Christine Campbell | Novels Now

Novelist Christine Campbell has taken up the creative baton and continues Lady Mary’s story, below:

Lennox raised his hand to his head and groaned.

Mary ran to him and knelt where he lay. “Oh, my love. My love.” She took his hand in hers. “Who did this terrible thing to you?”

“Duff?” Lennox tried to sit up.

“He’s here.” Mary indicated where the dog lay panting beside Alfie. “He’s hurt too, but he is here. I ask again, who did this dreadful deed?” Her hand hovered above his face, longing to stroke that dear cheek where blood flowed from the ugly gash, but afraid she might cause further pain.

Lady Grizel stepped forward. “I ask you again, Mary, will you please go to your room. I shall deal with this.”

Mary straightened her back, though she still knelt beside Lennox. “No, Ma’am, I will not.”

“Please, Mary.” Lennox clasped her hands and held them to him. “Please do as my mother says. It is better you hear no part of this.” He raised himself on one elbow, preparing to get up from the floor.

“But, why? Why do you protect me like this? Something dreadful is happening and I need to know what it is.”

“But you are ill, my love.”

“No! No, I am well. You tell me I have been ill, but see …” She held out her hand, willing it to be steady, not to allow the dreadful shaking that she felt in her body to show in her outstretched hand. “See, I am stronger now. I am well.”

Great infusion of family tension there, from Christine Campbell. Thank you, Christine.

The latest release in Christine’s growing list of reluctant detective titles, is

TRACES OF RED.

She also blogs and you can find her entertaining words at Writewhereyouare

Christine Campbell

Christine Campbell, novelist, Women’s Contemporary fiction is the first Fascinating I Am subject of 2015. welcome to Novels Now, Christine.

First of all, I have to say, “What a heading to live up to!” I doubt if ‘fascinating’ is an adjective often used of me — but I like it!

Fascinating Fact One:

I don’t have a favourite colour, book, song, child or grandchild.

Just as I love different colours for different reasons because they are all different, so it is with books, songs, my children, and my grandchildren. I think it is amazing how love stretches and deepens. When stretched, it doesn’t get thinner so it can go further. It just grows and makes it possible to love more.

Fascinating Fact Two:

When I was approaching forty, I decided I’d like to trace my birth father. The only thing I knew about him was his name because it was on my birth certificate.

We only met once, so I didn’t recognise him when I found him.

All those years ago, he saw me, but, since I was only ten days old and asleep at the time, I missed the opportunity to see him.

The best thing to come out of it was, when I found him, I also discovered I had a half brother and three half sisters. I feel very close to the oldest of the sisters, and our brother, in particular. Once again, love grew and made room in my heart to fall in love with them too. Things didn’t go so well with the other two sisters, as they resented my ‘intrusion’ into their lives and rejected the sisterly love I offered.

I have been able to draw on the methods I used to find my father in some of my writing. Especially in Family Matters, my first published novel.

Fascinating Fact Three:

There is a theme that recurs in some of my novels, related to the search for my father, and that is my fascination with missing people, tracing people, and finding people.

I have five published novels.

Having always loved books and reading, it is a tremendous thrill to have my own books there on my bookshelf alongside some of my favourites. (Still don’t have A favourite! )

Fascinating Fact Four:

I am 26 years old.

I know, I know, my oldest child is well into his forties, and I have ten grandchildren, but, in my heart, I’m 26 years old.

I don’t intend getting any older, no matter what age I look, no matter the walking frame, the poor hearing, the poor eyesight, the poor health. I am rich in so many other ways.

At a cuddly 4’11’, I’m also tall, slim and beautiful.

Fascinating Fact Five:

I am totally addicted to chocolate.

So there you have it: fascinating is still not an adjective you’ll probably want to use to describe me 🙂

~~~

Christine is the author of five novels: Family Matters, Making it Home, Flying Free, Here at the Gate and her latest release,

Searching for Summer

Searching For summer is the first novel in The Reluctant Detective Series.

Mirabelle’s daughter, Summer, disappears one Friday night, and Mirabelle would dearly love to rewind that day and live it differently. Instead, she is left not knowing if Summer is alive or dead, went of her own accord or was taken against her will.

Casting all other concerns aside – food, sleep, work, relationships – in her desperate need to find the answers, she takes to the streets of Edinburgh in search of Summer.

Searching along wynds snaking behind old buildings, through ancient doors and tiny spiral stairways, showing Summer’s photograph to everyone she meets in shops, museums and nightclubs, Mirabelle becomes a reluctant detective, gathering clues, trying to make sense of them in order to find her missing daughter.

Set in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland,

“Mirabelle loved living in Edinburgh: loved the atmosphere created by a city whose main shopping street looked across the road to a castle, Edinburgh Castle standing guard over Princes Street, its severe façade softened by the gardens skirting it, the gardens themselves cocooned from the bustle and noise, folded into their own tree-lined valley, with paths dipping into and out of its depths.

She knew the adage, Edinburgh was ‘all fur coat and nae knickers.’ She was well acquainted with its underbelly, its darker side, saw its dirty linen, but loved it anyway.”

Mirabelle leads us through the streets of Edinburgh, up hills and through wynds, into parks and garden, and hidden courtyards. We get to see Edinburgh and Mirabelle at their best and worst as Mirabelle searches for her daughter — and keeps finding other people.

Searching for Summer

Available to buy now

on Amazon

FeadaRead.com

http://www.feedaread.com/books/Searching-for-Summer-9781785104879.aspx