The Scottish Diamond...

... friend and author, Helena Fairfax, joins me today to talk about her love of romance

Helena Fairfax

I love romantic suspense – J.D. Robb, Nora Roberts, and the old classics like Mary Stewart - but up until a couple of years ago it had never crossed my mind to have a try at writing in this genre.  One day, though, I saw a call for submissions for a romantic suspense anthology.  My mind began working subconsciously in that “What if…?” kind of way and shortly after seeing the call an idea for a story popped into my head, and I really wanted to write it down.

The story I dreamed up was a classic doppelgänger suspense, with a princess vanished in mysterious circumstances and a heroine who looks enough like her to play her part.  Added to that was a handsome bodyguard, a housekeeper as creepy as Mrs. Danvers, and a dramatic twist that surprised the heroine – and almost ruined everything for her.
To cut a long story short (pardon the pun!) the anthology didn’t go ahead, but the agent who had intended to put it together emailed me to tell me how much she’d loved my short story, and how she thought I should expand it into a novella.
I’d loved my characters, too, and I loved the idea of making the story longer, and especially of getting to know my bodyguard hero better.  And that’s how my novella Palace of Deception came about.
I released Palace of Deception last year as an eBook, and it will be published in large print next year.  (At the moment, I’m offering all new subscribers to my newsletter a FREE copy of Palace of Deception.  You can subscribe here:  http://eepurl.com/bRQtsT)
I thought Palace of Deception would be the end of my foray into romantic suspense but Lizzie and Léon – my Mediterranean bodyguard and Scottish heroine – refused to bow out so easily.
Palace of Deception is set in Montverrier – a fictional Mediterranean principality – and I couldn’t help wondering what would happen to Léon when he travelled with Lizzie to her home in Edinburgh at the end of the story.  How would a hot-blooded Mediterranean bodyguard fit in in this dark, chilly city in the north?  Would their relationship survive the move?  And then what if danger followed them…?
The Scottish Diamond follows the fortunes of Lizzie and Léon in Scotland.  Edinburgh has been at the centre of some thrilling and dramatic events in history, from the siege of Edinburgh Castle in the fourteenth century, to the brutal murder of Mary Queen of Scots’ private secretary in her rooms at Holyrood Palace, to the capture and imprisonment of Highland rebels in the Jacobite revolution. This beautiful and unique city lends itself perfectly to mystery and romance.
The Scottish Diamond of the title of my novella belonged to the fictional aristocratic Falmire family.  In 1745, Lord Falmire fought in the Jacobite revolution, and was forced to flee to my fictional Mediterranean country of Montverrier, taking the diamond with him.  While in Montverrier, he played cards with the Montverrian prince, and…  Well, you’ll have to read the rest of the story to find out what happens to the diamond in the present day!
The Scottish Diamond was great fun to write, and the Edinburgh setting added enormously to the mystery and romance of the tale.
I’ve now released both novellas – Palace of Deception and The Scottish Diamond, in one boxed set along with a short story that provides an epilogue to Lizzie and Léon’s story.  The collection is called A Year of Light and Shadows.

