Jen Gilroy's Blog, page 12

What makes you happy?

In the continued and often described “dumpster fire” that is 2020, there are many things that aren’t making me happy. From the pandemic and other world events through to a myriad of concerns in my own life, it’s far easier to focus on stress than joy.

Yet, and especially in this particular year, I need to focus more on small everyday joys and savour moments of calm when I find them.

So, in the spirit of small things that make me happy, here are five from this week.

Being in nature 

Last weekend, a friend and I went for a socially distanced, mask-wearing walk in a nearby nature conservation area.

Crunching through fallen leaves, admiring trees decked in brilliant autumn foliage and breathing in the crisp, fresh air pulled me out of myself and my worries and “grounded me” in something solid and necessary—and gave me a sense of timelessness too.

Friendship 

Like most of us, I’m  missing social connections so being able to see a friend for that walk in “real life” was a blessing not to be taken for granted.

My friend is having her own challenges and while “a problem shared wasn’t a problem halved,” being able to talk about those problems made some of our worries seem a bit less daunting.

A sense of achievement 

In a chaotic world, ticking a few manageable things off my “to-do” list like tidying a kitchen storage unit gave me an inordinate sense of achievement.

And the bonus? My candle holders are now more accessible to use and enjoy candles on these dark autumn evenings.

My books 

Not ones I’ve written (although those give me joy too) but looking at my bookshelves and the reading memories and encouragement they hold brings me a sense of comfort, happiness and connectedness to other times and places that’s invaluable right now.

I’ve also been dipping into old favourites—a return to a reassuring world I need.

Family photos 

With not having many close living relatives, and the pandemic meaning I’m not able to visit with extended family, looking at the photo albums my late dad compiled and sorting through boxes of even older family pictures (some going back to my great-grandparents’ generation) has reminded me of roots, history and more.

It’s also made me laugh (my teenage hair didn’t look nearly as good as I thought it did!), recall happy memories and remember old friends.

Hitting the “reset” button…

In these days of isolation, chaos and fear, I still have much to worry about but there are also things that make me happy.

And hitting that “reset” button to focus on those things has made an important difference to how I’m managing stress and finding more joy. 

What makes you happy now?

Sale alert…Get Back Home at Firefly Lake for only 1.99 ($2.99 in Canada)

Looking for cozy, feel-good reading? The e-book of Back Home at Firefly Lake, the third book in my Firefly Lake trilogy (although it also stands alone) is currently on sale in Canada and the US for only $1.99 (up to $2.99 on some retailers & in Canada).

I don’t know how long this sale will last so if you haven’t read it or would like to gift the story to a friend, grab a bargain now.

“Gilroy’s wistful third Firefly Lake contemporary brings two sad and lonely people together for a second chance at love…But when these two broken souls come together, magic happens.” —Publishers Weekly.

Amazon |B&N Nook |Kobo |Google Play |Apple

Finding baking memories

As summer’s warmth becomes a distant memory, I’m doing more baking, a favourite pastime but one I haven’t had much time for in the last few years.

To bake, though, I needed to sort through my overflowing kitchen cupboards and the boxes stacked at the foot of the basement stairs, a legacy of clearing out my late mom’s home and several moves in quick succession.

Apart from discovering I own no fewer than three egg poaching pans, six springform cake tins and enough mixing bowls to stock a small bakery, I also uncovered several boxes of cookie cutters, both my own and those I inherited from my mother and grandmother.

And as I opened those boxes, the memories came back.

Baking cookies (biscuits) in England with English Rose when she was small and using the pink princess cutters that were once her favorite.

A stash of holiday cutters, including my mom’s, used every Christmas as far back as I can remember, even when I was so small I had to sit on a wooden stool to reach the counter top at her side.

Several sets to cut cookies or sandwiches into the shape of spades, clubs, hearts and diamonds that echo a time when my grandparents invited friends for “card parties,” an important social event in their small-town life.

Canadian-themed cutters with maple leaves, a polar bear and a moose. Shamrock cutters for St. Patrick’s Day (a nod to my mom’s Irish heritage) and gingerbread people in all sizes.

And, not least, numerous round metal biscuit cutters, some so old and battered they likely came from my great-grandmother or one of the venerable great-aunts who were so much a part of my mother’s childhood.

