Blog Posts

Back in time for a new novel

9/9/2019

Now those crazy busy weeks of promoting The Artist’s Gift have come to an end, I’m ready to get stuck into a new novel and have been determined to go right back in time. I’ve scouted about for something to hold my interest. And so, returning to familiar pages in Romney Marsh Survival on a Frontier, I’ve explored the idea of setting a novel in West Hythe at a time before there was any permanent settlement there. Called Sandtun, in the late 7th century it was on the edge of a tidal lagoon, which was sheltered by a shingle spit – roughly where the Hythe Ranges and Dymchurch Wall are today. What was happening on Sandtun? It was a seasonal trading place: craftsmen from the surrounding area would come to sell their wares to those who had sailed across the Oceanous Britannicus in order to trade. Archaeologists have found evidence of this from the 7th to the 9th centuries in the form of pottery and coins. The Sandtun was also a place for fishermen who descended the Shipway (Lympne Hill) to fish; evidence has been found in the form of fish hooks and bones.
While this was happening, the islands of (Old) Romney and Lydd were home to the hardy people who lived with the risk of the incoming tide, in a flat, barren landscape. Nearby Burmarsh (the land on the burgh of the Marsh), one of the oldest settlements, was not yet evolving.
The Romans had been gone for the past 400 years. Their fort at Lympne was once built on the top of the hill and at some point (possibly due to an earthquake) it slid to its current position (I can feel another novel coming here!). For the sake of my novel, the fort is still at the top of the hillside. So, having just released a WW2 novel, I find myself in a very different era and very much enjoying learning new things.

While this is all very absorbing for me, how about something to spice things up a bit? Have you ever wondered about St Botolph’s Bridge pub sign? It shows four monks, crossing a drainage ditch at night. Two of them are carrying a coffin and a beam of golden light shines down to show them the way. The body of St Botolph lies in that coffin. He died in Lincolnshire – so what was he doing on Romney Marsh? You'll have to read the novel to find out!

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A Double Book Launch!

7/30/2019

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It's been two weeks since I launched The Artist's Gift. Usually the book is available whenever I get the copies and usually comes out on Kindle a few days beforehand. This time was different as I had the opportunity to have a stall in Lydd Church on the day of the Summer Fayre and Teddy Bear Jump. What an amazing opportunity - to launch the book in the very place the first scenes are set!
The people of Lydd have always been great supporters but imagine my surprise when I saw I had my very own special place - a table under the painting of the bombed church. The church wardens were so busy and it was wonderful for them to think of putting me there for the launch.
It was an amazing day and I'm so grateful to people who came on that day especially to support me. One of my friends arranged for my book to be launched off the church tower under its own parachute! Hence the reason why it was launched twice in one day!
Since that day, I have been delivering to local customers, something I always enjoy doing. Then I had a successful book signing at the Romney Marsh Visitor Centre, always a nice place to spend a few hours. I also went to meet a book club who had read Secrets of the Shingle and very much enjoyed the discussion about the book.
Coming up... I've got three more book signing events in Greatstone, Dymchurch and Hythe.
Yes, I am writing the new novel and I just need to take a couple of photos and I'll be ready to tell you about it.
Huge thanks to everyone who supports me - the regular customers, the people who buy the books as presents, the people who put lovely comments on facebook and send me messages. I really couldn't do it without your support. xx

