Which childhood books and authors were your favourites? Do you think they influenced you in wanting to become an author?
I consumed anything and everything when I was young, but my early favourite was AA Milne – the poetry mainly: ‘When we were very Young’ and ‘Now we are Six’. I could recite quite a few of the poems off by heart (and still can – haha). Later, I fell in love with the writing of DH Lawrence and he was definitely a major influence for me as a writer. But generally, being in love with words does help…
How did you get your first book published?
This was a long time ago! I wrote to an agent who recommended another agent and I was lucky enough to be taken on and then published by Hodder & Stoughton. It was actually the third novel I had written – the first two were long and arduous practice sessions…
If you had to write a non-fiction book, what subject or person would it be about?
Creative writing…(sorry, boring, I know).
How do you come up with titles for your books?
With great difficulty. I usually have a working title – for example my current WIP is called the Silversmith Novel – because it has a silversmith in it. I see if any ideas come up during the writing and then throw ideas back and forward with my editing team at Quercus and my agent. Between us we eventually come up with something that everyone is happy with – but sometimes it takes AGES. We like to get in some sense of place (e.g. ‘Return to Mandalay’) or intrigue (‘Bay of Secrets’) or something evocative that features in the book (e.g. ‘The Orange Grove’). It needs to somehow reflect the genre too and of course go with a gorgeous escapist cover.
When you’re being interviewed about the books you’ve written, do you ever forget the names of your characters?
The only difficulty I have found is that by the time I am being interviewed about a book, I have always moved on and I’m writing a different book. This can be confusing, and it’s not so easy to hold two books and sets of characters in your head at any one time.
What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan – it’s brilliant.
What’s your least favourite household chore?
I hate all household chores. Vacuuming?
Tell us about your latest book. Also please add your links.
My latest book is published by Quercus and is called ‘The Forever Garden’. It’s set in West Dorset and Puglia, Italy and is an emotional drama about love, loss and new beginnings.
Which childhood books and authors were your favourites? Do you think they influenced you in wanting to become an author?
I think this is a popular choice, but Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree series was one of the first stories I really fell into; the idea of creatures of folklore interacting so naturally with humans has stayed with me, and it’s one of the things that have followed me into at least one area of my writing. I’ve also always loved anything community-related, even if it’s a school community, and so I devoured the Malory Towers series, and the Jennings books. I now write community-driven crime and drama, both historical and contemporary, so that must have stayed with me too! As for actually pushing me into becoming an author, I suppose every single book I read did that, to one degree or another.
How did you get your first book published?
Almost by accident! It was an historical fiction, and I’d sent it to a few places and got decent, hopeful-but-ultimately-no-thanks feedback. Then one day I was just shutting down all my tabs on my laptop, one by one, and noticed an ad for a competition that closed that night. In about an hour, in fact. I thought, why not? So I sent the book in, realised I’d sent the wrong version, emailed to ask if I could send again, and got it all under the wire with minutes to spare. It won, the prize was digital publication with a big 5 imprint, and I was off… That’s when the hard work really began!
If you had to write a non-fiction book, what subject or person would it be about?
What in interesting question! I think, right this minute and because I’ve done so much research on it, it would be the Dartmoor Prison Mutiny in 1932. It sounds a bit dull, but there are so many barely believable stories coming out of it, and such a rich store to pick from without the need to embellish. Incredible event in the history of my home county.
How do you come up with titles for your books?
With much list-writing, soul-searching, and compromise! I really struggle with them, and usually when I think I have the perfect one, it tends to get shot down. My self-published titles weren’t subject to the same treatment, of course, but they gave me every bit as much bother! I do like them, though, and they’re unique (as of the time of writing…!)
I’ve been lucky with my crime series though, and with Hobeck, who published it. They let me realise I’d given the first book the wrong title, then told me they agreed. I worked on it some more, and then the theme just leapt out at me. “Crossfire” certainly isn’t unique, in the field of crime or war fiction particularly, but it absolutely fit the story, and I learned to let go of the need I’d always felt to have a title no-one else had. Sometimes, when it’s right it’s just right.
When you’re being interviewed about the books you’ve written, do you ever forget the names of your characters?
