Jen Gilroy's Blog, page 20

Celebrating my second book birthday: Summer on Firefly Lake

The second book in my Firefly Lake series, Summer on Firefly Lake, was published this week. It’s the sequel to The Cottage at Firefly Lake and, although connected by the setting and some recurring characters, each book also stands alone.

In Summer on Firefly Lake, Mia, the heroine, is recovering from a painful divorce and moves to Firefly Lake, Vermont with her two daughters to put her life back together. She doesn’t expect to fall for her friend, and one-time teenage crush, Nick McGuire. However, during one special summer, Mia and Nick learn that the life you think you want may not be the one you really need.

I fell in love with Mia and Nick when I was writing their story and hope readers do too. It’s also a book with a secondary romance, and I delighted in giving Nick’s mom, a woman in her sixties, her very own happy ending.

There are children, a dog (or two), interfering family, and, of course, a small-town community that’s caring, but where your private life often isn’t so private.

To celebrate my book release, I’m sharing the top 3 things that make this book special to me, along with some scene snippets. There’s a giveaway exclusive to blog subscribers, too.

Healing and transformation

Summer on Firefly Lake is about the healing power of love, as well as family, friendship and community. Through the course of the story all the characters—and not only the hero and heroine—experience some kind of transformation and become the people they were meant to be.

For Mia, the heroine, it’s a journey toward independence. She has her own home, her own job and, for the first time in her life, she’s determined to stop the self-doubt and stand on her own two feet and be a mother her daughters can be proud of.

“…the name Mia had answered to for almost seventeen years was all of a sudden wrong. Like the pair of pointy black shoes that pinched, but she’d kept anyway…”

For Nick, the hero, the journey is one of finding somewhere he truly belongs.

“Mia had him wound up in a way he never got wound up. She made him think about things he’d avoided for years. Like a home, a family, and a dog.”

The place

Setting looms large in all my writing and in Summer on Firefly Lake, the fictional small Vermont lake town is almost a separate character. Here, we see it through the heroine’s eyes, from a house and gardens I’d like myself.

“Mia looked out the French doors at the terraced gardens surrounding the stately Victorian perched high above Firefly Lake. The small town was spread out below, and the spire of the Episcopal church rose out of the trees near the town green. A patchwork of rooftops sloped toward the gentle scoop in the lake from which Harbor House took its name. The whole scene was encircled by the rolling Vermont hills, which made her feel safe and protected in this little corner of the Northeast Kingdom.”

When fiction imitates real life

From the heroine’s favorite childhood ice cream (tiger tail, orange with a black licorice swirl) to the “Cowboy cookies” she bakes for her children, to her collection of vintage blue glass bottles, there are numerous echoes of some of my favourite things in Summer on Firefly Lake.

This book was also influenced by the small-town roots that have shaped my life and fiction (as I wrote about in a guest post for Broken Teepee earlier this month).

The following snippet comes from a conversation between the hero and an older family friend at the local diner and describes how she stopped his gossipy great-aunt in her tracks. It’s drawn from a conversation I once overhead and noted down. For writers, literary inspiration is everywhere!

“I mentioned I knew all the beds her shoes have been under.”

“Great-aunt Bernice?” Nick’s mouth fell open. Bernice was over eighty, favored fussy floral prints and sensible shoes, and had been widowed as long as he could remember.

“You think she’s too old?” Liz poked Nick’s chin with a forefinger and closed his mouth. “We women have needs, and there are lots of lonely and able widowers in this town.”

Giveaways

As a thank you to my blog subscribers, one lucky winner will receive a signed paperback of Summer on Firefly Lake, and a summer-themed bookmark. You’re already entered by being on my e-mail list.

I’ve also teamed up with Barclay Publicity for a two-week blog tour to celebrate this release, and there’s a giveaway to enter at each tour stop with a chance to win print copies of my books, as well as an Amazon gift card. Check out the details here.

Here’s the blurb for Summer on Firefly Lake

Sometimes love is better the second time around.

Mia Gibbs spent her marriage putting her husband’s needs before her own. And now, after a painful divorce, she’s building a new life for herself and her two daughters back home at Firefly Lake. The last thing she needs is a man to complicate things. But former bad boy turned friend Nick McGuire has turned everything upside down.

Attorney Nick McGuire wasn’t meant to be a family man. His career has always been his focus, and after taking time out to help his mother, he’s ready to get back to the city…until Mia and her daughters arrive at Firefly Lake. Mia is beautiful and intriguing, and it doesn’t take long to realize being “just friends” will never be enough. As the summer nights turn colder, Nick will have to choose between the life he’s always wanted…and the woman he can’t live without.

