Lytefoot by Phillip D Curwood; a review by Diana Milne

The author, Phillip D Curwood, is not just giving away one copy of  a book, he has made his first book Arabella: A picture of Beauty free from today, 25th October, until midnight on the 27th.
Thank you, Phillip, for this wonderful gesture.

Please contact Phillip to discover how to get your copy!

By genre, this novella is classed as a ghost story or paranormal but it easily could fit into chiller, thriller, horror and for sheer tension for the reader, would sit proudly amongst peers in the psychological thriller genre...

Whilst it works well as a stand alone story, it is the follow on to Phillip D Curwood's previous story, Arabella: A Picture of Beauty, which introduces Nathan Rothwell, a famous crime fiction writer back in the '80s, whose hedonistic lifestyle spiralled him into a near breakdown after the death of his parents and his subsequent obsession for a beauty painted by John Constable, which turns his life upside down and sees him fall in love with her 200-year-old ghost until their lives are once more torn apart by vengeance, and murder.

In Lytefoot we meet the same team of ghosthunters that we met in Arabella  and once more Rothwell enters the story. To absolve himself of his guilt, Rothwell had recorded an admission on a smartphone before his death of what really took place the night his sister and Lytefoot Hall’s estate manager were murdered and his obsessive love for the ghost of the beautiful heiress, Lady Arabella Lytefoot, plus his struggle coming to terms with a dark entity, so twisted by rage that he could reach out and harm those in the material world...

The characters are all finely drawn and vivid, with realistic strengths and weaknesses and a believable and fast flowing dialogue holds the story together. The story is fast paced, one shock following on from another (and I am never sure whether it was me who was more shocked or the four ghost hunting protagonists!) and suddenly the host hunting quartet of Steve, Sarah, Rob (Robo) and Nigel find themselves in the middle of a scenario that they almost find is too big and too terrifying for them to handle and making them all confront parts of their past they thought they had left behind.

The author skillfully blends the past with modern technology to create an acute sense of chilling normality in the absurd and and chilling paranormal, mixing fact and fiction and sheer terror to thrill and chill and stop you from sleeping at night as you ponder 'what if...?' dragging us, the reader further and further into the maelstrom that is Lytefoot.

The author's own experience of the paranormal, couple with what must have been a serious amount of research into the subject, lead us, occasionally white knuckled and trembling, to the final well described and intense conclusion.

About Phillip D Curwood:

Born in the East Midlands, in 1962, the author, Phillip.D.Curwood had a working class upbringing. All his life he had wanted to be a writer, but as is usual, life got in the way of those dreams. It wasn't until 2013 that he started laying down ideas, that would eventually become the supernatural romance - Arabella: A Picture of Beauty. He says, "Being a writer has taught me a lot about myself, and the people around me. It's got to be the best job in the world!" The 54-year-old author lives in Derbyshire with wife, daughter, and cat in tow.

As a keen amateur historian, rambler, and lover of classic ghost stories, Phillip.D.Curwood gained his inspiration for Arabella from a portrait he stumbled across at the Newstead Abbey museum a few years ago; one of a beautiful 17th century heiress that still hangs there in the Great Hall. The fictional Lytefoot hall she resides in the story, is in reality the ruinous Annesley hall in North Nottinghamshire. Coupled with his love for East Anglia, the author set about creating his romantic debut novel, set in a fictional geographical region, on the wilds of the Suffolk coast... hoping that by end of the very last page, he shall have the reader reaching for their hanky...

Read more about Phillip Curwood here at Diana Talks to Phillip D Curwood. It is worth it!!

© Diana Milne October 2017

Diana talks to... Phillip.D.Curwood

Hello Phillip. It is really lovely to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to chat like this. I hope I have come up with some unusual questions for you!

First things first I am sure there is a question that you have always longed to be asked. Now is the chance. Ask your own question and answer it!

Q. Where do you see yourself in ten years time?

A. On the bestseller list, and maybe one of my novels adapted for film or TV.

What is the genre you are best known for?

The genre I’ve been writing has classic leanings toward Bronte-style Paranormal Romance/ Horror, although my latest work will venture more into Sci fi fantasy.

If your latest book Lytefoot was adapted into a TV show or a film, who would you like to play the lead role?

The characters I created for this particular book were people that I actually knew, so really, and have no idea who’d play one of the five protagonists, Steven Runcombe. However, the actress Brenda Blethyn would be fitting as the guardian, Suzanne Bentley.

What made you choose this genre?

For years I’ve had a profound interest in the paranormal. My curiosity grew after living in a haunted house for 13-years of my life and witnessing things that would indeed frighten the faint-hearted.

How do you get ideas for plots and characters?

The character, Arabella, in my debut novel – Arabella: A Picture of Beauty - came to me quite by accident when I stumbled across a beautiful 17^th-century portrait of a Lady Jane Smijth, attributed to a Sir Godfrey Kneller. Other characters are taken from my life, or off the TV.

Plots are inspired by music I listen to.

Favourite picture or work of art?

