Liz Fenwick's Blog, page 10
May 11, 2013
A Cornish Affair Arrives...
My author copies of A Cornish Affair
Producing A Cornish Affair has been one long labour of love...and sometimes downright painful. In fact if I go down the whole giving birth comparison at the end I was swearing, grumpy and totally hated the the little bastard that I was pushing out into the world.
A Cornish Affair was conceived in 2005 as August Rock. I won't go into all the gory details but by the time two years ago when I began to rewrite the book in first person I had rewritten the book 27 times. Yes, you read that correctly. But not consecutively...I wrote and rewrote other books in-between. After each new book or new rewrite of another, I had learned something new as a writer and I applied that to August Rock that was....
So come to rewrite 27, I realised I had written my voice totally out of it and it had no soul left but my goodness what I had learned in the process. So for that 27th rewrite I went back to version two (helpful hint - always keep copies of the early versions) and I took everything I had learnt and began again. I also pulled out the male point of view (POV) so I had only my heroine's POV and that of the ghost, Toby. It was a stronger book by the end of that rewrite.
Sitting in our boat looking up at the setting of the story, I had a blinding moment of inspiration or madness...you decide which. I knew that the story had to be told in first person. Maybe it was the setting of the book - a bit like Rebecca (note: I have never read more than three chapters of Rebecca. It just wasn't 'my book' unlike Frenchman's Creek or Jamaica Inn...). But I just knew. However this posed a problem. I had never written much of anything in first person. To resolve that I used NaNoWriMo that year to try it and I wrote The Summer of the Black Hare and had a ball. (I heartily recommend NaNo for experimentation).
I then rewrote the first three chapters of August Rock in first person and sent them to my editor, but I had left Toby's (my 13 year old Victorian ghost) in third. She liked Jude, my heroine's voice, but told me Toby had to be in first. This was the beginning of a very long labour and I won't bore you with the details.
A Cornish Affair is a very different story to August Rock although the setting, the heroine and the hero are the same. I was working on it down to the very wire. In fact at one point it wasn't going to be delivered, so to speak, until next year...
Two days ago I held the finished book in my hands and fell in love with it (and believe me after the total 30+ rewrites cutting 70,000 words I didn't think that was possible). It does help that the cover is soooo stunning, really. The colour is amazing. But it was with huge trepidation that I opened the book and read (I had to because of this talk on Sunday at the Fowey Festival - formerly the du Maurier Festival). And to my surprise I kept reading....
A Cornish Affair is a very different book to it's origins and also to The Cornish House (in a way a bit like my own children). It tells a story of how sometimes you have to go away to find yourself and it's a lesson that I learnt myself. It's a story I've dedicated to my beautiful daughter because there will come a time when she needs to make her own way in the world but please dear God not yet!
A Cornish Affair is dedicated to my daughter
Now the one question I have been asked many times...is it a sequel? No. Nor is it a prequel. It takes place just a few months before The Cornish House. However both books are set in the same location and have many of the same characters.
Yesterday on Twitter I gave away a few copies. Over on my Facebook Page there's an opportunity to win signed copies if you are willing to share your run away stories. Of course there is also a Goodreads Giveaway.
A pair - The Cornish House and A Cornish Affair
But of course I can't leave my blog readers out. In fact I'll give a copy of both The Cornish House and A Cornish Affair together. Just leave a comment by the 18th of May 2013 to be in the running....
A Cornish Affair is over on Jera's Jamboree and I talk about my love of Cornwall over on London Perfect. And finally I'm over on the Rightmove Blog talking about my research for The Cornish House.
And finally if you happen to be in London on the 23rd of May please come and join me for a Cornish Cream tea to celebrate the launch of A Cornish Affair at 18:30 at Waterstones Kensington High Street.
May 9, 2013
When Julie Cohen ran away....
Here's Julie's story...
'I'm running away,' I announced to my mother, who was washing something in the kitchen. 'Can I have a stick?'
'What kind of stick?' my mother asked. She seemed unconcerned at my announcement.
