Tag: Historical Fiction

Another Chapter in the Writing Life of Angela Petch

Angela is following the steps of the shepherds when they left the mountains each winter.

When I was taking my very first steps to create my Books in my Handbag Blog over three years ago, I had the good fortune to meet Angela Petch online. I have always followed Angela’s wonderful writing journey as she moved from indie author to a Bookouture author. It is my pleasure to present the next chapter in her writing life. I am handing over this blog to Angela who is sending words to you from her beautiful home in Tuscany.

Three years ago, I appeared on a blog for the first time in my life. New to Twitter, my eye was caught by a handbag icon next to an unusual name: Books in my Handbag. I have a weakness for handbags. Living in Italy, that’s only natural.

As I had very recently published my second indie novel, Now and Then in Tuscany, I contacted the blogger and sent a copy, thinking that I would never hear back. I was fairly new to social media but my indie author friends were slowly introducing me to the writing community and I had to make a start.

The kind and sparkly angel who is Jessie Cahalin sent me a review some days later and it made me cry. Good tears. She liked it. She got what I was trying to put over. I was overwhelmed. I printed her words out and pinned them to my noticeboard by my desk.  I can’t describe what confidence it gave me to continue

I am now published by Bookouture, a digital publishing company that I also discovered on Twitter. And the book that Jessie helped me promote has the new title of ‘Tuscan Memory’.

A Tuscan Memory is set in Italy between the two world wars, it traces the journey of a young country boy, Giuseppe, who flees from a traumatic episode and joins the annual trek from the Tuscan Apennines down to the coast, with shepherds and cattle drovers. During this five-month period, he finds himself. The story runs concurrently with modern day, when Giuseppe’s great grandson (also experiencing difficulties at school) is looking into his family history for a school project. I have threaded in love stories, a family mystery and the history of the transhumance in our area of Tuscany where we live. It stopped in the 1950s but my elderly friends still talk about it. I walked part of the route as one part of my research (photo). The shepherds’ journey lasted ten days.

Bookouture has taken over the aspects of writing that I find so hard: the technical side of formatting the book, designing the cover, preparing the novel so that it is shipshape and ready for publication and – what I find hardest: the essential marketing. Bookouture have several editing processes and this part is vital for pulling the book together. When you are indie, it is hard to be objective and Beta reader friends are sometimes too kind, so it is wise to pay for a good editor. My second commissioned book, The Tuscan Girl, reached number 6 in the USA Kindle charts last week and has sold over 100,000 copies to date. There is no way I could have managed those sales when I was an indie author, but there are highly successful indie authors out there who manage their own marketing very well. Readers and bloggers unite all authors with their love of great stories.

This is the kitchen featured in Tuscan Memory

So, I would like to offer huge thank you to Books in my Handbag for helping me along the way and extend my gratitude to all sparkly bloggers and readers. We couldn’t do it without you.

Here is what I thought of the original version of ‘Tuscan Memory’:

‘The novel unlocked secrets of the enchanting holiday destination of Tuscany.  I have often wondered who had once walked along the ancient tracks, and who once lived in the ancient dwellings that nestle in the mountains.   As the title suggests, the reader delves into rural Tuscany as it is now and as it was back then at the beginning of last century. The reader has the privilege of meeting characters from the different generations and it is satisfying to fit the jigsaw together.  It is a cleverly crafted narrative, in which there are emotional parallels in the lives of the characters from the past and the present. This is a story of love wrapped up in an insight into rural history and customs of Tuscany.’

Angela is a wonderful writer. She has inspired me pursue my own writing journey via the Romantic Novelists’ New Writers’ Scheme. In the last two years, I have written two books and I am waiting to publish them. Alas, I no longer accept review requests, but I do enjoy interacting with authors. I can’t wait to find out how the Bookouture editor has shaped the novel that connected me to Angela Petch.

More about Angela

Angela Petch shares her year between the Tuscan Apennines and West Sussex.

