Please Welcome Author Nell Dixon

Today I am so pleased to once again welcome fellow Astraea Press author Nell Dixon. Nell is a very prolific author, having books available from ten publishers – so far! She is from the Black Country in England (I admit, I had to hunt down a map to find out it's the part of England closest to Wales) and in addition to writing, she has a passion for cathedral architecture. She also likes walking, gardening, art, and travelling with her family. She was recently here to share her Valentine novella, Lights, Camera, Poltergeist! and now she has yet another book to share with us.

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Thank you for inviting me to talk about Radio Gaga, my new chick lit suspense story. I’m excited about this book as it’s my first mainstream full length title for over eighteen months. Set in the world of local radio it has a fun and upbeat heroine and a dark, mysterious hero. Ben, the hero, is a former soldier wounded in Afghanistan he wants a quiet life and time to recover. Chloe is impulsive, accident prone and longs to be famous. Hardly the perfect match!

Here's the blurb for Radio Gaga:

Over the airwaves everyone can hear you scream!

Radio researcher and part-time presenter Chloe Lark is certain her big show biz break is just around the corner. Live it Up radio may not be the big time, but surely - one day soon - fame will come her way. And, if she could convince the hunky guy next door to give her a chance, her love life might improve too.

Ex-soldier Ben isn’t sure if his new ‘Z’ list celebrity neighbour is crazy or on medication. Either way he’s looking for a quiet life out of the spotlight. The last thing he needs is an accident prone media hungry blonde complete with mystery stalker. Problem is - Chloe doesn’t seem to have received that particular memo…

Here’s an excerpt!

I knew it wasn’t burglars when I noticed the large empty space next to the bay window. No self-respecting burglar would break into someone’s home just to steal a life size cardboard cut-out of Darth Vader would they?

No, it wasn’t burglars who’d nicked Darth or who’d cleared the shelf of the Queen CDs. It was Neil. He’d finally moved out, and taken Freddie Mercury and the Dark Lord with him as he went.

For a moment I stood trying to decide how I felt. Angry? Broken-hearted? In the time it took me to cross the room, enter the kitchen and dump my handbag on the worktop I decided my overwhelming feeling was relief.

Neil had raided the kitchen too: his state of the art coffee maker which I hadn’t been allowed to touch was gone, along with his juicer and his super fancy wok. Only a couple of spilled coffee beans on the countertop showed where they had been. I looked at the clippie magnet on the fridge to see if he’d left me a note. We’d always left messages for each other one there. A few months back they had been little love notes with kisses and pictures of hearts. Now the only thing on there was the ratty message I’d left for him yesterday asking him to pick up some milk on his way home.

I walked back through the lounge to what had once been our bedroom. The wardrobe doors were open showing the empty hangers and his rack of immaculately arranged ties had gone. My mobile vibrated in my trouser pocket telling me I had a text as I sank down onto the edge of the bed. I knew what it would be before I even fished it out of my pocket.

‘Chloe, guess you know by now have moved out, thought would be better this way. U know it wasn’t working, sorry, N’

© Nell Dixon 2013

Radio Gaga is available at Amazon, AmazonUK

Nell can be found on Facebook, at her Blog, her Website, and on Twitter (@NellDixon)

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.

© Nell Dixon 2013

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