Unpacking those boxes was a trip down memory lane—a wander through the winding path of both my own and my family’s history.

That history has been intertwined with baking for not only sustenance and comfort but, in many instances, contributing to a greater community good whether through giving baking to a neighbor in need or as part of a local fundraising “bake sale.”

As I make cookies and other treats this autumn, at a time when almost everything in my life and the wider world feels as if it’s out of control, I’m returning to my roots and the women who came before me who also baked during difficult times. 

And when those sweet baking smells waft from the kitchen, much as they do from the fictional Quinn’s Bakery in Irish Falls, I’ll remember those women and lessons they taught me.

As my heroine, Tara, says in my latest book, A Wish in Irish Falls:

“I learned [to bake] from Nana Gerry, and she was the best…Her scone recipe is legendary in Irish Falls, but not many people can make them anything like she did. She said ingredients only go so far and that you should always include a part of yourself in everything you bake. For her, and now for me too, it’s a dash of love…that’s what she taught me and so I honor her memory in my baking.”

Happy autumn and, for those of you who bake too, may you find your own comfort in the kitchen this season.

If you haven’t yet got a copy of A Wish in Irish Falls, find the Kindle version here.

Sale alert…Get The Cottage at Firefly Lake for only 0.99!

If you haven’t read the first book in my Firefly Lake trilogy, the e-book is currently on sale for only 0.99 cents/pence (or country equivalent) worldwide.

I don’t know how long this sale will last so download The Cottage at Firefly Lake now from any of the main e-book vendors. Or, if you’ve already read it, why not gift it to a friend?

Amazon |B&N Nook |Kobo |Google Play | Apple 

 

 

 

Celebrating book release week…A Wish in Irish Falls is out now!

 My latest book, the Kindle edition of A Wish in Irish Falls, came out on September 16th so it’s been a time of celebration. It’s my fifth published book…how did that happen?!

Given world events, it’s not the best time to be promoting a book but I hope that if you choose to read A Wish in Irish Falls (get a copy here, free with Kindle Unlimited), it gives you a bit of an escape, as well as hope and comfort.

For those waiting for the paperback, that edition should be out early in 2021 and I’ll share details when available.

What early readers are saying…

“A…delightful, captivating, and magical story.” Linda’s Book Obsession.

“A heartwarming story…showing us what really matters in this…charming town where dreams do come true.” Wild Sage Book Blog.

A look behind the book

Although A Wish in Irish Falls is the sequel to The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls, both books stand on their own so it doesn’t matter which order you read them in.

In addition to a central romance, both are stories of family, friendship and life in a small Irish-American Adirondack mountain town in New York state.

Six things I enjoyed about writing A Wish in Irish Falls…

A septuagenarian matchmaker who, along with matching up others, unexpectedly finds her own happily ever after.


A story that although set in the United States has echoes of the west coast of Ireland (one of my favorite places) with a hero who (like me) has lived and worked internationally.


A cute rescue dog found who needs a home and loving family.


A small-town veterinary clinic.


A wedding scene where two characters from The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls get their happy ending.


Developing a playlist of songs mentioned in the book including Carrie Underwood’s “What I Never Knew I Always Wanted” from her album Storyteller). That song captures one of the book’s themes—finding out who you are, what you want and the joy of dreams come true.

Sharing publication week with friends

In both my writing career and life, almost everything is better when I share it with friends.

As such, I’m delighted to let you know that several British author friends also have new books out this week. If these authors are new to you, you may just find another favourite! 

Jan Baynham’s second book, Her Sister’s Secret: The Summer of 66, is a dual timeline saga set between Wales and Sicily in 1946 and 1966 and tells the story of two women whose stories (and a secret) are forever linked.

In addition to armchair travel, another plus for me in this book? One of the main characters is called “Jen!”

Find out more & buy Jan’s book here.

Emma Cooper’s third emotional and uplifting women’s fiction novel, If I Could Say Goodbye, is “a story of love, loss and the power of family”—things I love to read about and write too.

And with another main character called “Jen,” I’m sensing a “theme!”

Find out more & although not yet out in North America, UK readers can buy Emma’s book here.

And not least, in the second book of her Railway Girls  saga series, Maisie Thomas takes readers back to the Second World War in Secrets of the Railway Girls. 

