Introducing Kathleen Swan...

...poetess, mum, step-mum and nurse.  Hi Kathleen, thanks very much for taking some time out of your busy schedule to be here today.  So, tell me more...

Becoming a stepmother is a challenge, undertaking it in my twenties was perhaps lunacy but that is what I did.  I took on my husband’s four children, three girls and one boy, a large town house and a husband with a busy career.  I think I spent the first five years permanently tired and never quite seemed to finish the list of jobs in a month never mind a day.  However, there was tremendous satisfaction in being part of their lives as they grew into young adults.  But if you want to complicate the situation further have a baby of your own why don’t you!  Well that’s just what we did and of course there was no shortage of attention and people willing to wheel the baby round the park.

I had been an only child until I was nine and being part of a busy family was a new experience.  I didn’t drive so walked miles to brownies, guides, school events and when I got a bike with a baby seat on the back I found freedom.  I could fit in even more in a day!  Of course there were days when I could have given it all up and run away but I started to write down some of the frustrations and turn them into magazine pieces.  I began to look back on my upbringing and the lives of my parents during the 1950s when money was tight and we had to make do and mend.  I gained a greater understanding of myself and what I wanted to do when I finally had the time. 

Coniston from Brantwood

After the children had grown up I had a busy working life in the NHS for 26 years and looked after my parents in their later years.  However, when my husband asked me once what I was going to do with my retirement,  I answered very firmly that I was going to write and in particular I was going to write poetry.  So I started to pick up my habit of scribbling in a notebook and signed up for courses to help me understand more about how to write well.  I found that my instinct was to write about the people and places I knew best so that is what I have been doing for the last eight years.  I have gone back to my emotional roots in the Lake District and written about characters from my childhood and places which left a lasting impression on me.  I think being a step-mother taught me tolerance, perseverance, which battles to fight and how to time things to my advantage.  All valuable in writing and getting work published.

In 2019 I was selected to work with a young composer to produce a song which was performed at the  International Leeds Lieder Festival.  I firmly believe that poetry is at its best when it is performed and through belonging to Yorkshire Authors I had the opportunity to take part in The Ilkley Literature Festival last Autumn.  Having had poems published in books and magazines, I finally got round to gathering my work together and Ripples Beyond the Pool was published by Coverstory books  last summer.

about the author and the book… Kathleen was brought up in rural Cumbria and now lives in North Yorkshire.  She spent her working life in the NHS and, since her retirement, is able to concentrate on family, gardening and studying and writing poetry.   Her poetry embraces relationships with family and friends and reflects a love of rural life and characters.  It also takes us on visits to other countries and cultures.  Her poems are published on-line, in anthologies, magazines and her first collection is “Ripples Beyond the Pool.  

You can get the book on Amazon

Look out for more Yorkshire authors in the coming weeks...

And if you are an author, with a connection to Yorkshire and wish to know more about us or to join us then check out our Website

Please welcome friend and author, Allan Hudson...

...to the blog today.  Hi Allan, and thanks very much for taking time out from your busy schedule to be here today.  So, tell me, what is your current release?

AH  Titled The Alexanders Vol. 1 1911 - 1920, it is my first attempt at historical fiction.  It begins in Scotland in 1911 when my main character – Dominic Alexander – must go live with his bachelor uncle.  Due to unfortunate circumstances in his family’s life, he and his siblings are divided up amongst relatives.  Good fortune and misfortune follow the young man as he tries to fit in until he must make a decision that will change his life forever.

AW   What first got you into writing and why?

AH   Having always enjoyed reading since I was quite young, I always wanted to write a story or stories.  I took a creative writing course when I was in my early forties and the instructor often commented that my writing showed promise but it was only after I discovered the writing of Bryce Courtenay – my favorite author – that I was inspired to begin.  He started writing after he retired in his mid-fifties and went on to pen many best sellers.  I realized then; it was never too late to start.

AW  You write action-packed adventure novels - I really enjoyed Wall of War.  Is it all imagination or do you also undertake research?

