Publication Day

And....it's here! Winterscroft is finally out in the big, wide world. It had to be written, it has been, and now it belongs to everybody. That's a scary thought. And don't just dismiss it as just another spooky thing that can't possibly happen, because it began in my head many years ago following one particular incident.

Dave was home one weekend (HGV drivers don't get home too much!) and we decided to go down into the Sheffield city centre. Siân was about nine or ten, and Kirsty would have been about three.

We walked down Fargate and I paused to look in W H Smiths window. Everything around me stopped. The air was completely still and cool despite the summer sun and there were no sounds. At all. I remember turning and seeing Dave and the girls continuing to walk; three girls. Siân was holding Dad's hand, then there was another little girl around six years old holding onto Siân's right hand, and Kirsty was at the outer edge, holding on to the little girl's other hand. I knew it was my three daughters. It lasted maybe ten seconds and then suddenly movement and sound began again and the middle child had gone.

Bethan, our middle daughter, was born in December 1976, and she died two days later. I hadn't been thinking about her (December is my 'bad' time for that) and up to that point I hadn't had feelings either way about paranormal activity.

I said nothing to Dave and the girls, hugged it to myself and knew it meant something, but I didn't know what. All the way through Winterscroft, you will find reference to the air standing still; it is still very real, that moment, to me now.

Essence of Lavender (now Winterscroft) was the result of that day.

I hope everyone enjoys it, but it is such a huge part of me that it had to be written whether people accept it or not. Not everybody likes paranormal. This will be my only one, it's back to murder, necessary murder now!