The Wreck of the Demeter
A Fictional Shipwreck Based on a True Story
In my new release, Man of Shadow and Mist, the mysterious James Morgan arrives aboard a ship named the Demeter. Those of you who are Dracula buffs will instantly recognize that’s the same ship on which the famous vampire traveled to reach England. The Demeter may not be real, but it is based on the real-life shipwreck of the Russian schooner, the Dmitry.
The Dmitry suffered a “storm of great violence” when approaching England’s northern coast. As providence would have it, they did make it safely to port. But the next day, the sea was just as wicked and beat over the poor schooner. Her masts were destroyed with a huge crash and the crew abandoned her. The ship was reported to have been ballasted with silver sand. When Bram Stoker heard the tale, it gave him the inspiration to rename the ship and fill it with dirt from Dracula’s homeland.
So, if all this talk of tales and legends has you in the mood now for a good story, have I got one for you…
“The world seems full of good men—even if there are monsters in it.”
–Bram Stoker, Dracula
England, 1890
Vampires are alive and well in North Yorkshire, leastwise in the minds of the uneducated. Librarian Rosa Edwards intends to drive a stake through the heart of such superstitions. But gossip flies when the mysterious Sir James Morgan returns to his shadowy manor. The townsfolk say he is cursed.
James hates everything about England. The weather. The rumours. The scorn. Yet he must stay. His mother is dying of a disease for which he’s desperately trying to find a cure—an illness that will eventually take his own life.
When Rosa sets out to prove the dark gossip about James is wrong, she discovers more questions than answers. How can she accept what she can’t explain—especially the strong allure of the enigmatic man? James must battle a town steeped in fear as well as the unsettling attraction he feels for the no-nonsense librarian.
Can love prevail in a town filled with fear and doubt?
Sound interesting? You can pick up your copy of Man of Shadow and Mist at any bookseller or you can enter in the Rafflecopter drawing to win one of ten signed copies.