Creepy, Gothic and Ghostly - And Only 99c/99p - This Week Only

 

Don't play the game...

In 1893, Evelyn and Claire leave their home in a Yorkshire town for life in a rural retreat on their beloved moors. But when a strange toy garden mysteriously appears, a chain of increasingly terrifying events is unleashed. 

Neighbour Matthew Dixon befriends Evelyn, but seems to have more than one secret to hide. Then the horror really begins. The Garden of Bewitchment is all too real and something is threatening the lives and sanity of the women. Evelyn no longer knows who - or what - to believe. And time is running out.

“The Garden of Bewitchment is everything you want in a modern ghost story.” – James Lefebure, Modern Horrors

“Cavendish draws from the best conventions of the genre in this eerie gothic novel about a woman’s sanity slowly unraveling within the hallways of a mysterious mansion...Fans of gothic tropes will appreciate the atmosphere and intensity of this horror tale.” – Publishers’ Weekly

"Classic Gothic terror" - Horrifiedmagazine.co.uk

“Cavendish is a master storyteller” – ihorror

“A brilliantly written, atmospheric and goosebumpy read. You’ll never look at a doll’s house in the same way again!” – The Bookwormery

“Well written, complex, satisfyingly nostalgic and darn right diabolical” – Brown Flopsy’s Book Burrow

“Seeped in Gothic imagery” – Horror After Dark

“Atmospheric and rich in detail, Cavendish masterfully draws the reader into the slow-burning horror that makes well-crafted Gothic literature so delightfully addictive.” – The Nerd Daily

“A unique and haunting tale” – A Reviewer Darkly

“When you sit down with a Catherine Cavendish story, you are guaranteed three things – a haunting atmosphere, a wild imagination, and fascinating characters.” – She Leads, He Reads

The Garden of Bewitchment is yours for just 99p/99c but hurry. Offer ends January 16th right here on Amazon

Images:

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Cursed? Or Just Unlucky?

 When not reading horror, I frequently turn to another of my passions - historical fiction - and one of my favourite authors in that genre is Shehanne Moore.

She brings a zest for adventure, humour, spice and a cast of characters that leap from the pages and keep me entertained from start to finish. Yes, there is romance, but bosoms most assuredly remain unheaved. Shehanne's heroines are tough, feisty and indefatigable. The heroes are anything but textbook.

Now Shehanne is back with the first in a new series - Cornish Rogues. She's here to tell us more about 'O'Roarke's Destiny':

‘May everything you touch wither to dust.’ Cursed? Or just unlucky? 

    ‘The question is this. I cursed you. I cursed you and your brothers –” 

    “One of whom—” 

    “Blew his brains out at midnight. Do you seriously think I didn’t trouble myself to find out?”

     “Oh, I’m sure-"
 

     “May everything you touch, turn to dust.”’  

     Cursed?  Or just unlucky? Nice to think it’s the latter but legends of curses permeate practically every culture in history. from entire families to items---jewels especially—but places too.  It would be good to say we just like someone to blame misfortune on but then again, some folks don’t seem to have a lot of good fortune, do they? 

   Let’s take my new heroine, Destiny who is the victim of just such a curse…

   “But the fact was that curse uttered for nothing had killed Ennis, as surely as if Divers O’Roarke had pushed his carriage down that ravine that night.” 

     It’s very convenient to believe that all the loss and tragedy that follows Destiny about like a bad smell is the result of that curse, when it was probably on the cards anyway.  Also, at the time she was cruising for the proverbial bruising, causing besotted men to shoot each other, this could just have been a wind change in her life,  a what-goes-round-comes-round time. But then again, the loss of a mother, father, brother, husband and more in the space of two years, not to mention another brother becoming an alcoholic, does seem the kind of misfortune that would give the Kennedy family a run for their money in the cursed stakes.  

      And I think that is where curses have their power—superstitious--but even so. Would you really want to flout a curse by wearing the Hope diamond for example? Or indeed  by then touching someone who was cursed? 