Buy links

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon Canada

B&N

Chapters-Indigo

iBooks

Kobo

Google Play

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Published on July 27, 2017 22:30

Alone time

Like most writers, I’m an introvert. Although I can extrovert when I have to (at conferences and reader events, for example), I’m happiest living inside my head and need frequent alone time, preferably at home, to recharge before facing the world again.

As I write this post, though, I’m in a very unfamiliar place for me—a house that is quiet, empty, and has been that way for the past four days. Tech Guy works away from home between Monday and Friday so I’m used to his comings and goings. However, this week, English Rose has also been away visiting family, and busy Floppy Ears has spent several days at doggy camp.

This is the longest stretch of time I’ve spent entirely on my own since those long-ago days when I was a single woman with a cozy city apartment. Yet, despite the pangs of maternal guilt for both child and canine, I’ve rediscovered certain advantages of a (temporarily) solitary life.

I can eat what I want, when I want to. While I’d never advocate ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and supper (*cough*), there’s a certain liberation that comes from not worrying about what and when other people need to eat.

I can watch what I want, when I want to. My collection of Jane Austen films sits undisturbed on top of the DVD player, and there is no one to sigh, grunt, or make a somewhat constipated face when I watch Persuasion for the umpteenth time. Ditto Netflix and the Hallmark movies dear to my heart.

Binge reading. You won’t be surprised to know that one of my most favorite things to do is read—to curl up in a comfy chair and escape into the world of a story for hours on end. In recent years, however, extended reading time has been more a luxury than regular occurrence.

But this week (and apart from the flashlight under the covers), I’ve read as I did in childhood, feasting on books at mealtimes, in the bath, and on the back porch accompanied by a soundtrack of sweet summer sounds.

All the laundry is in the hamper and nearby surfaces are free of dirty clothes. The laundry pile has also stopped growing exponentially, and I’m briefly at a point where the amount of laundry in my house is exactly equal to the number of people who live here.

With uninterrupted work time, my productivity has shot up. While books, blog posts, and everything else that is part of a writer’s life will never write themselves, things go more quickly with dedicated time to focus on them.

Yet, even as I’ve been savouring this alone time, holed up working on a new book and preparing for the publication of Summer on Firefly Lake (now less than two weeks away!), there has been a big empty space in my life—and my heart—that no amount of reading, work, or the absence of laundry could ever fill.

Back when I lived in that cozy city apartment, I longed for a husband and family. I had all the solitude in the world, but I was lonely. This week has reminded me how much I love my husband, daughter, and furry child, and how quickly time with those we cherish slips away.

So when they come home later today, I’ll hug them close and tell them once again what they mean to me. Before dealing with that inevitable mountain of dirty clothes…

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Published on July 13, 2017 22:30

Meet me at the diner: Susanna Bavin author of “The Deserter’s Daughter”

In this occasional series on my blog, I’m chatting with my friend Susanna Bavin, whose debut novel, The Deserter’s Daughter, was published on June 22nd.

Susanna and I are both members of the Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA) in the UK. We met via Twitter and haven’t stopped emailing since! She’s a dear and supportive friend and I wouldn’t want to be on this writing journey without her. Susanna lives by the sea in North Wales with her husband and their two rescue cats, Alf and Cassie.

I’m delighted to have her here with me today. In honour of my English guest, I’ve made my favourite Victoria sponge cake (a traditional British cake made of two layers of sponge cake sandwiched together with jam and cream), and the teapot is steeping with Yorkshire tea. Fab baker that she is, Susanna hasn’t come empty handed and has brought us Eccles cakes (flaky pastry filled with currants and a touch of cinnamon), as a nod to her North of England roots.

Thank you for inviting me, Jen. It’s such a pleasure to be here.

I’m so pleased to have you here, Susanna, and congratulations on your debut release. I’m partway through reading The Deserter’s Daughter and it’s such a wonderful book—absorbing and emotional with believable characters, unexpected twists and a compelling sense of place and time.

Several years ago, you and your husband made a big life change and moved to the Welsh seaside, a place where you’d always wanted to live. How has pursuing a dream changed your life?

Moving to Llandudno in beautiful North Wales was a dream come true for me. It is where I had wanted to live ever since I was a child coming here for holidays every summer. Llandudno was Dad’s favourite place too; and Mum loved it as well and used to talk about moving here. They both passed away some years ago, but in a funny way, living here has made me feel closer to them, because I know what a special place it was in their lives.

How has life changed? Well, back in England we used to get up early, sit in traffic jams, work long hours… you know the sort of thing.

I do indeed!

Coming to Llandudno meant that all those pressures, which we hadn’t even realized were pressures, lifted. The pace of life is wonderfully relaxed here, even though the local people work hard to make this a successful holiday place. Llandudno has long been known as the Queen of Welsh Resorts. I look at the people here on holiday and say to myself, “They’re going home at the end of the week, but we’ll still be here.” We’ve lived here since 2013 and we still have that “Wow! We really live here,” feeling. We’re so lucky.