AH  Thank you for those kind words Angela.  I read many types of stories but I must admit action novels hold my attention best.  Leon Uris and Robert Ludlum, do it so well, as does Harlan Coben.  These were the stories I wanted to tell.  Not so much a mystery but the thrill of the chase.  The danger involved.  And thanks to you, I’ve been introduced to cozy mysteries and I love your Jacques Forêt character and I’m considering something similar.

As most authors, I’ve taken some literary license in embellishing scenes and places but a lot of research went into Wall of War.  I’ve always been intrigued by the Inca and their clever masonry talents as well as their love and craftsmanship of gold adornments.  The unique geography of Peru.  The Amazon.  The Spanish destruction of this exceptional civilization.  The Sacred valley of Cuzco, etc.  So much to learn and bring to my readers.

I also love historical fiction as well.

AW  You also write short stories and some of those fit other genres - In A Box of Memories we have some historical fiction and a bit of sci-fi in The Far Out Mall.  Is there any particular genre that you prefer over others?

AH  Short stories have always appealed to me and I’ve read several collections. While my novels are more action/adventure, short stories let me explore other genres.  It’s quite fun to dabble with history or outer space or fantasy to see how it works in a shorter format.  I would be hard put to pick one genre as a favorite but I enjoy a story that makes me feel good at the end.  Love and family.  Older people relating to younger folks appeals to me as in One Bedroom Ark and Lloyd and the Baby.  Those were the most fun to write.

Short stories are often a good way to set up a novel perhaps, as in Shattered Figurine.  It started out as a short story.  I’m hoping to do the same with The Honey Trap.

Nice!  I guess the car drew the short straw!

AW  Famous authors, such as Roald Dahl and Dylan Thomas, had a special space for writing.  Do you have a writing ‘shed’ of your own?

AH  Yes, I do.  I remodeled my garage to be a lounge and writing spot.  I have a desk set up in front of a window that faces the east and I like to write in the early mornings.  I can watch the sun rise over the bay.  I work with a laptop, notepad and total silence.  Works great for me.

AW  Finally, if you had a whole afternoon to yourself and could choose to spend it with any one individual, living or dead or a character from a book, who would it be, and what would you want to discuss?

AH   I would most definitely want to spend the time with my favourite musician, JJ Cale.  Knowing what I know now, I would offer to write his memoir.  A very humble man.

In 1978, due to the oddest circumstances, I was introduced to his music and have been a devoted fan since.  JJ’s music is difficult to categorize as he writes and perform many types of music; rock, blues, country and is credited with creating the Oklahoma Sound.  Cale’s music was never chart topping but he is perhaps one of the most influential musicians of the past generations.  He is commonly referred to as a musician’s musician.  His songs made Eric Clapton famous when he recorded After Midnight and Cocaine, two of Cale’s most popular tunes.  Cale has been covered by many individuals and bands.  Unfortunately, he passed away in 2013.

about the book… In the turbulent waters off Saltcoats, Scotland, Danny Alexander dies in a boating accident.  He leaves behind a wife, seven children and no hope. Dominic is the middle child.  With a broken heart, his mother is forced to leave him with his bachelor uncle, Duff.  None of them are happy with the decision.

Eleven-year-old Dominic Alexander must earn his keep. There are no free rides.  Yet despite the difficulties, he finds his place in the structured world of his uncle and overcomes his loneliness.

Fortune and misfortune follow the young man until adversity forces him to make a decision that will affect the rest of his life.  Is emigrating to Canada the answer?

You can get the book on Amazon

You can follow Allan on his Website  on Facebook   Twitter  and on LinkedIn

You can read more about Allan, his writing and his guests on his blog The South Branch Scribbler 

You can read my review of A Box of Memories here on the blog on November 3rd.

It's Bonkers on the bookshelves...

... I'm very pleased to host author and friend, Morwenna Blackwood on the blog today.  Hi Morwenna, thanks for making time to be here and tell me a bit more about yourself and your book... 