Set in the north of England and with friendship, love, secrets and more, this book is about women who worked on Britain’s railways in the 1940’s.

As far as I know, however, it doesn’t include a character named “Jen!”

Find out more and buy Maisie’s book on Amazon UK, Amazon US & Amazon Canada.

Happy reading!  And may books continue to give us all places to escape to when life is hard.

 

A medical emergency, a birthday, back to school & preparing for a book launch

“May you live in interesting times” says that old adage (curse?) and while 2020 has certainly been an “interesting” (insert other words of your choice!) year, in my family the past few weeks have been even more “interesting” than usual.

A medical emergency

If you follow me on social media, you may remember that we were in Toronto last week. It was a time to visit campuses of some of the universities that English Rose is considering applying to, catch up with extended family when weather meant we could still have socially distanced outdoor visits, and enjoy a late-summer break before September’s return to school and a more usual routine.

While part of the week went as planned (family visits and university tours), the other part brought an experience all parents dread—an ER (A&E in the UK) visit with a child in need of urgent medical attention.

When an ordinary family meal with takeout food from a restaurant we’ve visited many times before sparked an anaphylactic allergic reaction for English Rose, we ended up at a Toronto hospital for her to be pumped full of life-saving drugs and then monitored until her vital signs returned to (almost) normal.

Although not something I want to relive, we as a family are very grateful for the skilled medical staff who were there when English Rose needed them and who, in the midst of a global pandemic with desperately ill Covid patients in nearby isolation rooms, and a packed waiting room with other patients on stretchers in the corridor, sprang into action to give our teen the help she needed.

And on the bright side? Because it was a true emergency, English Rose was allocated a separate trauma room so she and I were separated from other sources of potential infection for the almost six hours we spent in hospital.

A birthday

English Rose also recently celebrated her seventeenth birthday and in many ways, it seems like yesterday that I was at another hospital (the Royal Berkshire in Reading, UK) to give birth to her.

On that hot, late-summer day when I held her for the first time and an all-consuming love washed over me, I couldn’t have imagined the twists and turns the next seventeen years would bring.

Not least, I certainly didn’t expect to be planning two socially distanced birthday parties (her friend group being split in half to fit guests in socially distanced cohorts outside on the porch), or to be monitoring public health guidance to ensure any gathering continues to align with ever-changing Covid-19 restrictions.

What I knew in 2003, though, and still know now, is that my life has been immeasurably richer because of having English Rose in it and, especially after coming so close to losing her, each day as a mum is even more of a blessing.

Back to school

Like parents and pupils across the world, back to school this year is about much more than organizing supplies and reconnecting with teachers and classmates after a long summer holiday.

Back-to-school plans here continue to be in flux and English Rose now doesn’t return for her final year until September 10th—a date that has been pushed back several times to account for additional safety preparations.

And although we’ve chosen to send her back to school so she can be with her peer group (instead of opting for more months of online learning), it hasn’t been an easy decision and we’ve been working closely with her school to ensure her medical challenges can be accommodated in whatever this “new normal” turns out to be.

And finally…preparing for a book launch

 In the past weeks, my writing life has been eclipsed by the rest of my life, my “mum life” especially.

But as the launch date for the e-edition of my latest book, A Wish in Irish Falls, comes closer I’ve also been focusing on release day preparations.

These include organizing social media graphics, coordinating advance reviews and updating my website (discovering a major technical issue that prevents me making needed changes without an entire site redesign), as well as drafting my release day author newsletter and more…the non-writing work that goes on behind the scenes before a book comes out.

I continue to be heartened by early reviews, though, including this one from Misty at Reds Romance Reviews:

“Between the pages of this perfectly crafted tale lies a story of hope, healing, love, and second chances…This beautiful…story will give your heartstrings a nice little tug…If you like small town second chance romances, with a hint of magic, then I highly suggest you pick this one up, it promises to leave your heart happy!”

Want to help support my launch?

You can pre-order a copy (free with Kindle Unlimited).

Subscribe to my author newsletter here.

And if you’re on Goodreads, add A Wish in Irish Falls to your “Want to Read Shelf.”

Counting my blessings

Although the past few weeks have been eventful (including returning home from Toronto to find both the front and back lawns of our home decimated by a Chinch bug infestation), like the rest of this chaotic year, they’ve been a reminder of what truly matters—my family, friends and all the readers like you who have been so kind when life is hard.