Although I’ve been to Wales, I’ve never visited Llandudno. Hopefully I’ll be able to see your lovely home for myself one day, not only in the gorgeous pictures you post on social media. Since I also live in the place I’ve wanted to since childhood (in an area that was special to my mum), I understand what you mean when you say that living where you do makes you feel closer to your parents. Especially after we lose our parents, those ties become even more meaningful.

Turning to your book, you write sagas, a much beloved sub-genre for British readers of romance and women’s fiction. Since “the saga” may not be as familiar to some of my North American readers, can you give us a brief introduction?

I think your North American readers would find many aspects of the saga very familiar. The saga is, as you say, part of the romance/women’s market and as such it deals, above all else, with relationships–what binds families together and what blows them apart; the exploration of friendship and other relationships; and, of course, love and romance. Generally, a saga will have various sub-plots to add further depth and tension to the story.

Sagas have an historical setting, so the reader joins the heroine as she tackles and gradually overcomes her troubles within the social and legal context of the day. Naturally, this means she is plagued by all kinds of problems that a modern heroine wouldn’t have to deal with. For me, both as a reader and as a writer, this is the most fascinating aspect of the story to explore.

And you do this so well in The Deserter’s Daughter. For example, before reading your book, I wasn’t aware that cleaning the doorstep with a donkey stone (a type of scouring block used to clean stone steps) was a domestic task stratified along class lines. When your heroine, Carrie, marries “up” the social scale, her new husband rebukes her saying “my wife doesn’t demean herself or shame me by cleaning the doorstep.”

What do you think is the biggest difference between a British saga and an American historical?

I imagine it’s the class structure. Usually, a saga has a working-class background–that is, low-paid people working long hours and living in poor housing.

In The Deserter’s Daughter, Carrie and Evadne’s mother married twice and the girls have different fathers from different class backgrounds. Evadne’s father was from a solid middle-class family, not hugely rich but comfortably off, and Evadne yearns to return to the privileged world she remembers from childhood. Carrie, on the other hand, is the daughter of a working man and has a simpler view of what she can expect from life.

I agree with you. Although the American historical often has a class dimension, the British class structure as manifested in the saga genre has a much different feel.

You grew up in Manchester in England and The Deserter’s Daughter is set there. How have your Mancunian roots and related sense of place shaped your writing?

The setting for The Deserter’s Daughter is a part of Manchester called Chorlton-cum-Hardy, which is where I grew up. When people think of Manchester, they imagine a vibrant city with all its wonderful architecture and people and traffic; but Chorlton is on the very edge of Manchester and 100 years ago it was a small, quiet township. Chorlton borders the River Mersey and even today there are miles of meadowland alongside the river.

Setting The Deserter’s Daughter in my native Chorlton felt a natural thing to do. It is where several generations of my family grew up and I feel a strong link to it. I think that setting my book there has given it a “small town” feeling, which I as a reader enjoy, and which I hope will make my book appealing to others. One of the features of The Cottage at Firefly Lake that I particularly enjoyed was the sense of closeness and community that you conveyed. I think many of us would like to live in a place like that.

Another feature of the saga is the importance of having a strong sense of place. Sagas are also called “regional sagas,” because they are inextricably linked to the area where they are set and successful saga authors are known for writing about a particular area of the country.

I’m glad you enjoyed the sense of community in The Cottage at Firefly Lake, and I hadn’t thought about links between the sense of place and community that characterize sagas and the contemporary small town stories that are popular in North American romance and women’s fiction. That sense of place in the Chorlton of your book is so compelling. As a reader, I feel as if I’m walking the same streets as your characters, right down to the “pea-souped” fog.

It’s a week since publication of The Deserter’s Daughter. For me, seeing my name on the cover of a published book was a dream come true. How did you celebrate this milestone in your life and writing journey?

It has been such a wonderful week. I have been bowled over by all the kindness and support I have received, not just in the past few days but also in the build-up to publication in the preceding weeks.

Publication day itself was delightful from start to finish. We held an afternoon tea (very English!) for friends in the beautiful Imperial Hotel on Llandudno’s sea-front, with my husband, who is a musician, providing musical accompaniment, playing popular songs from the 1920s through to the 1990s.

My friends surprised me with a glorious floral arrangement in my favourite colours, incorporating an S in pink roses; some “flowers” made of cotton-wool (Manchester used to be famous for its cotton-mills); and the whole arrangement was in an authentic 1920s mixing bowl, for my 1920s story. You can imagine how overwhelmed I was.

My lasting memory of publication day will be the kindness and generosity, not just of my friends in the “real” world, but also of the many people who have supported me on social media.

