I had some great news. Amazon has selected the first three of the Mike Travis Paranormal Investigations series to feature in their Monthly Deals. Starting today all three are on offer for the princely sum of 99p each!

And for those who have been waiting patiently for the next one The Merlin Manuscript is with the proof reader and should be out in the next two weeks.

Paranormal Investigator Mike Travis’s day is about to get way past difficult. His friend, Jack Carter, has been kidnapped, and it all revolves around an old manuscript that was supposedly a copy of one made by Merlin himself before he was magically cast into a crystal cave by his lover and student, Nimue.
Who has Jack? And where is he? The trail leads Mike to the Inquisition, alive and well on the fringes of the Vatican, with their reaches in his own neighbourhood. They want the manuscript and what it refers to – Merlin and Excalibur. And they’ll do whatever they have to, to obtain their ends.
To save Jack, Mike has to journey back through the veil to Avalon accompanied by Benjamin Lovecraft, ex Catholic Priest and Exorcist, to claim Excalibur and find Merlin. The worlds of magic and legend collide to draw Mike into a quest that leads him to find more than a magician and a sword.
Meanwhile, something scary is happening to his infant daughter Adain. And Avalon seems to hold answers for her too.
Avalon lies mirrored through the veil behind Glastonbury, a mystical land of ancient worship and magic, lost in the mists of what was called long ago The Severn Sea, and Mike must find his way there to rescue Jack and help Adain.
Why not keep him company?

People ask me if Mike Travis is based on a real person. Well, I suppose he is in a way, or rather a composite of several people. Both my husband and I are ex-RAF, and so I do have a good insight into service life and the after-service life, which is handy when it comes to putting Mike in harm’s way and seeing how he deals with it all. There is possibly some of me in Beth, his wife, although I’m nowhere near as brave as she is. I don’t think I would have survived Crowsmoor!
It is interesting as an author to watch and listen to people, stopping short of blatant eavesdropping! Sometimes. And it is very difficult to resist putting someone you know directly into the story. But we all have very distinctive traits and characteristics which provide plenty of material for forthcoming characters. As they say, names and places have been changed to protect the innocent!
Mike had a whole lot of trouble recovering from serious injuries following his helicopter crash in Afghanistan, and to make it worse, something strange happened while he was clinically dead for several minutes. When he regained consciousness after extensive surgery, he discovered his problem. He could see spirits. And I don’t mean the kind that comes in a glass.
I can only imagine how such trauma would affect someone, and the terrifying possibility that you may be losing your mind. Thankfully, he gets his head around it and in true character decides to use the gift, rather than fear it. He’s big on duty and survival, which is an accurate assessment of most serving personnel.
As Mike’s investigations have progressed, and readers have come to know him and his family, I have introduced other issues that affect us in life. Some of the issues have been challenging to write, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is a big problem for many of our servicemen and women returning from war zones.
I am currently writing the seventh book in the series, (number six, The Merlin Manuscript, is out very soon) and over that time I have come to know Mike and his family well. I know how he walks and talks, his likes and dislikes, his friends and family, and I was delighted to read a recent review from a reader who said that she was now invested in the welfare of him and his family. This kind of feedback makes an author very happy, because it means that the character is as real to the reader as he or she is to the author. I think I stop short of talking out loud to them, but can’t be too sure!
It’s true to say that Mike does often wake me up at night, especially when I’m coming towards the end of a book, and the only thing to do if I want to get any sleep, is to get up and just write. Many authors say that their characters take on a life of their own and that they insist on behaving in a way that is far from the intended plot. Mike is like that, but his friend Jack Carter is the more impulsive of the two and the more inclined to give me this kind of hassle!
So, if you’re out and about, minding your own business, and you see someone watching you carefully, and apparently listening to your conversations, it’s probably not MI5, more likely just an author that has seen a potential new character. Or they may just like your coat. It’s all in the detail.

LAUCHING NEW BLOG 3-2-1 ….!

Hi there,

Not only is this a new blog, but it’s from a new blogger. I’m very excited about being able to keep in touch with all the lovely people that have read and liked my books, and indeed, those who have maybe just popped by out of curiosity!

I hope all my loyal readers will forgive the delay in creating the blog; I am computer illiterate in extremis! Until very (and I mean very) recently, a tablet was something you got from the doctor, the net was something on the end of a bamboo cane to go fishing for tiddlers, twitter was a pleasant sound in the garden and … well, you get the picture. So here goes, fingers crossed, salt over my shoulder, and hope that as the weeks go by, this will become a half decent blog. So it’s with a big thanks to Dave Lyons here at Raven Crest Books for all the support in getting this up and running.

For those who don’t know me from Adam, or more accurately, Eve, I am an author of paranormal fiction, published here at Raven Crest. I have loved all things ‘spooky’ or paranormal from first being able to read big words. I was often called to account for reading Dennis Wheatley when I should have been reading Enid Blyton, apparently (and quite honestly, the latter scared me more!), so it was ‘no contest’ when it came to deciding what to write about. The Mike Travis Paranormal Investigations have a considerable and loyal readership, and I am looking forward to being able to share news and chat with all of you. If you enjoy paranormal fiction and haven’t met Mike Travis yet, why not try Beginnings, which is a collection of five short stories to introduce him. If you want a longer read, the first in the series is The Crowsmoor Curse.

The world of the paranormal is vast, so it offers rich pickings for the author, and I love nothing more than delving into the dark regions of this world, as well as its lighter side. Yes, it does have a lighter side, and some down right funny, but maybe I’ll save that for another time.

One thing is obvious; since the dawn of time, the paranormal or supernatural have played a huge part in our psyche, whether it comes out in Stone Age burial practices or local folklore, past and present. The massive interest in ghost hunting programmes on the box shows that the curiosity into this realm is alive and well. So I hope that you enjoy the Mike Travis Paranormal Investigations and the articles and posts that will be forthcoming in this blog.

Please take the time to subscribe to the blog, I’d love to hear from you and maybe get to know you. If you have had any paranormal experiences to share, that would be cool. Who knows, they may find their way into Mike Travis’s investigations? I’d love to hear from you.

Back soon.