Kristina Schram
When author, Kristina Schram, was growing up she wanted to be a star. When that didn’t turn out quite like she expected, she turned her mind to achieving other goals: Earning her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, working as an Artist-in-Residence at local schools, being a free-lance editor and reader, coaching parks & rec basketball, protecting the earth, improving her photography skills, working at her local library, traveling, and writing and publishing books about quirky characters, mystery and adventure, and romance. Knowing what it’s like to struggle with self-doubt and lack of confidence, her biggest dream (in addition to owning a castle) is to stamp out low self-esteem in everyone, especially young people. She lives in beautiful, wooded New Hampshire with her husband, and can split wood and throw a tomahawk, if need be. One of her favorite things to do is to go exploring, where she searches for the impossible around every corner. Sometimes she finds it.
Books
My Stone Fortress
Maelynn Westrum’s new year isn’t starting out quite how she’d planned. Being that she plans everything down to the last detail, it’s particularly upsetting when her husband, Kent, decides not to play along, getting a co-worker pregnant, asking for a divorce, then threatening to force Maelynn to pay alimony to support his new family.
Despite being a therapist and genius-level smart, Maelynn is achingly naïve when it comes to understanding her own life. She fully believes Kent will come to his senses and return to her. Until that happens, she needs a place to stay. In a fit of irrational sentiment completely unlike her, she buys a run-down mansion in the small mountain town of Brodie, New Hampshire. But it isn’t long before she discovers why the place was available, and for so cheap. The furnace is about to die, the local handyman, Alex, wants the place for himself, the town matriarch has it in for her, and then there’s the unsolved disappearance of the home’s original builder that no one wants to talk about.
As Maelynn restores the old mansion to its former glory, she also begins to create a new life for herself, learning that she can do more and be more than she ever realized. But a secret from her past threatens to destroy everything she’s gained. She’s fast running out of money and time, and if she doesn’t find a resolution soon, she’ll lose not only the house she’s grown to love, but her life.
Bewitching Hawthorn Lane
While attempting to escape her miserable life in the human world, Lorelle Gragan stumbles across Hawthorn Lane, a dark and sensuous sanctuary for the supernatural. Although it’s modern day, the villagers live as though in another time, with long dresses and twirling cloaks, crackling fires and fancy carriages. In exchange for a new life in this unusual place, Lorelle is trained as a gatherer of secrets for a powerful witch. But there’s one secret Lorelle must keep to herself—there’s not one drop of fey in her body. When the aristocratic Van der Daarke family unexpectedly returns to Hawthorn Lane after fleeing the village a century ago, Lorelle is determined to find out why they’ve come back, and why now. Luck is on her side when a young Van der Daarke, frightened and bewildered by this strange world, runs away and ends up at Lorelle’s door, ripe for the exploiting. But Lorelle doesn’t count on having to deal with the formidable Kyran Van der Daarke, the runaway’s uncle and a man with his own secrets. Feeling both attracted to the high-born and repelled by his blue-blooded arrogance, she’s caught between wanting to learn what happened to his family and avoiding the proud man at all costs. It’s only when danger threatens the village that Lorelle at last solves the mystery…but the answer comes with a price as she discovers a truth about her own family’s past that could end the life she’s made for herself in the bewitching world of Hawthorn Lane.
Mayhem at Nepenthe Manor
Precocious and morbidly obsessed with death, Pandora Belfry has spent her entire life at Nepenthe Manor, a dark, Gothic mansion also known as the local loony bin. Recently turned fourteen and growing exasperated with her stifling life, Pandora wants two things more than anything else in the world—to make her escape from the asylum, and to get her mom to finally act like a real mom. Until these wishes are granted, she acts as self-imposed ringleader to a wayward posse of inmates.Known amongst themselves as the Secret Six, Pandora and her friends spend their time at Nepenthe Manor stirring up trouble—holding weekly Midnight Meetings to concoct schemes, sneaking into places like the Nepenthe family cemetery and the forbidden attic, and generally doing everything they can to avoid the curse of living a mundane life. But when a mysterious new inmate arrives at the manor, things change for Pandora, and not for the better. In retaliation for a trick she plays on him, the charming and handsome Xavier connives to take over the posse, threatens to divulge one of Pandora’s biggest secrets, and refuses to tell her what he did to get himself locked up. This boy is obviously hiding something, and it’s up to Pandora to use whatever nefarious means necessary to find out what it is, before he destroys the only world she’s ever known.
The Chronicles of Anaedor: The Prophecies
Strange things happen to fifteen-year-old Lavida Mors. Maybe that’s why her father sends her away to Portal Manor, a mysterious family estate she never knew existed. Lavida quickly discovers that not everything at Portal Manor is as it seems when she stumbles across a secret passage to a hidden world – Anaedor.Populated by strange and powerful, supposedly mythical, creatures, Anaedor has descended into a world of turmoil and anarchy. It is a realm on the verge of war, and an evil being seeks to seize control while chaos rules. To do so, the power-hungry fiend must eliminate the One, whom the Prophecies predict will destroy the evil of Anaedor. Unfortunately for Lavida, there are those who believe she is the One.On the order of the evil creature, the enigmatic and dangerous Frio takes Lavida and her friends captive, forcing them to stand trial for crimes against the citizens of Anaedor. In attempting to escape the dark forces of this volatile world, Lavida is compelled to make a terrible choice: reveal a secret she has harbored nearly all her life or let her friends die.
Thanks for Playing, Alison!
How do you go about meeting the love of your life when the very act of speaking fills you with dread? A self-described odd bean, Alison MacReade can sabotage a conversation in two seconds flat, so she’s learned to keep her mouth shut and her world small. But when she decides to make a change, her efforts backfire spectacularly, nearly destroying her dull, but safe life. Out of the blue, an unknown great-aunt invites her to stay at her castle in the Scottish Highlands, and despite her misgivings, Alison makes the daunting decision to go.Once in Scotland, she meets Gavin, a confident, outgoing lawyer, who takes her under his wing while her great-aunt recuperates from surgery. Things between them are going surprisingly awesome, until Alison’s formidable relative comes home early, and Gavin’s perfect ex-girlfriend shows up. To complicate matters, secrets from Alison’s past threaten her efforts to transform herself, and she must confront those secrets or lose out on this chance at a better life. Come join Alison in beautiful Scotland as she struggles to regain the voice she thought lost forever, and find a love she never thought she could have.
The Wrath
When a cryptic letter arrives from Evalina Filmore’s two aunts, she travels to England to find out what they want, figuring this will be the chance to experience the romantic adventure she has so often read about in her beloved gothic novels.When she arrives, she finds the eerie mansion, the strange atmosphere, and the adventure, as hoped. But there are troubles. On the train, she meets a man who, upon learning her name, walks away without a word of explanation. Not long after, she passes unharmed through a wood called the Wrath, even though, as she later learns, no one ever has. While in the Wrath, she meets a tantalizing and seductive stranger, one who just might be her gothic hero. But he has a secret.It seems everyone in the village does, including her aunts, and it’s up to Evie to figure out what is going on before the Wrath lures her in and never lets her go.