicated to my Nanna Hargreaves. It is the least I could do.

Congratulations on your successes, fellow Wrimos. Whether you hit 50k or not, you wrote something, and I am proud to call you my writing buddies. Well done folks!