Tag: Writing

The Book, the Author and the Magic

Post from Sue Bentley via another world

Over Christmas, I received a letter marked with a lion’s head stamp.  The letter had been signed ‘Word Sorceress’. Author, Sue Bentley sent a mysterious letter to Reader Recommends.  She had also enclosed photos of:  a lion, a wardrobe, three children and a winter scene. This children’s author lives in a dark, fantasy forest, and often wears very glamorous Dr Marten boots. I was suspicious that the door to Sue’s writing room looks like the wardrobe leading to Narnia. Intrigued, I wanted to visit Sue’s writing world to find out more.

Is this the door to Sue’s writing world?

I passed my handbag to Sue, and she placed a classic tale inside.  Snowfall concealed my handbag, but I followed the footprints into Sue’s magical world. On my adventure into Narnia, I hoped to discover how she came to write children’s books and young adult fantasy fiction.

You will need to tread ‘on the edge of darkness’ as you read Sue’s words.

 

 

Midwinter and Magic

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C S Lewis.

Lion personifying all things brave and true

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe captivated me from the moment I read it, aged about ten. Always winter but never Christmas, talking animals, a wicked witch, a fight against good and evil, a Lion personifying all things brave and true. Wow! You can write about things other than the everyday? It doesn’t have to be a school setting or a pony club drama? This was pure magic and it spoke directly to me. In that moment I became an author – if only in my mind.

Years later I began writing books for adults, collecting a drawer full of publishers’ rejections slips. It took longer to learn how to write quality fiction that I expected. Meanwhile my agent thought I’d be good at writing for children. This didn’t prove an easier option, as I’d foolishly imagined, but I stuck at it. She was proved right. My books for younger children have been translated into over 20 languages and continue to sell worldwide. Not surprisingly they often feature magical animals and fairies.

Always winter but never Christmas

My enduring love of snow and winter also stems from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. The shapes of trees sketched against a snow-clouded sky. The fresh linen smell of icy air.  Wonderful.  I enjoy reading books set in winter as well as writing them, while looking out of my workroom window onto a bleak landscape.

I’ve just finished reading The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper – set during snow-bound mid-winter and teeming with English Folkore. There was a readathon on Twitter, over this mid-winter and up to Twelfth Night. Reading the book in like-minded company was a wonderful and totally magical event, which has prompted lots of ideas for future novels.

After around 70 titles for children, I’m again writing for adults. In We Other, my recent fantasy novel, one of the most important events takes place in snowbound mid-winter. We Other could be described as an adult fairy tale. It’s darker and more complex than anything I’ve ever written, with many twists and turns. It’s territory I’m enjoying. I plan to stay there for a while! If it snows tonight, all the better…

More about Sue…

I would like to introduce you to an author who is supportive, full of fun and has a magical presence.  Author, Sue Bentley, adds sparkle and magic to children’s books and young fantasy, with her unique perspective.  Using her wand, she explores another world and adds glittering enchantment.

Meet the young Sue who discovered: You can write about things other than the everyday?

Indeed, she has sprinkled her enchanting magical vision on over 70 children’s stories. But she does venture into the darkness with her young adult fiction. We Other was her first venture into young adult fiction. 

Sue Bentley is fascinated by English Folklore, the extraordinary in the everyday and the darkness that hovers at the edges of the light.

Recently, Sue has been missing, as she has been penning her second novel for young adults.  The title of her second novel is Second Skin. Apparently, Aledra, the main character, belongs to a conquering race of shape-shifters, who are hated by the native people.  The new novel is very different to We Other, but it is sure to charm the readers.

The collaboration on this blog post commenced when Sue agreed to add a book into my Reader Recommends gallery.  I have invited all readers to share the book which inspired their reading journey.  Readers can send me a photo of the inspirational book, in their handbag, with twenty words.

Sue says…

Louis Armstrong says it best – ‘the bright blessed day and the dark sacred night’ You can’t have one without the other.

I always enjoyed ‘real’ fairy tales – not the sanitised Disney versions. For example, in some versions of Cinderella – the ugly sisters snip off their toes to be able to cram their feet into the glass slipper.

I was that kid in a class of pink tutus who was dressed as a vampire bat. I never wanted high-heeled dancing shoes, I wanted sturdy boots to go tramping around forests looking for the shapes of goblins in the trees.

As for characters – Goody, Goody is all very well, but it can get boring. We all love the ‘bad’ characters who do doubtful things – they’re much more fun to write about.

 

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

 

Happy New Year Characters and Friends

The familiar view of Penarth

I’ve become so familiar with the seafront in Penarth that I’ve never ventured from the main path. Contented with the changes in the light, I found comfort in the same view.  On Boxing Day, crowds of people in Penarth forced me to walk a new path above the seafront.

An unfamiliar perspective of Penarth pier that allows me to look at the bigger picture

As I looked down on a familiar view from a new perspective, I released some of the characters in my work in progress. Maybe these characters will remain forever lost or appear in another story.  Who knows?  I’ve worked in my tiny writing room, with my cast of characters, for many months.  In the new year, I will print out my work in progress, read it aloud and look at it from a fresh perspective.

I realised that I needed to release some of the characters

It’s certain I will remain with Pearl and Jim who will also need to digress from their familiar paths.  Alas, they can’t text each other, connect via social media or email each other.  When the characters are a distance apart, they must physically travel to meet up or write a proper letter.  They can’t even use a landline as they don’t have telephones.

As the sun sets on another year, I wish you and my characters some happy and new destinations.

However, I’m grateful Anne Williams sent me back to the seventies to meet the young Pearl and Jim.   Maybe Anne could have a word with Pearl and find out more. Meanwhile, attitudes and beliefs in this era continue to shock me.  My twenty first century perspective means I can support my characters a little yet cannot control their anxiety.  The girls in the factory are currently on strike and they can’t google the legislation to find out more.  It would’ve helped if they could connect with the Dagenham strikers in a Facebook Group, but social media is decades away.  Of course, they’ve seen the headlines and the world seems to have gone on strike.  And I’m in despair because some of the women have been tempted to parade in a fashion show of clothes for the bosses. In future, they will learn about the Miss World protests.  I know these destinations are ahead of them but how can I navigate them and force them to take new paths?