    “From Land’s End to Launceston people avoided her like she had the plague. In fact it was probably from Land’s End to John O’Groats. She couldn’t get another husband even if she wanted to.” 

     Whether it is balderdash or not, if something goes wrong after you flout a curse, well, you are probably going to blame the curse and wish you hadn’t done it, even if curses may, or may not exist. The Rhodes family aren’t alone in being cursed. Other famous families, in addition to the Kennedys, include the Hapsburgs, the Grimaldis, the Hemingways. I guess the Romanovs weren’t exactly what you might call lucky either. 

      Of course big families like that, in terms of being newsworthy, of having wealth etc., are always going to find their bones being picked over by the ‘lesser mortals.’  And the Rhodes family have that local standing.

      ‘She was a Rhodes and Rhodes were all about living life to the hilt.’

      Big old house, family tree going back centuries, suggestions of links to pirates, definite links to smugglers. Legends surround them, like Raven’s Passage, said to stretch from their family seat, Doom Bar Hall, all the way to the beach, a fabulous place stuffed with golden treasures. 

     It’s easy to say that some of these real families were cursed when you can point to the actual curse itself, how it came to be uttered and who was responsible.  Rasputin, of course gets held responsible for cursing the Romanovs but as a family they had plenty of misfortune before that. Nicholas II’s father and grandfather didn’t exactly fare brilliantly either and Rasputin never cursed them.  But then the times they were living in were pretty explosive.  No pun intended actually. Just pointing out the possible carnage/ill heath rate which brings me to the Brontës, another family that might be construed as cursed. Equally fame eventually touched them, so we know of their lives. But their deaths were the lot of entire families especially given the unsanitary conditions of the time. 

     The thing about curses? I honestly think you pay your money you take your chances…I know I am taking mine releasing this book on a Friday 13^th.  It did-–er—seem apt.  And I loved weaving a curse into the story as it gave me plenty scope to use the hero and heroine’s reaction to it to drive things forward. 

      Catherine, thank you so very much for asking me here today.

    “He cursed you, me, Chancery. You most of all. Think how different your life would now be if he hadn’t uttered these damnable words. When Chancery loved Rose. Wanted to marry her, for God’s sake. That Divers O’Roarke didn’t know is no damned excuse.”

     “I am thinking. And I’m thinking we are the life we live. Its graces and its pain. And while we may not always have any control over it, we can control what we do about it. But if you want to believe in a load of old gypsy mutterings and superstition and hold it responsible for the fact you can’t walk past a drink, without feeling obliged to down and then drown in it, that’s your choice. This is mine.” 

   Once he’d have died to possess her, now he just might… 

Beautiful, headstrong young widow Destiny Rhodes was every Cornish man’s dream. Until Divers O’Roarke cursed her with ruin and walked out of Cornwall without a backwards glance. Now he’s not only back, he’s just won the only thing that hasn’t fallen down about her head—her ancestral home. The home, pride demands she throw herself in with, safe in the knowledge of one thing. Everything she touches withers to dust. 

He’d cursed her with ruin.

Now she’d have him live with the spoils of her misfortune.

Though well versed in his dealings with smugglers and dead men, handsome rogue Divers O’Roarke is far from sure of his standing with Destiny Rhodes. He had no desire to win her, doesn’t want her in his house, but while he’s bent on the future, is there one when a passionate and deadly game of bluff ensues with the woman he once cursed? A game where no-one and nothing are what they seem. Him most of all.

And when everything she touches turns to dust, what will be his fate as passion erupts?  Will laying past ghosts come at the highest price of all?

Available Amazon. September 13^th 2019 Black Wolf Books.

Amazon UK
Amazon US

About the Author

When not cuddling inn signs in her beloved Scottish mountains alongside Mr Shey, Shehanne Moore writes dark and smexy historical romance, featuring bad boys who need a bad girl to sort them out. She firmly believes everyone deserves a little love, forgiveness and a second chance in life.