I was delighted to share in your publication day, virtually. And that floral arrangement is stunning. Thank you for sharing a picture so my readers can enjoy it too. Pink is also one of my favourite colours!

In North America, many novels are published in eBook these days and sometimes there is a paperback version too, but The Deserter’s Daughter is appearing as a hardback first (as well as an eBook for Amazon Kindle).

That’s right. It feels such a privilege to have a book published in hardback, though at the same time I am aware that this makes it expensive for many readers to purchase. I hope lots of people will request The Deserter’s Daughter from their local public libraries. Coming from a family of lifelong library-users, and speaking as a former librarian, it makes me feel immensely proud to think of my book–my book!–being on public library shelves.

In the UK, the hardback and eBook were released on the same day. In the US and Canada, and other parts of the English-speaking world, the eBook came out on June 22nd, with the hardback following early in September. And the paperback will follow in a few months.

I am also delighted that The Deserter’s Daughter is going to be an audiobook and a large print book. One of my family members was blind and another was visually impaired, so I do appreciate how important it is to make books as accessible as possible. Also–I adore listening to audiobooks! I always have one on the go.

I’m requesting The Deserter’s Daughter at my local library. And yes, seeing my book in libraries is such a thrill! I’m happy you’re experiencing that feeling too.

After the excitement of publication, what comes next? I know you’re busy writing another saga for your publisher.

Yes, I have a 2-book deal with Allison & Busby (a leading independent publisher based in London) and my second book will be another 1920s family saga, set in Manchester.

It is about a young mother in Lancashire, a county in the far north of England, who discovers that her husband has been leading a double life, so she leaves him and starts again in Manchester. There are plenty of twists and turns, as well as a court case that I hope readers will find gripping.

It sounds intriguing and I’m looking forward to reading it. Thanks again for joining me here today, Susanna, and bringing baking, too. Eccles cakes are Tech Guy’s favourite so I’ve sneakily set one aside for him!

Many thanks for inviting me, Jen. I’ve loved chatting with you. I hope some of your North American blog-visitors will fancy trying a good old British saga!

Here’s the blurb for The Deserter’s Daughter

1920, Chorlton, Manchester.

As her wedding day approaches, Carrie Jenkins is trying on her dress and eagerly anticipating becoming Mrs Billy Shipton. But all too soon she is reeling from the news that her beloved pa was shot for desertion during the Great War. When Carrie is jilted and the close-knit community turns its back on her, her half-sister Evadne and their mother, the plans Carrie nurtured are destroyed.

Desperate to overcome her private troubles as well as the public humiliation, Carrie accepts the unsettling advances of the well-to-do antiques dealer, Ralph Armstrong. Through Ralph, Evadne meets the aristocratic Alex Larter, who seems to be the answer to her matrimonial ambitions.

But the sisters have chosen men who are not to be trusted and they must face physical danger and personal heartache before they can find the happiness they deserve.

Connect with Susanna via her website, follow her on Twitter or friend her on Facebook.

If you’d like to buy a copy of The Deserter’s Daughter or request it at your library (an easy way to support any author whose books you enjoy), details are on all the Amazon platforms including Amazon.com and Amazon UK.

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Published on June 29, 2017 22:45

The women in my life

One of the reasons I write romantic women’s fiction is because in addition to the central (and sometimes secondary) romance(s), readers find stories of hope and healing that explore aspects of women’s lives—not only a loving partnership but personal growth through relationships with children, extended families, friends, and communities.

Personal and family challenges have made the past six months tough for me. This time of testing, though, has made me think about the women in my life who have and continue to inspire women I write about.

Women who came before me

I come from a long line of resilient women. Whether working alongside their menfolk to hack out a new life in a harsh new land, making do and mending in wartime and during the Great Depression of the 1930s, or coping with all manner of private heartaches, fortitude and perseverance mark the female branches of my family tree.

It’s those qualities—and the example my foremothers set—from which I draw strength and inspiration during hard times in my own life.

Women who pray for me

When you’re parenting a child with a chronic medical condition, life is different than it was before their diagnosis. Ordinary days are special boons, small celebrations are more meaningful, and when you need it, a prayer community is only an instant message away.

On a Sunday afternoon in late February, I sat by my teen daughter at our local children’s hospital. She was moaning in pain on a gurney, and all I could do was hold her. For an endless half hour, I felt not only helpless but hopeless.

Yet, as soon as friends found out where we were, the prayers began—a virtual circle of faith, hope, and love that quickly spanned three countries and several time zones. From multiple faiths, those women prayed for and with us, bringing light into what was then darkness and helping me find the inner strength I’d temporarily lost.

Women who teach me

Throughout my life, I’ve been blessed with women who taught me lessons beyond those I learned at school.

