Somewhere along the line, I got into horror. Oh, those Roger Corman films! That got me interested in reading Edgar Allan Poe.
When I was older, I discovered the great gothic romance novels of the Brontes and Daphne DuMaurier. There were other great writers, but these authors had the greatest effect on my writing.
I continued to write however life got in the way as it often does, and it wasn’t until 2000 that I turned back to writing. I joined a local writer’s workshop and was greatly encouraged to try different things. I even wrote a radio script for the BBC for a contest! It didn't win, but I learned how to write a radio script!
Shortly afterwards, I was selected by Northwest Playwrights of England for further development but found I preferred fiction writing.
My novels:
The Blackstone Vampires Series comprises four novels.
The House on Blackstone Moor is book 1
The Blackstone Vampires Series comprises four novels.
The House on Blackstone Moor is book 1
Set in 19th Century Yorkshire, its locales include Victorian madhouses as well as barren, wind-swept Yorkshire moors. The story is a marriage of horror and gothic romance combined,
You can read it for free:
You can read it for free:
Living in the area the novel is set in, was very beneficial. Also, as a great admirer of the Brontes and frequent visitor to the Bronte Parsonage in Haworth, I found myself nearly obsessed with recreating the gothic romantic narrative. The photo beneath is of Top Withens, located on Haworth Moor. It is said it may have inspired Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. I don't know about that, but I do know it inspried me! I began to write my novel, picturing a house on desolate
Moorland--a grand, looking house that was totally out of place.
That, gave me the idea for the novel.
The characters came to me fairly quickly. I don't write with an outline, just a general idea of where I want it all to go.
I find that well-thought out characters and their individual motivations give me the story.
Having been employed in a hospital which had been historically a workhouse and asylum in Victorian times, I was able to add great realism to the depiction of the asylums as described in my novel.
Eco, the demonic, mad and always campy villain and arch enemy of Louis Darton is featured in this book. He has penned a confession of all the sins he has committed in his existence!
The next book in the Series is Unholy Testament - Full Circle which picks up where the previous book ends. The book introduces two characters who feature in the next book in the Series.
