Paranormal Haunts#1 - A Visit to Snowshill Manor

 

Snowshill Manor House

Set right in the heart of the Cotswolds, Snowshill Manor is a fascinating retreat, that, as ever with these places, is pretty hard to find, even without the map. I visited the place yesterday. It's about 50 miles from where I live.

I've wanted to go for ages, having heard about the ghost in the greeen dress in Ann's Room, or the duel that two men had in the most uppermost room. One died, of course, and still haunts the place today.

Scare rating 3.5 out of 5 :-

I'm undecided about this one.The house certain has 'something,' - I wasn't scared there but it just has a feeling of claustrophobia about it. But that is the case for many of these old houses. But there was plenty here which with to help my writing. Sometimes you simply have to get away from typing and get out in the big world.


This is from the National Trust website:-

"

Snowshill Manor is a Cotswold manor house packed with extraordinary treasures collected over a life time by Charles Wade

Inside these rooms you can discover this eclectic collection that he restored and displayed. We have maintained the atmospheric settings he created with low lighting and few labels. From tiny toys to Samurai armour, musical instruments to fine clocks, thousands of objects are laid out for you to see just as Mr Wade intended.

The garden is the perfect place to unwind and explore hidden vistas, quiet corners and unexpected delights including Charles Wade’s uncomplicated home, the Priest’s House.

“Let nothing perish” was his motto, and his life was dedicated to doing just that. From the everyday to the extraordinary, you can discover his passion for craftsmanship, colour and design."

Beautiful views of the Cotswolds surround you.

These quotes are dotted all round the place, from the house's most recent owner, Charles Paget Wade.

Look at the strange trees!

More wisdom from Mr Wade

Sheep enjoying themselves. I wish it would stay that way for them!

When writing a book, you need details. Even something as subtle as brickwork, and how you describe, can make it feel so real to the reader. The reader then becomes more involved, so that merely reading the book becomes replaced by a much more enriched experience.

Another view of the Manor.

There were apples, plums and tomatoes for sale. The honesty box for those who would pay (we did!)

Stunning views of the Shires. I think we are very lucky in England to have such views available to us.

One the many curiousities kept by Mr Wade, who was collecting since he was seven years old.On the first floor there is a rather stunning but scary collection of life size Samurai warriors which lay in the dimly lit Green Room. Charles Wade acquired them once the Second World War had ended. 

The site was full when we arrived. So many people visit these places!

Says it all.

I love the detail of this wooden door which adorned the priest's house.

You can enjoy more pictures down below, or find out more about Snowshill Manor here:-

UPDATED!!! Cover Concept Reveal: Murderous Little Darlings

This is the cover concept (1) for my forthcoming series of vampire novellas, the first book is called Murderous Little Darlings. Let me know what you think!

Here is cover concept (2) and I think the text is clearer here. Thoughts?

Here is cover concept (3) and I think the title SHOUTS so you can't miss it! Thoughts?

Synopsis (from GoodReads) :-

Three siblings. An endless list of victims. A whole lot of time to kill.

* * *

With two specimens of the undead on either side of her, Juliana knew there was no escape. Kill the one they had selected for her, or be killed, and become one of them. What had the neighbours in the road called them, back when their childhood pranks were just that? 

Oh yes, she remembered now. Murderous Little Darlings. They had the faces of angels, but possessed the very soul of the Devil. 

Marcus had fully embraced his vampire side from the moment he was born. Rocco was the second eldest, and had fought the temptation all of his life. Then Marcus finally broke him.

That just left Juliana. Will she resist them, or join in the hunt?

A black comedy from the author of Stormling and Dark Winter

GoodReads Giveaway - Win a copy of Stormling

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Stormling

by John Hennessy

Giveaway ends August 29, 2014.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Book Review #22: TRUST Pandora's Box (TRUST, #3) by Cristiane Serruya

"How can I defeat a nightmare?"

How indeed. Cristiane Serruya's TRUST story is one of the best trilogies I have had the pleasure of reading. A hot romance downplays what this really is: An edge of the seat thriller that leaves you gasping, and I do mean literally.

From 'A New Beginning', through 'Betrayed', to finally reach and open 'Pandora's Box', it has been an interesting, intriguing, thrilling, and always enthralling ride.

If Book One showed us a rather uncertain, but still very strong Sophia, Book Three reveals Sophia to be in even more charge of what she wants. She is an appealing heroine that you will root for. Why? When she is beautiful, rich, and has men seemingly fall at her feet, you wonder why?

Because the story, although it features heavily on Sophia, it is not all about her, and through the other characters - Ethan, Alistair, Tavish...so many in fact that it is a supporting cast that you enjoy, along with Sophia's story.

This is good characterisation. When Sophia is not in the story, you think it might lag. It does not, and it's all the more enjoyable when she returns.

The descriptive tone of this book, just like the other two in the series, is wonderful. I especially enjoyed the references to Scotland, because although I have been all over the world, and indeed, over the border as far as Glasgow, that was for business....I've never truly visited the country. Cristiane makes you feel like you are there.

The date and time stamps reinforce the urgency of the story. These books are long, complex, multi-layered. It will take several re-reads to grasp the quality of this work.

So when I have done that, I will come back and edit this review.

You can see in every line that the author has put her all into giving us an enthralling conclusion to the TRUST tale. She delivers. And because she does, any reference to it would be a major spoiler.