When I was in my late teens, I fell in love for the first time.  It was with a guy who was a bit older than me, had his own flat and his own car (he didn’t just borrow his mum’s), had a job as a designer, was a bit ‘weird’, and loved music in a way no one else I knew did.  His flat was basically a sea of CDs and tapes, with a bed, a window seat and a cooking area braking the surface, like islands.

The CD he was most into at the time was one by Crowded House.  I’d never heard of them before, but now, whenever I hear Neil Flynn’s voice, I am transported back to that time.  Anyway, one of the tracks on the album was called Together Alone.  In my opinion, it was the second worst track musically, and had the worst title – it didn’t even make sense!

Ironically, during the course of the relationship, I learned that it did, in fact, make a great deal of sense.

At the time, I was in recovery from many years of severe mental illness via medication and the mental health services, and I was sure that soon I would be ‘cured’.  Once I was cured, I would move to America and become a writer.  Simples.

No one I knew of had experienced, or was experiencing, any of the things I had (apart from Richey from the Manic Street Preachers), and now that I was feeling better and had a diagnosis, I kind of enjoyed being called ‘weird’ and all those other things.  It had given me an identity.  I was unaware that other people close to me were feeling their own brand of existential dread, and were struggling inside their own heads, and that this didn’t necessarily show on their faces, or manifest in a way that necessitated intervention.  I also thought that mental illness (which wasn’t a term that was familiar to anyone I knew – and certainly wasn’t a social dialogue) was like chicken pox – once you’d had it, and had been treated, you were cured and could never get it again.  I expected to become a confident, happy, successful person, like everyone else, once I’d been Abracadabraed.

While I was waiting for the Abracadabra to take place, I drank lots of alcohol like everyone else did.  I had no idea it would react with my tablets.  I had no idea that the poor lad I loved had his own problems, and needed some alone time for his own sanity– in my eyes, being ‘together’ meant being together all the time.  I thought he drove around all night because he was cool.  We were, indeed, together, alone.  Perception, as lots of people have said lots of times, is everything.

The relationship ended.  I found solace in reading and writing – as I always have – you can lose your mind, but also find yourself in a book.  Eventually, I wrote The (D)Evolution of Us (TDofU).

One of the readers who very kindly left me a 5-star review, commented that they could tell that the novel had been cathartic in its writing.  They were quite right.

TDofU explores what it feels like to live with a mental illness; how it affects and combines with your personality, your perspective, your friendships, relationships, every aspect of your life – your Reality.  I wanted to do this to be part of - and add to - the #MentalHeathAwareness dialogue.  I wanted to help, indirectly, via a chilling story that gives you something to think about.

Everything is connected – consider the push for a greener environment; the spread of Covid-19; the way events of hundreds of years ago have left deep scars in our collective psyches, culture and society.

In TDofU, Richard’s and Kayleigh’s pasts affect Catherine in profound ways, and on it goes. 

So, what to do to lessen having a potentially negative unintended impact on others?  Try to make the best of each day, try to be the best people we can be, - and hope!  We are together, alone; unique but inextricable from each other; we are different things to different people at any given moment both in our actions and according to the perceptions of others.

But don’t dwell on it – escape into someone else’s world for moment – read a book.  You might lose your mind – but you might find yourself.  After all, isn’t that the beauty of reading – that it’s bonkers on the bookshelves?

about the book… the water was red and translucent, like when you rinse a paint brush in a jam jar.  The deeper into the water, the darker the red got.  No, the thicker it got.  It wasn’t water, it was human.  It was Cath.

Cath is dead, but why and how isn’t clear cut to her best friend, Kayleigh.  As Kayleigh searches for answers, she is drawn deeper into Cath’s hidden world.  The (D)Evolution of Us questions where a story really begins, and whether the world in our heads is more real than reality.

You can get the book on Amazon

You can follow Morwenna on Facebook  Twitter  and on Instagram

Morwenna's email : blackwoodmorwenna@gmail.com

Off my beaten track...

… in the fabulous city of Verona...

