The Mysterious Happenings at Greenwood's Castle.

 If a writer suddenly stops posting on their blog or social media, you know you are in for something good. I see I have been over two months from making a post but there is an excellent reason for it. It's called, "The Mysterious Happenings at Greenwood's Castle." 

This one is a stand alone novel. It ties in history with murder, mystery, and intrigue. It contains Prohibition Era glimpses (That's the 1920s when alcohol was banned.) It also contains ghosts, hauntings, and skeptics. It contains a love story and it contains family secrets.

Growing up around history, it is sometimes so difficult not to take it for granted. In your younger years you never really think of the days when those around you aren't going to be there for you, that the places you grew up with aren't always going to be there. This particular novel came to be from two picture, an obscure print, and my affinity toward the 1920s Era. Granted, the photos are more likely from the 1930s or 1940s, they still sparked my imagination. 

I found the photographic inspiration in an antique mall back in the late 1990s/early 2000s. I love antique malls and stores. There is so much within them to spark imaginations. Some pieces just speak. I was both horrified and intrigued when I found vendors selling old photos. Horrified because it's every family genealogist's nightmare, trying to find a "missing" ancestor only to find that no one has those photos anymore because someone didn't think any one would "want these old things." (The HORROR!) And they could either throw them away or sell them to the antique vendor.  But I'm intrigued because I love history, I enjoy seeing the different ways people spent their time. Neither photo had any writing on the back so I can't ever know who these inspirations to my imagination are. (I suppose thank you is in order to whomever it was that sold their family history. If you are a genealogist who sees these and goes, "Oh my gosh! That's great-great-Uncle Bob!" then by all means, let me know.)

Now keep in mind, that just because I saw a story in these, it does not mean that is what my character looks like. I just saw a story and decided to write it. As I said, these photographs are likely from the 30s and pre-War 1940s.

This photo is in one of those old-times picture holders below. The design is so elegant. The photographer was an S.A. Barton out of Appleton, MN.

There were no markings on the back of this photo at all. 

But what really gave my inspiration a direction was this painting. I honestly had no idea who the artist was or where I saw this at, but I was able to do a search based on a faded picture that I had (We've come a long way since dial up!) and found these on the Media Storehouse website and looks like it's by Mary Evans. This is a screenshot grabbed from that site. It shows details even better than the old faded image I had....

It's amazing what can be found wandering an antique mall on a rainy Sunday or escaping the heat on a summer day. There were so many things in that huge space that I'd love to go back to it again. But, that was over 20 years ago and the business is no longer there. But it did give me hours upon hours of research (this is back when the internet was still new and you had to have a modem to dial up to your service provider. Only businesses in cities had DSL.) I filled numerous notebooks and composition books for this story only. I developed character profiles, a family tree, and even floor plans based on late 1800 mansions in the United States. This novel was a joy to write and I am happy to bring it to you. 

So, mostly mystery with some ghosts to spur you one, The Mysterious Happenings at Greenwood's Castle is available for pre-order on Kindle at www.amazon.com/author/embrooks. It is due out for release on Friday, April 26th. At that point, it will be available in paperback and hardcover at Amazon, paperback and Nook at barnesandnoble.com, and on your Apple Books apps.

If you'd like to have a sample of the first chapter of The Mysterious Happenings at Greenwood's Castle on my website by clicking on the book's title. 

There is always an adventure in an Em Brooks book!

You can find all ELEVEN of my currently published books online at www.amazon.com/author/embrooks, at barnesandnoble.com, and on Apple Books! They are available in eBook, paperback, and hardcover! Please tell your favorite Barnes and Noble brick and mortar locations to carry all of my books in paperback so you can find them there too!

Be sure to visit my website at https://sites.google.com/view/theauthorembrooks/home and keep up to date with my writing here on blogspot or subscribe at embrooks.substack.com.  Follow me on Facebook at Facebook.com/theauthorembrooks and on Instagram at instagram.com/theauthorembrooks.