Characters are distracting me and fluttering around in my mind and a couple of them have decided to take time out on the beach.  Do you see them? Pearl and Jim’s perspective remain strong in my head. I’ll stay on the new path that has a clearer overview.  With patience, they will eventually reach their intended destination.  I have no idea how to get Jim back home, but I do know what car he will drive and how much it cost.  Like me they are facing January, but the January of 1970 was a harsh one.  I have twenty ideas for the title of my next novel and all suggestions include the word ‘love’.  Love will guide my characters. In the words of Dylan Thomas. ‘Though lovers be lost, love shall not…’

As the sun sets on another year, I wish you and my characters some happy and new destinations.

 

Please see all my adventures at Handbag Adventures and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

Stay Golden with Jena C. Henry

Even though life changes as we age- we must strive to stay as gold as we can.

Jena Henry is an amazing supporter of authors, and she dashes around social media leaving her trail of golden comments.  I cannot imagine how we would cope without Jena’s positive, fun online presence. I wanted to find out more about this lovely lady, so I read her novel –The Golden Age of Charli. Jena’s book gave me a great insight into her positive philosophy and prompted me to ask further questions. I wanted to get to the heart of her catchphrase – ‘staying golden’.

Jena: Hello Jessie and thank you for inviting me to ramble on and on with you. I’m sure you know that I am a big fan of both you and your Handbag Gallery, so I hope after we chat, we will have some time to browse the handbags and see the latest books that you have added.

Right, we’ll move on. I suppose you want to talk books and writing? And me?

Sharing our books and ideas has developed a wonderful friendship across the miles.

Jessie: Jena, it’s been great fun getting to know you over the past year. Sharing our books and ideas has developed a wonderful friendship across the miles, and I love my Ohio t shirt. I admire how much you have achieved in your life, and your infectious positivity. Introduce yourself with three achievements that make you proud.

Jena: I never think too much about myself that way- but I’ll try.

  1. I’m still here! Which encompasses having a happy marriage and a happy life, amazing kids.

And I achieved two goals that were important to me:

  1. I graduated from Law School.
  2. I finally wrote a book! (plus 2 more)
Sharing our books and ideas has developed a wonderful friendship across the miles.

Jessie:  What do you mean when you say ‘stay golden’ and when did you invent this phrase?

Robert Frost inspired me with his poem,
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

The last line, “Nothing gold can stay”, is used in the powerful conclusion of S. E. Hinton’s coming-of-age book “The Outsider’s” (also a movie). “Stay gold Ponyboy”, one friend tells the other, meaning “stay innocent.”

As I am now a golden ager, and my book series is “The Golden Age of Charli”, I borrowed the concept from Frost and Hinton and adopted “Stay Golden” as my affirmation. Even though life changes as we age- we must strive to stay as gold as we can. I wrote a post on staying golden and here it is: https://www.jenabooks.com/stay-golden/

Jessie: You’ve reached the glorious years of retirement, and your positive philosophy inspired me to connect with you. What are your five golden rules to make the most of retirement?

Jena: Retirement…the golden years…the sunset years…the years where we all ask, “What’s a weekend?” because it really doesn’t matter anymore- every day is a day to rejoice. The desire to thrive is really the key. Many people face challenges with health and other circumstances, so I don’t mean to make it sound like every senior adult is able to frolic, and I’m truly grateful every day for all my blessings.

After busy and active decades of building a career, a family, a life…retirement can be a jolt or even a let down. Where is our purpose now? Here are my five rules to get you thinking.

  1. Prepare for your retirement
  2. Focus on healthy living
  3. Discover something new and fun to do
  4. Do something good for someone else
  5. Give thanks each day.

Jessie, you are at the perfect age to start planning for your golden years! You have plenty of time to get your finances and retirement plans, your health, and your interests developed. You already have the golden, optimistic mind-set!

Jessie: Now you are enjoying retirement, what word words of advice would you give to Jena in her twenties. 

Jena: Don’t worry, I know you were eager to finish college and move out from home and now that you’ve done it, you’re feeling a bit shaky but… EVERYTHING WILL TURN OUT BETTER THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE!  All the life stuff- career, marriage, kids… piece of cake! (yes, I try to be over-encouraging with young people!)

Plus- so many cool things are coming! Technology, computers, the internet, big screen TVs, ereaders for books, smart phones, smart homes, streaming movies and tv shows, so much better than the three tv channels you get now!

And, you WILL write a book. You won’t vacation on the moon, in fact you’ll never move far away from your hometown. The Cleveland Indians will not win a World Series, and you won’t get back to Paris, but you will visit China. And even though you don’t not know what sushi is right now, but you will love it!

Jessie: Tell us why reading is important to you.

Jena: Reading is my superpower and helps me to stay golden.

I have always been an ardent reader. And now I am enjoying being a passionate reviewer. I post reviews on Amazon, Goodreads and my website. https://www.jenabooks.com/category/promotions/

https://www.jenabooks.com/category/blog/

Currently, I am considering if I can do more to connect with and serve and promote writers, authors, bloggers in even better ways. Any ideas for me?

Jessie:  Apart from books, what other hobbies do you have?

Jena: As you may know, I am an avid sports fan, and we stay current with most sports, from local to professional. And now thanks to you I’m learning more about British sports! I’m happy to chat about Baseball- I root, root, for the home team which is the Cleveland Indians! I also cheer on the “real football” team, the Cleveland Browns and I’m most passionate about our pro Basketball team, The Cleveland Cavaliers!( Until last year, we had the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) LeBron James. I believe you have never heard of him?) My husband and sons also follow motorsports.

Jessie: What was a key influence in your life? 

I am thankful I was born, grew up, and have always lived in Ohio. Ohio is a mid-western state with contrasts- cities and farms, conservatives and liberals, even Amish. Church and community are important. And one thing unites us all- The Ohio State University and its championship football program.

When someone starts the cheer of “O” “H”!…We all know to shout back “I” “O”.

And Ohioans are also quick to form OHIO with their arms and we share photographs of this all over social media.

Here is a photo my niece took, that shows OHIO on the side of a barn, near the city where we live. (Photo by mackmarie.com)

And Ohioans are also quick to form OHIO with their arms and we share photographs of this all over social media.

Jessie: You are also an author of a great collection of books about retirement. Pinpoint the exact time when you decided to write your trilogy.  What was the biggest writing challenge?

Jena: I always wanted to write a book. After 40 years of dreaming, my husband said to me “Well, if you ever want to write a book, you should get started. Time is running out.”

Perhaps a bit harsh- but it worked. The idea of Charli came to me and I got to know her and write about her.

No real challenges. I am so proud of my books and me. I wrote a three-book fiction series, The Golden Age of Charli. I love all my books because they are just what I wanted them to be- fun, positive and encouraging. My books are loosely based on my experiences and the experiences of about 50 million other women! For more info

Thanks again Jessie! Time for tea and cake?