At my mother’s side, and while learning how to make a bed, mix cookie dough, and iron shirts, I also absorbed lessons about marriage and motherhood.

In the corporate world, numerous female mentors made me savvy in office politics, managing meetings, and that ever-elusive work-life balance.

Now as an author, the lessons continue, and a new group of women has joined my life—a writing sisterhood dedicated to paying it forward.

Women who nurture and lift me up

These are the women who are there with hugs (real and virtual) when I need them, baked goods (again real and virtual), and a compassionate and non-judgmental listening ear.

They are trusted confidantes who are always in my corner, sitting with me amidst the rubble of whatever personal or professional disaster has befallen me and who, teapot at the ready, help me pick myself up and start again.

Women in books

The women who inspire me are fictional as well as real. From Anne Shirley, Katy Carr, and Elizabeth Bennett, to Anne Elliot, Jo March, Laura Ingalls Wilder and more, the women in my life are also in the pages of my favorite books.

Books about women (and girls) are typically relationship-driven, and fiction has given me a window into many different female lives and worlds.

Thank you

I’ve had many supportive women in my life, and although it may not have been evident at the time, each one has given me a gift to enrich both me and my fiction.

Thank you to all the women out there that I hold dear. When I count my blessings, I’m blessed to count you.

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Published on June 15, 2017 22:45

Life lessons from a dog

When I was living a life that didn’t fit me, I thought about the one that would. The life I then imagined was bracketed by what I called “the three p’s” – porch, pooch and pickup truck. All three represented a more authentic way of living that was better aligned with the values I hold dear.

I still don’t have a pickup truck, but almost two years into my new life in small-town Canada, I have a house with not one but two porches and, if we’re connected on Facebook or Twitter, you may know that I’ve also recently gained a pooch.

Since I grew up with a dog, I’m not quite a debut dog owner, but until Floppy Ears, a fourteen-month-old rescue Walker Hound-Beagle mix joined our lives, I’d forgotten how many life lessons our canine friends can teach us.

The world according to Floppy Ears…the top ten:

Stop and smell the roses (or if you’re a hound, smell anything that takes your fancy). The olfactory world is rich and often overlooked.
New friends are everywhere and only a tail wag away.
Sometimes it’s best to ignore small irritants. That Chihuahua may be annoying, but in the broad spectrum of life he’s not worth getting worked up over.
There’s always more than one way to solve a problem. If your seatbelt prevents you from sticking your nose out of the half-open car window, turn around. The wind also feels fabulous on the end of your tail.
Naps give you extra energy to make the most of your day.
Tell others what you need, but in appropriate ways. Clinking your empty water bowl against your food dish to tell a busy author you’re thirsty is good. Pulling books off shelves because you’re bored is not.
Have fun with fashion and accessorize. Whether it’s a pink collar so others know you’re a girl, or a cute raincoat to keep you dry in wet weather, your clothes say a lot about who you are.
Walking aids fitness, stress reduction and weight management. Two brisk walks a day help keep the doctor (or vet) away.
People will judge you by your appearance (especially if you have a gorgeous tri-colour coat and soulful brown eyes), but pretty is as pretty does. Good manners and consideration for others leave a more positive lasting impression than looks alone.
Don’t take yourself too seriously and make time for play every day.

Just as we can choose the lives we want, we can also choose our families. I’m grateful that mine has expanded to include Floppy Ears—writing buddy, snuggle bug and personal trainer in one.

Now if only that silver pickup truck would roll into my driveway sometime soon. Floppy Ears would love riding in a truck, don’t you think?

(For regular Floppy Ears pics and news, follow her on Instagram, an account managed by English Rose).

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Published on June 01, 2017 22:40

Ice cream season is here!

As you may know, I like ice cream. Although I’ve indulged even when wearing my parka, it’s summer when ice cream comes into its own as my treat of choice.

Ice cream features in my two “summer” books. Strawberry Sensation has special memories for the hero and heroine in The Cottage at Firefly Lake, and a Canadian favourite, Tiger Tail (orange flavor with a black liquorice swirl) crossed the border to Vermont in the upcoming sequel, Summer on Firefly Lake (releasing July 25).

Since I have a July birthday, ice cream has always been on the celebratory menu, and although it may not officially be summer until the June solstice, the season starts for me when my neighbourhood ice cream shops reopen after a long winter.

For me, one of the best parts of travel is sampling local ice cream. From traditional gelato in Italy, to vintage Victoria Plum on England’s North Norfolk coast, and Chai Tea in Hong Kong’s steamy heat, my sugar fix is unashamedly global.

Yet, some of my happiest ice cream memories are closer to home. Winnipeg’s Bridge Drive-In is where I had my first ever ice cream cone, and when I head back to that midwestern Canadian city where I grew up, it’s top of my list of places to visit. Even waiting in line (and in summer the lines can be very long indeed) is part of the experience.

