Join Us for the Sandbach Author Signing Event

We are almost into the month of November, and it will be crazy time for me as I immerse myself once more in the Redcliffe novels and continue writing book 5 in the series for NaNoWriMo. I will need a break from the computer, however, and so you can come and see me, and keep me sane (I hope) at the Sandbach Author Signing Event at Sandbach Town Hall on Saturday 5^th November.

#SASE

I will be there all day, along with 20+ authors from around the UK, exhibiting our new books, talking about our experiences in writing and publishing, and generally meeting new people. We can be very reclusive, when we bury ourselves in our writing projects, and so this is our way to be social and make friends. You can also bring your children along to join in with the Cartoon Academy workshops, the Fairy Sanctuary, and more. We even have a visiting cover model, former soldier Martin Nelson, in residence for you to have a photo with!

 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!) 

An Interview with SpookyMrsGreen: the Pagan Housewife

Today I would like to share something that I have effectively been hiding all year. I did a video interview with Sue Ellam from Soulfully Connecting back in January, and the video was posted on the company YouTube channel, but I didn’t tell anybody. I was afraid. I was…embarrassed. This is a very ridiculous notion, when you think about it. I mean, here I am parading about online as the pagan housewife, talking about ghosts and witchcraft and the messy side of parenting, and yet I agreed to do a video that I knew would be available in the public domain.

I am not nervous about speaking to people. I do a lot of public speaking as part of my job. But for some reason, this YouTube video has been a big thing. I feel amateur and a bit silly, to be honest. And I have no reason to be. Yes, the sound quality is pretty bad. That’s because I didn’t wear a headset and didn’t test it first. Lesson learned. But apart from that, I think the interview was fairly insightful. I didn’t sound like a complete idiot, I think. So, I am passing it over to you guys. Please watch the video, let me know what you think, and please do be gentle. I may come across as confident and proud, but behind the smile is a little girl who just wants to hide in her bedroom and read books! 

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!) 

The Time has Come for #NaNoWriMo 2016!

Wow, is it that time of year again? Cor blimey, it has been another busy one. Well, this time I am incredibly excited to return to #NaNoWriMo for this, my 6^th challenge. I am using the time this year to complete a first draft of my manuscript for Redcliffe book 5 in my Redcliffe Novels series.

 I have no idea what is going to happen or where the story is heading, although I feel this one might have more of a vampire flavour, because I think the werewolves have taken over a little bit too much lately… then again, it could all change. The Mason brothers are a force to be reckoned with, and Jessica Stone is fast losing control of her animal familiar. Anything could happen!

So, look me up in NaNoland, find me on Twitter and Facebook, and let’s support each other through another gruelling, exciting, amazing #NaNoWriMo challenge.

 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!) 

#PoweredByIndie – My Story, by Catherine Green (SpookyMrsGreen)

This month we are celebrating great writing self-published with Amazon via Kindle Direct Publishing, Createspace, and Audiobook Creation Exchange. I ventured into the world of self-publishing earlier this year, when I tentatively released a solo short story, It’s Complicated (A RedcliffeShort Story), to be included as a freebie for my newsletter followers. The process was very simple, although time-consuming, but I did come away feeling very satisfied and enthused to try it again.

#PoweredByIndie on Amazon

A month or so later, I released a short story anthology on Kindle, My Vampire Boyfriend (A Redcliffe Short Story Anthology). This compliments my Redcliffe novels series that has been published by Mirador, and will tie-in nicely with the next 3 books in the series that I am currently working on. I haven’t yet decided whether they should be self-published or not. I am still trying to design cover art for them.

Eventually, I took the plunge and published a whole novel, The Vampire of Blackpool. This one had been doing the rounds with agents and small publishers and every time I received a polite “thanks but the book doesn’t fit our requirements” response. So I decided to self-publish it. I wanted a paperback and an eBook, so I used Createspace and Kindle Publishing. I realise that there are still improvements to be made with the formatting of my paperback, but I am satisfied for now that I have a good, solid, readable book to share with my fans.

