Stephanie Keyes

Today I am thrilled to have as my guest, the very talented Kathryn Brown. Kathryn is on the blog tour for the re-launch of her book Discovery At Rosehill. Thanks for joining us!

Thank you for having me on your blog, Stephanie. It was ten and a half years ago when life as I knew it came to an end. At 7.15am on Wednesday 25^th July 2001, my dad passed away after suffering a fatal heart attack. It was, and still is, the biggest shock of my life and I knew then that the path I was treading had come to an abrupt end. It was never a question of what to do next because from that day on, I knew exactly which path I would take. Six weeks later I packed my bags and moved myself and my daughter 200 miles north to a beautiful part of Northumberland. There, I started a new life on the sheep and arable farm I now run with my husband, the Farmer. I’d known James since summer 1993 when I’d stayed in a holiday cottage on the farm with my parents. They started visiting Northumberland in 1991 and were adamant that I should be introduced to its beautiful surrounding countryside. When I first set eyes on the farm on which I now live, a huge part of me knew I was destined to be here. I was happily married at the time to my first husband, and we lived quite contentedly in the south east of England in a place called Aylesbury. But the marriage wasn’t to last and we amicably parted company in May 1996.

When I moved to the farm, it felt like I was coming home. Just like in the book, the house was in need of renovation yet had a warm glow around its walls. Moving here was most definitely meant to be, something I realised not long after moving in and finding the house filled with spirit energy. A regular visitor to the house is my dad, and he made sure I knew of his presence as soon as I began my new life in Northumberland. It took little time for me to settle in, find my bearings and become a part of the community, and in May 2003, I married my lovely farmer in a fairy-tale wedding at Bamburgh Castle, quite close to where we live. Everyone I loved was in attendance at the wedding. Including my dad.

A lot has happened in my life during these past ten years, some good, some bad. Being epileptic hasn’t helped, especially when I lost my driving licence for two years. We are so isolated here, but I have the most wonderfully supportive husband who has stood by me through thick and thin and welcomed my daughter, Amy, now 12, into his life with open arms. For the past seven years she has called him Dad. So fitting for such an incredible man.

After my father-in-law passed away in 2007, I decided to concentrate on writing Discovery at Rosehill and based it partly on myself. As someone who is sensitive to the world of spirit I knew it would be the perfect genre for my debut novel. Setting up my computer on my late father’s antique desk, I got to work. In between an unfortunate bout of epileptic seizures, it took me three years to write the book, which included research and editing. It’s fair to say my work has been heavily influenced and inspired by my home as well as my father and my father-in-law. I learned from a medium two years ago that I have seven male spirits protecting me, some of whom still reside in the house. I know two of them are my father-in-law and my husband’s grandfather; the smell of tobacco is very often prevalent as is the aroma of TCP which my father-in-law used every single day for many years before his passing.

Many of the paranormal experiences that my main character, Camilla, has in the book have been taken from my own experiences that I’ve had since moving to the farm. Some didn’t need much work to make them sound interesting whilst others were elaborated slightly. To have written about the paranormal in a fictional way was amazing for me because I am so fascinated by it. Adding a love story into the mix made it all the more exciting. Whenever I look at the front cover, I remember the pure enjoyment I got out of writing about Camilla and Marcus, about Rosehill and how I’d based it on my own house. Some days the words just flowed onto the page and they were the times I felt a presence beside me. Other days I would walk around the house, sit in my red leather chair for a while and stare into space. Meditation doesn’t come easy to me because of the dangers it could cause with my epilepsy, but so often I was able to relax my mind and just think about Rosehill and about the many spirits that would grace its rooms.

The novel I’m currently working on isn’t paranormal, but is a murder mystery. I’ve incorporated a romance into it but the main focus of the story is the mystery surrounding the sudden death of a male character. I finished the first draft in November last year and hope to have it edited and ready for submission just after Easter. I was more disciplined with my second novel than I was with Discovery at Rosehill. Personal circumstances overwhelmed my progress on my debut novel but I decided to meticulously plan the second one. Once my daughter returned to school last September, I was able to sit down and write. It took just two months to finish that first draft and even though I suspect a considerable amount of structural and grammatical edits will take place, it’s a book of which I will be proud to have my name on the front cover.

Discovery At Rosehill

Finding your dream home is difficult enough, but what if you found it and then discovered it was haunted? Medium Camilla Armstrong is led to the beautiful Rosehill country estate after communication with her deceased grandmother. On first inspection she senses tranquillity within the house; the gentle atmosphere of a Georgian manor that is crying out for new life. But when she moves in, Camilla discovers the house contains a dark secret, one which is to change her life forever.

When The Reverend Marcus Calloway introduces himself to her, a friendship develops and Camilla realises she could at last have found her true love. But all is not what it seems when further spirit contact confirms that Marcus harbours a guilty secret.

Spirit communication, manifestations and an eerie atmosphere all add to Camilla’s new surroundings as she tries hard to decipher mixed messages and a life she never knew existed. An open mind is all she asks for as her relationship with Marcus grows and the secrets of Rosehill are discovered with help from her relatives of a world beyond our own. 

Discovery At Rosehill is available

• Amazon US
• Amazon UK
• Barnes and Noble

About the Author

Kathryn Brown runs a sheep and arable farm in Northumberland, United Kingdom. She lives with her daughter, Amy, and her husband, The Farmer. Amy is twelve years old and autistic; Amy is Kathryn's whole life. She loves being a part of online social networking and especially enjoys interaction on her blog. She is currently working on her second novel, Hideaway. Kathryn blogs at Crystal Jigsaw and Marvellous Mabel. Follow her on Twitter or friend her on Facebook.

There’s an old adage that claims “everyone has a book in them.” I don’t know about anyone else, but I can certainly vouch for myself—especially after the bizarre events of my first, short-lived but long-remembered marriage.  I must have known even as I was living through the nightmare that it would one day find its way onto the pages of a book. In fact, as I scrawled copious streams of consciousness into my journal, I was inadvertently laying the books foundation. These were notes that would later help me recall the innermost feelings and thoughts I experienced while in the throes of the storm. 

Author Bonnie Trachtenberg

In Wedlocked, you’ll meet perfectionist Pollyanna Rebecca Ross, a thirty-six-year-old struggling actress. After years of disappointment and heartache Rebecca finds herself catapulted into a disastrous marriage and onto a hilariously hellish and unforgettable honeymoon. But all the things she discovers about herself during the ordeal are her saving grace. One of the most crucial, is that we can be worthy of love without being a perfect person, and sometimes it’s our flawed human nature that makes us more loveable than anything else.