Constantly! I have a spreadsheet, with a separate tab for each series (currently six different series, which all interlink somewhere in their narrative.) so I’ve created a LOT of characters, and I sometimes have trouble thinking about which book I’m working on, never mind the names of the characters in it!
What’s the strangest thing you have researched (or Googled!) for a book you were writing?
I don’t know about strangest, but the ones most likely to get me taken in for questioning, if not actually arrested, are ‘how to make crack cocaine in a spoon,’ and multiple queries on the decomposition of bodies in various situations. A common one, I imagine! For boring searches, you could say my list of questions on Victorian plastering comes pretty near the top of the list, along with the flammable qualities of dry sacking. (I’m sending myself to sleep here, just reading that!)
What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
Walls Have Mouths, by W.F. R. Macartney. It’s a memoir, damnably hard to get hold of, but definitely worth it! He was a prisoner at Wandsworth, and the book is a no-holds-barred view of life in a1930s men’s prison. Chased down and read for research, but an absolute corker of a read nevertheless.
What’s your least favourite household chore?
Pegging out socks. I mean…come on! Who has the time?!
Do you have any rituals when you start writing a new book?
I take a bit of time setting up my Scrivener document; I don’t write in that programme, I’m a Word girl all the way, but I use Scrivener for organising scenes, points of view, research, and notes. So it settles me into the rhythm of creating something new, to set it all up and decide who will be a POV character, etc. If it’s part of a series I’ll read through the notes I’d made for the previous book, and look for any characters who could be brought forward and given the spotlight for the new one. If it’s a new series, I’ll just crack right on and see what pops out, what’s worth keeping, and who seems to be trying to speak to me from the start. Sounds pretentious, but, for me, a new story/series is definitely stream-of-consciousness process to begin with.
Tell us about your latest books. Also please add your links.
The Clifford-Mackenzie Crime series is complete (?) at 3 books: Crossfire, Fair Game, and Bad Blood. They’re set in a fictitious town in the Highlands, around the area where my family live, and they’re of the richer, more saga-like variety; recurring characters, new plots with continuing threads… that sort of thing. Published by the brilliant Hobeck (in some outstanding company too, I might add!) Written under the R.D. Nixon pen name that separates my crime writing from my other books.
Terri was born in Plymouth in 1965. At the age of 9 she moved with her family to North Hill, Cornwall, a small village on the edge of Bodmin Moor, where she discovered a love of writing that has stayed with her ever since. She also discovered apple-scrumping, and how to jump out of a hayloft without breaking any bones, but no-one’s ever offered to pay her for doing those. Terri is the author of the Oaklands Manor Trilogy, the Lynher Mill Chronicles, the Penhaligon Saga, the Fox Bay Saga, and new series: Pencarrack.
She has co-written, as half of Clarke Nixon, 2 books in the Children of Sinai series, with Shelley Clarke.
She also writes crime as R.D. Nixon, and is the author of the Clifford-Mackenzie Crime series, set in a small community in the Scottish Highlands.
Terri now lives in Plymouth again, and works in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business at Plymouth University.
Happy book birthday to Maid of Steel! I read this in 2023 and this was my review.
REVIEW
The story begins in Manhattan, USA in March 1911. We meet Emma Quinn and her friend Martina who are both supporters of the American Women’s Suffrage Association. They work at the Joseph Cobb factory, making clothes. Joseph Cobb is an unpleasant man and Emma hates her job. But then there’s a tragedy which changes things forever… Meanwhile, in Southern Ireland, we meet Alice Murphy. She is an actress, married to Thomas who runs a hotel on the coast. The marriage was arranged by her father ten years ago and isn’t a very happy one, so she has found lovers over the years – some to benefit her career, others for more personal reasons. Her life is seemingly full of secrets… Emma leaves America and travels to Queenstown in Ireland, where her grandparents were from. She has booked a three-month stay at The Admiral hotel, which is run by Thomas. The book starts in a very exciting way, drawing the readers into the story immediately. I took to Emma straight away and wanted to know how her story progressed. She has faced a lot of really hard times and you hope she gets the happy ending she deserves. Alice is absolutely horrible. She treats everyone badly, unless she’s trying to win an acting part she wants and then she is incredibly obliging (if you know what I mean). She is selfish, ruthless and rude. She treats Thomas very badly and when she sees him spending time with Emma, she starts being vile to Emma too. Thomas, however, is a really sweet and kind man who deserves a much better life than being with Alice. As well as following the lives of the main characters, we also meet other people in Queenstown and there are many interesting ones here, especially Aoife (who works at the hotel) and Mary, an older woman she befriends. I really enjoyed the historical setting and also finding out about the time and place Emma’s grandparents were from. The theme of women’s suffrage is also interesting to me and the coronation of King George V, which features in the book, as I am a big fan of the monarchy. The combination of history and romance is beautifully done, everything felt very authentic and the characters are just wonderful. An impressive debut novel indeed!