Thank you for being part of my life and writing community—and may September bring all of us, and in the words of another old adage, “better days ahead.”

Why writing is like kayaking

As many of you know, I was on holiday last week. For me, a highlight of that time at a lakeside cottage was kayaking, previously new-to-me but something I enjoyed and want to do more often.

And as I paddled on a tranquil lake near Canada’s famed Algonquin Park, a place that has inspired artists, writers and other creatives for generations, I not only got several new book ideas, but I was also struck by parallels between kayaking and my writing life.

The wind at my back…or not

In writing, as in kayaking, there are times when the wind is favourable. Like a kayak skimming across water, words flow, ideas proliferate, book sales flourish and life is good.

Many other times, though, writers, like single-person kayakers, face head winds (including such things as writer’s block and market, agent and publisher changes) that can throw them off course—towards treacherous rocks, out-of-the-way bays or even out of the water (or writing life) entirely.

 The rhythm of writing…and paddling

As a novice kayaker, it was only by the end of the week that I’d begun to get into the rhythm of paddling to feel at one with the boat and water.

It’s much the same with writing. When I first started writing with the goal of publication, I had to find my voice, learn the fundamentals of writing craft and the publishing business, and get into the practice of setting and reaching a daily word count. 

And, like kayaking or any other activity, to get good at it, writing also requires practice—the hard, unglamorous work of showing up and getting the words down even when you don’t feel like it or other things beckon.

Exercising new muscles and changing course

Although I walk daily, do ballet and try to keep active, last week’s kayaking used an entirely new set of muscles. My back and shoulders hurt, as did my thighs, and at one point my whole body reminded me that I was indeed doing something different

Yet, by challenging myself to try something new, I found a kind of reward and sense of achievement much as I do in writing.

In recent months, and alongside contemporary romance, I’ve been writing new kinds of books and exercising my writing muscles in different ways.

While that work has taken me far beyond my comfort zone and been scary, it’s also exhilarating. By pushing myself to try something new, I’ve learned and stretched myself as a writer—with the mental and emotional soreness to prove it.

Time to rest

Finally, in both kayaking and writing, it’s important to take time to rest and ‘be.’

While sitting quietly on and by the water last week, I thought about both my life and writing—not only what I want but also what I need and it was then, when I least expected, that new ideas sparked.

Back to reality

Like many of us, 2020 has been hard for me and until last week I hadn’t given myself time to stop, rest and think. By keeping going, though, I was, although I hadn’t consciously realized it, spinning in ever-diminishing and unproductive circles.

I’m home now and back to reality with its attendant stresses and worries. However, in both writing and life I’m trying to hold on to that feeling of being out on the water and steering my own craft, persevering despite winds, naysayers and other forces. 

And since we live within walking distance of a river, someday soon Tech Guy and I want to rent a couple of kayaks and explore our local area that way.

I also have my eyes on a pink life vest and have been researching kayaking with dogs. Since I’ve written about a dog in a canoe (in The Cottage at Firefly Lake), a dog in a kayak might be next!

Advance reviews for A Wish in Irish Falls

The Kindle edition of my next book, A Wish in Irish Falls, comes out in less than a month and I’m grateful and heartened by what advance readers are saying about the story.

From Susan Peterson of Sue’s Reading Neighborhood:

“I loved all…the wonderful characters…the small town setting of Irish Falls is magical. Heart-fluttering, endearing, poignant…wonderful.”

If you’re interested, pre-order a copy here.

Cover reveal for ‘A Wish in Irish Falls’ & chatting with ‘A Little Book Problem’

My next book, A Wish in Irish Falls, will be out on September 16 and this week I’m sharing the gorgeous wintry cover.

Early readers have called the story warm, sweet and romantic and the cover captures the story’s magical feel perfectly.

Although a romance novel, A Wish in Irish Falls is also a story about second chances in life, family and finding home.

And with its wishing tree, a special tree believed to make wishes come true, the book has strong echoes of Ireland (one of my favourite places) and Irish tradition, and the veterinarian hero once lived in Ireland so has a hint of an Irish accent. 

Albeit a sequel to The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls, both books also stand alone.

Here’s the blurb.

When you wish on a wishing tree, you don’t always get what you want.  If you’re very lucky, you get something even better . . . 