Have you read my books? Are you published with Amazon? Come and share your experiences… 

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!) 

From Mummy to Author and Back Again #ASMSG

This week has been a busy one, as always. I seem to spend my days switching from Mummy to author and back again, in a constant battle to fit everything in. Every weekday morning is the same routine as I struggle to get both my girls dressed, fed and off to school and preschool. Two days per week I have my youngest daughter at home with me. And this week, on one of those days, I took time out to do an author talk and promote my books to some new people.

On that afternoon I left my daughter with friends, drove thirty+ miles to the town where my talk had been arranged, did the deed and got back home just in time to collect my elder daughter from school. It was certainly an adventure as I traversed the rush hour motorway traffic and drove through a busy town centre.  But I thoroughly enjoyed myself, because it was something different. It felt like I was doing some proper author-related stuff after neglecting my books in favour of blogging.

You see, I have another passion that is currently taking priority - SpookyMrsGreen: The Pagan Housewife. This is my pagan lifestyle blog website and it is growing into something far more business-like and exciting. Now I am receiving products to review, and I have a growing schedule of official blog posts to write and share. And I really enjoy that, too! Sometimes I want to write, but my stories just don’t seem forthcoming. On those occasions I can write something casual for my blog, and that satisfies the urge but without the added pressure of needing to fulfill a word count target, or make the story fit, or perfect a scene that is refusing to play nicely.

Actually, if you are interested, I am running a special Halloween offer over on my SpookyMrsGreen blog. You can get a free Vampire Tarot Reading if you head over there now and sign up… and if you haven’t already read it, I am throwing in a free copy of It’s Complicated (A Redcliffe Short Story). That way you get vampires and werewolves, and everyone is happy! 

#NationalPoetryDay – Living with the Black Dog

The sun is shining brightly

And the air is crisp and clear,

You barely slept again last night

I was there, so far, so near.

What thoughts distract your tired mind?

What torment must you feel?

You worry, stress, so much to do

You’re on the hamster wheel.

Come home, I say,

we need you here.

Oh no, you say,

There’s much to fear.

My work won’t wait

I’m all alone,

And there we wait

Just by the phone.

I love you, husband

I know you care.

We wait here for you

As the demons keep you there.

Life is too hectic

We never stop to think,

Why is it so important?

To push ourselves to the brink?

Of mental health disorder

Of chaos, anger and tears,

Our life falls into madness

While you succumb to your fears.

THE END 

Did this poem resonate with you? Then you might like to read some articles on my other blog: SpookyMrsGreen: the Pagan Housewife - A pagan lifestyle blog that incorporates mindful parenting, magic and mysticism, environmental awareness and related subjects.

Book Review: The Wrong Kind of Clouds

I was very fortunate to win a copy of The Wrong Kind of Clouds by Amanda Fleet in an online competition recently. The book is a contemporary crime thriller, and I liked the fact that it was set in Scotland. So many books that I have read recently are American or European, so it is nice to find something a bit closer to home, and in a place that I am more familiar with. Scotland is a spiritual home for me, anyway!

Crime novels are not my preferred genre. I like to read paranormal and horror, but since I had entered the competition and subsequently won, I decided that there was a reason I had to read this book. I was very impressed! The central character turns out to be not so central, since he disappears for the majority of the story. We still don’t know if he survives at the end, which I thought was quite clever of the author. I like to think that he survives, but maybe we find out in another book… I especially liked the unexpected romance between a work-hardened police detective and the female lead, who is a professional photographer and free spirit. I liked her, far more my kind of person!

All in all, I rate this book as very good, and I recommend it to all crime thriller fans, especially those that like Scotland. There is some great atmospheric description, just enough action to keep you hooked, and the chapters are easy to read in short bursts. A great companion for a long journey or a holiday (or in my case, bedtime reading!).

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!)