Jessie: I thoroughly enjoyed Jena’s book and it made me reflect on my future retirement as a golden goal to be enjoyed.   I’ve learned it’s never too early to plan my golden years.  Here is my review of The Golden Age of Charli : GPS

The Golden Age of Charli is a novel, memoir and self-help book. It cleverly guides the reader through the familiar frustrations encountered by retirees who have lost their way.  However, the dominant ideology of this book can be applied to anyone who is searching for a ‘raison d’être’.

Charli McAntic has reached her ‘sunset years’ and yearns for a new adventure as she stares at a photo of Audrey Hepburn in the hairdressers.  Alas, Charli and Pud drink to ‘joie de vivre’ but they seem to be on automatic drive mode.  It is only Charli who muses ‘why wasn’t I content?’

Page (before the health program) Me, Henry at high school graduation, Charles

Aug, their son, observes, ‘We need to boost your wild side, Mom’: his cute observation made me smile.  Although she is on the verge of an exciting era, Charli is uncertain about stepping off treadmill of life that has sustained her.  I yearned for Charli to navigate through her sunset years and ‘do something meaningful.’  Charli explains, ‘I don’t want to change my life; I just want to search for more meaning to add tapestry to my life.’ I understood she needed to weave a little je ne sais quoi into her life to achieve fulfilment.

Alas, Pud is content to play golf, and I was impressed Charli introduces her frustrations rather than shouting at him.  I wanted to chastise Pud who didn’t respond to his wife but organised to exercise with Connie.  Connie’s character is well drawn and added to the tension.

As the novel progresses winter draws in and the weather parallels changes in the narrative.   Language used to convey the seasons is poetic and symbolic.  ‘The winds roared harder and the wheels of the seasons changed to late autumn.’ Read the book to discover whether Pud and Charli find their ‘Technicolour moment’.   Will the storms and winds of Ohio shake up their life or will calm be restored?

Explore life through Charli’s perspective as she evaluates her life with warmth, honesty and vulnerability.

 

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

A copy of my novel can be found here. 

My Mini Break with Authors’ Characters

I found a gateway and I peered through it.

I ignored the daffodils and buds on the magnolia tree, in my garden, as I tried to write a scene set in the summer.  Imagining the symphony of colour and texture of a summer’s day cheered me up.  My writing froze when I saw the snow falling.  Desperately seeking summer, I opened digital photos taken in July.  A gateway appeared so I peered through it. Thrilled, I shared my experience on my Facebook page.  I wrote:

I am standing in this gateway, today, looking into the world of my characters. I am having a great time adding summer colours.  Only a few months before the summer returns to our gardens.  Where is your writing transporting you, today?

Victoria Connolly recognised the gateway and messaged me:

‘One of my favourite places – you can see this very gate in my FB pic here. I’m just launching the third in my Country House and Garden series today so I’m very much thinking about gardens!’

Thus commenced, my adventure with the authors’ characters.

Can you spot Sharon Booth’s characters?

It was great fun when authors told me exactly where their characters were in their novels.  I went to Charnley Acre with Deidre Palmer.  She was trying to get her characters to a destination, while my characters misbehaved and asked for more food.   Meanwhile, Sharon Booth confessed to neglecting her characters, and we were both fearful of what they were up to.  Sharon disappeared, but I think she may have popped over to see Carol Warham in Scarborough.

Interlopers in Angela Petch’s beach hut

Angela Petch’s ‘doughty ladies’ discovered ‘interlopers’ in the Sussex beach hut.  Sue Fortin’s characters were in Southdowns near, West Sussex.  I don’t know what they had been up to, but Sue said she ‘wasn’t sure they deserved such a view’.  I was delighted when Sue Fortin and Deidre Palmer’s characters waved at each other.  I did wonder if any of these characters were the interlopers in Angela’s beach hut.  Caz Greenham’s characters were in Brixham but there was no sign of Eric the Seagull.  She couldn’t tell me what her characters were up to, so I can only assume they had also been naughty.  I know all about characters behaving badly.

Sue Bentley’s world could not be presented in a photograph. She explained, ‘in my fantasy world of great plains and deep forests – think of parts of Yellowstone National Park coupled with an Amazon rain forest!’ Although I felt nervous of this new world, I knew Sue would guide me through it, and it was fascinating.

Ovington Square with Sebnem Sanders and a night out with Lynne Shelby

Following the adventures in Sue Bentley’s world, it was time to head for a night out, in London, with Lynne Shelby. I stopped over with Sebnem Sanders in Ovington Square, London, before her characters took her to Istanbul.  Finally, I ended on a cliff-hanger with Jane Lovering and Mandy James.  These authors have created dream seaside locations.

Cliff-hanger with Jane Lovering and Mandy James

Travelling to the various locations was akin to a mini break, at my computer.  However, I was a little worried about Rosemary Noble who told me she was ‘up a gum tree’, in Australia.  Thankfully, she is back in the UK and had been spotted in Grimsby.

Sue Fortin and Deidre Palmer’s characters were in Southdowns near, West Sussex

I had a whistle-stop tour of various authors’ destinations between the pages of my own novel. Thanks to all the authors, I had a lovely day and managed to finish my scene. Who says Facebook is a distraction?

 

 

 

 

 

Please see all my adventures at Handbag Adventures and my blog and website at JessieCahalin.com.

 

Creative Inspiration at Octavo’s Bookshop

A vast, grey building stood proud amongst other worn buildings.

Cardiff Bay discarded its gloss, as I walked through an alleyway to reach Octavo’s Bookshop and Bar. A vast, grey building stood proud amongst other worn buildings.  A large bar dominated the entrance to Octavo’s Bookshop and Bar. Confronted with: a coffee machine, rows of cakes, books and a selection of alcoholic beverages, I had found heaven. Seating was placed in every area of the shop thus combining reading and socialising.  I couldn’t decide whether to install myself in one of the lazy reading areas or sit at a table.

I had found heaven

A table near a shelf of gifts for writers beckoned me.  Having ordered my Americano, I read the lunchtime menu and selected A Tale of Tuna Cities: a tuna melt.  The blank page of my notebook glared at me. I attacked it with a confessional statement: ‘I need to start another story’.  Time to move on from debut novel.  ‘Where do I begin?’ I asked my notebook.

Pearl’s letter to Jim appeared on my notebook. I have sent my characters out into world, but they haunt me. Remnants cornices, the bar and size of the rooms prompted me to visualise Pearl in this place during the seventies.