'You know. A sort of long one to go over my shoulder.'
My mother examined me. I was holding a tea towel full of peanut butter crackers. I mimed tying it to a stick and slinging it over my shoulder, like they did in the cartoons when they were running away.
She dried off her hands and fetched a broom handle from the basement.
I loved running away. All of the characters in my favourite children's books ran away, or else they stumbled upon a magical world by accident: Wonderland, Neverland, Narnia. Or they found the North Pole on an Expotition. I wasn't certain, but I suspected, that if I ran away far enough so that I couldn't see my house—just far enough for me to be a little scared—I would find a magical world too.
'Be back for supper,' my mother said. I nodded; I couldn't conceive of a magical world that would separate me permanently from my mother's cooking.
I tied the towel to the stick, slung it over my shoulder, and left the house. In the back yard there were two boulders. They were remnants from the glacier that once covered all of Maine, but I didn't know that then; to me, they looked as if they'd been put in our back yard by giants. My brother had tried to find dinosaur bones in one of them. I slipped between them on the path, and then crept through the prickly bushes and through the gap in the fence into the woods. Woods of big pine trees, not far from the street, surrounded by houses, but silent, muffled, fragrant. After two minutes I couldn't see my house, but I could see the steeple of the Methodist church next door, so I went deeper.
I would know, later, that if you kept walking in these mysterious woods you would eventually come to Route 2 with its thundering logging trucks, and Food Trend, about a block from my house. I didn't know that then. The woods seemed big and infinite. I knew that when I found another giant-dropped boulder and curled up behind it on the pine needles, opened my towel and ate my peanut butter crackers, that I was in a magical world.
I still go back there sometimes.
Julie's latest book is Dear Thing and you can find it here.
Claire and Ben are the perfect couple. But behind the glossy façade, they've been desperately trying - and failing - to have a baby for years. Now, the stress and feelings of loss are taking their toll on their marriage. Claire's ready to give up hope and get on with her life, but Ben is not. And then Ben's best friend, Romily, offers to conceive via artificial insemination and carry the baby for them.
Romily acts in good faith, believing it will be easy to be a surrogate. She's already a single mother, and has no desire for any more children. Except that being pregnant with Ben's child stirs up all sorts of emotions in her, including one she's kept hidden for a very long time: Ben's the only man she's ever loved.
Two mothers-and one baby who belongs to both of them, and which only one of them can keep.
To find out more about Julie and her books go here.
'I'm running away,' I announced to my mother, who was washing something in the kitchen. 'Can I have a stick?'
'What kind of stick?' my mother asked. She seemed unconcerned at my announcement.
'You know. A sort of long one to go over my shoulder.'
My mother examined me. I was holding a tea towel full of peanut butter crackers. I mimed tying it to a stick and slinging it over my shoulder, like they did in the cartoons when they were running away.
She dried off her hands and fetched a broom handle from the basement.
I loved running away. All of the characters in my favourite children's books ran away, or else they stumbled upon a magical world by accident: Wonderland, Neverland, Narnia. Or they found the North Pole on an Expotition. I wasn't certain, but I suspected, that if I ran away far enough so that I couldn't see my house—just far enough for me to be a little scared—I would find a magical world too.
'Be back for supper,' my mother said. I nodded; I couldn't conceive of a magical world that would separate me permanently from my mother's cooking.
I tied the towel to the stick, slung it over my shoulder, and left the house. In the back yard there were two boulders. They were remnants from the glacier that once covered all of Maine, but I didn't know that then; to me, they looked as if they'd been put in our back yard by giants. My brother had tried to find dinosaur bones in one of them. I slipped between them on the path, and then crept through the prickly bushes and through the gap in the fence into the woods. Woods of big pine trees, not far from the street, surrounded by houses, but silent, muffled, fragrant. After two minutes I couldn't see my house, but I could see the steeple of the Methodist church next door, so I went deeper.