When Tara Lynch’s husband was killed on military duty, her happily ever after died too. Although she still wishes on her hometown wishing tree, she’s no longer certain it makes dreams come true. All Tara wants is to somehow move forward without the love and family of her own she’d counted on. 

Walker Cavanagh’s the new veterinarian in town. After his fiancée’s death in a car accident he’s sure was his fault, he won’t get close to another woman to get hurt, or hurt her. As for wishes, they won’t bring back his lost love. 

Yet, as Tara and Walker work together on a fundraising event to train service dogs for veterans, they find they have more in common than they think—and are soon more than a little hot and bothered.  

With some wishing tree magic, can Tara and Walker face their biggest fears and open their hearts to each other . . . and find a new beginning in Irish Falls? 

Pre-order the e-book of A Wish in Irish Falls from Amazon here ( free with Kindle Unlimited).

And if you haven’t yet read The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls get the paperback or e-book from Amazon here  (free with Kindle Unlimited).  The paperback is also available from Barnes and Noble. 

 

Friday Night Drinks with A Little Book Problem

 This week, I was delighted to pop across the Atlantic (virtually) to meet up with British book blogger Julie Morris from A Little Book Problem to take part in her Friday Night Drinks Feature.

Over a chilled glass of my favourite pink zinfandel from California’s wine country, Julie and I chatted about my writing and what I’m currently working on, many things bookish (including why I’d like to bring Louisa May Alcott and Margaret Atwood on a night out), trips on my bucket list and a certain surprising fact about me…hint…it involves shoes!

Read the post here. 

From encyclopedias to Google: Looking things up in life and writing

Amongst the many bookshelves in my childhood home, one of them (although not pictured here) held an encyclopedia set.

In that pre-Internet world, those twenty-five volumes (hardcover and bound in cream with touches of red, black and gold) were my window on the wider world.

One of my earliest reading memories is matching “Z” for zebra with the corresponding picture in one of those hefty volumes, and in elementary school, the encyclopedia was a trusted resource for teaching and learning. At home and school, “look it up in the book” was a familiar refrain.

Like the people who once sold them door to door, encyclopedias have either migrated online or are remembered as quaint relics of an earlier time. I now turn to the Internet for most of my information needs—more current than those old encyclopedias and more global and inclusive in scope too.

For fun, I’m sharing my top five Google searches from this past week which also raise the question…how did we (and authors especially) manage before Internet search engines?!

Mother’s Day 2019 USA

I’m checking the proof copy for my September release, A Wish in Irish Falls, and part of that involves final verification of the book’s timeline.

Since an important story event takes place on Mother’s Day weekend in New York State, I needed to make sure my fictional date references were correct.

Thanks to Google, in only a few seconds I confirmed that in the United States from 2015 to 2020, Mother’s Day has been celebrated between May 8 to May 14–the same timeframe as my fictional event.

Are blackberries ok for dogs?

As some of you may have seen on Facebook, Floppy Ears has adopted a blackberry bush in our garden as her personal snack station.

When I caught her with a mouthful of berries, with one hand on her collar and the other on my phone I turned to Google to find out if our next stop should be the veterinarian’s office.

The answer?

Blackberries are safe and healthy for dogs as they are for people. However, in the interest of future blackberry crumbles we’re investing in netting to divert our ravenous hound.

Aretha Franklin, “Respect,” phone ringtone

This search was related to a book I’m currently writing.

Since I needed a character to have a phone ringtone that captures female empowerment, what better than a song known as an anthem of female empowerment by an American singer-songwriter named the “Queen of Soul”?

Royal Doulton figurines

While dusting my dining room sideboard, I was curious about a cherished figurine that belonged to my mother.

Working from the name (“Top O’ the Hill”) and maker (Royal Doulton) on the base, within seconds I’d found out when the piece was introduced and retired, the designer and where I could buy another one from any number of online vendors.

And finally…“Dr Internet”

English Rose had a hospital appointment this week and one of her specialists gave us a new diagnosis.

Before we’d even left the hospital, from the US Mayo Clinic to centres of research expertise in the UK and Europe, I’d accessed trusted online sources to find out more.

So much information

Unlike those old encyclopedias where information was static and limited to several shelves of physical volumes, information today is not only everywhere but also ever changing.