Where do I begin?’ I asked my notebook.

Sat at a battered table, she removed her red gloves and started to tug at the beer mat.  Her sleeves soaked rested in a puddle of beer.  Though she waited to find out more details of the audition, she thought of Jim reading her letter.

A familiarity about the place transported me into Pearl’s world. I couldn’t get Pearl out of my head.  I had to find out more about the history of the place.  I felt certain the building must have been a pub at some time in the past; a sense of history nudged my imagination.

I searched for a seventies photo of Bute Street and it looked familiar. Indeed, the street looked exactly like the place Pearl visited in my book.

I discovered the building is the oldest surviving building in what was known as Tiger Bay. Tiger Bay was also the home of the wonderful legend – Shirley Bassey.  Originally, the location of Octavo’s Bookshop was the Bute Dock Hotel.   I searched for a seventies photo of Bute Street and it looked familiar.  Indeed, the street looked exactly like the place Pearl visited in my book.  I could hear Pearl’s footsteps echoing down the alleyway, as she searched for her B&B. I stumbled on the place I created for my book, and Pearl asked me to go back and tell her story in another novel.

Octavo’s Bookshop is a welcoming, calm bookish environment that invites the customer to linger, read and create

Before paying, I looked around the shop and spotted a poster telling me ‘We are on the same page’, perhaps this was another message from Pearl.  On leaving, I received a new bag and a gift, because I spent over five pounds. Octavo’s Bookshop is a welcoming, calm bookish environment that invites the customer to linger, read and create.  I had a wonderful time exploring the books on offer.  The staff are proud and enthusiastic about the bookshop.

Handbag clasped at my side, I strode with confidence from Octavo’s Bookshop and back to Cardiff Bay. My literary travels often take me down numerous side streets and alleyways that echo with past lives.  Two young men stubbed out their cigarettes before commencing a conversation. Darkness lingered in the alleyway and puddles.  Looking ahead, I refused to shiver.  A seventies mini pulled up, and I spotted Jim, Pearl’s husband.

Jessie’s novel ‘You Can’t Go It Alone’

‘On opening the car door, Jim called, ‘Pearl.’ A passing truck muffled his voice.  Heavy traffic prevented Jim from crossing the road for a little while.  Jim peered in each alleyway.  Then he heard the clip, clipping of heels on the pavement.  Distant echoes stopped.  Where had Pearl gone? He increased his pace.  Loud voices echoed.  As he got nearer, he recognised Pearl’s voice, but it was shrill and ugly and strangled with fear.’

 (Extract: You Can’t Go It Alone)

Maybe, Cardiff Creative Quarter inspired me.  Who knows?  The calm, bookish atmosphere certainly inspired me to retreat to my characters’ world.

Meet Pearl and Jim on Being Anne’s Blog

https://beinganne.com/2018/07/back-to-the-70s-you-cant-go-it-alone-by-jessie-cahalin-booksinhandbag-feature-giveaway/

More About my debut novel:  You Can’t Go It Alone

Love, music and secrets are woven together in this poignant, heart-warming narrative.

Set in a Welsh village, the story explores the contrast in attitudes and opportunities between different generations of women. As the characters confront their secrets and fears, they discover truths about themselves and their relationships.

The reader is invited to laugh and cry, with the characters, and find joy in the simple things in life. Listen to the music and enjoy the food, as you peek inside the world of the inhabitants of Delfryn.
Let Sophie show you that no one can go it alone.

Who knows, you may find some friends with big hearts…

Jessie Cahalin

About Jessie

Jessie is word warrior, bookish blogger and intrepid virtual explorer. She loves to entertain with stories, and is never seen without her camera, phone, notebook and handbag. Fellow authors have deemed her ‘creative and quirky’ and she wears these words like a blogging badge of honour.

Having overcome her fear of self-publishing, she is now living the dream of introducing the characters who have been hassling her for decades. Her debut novel, You Can’t Go It Alone, is a heart-warming tale about the challenges women still face in society. The novel has light-hearted moments and presents hope. As C. S. Lewis said, ‘We read to know we are not alone.’

Connecting with authors via her Books in my Handbag Blog is a blast. She showcases authors’ books in the popular Handbag Gallery and has fun meeting authors in her virtual world. Communicating with her authors still gives Jessie a creative buzz.

Jessie Cahalin hails from Yorkshire but lives in Wales with her husband. She loves to travel the world and collects cultural gems like a magpie. She searches for happy endings, where possible, and needs great coffee, food and music to give her inspiration.

 

Please see all my adventures at Handbag Adventures and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

Jo Lambert on Creating a Sense of Place

Inspiration for Lyndbrook Hall

I love to celebrate authors who have connected with me over the years. Jo Lambert lives east of Bath, and she has written an impressive seven books. Books are a destination for readers, and Jo creates a powerful sense of place in her romantic suspense novels.  I invited Jo to tell me about the inspiration for the sense of place in her writing.

A SENSE OF PLACE – Pure imagination, reality or a little of both – what’s best for you?

Inspiration for the Black Bull

As an author it’s not only about developing the plot and creating the characters, it’s also getting the setting right.  Whether you are writing a psychological thriller or contemporary romance set in the city or the suburbs – or maybe like me, using a rural/small town community – creating the perfect backdrop can occasionally throw up some problems. That is why personally I’ve always found it easier to base my fictional locations on actual places.

My first novel When Tomorrow Comes was set in rural West Somerset.  For this I used my own experiences of village life.  Of course it’s not just using familiar places, it can also include buildings such as houses, pubs and hotels. They can all be used to help the writing process.   In Summer Moved On and Watercolours in the Rain, set in South Devon village of Lynbrook, The Bull Inn is actually based on a local village pub I still visit.  Similarly Lynbrook Hall is a real place about five miles away from the pub. It was for sale while I was writing and the on line estate agent’s photographs were a bonus in helping create my fictitious manor house.

Set in Cornwall Shadows on the Water is a story of family ties, lost love and tangled loyalties

My current novels are set in Cornwall. For A Cornish Affair, I used a hotel I’d seen while staying in Richmond. It was totally right for the one central to the book which sat on a cliff overlooking a small coastal fishing village.  And for my latest novel, Shadows on the Water, I’ve taken parts of Fowey and Dartmouth and blended them into the estuary town of Kingswater.

Inspiration for Tarwin House Hotel

Another useful aid is Google Map. In one of my novels my character was in Verona, a place I had visited several years before.  During her stay she had gone on walkabout in the city. Apart from The Arena and Juliet’s Balcony I had a very hazy memory of our day trip there.  Luckily Google Map came to the rescue.   It enabled me to ‘walk’ in her footsteps and describe the things she was seeing, giving the whole scene a far more authentic feel.