About the books : A Year of Light and Shadows contains three romantic mysteries in one volume.
Palace of Deception
From the heat of the Mediterranean....
When the Princess of Montverrier goes missing, Lizzie Smith takes on the acting job of her life.  Alone and surrounded by intrigue in the Royal Palace, she relies on her quiet bodyguard, Léon.  But who is he really protecting?  Lizzie... or the Princess?
The Scottish Diamond
To the heart of Scotland...
Home in Scotland, Lizzie begins rehearsals for Macbeth, and finds danger stalking her through the streets of Edinburgh.  She turns to her former bodyguard, Léon, for help - and discovers a secret he'd do anything not to reveal...
A Question by Torchlight
A story of mystery and romance...
The approach of Hogmanay in Edinburgh means a new year and new resolutions.  Lizzie and Léon have put their year of danger behind them.  But something is still troubling Léon, and Lizzie fears the worst...
BUY LINKS: A Year of Light and Shadows is available on pre-order on Amazon: http://mybook.to/lightandshadows
and on Kobo https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/a-year-of-light-and-shadows
and other major e-tailers. The print version is coming soon.
About the author : Helena Fairfax writes engaging contemporary romances with sympathetic heroines and heroes she's secretly in love with. Her novels have been shortlisted for several awards, including the Exeter Novel Prize, the Global EBook Awards, the I Heart Indie Awards, and the UK's Romantic Novelists' Association New Writers' Scheme Award.
Helena is a British author who was born in Uganda and came to England as a child. She's grown used to the cold now, and these days she lives in an old Victorian mill town in the north of England, right next door to the windswept Yorkshire moors. She walks this romantic landscape every day with her rescue dog, finding it the perfect place to dream up her heroes and her happy endings.
 
Follow Helena : If you’d like to get in touch, or find out more about my books, writing, and photos of my settings or the Yorkshire moors where I live, please follow my newsletter by subscribing here: http://eepurl.com/bRQtsT
All new subscribers to my newsletter will receive a FREE copy of Palace of Deception – the first book in the collection A Year of Light and Shadows
You can also visit me on my website at www.helenafairfax.com, or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HelenaFairfax/, or Twitter https://twitter.com/HelenaFairfax

 

 

A little something to...

... prepare you for Halloween...

Adrian in the village featured in his boook

Please welcome Adrian Martin to my blog with an unusual tale for you...

What is Ideals?

No breeze blows in this dank room. Time stands as still as the air. Stagnant. I am no longer permitted to be part of the population and my own fellow. Trapped by a misery of grey and steel. The forever lingering stench of freedom wafts along the corridor on the other side of the door. You see, I do not conform to their ideals, but only my own. To whom did I give the right to infer what rules I must obey? I gave no permission, yet I am judged for it. 
My boggle eyes find what my internal organs require to prevent the ache from crippling this aging bag of bones. Only a dim glare overhead gives any acknowledgement of my existence, and the lingering chill affects me so. A bed. A blanket. A danger. I am permitted nothing, for the body now withers, as does my once sharp mind. I have friends, of course, as do we all, but they are no longer permitted to come for dinner. Reasoning of those in exalted places is that I am incapable of behaving in a manner that is conducive and acceptable within their social structure. A drunk? No. A wife beater? No. An offender of children? Most certainly not. I abhor such repulsive crimes and believe those particular perpetrators should be erased from existence. 
A brave little thing. It wonders innocently across my floor. It has asked no permission, yet it mocks me, doing as it pleases. I leap to the floor and snap ambush. It pays me little attention as I poke it with a stubby finger. Still it ignores me. Has it not seen my name on the door outside? Of course not, it cannot read, but still, I am here and bigger, stronger and once upon a time I would have been faster. It continues on its mission, whatever that is. Does it not get furious each time I force it off course? Perhaps, but it’s fun. I cannot hear it cursing me for my intrusion into its day. But it has intruded upon mine also, and yet I hear it offering me no apologies. My stomach begins to twist in anger at this mockery. ‘This cell is mine, and I am not permitted to mix with others,’ I warn it. But it does not know me, what I am capable of and why I am segregated. My stomach groans, its bellows foreshadowing this poor creature’s future. I grip the cockroach between forefinger and thumb, and for a moment there is a mutual understanding as we make eye contact. The crunch, the explosion of warm slime in my mouth is exquisite. Dining for one can be perfection when the taste can be savoured. This is why I am not permitted to be a friend of society, nor company within this cell. The cockroach, however, is no substitute for human flesh.