Ponte delle Navi, Verona

Some years ago a friend of mine - we'll call her C - suggested that we might make a trip to Italy and take in the opera festival.  I willingly agreed as it seemed like a great adventure and I knew I would enjoy the spectacle of a different kind of theatre in ancient surroundings.  I had no idea that I would be waiting more than a year for such an event to come off.  Apparently tickets for the festival are booked a year in advance - it was the only way we could get the seats that we really wanted - and we decided that for such a once-in-a lifetime event we were going to spoil ourselves.  And we did!

My journey overland was a very long and difficult drive.  A stop in Fusson to camp because it was the only site that could be found that took credit card payments - had no cash - and an evening's entertainment of Abba songs to the instruments and tempo of an 'Oompah' band was a distraction I didn't really need, but it was a happenstance I have never been able to forget!

Once we had met up in Verona C and I just had to explore.  Never mind the packed posh frock that I'd dragged halfway across Europe, or my champagne glasses that I hadn't checked to make sure they had survived the journey, our goal - well maybe mine more than C's - was to see the city.

The Arena and Juliet's balcony were a must.  There was no way that I was coming to Verona, a city that Shakespeare used for Romeo and Juliet - in my view the greatest romantic tragedy ever written - and Two Gentlemen of Verona without seeing the place through Shakespeare's eyes.

The modern city comprises about 260,000 inhabitants, but its ancient Roman military heart, which dates from around 500BC, is still intact.  The arena was completed about 30AD and, although now not totally complete in its original form, is still impressive.  Originally it would have held some 25,000 spectators on 40 or more tiers of seating.  The original Roman foundations in the area of the city surrounding the arena are the foundations that we 21^st century people are walking on about 6 meters beneath our feet.  The more modern buildings having maintained the original footings and cellars.

The square that houses Juliet's balcony was teaming with people when C and I got there.  Supposedly, the old house on the right was that belonging to the Capulet family of Shakespeare's play.  It's much smaller that I imagined, and the climb to the balcony for Romeo, not as death defying as I had believed when first read the play as a teenager.  As we wandered the streets I wondered if Shakespeare ever actually visited the city.  Probably not, but he must have known people who had, as the sense of the place is very evident in both plays, be it only briefly for Two Gentlemen.

At the arena we found a mish-mash of stage props and scenery encroaching onto the street.  I couldn't stop myself from having a closer look.  The colours were vibrant - as expected, stage lights bleach everything they touch - and the bits of scenery that created the pyramids may have been hollow but rough peppered paint on the surface meant that they would look solid and substantial under the lights.

... And the opera?  Aida, an utterly amazing experience.  And yes, I did wear the posh frock, and we did drink the champagne I'd carried all the way from France and my beautiful crystal flutes did survive the round trip!

I have also been #OffMyBeatenTrack in Sicily

The Art of Taking Over…

... I have the great pleasure of a visit from fellow PYA writer and friend, Carmen Radtke today.  Hi Carmen, thanks for making time to be here and tell me all about your books...

It’s all about character.  They determine the setting, the plot, their voice, and they can be hard work.

When I read an article about the Great Depression in Australia, including food dole or “susso”, soaring unemployment rates and an alcohol ban that started at six pm unless you were a bona fide traveller (don’t ask why it’s okay to drink when you’re on the road but not if it’s your home town!), I was hooked.  Because I love traditional or cosy mysteries, where a lot is left to the reader’s imagination, I had my new project.  The heroine was easy, a telephone exchange operator who’d become the only breadwinner and therefore could not ever do anything to jeopardise her job.  Whatever Frances Palmer overheard, mum would be the word.  Her future partner-in-crime, Jack Sullivan, had to be the opposite.  The rest would be secondary characters, colourful but not as important.  At least that’s what I thought.

I hadn’t reckoned with Uncle Sal, who sprang to life fully formed, as if he’d been lying in wait for this story to come along and step right in.

I didn’t know about his existence until I typed his name for the first time in A Matter of Love and Death, but there he was.  Already larger than life, winking at me with a mischievous gleam in his dark eyes.  He took off his hat with an elegance and flourish I’d last seen executed like this in an old Fred Astaire film, made a bow and beckoned me to follow him into his world.  Impossible to resist for someone like me, who adores the Roaring Twenties and the Thirties, Hollywood’s golden years, and the stage in equal parts.