In the end, of course, it depends very much on individual preference. Some writers are happy to use their imagination while others set their stories in real places.  And then there are those like me who ‘borrow’, taking reality and remoulding it to suit the story they are writing.  It’s all about what works best for you really.

I also enjoy the freedom to create a new village based on places I have encountered in my travels. The place wraps itself around my characters and listens to their hopes, dreams and sadness. Jo Lambert has recently released Shadows on the Water. Set in Cornwall Shadows on the Water is a story of family ties, lost love and tangled loyalties. I look forward to visiting Jo’s destination.

Jo Lambert is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Authors. She has been writing since 2008

More about Shadows on the Water

After the tragic death of her fiancé, Ava Warren is slowly rebuilding her life.  She has a supportive family, great friends and a job she loves, managing holiday letting company Estuary Escapes in her home town of Kingswater. Another relationship is the last thing she wants or needs. Until one evening she meets Alex Penhaligon.

Alex’s father Sam owns Heron’s Gate Vineyard and Alex has recently returned from California, where he has been working for the past five years.  A case of mistaken identity gets them off to a bad start. But discovering his error, Alex is anxious to make amends and soon persuades Ava that he’s not quite as arrogant as she thinks he is. As their friendship begins to turn into something much deeper, Ava wonders whether she can at last put the past behind her and make a new future with Alex.

But someone is watching.  A man who not only thinks Ava should be his but also holds a long term grudge against Alex.  And he’s determined to get his own way irrespective of the lengths he has to go to or who gets hurt in the process.

Social Media Links –
Website: http://jolambertbooks.com
Blog: http://jolambertwriter.blog
Twitter: @jolambertwriter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jolambert185
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jo-lambert-6 4644530
Instagram: jolambertwriter185

 

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.

Tea and Contemplation

Making the tea helps my thoughts to flow

The ritual of making tea always punctuates the flow of my day.  I meander to the kitchen between words.  Making the tea helps my thoughts to flood out.  Builder’s tea is my preference, but a friend challenged me to try something more refined. Thus, we went to Bath in search of tea and Jane Austen.

Bath Market has a wonderful array of teas.  The selections are stored in jars like a sweetshop, but woe betide you if you venture to pick up the jars.  The assistant will guide you through the tea sniffing journey.

Selections are stored in jars like a sweetshop

I noted the different textures of the tea leaves: some leaves are larger and crisp while others are smaller and smoother.  It was all rather overwhelming to learn selecting tea can be an art form.

I was forced to make my selection on the scent rather than the taste.  I pontificated for some time.  It had to be Lapsang Souchong, because I liked the sound of the words.  It is a black tea, and the aroma of the tea leaves is beautifully smoky.  The assistant said, ‘It is packed full of antioxidants and supports well-being.’ The tea sounded like a medicine delivered by a therapist.  Apparently, ‘ this tea strengthens the immune system, prevents cardiovascular diseases and fights inflammation.’ Moreover, the Lapsan Souchong can assist with a hangover. What more could one ask for?

Which tea would you choose?

My selection was carefully wrapped in a parcel, labelled and presented to me. I couldn’t wait to try the tea at home. Initially, the tea was smoky with a hint of disinfectant.  However, as the tea reached room temperature, the taste was pleasantly smoky and quite soothing.  As I drank the tea, I decided to write this blog post.

According to Lin Yutang, ‘There’s something in the nature of tea that leads us into a world of quiet contemplation of life.’ And this seemed to work for me after the taste of the disinfectant had subsided.

I did meet with Jane Austen on another trip to Bath. On this occasion, I heard whispers as I strolled past the Royal Bath Crescent. A woman’s voice confided:

‘But indeed, I would rather have nothing but tea.’
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

I prefer builder’s tea

Perhaps, the esteemed Miss Austen visited one of the grand houses to take tea with the lady of the house.  However, I suspect tea making was also a glorious, thought-provoking ritual for Jane Austen.

Let me know what you think of speciality teas. Do you prefer a robust builder’s tea or a speciality tea? Is coffee the only fuel for your words?

 

Please see all my adventures at Handbag Adventures and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

 

Complex World of Sue Bentley’s YA Fiction

Meet Sue Bentley

Creative author of young adult fiction and builder of new worlds, Sue Bentley, is featuring on my blog today.  Her novel Second Skin is a fascinating exploration of world inspired by Native Americans.  Sue explores what happens when two races collide.  Jessie:  What inspired you to write Second Skin?

Sue: I found 500 Nations and Empire of the Summer Moon totally fascinating. The books made me think about the dynamics that happen when races collide; how complex the whole thing is and how tragedy so often follows. The visuals in the 500 nations were compelling and inspired me to wonder about the people I saw on those pages. It’s always been stories about individual people in impossible circumstances that intrigue, move me and get me thinking. So the genesis of Second Skin sparked when I read Empire of the Summer Moon, and met Quanah Parker, last great chief of the Comanche and mixed-blood son of the famous and tragic pioneer woman Cynthia Anne Parker.

I found 500 Nations and Empire of the Summer Moon totally fascinating

Jessie:  Tell us what happens in Second Skin

Sue: Second Skin is a stand-alone novel, currently number one in a new series entitled Bridge-of-Fire. The main character, Aledra, in one of a race of shapeshifters called The Drakkoni. While outwardly human in form, some of the Drakkoni harbour a secret. Like others of her race Aledra has a soul-double hidden deep inside her, and can switch between two-personas or skins, hence the title, Second Skin. The Drakkoni are the fierce and proud conquerors of a beautiful wild continent named Esra, and are hated by the oppressed indigenous people.

Jessie:  What do we need to understand about your main character?

Sue: There is a mystery surrounding Aledra’s birth which makes her different amongst her own kind. Young Lady Aledra Jewel-Wing, to give her full title, has been brought up on a remote farmstead and allowed to run wild. She’s a little selfish and has all the prejudice of her people for the conquered subjects over which they rule. As she experiences more of life she learns some hard lessons. At the beginning of the book, Aledra is making her first journey to the famed citadel of her people, where it’s planned she’ll live at court, with its pretty jealousies, suffocating rules and restrictions. But things go badly wrong and she’s left with no choice but to become a fugitive and run for her life.

One of my own mono prints, in which I saw two flaming moons. These also added a detail to my world building. Two moons rise above the continent of Esra, in Second Skin.