Although I’m grateful to have so much information available in real time and only a few keystrokes away, it comes with more personal responsibility too.

That “look in the book” advice is now “look on the Internet” but more than ever, and as I tell English Rose, check the source too. In a world awash with information, thinking critically about the who, why, when, where and how of that information has never been more important.

Yet, whenever I see a picture of a zebra, I’m reminded of that long-ago time when almost everything I wanted to know seemed to be between the pages of those trusty encyclopedias.

And pre-pandemic, when I saw an encyclopedia set identical to the one my parents had in a “vintage” display in a trendy store, I didn’t know whether to laugh or shed a tear.

Despite the convenience of Google, a bit of me misses encyclopedias—and that world they (and I) were once part of.

Wishing on a wishing tree

“There’s a wishing tree in Irish Falls. The bits of paper tied to its gnarled branches hold the hopes and dreams of everyone in town…”

That’s from the blurb for my most recent book, The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls, a story about wishes come true, even for those who have given up on wishes.

Halfway through 2020, most of us are emotionally bruised and battered by current events so it’s not surprising more communities are drawing on the tradition of wishing trees for a bit of comfort, encouragement and inspiration.

From the end of June until July 4, a village a few miles from where I live also had a wishing tree, and that stalwart maple in a local park was defined as a “project of hope” to lift hearts and minds at this challenging time.

When I visited, I was touched by what people wished for—and also what they didn’t.  

The pragmatic

From the child who, in crooked upper case letters in red crayon, wished for a “dog and pet fish” to the one who wanted “more trucks and tractors to play with,” some of the wishes were for things that, in a world that often seems out of control, were specific and, depending on parental approval, achievable.

The poignant

Other wishes, though, were more poignant.

To visit grandchildren in another part of Canada, to go back to “real church,” and the one that broke a little piece of my heart.

“I wish we could give hugs.”

The pandemic

Numerous wishes focused on the Covid-19 pandemic from those who wanted it “all to go away,” for “everything to go back to normal,” and “to go back to school in the fall.”

And then there were the big wishes

For world peace, a cure for cancer, a clean environment, and a simple but yet oh so difficult plea for everyone, everywhere, to get along, respect and listen to each other.

Wishing on a wishing tree

As I stood in front of that wishing tree and wrote a wish of my own (folding it over so as not to share it with the rest of my small-town world!), it was as if I’d tumbled into my fictional Irish Falls. 

And, as I do when reading feel-good fiction, I came away with not only renewed hope and encouragement, but also—particularly important at a time of many closed international borders—a connection to the wider world beyond my local area.

With the exception of the children wishing for toys, the majority of wishes were for intangible things—ones that shape and unite us as humans, the importance of which the pandemic has thrown into even sharper relief.

Like that anonymous wisher, I too want to be able to give hugs again, something I always took for granted but now miss so much.

And perhaps the sweetest wish of all and one that delights my romantic heart?

“I wish for a very long life with my sweetie.”

Stay safe everyone and I hope your wishes come true.

If you haven’t yet read The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls, get it on Amazon here (free with Kindle Unlimited) or from the Book Depository, with free paperback shipping worldwide.

For US readers, the paperback is also available to order from Barnes & Noble.

Writing news—Calling book bloggers and reviewers

My next book, A Wish in Irish Falls (and sequel to The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls) will be out in late September and should be available for pre-order soon—with a cover reveal (I have cover love!) coming on my Facebook author page, and via my blog and newsletter. 

If you’d like to read an advance copy and post a review, please email me at jen@jengilroy.com and I’ll add you to my review crew.

With more wishes, more baked goods, a small-town matchmaker, a rescue dog and a veterinarian with a hint of an Irish accent, I’m excited about sharing A Wish in Irish Falls with you.

 

When tragedy strikes close to home

I’ve now lived in Canada for almost five years and although England will always be one of my ‘homes,’ my English and Canadian lives rarely intersect.

Last weekend was different, though, and I was reminded that despite being geographically distant, my English ‘home’ is, and always will be, close in heart.

In England, we lived near Reading, a Berkshire town forty miles west of London that rarely makes the news headlines and is certainly not a place known to most Canadians.

Despite a rich history (including ruins of an abbey founded in 1121), it’s not a place most international tourists visit, either.