EXTRACT
This scene in the early chapters shows us main character, Emma, having just arrived in Ireland following some trauma back home in New York. She is meeting hotelier, Thomas, for the first time; someone who becomes a forbidden love-interest. After all, it’s 1911 and Thomas is a good catholic husband…
‘Three months is quite a stay.’ The statement carried a question.
‘It’s what my mother thinks I need to help me recover.’
Thomas raised an eyebrow. ‘Recover?’
The words had slipped out and now she’d have to illuminate. ‘There was a fire in the factory where I used to work, I’m sure you won’t have heard of it.’
‘The one at Joseph Cobbs? I read about that.’
Emma dropped her gaze. If she left now, he’d have no need to find out what an awful person he was about to host.
‘We have newspapers delivered daily so we do read about life in America, though it’s at least four days old by the time we see it,’ he added, then appeared to struggle for what to say next. ‘I’m so sorry you were involved, but looks like you were lucky.’
Emma opened her eyes wide against the familiar sting. ‘I lost my colleagues and my best friend, so it’s not luck I feel. But yes… I did survive.’
She would no doubt be rewarded with a cutting reply for sounding petulant and waited for the comment.
He moved out from behind the desk, his voice soft. ‘I’m really very sorry. I hope your stay here helps. If there’s anything you need, you only have to ask.’
Buoyed by the empathy, she said, ‘I’m hoping to learn about my grandparents actually.’
‘Ah, left in the mass migration, I’m guessing?’
‘Yes.’
‘Right, well, first things first. Let me show you to your room.’ Thomas picked up her bag and she followed him to the staircase.
‘I’ve given you a sea view so you can watch the big ships arriving. It can be quite dangerous, though, I have to warn you.’
She paused, one foot on the patterned carpet of the first step. ‘How do you mean?’
But Thomas was making his way up the stairs, unaware his words had worried her.
He turned at the top and grinned. ‘Very time-consuming. You can waste a lot of it staring out of south-facing windows here.’
She laughed for the first time in weeks.
The room was spacious with a high ceiling and two sash windows framed by velvet curtains. Lined with cream linen, they were the colour of the wine her father drank each evening. Tiebacks edged with jaunty bobbles. The room had a woman’s touch.
Light rain from earlier had worsened and now lashed against the panes of glass. Emma felt a draught and noticed a wooden panel fitted against one of the squares.
Thomas placed her bags down. ‘I’ve got someone coming this week to replace the glass in the window. I could have given you a back room, but the view here is far superior, and he’ll take no longer than an hour to mend it.’
‘Oh, it’s fine, thank you for the view. Accidents happen.’
‘We had some trouble last month and stones were thrown.’
Emma looked out at the street below. ‘What trouble?’
‘It’s political. Most of the Irish want to be free of English rule.’ He drew the curtains, perhaps to hide the reminder. ‘I have all nationalities stay here and that night, an Englishman started a conversation about the Royal family with a nationalist.’
‘What happened?’ She laid her coat over the end of the brass bed.
‘They’d been drinking. Disagreed about something and I asked them to take their dispute outside, where it escalated into a scuffle. Alas, my window was the local’s final word.’
Emma walked back to the window and peered between the curtains. ‘Is this local someone I should be worried about?’
Thomas laughed. ‘No, he’s moved on. You’ll be quite safe. Everyone loves Americans. Many have ancestors who came from these shores, just like you.’
She thought of her grandmother and lifted the gloves to her nose. She had taken them from the trunk still filled with her grandmother’s clothes, but the wisps of her scent Emma had enjoyed at first were no longer there.
‘Perhaps tomorrow I can ask you about the workhouse where my grandmother lived before she left?’
He moved to the door. ‘There were so many, do you have its name?’
