For quite a while, I had a dilemma.

Should I write the serious stuff?

About real women of the past. The women whose voices have been buried in archives for hundreds of years.

Or should I write the fun stuff?

Witches. Magic. Castles. Ridiculous friendships. Women in their middle years discovering they have powers.

So I found a solution, I did what any non-sensible writer would do.

I wrote both.

I also couldn’t decide between my two favourite countries to write about – Ireland or Italy.

So naturally…

I did both of those too.

This is the book I’ve been obsessed with writing for the past three years.

It’s a historical novel set in 17th-century Italy, inspired by a truly extraordinary series of events recorded by the Inquisition.

When I discovered the testimonies of fifty-five nuns and several exorcists, describing demonic possession, forbidden relationships, a princess-abbess and a witch hunt inside a Poor Clares convent, I knew I had to write it. How could I not?

The result is The Cloister Witch of Carpi.

It’s dark. It’s atmospheric. It’s about women of wisdom, power, love, obsession, possession and what happens when women’s voices and creativity have no outlet. It was an unsolved mystery I had to solve.

And yes, many of the events behind the story really happened. All the characters are based on real people.

I’ve spent three years researching, writing, rewriting and often wondering why on earth I’d decided to take on something quite so enormous.

Now it’s finished.

And I am nearly sick with excitement and nerves about finally letting it out into the world.

The Cloister Witch of Carpi will be out on 4th December in ebook, paperback, KU and Audible! Pre-order the ebook here or on your Amazon store.

And then there’s the bonkers book: The Castle Witches: Kissing the Blarney Stone

This book is the complete opposite.

It has been bubbling away in the cauldron of my mind for quite a while, and while I was in the final, exhausting stages of writing The Cloister Witch of Carpi, I desperately needed some light relief.

So I pulled out my notes about my Irish castle witches I’d made years ago and promptly fell in love with them all over again.

There are witches, Irish castles, ancient magic, ridiculous friends, a midlife divorce… And there is a billionaire golf resort owner destroying land, dark forces and a lot of tea.

It’s the first book in a new Paranormal Women’s Fiction series. I’m already halfway through drafting book two, because there are multiple fictional castle witches in my head demanding books to be written about them.

The Castle Witches – Kissing the Blarney Stone will be out on 24th October in ebook and KU. Pre-order it here or on your Amazon store.

So… which witch are you?

The witchy contemporary one?

Witches. Chaos. Fantasy. Ireland.

Funny, magical Paranormal Women’s Fiction with a serious message or two.

OR

The dark historical one?

Witches. Nuns. The Inquisition. Secrets. Italy

Epic historical fiction inspired by a true story from 17th-century Italy.

Which one would you pick? Tell me in the comments!

Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing lots more about both books here and on social media—the real stories behind them, the women who inspired them, the research rabbit holes I’ve fallen down, and bizarre coincidences that have happened while writing them!