Salvatore the Magnificent.  He must have won the Palmer’s hearts in a similar fashion, because a close friendship with a Vaudeville artist was definitely not the norm in a traditional Adelaide household, even if they had met as young immigrants.

But he slotted in so easily, so beguilingly, and with him I had another link to the Top Note, a place where Champagne flowed, police and small-time crooks danced, and Dolores Bardon dazzled customers with her voice and her beauty. It’s a world far removed from Frances’s penny-pinching world of working at the switchboard and then coming home to stew, apple pie and evenings spent listening to the radio.  Except – it’s Uncle Sal’s natural habitat, and as his god-daughter she knows more about it and is attracted more deeply to it than her mother would appreciate.

But Uncle Sal is much more than a guide into his other world.  He’s world-savvy, and aware of the sort of dangers and temptations that most people would strenuously deny.  Most of all he knows about honour and decency, even if they don’t always fit in with the current law.  He’s Frances’ rock, fiercely protective of her and yet encouraging her to fall in with the Top Note crowd.

Uncle Sal’s made it a lot easier to write A Matter of Love and Death and Murder at the Races, where he plays an even bigger part.  He’s made himself so much at home in my writing that he is unwilling to take a last bow.  There he is again, winking at me with a mischievous gleam in his dark eyes, taking off his hat, ready to take his rightful place on the stage of the next Jack and Frances mystery which is currently in the works.

about the book... 1931. Frances Palmer is overjoyed when her brother Rob returns to Adelaide as a racecourse veterinarian.  But all is not well on the turf, and when a man is murdered, there is only one suspect – Rob.

Frances and her boyfriend, charming night club owner Jack Sullivan, along with ex-vaudevillian Uncle Sal and their friends have only one chance to unmask the real murderer, by infiltrating the racecourse.  The odds are against them, but luckily putting on a dazzling show where everything depends on sleight of hand is what they do best.  But nothing is a dead-cert against a cold blooded killer.  And with time running out for Rob, the race is on.

You can get the books on Amazon

You can follow Carmen on Facebook  Twitter  Goodreads 

Look out for more Yorkshire authors in the coming weeks...

And if you are an author, with a connection to Yorkshire and wish to know more about us or to join us then check out our Website

Come stroll with me...

… around Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure and Angoulême...

The old heart of Angoulême

Chasseneuil is a small town (population around 3,000) in Charente which is now part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France.  I was first here about ten years ago.  I'd come to watch the Circuit des Remparts, one of the few remaining road events for classic cars.

The circuit takes place in September, across a whole weekend, within the old heart of the city of Angoulême.  When I was last here, I was captivated by the whole thing - the fabulous old cars, the squares filled with displays of vehicles from Bugatti and Delahaye right up to Renault Alpine and MGs or Minis!  It was a truly amazing weekend that inspired a short story which you can read Here

And, Chasseneuil is ideally placed to stay if you want to take in the event for yourself.  I camped, as always, and the site (Les Charmilles) is on the outskirts of town with easy access to the D941.  The D941 leads to the D11 and D12 which will take you along quiet backroads into the city centre and close to the station, where you can park.  From there it's a short uphill walk into the old heart of the town which is wholly given over to the cars. Enjoy!

The circuit isn't the reason for my visit this time, though.  I've come because there's a piece of history I want to investigate.  The campsite sits just off the D27 which links with the RN141 on the south side of town.  If you leave the site on rue des Écoles and turn right where it meets the D27, you will see a large monument up ahead.  The Mémorial de la Résistance was completed in 1951.  The grounds and the attendant necropolis are the resting place for more than 2000 combatants who gave their lives, including Claude Bonnier.