Shehanne caused general apoplexy when she penned her first story, The Hore House Mystery—aged seven. From there she progressed to writing plays for her classmates,  stories for her classmates, plays for real, comic book libraries for girls, various newspaper articles,  ghost writing, nonfiction writing, and magazine editing.  Stories for real were  what she really wanted to write though and, having met with every rejection going, she sat down one day to write a romance, her way.  

Shehanne Moore 
Shehanne Moore website 

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What Are The Grim Secrets of the Asylum?

Multi-genre author, Dana Wright proves that horror wears many hats. With her brand new story Asylum - the first in her Ghost Echoes series - she has written a novella, full of suspense, the supernatural and some serious sexual tension between her two main characters. I'm delighted she is joining me today - and she's talking about writing, research, and how to juggle life, the day job and dealing with deadlines:

1      Tell us about your newest release.

My newest release is called Asylum and it is about a young woman named Rachel who can see behind the veil and connect with spirits. When she is faced with taking another ghost hunting job after a horrible accident, she is tormented but needs the money to get her grandmother out of a terrible nursing home. She goes to Bremore Asylum with her nemesis, the psychic debunker Matt Rutledge. He thinks she’s a load of hot air and is about to learn the hard way she isn’t. (That’s one of my favorite parts of the story.)

      What was one thing you wanted to research when writing the story?

The research into old asylums and the abuse that went on in some of them. Women were placed in asylums by their families for failing to comply with the social attitudes of the time and there was a lot of pain that stuck around. I wanted to explore that.

The other thing I wanted to explore is the genuine phenomenon of connecting with the spirit world (Rachel’s point of view) and fighting the type of shyster that takes advantage of people in times of great hardship or grief. (Matt Rutledge’s character). They both have very valid points of view and it was wonderful to see them mesh. 

       Do you have anything you do before you start a project?

When I start a new story I immediately go to Pinterest and start looking at images associated with the current project and if they connect, then I make a board. I also pick out music that fits the theme if it is very pronounced. For example, one story I have under my pen name deals with a dark circus/urban fantasy type of environment. I found the most amazing album that had creepy circus music and the story came alive in my mind. The catch is to find something that doesn’t distract with lyrics or I’ll be singing (badly) instead of writing.

     
     Which authors have influenced your work?

Anne Rice

Stephen King was a biggie in my formative years. I also read a ton of Anne Rice and a wonderful anthology given to me by my sister for Christmas one year when I was a child called Tales of Horror and the Supernatural. I think the tendrils worked their way into my brain. Lol. I also read a lot of Virginia Henley, Nancy Collins, Kim Harrison and Melissa Marr. Urban fantasy, horror, romance, mystery and young adult all find their way into my stories at one point or another.

How does your family like you being an author? 

They are excited for me. I write under two names and they love that I am doing light romance now and demand I write a werewolf or shifter novel. My thinking cap is on.

My husband is my biggest cheerleader. We have worked out a system where he will go to the grocery store and throw me chicken strips or a pizza when deadlines loom and I’m freaking out trying to balance a full time job and writing under two names. It is a balancing act, but with his help I am able to get quality writing time almost every day.

When you aren’t writing what do you like to do?

I love to crochet, knit, play with my furry canine children, bake and read. But as you can imagine, writing comes first and I don’t get to do as much of my hobbies as I would like. Monster movies are also a favorite and you can often find me watching Netflix on my iPad doing my hair or glued to the set while I sit with my husband while we eat, then I dive right back into my writer cave.

      What’s next?

I am working on the next Ghost Echoes story, two YA books, a horror novella and about a dozen other different projects. I’m also working on a middle grade series and it is in the planning stages.

Seven things to know about me:

1.       I am a dog mom.

2.       In my day to day life I am a bookstore manager.

3.       I can’t drive a stick shift to save my life.

4.       Spiders are awesome but roaches make me scream like a girl. (Spiders knit-they are useful but roaches are just nasty little things.)