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Writing my ww2 Novel

7/9/2019

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You may remember way back last autumn I completed a novel set in the 1920s, and then asked my readers what they wanted from me next – a prequel set in the 1870s, or a sequel set in the 1940s. The results were overwhelmingly in favour of the 1940s. I've read plenty of fictional books set in that time; I've watched the 1940s house and seen other programs set in the era. But when it came to the research, I knew I had to get this right. It is within living memory and I needed to show respect to the war and the people who lived through it.
Here I am living on Romney Marsh, I know about PLUTO and the air-fields and the armoured train. I knew the coastal areas were restricted and that sheep had been evacuated from the Marsh. But when it comes to writing about fictional characters, I needed to know the tiny details: what did they eat, what did they wear, what war work was available locally and what was it like in one small town on the front-line? All of a sudden I felt very lost and wanted to race back to Medieval times, an era in which I had previously done a lot of research. But I persevered…
(Actually I didn't, I wrote a chapter of a medieval novel and three chapters of the 1870 one and then returned to the 40s)
The opening chapters are set in Lydd. The town suffered a lot of bombing in the early years of the war. One significant event was the bombing of the church and this was the point where I was compelled to start the novel. Immediately I was in trouble: my reference book said the bombs fell from Messerschmitts fighters. So I wrote that that the bombs fell from a fighter plane. Luckily I read this scene to my writers' group and was told that fighters don't drop bombs. I rewrote the scene. Later, I discovered that it was a fighter-bomber. I learned then to take a lot of care whenever planes were mentioned.
It's really important to me that I get the facts right, so I had to be careful not to mention events that hadn't yet happened. For instance bringing in rationing before its time. At the beginning of the war, the women could happily bake their sponge cakes and puddings, as time progressed the rationing increased and I had to think carefully about what treats could be provided – many rock-cakes were eaten! I searched make-do-and-mend, as when invited to a dance my character was inspired to alter an old dress by the posters encouraging her to be frugal with material. This was in the summer of 1941. I couldn't mention in beforehand.
My main characters do their war work on the NAAFI tea-van. But what did they serve? Tea, cigarettes and chocolate, an internet search revealed. I was able to view photos of restored NAAFI vans and see the selection of chocolate apparently on offer – all in authentic looking wrapping. Kitkats, Bounty and Mars bars, along with Cadbury's Chocolate – I wasn't so sure about that. Some further research revealed that the servicemen in the 1940s were not so lucky – they suffered Ration Chocolate. Cadbury's Dairy Milk ceased to be made in 1941 when the government banned manufacturers from using fresh milk. Instead Cadbury’s manufactured Ration Chocolate, made with dried skimmed milk powder. Not quite so tasty? How easy it is to be misled by 'authentic' images of past times.
Readers have often asked for a map at the beginning of a book so, with my limited experience of moving images and text boxes on a screen, I began to prepare a simple map of Romney Marsh in that era. I found some little plane shapes and placed them where the airfields were. My son's friend looked at the map and queried the era – 'they are jet planes,' he said! A mistake narrowly avoided!
I really hope that readers appreciate all the research that went into creating it. Now I move onto a totally different era and immerse myself in Saxon Hythe. More about that next time.

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The artist's Gift

4/7/2019

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Wow! I can't believe I have finished the main part of my book. In the middle of January, I set myself a five thousand word a week target, which is a lot for me, and managed to stick to it, only dropping a thousand words one week. As well as doing that, I did the final checks on A Place Called Hope and prepared the document for print and kindle.
What happens next? I've got a short list of points to check on. I've also got to complete my chapter-by-chapter list of where I got my WW2 stories from, what is fiction based on real stories and what is fiction. Then the word document will go to my proof reader. While it's there, I need to think about the cover and the blurb. I've also got another two or three chapters to write; these are set in 1958 and tie up the end of this three book saga, then they will go to the proof reader.
The whole book has already been read by my friend who reads as I write and makes suggestions/points out things that don't quite work. When it comes back from the proof reader, I will look through it again. Then I'm going to ask a couple of people with good Romney Marsh and Second World War knowledge to read it.
Finally, I need to prepare the pages for print. This involves setting margins and looking at the spacing (for instance checking that all chapter headings start on a new page). Then it is time to order a paperback proof. I'll need to set it up for kindle; a different process as the document needs to read well on various sizes of screens.
How long will this take? I'm determined not to rush this and to make sure the novel is thoroughly checked, so hoping to have it ready by the summer – maybe July?
And what is the book called? The Artist's Gift. Why? You'll have to wait and see!