Illustrating the setting for the book

About the author... Adrian lives just outside of Newquay, Cornwall, with his wife, Lisa, and four children. He began writing while serving in the British Army, starting with poetry written on blueys (blue sheets of paper that fold into envelopes) as he was on a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. After leaving the army, he tried being a security guard, but found walking around the supermarket for fourteen hours a day somewhat monotonous, so decided to give long distance lorry driving a go. It was whilst doing this he began to pen “The Helland Reckoning”. The novel was inspired by the small hamlet of Helland, where Adrian stayed with a friend as a child. It had remained in his thoughts for many years, so it became the natural setting for the book. After five years of tramping around the U.K and Europe, he decided it was time to be home more, so began driving fuel tankers around Devon and Cornwall. After breaking his ankle playing football, Adrian was made redundant so set to work rewriting the manuscript. However, Adrian’s last job, working for a portaloo company (which was actually a lot of fun) made him want to chase his dream as a writer, so in September 2015 he returned to full time education studying an Access course in English, literature and creative writing, achieving mainly distinction grades along the way. He is currently studying a BA (Hons) Degree in Creative Writing at Falmouth University, Cornwall. His hobbies include spending time with his family, writing, football, skiing, walking and Facebook! Feel free to hunt him down and chat on Twitter 


About the book... What should have been a fresh start for Katie Tremain and her twin twelve year old daughter’s, (Sarah and Tegan) in the heart of the Cornish countryside, quickly turns to tragedy when, Sarah goes missing in the bleak and snowy surroundings of Bodmin Moor. There are no footprints surrounding the house from where she has gone missing, and no evidence of the girl.
Before the police arrive, delayed by the unpredicted snowfall, a stranger arrives claiming he wants to help find, Sarah. Katie has never seen this man before, yet there seems something familiar about him, and Tegan appears to have a connection with him. He has one stipulation – No police. Why, what are his true motives?
A missing girl, a broken mother, a lonely sister and a stranger. Together they look for the missing girl, and Katie is shocked when the stranger’s true identity is revealed, and sickened when she finds out who has her daughter.
This supernatural horror takes a mother to face her worst nightmare.

You can find his book on Amazon

I will be reviewing Adrian's book on the live Bookit! programme on Sinefm on Saturday October 29th, 10.00am UK time

Most unusually this week...

...I have a book review as my post.  Whether this will become a regular feature or not, I’m not sure yet.  Perhaps you might comment and let me know what you think.



The Seine, Paris

The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

If you’ve read my post from September 18^th,  ( Sunday Sojourn, Paris ) you'll know that, like fellow author Jennifer Wilson who owns the blog on which the post appears, Paris is a favourite city of mine.  So, coming across ‘The Red Notebook’ by Antoine Laurain was an absolute gem of a find.  And where better to read such a little book than the city of its setting?  So I did!

Laure, a single lady who works as a gilder, has her handbag snatched late one evening as she is returning to her apartment block in the city.  In desperation she runs to the hotel across road to beg for a room with the promise of paying once she can get the locks on her door changed and go to her bank to get some money.  The next morning things don’t quite work out as planned.
Laurent is the owner of a Paris bookshop called ‘Le Cahier Rouge’ and yes that does make you assume at the outset that this is the notebook of the title.  Maybe it is… maybe not! Sorry, but I’m not telling!  On his usual route from his own apartment building, via his regular café, to the bookshop, Laurent finds the discarded handbag in a skip beside the road.  He muses for a moment or two but then retrieves the bag and decides to return it to its rightful owner.
The rest of the story you will have to read for yourselves, but I can guarantee you that the journey around the city that Laurent takes in his efforts to find Laure, the obstacles he encounters and the miscommunications, misunderstandings and interventions from unexpected sources along the way, make this one the most amusing little love stories I have read in years.
The constant ’will they, won’t they’ question kept me on the edge of my seat.  The pace of the story never flags but somehow also manages to be as serene as the majestic setting which is so beautifully described.  The characters walk off the page and I found myself so utterly immersed in the story that I read it in one day.
A brilliant little book!

Please welcome two very special guests...