There’s also an ice cream shop in the small town where I live and, like the best ice cream stands, it’s a community focal point. Families have gathered there on summer evenings for several generations, and my family is now part of that tradition.

Not least, there is homemade ice cream. Tech Guy and I received an ice cream maker for a wedding present (our friends and relatives know me well!), and a happy memory from our early married life is the vanilla chocolate chunk ice cream he made as an anniversary surprise.

The next time you read one of my books, the ice cream references aren’t accidental. In both my life and fiction, it wouldn’t be summer without ice cream. It’s my comfort food, inspiration and celebration all in one. Apart from having to work off all those calories, what’s not to love?

As the days get warmer here in the northern hemisphere, I wish you happy times, good books and sweet treats of your own.

And if you’re looking for a summer read, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Summer on Firefly Lake is available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters-Indigo and all other retailers!

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Published on May 18, 2017 22:35

An award nomination & visiting London with Catherine’s Cultural Wednesdays

As some of you know, my first book, The Cottage at Firefly Lake, has been shortlisted for The Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA) Joan Hessayon Award for 2017. All the nominees (see the full list here and discover their wonderful books) will gather for the award presentation at the RNA Summer party in London, England on 18 May.

Although I’d planned to attend and share London with you in person, I’ve unfortunately had to cancel my trip. However, since I still wanted to mark this award nomination on my blog, next best is visiting London virtually with the help of blogger and former BBC journalist Catherine Boardman. Now that I live in small-town Canada, Catherine’s “Cultural Wednesdays” posts give me my weekly fix of British culture and are a window on a world I miss.

I first fell in love with London as a student. When I stepped out of the airport on that long-ago September night, the rain falling in sheets onto dark-slicked streets where red double-decker buses jostled with black cabs against a jumble of buildings old and new, the city cast a spell on me that has never waned.

I was lucky to live in London for almost five years. I lived just outside London for almost fourteen more. In that time, I got to know a city made up of a patchwork quilt of individual neighbourhoods. I visited world-class museums and galleries, ancient churches, quirky pubs, and out-of-the-way parks and gardens in streets almost untouched by modern life. I experienced the old London as well as the new, and living amidst all that history changed who I am and how I see the world.

The London highlights that Catherine has shared with us (click on each heading to read her post) are perfect for spring and touch on some of my personal favourites: bookshops, gardens and royal heritage. There is also cake, a staple of both my life and the traditional English afternoon tea.

Catherine’s top five London bookshops

While several of these shops are as familiar as old friends, Catherine has introduced me to some new ones as well.

Second-hand books on a barge? Count me in!

Chelsea Physic Garden

With a book (or more!) in hand, what better place to read than a garden in springtime?

A peaceful haven, the Chelsea Physic Garden is a feast for the senses and serves a practical function too as all its plants are either edible or used for medicinal purposes.

Queen’s House, Greenwich

Monarchist or not, sampling some of London’s royal heritage is a must. Queen’s House in Greenwich is new to me, and this stunning Tulip Staircase is reason alone for a visit.

Best of all, in an often-expensive city, entry is free.

Coffee, culture and cake

No visit to London is complete without a stop in a café. It’s essential fuel for all that sightseeing, and Catherine and I share a fondness for snapping pictures of desserts, hot beverages and china.

The Orangery at Kensington Palace is one of my favourite spots for a special lunch and, as an added bonus, there’s the royal connection too.

For visitors and residents alike, London is a city with surprises around every corner. Although I’ll miss travelling there this month to mark a special milestone in my writing life and meeting up with author friends old and new, I’m grateful to Catherine for popping along to my blog to share bits of her London with us.

Do you have a favourite London place to add to Catherine’s list?

And if you’d like your own weekly fix of British culture (and possibly cake), follow Catherine’s blog here.

You can also connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.

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Published on May 04, 2017 22:35

Meet me at the diner: Kate Field author of “The Magic of Ramblings”

In the second of this occasional series on my blog, I’m chatting with my friend Kate Field whose first book, The Magic of Ramblings, was published in September 2016 by Accent Press.

Like me, Kate is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA) in the UK. She lives with her husband and daughter in Lancashire in northern England and, in addition to being a debut novelist, she’s also a “debut kitten owner,” and I often get my “cat fix” from her Facebook page. We connected via Twitter and, apart from writing, have much else in common including a love of chocolate (Fry’s chocolate cream bars in particular), Jane Austen’s Persuasion and reading in bed.

Kate writes contemporary women’s fiction, and The Magic of Ramblings, a story about a woman who runs away and finds her future (including a mysterious and intriguing hero), tugged at my heart from the first page and didn’t let go.