Her love affair with Italy was born at the age of seven when she moved with her family to Rome. Her father worked for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and he made sure his children learned Italian and soaked up the culture. She studied Italian at the University of Kent at Canterbury and afterwards worked in Sicily where she met her husband. His Italian mother and British father met in Urbino in 1944 and married after a wartime romance.

Her first book, Tuscan Roots was written in 2012, for her Italian mother-in-law, Giuseppina, and also to make readers aware of the courage shown by families of her Italian neighbours during WW2. Signed by Bookouture in 2018, this book was republished as The Tuscan Secret in June 2019. The Tuscan Girl followed in February 2020.

Now and Then in Tuscany, was self-published in April 2017 and features the same family. The background is the transhumance, a practice that started in Etruscan times and continued until the 1950s. Bookouture has since acquired the rights, and under a new title, A Tuscan Memory was be released on September 7th 2020. Research for her Tuscan novels is greatly helped by her knowledge of Italian and conversations with locals.

Although Italy is a passion, her stories are not always set in this country. Mavis and Dot, published at the end of 2018 and sold in aid of research into a cure for cancer, tells the story of two fun-loving ladies who retire to the Sussex seaside. They forge an unlikely friendship and fall into a variety of adventures. Ingenu/e Magazine describes it as: “Absolutely Fabulous meets Last of the Summer Wine… a gently hilarious feel-good book that will enchant and delight…”.

A prize-winning, Amazon bestselling author and member of the RNA, she also loves to travel and recently returned to Tanzania, where she lived at the start of her marriage. A keen tennis player and walker, she enjoys spending time with her five grandchildren and inventing stories for their entertainment.

Her short stories are published by PRIMA and the People’s Friend.

Links
Blog: https://angelapetchsblogsite.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AngelaJaneClarePetch
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Angela_Petch

Please see all my guests’ posts at Mail from the Creative Community and also my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

A copy of my novel is available here.

Discover the Dark Ages with John Broughton

John Broughton posting me a letter

John Broughton spends a great deal of his time stuck in the Dark Ages. As a historian, John is happy to become immersed in the gruesome eighth century.  He is not afraid to walk beside kings, noblemen and monks who inhabit a world where it is ‘kill or be killed’.  John’s novels are praised for the historical accuracy and take you into the heart of the bloody battles. Though a little afraid, I asked John to explain what inspired him to write his third novel Saints and Sinners. John sent me a letter via a gallant messenger.

John Broughton Saints and Sinners

My third published novel, Saints and Sinners, was inspired by a love of my county, Lincolnshire, and of the Anglo-Saxon period in general. Putting the two together leads one to the Kingdom of Lindsey, the least-known of the Dark-Age kingdoms. Starting from the apparently simple desire to write a novel about this kingdom, I soon realised that our knowledge of Lindsey is very limited, being almost exclusively dependent on archaeological revelations.

The names we have for Lindsey are from a debatable list of kings, who were anyway, sub-kings to the powerful neighbouring Kings of Northumberland or Mercia. One name, however, kept recurring in my research – that of Guthlac: the hermit saint who founded the monastery of Crowland. His life was recorded in a hagiographic work by a monk, Felix, crucially within a generation of his living.

Saint Guthlac takes a boat in the Fens to Crowland

What a character was Guthlac! Setting aside the monastic praise, isn’t it interesting how a red-blooded Saxon nobleman left a life of military adventuring, ale-guzzling and wenching to become an ascetic in the wilderness of the Fens? This apart, his best friend was a certain Aethelbald, another Mercian noble, devoted to the former lifestyle of Guthlac. This sinful nobleman was considered a dangerous pretender to the throne of Mercia: so much so that he was exiled and fled into the Fens where his old friend sheltered him for a while.

A fragment of a cross shaft from Repton includes on one face a carved image of a mounted man which, it has been suggested, may be a memorial to Aethelbald.