Jessie:  Your settings are always so vivid.  How did you construct the setting of your fantasy world of Esra?

Sue: When building the world for this book I wanted it to seem very different, but also familiar, a place we can all relate to. The landscape of Esra is vast and still largely untouched by farming or mechanisation, many people are nomadic.  The native people are made up of different tribes, each with spiritual and cultural links to three powerful main nations; a structure similar to that of Native Americans. In the narrative we experience Esra from the viewpoint of one young man from a single tribe. Jubal Craw, a young warrior of the Yupek tribe, is in hiding at the start of the book, having just witnessed the bloody slaughter of many of his people by a rogue Drakkoni warrior.

Jessie: How did you convey the conflict between two cultures?

Sue: There’s obvious conflict between the main characters, Aledra and Jubal, with their different experiences of growing up, their beliefs and unique world views. Their love, hates, motivations and prejudices mirror the larger conflict of their respective races and of people fighting for the same land. Exciting things happen at the interface between two colliding cultures, which is one of the things that inspired me to write Second Skin. There’s great potential for drama, love, and violence in misunderstandings!

Jessie: Is there any romance in the novel?

Sue: There is a strong thread of romance running through Second Skin, but maybe not in a conventional form. There are many ways of expressing love apart from the obvious fluffy-pink-hearts variety. I felt very emotional when I wrote some of the key scenes and I hope this comes through in the writing. My characters have some tough times with many obstacles to overcome, and some gritty and bloody moments. But there’s loyalty, tenderness, self-less action and moments of humour too, all of which I enjoy in the books I read.

Jessie:  Your novel sounds complex.  Who was your audience when writing Second Skin?

Sue: People sometimes ask if I have a particular type of reader in mind when I’m writing. I don’t, I write for myself. If I write the sort of things I enjoy reading, hopefully others will enjoy them too. My tastes in reading change with the seasons and with my mood, which is probably why I like to vary themes and settings. I read some contemporary novels, but my main passion has always been for historical novels, particularly set in Victorian times. If people enjoy one of my books, I hope they’ll simply think of it as a ‘Sue Bentley’ and want to read another title. Some other authors who write across the genres and successfully produce different novels all the time are Joanne Harris, Ken Follett and Tracy Chevalier, I enjoy their books enormously.

Jessie:  You are very creative and your story sounds unique.  What inspires your stories?

Sue: One thing continues to inspire me. Books, books, books. They have been there through good and bad times and even been my salvation when the writing well occasionally runs dry. I became hooked on reading at an early age and enjoyed becoming lost in the imaginary worlds of books. In some ways they seemed ‘safer’ than people – and a lot more interesting. The real world has always seemed a scary and complex place, making sense of it can feel overwhelming at times. It’s a mad and wonderful world and it’s easy to feel out of control. In my books I’m in charge – until I finish a novel and let it out to fly free into the world. Or to soar on high like a Drakkoni having shifted into their soul-double and spread their wings.

Jessie: Is Second Skin similar to We Other?

Sue: I began writing Second Skin while waiting for my previous novel, We Other, to be published. We Other is a modern reworking of a fairy tale, quite gothic and very dark in places. Second Skin is similar in that it contains magical beings – oh and is also really quite dark in places! I’ve been told by some readers that they’ve never read anything like it. Time will tell…

Second Skin is available worldwide in Ebook and paperback.

We Other now has a gorgeous new Anniversary book cover. It’s also available worldwide through Amazon.

Jessie:  Before you go, I have to ask you about the programme made about you by ITV.

Matthew Hudson – presenter/editor and Gary Mabee – cameraman/director.

Sue:  It’ll be shown during the 6pm ITV Anglia news programme. In essence it’s a ‘local girl made good’ story. I told them I was the most successful author you’ve never heard of! They loved my bookshelf containing copies of my books – translated into over 20 languages. We sat in my office for a cosy chat about how I began writing, and if I’d ever dreamed I’d write so many books and bring so much enjoyment to young readers in particular. (I hadn’t!) The best sort of interview is with a good presenter and a cameraman who know what they’re doing. These two were brilliant. All I had to do was get over my nerves and talk about myself – my favourite subject!

 

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

A copy of my novel is available here.

Wasting Words on the Dock of the Bay

This coffee shop, in Cardiff Bay, is one of my favourite writing places.

This coffee shop, in Cardiff Bay, is one of my favourite writing places.  I like to abandon my laptop for a notebook and pen.  There is something reassuring about forming every single letter with my biro. With the onset of autumn, I remembered a blog post I forgot to publish last October, because I had been absorbed in the agony of the editing process.  I wrote this post when editing You Can’t Go It Alone.

My imagination roams free in this setting.

Once my coffee cup is empty, I let the pen wander across the page.  Hoping to catch some dialogue from the unsuspecting customers, I listen with my best writer’s ear.  I am happy here in this café suspended above the water.  Alas, the sound of my beeping phone collides head on with my imagination.  I stop writing and must look at the email from an insurance company.  I wonder if writers had less distractions prior to the digital age, so I google ‘writing quotations’. 

Virginia Woolf pops up on my phone, but she doesn’t look happy and she says:

Sitting on the dock in the Bay wasting words

‘Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.’

Obviously, Virginia never had to cope with the disruptive influence of a mobile phone. I decide my imagination has been temporarily locked by my phone: it is a twenty first century condition called ‘beepitis’.  Fortunately, I do not need to re-boot my imagination as it starts up again. I am trying to re-work a menacing scene in my book. Hoping to get inspiration, I look at the murky water from the window.  Despite the distracting background noise, I make a list of adjectives. The shopping list of words stares at me, defying me to write something coherent. It is useless! 

I decide to drive home via Cardiff Docks to gather some words for a scene in my novel. It is a sinister setting.

I decide to drive home via Cardiff Docks to gather some words.  I drive off absorbing the atmosphere of the autumn’s day and watch the leaves dance across the road.  Almost forgetting to stop at the red light, I look out for the sign to the docks, but realise I am driving over a new road.  I hate the massive construction with barriers at each side.  Finally, I drive through the docks and stop to pull over to make some notes for finishing touches to a scene.  I am considered with suspicion. I ignore the onlookers and write until my car beeps me to tell me there is something wrong with a filter.

Clearly, I need ‘a room of my own’ to write.

Time to go home to my laptop: time to find ‘a room of one’s own’, time to sculpt my manuscript and stop wasting time and listing words. The truth is the book is almost done but I don’t want to let the characters live their lives without me.