John Constable to me is the demigod of art. The landscapes he paints elicits feelings of euphoria in me and really is beyond the realm of the living.

If, as a one off, (and you could guarantee publication!)  you could write anything you wanted, is there another genre you would love to work with and do you already have a budding plot line in mind?

The novel I’m writing at this moment in time is one that I’ve always wanted to put down on paper... if there is such a thing these days. The genre is a Sci fi fantasy romance set in the years 2017 and 1973 and will be a heartfelt story, heavily laden with nostalgia from that period.

Was becoming a writer a conscious decision or something that you drifted into (or even something so compelling that it could not be denied?) How old were you when you first started to write seriously.

Basically, I’ve always wanted to be a writer since a very young age, but love and life got in the way, until recently.

Marmite? Love it or hate it?

Love it, love it, love it!

Do you have any rituals and routines when writing? Your favourite cup for example or ‘that’ piece of music...??

Before I even think about writing, I have to eat an apple... then make a huge mug of Americano – black, no sugar. If I don’t, my writing goes asunder.

I promise I won’t tell them the answer to this, but when you are writing, who is more important, your family or your characters?

My family comes first. And as a carer for my severely disabled daughter, she is more important to me than the books I write. (Total respect. DMM.)

Other than writing full time, what would be your dream job?

Ooh! Archaeologist. Besides myself, I love old things.

Coffee or tea?Red or white?

Black Americano coffee. Earl Grey tea. I don’t drink alcohol and haven’t done so in 30-years.

How much of your work is planned before you start? Do you have a full draft or let it find its way?

Stories are mostly inspired by the music I listen to. From there, whatever transpires does so as if I’m watching a film in my head.

If you had free choice over the font your book is printed in, what font/fonts would you choose?

I love the smooth flow of a Freestyle Script any day.

Imagine that you could get hold of any original source document. What would it be?

The only original source I know comes from a bottle.

Have any of your characters ever shocked you and gone off on their own adventure leaving you scratching your head??? If so how did you cope with that!?

Like most writers, I don’t have full control over my story, or the characters within it. More often than not, it will head in a direction of its own device, which leads to many frustrating moments.

How much research do you do and do you ever go on research trips?

For my latest novel, soon to be released, I did indeed go on a research trip to Helmsley in North Yorkshire. However, being a keen rambler, my feet have trodden the York Moors on many occasions this past 30 years.There is much to inspire up north!

Fiction authors have to contend with real characters invading our stories. Are there any ‘real’ characters you have been tempted to prematurely kill off or ignore because you just don’t like them or they spoil the plot?

I love all my characters, so bottom line – No.

Are you prepared to go away from the known facts for the sake of the story and if so how do you get around this?

That would be a dangerous thing for a writer to do unless he is well researched and confident enough.

Do you find that the lines between fact and fiction sometimes become blurred?

No.

Have you ever totally hated or fallen in love with one of your characters?

This has been a secret of mine for a while now, but I have indeed fallen for one of my female characters, although I’m not saying which one... and before you say it; no, it’s not Arabella.

What do you enjoy reading for pleasure?

Classic literature - Jane Austen. H.G Wells. The Brontes. Charles Dickens... and last but not least, the great modern writer, Dan Brown.

What drink would you recommend drinking whilst reading your latest book?

Coffee or Earl Grey tea.

Last but not least... favourite author?

Dan Brown... I have all his works to date. He’s such an inspiring, thought provoking scribe.

About Lytefoot:

To absolve himself of his guilt, the famous crime author, Nathan Rothwell, recorded an admission on a smartphone before his death, of what really took place the night his sister and Lytefoot hall’s estate manager were murdered; his obsessive love for the ghost of the beautiful heiress, Lady Arabella Lytefoot, and his struggle coming to terms with a dark entity, so twisted by rage and jealousy because of his love for her, that he could reach out and harm those in the material world.

A year later, the phone, which was never wiped after forensics, falls into the hands of a 21-year-old trainee police officer, Steven Runcombe, after the 8-month long investigation concluded Nathan Rothwell, even in death, was still guilty of the crimes of murder.

Heeding Nathan’s story though, gave Steve a curious thirst for the supernatural, especially after also discovering his close friend, Rob Slatterley, had witnessed the smiling spectre of his girlfriend, not long after her funeral.

Armed with borrowed ghost hunting equipment and the dead author's smartphone, Steve, Rob, along with two other reluctant friends, head over to Lytefoot Park to seek the truth about the afterlife, while trying to uncover more of Nathan Rothwell’s story.

However, what they didn’t envisage, was the danger they’d put themselves in, the minute they entered the quaint Suffolk village of Thydon le Marsh, which led over to Lytefoot's encompassing 400-acre estate.

But the more they discovered, the more the park and village seemed a foreboding place to the four youngsters. A place where the shades of the past reveal themselves in unusual ways, and where reality ceased to exist long ago.
Buy Phillip's books here... they are worth it!!

© Diana Milne January 2017 © (Phillip.D.Curwood)