A RHOOSE woman with a passion for paranormal activity has written her first book.

Marlene Tapscott’s book focuses on the history of smuggling in Rhoose, Barry and Aberthaw, with an added twist of ghosts and romance in a story that travels back and forth in time.

Marlene, who now lives in west Wales, was inspired to write Tumbledown after the fire at the Blue Anchor pub in Aberthaw in 2004. While researching into the pub she learnt about the history of smuggling along the Glamorgan coast and decided to fictionalise a story about the adventures of families based in Aberthaw, Rhoose and Barry.

“It was an idea I had as I knew the area so well,” she said.

“It was all the stories that I sort of grew up with.”

Marlene had previously worked as a paranormal investigator and would travel with friends to people’s houses for “ghostly experiences”.

“I have had lots of experiences with the paranormal side of it,”

she said.

“I absolutely loved it and really miss it now.

“I loved going looking for ghosts.

“We used to go around people’s houses as a group and see if there was any experiences or ghosts, and we really did hear some experiences.”

She added about the book: “It follows the lives of spirits in the 17th century, but also follows a medium in today’s society and the story switches between the two.

“The medium goes investigating and meets up with a spirit that has a message that wants her to find a book, but that’s just the start of it.”

She added: “I made sure that I wrote the book with an open ending so there was the possibility that I could write another one.”

Marlene, a former councillor for the Ceri ward in Rhoose before the council was disbanded, added that she had already started work on another book: “It’s a completely different book to Tumbledown,” she said.

“It’s similar to 50 Shades of Grey, but mine is more about relationships.

“I wanted to come away from the paranormal side of it, so mine is more about relationships and the goings on in a village.”

Tumbledown is available through www.FeedAread.com and will shortly be on sale at Amazon and other leading booksellers.