Creative Hodgepodge: Welcome Author Nell Dixon

Today I am pleased to host fellow Astraea Press author Nell Dixon. She's here to tell us about her newest release, Lights, Camera, Poltergeist!

Thank you so much for inviting me to your blog to talk about my latest release from Astraea Press. Lights, Camera, Poltergeist! will be my 21st title release! So a kind of coming of age.

For those who haven’t met me before my name is Nell Dixon and I’m a UK author based in the Black Country, a small region which is more or less dab bang in the middle of the UK. I write for a number of publishers in the US and the UK and have been fortunate enough to twice win the UK’s prestigious romance prize for category length fiction. I’m the only person to have won twice.

Lights, Camera, Poltergeist! is set in Scotland, and yes there is a man in a kilt in the story, but I’m not going to spoil the surprise!

Scotland is renowned for its whisky so here are a few whisky facts for you:

The word "whisky" comes from the Gaelic "uisgebeatha" which means "water of life".
Pure malt whisky is produced only from malted barley (barley which has started to germinate and then been dried to stop its germination).
Single malt whisky is identified by the particular distillery from which it comes.
Blended or vatted whisky is produced from various distilleries.
It is possible to get a malt whisky blended with other malt whiskies - but they are then not "single" malts.
There is archaeological evidence that an alcoholic drink was made in Scotland 6,000 years ago.

Taken from http://www.rampantscotland.com/know/blknow9.htm

There is a bit of whisky in Lights, Camera, Poltergeist! But not enough to explain away the ghostly goings on.

Here’s the blurb:

Things don’t just go bump in the night, sometimes they throw tea cups!

As the presenter for Ghost UK, the leading TV show investigating paranormal activity, Fae thought she’d seen it all. Until a Valentine’s Eve live show from Scotland’s Fingelly Manor upsets both her preconceptions and her love life.

And a wee taster!

John watched as she headed out of the room. Lately, it seemed he couldn't say or do the right thing, where Fae was concerned. He wasn't looking forward to the evening ahead of them any more than she was. Until Tim had sprung his hare-brained scheme for a live Valentine's show on them, John had planned a very different kind of evening with Fae.

Tonight he should have been enjoying an intimate dinner with her at their favourite restaurant, hoping he could put some romance back into their relationship. Instead they were to freeze to death in a cavernous and dingy dining room with the rest of the production team. Worse still, that lecherous creep, Giles, would be ogling Fae at every opportunity.

The room seemed to be growing colder by the minute. The elderly woman finished her ministrations by the fireplace, and a dull orange glow filled the hearth, accompanied by lots of smoke.

The tech staff had gone from the corridor as John crossed the room to stand closer to the meagre fire. No doubt they had slipped off to the kitchen in an attempt to scrounge up more mugs of tea.

He was tempted to go join them, but he really wanted to finish setting up the lighting and placing the motion sensors first.

Silence hugged him like a shroud as he concentrated on tightening the final connection. His breath formed ghostly clouds in the chill air. The fire next to him offered no more heat than a candle.

A growing sense of unease forced its way into his senses, raising goosebumps on his skin. John lifted his head, certain he was no longer alone in the room. At first he couldn't see the cause of the sensation.

A change in the shadows in the far corner of the room, next to a dusty case containing a long-dead fox, caught his gaze. A soft snicking sound followed, like a door being closed quietly. He blinked, unsure if he had imagined the momentary distortion in the oak panelling.

Lights, Camera, Poltergeist! is available from all good etailers, including: Amazon and Amazon UK (click the links to purchase your copy!)

And why not try Cue Me In, which also features Fae, John and the Ghost UK team? Find it HERE