I would know, later, that if you kept walking in these mysterious woods you would eventually come to Route 2 with its thundering logging trucks, and Food Trend, about a block from my house. I didn't know that then. The woods seemed big and infinite. I knew that when I found another giant-dropped boulder and curled up behind it on the pine needles, opened my towel and ate my peanut butter crackers, that I was in a magical world.
I still go back there sometimes.
Julie's latest book is Dear Thing and you can find it here.
Claire and Ben are the perfect couple. But behind the glossy façade, they've been desperately trying - and failing - to have a baby for years. Now, the stress and feelings of loss are taking their toll on their marriage. Claire's ready to give up hope and get on with her life, but Ben is not. And then Ben's best friend, Romily, offers to conceive via artificial insemination and carry the baby for them.
Romily acts in good faith, believing it will be easy to be a surrogate. She's already a single mother, and has no desire for any more children. Except that being pregnant with Ben's child stirs up all sorts of emotions in her, including one she's kept hidden for a very long time: Ben's the only man she's ever loved.
Two mothers-and one baby who belongs to both of them, and which only one of them can keep.
To find out more about Julie and her books go here.
May 8, 2013
When Kate Harrison Ran Away...
Here's Kate's story...
Four years ago, we ran away to the beach.
London
had nothing left to offer. The banks were all going bust and no one was
building anything anymore, which was a problem for my boyfriend, a construction
surveyor.
We
packed the laptop, the cat and the cat’s new pet passport, and flew to
Barcelona. We narrowly avoided being arrested when we objected to putting the
cat’s basket through the X-ray machine at security, and the look on her face during
take-off made me glad there’s no Childline for pets. But after a bumpy few
hours, we’d arrived. Run away from chilly England, from council tax bills and
depressing headlines (or at least, headlines in a language we could
understand). Ahead lay the sunshine and siestas of Spain – though we learned
pretty soon that calling Catalunya part of Spain was not a good idea in one of
the Med’s most passionately separatist states.
Barcelona
was brilliant, bracing and bonkers. We struggled with Spanish red tape, but not
with the fantastic lifestyle. We made great friends, started running on the
beach, took to tapas in a big way, tried mushroom hunting and cava tasting, and
went back to the classroom to learn the language of our new home.
Running
on the beach one morning, I also had a weird but exciting new idea for a
strange teenage trilogy set on a glamorous beach… a writer is never truly off-duty.
We
loved being runaways. But it couldn’t last forever. I missed family, friends,
English cheese and – surprisingly – Boots and British supermarkets. I chased
burglars out of our flat one hot summer’s night: petty crime is the downside to
Europe’s sexiest city. Plus, once I understood the headlines, I could see that
‘la crisis’ was even worse in Spain.
So we ran back again, carrying
our poorly cat via a sleeper train to Paris and then Eurotunnel. But we weren’t
running to London this time. If we couldn’t have the southern sun, at least we
could have a (pebbly) shore. We’ve moved to Brighton. And with Gatwick half an
hour away on the train, it couldn’t be easier to get back to Barca when we need
a reminder of our Great Escape…
Kate’s latest novel is The
Boot Camp
Five women with one goal: to feel like a million dollars for the first time in their lives. They have nothing to lose but their muffin tops!
SIX...days of dawn runs, blistered feet and non-stop sit-ups...
FIVE...meals a day - if half an apple or an oatcake counts as a meal...
FOUR... poster beds not included - but sleep won't be a problem after a ten hour workout...
THREE... women with a battalion's worth of baggage between them...
TWO... hardcore ex-forces trainers with testosterone to spare...
ONE GOAL: To feel like a million dollars, for the first time in your life...
Leave your Mars Bars and Marlboros at the door... this is Boot Camp!
– and the final part of her Soul
Beach trilogy – set on a beach people are dying to get to – will be out later this summer.
To find out more about Kate and her book go here or find her on Twitter @katewritesbooks...
May 7, 2013
When Julia Gregson Runs Away...
Here's Julia's Story...
I’ve always been fascinated
by bolters- Nancy Mitford’s perfect description of women who make a dash for
freedom.