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Favourite Characters

3/28/2019

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I've been reading through the proof copy of my re-written A Place Called Hope and this led me to revisit some of my favourite characters. Perhaps not the nicest people I have created, but the ones who were the most fun to put into a scene. These have been the people least like myself and I guess they give me the chance to say outrageous things or to behave in a way so unlike how I would in real life.
Starting with A Place Called Hope, I loved writing scenes with Anna's slatternly sister Eliza. Here she is entering the church on Christmas Day:
It must have been halfway through the service when Eliza made her noisy entrance, interrupting the sermon. She held her baby and was followed by little Bess who clutched the hand of quiet, mild-mannered William. Not content to sit quietly at the back, she gestured for her husband to follow her along the aisle. The parson waited patiently as she arranged her family, squeezing in beside Mother and asking others to move up to allow space for William and Bess.
Eliza made herself comfortable, brushed stray mousy curls from her face, hitched up her skirt to show a stained shift, then used her sleeve to wipe the dribble from the baby’s mouth. Finally she set her dark eyes and snub nose in the direction of the parson, lips in a bored pout.
also enjoyed writing the scenes with Edmund who Jessica was intended to marry. He wasn't horrible, but very thoughtless. Here they are having been to a church service at the far superior church in New Romney:
“A welcome change from your little chapel, no doubt,” commented Mr Blackstock.
“All Saints suits us well enough, and our small community still manages to enjoy the service,” my father responded.
“I hear the roof is in disrepair,” Edmund said. He turned to me, “You'll not suffer such discomfort for much longer, St Nicholas is a fine church; no cause for complaint here.”
“It's no discomfort,” I replied. Edmund didn't hear.
Later, when discussing which church to marry in, Edmund has this to say about Jessica's parish church:
“...and I can’t say that I could let my own mother sit in a puddle if it were to rain. Oh no, she could not be sitting in a puddle on her son’s wedding day!”

Following their betrothal, Jessica worries about becoming intimate with Edmund: would he dare to press his lips upon mine when we were alone?

In What the Monk Didn't See, the character who was the most fun to put in a scene has to be the old soothsayer, Gundred! Any scene with her in it flowed so quickly. Here she is on the afternoon before the Great Storm:
"There's dark deeds happening tonight. I've never had such a bad feeling. Pray Matilda. Pray for your family and the town."
"Pray for the town?" Matilda repeated, alarmed for she tended to be drawn into the soothsayer's cautionary tales.
"Aye, the town. Cinque Port, sunk port. That's what I hear over and over: Cinque port, sank port, sunk port. It rings in my ears and fills me with terror." Gundred stood on the street before Matilda. She only reached the younger woman's shoulders, her back was that bent. As always, she was draped in a thick shawl, scraggy brown-grey hair escaped in tendrils from beneath her hood; her nose was aquiline and her eyes were small dark currants.

Here Gundred speaks to Agnes:
Then she looked beyond Agnes and her eyes narrowed. “Be off with you, I see your secrets, we need no words and you bother my prayers.”
And again she taunts Agnes with her knowledge:
"I was just... just saying a prayer for him."
"There need be no secrets between us," Gundred said. "You wouldn't want his wife, the godly Matilda, to see you at his funeral. Full of suspicion that one. Shame... shame that she was once a dear sweet girl. Not like you."
"Not like me?" Agnes repeated, her heart tightening.

Next time I'll look at my favourite characters in Secrets of the Shingle and Stranger on The Point. Can you guess who they are?

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Half WAy...

2/18/2019

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I can't believe it's been months since I last blogged. My excuses are: first I was busy selling and promoting Stranger on the Point, and then I was getting absorbed in the new novel.
After a slow start I set myself writing targets in January and have been making great progress. It has been hard work though as I try to get the small details right. The novel is set in WW2 and follows the story of Helen, granddaughter of Alice, and niece to Lily. At times I just seem to be going round in circles, as I write one thing and then learn it is historically wrong so I have to start again. I had Helen standing on the platform at Lydd Station, when I discovered that passenger trains stopped running the year before. So, the poor woman ended up having to travel to Dungeness on the Brewer's Dray. Once at Dungeness, she walked past the Pilot, but the pub has changed location, and that had to be re-done!
What else features in the novel? There are plane crashes, bombs and scenes of women in the NAAFI tea van, alongside the return of well-known characters and new ones too. All Lydd and Dungeness scenes so far, with a brief outing to New Romney.
The novel should be completed in a couple of months, but then there will be several more months of checks, with special attention to the historical details.
The photo shows a leaflet, which I borrowed as part of my research. It told me about the fund-raising for the repairs to the bombed church of All Saints