‘The details are in my trunk which is still with the porters.’
‘We have a library in the town full of journals about such things.’
‘Thank you.’
He glanced back to where she stood at the window, still looking out into the dark. ‘I’ll bring your trunk up when they deliver it, but now I’ll leave you to rest. If you feel hungry later, I can arrange to have a meal brought to you. Alice often has supper in her room when she’s home.’
‘Alice?’
‘My wife.’ Thomas gently closed the door and left her to settle. Still fully dressed, she sat on the edge of the bed, then laid back on the eiderdown and fell into a deep sleep.
Maid Of Steel
BLURB
It’s 1911 and, against her mother’s wishes, quiet New Yorker Emma dreams of winning the right to vote. She is sent away by her parents in the hope distance will curb her desire to be involved with the growing suffrage movement and told to spend time learning about where her grandparents came from.
Across the Atlantic – Queenstown, southern Ireland – hotelier Thomas dreams of being loved, even noticed, by his actress wife, Alice. On their wedding day, Alice’s father had assured him that adoration comes with time. It’s been eight years. But Alice has plans of her own and they certainly don’t include the fight for equality or her dull husband.
Emma’s arrival in Ireland leads her to discover family secrets and become involved in the Irish Women’s Suffrage Society in Cork. However, Emma’s path to suffrage was never meant to lead to a forbidden love affair…
Bake Off Wars is back! Get your aprons on and let the sleuthing begin!
Vera Bolt, Queen of Bakes, dies unexpectedly aged 66
In a shocking announcement this afternoon, Vera Bolt’s agent confirmed that the Bake Off Wars judge and national treasure died yesterday. Ms Bolt was in the process of filming the next series of the hugely popular television show at Francis Court, the home of the King’s sister and her family. It’s believed that the renowned pastry chef was stabbed in the heart, and the main suspect is rumoured new royal girlfriend, Summer York.
What am I supposed to do? Lady Beatrice has promised DCI Richard Fitzwilliam that she won’t get involved in the investigation into Vera Bolt’s death. But when her brother’s new love interest, Summer York, becomes the top suspect for Vera’s murder, Fred begs Bea to find out who the real killer is. In a race against time, can Bea navigate a labyrinth of secrets and lies, evade danger, and safeguard her friendship with Fitzwilliam? The answer may determine not only Summer’s innocence but also the fate of Bea’s and Fitzwilliam’s burgeoning feelings for each other.
Purchase Links
Author Bio –
Hello. I’m Helen Golden. I write British contemporary cozy whodunnits with a hint of humour. I live in small village in Lincolnshire in the UK with my husband, my step-daughter, her two cats, our two dogs, sometimes my step-son, and our tortoise.
I used to work in senior management, but after my recent job came to a natural end I had the opportunity to follow my dreams and start writing. It’s very early in my life as an author, but so far I’m loving it.
It’s crazy busy at our house, so when I’m writing I retreat to our caravan (an impulsive lockdown purchase) which is mostly parked on our drive. When I really need total peace and quiet, I take it to a lovely site about 15 minutes away and hide there until my family runs out of food or clean clothes.
Fueled by her spirit for adventure and with her £10.00 ticket in hand, Elizabeth Isle leaves 1960s England, determined to see it all, not just Australia and New Zealand, but as much as she can on the way, too. She surrenders her passport to the Australian government and must find work to support herself on the other side of the world from her family and friends. There can be no going back for two years. Join this intrepid young woman on the adventure of her lifetime. Share her amazing experiences, discover what exotic animals await, get travel tips and meet her new friends through her letters home and over plenty of cups of tea. Beware – the travel bug might prove infectious!
Sue Bavey (writing as S. Bavey) a British mother of two teenagers, now living in Franklin, Massachusetts, having moved to the US in 2003. Writing as S. Bavey, she won a gold award from Readers’ Favorite for her grandfather’s biography: Lucky Jack (1894 – 2000), which she wrote during COVID lockdown. She also has a number of non-fiction stories published in various anthologies.
Kookaburras, Cuppas & Kangaroos is the story of her late mother’s emigration from Yorkshire to Australia in 1960 for three years, told via airmail letters and travel diary entries.