It’s an ordinary town with ordinary people and for us, it was the place where both Tech Guy and I worked and English Rose was born and later went to school.

Last Saturday, however, Reading was catapulted into the global spotlight for the worst possible reason—a stabbing in a local park that left three people dead, others injured and (at time of writing) is suspected to be at least in part motivated by terrorism.

First came fear.

Within moments of notifications popping up on social media, English Rose FaceTimed her best friend.

Were she and her family okay? Yes, thankfully.

Had anyone we knew been impacted? What was the local story versus what we were seeing reported in Canada?

Then came shock.

How could such a thing happen in Forbury Gardens?

A place where we’ve enjoyed numerous picnics and open-air concerts on summer evenings much like last Saturday.

A peaceful place loved by the local community where people from many different backgrounds come together to spend time with family and friends.

And a place that holds happy memories of English Rose’s childhood.

The cast-iron Maiwand Lion sculpture (commemorating men of a Berkshire military regiment lost at the Battle of Maiwand in Afghanistan in 1880) she’d wave to on her way to school.

The refreshment kiosk where we bought ice cream.

And the flat, grassy patch perfect for turning cartwheels. 

More recently there is also anger and sadness.

Because of a seemingly random attack, lives have been either destroyed or forever changed.

And a place we as a family cherish has also been altered.

Home and community

As my family and I read news reports from afar, and especially after learning that one of the victims taught at the same school as a dear friend, we held each other a bit closer.

This week and always, we stand with those in the Reading area to support our town and people, joined in mourning and confusion but also in steadfast strength.

Because when tragedy comes close, home and community bring comfort, and family and friends offer support, no matter how far away.

Voices in my head

In a Twitter exchange earlier this week, my author friend Jane Cable commented on the importance of writer friends, saying: “They don’t think you’re odd to have voices in your head.”

Although Jane and I were chatting about finding writing inspiration (which usually for me comes at random and whilst doing something else), her comment made me think about those “voices” and what they mean in my writing life.

Building characters

Even when I’m writing one book, characters from others are in my head and I often ‘live’ with those characters for months or years before starting to tell their stories.

In that way, fictional characters become good friends and it’s always slightly traumatic when I finish a book and have to say goodbye to people I’ve lived with in my head for so long.

Places and setting

The voices in my head also help me build a fictional setting by making think about the kinds of places a particular character would live, work and even go on holiday.

For me, settings are characters in their own right and by the time I complete the last edits on a story, it’s hard for me to think about characters without the setting of which they’re part.

In The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls, for example, the fictional Malone Street and Quinn’s Bakery are as real to me as places in my own small town and I can picture my characters living their lives there and, although I brought them into being, happily going on new adventures without me after the story I told ends.

Trusting my instincts

Not exclusive to my fiction-writing, the voices in my head are also a helpful guide to decision-making in many aspects of life.

There are times when if I’d only listened to those voices, I’d have avoided mistakes and heartache whilst on other occasions they steered me towards experiences that have enriched my life.

And as I currently write a book that is way out of my comfort zone and is stretching me as a writer in a myriad of new directions, I keep coming back to that inner voice as both inspiration and touchstone.

When the voices are hard to hear

In the past months, there has been a lot of “noise” for all of us—a constant onslaught of bad news and worry both personal and on the national and global scales. As such, I’ve struggled to hear those voices and the world of my imagination has been further away than usual.

While Tech Guy “bellows” on daily conference calls from his makeshift home office, English Rose has online school, and Covid-19 news and social media notifications are too present, it’s been a challenge for me to centre myself in a quiet space to listen to not only my characters but my instincts too.

Yet, when I’m able to take that quiet, introspective time, usually when walking Floppy Ears, I come back to my real life—and fiction—with more focus and renewed energy and creativity.

Writing friends

The friends I’ve made in my writing life are indeed the only ones who can truly understand why I have “voices in my head” (at least without insisting upon immediate medical intervention) and during this time of isolation their emails and social media chats have been even more valuable than usual.

And since one of those friends inspired this blog post, find out more about Jane’s books (and her July release, Endless Skies, a modern day romance with a historical, Second World War twist), by visiting her website here.

If you’d like to give Jane’s writing a try, Endless Skies is currently available for Amazon pre-order at the special price of only 0.99 cents/0.99 pence. Get Endless Skies via a universal buy link here.