What makes Aethelbald even more intriguing is that from being a hunted exile he became one of the greatest of Mercian kings. My idea of a novel about Lindsey transformed into one about Mercia too. By the way, Aethelbald was condemned in a letter from Boniface for seducing nuns. The novel is truly about saints and sinners!

Guthlac’s life is still commemorated. Apart from the ruins of the Crowland monastery – still with the tallest bell tower in the land – his name lingers on in the Saint Guthlac School in Crowland, and even in street names in places as far away as Hereford. Of course, we must not forget St Guthlac’s Church in Market Deeping and another in the fenlands at Fishtoft is dedicated to him.

St Guthlac, tormented by demons, is handed a scourge by St Bartholomew, Guthlac Roll, 1210, British Library

As for Aethelbald, well, he’s remembered in the sequel to Saints and Sinners, entitled Mixed Blessings, scheduled for publication on January 25 2019, dealing wholly with the vicissitudes of his long and successful reign. A fragment of a cross shaft from Repton includes on one face a carved image of a mounted man which may be a memorial to Æthelbald. The figure is of a man wearing mail armour and brandishing a sword and shield, with a diadem bound around his head. If this is Æthelbald, it’s the earliest large-scale pictorial representation of an English monarch.

John posted his letter in Italy, but I received the letter via a messenger on horseback.  The messenger arrived on Offa’s Dyke at Tintern. He told me he was from a dark and treacherous land and couldn’t be sure who had followed him.  He was required on the battlefield, so I bid him farewell, and watched as he rode his horse through the landscape. We will have to read John Broughton’s books to solve the mystery of where the messenger returned to.

John Broughton Mixed Blessings

You can read Saint and Sinners and the sequel Mixed Blessings.  You are warned ‘Saxon times are not called the Dark Ages for nothing. It is a violent, unrecognisable world of kill or be killed …’

In all of John Broughton’s stories you will find:

‘All the classic elements of an adventure story, danger, heroism, cunning and treachery. The author knows his period well but wears his history lightly’ – Rosemary Noble 

John Broughton was born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, and studied Medieval and Modern History at the University of Nottingham. He also studied Archaeology, distinguishing himself with a Roman find on a dig at Ancaster. He taught History and English for a decade, becoming Head of Department of History in a Manchester grammar school. A restless period saw him experiment with writing children’s stories while working in a variety of jobs before moving in Italy to teach EFL at a southern university. Teaching and work as a translator of books kept him busy until he retired in January 2014. Since then he has taken up fiction writing once more – returning to his great love, the Anglo-Saxon period. His debut historical novel was The Purple Thread followed by Wyrd of the Wolf.

You can also meet John at:

https://jessiecahalin.com/history-tour-chat-anglo-saxonist/

Escape to a Medieval Castle with Ella Matthews

Ella Matthews lives and works in beautiful South Wales.

Do you fancy a trip to medieval Britain and an encounter with a warrior knight? If you do, then let me introduce to Ella Matthews who has just released Under The Warrior’s Protection. Ella is a member of my local Romantic Novelists’ Association writing group. I was keen to discover more about how her role as a commissioning editor prepared her to become an author for Mills and Boon.

Did you dream of becoming an author when you were a child?

When I was a child I wanted to be an actress. There are two problems with this: I’m very shy and I’m a terrible actor. I thought that writing books is what other people did, so although I loved reading it never occurred to me that I could be an author too.

You were a commissioning editor for many years.  Was it difficult to make the transition from editor to writer? What were the key pointers you had in mind when you started to write?

There is quite a lot of cross-over with my editor role and writing and because I was so immersed in the publishing world it was quite easy to transition from one to the other. As a commissioning editor you are always thinking of the commercial appeal of the books you work on and that was one of my focuses when I was putting my first manuscript together. I’d love to say that my experience as an editor made getting rejection letters easier because I know it’s not personal but sadly, that’s not the case.