My book costs less than the price of a coffee and will last longer.

You Can’t Go It Alone has been available since May.  I have been delighted with the reviews. Reviewers have enjoyed visiting Delfryn and getting to know the inhabitants.  The agony of the editing process was worth it, as it helped readers to connect. In celebration of my thirteenth review, I am reducing the cost of the kindle format next week.  Of course, I would be delighted to receive more reviews.  My book is less than half the price of a coffee and will last longer.  Indeed, one reviewer wrote:

‘An intricate, thoughtful story of real people whose life will continue long after the author has typed the end’ Perdisma, Amazon reviewer

Here is a snapshot of my most recent reviews:

Reviewers have enjoyed visiting Delfryn and getting to know the inhabitants.

‘It’s a roller-coaster of a novel in which the beautiful Welsh countryside and weather take a leading role. I was gripped by these characters, and by Cahalin’s fascinating touches.’ Professor Maggie Humm

‘The author has a real feeling for character and place… Her ideas around plot and how a story unfolds are original, and well executed, with a good balance of lightness and shade.’ Welsh Annie, top 500 Amazon Reviewer

You Can’t Go It Alone is available on Amazon.

 ‘The author is not afraid to face life’s most challenging problems head on. What appeals about the novel is that she does not ‘go on crusade’ but underpins these problems with a deep, rich humanity …’ John Broughton, author

‘Complex and vivid tapestry of a story’ Jena. C. Henry, USA author, blogger and reviewer

‘As a debut novel, You Can’t Go It Alone is an accomplished read. Eloquent, moving and packed with vivid imagery…’ Audrey Davis

Please see all my adventures at Handbag Adventures and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

Hay Festival’s Tent of Dreams and Beyond

We traversed the huge reception area to explore the warren of walkways, all undercover.

The Hay Festival tent welcomed us in all its fabulous, festive glamour.  Camping could be an option for holidays, if tents were presented like this bookish village.  We traversed the huge reception area to explore the warren of walkways, all undercover. Uninhibited by an event schedule, I took in: the shops, food hall, cafes, bars, live music and restaurants.

An overwhelming sense of calm dominated the entire experience so far removed from loud music and food festivals. Bookworms snuggled in every nook and cranny digging into their latest treasure.  If people looked up, they smiled at fellow readers.

One bookworm carried a bag with the logo: ‘imagine the world’.

I wonder how many book destinations were spinning around in the atmosphere as people relaxed into their imaginations? As bookworms travelled around the tent, there was no pushing and shoving or frayed tempers.  Everyone queued with grace while using the time to read.  One bookworm carried a bag with the logo: ‘imagine the world’.  Instantly, I inquired where to purchase the bag, she explained a route through the warren to the Hay Bookshop.

On route to the Hay Bookshop, I spotted glorious illustrated menus of bookish events.

On route to the Hay Bookshop, I spotted glorious illustrated menus of bookish events

I long to attend Benjamin Zephaniah’s poetry reading but knew I couldn’t stay until 10pm. His ‘Dance hall style, big mouth chanting’ hooked me when I listened to his performance at university.  Instead, I searched for a book of Benjamin’s poems in the bookshop.  Distracted by the authors signing books, I took photos of the marvellous queues waiting.  How wonderful to meet the readers personally and realise your writing has connected.  For me, the queues of readers inspired a little envy. ‘One day’, I whispered to myself before making a purchase.

‘You Can’t Go It Alone’ sat in a deckchair, sheltered by my umbrella, and soaked up the atmosphere.

Welsh rain poured mischievously in the open areas but no one worried. Readers sat with the umbrellas sheltering their books as they sipped coffee and wine.  Deckchairs waited patiently for the sun to arrive.  My book attended the festival and demanded a look around.  ‘You Can’t Go It Alone’ sat in a deckchair, sheltered by my umbrella, and soaked up the atmosphere.  A delightful woman, from California, came over to meet my book.  She also had a selfie with my book and said she would look up Books in my Handbag Blog.  I do hope she reads this post, as the impromptu meeting was a highlight of my day – she was so kind and enthusiastic.  I wanted to tell her more about Sophie, Rosa, Olivia and Pearl but stumbled on my words.

A delightful woman, from California, came over to meet my book.

Following the visit to the bookworms’ tent, we strolled into the village of Hay.  On the road to the village front gardens were teeming with flowers, coffee, cakes, books, journals, bric-a-brac, home-made jams and clothes.  We bought freshly baked Welsh cakes from an improvised stall on a gate post. The Poetry and Prosecco experience captured my curiosity.

A Prosecco shack was under construction, as I looked at a stall with poetry and handprinted cards and messages. Francesca Kay, a performance poet, presented her poems in hand designed seed packets.

Francesca Kay

She wants her poems to present a seed of an idea and had no intention of presenting the poems in a book.  Poems are presented on cards, in matchboxes and anything that inspires her.  Francesca’s first printing press lived in her kitchen and now she has an entire studio. For Francesca, the printing ink is a language, and she waxed lyrical how the ink makes different impressions on various surfaces and in various conditions.  Indeed, she explained ‘making an impression’ originated from the printing process.  Her stall of tactile tweets was so much to take in, I couldn’t decide what to buy.  The creative challenge to the conventional printed book forced me to reflect on my determination to see my book in print.

Her stall of tactile tweets was so much to take in, I couldn’t decide what to buy.

Perhaps, I need explore the spoken word.  Maybe, I could commission Francesca to print some quotations from the book.  Who knows?

I will return to Francesca’s website, and I will return to the Hay Festival.  The whole experience made an impression on my creative appetite. People encountered made the adventure unique.  I may not have met with Benjamin Zephaniah, but I did meet a performance poet who was printing her work using her own language.

How wonderful to meet the readers personally and realise your writing has connected. Cressida Cowell greets her readers.

While writing this blog post I received reply to a tweet from one of the festival marshals.  Ironically, he met with Benjamin Zephaniah and said, ‘He brought poetry to life for me as a young teen, some time ago, it was so great to meet him. And he was so friendly and lovely too!’ I am satisfied to have received this insight, as it reinforced my impression of the poet.

 

I took in: the shops, food hall, cafes, bars, live music and restaurants

I wonder what impression I would gain of the festival if I spent a couple of days there and experienced the atmosphere in the evening. I would like to attend some of the formal events, in the future, but have realised the festival is so much more than a bookish wonderland I expected to find.  The Hay Festival is a festival of creative minds and the logo ‘imagine the world’ has captured the magic.

 

 

Please see all my adventures at Handbag Adventures and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

 

What the Dickens?