But it occurred to me, only
recently, that all my heroines in East of the Sun, The Water Horse and Jasmine Nights
are runaways- towards new jobs, new
countries, new lives, or unsuitable adventures in a stranger’s arms- and that
maybe, they are to compensate for my own failures as a runaway .
I was five years old myself
when I decided I could no longer tolerate the cruelties of parents who instead
of allowing me to ride a friend’s pony up a dark hill after dark, wanted me to
stay in the house and tidy my room.
When I announced my
intention to leave my mother ruined my big
moment by saying softly :
‘Darling, let me help you.’ She went upstairs.
She packed for me- chocolate, clean
hanky, torch etc. She put my suitcase by
the door.
Why wasn’t she sobbing
brokenly, clinging to me by the ankles?
Something had gone badly
wrong.
I’ve got better at runaways
over time, and highly recommend a what-the -hell day to any woman suddenly sick
of being disciplined, of juggling, cooking ,spinning plates, entertaining
relatives. The rules are that , for one day, you drop the whole bundle and do
exactly what you want .
My planned W.T.H days
year will include, a long lunch with a friend in which you don’t dash
off to do something worthy. A visit to
Gifford’s Circus. It’s fabulous and silly and makes you feel about five again.
Eat lots of ice cream and popcorn there.
A ride on a pony somewhere wild and free,
maybe the Brecon Beacons, partly because
it’s a heavenly thing to do , also to say
ya boo sucks to my mother for ruining my dramatic moment all those years ago.
Julia's latest book...
1942 and the world is at war. It is a war that has already shattered families and devastated countries. But for some, it will also mean the greatest of adventures.
In a burns hospital in Sussex, a beautiful young singer performs to a ward full of injured soldiers. Saba is captivating and one pilot, Dom, shudders as her gaze turns his way. He can't bear her to see his scars but resolves to write to her once they have healed.
The world is on the brink of enormous change. Saba's journey as a singer with ENSA takes her to the fading glamour of Alexandria and the heat and decadence of Turkey. On the glamorous Middle Eastern social circuit, Saba rubs shoulders with double agents and diplomats, movie stars and smugglers. Some want her voice, some her friendship, and some the secrets she is perfectly placed to discover...
To learn more about Julia and her books visit here.
May 6, 2013
When Kate Lord Brown Ran Away
Here's Kate story....
I'd always dreamt of travelling around the world, but university, and work had always come first. By my late twenties, I had a career I loved, curating art collections in Europe and the Middle East, a new husband, and a first home in Fulham that we had bought and renovated ourselves. Only occasionally among the whirl of projects, and life in London, (and learning to plaster walls, lay floorboards and tile bathrooms!), did that hunger for travel, for adventure, rise up. I remember walking home along the Thames at 4am from a friend's Millennium Eve party, talking about all that we hoped for in that New Year. I had no idea what was ahead.
That summer, my husband announced he was leaving his job. He wanted to follow his dream and learn to fly. It was one of those bombshells that blindside you, a clear crossroads where you can insist on travelling along the road you've carved out, or take a wild step out into the unknown. I chose that step - we ran away, from mortgages and the 9-5, from the life we had worked so hard to build. We took - literally - the road less travelled, and set out as rather old 'gap year' adventurers, travelling around the world with hand luggage.
After travelling for several months, exploring all the places we'd longed to see, through Asia, Mexico, across America, we settled in the orange groves of Valencia in Spain. My husband learnt to fly, and I learnt to write. It was there that the seeds for 'The Perfume Garden' were sown. It is, at a distance now of several years, amazingly easy to dismantle a life - and a hard road to rebuild it, but if there's one thing I've learnt you must always follow your gut instinct and life is too short to regret, occasionally, running away.
Kate latest book is The Perfume Garden...available here.