‘A story filled with drama, danger and fabulous characters that had me hooked.’
Anna’s Book Blog

Under the Warrior’s Protection is set in the medieval period.  Why did you select this period in history and how do you research the era?

I find it quite hard to research the medieval period. There is so much that’s unknown so I try and make an educated guess based on the research I do (mainly visiting castles and reading lots of books). My biggest concern is that I miss something and a reader picks it up.

I picked this time period because I’ve always wanted to live in a castle and this is the closest I’m going to get.

How many times do you draft a book before you send it to your editor?  How many rewrites do you go through before the book is ready to release into the wild?

I go through a lot! I would say that, on average, I draft individual scenes about eight times before I’m happy with them. When I’ve finished the manuscript I will probably go through it another four times before I send it to my editor. Victoria will then get back to me with any changes she wants before it’s sent to a content editor who makes sure I haven’t written something crazy, like eating pizza at a medieval feast. After that, it’s the proofs and then finally it’s released into the wild.

The hero of Under the Warrior’s Protection is an influential Earl and his fortress is based on Caerphilly Castle.

Where do you get your ideas from?  Do you find perfect medieval heroes and heroines walking our streets when you are out and about? If yes, then please give us a delicious example.

Gosh this is a hard question! I had the idea for the first book in the House of Leofric series so long ago that I’ve forgotten where the idea came from. All the other ideas for my medieval books have come from writing the other books. So, I had the idea for Under the Warrior’s Protection when I met the heroine, Katherine in my first book. She was a minor character, who caught my attention. Her story unfolded in my head as I was standing by the photocopier at work.

I’m terribly unobservant and I sort of walk around in my own bubble, so I never get my heroes and heroines from real life. Quite a few of my heroes seem to have Chris Hemsworth’s physique though!

Your novels always have distinctive settings.  The latest book is set in a medieval castle.  Is it based on a real castle and did you visit medieval castles to inspire you?

The castle, which features in all the House of Leofric books, is based on Oystermouth Castle in Mumbles (well worth a visit when Swansea opens back up again!). The hero of Under the Warrior’s Protection is an influential Earl and his fortress is based on Caerphilly Castle. I’m lucky to live in Wales where there are a range of medieval castles to visit.

What is the biggest challenge when writing a historical novel? 

It has to be finding out the correct information. The medieval period lasted for several hundred years and so what was true at the beginning was not necessarily the case by the end. My novels tend to take place in the middle and I’m very nervous about the fiction not matching up with reality. That’s why my locations are fictitious and there are no real people from history in my novels. I might be braver in my next series!

What clothes do your characters own and are there any interesting, unfamiliar garments?

Clothing is another big challenge when writing medieval novels. When I started researching this time period I was surprised at just how colourful their clothing was. I think the women’s outfits aren’t wildly different to modern day women’s maxi dresses. My heroes tend to wear knight’s clothing because their everyday outfits were similar to the women’s and I don’t want to cause confusion.

Is your heroine, Katherine, a modern woman?  Introduce us to Katherine and tell us what she would think of the way women dress and behave today.

Until the start of my novel, Katherine has led a very restricted life under the confines of an increasingly violent mother. She craves adventure and stability. I think she would be thrilled by how women behave today. She’d particularly love the freedom to travel anywhere in the world. If she lived now I think she would be a marine biologist! I do think she would be shocked by the mini skirt, though!

Your novels are presented as wonderful romantic escapes.  What should readers expect to find in your novels?

Strong, confident alpha males and feisty, forward-thinking women who experience adventure and romance.

What do the readers say about your novels? 

‘A story filled with drama, danger and fabulous characters that had me hooked.’

Anna’s Book Blog

‘This story…is full of angst, humour, and passion. Prepare to be romanced by another great author who is going on my favourites list.’

The Eclectic Review

‘This couple’s story kept me entertained, engrossed and I loved them more, the further I read.’

