Now, seeing as Halloween is fast approaching, I thought it may be a good idea to hear from you—my readers—about any scary stories you may have that has happened to you. Just for a bit of fun. It can be about anything, from actual ghosts and things that go bump in the night to something more earthly, like being faced with an infestation of mice in the back shed. Whatever!

To get things rolling and to help get you in the right frame of mind, here’s my scary story! The scariest thing that happened to me was when I was a teenager. I used to keep and breed budgerigars (budgies as we call them here in Australia) in an aviary at the bottom of the garden. The cage was big enough for me to get into, but my movement was limited.

Anyway, one day during the breeding season I did my daily thing of checking the nesting boxes I had placed up high inside the cage. This particular day, when I checked the last box, a huge (as big as my hand—and no, the picture above is NOT me holding said spider!) huntsman spider jumped off the top of the box just as I peered into the hole the birds come out of. I tell you, I can still remember it like it was yesterday. Everything went in slow motion as the spider jumped onto my face. I screamed and screamed like a girl and what’s more, I had nowhere to move because I was restricted and my hands were holding the nesting box so I couldn’t shoo it off my face.

Thankfully the spider, unperturbed by my fuss, just crawled up to my hair and sat there as if nothing was happening at all and this was it’s new lookout. I Managed to calm myself and get out of the cage all the while sweating like a race horse and my legs going weak underneath me as the spider made my head its new home. LOL (I can laugh now) Suffice it to say I have a fear of spiders now…oh, and I don’t keep birds anymore either…

So how do you ‘enter’ this little competition? Simple. Send me your story here. You can then choose a book from my current release list if your story is chosen (randomly) as the winner! So easy, hey? I will also post the wining story with your permission, of course. Hope to hear from you soon. Competition closes on midnight on all hallows eve! Muhaaaaahaaa.

Call of the Hunted

Mama’s Heart

The Pauper’s Prize

The Cadet’s Officer