A free prequel to Kookaburras, Cuppas & Kangaroos”, called “A Yorkshire Lass: The Early Years” is available for free download from http://www.suebavey.com.
Becoming a teenager in the 1980s meant I was very aware of the threat of nuclear war, though at the time, we were told that any supposed attack would come from the USSR. So, that same decade, when I discovered about the horrendous attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki forty years before, I was shocked to hear that the only country to have used nuclear bombs in war to date was the United States. This began a long fascination with what happened there, and I have read many books on the attacks since, so I was very keen to read The Doctor of Hiroshima.
This book is from Dr. Hachiya’s own writings he made at the time. Working in a hospital less than a mile from the centre of the bomb, the doctor and his wife Yaeko saw it all. Michihiko decided to write down his observations.
His story begins on 6th August 1945, with scenes of collapsing buildings and fire everywhere. Over the first few days, they don’t know exactly what happened. The telephones and radio don’t work, so all communication is done face to face. Witnesses all saw a bright flash of light (pika) but not everyone heard a loud noise (don), but nevertheless, they begin to call it pikadon. They assume patients have dysentery, because they don’t know about radiation sickness. They discover Nagasaki was hit too, but they don’t even realise they were atomic bombs until August 12th.
I was interested to follow the health of the people named in the book and it was fascinating how the doctors began to piece together what they were seeing, eventually being able to use microscopes and autopsies to answer more questions about these new symptoms they were dealing with.
Sometimes when I tell people I enjoy reading books about Hiroshima, they question why, when it is such a horrific subject, full of death, pain and suffering. But I find these true stories inspirational. They show how much humans can do, what they can resist, how they can keep fighting. The bravery, compassion and resilience shown by people in such catastrophic circumstances is at times overwhelming. You find yourself wondering how you would behave in a similar situation – and hope you will never find out. But overall, reading these kinds of books is a positive experience.
It doesn’t say in the book, but Dr Michihiko Hachiya lived until 1980. He certainly deserved a long and happy life after what he endured and all he did to help other survivors.
BLURB
With what this poor woman had been through the sight of her crying tore at my heartstrings. What if something should happen to her; who would care for her little baby? To conceal the fear and terror in my heart I left her, trying to put up a cheerful front. But no one could conceal from her the ominous import of the dark spots that had appeared on her chest.
The Doctor of Hiroshima is the extraordinary true story of Dr Michihiko Hachiya, whose hospital was less than a mile from the centre of the atomic bomb that hit on that warm August day. In immense shock and pain, he and his wife Yaeko dragged themselves to the devastated hospital building and what colleagues they could find.
In time, they begin to heal, and start to treat the impossible numbers of patients – a small girl covered in burns, an elderly man with pneumonia, a young boy and his little sister looking for their parents. They also began to investigate the strange unexplainable symptoms afflicting his patients – things he never dreamed he would see…
Told simply and poignantly in Dr Hachiya’s own words, The Doctor of Hiroshima is a unique and deeply moving human story of survival about a small, committed band of hospital staff in the face of unthinkable destruction and loss.
They had the perfect date so why doesn’t she remember him?
Blurb
Lucy and Maxwell share the perfect first date, agreeing to let destiny unfold without further contact. Six months later, recovering from an accident, Lucy travels to the Isle of Skye for her sister’s wedding. As they find themselves entwined in an unexpected adventure during a swim in the enchanting fairy pools, Lucy and Maxwell swap bodies. Now, they must navigate the challenges of living each other’s lives while Lucy prepares for Emilia’s wedding. Will they get their own lives back and will Lucy finally recall the romance she once shared with Maxwell on that unforgettable first date?
Big thanks to Jodi for answering my bookish questions for my blog today. Her Chronicles of St Mary’s series of books are ones so many people love, including many of my friends and family, that I know many people will want to know more about this very talented author.
Which childhood books and authors were your favourites? Do you think they influenced you in wanting to become an author?
Childhood favourites? Well, in no particular order:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – CS Lewis
Mariners of Space – Erroll Collins – despite the fact it’s written by a woman there are no women in it because in those days, adventures and deeds of derring-do didn’t have girls in them. We were all at home learning how to lay the table properly.
The Famous Five Series – Enid Blyton
Black Beauty – Anna Sewell
The Arabian Nights
And many more whose titles I can’t remember at the moment. I do know I read pretty much everything put in front of me. I went to a school where younger girls weren’t allowed in the library but I used to sneak in anyway. Reading and rule-breaking. Double pleasure.