The Perfume Garden combines the gripping storytelling of Kate Morton with the evocative settings of Victoria Hislop to tell this sumptuous story of lost love and family secrets set between modern day Valencia and the Spanish Civil War. High in the hills of Valencia, a forgotten house guards its secrets. Untouched since Franco's forces tore through Spain in 1936, the whitewashed walls have crumbled, the garden, laden with orange blossom, grown wild. Emma Temple is the first to unlock its doors in seventy years. Guided by a series of letters and a key bequeathed in her mother's will, she has left her job as London's leading perfumier to restore this dilapidated villa to its former glory. It is the perfect retreat: a wilderness redolent with strange and exotic scents, heavy with the colours and sounds of a foreign time. But for her grandmother, Freya, a British nurse who stayed here during Spain's devastating civil war, Emma's new home evokes terrible memories. As the house begins to give up its secrets, Emma is drawn deeper into Freya's story: one of crushed idealism, lost love, and families ripped apart by war. She soon realises it is one thing letting go of the past, but another when it won't let go of you.
Here's a bit about Kate...
Kate grew up in a wild and beautiful part of Devon, and was first published while at school. After reading Philosophy at Durham and Art History at the Courtauld Institute, she worked as an art consultant, curating collections for palaces and embassies in Europe and the Middle East. Kate was a finalist in the ITV's The People's Author competition 2009. She lives in the Middle East with her family, and is working on her next novel.
For more information visit Kate's website www.katelordbrown.com
May 5, 2013
When Sue Moorcroft Ran Away
Here's Sue's story....
I was five and deeply fed up with my mother's rules, so threatened to run away. She took me upstairs, helped me pack, saw me across the road and waved me goodbye. I burst into tears and ran back into her arms! Not the most successful running away venture in history ...
Sue's latest book is Dream A Little Dream and you can find it here.
Liza Reece has a dream. Working as a reflexologist for a troubled holistic centre isn’t enough. When the opportunity arises to take over the Centre she jumps at it. Problem is, she needs funds, and fast, as she’s not the only one interested.
Dominic Christy has dreams of his own. Diagnosed as suffering from a rare sleep disorder, disillusioned with his live-in girlfriend and discharged from the job he adored as an Air Traffic Controller, he’s single-minded in his aims. He has money, and plans for the Centre that don’t include Liza and her team.
But dreams have a way of shifting and changing and Dominic’s growing fascination with Liza threatens to reshape his. And then it’s time to wake up to the truth ...
You can find out more about Sue on suemoorcroft.wordpress.com.
I was five and deeply fed up with my mother's rules, so threatened to run away. She took me upstairs, helped me pack, saw me across the road and waved me goodbye. I burst into tears and ran back into her arms! Not the most successful running away venture in history ...
Sue's latest book is Dream A Little Dream and you can find it here.
Liza Reece has a dream. Working as a reflexologist for a troubled holistic centre isn’t enough. When the opportunity arises to take over the Centre she jumps at it. Problem is, she needs funds, and fast, as she’s not the only one interested.
Dominic Christy has dreams of his own. Diagnosed as suffering from a rare sleep disorder, disillusioned with his live-in girlfriend and discharged from the job he adored as an Air Traffic Controller, he’s single-minded in his aims. He has money, and plans for the Centre that don’t include Liza and her team.
But dreams have a way of shifting and changing and Dominic’s growing fascination with Liza threatens to reshape his. And then it’s time to wake up to the truth ...
You can find out more about Sue on suemoorcroft.wordpress.com.
May 2, 2013
When Lucy Dillon Ran Away....
Here's Lucy's story....
In October last year, I needed to get away. I was completely stuck, writing the worst part of a complicated book that just wouldn't come out of my head, thanks to the constant disruption of builders, other deadlines, my dogs, and my own seemingly limitless ability to distract myself on the internet. I couldn't concentrate. I hated what I'd written so far. So I ran away. I ran away so far that I ended up back in 1992.
By 1992, I of course mean, 'my parents' house' on the west coast of Cumbria, where time moves on in some respects (there is now Sky, and my mother is 'online') and yet stands still in others (the kitchen light switches still don't work, and that Sky dish is used to watch editions of 321 and Bullseye from the early 90s). My parents were both there to meet me at the station and within seconds, Mum accused me of not eating properly, and demanded to know if I'd lost a lot of weight. I hadn't. I'm endlessly haunted by how fat I am in their imaginations. My dad insisted on carrying my laptop and book bags, and pretended to stagger under the weight of them as he used to with my school bags. As I loaded my stuff into the car, the sea breeze blew ozone into my face and I had the sudden rush of relief that I might just get this book finished.
