Welcome Catherine Green

Welcome everyone! Today we have, Catherine Green, who has traveled a long way to be with us in the Garden. I’m very excited to hear all about our guest. Anyone who has visited knows the drill, grab a plate, check out the goody table, and find your favorite beverage. It’s still a bit chilly in the garden so I have the heaters set up. When you’re all settled, we’ll get started with the grilling, er, I mean the chatting.

Mary: I’ve been playing on your site, and know you live in the UK. Tell us a little about yourself. Not the author, or the ghost hunter—I’ll get to that later, but the person, something not on your sites.

Catherine: Ooh, ok! I grew up in a small town in North Staffordshire, and as a student I took a summer job at a famous theme park called Alton Towers. It’s a local institution where I come from! Part of my job was to dance with the Tweenies at their live stage show in the children’s theatre… I also dabbled in juggling and Diablo playing within my role as an entertainer. While at university I starred in a play where I took the lead male role in a performance of Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie. I do enjoy the creative, theatrical side of life!

Mary: Love Agatha Christie! I see you write paranormal romance, dark fantasy, vampires, werewolves, witches, oh my! How did you find your genre? Or did it find you?

Catherine: I think it grew up with me to be honest! As a child I was fascinated by ghost stories, I used to read books about witches and monsters, and as I grew older I discovered vampires and other supernatural creatures. My university dissertation was on vampires in popular culture, and I thoroughly enjoyed researching and writing it.

Mary: I know I’m always interested to hear about an author’s process, as I’m sure others are, so please share. Do you plot? Do you build a storyboard? Or do you fly by the seat of your pants?

Catherine: Um, I fly by the seat of my pants mostly. For my Redcliffe novels I did write up notes with character histories, place settings and a plan for the development, but now I just sort of sit down and start writing.

Mary: Yup, me too. I find out what the characters are doing as I write! I love ghost stories, I love ghost hunting, I have a ghost in my house, no really, ask my kids and grandkids. Anyway, you can understand why I fell in love with your Spookymrsgreen's Blog. Are you an avid ghost hunter? Or just fascinated by it? What is the scariest thing you’ve ever experienced? (Sorry, I write like I talk, blasting question after question.)

Catherine: Ha ha, I love your enthusiasm! I was an avid ghost hunter up until I had my children, but it is on hold while I deal with my toddler and baby. I plan to return to my favourite hobby very soon though. Anyway, back to the questions. I have done ghost hunts in some very famous haunted UK locations, and some more obscure ones. One of the scariest places I visited was probably Ordsall Hall in Salford, Manchester. It was my very first ghost hunt, and I didn’t know any of the other people there. We encountered a male spirit who took great pleasure in frightening the women by breathing down our necks and making us feel very intimidated. Bodelwyddan Castle in Wales was another scary venue, as is Edinburgh Vaults in Scotland.

Mary: I'm visiting England next August 2015, and I will be checking with you about where to ghost hunt while I'm there! Your books, can you tell us about your Redcliffe Novels? A blurb?

Catherine: Yes, here it is: Set in Cornwall, England, the Redcliffe novels follow the adventures of bookshop owner Jessica Stone as she unwittingly falls in love with a vampire, becomes entangled with his identical twin brother's werewolf pack, and then discovers she is a witch.

There are currently three novels in the series, Love Hurts (book 1), Love Kills (book 2) and Love Redeems (book 3). I am writing book 4 but it has slowed a little due to the aforementioned domestic distractions.

My latest novel is The Darkness of Love, which tells the story of Marcus Scott from the Redcliffe novels. Lord Gregory Stockton is a powerful

and respected businessman embracing the modern era of the Victorian industrial revolution. He has a grand and beautiful manor house complete with a repertoire of servants, and his young wife is charming, attractive, and the perfect lady to his gentleman. The only thing they lack is an heir to the family estate. Lord Gregory knows he can never produce a child, for he is a vampire, although his wife and servants know nothing of his secrets. There are other ways to provide heirs for his estate, however, and Lord Gregory has noticed the romantic attraction between his wife and the young stable hand Marcus Scott. He hatches a plan to bring the would-be lovers together, and then cruelly tear them apart as he continues to build his empire and secure his power base in the south of England. The humans are pawns in the vampire’s game of lust, love and control.

Mary: Do you have anything new coming out in the near future? Please give us a little tease.

Catherine: I don’t have a planned release at the moment, but my next project is a novel called The Vampire of Blackpool. This is the story of a reclusive female vampire in the Northern English seaside resort town, and she is pursued by a determined vampire hunter. Who will win this battle? The vampire has no love or loyalties to anybody until she meets a young witch, and suddenly her existence becomes a lot more exciting.

Mary: Oh, that sounds good! Where can your fans find you? Web sites, blogs, social media?

Catherine: Oh, everywhere! Here are my main website links:
Author website: http://thebookshop.co/catherine-green/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CatherineGreenAuthor
Author blog: http://www.catherinegreenauthor.blogspot.co.uk/
Twitter page: https://twitter.com/SpookyMrsGreen
Personal Blog: http://spookymrsgreen.wordpress.com/
You can find me on Google+, Pinterest and Goodreads as well.

Thank you, Catherine, for joining us today. I hope you visit again soon.

Thank you very much for having me, Mary, it has been a lovely visit!