I’m delighted to have Kate here today and, in her honour, have brought out my best vintage tea set, and added Victoria sponge cake, homemade scones, jam and clotted cream, and imported English tea to the diner “specials.”

Cassie, the heroine of The Magic of Ramblings, takes a job as a companion to Frances, an elderly lady who lives at “Ramblings,” a wonderful Victorian Gothic mansion.

As someone who spent much of her time in the UK visiting stately homes at National Trust properties and now follows Country Living UK and BBC Homes & Antiques magazines from afar, I definitely have “house envy.” Is Ramblings (which even has its own library!) purely a product of your imagination or was it inspired by a real house?

Ramblings is purely fictional, but when I was thinking about what sort of house it should be, I knew I wanted it to be something out of the ordinary, but also a house that could conceivably be found in Lancashire, where the book is set. I spent many happy hours researching the stately homes of Lancashire, and came across one called Scarisbrick Hall. It is now used as a school – for some very lucky students! – and isn’t open to the public, but it’s a Victorian Gothic house, featuring tall chimneys, turrets, towers and arched windows, and as soon as I saw it I knew I had found the right style for Ramblings.

I then searched for more examples of Victorian Gothic architecture and found Tyntesfield, a National Trust property in Somerset. It’s a glorious building, and although it’s larger than my Ramblings, I used it as my inspiration when writing the book.

Tyntesfield, Copyright National Trust Images/Steve Stephens

I’d read about Tyntesfield but knowing that it inspired your book, it’s now on my list of places to visit on my next trip to the UK.

One of the things I most enjoyed about The Magic of Ramblings is its vivid sense of place. There’s some beautiful sensory writing in your book (“the sky had darkened to the colour of squid ink” intrigued me) and, having lived briefly in the north of England (the Lake District), I was delighted to note the reference to Herdwick sheep.

How have your Lancashire roots influenced you as a writer?

On a practical level, the Lancashire climate – predominantly wet and windy! – gives me plenty of time to stay indoors and write!

When the rain does stop, I love walking in the countryside, and I think the landscape has definitely influenced me. From one side of my house, I look onto bleak moors, whose tops are frequently masked by cloud; from the other side, I see rolling fields of sheep and cows, leading down to the village and the beautiful reservoirs in the valley bottom. It’s impossible not to look around and imagine the sort of people who would live and work in this landscape.

I took this photograph on a walk near home, because I could immediately picture my hero, Barney, striding through these fields with his dog at his side.

You live in a beautiful place, Kate, and having read the book, I can indeed picture Barney in those fields. Not only has Ramblings given me “house envy,” I also now have “view envy!”

I discovered The Magic of Ramblings via a blog post by a mutual friend, Susanna Bavin. The cover drew me in because it was reminiscent of one of my favourite children’s books, The Secret Garden. Do you have a favourite book from childhood?

I don’t think I can limit my answer to one book! I grew up in the days before computers and video games, and spent most of my time reading, but out of the hundreds of books I must have read, a few stand out from various stages of my childhood.

Enid Blyton’s books about The Magic Faraway Tree were my early favourites, and later I loved her books about The Famous Five too. I read Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome many times – it’s set in the Lake District, not far from Lancashire, and there’s always something special about reading books based in an area you’re familiar with.

As I grew older, I loved Anne of Green Gables, and the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys stories. While you were reading about England, Jen, I was longing to be in North America!

We share many favourite books, Kate. When I first visited the Lake District, I was so excited to see Swallows and Amazons country. If you’re able to visit Canada one day, I hope you can tour Prince Edward Island. It’s so much a part of the special world of Anne of Green Gables and even today, it’s easy to imagine the characters there.

In North America (my own books included), small towns are a popular setting for both contemporary romance and women’s fiction. The Magic of Ramblings is set in an English village, but it has a similar “feel” to these small-town stories because of its cosy pub, network of family and friends and caring sense of community.

Did you draw on personal experience of village life to depict your fictional world?

I love reading books set in small communities and I find it hard to resist a book that has a map of a fictional town or village at the front! There’s so much scope for drama in a small town or village setting, when everyone knows each other’s business – something I think you show so well, Jen, in The Cottage at Firefly Lake. It’s also fascinating to think about the impact it could have on a character to be surrounded by people who have watched them grow up, and to have the weight of previous generations resting on their shoulders.

I do live in a Lancashire village, but the one in Ramblings is purely fictional, as are the characters! The idea for the community library that Cassie starts at Ramblings came from personal experience though; there’s a library held in my village hall on Saturday mornings, and I’m one of the volunteers.

Thank you for your kind words about my book. I’m glad you enjoyed its small-town setting. Your reference to a library in your village hall makes me remember with fondness aspects of my life in England.