And I did, more or less. It was partly down to the cups of coffee my dad brought me on the hour, as he did during my A-level revision. Partly down to the warm-blanket feeling I got from watching repeats of The Crystal Maze I must have watched in exactly the same place, with exactly the same observations about the useless contestant, twenty years ago. Partly from a daily walk along a deserted beach that looked different every single afternoon, the skies changing from flawless blue to cloud-speckled slate in minutes, with sunsets streaking the Irish Sea with colours almost too pink and violet and gold to be real. Living in the middle of sleepy Midlands countryside, surrounded by apple orchards, I'd forgotten how much I missed the sea, with its constant shifting and sighing in the background, a reminder that ideas come and go, that there's always something interesting at your feet, or on the horizon.
But a lot of my new energy, I think, came from leaving behind all the petty niggles of my day-to-day routine, the minor concerns that chip away at your confidence and attention span, and going back to a place where I'd once sat as a moody teenager, wondering where my life was going to go. When I settled down to work at the desk where I'd revised Chaucer, and opened my own notebook, ready to start a chapter of my own book, it struck me properly for the first time in years: I was a writer. This was my job! My actual job! If I'd done a Marty McFly and met the 1992 Lucy, she would have flat out refused to believe me/her. My dream job wasn't even something I'd dared to hope for then, and yet - amazingly - it was where I'd ended up. That, and the coffee, was the swift kick I needed to get on with things. I handed in the first draft at the end of that month, and came back to 2012, rather sadly, but with a priceless stack of vintage Smash Hits in my bag.
©lucydillon
When story-lover Anna takes over Longhampton's bookshop, it's her dream come true. And not just because it gets her away from her three rowdy stepchildren and their hyperactive Dalmatian.
Unpacking boxes filled with childhood classics, Anna can't shake the feeling that maybe her own fairytale ending isn't all that she'd hoped for. But, as the stories of love, adventure, secret gardens, lost dogs, wicked witches and giant peaches breathe new life into the neglected shop, Anna and her customers get swept up in the magic too.
Even Anna's best friend Michelle - who categorically doesn't believe in true love and handsome princes - isn't immune.
But when secrets from Michelle's own childhood come back to haunt her, and disaster threatens Anna's home, will the wisdom and charm of the stories in the bookshop help the two friends - and those they love - find their own happy ever afters?
You can find out more about Lucy here.
In October last year, I needed to get away. I was completely stuck, writing the worst part of a complicated book that just wouldn't come out of my head, thanks to the constant disruption of builders, other deadlines, my dogs, and my own seemingly limitless ability to distract myself on the internet. I couldn't concentrate. I hated what I'd written so far. So I ran away. I ran away so far that I ended up back in 1992.
By 1992, I of course mean, 'my parents' house' on the west coast of Cumbria, where time moves on in some respects (there is now Sky, and my mother is 'online') and yet stands still in others (the kitchen light switches still don't work, and that Sky dish is used to watch editions of 321 and Bullseye from the early 90s). My parents were both there to meet me at the station and within seconds, Mum accused me of not eating properly, and demanded to know if I'd lost a lot of weight. I hadn't. I'm endlessly haunted by how fat I am in their imaginations. My dad insisted on carrying my laptop and book bags, and pretended to stagger under the weight of them as he used to with my school bags. As I loaded my stuff into the car, the sea breeze blew ozone into my face and I had the sudden rush of relief that I might just get this book finished.
