Sitting Round my Pool: Melanie Robertson -King

I am delighted to have the lovely Melanie Robertson-King, all the way from Canada, sitting round my pool and talking about her latest book, a paranormal romantic suspense.

Take it away Melanie…

Thanks for inviting me back to your lovely home in the Canary Isles Pauline. It’s been a long time since I’ve sat by your pool and visited with you.

You thought I would perish in the heat this time of year, but in what has been an unusual summer in Eastern Ontario, Canada, our temperatures are just as high. We’re begging for rain being in a drought situation. Unfortunately, I can see when the rain finally comes it will be a deluge and will run off before it does any good.

But enough of that, I’m dying to tell you about my new book, The Secret of Hillcrest House, a paranormal romantic suspense. Recently divorced, Jessica Maitland wants to make a clean break from her past. Police Constable, Alain Fournier still mourns the death of his wife. And then there’s the house and the supernatural occurrences that take place within its four walls.

When I was younger I loved reading and telling ghost stories, some scarier than others. If a house had a turret on it, it had to be haunted. If the house happened to be a bit run-down then so much the better.

I first saw the house that graces the cover of the book when I went as a chaperone on my son’s school trip to Quebec City back in 1993. Since then, every time we’ve been in the area, I’ve always had to drive by it and take pictures. I knew that eventually that house and the village it’s in would become the setting for one of my books, I just didn’t know how it would come about. The most recent trip was in November 2014 when I took a number of photographs of it from the streets to encompass as much of the house as possible.

1 "Hillcrest House" November 2014

Yes, the house in the picture above looks somewhat spooky, but a change to Black & White made a huge difference, followed by making the sky transparent. I had an idea of what I wanted for the background so I scoured the stock photo sites and finally decided on a full moon and cloudy sky image from Shutterstock.

2 After the special effects

Don’t you agree that this layered image makes the house look haunted?

Before I bore your readers any more than I already have, here’s the finished cover and book blurb.

Sometimes there's more to a house than bricks and mortar.

Hillcrest House is one such place. Perched on a cliff in the picturesque town of Angel Falls, there is more to this Victorian mansion than meets the eye. When referring to the house, the locals use the word haunted on a regular basis. Strange visions appear in the windows, especially the second-floor ones over the side porch. Even stranger events take place within its four walls.

Rumour has it, the original owners, Asher and Maggie Hargrave, never left their beloved home. They claim the couple and their family are responsible for driving people away. Over the years, Hillcrest House has changed hands numerous times. No one stays long. Renovations begin then stop and the house is once more abandoned. The latest in this long line of owners is Jessica Maitland.

Will Jessica be the next one to succumb or will she unravel the mystery of the haunting of Hillcrest House?

Melanie Robertson-King's latest novel serves up a delightful blend of the supernatural and spicy romance, Lynn L. Clark, author of The Home Child, and Fire Whisperer & Circle of Souls: Two Novellas of the Supernatural, & The Accusers

Intrigue, dark buried secrets, hot romance and a neat twist in the tale make this riveting reading, Sheryl Browne, MA Creative Writing, Choc Lit Author

A fun read that keeps you guessing right up to the surprise ending, Dayna Leigh Cheser, Author of Janelle's Time, Moria's Time, Adelle's Time, & Logan's Time

Buy Links:

amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

About Melanie Robertson-King

A native of Eastern Ontario, during her pre-school years, Melanie lived in a winterized cottage on the shore of the St Lawrence River. Prior to her starting school, her family moved to Brockville where she received her education, including a post–secondary degree in Computer Programming.

Growing up as an only child, Melanie was an avid reader, and remains so to this day. It was through this love of the written word that she knew that one day she would become a writer. When she wasn’t talking about her dream of becoming an author, she wrote stories and began honing her skills at an early age.

Her father was a Scottish national, who came to Canada as a ‘Home Child’ through the auspices of The Orphan Homes of Scotland. She promised herself that one day she would travel to her father’s homeland to see where he was born and raised. That first trip was in 1993 and she’s not looked back since, having returned to the “auld country” a further seven times and is looking forward to trip number eight. On one of her many trips to Scotland, Melanie had the honour of meeting Princess Anne (The Princess Royal).

Melanie began her professional writing career in non-fiction. Eight of her articles have been published, with one being an international feature cover article. At the same time she continued to develop her writing voice: short stories (both fiction and non–fiction) as well as novel length work.

A Shadow in the Past, Melanie’s debut novel, was published by 4RV Publishing in the summer of 2012. Melanie even made the trip to the Kansas Book Festival in September to celebrate the launch of her novel and met her publisher and editor face–to–face for the first time, along with two other authors from the publishing house.

Other works by Melanie include a compilation of short stories, The Consequences Collection; and a children’s chapter book geared to ages 7–11, Tim’s Magic Christmas. Her short story, Cole’s Notes, was included in EFD1: Starship Goodwords – a cross genre anthology (Carrick Publishing, 2012).

Author Links:

Website | Celtic Connexions Blog | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Pinterest | 4RV Publishing
A Loveahappyending Lifestyle magazine Columnist

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you are as interested as I am with Melanie's latest book.

Until next time, I hope the sun is shinning on your face and in your heart.

Pauline

xxx