I don’t think reading inspired me to write. I did scribble a few stories where killer robots invaded the earth in chapter one and everyone died horribly in chapter two but writing took too long and I was too impatient.
Later, at school, we wrote stories – or compositions as they were called – and mine were frequently marked down because of my use of slang. In their world everyone spoke in beautifully structured and well punctuated sentences. Even when the killer robots were kicking the door down! In fact, one of my teachers became so incensed at my use of slang – I think one of my characters said ‘gang’ – that she ripped the page out of my exercise book.
And then there was the famous school poetry competition which I was commanded to enter. I was handed a list of topics deemed suitable for girls to write about – Puppies, Daffodils, Clouds, etc.
I wrote about cannibalism.
I didn’t write much after that.
How did you get your first book published?
I tried the conventional route – agent then mainstream publisher – and that didn’t work at all so I self-published on amazon. I don’t remember this very clearly – there was wine, apparently – but I did agree to give it a try.
Just One Damned Thing After Another did really well – it was free, which helped – and Accent Press contacted me to see if I’d like a contract. Four or five years ago I moved to Headline – my current publishers.
If you had to write a non-fiction book, what subject or person would it be about?
Ooh – great question!
I think it would be about the Tudors, because it was a time of queens. Even setting aside Fat Harry and his six wives, there was the Queen Regent, Mary de Guise in Scotland, mother of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots.
There was the devious Queen Catherine de Medici in France, bringing up her own children after the death of the king.
Then Henry VIII and all his wives, of course.
And then, after the death of Edward VI, there were his sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. And they couldn’t be passed over because all the heirs to the throne – the Grey sisters and Margaret Clifford – were all female. There simply were no male heirs anywhere.
And then, of course, we had Queen Jane, Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I while over the border, there was Mary, Queen of Scotland, former Queen of France, and – if she believed her own propaganda – Queen of England as well.
They were difficult times but if you were female and royal and kept your head – in every sense of the word – there were crowns to be won.
How do you come up with titles for your books?
Sometimes they come to me when I’m writing them – A Trail Through Time. Sometimes I think of the title first and write the story around it – When a Child is Born.
Sometimes I can’t think of a title at all and I simply send off the manuscript marked ‘Untitled’ and my magnificent editor comes up with a title.
Very occasionally, there are differences of opinion. The Good, the Bad and the History was one of my editor’s suggestions. I wanted to call it Closing the Circle. Her argument was that it sounded too final. As if it was to be the last book. I argued long and loud – I lost. On reflection, I think she was probably right.
When you’re being interviewed about the books you’ve written, do you ever forget the names of your characters?
I forget my own name. And those of my nearest and dearest.
I don’t tend to forget my characters as I’m writing the actual book, but once it’s finished and I’ve moved on to the next then everything becomes a little blurry. This is usually because I’m writing one book, editing another, copy-editing another and trying to think of a suitable story for Christmas this year. Simultaneously.
For heaven’s sake don’t ask me what I had for breakfast because I won’t be able to tell you.
What’s the strangest thing you have researched (or Googled!) for a book you were writing?
I’ve looked at some odd stuff over the years. In fact, when I lived in Turkey I was researching how to make bombs out of flour and I lived in hourly fear of the police knocking at the door to take me away.
Should anything ever happen to me – and it will – my family are under strict instructions to step over my corpse and delete my browser history before even calling the police.
If you’re going to press me for a favourite – I think The War of Jenkins’s Ear.
What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
I’ve read two crackers recently – Red Side Story from Jasper Fforde – the long-awaited sequel to Shades of Grey – no, not 50Shades of Grey, and Relight My Fire by Caimh McDonnell, part of The Stranger Times series.
What’s your least favourite household chore?
All of them. Seriously, God does not give us days off so we can get the hoover out.
If asked to pick one I think I’d say changing the duvet cover because everything invariably gets the better of me and I frequently end up actually inside the cover myself while the quilt is in a heap on the floor.
I don’t like cooking – I am, in fact, stunningly bad at it – and I really hate cleaning the bath. I’ve had white baths and the scum mark was brown and so, in an effort to be clever, I bought a brown bath and the scum mark was white. What’s that all about?