Born in 1897 in Paris he became an engineer.  Mobilised in 1939 he was assigned to a unit in Chartres.  After France was invaded, he quickly joined the resistance, working first in Algeria and then in region B of the occupied zone - the western seaboard of Charente-Maritime, Charente, Gironde and the area down to the Pyrénées.  At that time, here in Chasseneuil, there was an existing active and robust group of fighters.  It was Bonnier who re-organised the maquis of Charente (including the original group in Chasseneuil set up by André Chabanne, Guy Pascaud and Hélène Nebout) and who christened them the Bir Hacheim.

In 1944, betrayed by an informer, Bonnier was lured to Bordeaux where he was arrested and imprisoned on February 9th.  Realising that the information he held was of great value and would cost many lives if he were to be persuaded to reveal it, he took his own life by means of a suicide pill and died the following day.

His remains, and those of his wife who died in 1991, now lie in the crypt here in Chasseneuil along with the remains of many others.
If you take a few moments to study the board on the road by the monument you will discover that, between Angeac and Chasseneuil, there are bollards at regular intervals beside the route. This is the route Claude Bonnier, Chemin de la Liberté in remembrance of Monsieur Bonnier and his resistance fighters.

Introducing Liz Martinson...

... I'm very pleased to say that author and friend, Liz Martinson is here to help me launch a new series of posts.  Like me, Liz is a member of Promoting Yorkshire Authors - an organisation dedicated to promtoing and popularising the work of Yorkshire authors. Liz, thanks for being here...

Liz Martinson has a Master’s Degree, and has gained a distinction from the University of Lancaster after completing a one-year Creative Writing course. She has a background in teaching and Special Needs Education, specialising in Literacy Support.  Her twin sons having left home, Liz lives in the beautiful North Yorkshire Dales with her husband, and enjoys a variety of interests, such as walking, cycling, kayaking and landscape photography.  She loves to describe the beautiful countryside of Great Britain, which she knows well, and has received specific praise about her descriptions of this countryside in her books, with people saying “they could see it”, “they felt they were actually there” or simply that “they loved it”.  Her knowledge of outdoor activities has led to praise for some of the scenes in Ullandale, specifically the mountain rescue, and has also fuelled other scenes in both Counterpoint and Takeover.

An avid reader, Liz has written several novels and short stories.  Of the short stories, one was a runner-up in the Good Housekeeping Short Story Competition, one was published in a charity anthology (Heart’s Desires) in aid of Breast Cancer, and the third, together with some of her poems, is due out in an anthology called Rising Stars later this year.

She has three novels, Ullandale, Counterpoint and Takeover, available on Amazon as both e-books and paperbacks, and all are available in KU.  These are contemporary romance with life events being very much a part of the stories.  Liz has completed two more novellas and is considering her own anthology, which would be a mix of novellas and short stories.

Her latest book, Takeover, is a story of hatred turning to love, of a man overcoming the ghosts of his past, and of a strong woman.

about the book… Richard, returning from America to take control of Aurora Technology, has sacked Jude, the acting chief executive officer, by email.  He struggles constantly with his memories, both of his childhood, and when he worked at Aurora for his uncaring and cruel father.  This is despite having achieved a resounding success in America with his firm Blake Laptops.  He knows it is his past which causes him to constantly flare-up against Jude and he tries to continually fight his weakness.

Jude is horrified that Richard seems convinced she was his father’s mistress, information which has come, it seems, from quarterly reports he’s received ever since his father’s death.  In addition, she’s suffered at the hands of an ambitious man in the past, and is reluctant to combine love and work as she feels this will only lead to unhappiness.

Richard and Jude, despite all obstacles, do fall in love, but there is a final, and what seems to be an insurmountable, barrier to overcome.  It is Jude’s determined calm, and objective attitude which prevents the destruction of their love, and at the same time, finally destroys the enemy she has within the firm.

You can get all of Liz's books on Amazon

You can follow Liz on her Website  on Twitter and you can contact Liz by Email on lizmartinson3@gmail.com   



There will be other colleagues from Promoting Yorkshire Authors on the blog in the coming months - watch this space.

And if you are an author, with a connection to Yorkshire and wish to know more about us or to join us then check out our Website