Goodreads review

Ella Matthews lives and works in beautiful South Wales. When not thinking about handsome heroes she can be found walking along the coast with her husband and their two children (probably still thinking about heroes but at least pretending to be interested in everyone else). Ella Matthews lives and works in beautiful South Wales. When not thinking about handsome heroes she can be found walking along the coast with her husband and their two children (probably still thinking about heroes but at least pretending to be interested in everyone else).

 

Please see all my author interviews at My Guests and also my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

A copy of my novel is available here.

Inspiration for a Tuscan Girl

I am honoured that Angela wrote a letter to explain the inspiration behind Tuscan Girl. Sit back and enjoy a writer’s tour of Italy.

Bestselling author, Angela Petch, released ‘Tuscan Girl’ last week.  I started to read the novel on a stormy Saturday night and awoke at dawn to finish the book.  Lost stories of war, hidden treasure and buried memories gripped me. As a writer, I wanted to learn how this talented author manages to weave such captivating stories. I am honoured Angela wrote a letter to explain the inspiration behind Tuscan Girl.  Sit back and enjoy a writer’s tour of Italy.

In the Tuscan Apennines, where I spend six months of every year, I can step out of our front door straight into wild countryside. Our area is less populated after post war exodus, when people left for work abroad and in big cities and so I come across many ruined houses along the mule tracks that crisscross our hills and valleys.

Each abandoned dwelling holds a potential story and my imagination goes into overdrive, trying to guess what might have gone on within these walls, now strangled with weeds.

Many of the old houses are being eaten up by old man’s beard

When I was seven years old, my father accepted a job in Rome as deputy head of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. They were formative years and I picked up Italian like a little sponge. I’ve wheedled out stories behind these houses by chatting to elderly friends and through my research. We are lucky to have the national archive of diaries in nearby Pieve Santo Stefano and I’ve spent hours poring over handwritten resources.

Bruno sitting outside the house owned by his son, who had just returned from collecting wild mushrooms.

One of my friends is Bruno Vergni, one hundred years old last January 13th. I met him seven years ago on one of my hikes. I stopped to chat as he pruned an apple tree and, to my huge surprise, he responded in English. He explained that he had been a POW in Nottingham, having been captured in Libya early in the war.

I researched more about Bruno’s war and he is now one of the main characters in “The Tuscan Girl” (albeit tweaked with my own ideas). He now lives with his son, but in my story I have placed him in one of the semi-deserted hamlets called Tramarecchia.

Pieve Santo Stefano holds Italy’s collection of diaries – a wonderful resource

A favourite walk is up to the beautiful Alp of the Moon, (1,400 metres). We stopped to picnic by a pile of stones and read a sign posted by the local partisan association.  Up here, in the summer of 1944, a group of young men planned their resistance missions. After researching and meeting a local historian, Alvaro Tacchini, more ideas for my book were gleaned.

An abandoned chapel, two houses on the outskirts of the village, empty because of a brothers’ squabble, the outline of a Medici fortress… all ruins waiting to be written about in future books.

Angela’s explanation connected me to Alba who treks around the remote Tuscan villages and rebuilds the ruins in her paintings.  She discovers ‘The paths…like arteries leading to the heart of new stories.’  I enjoyed treading these paths with Alba and look forward to more stories.

 

 

Meet the Coffee Shop Writer

Meet Jenny Kane / Jennifer Ash

Jenny Kane is the author of several contemporary fiction novels including, Romancing Robin Hood (Littwitz Press, 2018),  Abi’s House, (Accent Press, 2015), and the Another Cup of Coffee series (Accent Press, 2013).  As Jennifer Ash she writes the medieval mysteries, The Folville Chronicles, as well as audio scripts for ITV. Jenny is a self-proclaimed accidental author. She is also a former archaeologist and medieval historian. 

Jessie:  Tell us more about Jenny Kane/Jenny Ash.