The Magic of Ramblings is your first published book. Did you write any books before Ramblings or (and unlike me) did you find your writing voice straight away?

Ramblings is the sixth book I’ve written, over a period of about 25 years, so it has taken a long time to find my writing voice!

I started off by writing a couple of Regency romances, because those were the books I loved reading at the time. I then tried two contemporary books, which I thought were romantic comedies, until I sent off a couple of chapters of one of them for a critique and was told it was “simply not amusing.” That hurt, but in hindsight I can see that it was exactly the tough feedback I needed. I’d chosen to write romantic comedies because they were popular with readers, not because it was the style of book I wanted to write. Once I’d accepted that, I started to write book 5 – which will be published later this year!

I well know how tough feedback hurts but you’re right, it’s sometimes needed (although ice cream and chocolate can help soften the blow!). Thanks for sharing how it takes time to learn how to write from your heart.

And on that topic, for me, one of the many strengths of your book is its believable, multi-faceted characters and emotional depth. Without giving away any spoilers (or the mystery), the three main characters, Cassie, the heroine, Barney, the hero, and Frances, the elderly woman for whom Cassie works as a companion, all have troubling—and intensely emotional—secrets in their pasts.

Do you think writers need to be able to feel strong emotions themselves to depict them realistically for readers?

Thanks for your kind words about my characters. It’s important to me that they are realistic. I want the reader to believe that the characters existed before they picked up the book, and that their lives will carry on beyond the final page.

I haven’t experienced the particular difficulties that Cassie and Frances faced in the past, and their stories are based on imagination and a great deal of research. But I do think that living through troubled times has affected my writing. There’s one difficult year that I can clearly see marked a change, to the extent that my writing can be divided into ‘before’ and ‘after.’ The books that came ‘after’ are richer and have more emotional depth, to my mind.

That’s something else we have in common. My life has also had its share of “troubled times” and you’re right, those difficulties have helped give more emotional depth to my writing.

On a lighter note, I enjoy visiting places that inspired much-loved books, and the UK has such a rich literary heritage. Have you gone on any “literary pilgrimages?”

Yes, many! We certainly are lucky here. My first pilgrimage was probably to Stratford-upon-Avon to visit Shakespeare country. I studied several Shakespeare plays at school, and my incredibly kind parents often took me to Stratford on holiday, and sometimes for the day (a long journey from Lancashire!) so that I could watch some of the plays at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

My favourite pilgrimage involved visiting Jane Austen’s house at Chawton, an amazing place to visit for any fan. As you’ve mentioned our shared love of Persuasion, Jen, you’ll understand when I say I’ve visited Bath many times to retrace the steps of Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth!

Gawthorpe Hall

Closer to home, I live about an hour away from Haworth in Yorkshire, home of the Brontë sisters, which is a fascinating place to visit.

There are Brontë connections in Lancashire too: Charlotte Brontë frequently stayed at Gawthorpe Hall, which is a beautiful Elizabethan mansion not far from my home.

Chawton…bliss! When I lived in England, I was within an easy drive of Chawton and it’s a such wonderful place to visit. Thanks for giving me and all my readers a bit of armchair travel. I’m restraining myself from booking a flight immediately!

I know your second book is scheduled for publication later this year. Please tell us more about what’s next in your writing life.

My next book is called The Truth about You, Me and Us, and is due to be published at the end of August. It’s based around a small group of craftspeople and the heroine, Helen, is a crazy patchwork artist. Crazy patchwork is one of the many things I intend to try when I have spare time!

Such an intriguing title and premise. Although I’m not a quilter, I inherited several quilts from my mother’s family and one is a “crazy patchwork.” I shall read with even more interest now.

Thanks for joining me here today, Kate. The Magic of Ramblings is a wonderful book, and I’m very much looking forward to The Truth about You, Me and Us, too.

Thanks for inviting me, Jen, and for providing the delicious English afternoon tea!

You can connect with Kate on Twitter (@katehaswords) and Facebook

Buy The Magic of Ramblings for Kindle or in paperback on all Amazon platforms including Amazon.com as well as The Book Depository (with free shipping worldwide).

Here’s the blurb for The Magic of Ramblings

When Cassie accepts a job as companion to an old lady in a remote Lancashire village, she hopes for a quiet life where she can forget herself, her past and most especially men. The last thing she wants is to be drawn into saving a community that seems determined to take her to its heart – and to resuscitate hers…

Frances has lived a reclusive life at Ramblings, a Victorian Gothic mansion, for over thirty years and now Barney is hiding away there, forging a new life after his medical career ended in scandal. He doesn’t trust the mysterious woman who comes to live with his rich aunt, especially when she starts to steal Frances’ affection – and maybe his own too.

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Published on April 20, 2017 22:30

Meet me at the diner: Kate Field author of The Magic of Ramblings