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Stranger On The Point

12/10/2018

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Wow! I've been so busy since I ordered Stranger on The Point. Before the books arrived, I set up three book signings and started advertising on Facebook. As interest came through facebook, I sent everyone a message to make contact. Then I started on my list - the first of many - noting down what books were wanted and where people lived. When I had a delivery date, I then started contacting people and arranged my first delivery run covering Brookland, Lydd, and Dungeness in the morning and Dymchurch and some rural areas in the afternoon. The books arrived and I set out, with books and lists, delivering in torrential rain.
I love delivering the books. I get to meet so many people and everyone is happy to see me and interested in what I do.
The next week, I delivered to Lydd again, then along the coast - Greatstone and Littlestone - and to New Romney and St Mary's Bay. It was still raining!
After all that rushing around, I was grateful to spend a day at the fantastic Romney Marsh Visitor Centre, where I am always made so welcome. The book signing was made really special because both Leigh, who painted the hagstones on the cover, and Aaron who designed the cover, came to see me. It's amazing when people come especially to see me and buy my books!
The following week, I had a meet the author event in Mary's Tearooms, Dymchurch. Such a lovely morning, sitting drinking tea and eating cake, while chatting to different people who came in. It was a great atmosphere and the cake was yummy as always.
It's been exhausting but brilliant fun and I couldn't do it without all the support I get from local people. A huge thank you to everyone who buys my books, comes to see me and writes positive comments on my facebook posts.

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With thanks to...

10/11/2018

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As I wait for Rosemary, my proof reader, to send back Stranger on the Point, I'm pausing to reflect on all the support I've had in the last year. Much of it comes from people who are new friends. Of course there have been people who have been there for me throughout my writing journey, but this is for the people who have come into my life in the last year.
When I joined Facebook a year ago, with the intention of promoting myself, I wasn't actually brave enough to do it! So huge thanks to Neil who insisted I join groups, tell people about my books and has been a great supporter. He even featured my novel in Lydd Panto!
I've has so much support from my new Facebook friends and it makes a massive difference to sales. All your positive feedback encourages other people to buy. I can't mention you all, but special thanks to Alec and Caroline Hobbs who took a chance on buying books from an unknown author and have been constant promoters of my work.
It's tough recognising that you're good enough, so a big thank you to Dave who told me never to put myself down for being self-published. I listened and I don't anymore! I'm really proud of my books and their quality.
Last spring, I met Mary from Mary's Tearooms in the post office. She offered me an author talk (my first!) and sells my books, taking nothing for herself. Of course I now have to keep going and buying tea and cakes in the tearooms, it's a tough life...! And also thanks to Grant from the post office who sells my Dymchurch novel; it's great to have local support.
Also on facebook, I've met authors James Collins and Chris O'Donoghue. It's been great to chat to you both, to gain your support and advice.
I could go on and on, I am over-whelmed by all the lovely people I have met this year and the interest there is in my books. I appreciate every comment on facebook and every time someone goes out of their way to come and meet me at a book signing. Thank You!
The picture shows me signing a book to the lovely Sue Parry at the New Romney Day Centre talk.

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FULL Circle

9/25/2018

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I started my blog in February, when I had just finished But First Maintain the Wall and was thinking about the next novel. So here I am, about seven months later and I've just finished Stranger on the Point. It's been an amazing seven months with But First Maintain the Wall selling really well. More and more people are hearing about my books and supporting me, which is fantastic. For the first time I really made an effort to promote a novel and I've loved meeting so many new people, chatting about my writing and passion for Romney Marsh.
Now, I'm back where I was last February, but with a new book. It's just gone to the proof reader and I'm thinking about cover designs. Hopefully I'll be ready to reveal a cover design very soon and the novel should be ready by the end of November! I'll be planning some meet the author events and book signings, as well as promoting through Facebook.
But as before, my thoughts are also on the next novel. Another sequel to Secrets of the Shingle and Stranger on the Point, this one will take readers to the Second World War. I'm going to need a different approach this time though. Usually I start a novel with an event and just see where the characters take me. I work hard at making it historically accurate within the Romney Marsh setting, but don't plan the plot. But now I need to study Romney Marsh at War and make a timeline of key events, and have an idea of what to include. I guess my characters will still do whatever they chose to do, but the framework will be more structured. I've decided on the opening scene, and the ending. Just got to fill in the other eighty thousand words!

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