Guest Writer Spot

Please welcome Catherine Green to my Guest Writer Spot. She has shared an extract from her novel with us. Here are some interesting facts about her before you read the novel excerpt:

Author of British paranormal romance series The Redcliffe Novels, Catherine Green was raised on books from a young age and has happy memories of Saturday mornings spent in her small local library, devouring the contents of the shelves. Catherine has always been fascinated by the supernatural world, and it feels natural for her to write about vampires, werewolves, witches and other mystical creatures in her contemporary stories.

If you sign up to Catherine’s newsletter, she will send you a free copy of her Redcliffe short story, It’s Complicated, to introduce you to her fictional supernatural seaside town in Cornwall, England.

More recently, Catherine released her contemporary English Gothic novel, Vampire of Blackpool. These novels will show you the darker, sexier side of our favourite British seaside resorts! Catherine is currently working on a new series of novels featuring vampire hunters that work in and around Manchester and the North West of England.

Known as SpookyMrsGreen: The Pagan Housewife, Catherine runs a pagan lifestyle blog chronicling her adventures in mothering and magic, with a series of non-fiction books to follow, when she finds time to write them!

Now for the extract:

Excerpt from Vampire of Blackpool by Catherine Green

I opened my eyes and sat upright in bed, instantly awake and fully conscious. Moonlight shone round the edges of my black brocade curtains, and my red lips curled up in a smile. It was night. Time for me to rise and seek food and entertainment. My room was cold with the chill of early winter, but my body contained no heat and I did not need it. Throwing back the red satin-covered duvet that had kept me comfortable, I slipped out of bed and glided to my wardrobe. Opening the door, I surveyed the collection of clothing that hung within. Tapping a slender finger to my lips, I pondered what mood I was in tonight. I settled for a long, white velvet dress with fitted sleeves. It was a modern style, but it reminded me of the fashions of Queen Victoria’s court, in the days before she lost her husband.

Pulling off my black silk chemise, I dropped it to the floor and slipped into my dress. Then I walked across the spacious bedroom to my dressing table, where I sat down and picked up a hairbrush, pulling it through my long, black hair with slow, luxurious strokes. My room was in darkness, but I needed no light. My white skin seemed to glow, although I looked gaunt, since I was hungry. My eyes glowed silver to match the moonlight, but under human circumstances they simply appeared grey in colour. When I was satisfied with my hair, I picked up my favourite jasmine-scented perfume and spritzed it over my skin. It was a special purchase from a very old perfumery located in France, and I had used the same scent for almost one hundred and thirty years now. Indeed, it was largely due to my generous, yet anonymous, financial donations that the company had survived for as long as it did.

The house was silent, since I was its only occupant. I had lived here now for twenty-five years, when I returned home to England after a century of exile. There had been some upheaval in the Victorian courts, and I had overstepped my boundaries with the officials. To escape revealing my true nature and ruining the lives of all my kind, I had slipped away, travelling the world and feeding as I went. I could still hear the lively music and excited chatter of all those extravagant parties and balls I used to attend. Those were the days, when my life was joyful and full of purpose.

I had been a lady of the court, a friend to Queen Victoria, and had enjoyed many special privileges. Of course, I had some difficulty explaining why I preferred to be active at night rather than during the day, but that was soon explained away by a smitten young doctor. He had been worshipped in the court, and tended to all the ladies of delicate dispositions, myself included. In fact, in the end he succumbed to my charms a little too easily, when I accidentally killed him during a feed. I had regretted it at the time, but it could not be helped.

My ears caught the sound of voices in the lane near my house. I lived on the very outskirts of Blackpool, near the North Shore. Up here it was isolated enough for me to live peacefully, I was close to the sea which always calmed my sometimes-turbulent mind, and I had my pick of tourists to feed upon for most of the year. I could hear the ever-present sound of waves rolling against the tall cliffs at the back of my house, but now I focused on the human voices. There were two of them, and they sounded young. I smiled, and my mouth watered as I thought of what a delight it would be to feast upon these teenagers.

In a flash I was out of my bedroom, leaping through the open window and landing softly on the grass below. I flew across the lawn and leaped over the thick hedgerow that bordered my land. Keeping close to the trees, I stepped nimbly over the muddy ground, my feet barely touching the floor. The dry leaves below never felt my weight, and my bare feet did not recognize the cold temperature. I saw the teenagers walking along the lane, approaching the narrow driveway that led to my house. They had a torch, and the light wobbled and bounced on the tarmac in front of them. They walked close together, a boy and a girl, holding hands. I stalked silently behind, deliberately forcing myself to wait, so that I could savour the moment when I tasted their sweet flesh and drank deeply of their youthful blood.

***

You can find Catherine in the following places:

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/SpookyMrsGreen

Author blog – http://www.catherinegreenauthor.blogspot.co.uk/

Twitter page –  https://twitter.com/SpookyMrsGreen

The Pagan Housewife Blog – http://spookymrsgreen.com/

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/spookymrsgreen/

Amazon US Author Page – http://www.amazon.com/author/catherinegreen

Amazon UK Author Page – https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B005BTNHTG