Jenny: I am workaholic, coffee drinking, author who writes her books from the corner of my favourite coffee shop, in Devon.

Jessie: How have you managed to build your brand as an author and sustain your success?

Jenny: The first genre I wrote was erotica. I didn’t mean to, and I certainly didn’t see that career coming, but for some reason I found myself composing scenes of smut.

After five years of kinky thinking, I decided to have a go at writing a story where everyone kept their clothes on. It was most liberating! To my surprise, that novel, Another Cup of Coffee, was well received.

With the writing market changing all the time, I’ve always been wary of putting all my eggs in one basket, and so, after writing eight granny friendly novels, I had a go at writing about my personal passion – medieval crime. Oh- and I write children’s picture books too.  I have three pen names.

Jessie: Do your pen names have different identities?

Jenny: As Jenny Kane I write contemporary fiction and romance, as well as children’s picture books.

As Jennifer Ash I write medieval murder mysteries (The Folville Chronicles) as well as audio scripts for ITV and Spiteful Puppet.

My first pen name was Kay Jaybee- only investigate her if you are over 18 and enjoy erotica.

Jessie: How did you manage to become the resident writer in Costa Coffee shop How wonderful!

Northmoor House: the writers’ residential retreat rub by Jenny and Alison

Jenny: I’ve always been a coffee shop writer. I get too distracted by things that need doing around the house if I attempt to write at home.  When a Costa opened in Tiverton, I started to write in there. I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing, but after I’d turned up every day for several months, the staff started to enquire, and soon I was part of the furniture. So much so, that they offered to hold a book launch for me when Another Cup of Coffee was published.

When I turned up for the launch, I found that I had a new table in the far corner of the cafe with a plaque on the wall, stating it was Jenny Kane’s Corner! I was speechless. I had corner- just like Winnie the Pooh!

I’ve sat and worked in that corner every day since. It’s lovely. Mostly I’m left alone to write, but it’s not unknown for folk to pop by for a chat or to have their books signed.

So far I’ve written 12 full length novels, 4 scripts and countless workshops and short stories at that table.

Jessie: Tell me about the writing workshops you offer.  How do you balance the workshops and writing?

Jenny: I’ve been teaching creative writing on and off for the past twelve years. However, 2 years ago, my friend and fellow writer, Alison Knight and I, pooled our resources and set up the creative writing business, Imagine.

We provide workshops for beginners and cover every element of fiction writing from character development to location building, plotting, short story writing and the skills you need to get your butt on a chair and make yourself write.

Our most popular courses are our life writing masterclass and the Novel in a Year workshop series. These run over a year, and take people from their first word, to preparation for submission to an agent or publisher.

I split my working day between writing (7am- 12pm) and prepping for workshops (12.30pm and 3pm). After that I go to work, before editing/proofing my students work in the evenings.

Jessie: Summarise your latest release in two sentences.

Edward’s Outlaw by Jennifer Ash is a murder mystery set in Rockingham Castle during the fourteenth century

Jenny: Edward’s Outlaw by Jennifer Ash is a murder mystery set in Rockingham Castle during the fourteenth century. Placed in the castle for her own protected, Mathilda Folville, finds herself playing detective in order to save her husband’s life and her family’s reputation.

Jessie: List a maximum of three quotes from the reviews that you have had. 

Jenny: For The Folville Chronicles by Jennifer Ash – “Ellis Peters meets Jean Plaidy… via Robin Hood.” (Review from Goodreads)

For Abi’s House by Jenny Kane – “Reading a Jenny Kane book is like opening a journal by a much loved friend. I’m spirited away into a world of warm, friendly and interesting people. To places that I not only want to visit but actually live in. Shops, cafés and pubs that I want to be my locals and life that I want to experience and be a part of. Abi’s House gives you all of these feelings and left me with a huge smile on my face and a glowing in my heart. More of this wonderfulness please!!” (Review from Amazon)