5.       I hate tomatoes but love spaghetti.

6.       I write under two names. Dana Wright for YA, horror and light romance. Erzabet Bishop for erotic horror and all sorts of erotic romance.

7.       Pizza and macaroni and cheese are my favorite comfort foods outside of chocolate.

The ''awesome" spider

Thanks for having me on the blog today Catherine! It was a lot of fun and I hope you will all love Asylum.

Thank you for being my guest, Dana. And, for the record, I LOVED Asylum!

Blurb:

The voices of the past are alive behind the iron gates of Bremore Asylum. Can Rachel and Matt deduce its secrets before it's too late?

When Rachel agrees to take the job investigating the disappearance of a fellow ghost hunter at Bremore Asylum, she is totally unprepared for the sexy and stubborn psychic debunker Matt Rutledge to be a part of the package. Can these two opposing forces find the answers behind the asylum's crumbling walls before they become the newest victims to the asylum's grim history?

Excerpt:

Rachel narrowed her eyes. What little hold she held on her frayed temper snapped. Self-doubt flared, but she stamped it out as quickly as it came.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She stepped forward, hands clenched into fists, her foot brushing against the luggage. Her hoodie slid off the suitcase and flopped unceremoniously into the dirt. 

"We haven't even started on the project and you're trying to displace me already?" 

Rutledge stepped back, surprise clear on his lightly parted lips. Lips she apparently still wanted to kiss, damn his eyes. God, what was wrong with her? 

"My friend almost died because of a mistake I made. But you're already aware of that, aren't you, Mr. High and Mighty? Listen to me and listen good. I'm here because my grandmother needs me. I'm a damn fine ghost hunter, which you would already know if you bothered to see beyond what happened to Jeannie." She poked her finger into his chest and had the satisfaction of seeing him wince. 

Matt stepped back and held up his hands, a ruddy flush creeping up his cheeks. "Okay. I was out of line. Truce?" He bent down and carefully picked up her hoodie, handing it to her gingerly. 

"Thank you, Mr. Rutledge." Rachel snatched the hoodie from his hands and tied it around her waist with a firm yank. She didn't want to chance it falling in the dirt again and it was going to be a long weekend. At the rate they were going, it was going to be a full-on ice storm between them. 

A flash of humor crossed his face. "Do you think maybe you could call me Matt?" 

"That depends." 

"On what?" Matt cocked his eyebrow with surprise. 

"On whether you can stop dissecting me like one of your frauds."

You can buy Asylum here:

Breathless Press

Amazon 

 About the author:

Dana Wright has always had a fascination with things that go bump in the night. She is often found playing at local bookstores, trying not to maim herself with crochet hooks or knitting needles, watching monster movies with her husband and furry kids or blogging about books. More commonly, she is chained to her computers, writing like a woman possessed. She is currently working on several children's stories, young adult fiction, romantic suspense, short stories and is trying her hand at poetry. 

She is a contributing author to Ghost Sniffer’s CYOA, Siren’s Call E-zine in their “Women in Horror” issue in February 2013 and "Revenge" in October 2013, a contributing author to Potatoes!, Fossil Lake, Of Dragons and Magic: Tales of the Lost Worlds, Undead in Pictures, Potnia, Shadows and Light, Dark Corners, Wonderstruck, Shifters: A Charity Anthology, Dead Harvest, Monster Diaries (upcoming), Holiday Horrors and the Roms, Bombs and Zoms Anthology from Evil Girlfriend Media. She is the author of Asylum due out in October 2014.   Dana has also reviewed music for Muzikreviews.com specializing in New Age and alternative music and has been a contributing writer to Eternal Haunted Summer, Nightmare Illustrated, Massacre Magazine, Metaphor Magazine, The Were Traveler October 2013 edition: The Little Magazine of Magnificent Monsters, the December 2013 issue The Day the Zombies Ruled the Earth. She currently reviews music at New Age Music Reviews and Write a Music Review.

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 Twitter: @danawrite

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