And I did, more or less. It was partly down to the cups of coffee my dad brought me on the hour, as he did during my A-level revision. Partly down to the warm-blanket feeling I got from watching repeats of The Crystal Maze I must have watched in exactly the same place, with exactly the same observations about the useless contestant, twenty years ago. Partly from a daily walk along a deserted beach that looked different every single afternoon, the skies changing from flawless blue to cloud-speckled slate in minutes, with sunsets streaking the Irish Sea with colours almost too pink and violet and gold to be real. Living in the middle of sleepy Midlands countryside, surrounded by apple orchards, I'd forgotten how much I missed the sea, with its constant shifting and sighing in the background, a reminder that ideas come and go, that there's always something interesting at your feet, or on the horizon.
But a lot of my new energy, I think, came from leaving behind all the petty niggles of my day-to-day routine, the minor concerns that chip away at your confidence and attention span, and going back to a place where I'd once sat as a moody teenager, wondering where my life was going to go. When I settled down to work at the desk where I'd revised Chaucer, and opened my own notebook, ready to start a chapter of my own book, it struck me properly for the first time in years: I was a writer. This was my job! My actual job! If I'd done a Marty McFly and met the 1992 Lucy, she would have flat out refused to believe me/her. My dream job wasn't even something I'd dared to hope for then, and yet - amazingly - it was where I'd ended up. That, and the coffee, was the swift kick I needed to get on with things. I handed in the first draft at the end of that month, and came back to 2012, rather sadly, but with a priceless stack of vintage Smash Hits in my bag.
©lucydillon
When story-lover Anna takes over Longhampton's bookshop, it's her dream come true. And not just because it gets her away from her three rowdy stepchildren and their hyperactive Dalmatian.
Unpacking boxes filled with childhood classics, Anna can't shake the feeling that maybe her own fairytale ending isn't all that she'd hoped for. But, as the stories of love, adventure, secret gardens, lost dogs, wicked witches and giant peaches breathe new life into the neglected shop, Anna and her customers get swept up in the magic too.
Even Anna's best friend Michelle - who categorically doesn't believe in true love and handsome princes - isn't immune.
But when secrets from Michelle's own childhood come back to haunt her, and disaster threatens Anna's home, will the wisdom and charm of the stories in the bookshop help the two friends - and those they love - find their own happy ever afters?
You can find out more about Lucy here.
May 1, 2013
When Paige Toon Ran Away...
The first in the series of runaway stories...Paige Toon shares hers .....
When I was about six years old, my parents took my brother
and I to Mexico for a holiday. I don’t remember much about the country, but I
do remember the brightly coloured straw sombrero they bought me at a market,
along with a little yellow guitar. One evening, we were all in our hotel room
and, I can’t recall the reason why, but I was very put-out about something. My mum,
dad and brother didn’t take me seriously at all. They laughed at me, which made
me even more cross, so I decided to teach them all a lesson and run away. I
knew I wouldn’t go far – I was thinking just out into the corridor and behind
the Coke machine would do. I’d pop out again when I knew they were truly sorry
for cruelly mocking me. So I told them I was off, and, not forgetting to pick
up my little yellow guitar and don my sombrero, I stormed to the door and
pushed down the handle. But the door was locked – I pulled and pulled, but it
wouldn’t budge – and this made my family completely
fall about with hilarity at the situation. The truth was, I was a bit scared
about running away, so it didn’t take me more than a few moments to see the
funny side. I’ve never thought about running away again since.
Paige's latest book The Longest Holiday is available here.
'Don't wait for the storm to pass; learn to dance in the rain…'
Laura has been married to the man of her dreams for seven months. But a week before the wedding, Matthew made a terrible mistake. Escaping the humiliation that is now her marriage, Laura is whisked off to Florida's Key West by her best friend Marty. A carefree holiday full of cocktails and fun, surrounded by gorgeous, tanned men, is exactly what the doctor ordered. Distraction comes in the form of sexy Cuban scuba diver Leo. Laura's instant attraction to him knocks her flying, and she falls hard. As the end of the holiday approaches, Laura doesn't want to go home. Is it time to face the music? Or is there more to Key West than a holiday romance?