Sarah and Dougal

..fellow Crooked Cat author, Sarah Stephenson, and Dougal, the subject of a diary.

SS  Angela, thank you for inviting me on to your blog today, it’s a great priviledge.

AW  You are both very welcome.  So, tell me Sarah, how did Dougal's diary come about?

SS  I have to thank Sue Townsend, one of my favourite authors, for giving me the personality of my central character, Dougal.  My first book, Dougal’s Dairy, is printed as an ebook with Crooked Cat and will be out in print, any day soon.

I am often asked where the idea for Dougal came from.  Well, I have to confess it all started with a shower, in fact, two.  I was in the bathroom, smothered in shower gel, when my puppy Dougal, decided he had to go out for a pee in the rain.  As I stood in the garden; towel in one hand, brolly in other, I thought what a good picture it would make.  Actually, I lie.  My first reaction was, you bloody dog, followed by what if I…? Other incidents, such as Dougal covered from head to tail in mud, or Dougal shooting down a slide on a toddler’s lap, encouraged the idea; a small book of cartoons with captions underneath.

It was then reality struck.  I’d have to return to art classes and hone my skills.  This could take time.  This could take years.  Instead I began compiling lists.  From lists came daily jottings in a diary.  Unfortunately they were so tedious, I almost fell asleep on page one.  So I searched for inspiration from well-known authors and came across Buster’s Diaries by Roy Hattersley.  A true and delightful story, but not quite what I was looking for.

In despair, I turned to the human and more humorous diaries.  Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’

Dougal, covered in mud!

Diary.  Fun: men mad and always on a diet.  Not exactly Dougal but it gave me ideas.  His food obsessions, his desire to put on weight, his owner’s determination to keep him slim.

When I finally hit upon Adrian Mole; a developing male full of angst over girls, acne and the length of his penis, a seed was born.  I lifted bits of fact, mixed them with fantasy and turned Dougal into a fictional character.  Thanks to Sue Townsend, I found the tone of the book and the character of Dougal.

Just like Adrian Mole, Dougal is obsessed not with acne, but his weight and health. Is constantly misunderstood and a worrier: worried about elderly relatives, the NHS and Transport for London.  Unlike Adrian Mole, the nearest Dougal comes to getting his girl, is humping all dogs called Chester.                       

In some of the early drafts, Dougal believed he was so abused, I feared anyone reading it might report his owner to the RSPCA.  These had to be binned and the tone tempered.  It was important he was seen as a complete hypochondriac.

About the author...Sarah, who grew up in Bristol, now lives in South East London with two dogs.  She's had a chequered career as ballet dancer, cook, cleaning lady, salesgirl of outsize underwear in Littlewoods and actor.

You can find her book using the links below

Amazon UK
Amazon US

An interview with...

Photo of Sheila courtesy of Keith Hartley

…friend, author and radio presenter, Sheila North

  

AW   Hi Sheila, a couple of months ago you were telling us about Chagrin, Ohio, the Apalachians and a little about you and  it was clear from the number of hits that everyone wanted to know more.  And now, here you are being cross-examined by me!  Tell me, what is your current release?

SN   I have two: ‘An Harm It None’, which is a modern day, paranormal romance about witchcraft in North Yorkshire and ‘A Yorkshireman in Ohio: Five Tales of Paws, Claws, and Mystery’.  The latter is a collection of humorous short stories set in my alternative version of Doncaster, where a cat is a police sergeant, and there are sentient stoats, and weasels.

‘Yorkshireman’ is a sequel to ‘Koi Carpe Diem’.   Both ‘Yorkshireman’ and ‘Koi Carpe’ have lovely illustrations by the fabulous Tom Brown.

AW   What first got you into writing and why?
SN   When I was in 3^rd Grade, in the States, my teacher had us write sentences to show we could spell and understand certain words.  Miss Powell, the teacher, liked my sentences! It all followed from there.  Also, Mom was a children's librarian, so we always had access to good books, and were encouraged to read, go to the library, etc.  I still go to my local library, Doncaster Central, to attend a writers' group, borrow books, go to events, and write.

