Category Archives: Book releases

Posts relating to book releases and signings

In which the author publishes another book (again)

 

My new book, Haunted St Andrews, is published today (29 June). The list of contents should give you an idea what to expect:

 

Chapter 1  – The White Lady and The Haunted Tower

 

Chapter 2 – A Haunted Cluster – the Ghosts of The Pends, St Leonard’s School and Queen Mary’s House

 

Chapter 3 – Ghosts of Castle and Cloister

 

Chapter 4 – Ghosts of Town and Gown

 

Chapter 5 – Pitmilly House – Poltergeist Manor!

 

Chapter 6 – A Pair of Poltergeists

 

Chapter 7 – Death Warnings, Dead Air and Ghost Villages

 

I will be doing a book signing at the esteemed bookshop of J & G Innes, St Andrews on Saturday 21 July. Meanwhile, there will be articles on Haunted St Andrews in the Scottish Daily Mail (Saturday 30th June) and the Glasgow Herald (Sunday 8 July). There was going to be a televised interview on BBC’s Reporting Scotland, but they cancelled at the last minute (and there was me having ironed a clean shirt and shaved my manly stubble – honestly, the sacrifices I make for my public…)

 

Haunted St Andrews is published by The History Press at £9.99, and is available from your local high street bookshop or from Amazon.

 
 
 

In which the author appears on the wireless again…

 

On Wednesday 20 June I was interviewed on Dundee radio station Wave 102FM about Haunted St Andrews, which will be published on 29 June. The White Lady and the mummies of the Haunted Tower got an airing, which is nice, along with several other posh ghosts.

 

More events (book signings and talks) and media appearances (newspaper features) are on their way soon regarding Haunted St Andrews, so keep a weather eye out.

 
 
 
 

In which the author adds another ‘Fortean Freak Out’ podcast and does a book signing in Carlisle…

 

 

Carlisle, I see you. On Saturday 21st April I’m doing a book signing for Paranormal Cumbria at the Waterstones bookshop, 66-68 Scotch Street, Carlisle. I’ll be there from 11am to 3pm, so come along for a chat – but if you can’t make it on the day, call 0843 290 8217 to reserve a copy of the book and I’ll sign it for you to pick up later.

 

Paranormal Cumbria covers subjects such as the Cursing Stone of Carlisle – which brought beliefs from the Middle Ages into the Millennium – plus witchcraft and folk magic, twentieth-century sightings of fairies, examples of psychic powers, the phantom airships of World War One (which seem to be cultural precursors of the phantom UFOs of later decades), and the enduring mystery of the ‘Cumberland Spaceman’. The book has been covered recently on both BBC Radio Cumbria and Lakeland Radio.

 

And talking of matters Cumbrian and strange, the next edition of the Fortean Freak Out podcast is up and running, and its subject is taken from Paranormal Cumbria – the infamous Vampire of Croglin Grange. Which was probably not a vampire. Listen to my conclusions here.

 
 

In which the author publishes another book…

 

Paranormal Cumbria is officially published on 2 April. Here’s the contents list:

 

Chapter 1                  The Croglin Vampire and the Renwick Cockatrice

 

Chapter 2                  Witchcraft, Magic and the Devil

 

Chapter 3                  The Cursing Stone of Carlisle

 

Chapter 4                  Powers of the Mind

 

Chapter 5                  Fairies, Nature Spirits and Other Beings

 

Chapter 6                  The Mysterious Menagerie – from Big Cats and Black Dogs to Lake Monsters and Werewolves

 

Chapter 7                  From Scareships to the Solway Spaceman

 

 

More details on the book can be found here and on its own Facebook page here. There’s a promo video here.

 

There’ll be features on BBC Radio Cumbria and Lakeland Radio, as well as in a number of local newspapers. And I’ll be selling and signing copies at the Manchester Monster Convention on Saturday 14th April (where I’m giving a talk on the Croglin Vampire), plus signing copies in-store at Waterstones, Carlisle on Saturday 21st April (11am-3pm).

 

Paranormal Cumbria is also available from Amazon, on, and all good bookshops.

 
 

In which the Author launches another video book trailer…

 

There’s another video book trailer cannonading around cyberspace. The video for Paranormal Cumbria can be found on this website here, on youtube and at bookreel.tv.

 

The trailer was put together by Jamie Cook, webmaster of this parish, and the book itself is due out on March 31st.

 

 
 

In which the author launches Haunted Dundee with a signing at Waterstones…

 

My next book, Haunted Dundee, is published on 26th January. So, manic grin in place, I’ll be signing copies that day in the Dundee Waterstones branch.

 

The book explores several centuries of Dundonian hauntings. There are stories of poltergeists, malevolent entities, apparitions, strange sounds, doppelgangers, visionary experiences and much more. The incidents range from 1706 to the present day, and include the tales of the White Ladies of Coffin Mill and Balgay Bridge, the hauntings of the historic ships Discovery and Unicorn, and a host of personal ghost sightings told to me by contemporary eye-witnesses.

 

Other cases include some truly bizarre episodes of apparent hallucinations of ghostly individuals investigated by a distinguished psychiatrist who was also a member of the Society of Psychical Research.

 

To celebrate, I’ll be signing copies on Thursday 26th January at the Waterstones branch at 35 Commercial Street, Dundee. Map here!

 

 

I’ll be in store between 1 and 2.30 p.m. Ish. If you can’t make it at the time, you could always call the shop on 0843 290 8287 and ask them to reserve a copy, which I’ll sign for you to pick up later. (They’ll probably have copies of Paranormal Dundee for sale as well.)

 

Watch the trailer for Haunted Dundee now!