So buy the books, and enjoy them. TRUST me when I say that Pandora's Box is wonderful!

TRUST Trilogy on Amazon

How This Successful Author Just Keeps on Writing - A Profile of Barbara Taylor Bradford

Barbara Taylor Bradford has sold 85 million books worldwide and is the best selling author of A Woman of Substance.

Her story is rather interesting because she doesn't allow allow anyone - not her husband, not her editor, no-one in fact, to read her manuscript until it is completed.

In my dealings with GoodReads, I find it interesting that giving out advanced copies is almost becomig the norm. I expect Miss Bradford would recoil in horror at giving her books out ahead of publication.

Still, her process in writing is interesting.

She gets up at 5am on most mornings. Mine is close to 6:30. If she has a chapter of a new book to read, she will read it whilst making tea. I do that too. I don't grab my iPod first...it's always a book.

Miss Bradford and her husband have just celebrated their 50th anniversary, and for the last 18 years they have lived in New York on 52nd Street. She has a housekeeper who cleans every day, because she finds it impossible to write novels and scrub the floors.

If only I could do that. Of course, I could say that my writing is too important to start cleaning...so what I will do is keep the house as clean and clutter-free as I can. I hate an untidy home. But I have no cleaner or housekeeper, so when I am asked how I find time to write a novel, I simply say 'because I must find that time, no matter what.'

This author writes by hand. She will then type it up, edit where needed, fax to a typist, who puts it on a disc, sends the edit back, so that BTB can type it up again.

On starting a new novel, she says, " I already have the story in my head, including the ending, so I begin with an outline, and write consecutively - page one is always page one."

I totally agree with this. Even if you know the ending, don't rush to write it. Ease it out, and it will come. When you're finished, you will know it. I don't think that is something they teach in creative writing class.

I hasten to add that I haven't read any of the author's books. But I was interested in her writing process. I think the main point I wish to convey is to say that authors simply have to write. If it is not happening for you, take a break, go for a walk, whatever it is. The ideas will come.

If you are an author, I wish you luck in your writing and happy reading to the rest of you!

Book Review #21: The Winter Bride by Anne Gracie

The Winter Bride is the second book in the Chance Sisters romance series. This is a very funny, well constructed historical romance that works on practically all levels. Damaris is a young lady of mixed heritage, Chinese and English. This aspect was of particular interest to me and I wish it had been expanded on a bit more.

Other than this very tiny gripe, the book is virtually perfect. It has an engaging storyline, funny hero / heroine, and very strong characters that could even be the main ones (yes, Aunt, I'm talking about you).

This book came to me via a friend's recommendation, so I can't rate this book highly enough or the value of referrals!

The 'hero' in question, Freddy Monkton-Coombes (otherwise known as Hyphen-Hyphen) is not really interested in marriage. Why would he be, when he has got all he wants...money, freedom and so on.

A meeting with Damaris, the Winter Bride of the title, changes all that. There's no instant love between the two, and that actually means the book is far more entertaining than it has a right to be.

I will definitely read the other book in the series, The Autumn Bride, and hope there will be more to come from this author.

Book Review #20: Mr Mercedes by Stephen King

Like all of Mr King's stories, this starts off very strong. Sometimes he tails off before the end, but given how good his writing is, I don't mind so much. This is my first hardback of his since (gasp) Insomnia. But so far, so good. I love a well crafted thriller, and this is shaping up to be very good indeed. Trying not to finish it too fast. Even if this is part of an unnamed trilogy, I want to savour it.

Many people have talked about the book already so I won't rehash all that here, except to say that it is a departure from Mr King's usual trade of horror.

I just got a good feeling about Mr Mercedes. I felt it was going to be a good book, and even though non-horror, there are still plenty of scares to be had.

There were even parts that could be safely described as 'icky', but King is able to balance this well so that it is not drawn out and we are dragged along with it.

The story is quite simple. A retired ex-cop, Bill Hodges, is brought back into the fray when the Mercedes Killer, or <b>merckill</> as he refers to himself online, ploughs a car of the same name into a crowd of people who were just waiting to see if they could get a job via the dole office.

This is one of the books I received for my birthday a month ago, and I've savoured it over the entire month.

Having said that, I raced through the last hundred pages or so, and so does King - the pace is quite something and it builds to a very nice conclusion. This is the first book of an unnamed trilogy so there is more to come, and this is where I hit the first road bump.

The book is great, satisfying and enjoyable. I think the story is much more stronger than King's characters. This is a concern because he is so great at characterisation, so although you know bad things happen to people in the story, I wanted to feel more connected.

Perhaps this is what we will see over books two and three, and because of that, I am prepared to wait and see what happens.

Mr Mercedes is a solid thriller, a genre I enjoy and would like to read more of. I have seen some comments that it is no better than other thrillers out there. Fair enough. That's okay for me.

The writing, as ever, is superb, and there are some genuine laugh out loud moments.

You do care about the ending. Will Hodges catch the computer savvy but seriously deranged Brady Hartsfield, the Mr of the title?

I know Stephen King polarises people but he does have an army of fans too. So I will summarise by saying that he probably could have done even better with this story, but as it is not his strongest genre, I think he's done amazingly well.

Four solid stars. When the trilogy is complete, maybe we can round it up by another one.