AW   You write romance, mystery, fantasy, comic short stories, and novels.  Is it all imagination or do you also undertake research?

SN   Even stories set in an alternative version of Doncaster require research.  For example, I have to decide where to place my imaginary pubs such as ‘The Squid and Quill’, and ‘Bird and Baby’.  I interviewed a policeman about police procedures for ‘An Harm It None’.  He was extremely helpful, once he got over his surprise.

AW   And what about other types of writing?  Have you ever dabbled with other genres?

SN   I wrote for a string of local newspapers in my home state of Michigan for around two years, worked in internal communications, including running an intranet, so yes!  I also write for the Doncopolitan magazine, a local arts, events, and social commentary publication, plus write reviews for a folk music magazine, and have my own blog.  I also write poetry, some of which has been published, including, many years ago, in an American cat magazine.  I have a pamphlet titled ‘An American in South Yorkshire’.

The author's writing space

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?

SN   My ambition is a Tardis style writing shed in the back garden, but for the moment my rather messy, arty desk in an alcove of our house is acting as my shed.

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?

SN   I would love to spend time with the American writer and humourist James Thurber, as I love his stories, and his writings have influenced me a lot, especially my short story collections.  I'd also ask him what he thinks of his appearance in the title story of ‘A Yorkshireman in Ohio’.  I'm hoping death has mellowed him a bit.  I'd also ask him for tips about how to be selected to be writer in residence in the Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio, as this is one of my ambitions.

About the author… Sheila was born in Detriot, Michigan.  This is not necessarily her fault.  She has been a stringer, newspaper editor, tolbooth attendant, comms assistant, journalism student, writers’ group leader and mental health worker.  She also bakes the best brownies in South Yorkshire.  Her interests include volunteering with her local community radio station, singing angst-ridden folk songs, falling asleep in front of the tellly and mangling the English language with her Mid-Western-Yorkshire accent.  Sheila lives in Doncaster with her husband David, a rat named Charles and a Dalek called Gerald.

Follow Sheila at sinefm.com  sheilanorth.wordpress.com  Amazon

Gillian Walker, author and friend joins me today...

... to talk about her latest book.  Welcome Gill and please tell us about...

Bill & Nora

The Butchers Daughter

Were you to be standing in London on a still late-summer's evening, exactly a century ago, you may well have heard the rumble of artillery fire drifting across the channel from The Somme.  The battle that began at the beginning of July still raged.  The prime of English youth was being slaughtered. There seemed to be no end in sight.

Deep in the Shropshire countryside, the war was casting its long shadow across the village of Eyton. Florence House, a specialist orthopedic hospital, now dealt with the casualties as every day shipments of dreadfully maimed and wounded young men arrived.  The early X-ray machines designed to diagnose deformities in children were now used to locate fragments of shrapnel in injured soldiers.  The womenfolk of the village helped care for them.  Their sons, lovers and husbands had long since gone to fight for king and country; some never to return.

Refused by the army through ill-health, Bill Smith is directed to work at the village post office.  He comes from a traveller family, and their arrival in Eyton is unpopular.  It is at The Methodist Chapel that he first spies Nora Snow, daughter of the local butcher.  John, her father, is a belligerent bully, highly protective of his daughter.  In his mind no man is good enough for her – especially the upstart son of a “no good tinker” like Bill Smith.

Set against the backdrop of WW1, this is the story of how, against the odds, Bill and Nora fall in love and eventually marry.  Despite the turmoil of the early twentieth century their story has a happy ending – a long happy marriage, a son and two granddaughters, one of whom is me!

About the author

When I retired from teaching I resolved that I was going to “write that novel”, and write it I did.  I joined the local writers' group where I met Angela.  She witnessed my early attempts at writing, giving constructive criticism and support all the way.