For Another Cup of Coffee by Jenny Kane – “‘This book is definitely my cup of coffee

Gosh, where to start with this review?!  The characters: you laughed with them, cringed, hated, wanted to shout at the book because you cared so deeply. Every character had their own story, and I loved that this was intertwined with Amy’s story, waiting to see how it panned out. Big round of applause for Kane for the characters on its own….Another Cup of Coffee itself: very realistic and a delight from start to finish. I felt like I was sitting on the outside looking in all the time, and I’d known this group of people for my entire life…. A timeless piece and one worth picking up big time. This book is definitely my cup of coffee (sorry, I had to). (Review from Bookmark That)

Jessie: Present an extract from your latest novel that will tempt a reader. 

A young woman of my build, with similar hair, has suffered a violent death in the room allocated to me.

(From Edward’s Outlaw – The Folville Chronicles Book 3)

“…A young woman of my build, with similar hair, has suffered a violent death in the room allocated to me. A room in which I was intended to be trapped under lock and key….”

Jessie: How did you feel when you had finished writing your book, and did you miss any of the characters?

Jenny: I also feel a little bereft when I finish a novel. It’s such an intense process. The character’s live in your head 24/7 for months. When I finished Edward’s Outlaw it felt particularly strange as it bought me to the end of an intense three book writing experience- (The Outlaw’s Ransom, The Winter Outlaw and Edward’s Outlaw – the first 3 books in The Folville Chronicles) The lead character, Mathilda, is someone I’m very fond of- I miss her now that I’m writing a different series (as Jenny Kane- name a secret as yet!)

Mathilda will be back however, as there is another story coming as part of The Folville Chronicles in 2020.

Jessie: What is the last sentence written in your writer’s notebook?

Jenny: Check about the vinegar.

Jessie: What is the biggest challenge for an author?

Jenny: Not losing heart. It can take a long time to succeed, and even then the financial rewards are feeble. It can be very hard to stay positive when you’re surrounded by celebrities getting paid a fortune to write (often poorly) simply because they can cycle fast or once ate bugs in the jungle.

Jessie: What is the best advice that you have received as a writer?

Jenny: Cut down on your adverbs. My work was awash with them at first. I hadn’t realised how much they were slowing my plots down.

Jessie: How do you support other writers and what common mistakes do fledgling authors make?

Jenny: Always be positive. Writers are usually full of self doubt (I know I am), so we need to encourage and support with time and kind words.

New authors often make the mistake of rushing the editing process- usually because they are so keen to get their work out into the wild. If in doubt- edit once more- and if you can afford it- pay a professional to do that last check for you.

Jessie: Tell me about the writers’ retreats you have organised.

Jenny: As well as workshops, Imagine runs a residential retreat at Northmoor House on Exmoor every October. This year the event runs from 7-11th October.

The week involves as much private writing time as you like, one-to-one mentoring from Alison Knight and myself (on request- no addition charge) and an evening with guest speaker, Kate Lord Brown.

The retreat price includes all meals and accommodation in an original Victorian house- complete with the original free standing baths! (Bring your own bubbles!)

You can find all the details at www.imaginecreativewriting.co.uk

Book soon – we’d love to see you there- but there are only 3 rooms left for 2019.

Imagine also provides day long Location Inspiration Days. These take place in a variety of stunning locations, where you are encouraged to use the setting to create your works of fiction.

Our next events are on 19th June and 11th Sept at the Old Farmhouse and Chapel, in Ashcott, Somerset. You can find details at www.imaginecreativewriting.co.uk

Jenny’s contact details:

Twitter
@JenAshHistory
@JennyKaneAuthor
@Imagine_Writing

Jennifer Ash https://www.facebook.com/jenniferashhistorical/
Jenny Kane https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011235488766
Imagine www.imaginecreativewriting.co.uk
Jenny Kane and Jennifer Ash www.jennykane.co.uk