My Own Little World... Brought to life.

*Thumbnail image by kellieelmore.com

I have always been a writer. Ever since I was a kid, sitting under the table with my grandparent’s dog, rather that being sociable, as my rather large, rambunctious family made rude jokes and laughed far too loud. I was always creating stories, always lost in my own little world. My imagination was second to none. I would make things up as I went along. Some might call that lying. I like to think I was just highly creative…

I remember getting a typewriter and using it to create little books with folded up pages of A4 paper. I can’t tell you what they were about, but I suspect that they had a horror theme - I was a massive fan of the young adult point horror books back then. And I recall drawing covers for them in pencil.

My hobby became somewhat more serious after my nan suddenly passed away. The death hit me, a lot harder than perhaps I let anybody know. And I stopped sleeping. Started going on long walks in the middle of the night and writing instead. In many ways, that was a dark period of my life, but it was also inspirational. Because I was living in a place called Port Sunlight at the time. Which had an aura about it. A mystery. I would walk around the village in the early hours of the morning and not see a soul. It felt like I was stepping into a whole other world. One that was full of dark intrigue that I soaked up and let inspire me.

There’s a church in Port Sunlight. At the back of the building, set underneath an overhanging roof, is the tomb of the town’s founder and his wife. I spent a lot of time standing by that tomb, wondering about the man behind the Lever legend. His story inspired me, gave me a setting for my stories, as well as a character who would become a big part of the Marytown world… Somebody whose story we haven’t explored that deeply on the page at this point, so I’m afraid that’s all I can say about him. For now.

The world that I created was the perfect setting, but it needed a protagonist. And a story.

I met Martha Valentine in a dream. Not long after my nan died and I had begun my late night wanderings, I visited Penrhyn Castle in Wales with my mother, sister, brother and young nephew. I was blown away by the place and it was so inspiring. So full of mystery that I bought all of the guide books in the shop so that I could keep it with me when I returned home. So I had reference to potentially work with in the future.

Turned out, I would need them.

Because not long after, I had one of the most vivid dreams I have ever had. It was set in Penrhyn, only it was a school. Like a private boarding school. There had been a murder and somebody had seen a ghost, hanging out around the area in which the student was killed. A group of paranormal investigators were at the school and they were being interviewed by the headmistress - who was a total sceptic. She didn’t believe in ghosts and didn’t want to paranormal investigators to be at her school. One of the investigators - a woman, who I was ‘playing’ in the dream - took great offence to this and had a fight with the headmistress before storming out of the office and slamming the door behind her. She was in a long hallway, a place that I recalled from my visit to the castle and suddenly, there was a ghost. And she was trapped. The door was locked. The ghost was coming for her and there was nothing she could do to get away. it moved in a creepy, disjointed way and I remember being terrified. I remember banging on the door, trying to get away, get help but nobody could hear me. And then the ghost reached me. It touched me…

And I woke up.

That paranormal investigator was Martha. And the people she was with on that investigation at the private school inspired by Penrhyn Castle were the Marytown Paranormal Investigation Agency (MPIA) team. Peter Maxwell, Joseph Walsh and Michael Parker. Sadly, Olivia hadn’t made herself known to me back then. She wouldn’t come along until much later. And Parker had a different name… But that’s another story entirely.

I had my cast. I had my protagonist. And I had my story.

Martha was a paranormal investigator and she had come to Marytown to work with MPIA and solve all sorts of paranormal mysteries. Of which I wrote and plotted out many. My imagination loved her, loved the world and I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote some more. For almost ten years.

Martha went through a couple of changes, as I began to explore who she was, where her powers came from and why she could do the things that she could do. Eventually, very late on in exploring the plotline in which she was a paranormal investigator, I was introduced to two characters who took everything that I thought I had known about Martha and her world and smashed it to smithereens.

One was a demon. You can meet him in the second book of the saga - Art of War.

(Pssst… He’s on the cover.)

The other was a nephilim. And he quite literally told Martha - and me - who she really was. And what her whole purpose was. This meeting, this character, changed everything. And I knew he had to be a part of her story right from the start… And so I started over. And the world you see now was created.

Martha has been through a lot. And every change that I have made to her has stayed with her to some extent but she is now a fully-fledged character who is capable of carrying the weight of the story I want to tell and the world in which it is all set. She was ALWAYS an empath. Looking back, I can see that even in the oldest stories I wrote for her. It was right there. Hidden beneath the surface. Always a part of who she ways, even when I didn’t know it yet. Her empathy is her burden, but also her strength.

She is still evolving. But now with a purpose. And a goal.

I can empathise with that feeling. Writing was always my passion. Now I am an author and the world that has long been so personal to me is growing and evolving in ways I never saw coming. Rewriting the second book of the saga was truly a labour of love. It was a battle hard-won and taught me so many things. About myself, the characters and the world. And about writing in general. Like Martha, I almost gave up. But she kept on at me, kept niggling away in my head and we made it. We got that part of her story out and onto the page.

It was hard. But the end result was so worth the hardships. In many ways, I am much prouder of this book than the first. It is a piece of work that I am sure I will look back on, for many years and remember just how much trouble it gave me. But it was a story worth telling. As brutal as it was honest.

I am so glad to have such loyal readers along for this ride with me. You inspire me, keep me writing.

It’s scary, knowing you’re out there, but at the same time, so very exciting.

I can’t help but wonder what will happen next…

(SPOILER - I sort of already know. But you’ll have to wait and see. Sorry about that.)

You can find the Bloody Marytown saga on Amazon.

Thanks for your support, as always.

Happy reading!