About the books 

My first book was Ada, the tragic story of a young woman who chooses the wrong man and has to face the consequences.  It has been well received with reviewers saying “Ada exposes an outwardly solid relationship as a betrayal of love and loyalty,” and “A fascinating story putting together the pieces of a puzzle... a vivid picture of how one woman stays true to herself.”

 The Butchers Daughter is my second novel. Based upon the true story of my paternal grandparents, it too has received good reviews.  “I think you write really well Gill- you have a wonderful sense of drama and pace and you evoke the period wonderfully.” ( Luigi Bonomi , LBA publishers, London)

Follow the links to find the books Ada  The Butcher's Daughter

Please welcome fellow author, Beatrice Fishback...

...who is visiting my blog today.  Beatrice has some interesting family history to share, so thank you for being here and the space is all yours...

Great-grandmother

My great-grandmother was an Iroquois Indian from upstate New York, and my father’s tales of her high-spirited nature enraptured me as a child.

There are two things I remember the most from his stories about this woman.  She smoked a corncob pipe — yes, just like in Western films; and my dad was often sent to the local store for her medicine, which turned out to be snuff, much to his surprise.

Simple clothing, and a daily routine of defending against animals in the great outdoors must have been a hard way of life.  Would she have carried a bow and arrow?  And, did she fall in love with my great-grandfather, or was their marriage one of convenience, arranged by others.

I often wondered what it would have been like to have met her, and to hear the adventures she had lived.  Like many ancestral stories, I’m sure her life held hard times as well as fascinating moments.

Old hotel in New York

If I could be a time-traveler, I imagine that New York would have been a rugged, bitter-winter landscape during the years my great-grandmother grew up.

Although I grew up in the region, there are many things that have changed in the past hundred years.  If great-grandmother could travel to the future, would she recognize the terrain where she once lived?  Malls and skyscrapers, campers and fifth-wheels traversing along four-lane highways are now the way of life.  Although she was a woman of strength, and apparently held a mean-streak, she probably would run as far away as she could from the noise and activity.

There must be a hint of my great-grandmother’s high-spirited ways residing within me, as I love to travel and explore worlds others only dream about.

Lake in upstate NY

And that is why writing can be so rewarding and I enjoy it so much.  Writers can create new places and entire breeds of people if they allow their minds to wander to unknown territories and pen those ideas for others to enjoy.  I have never been to the moon, or tried magic tricks with a wand.  But others have written about these possibilities and taken their readers to adventures beyond their wildest imaginations. Words are powerful.  We can travel to the past to the days of my great-grandmother, jet set into the future, and consider endless possibilities of other forms of life.

I hope my grandchildren are someday enraptured by the tales of my life and travels — imaginary and real.  Albeit, there will be no tales of a corncob pipe or snuff for them to hear about.

About the author...Beatrice Fishback is a Yankee who has traveled the world as a military spouse and lived in Europe for a total of twenty-years.  She is the author of Loving Your Military Man by FamilyLife Publishing and, with her husband Jim, is the co-author of Defending the Military Marriage and Defending the Military Family.  She has been published in various compilations, magazines and online websites.  Beatrice and Jim currently reside in North Carolina where scones are called biscuits and are topped with gravy, and tea is served over ice.

http://www.facebook.com/Beasattitudes

About her book...Bethal Manor, an inspirational romance, takes place during the Victorian era with engaging characters such as the wealthy Fredrick Shaw and his fiesty daughter, Clare.  Enjoy the rugged countryside as James Winthrop Blackwell travels across England.  Revel in the setting, a place of magnificence and style where servants know secrets and the owner is a man of property and integrity.  James Winthrop comes of age and searches for answers after being abandoned as an infant at Alpheton House Orphanage.  He must come to terms with the reasons for his abandonment and resolve how God can still use someone whose parents chose to cast them aside.  If you like Downton Abbey, you'll love Bethal Manor