Do you have any rituals when you start writing a new book?
New notebook, mug of tea, a brief optimism when I think this might be the best book I’ve ever written, followed by massive pessimism because this is easily the worst book I’ve ever written, followed by wishing I’d got that nice job at the abattoir, followed by wine. Every time.
Tell us about your latest book/upcoming book/Kindle deals/anything you want to promote. Also please add your links for your blog/website, social media links, etc.
Well, you did ask.
I have a short story coming out in April – Storm Christopher. Another in the Frogmorton Farm series.
Jodi Taylor is the author of the bestselling Chronicles of St Mary’s series, the story of a bunch of disaster-prone historians who investigate major historical events in contemporary time. Do NOT call it time travel!
Born in Bristol and educated in Gloucester (facts both cities vigorously deny), she spent many years with her head somewhere else, much to the dismay of family, teachers and employers, before finally deciding to put all that daydreaming to good use and pick up a pen. She still has no idea what she wants to do when she grows up.
“That’s like believing in Father Christmas,” he said.
“Or mermaids,” she replied, gravely.
Meet the Morgans. Three very different sisters, who each blame themselves for their mother’s mysterious disappearance.
Now over forty years on, they’re in crisis.
Cassandra – the eldest – runs the family’s cliffside hotel. But the business is in trouble, and a secret from the past seems determined to resurface.
Greer – the youngest – walked away from a glittering career to live alone in London. Now she has no choice but to return to the family home – but what kind of welcome can she expect.
And Orla – the middle sister – whose obsessive shell collecting and messages from the ‘sea-people’ dominate her life. But Orla knows things. She knows Greer is coming home to a new future, that Cassandra’s dark secret will change their lives and their mother never really left at all.
And there’s another secret, something they all share …but of course, nobody’s telling.
Her Heartfelt Series − The Hollow Heart, A Change of Heart and Secrets of the Heart – is set on an island off Ireland’s west coast andfeatures a feisty investigative journalist, and her irresistible West Highland terrier. Adrienne studied at the Dublin College of Journalism and loves animals, especially dogs.
Her collection of short stories and poetry, Fur Coat & No Knickers was shortlisted for the Irish Carousel Prize for Anthology and her WWII short story, Dodo’s Portrait, was shortlisted for the Colm Toíbín International Short Story Award at the Wexford Literary Festival.
Secrets of the Shell Sisters is the second in a series of sweeping family dramas, each with a touch of Irish magic.
All her books are heart-warming, uplifting reads, featuring her trademark gripping style, and laugh out loud moments.
Adrienne, husband Jonathan, and two cocker spaniels divide their time between rural Leicestershire, the Wicklow mountains, and coastal South Devon. Agatha Christie – the cat – takes care of things while they are away.
PS: Adrienne’s keeping everything crossed there’s still time to realise her ambition to be a Bond girl.
I just finished reading this fascinating and wonderful book about cats. For anyone who is interested in cats and how they think, feel and communicate, The Hidden Language of Cats is a must read. I learnt so much through reading it, it’s an absolutely delightful book with loads of interesting information. There are also really cute line drawings by the author’s daughter Hettie, which add an extra charm to this book. Highly recommended!
BLURB
EVER WONDERED WHAT ALL THE MEOWS MEAN? THIS BOOK WILL TRANSLATE THEM AND ENSURE YOU NEVER MISUNDERSTAND A MEOW AGAIN . . .
Today, domestic cats live harmoniously with devoted owners all over the world. But how did the wildcats of old creep into our homes and our hearts, convincing us to keep them warm, fed, and pampered?
They learned to talk to us.
Renowned cat behaviour scientist Dr. Sarah Brown reveals the previously unexplored secrets of cat communication in a book that is both scientifically grounded and utterly delightful.
Each chapter dives into a different form of communication, including: · Vocalisation · Tail signals · Scents · Rubbing · Ear movements
Through observing the behaviour of two cat colonies in rural England, readers will also have the opportunity to glimpse into the lives of some of the cats behind Dr. Brown’s science. With references to historical records, modern scientific studies of cat-human communication, and the inclusion of simple, elegant line drawings, The Hidden Language of Cats is perfect for any cat lover who wants to learn more about their beloved companion.
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