To find out more about Paige and her books, visit her website www.paigetoon.com
When I was about six years old, my parents took my brother
and I to Mexico for a holiday. I don’t remember much about the country, but I
do remember the brightly coloured straw sombrero they bought me at a market,
along with a little yellow guitar. One evening, we were all in our hotel room
and, I can’t recall the reason why, but I was very put-out about something. My mum,
dad and brother didn’t take me seriously at all. They laughed at me, which made
me even more cross, so I decided to teach them all a lesson and run away. I
knew I wouldn’t go far – I was thinking just out into the corridor and behind
the Coke machine would do. I’d pop out again when I knew they were truly sorry
for cruelly mocking me. So I told them I was off, and, not forgetting to pick
up my little yellow guitar and don my sombrero, I stormed to the door and
pushed down the handle. But the door was locked – I pulled and pulled, but it
wouldn’t budge – and this made my family completely
fall about with hilarity at the situation. The truth was, I was a bit scared
about running away, so it didn’t take me more than a few moments to see the
funny side. I’ve never thought about running away again since.
Paige's latest book The Longest Holiday is available here.
'Don't wait for the storm to pass; learn to dance in the rain…'
Laura has been married to the man of her dreams for seven months. But a week before the wedding, Matthew made a terrible mistake. Escaping the humiliation that is now her marriage, Laura is whisked off to Florida's Key West by her best friend Marty. A carefree holiday full of cocktails and fun, surrounded by gorgeous, tanned men, is exactly what the doctor ordered. Distraction comes in the form of sexy Cuban scuba diver Leo. Laura's instant attraction to him knocks her flying, and she falls hard. As the end of the holiday approaches, Laura doesn't want to go home. Is it time to face the music? Or is there more to Key West than a holiday romance?
To find out more about Paige and her books, visit her website www.paigetoon.com
It's May - Launch Month For A Cornish Affair
I can't believe how quickly this has come around but A CORNISH AFFAIR is out on the 23rd of May. The book is close to my heart for many reasons, but one of the biggest is that it's about running away...in fact the tag line is 'Sometimes running away is the answer...'
Running out on your wedding day never goes down well. When the pressure of her forthcoming marriage becomes too much, Jude bolts from the church, leaving a good man at the altar, her mother in a fury, and the guests with enough gossip to last a year.
Guilty and ashamed, Jude flees to Pengarrock, a crumbling cliff-top mansion in Cornwall, where she takes a job cataloguing the Trevillion family's extensive library. The house is a welcome escape for Jude, full of history and secrets, but when its new owner arrives, it's clear that Pengarrock is not beloved by everyone.
As Jude falls under the spell of the house, she learns of a family riddle stemming from a terrible tragedy centuries before, hinting at a lost treasure. And when Pengarrock is put up for sale, it seems that time is running out for the house and for Jude.
I have run away three times in my life and I'll tell you more about that later in the month but beginning tomorrow some fabulous novelists will be sharing their stories of running away... whether it was with a teddy and two sandwiches or some more recent...
So tomorrow the wonderful Paige Toon talks about the time she ran away.
Running out on your wedding day never goes down well. When the pressure of her forthcoming marriage becomes too much, Jude bolts from the church, leaving a good man at the altar, her mother in a fury, and the guests with enough gossip to last a year.
Guilty and ashamed, Jude flees to Pengarrock, a crumbling cliff-top mansion in Cornwall, where she takes a job cataloguing the Trevillion family's extensive library. The house is a welcome escape for Jude, full of history and secrets, but when its new owner arrives, it's clear that Pengarrock is not beloved by everyone.
As Jude falls under the spell of the house, she learns of a family riddle stemming from a terrible tragedy centuries before, hinting at a lost treasure. And when Pengarrock is put up for sale, it seems that time is running out for the house and for Jude.
I have run away three times in my life and I'll tell you more about that later in the month but beginning tomorrow some fabulous novelists will be sharing their stories of running away... whether it was with a teddy and two sandwiches or some more recent...
So tomorrow the wonderful Paige Toon talks about the time she ran away.
April 26, 2013
Snowy's Writing Day...
Yesterday I had a writing companion...Snowy. Here's his writing day
I think I'd like to be a cat...
I think I'd like to be a cat...