Holiday adventures…

Broadstairs was the fifth seaside town we had visited on a glorious, Arctic summer’s day. Nostalgia fatigue was attacking my senses beside the seaside, and I didn’t have any ‘Great Expectations’.

A sickly scent of palm oil signalled the end of lunchtime.  Ignoring the proud white villas, I noticed the litter on the beach.  I snubbed another ‘Old Curiosity Shop’ presenting the British souvenirs from China.  Branded eateries and coffee houses were shoehorned into the old buildings, and the walls seemed to be bulging with despair.

I couldn’t find any inspiration.  The stark, white house in front of me was as blank as my mind.  A tourist, wearing shorts and flipflops, pushed past me.  An optimistic tourist was buying a sunhat. My husband was pointing to another plaque above a door. I considered retrieving my thermal gear from the car.

The plaque was attached to the indistinct Royal Albion Hotel.  The sooty coloured plaque indicated that Dickens had lived there and written part of ‘Nicholas Nickleby’ during his time there.  Now, I marvelled at the view that would have inspired him.  The Royal Albion Hotel had sheltered ‘Our Mutual Friend’. Turning to my phone, I googled information about Dickens in Broadstairs. My twenty first century phone found a gateway into the mind of the nineteenth century Dickens who spoke to me of:

‘prowling about the rooms, sitting down, getting up, stirring the fire, looking out of the window, teasing my hair, sitting to write, writing nothing, writing something and tearing it up.’

Dickens teased those ‘Hard Times’ faced by authors into the long sentence, each thought slamming into another comma, then another comma and another.  What the Dickens?  If the master suffered writer’s block then it must be fine.

On returning home, I ‘lit the fire’,’ teased my hair’ and began to write. The ink bottle remained unopened as I tapped on the keyboard. I pressed delete, delete, delete and rejoiced that there will be some ‘Hard Times’ before the story flows.  Indeed, Dickens knew that:

Hungry for more inspiration from Dickens. I searched for the places he had stayed in I found out that Dickens had also stayed in Folkestone.  Dickens stayed at Albion Villas, Folkestone and wrote part of ‘Little Dorrit’ in the house. He also used to frequent The British Lion.

What the Dickens? We used to live on The Leas, in Folkestone, and I had never known about the connection.  My travels revealed that:

‘Happiness is a gift and the trick is not to expect it, but to delight when it comes.’

 

Please see all my travels at Handbag Adventures and my blog at jessiecahalin.com.

A Day in Provence with Carol Drinkwater

Carol at home, at the olive farm, in the garden

Having parked the car, in Tourrettes sur Loup, I grabbed my multi-coloured handbag and huge sunglasses.  Carol Drinkwater had spotted the frantic tourist trying to manoeuvre the oversized BMW, and waved at me from the other side of the road. She was dressed in jeans and a T shirt. Her handbag was a chic bright mauve sporting a Giorgio Armani label.

Tourrettes sur Loup

Strolling along the cobbled streets, I admired how the weather and time had sculptured each building in the medieval village, perched on the hilltop.  We realised the streets would have looked identical post World War Two; one of the eras presented in The Lost Girl.  Our conversation moved to Carol’s novel, The Lost Girl.

Jessie:  I am looking forward to reading The Lost Girl, but I am saving it for the winter months, back in Wales. Can you capture the essence of the novel in a few sentences? 

Set in a changing Paris by Julien Klenz

Carol: The Lost Girl is a heart-rending story of loss and enduring love. November 2015: Kurtiz, an English woman in her forties, is searching for her missing teenage daughter who she believes is living in Paris. In a café on the right bank Kurtiz falls into conversation with an eighty-year-old actress, Marguerite, who, when the terrorist attacks of that weekend begin, takes Kurtiz under her wing and together, through shared stories of their past, they find what they are both looking for.

Jessie:  I can’t wait to immerse myself in the narrative. Can you tempt me with a few sentences?

We stopped outside of a terracotta house where every stone seemed to have been artfully placed. Carol retrieved the novel from her designer bag.

Carol:  This tiny section is set very close to where we are now, just outside Grasse. It is the young Marguerite with a young man at her side, an ex-British soldier. He is about to buy the plot of land where they were lazing in the grass, and about to ask her to marry him.

‘… The afternoon was silent save for the humming insects. She heard a cart’s wheels turning in the distance, the bray of a donkey, but there was no one in sight, just the two of them and the perfumes emanating from the hills around them.  …’

As Carol read aloud, she attracted an appreciative audience.  The audience applauded, and we decided to seek sanctuary in a café.  Carol bowed her head graciously then smiled at the group of people.

Jessie:  You paint the scene beautifully with your words.  Tell me, how do find inspiration for the language choices?  Does it take you a long time to shape the choices?

Carol: I work through the text of my books over and over. I need to feel the language and sometimes after having made a ‘clever’ choice I go back to a simpler edition. As I grow older and have been at my desk for more and more years, I find the direct approach is better. Clean simple text usually paints the best pictures.

We found a bistro in the main square. An elderly, French lady, resplendent in her finery, was about to leave and presented her table to us.  Her theatrical manner was reminiscent of Marguerite Courtney, in the Lost Girl: such a contrast to the elegant, kind and unassuming Carol Drinkwater. I ordered a mineral water and Carol ordered a citron pressé.

The Lost Girl by Carol Drinkwater

Jessie:  The spontaneous positive response of your appreciative audience, earlier, speaks tomes about the quality of your work.  How has your book been received by the reviewers?

 Placing her glass on the table, Carol then searched on her phone for a link to The Lost Girl, on Amazon.

Carol:  OK.  Here are some reviews:

‘wonderful story, beautifully told, and with a great ending!!!’  -Reader review on Amazon

‘Mesmerising, haunting and extraordinarily relevant.  The Lost Girl is one of Lovereading’s novels of the year.’- Lovereading

‘A brilliantly told story set against that dreadful night. The characters are superbly written . . . I couldn’t put it down.’ – NetGalley Reviewer

Jessie:  As the reviewers indicate, the characters in your novels are always so real and engaging – it is obvious that you become attached to them. How did you feel when you had finished writing your book, and did you miss any of the characters?

Carol: I missed both of the two principal female characters. I felt as though they had both become my close friends and I longed to spend more time with them. I still talk to them, one of them in particular.

Jessie:  I’m intrigued and wonder if that means another book.

Carol:  I am writing a new novel now. Also set in France and also moving between two time frames.

Carol Drinkwater The Lost Girl

Jessie:  I am delighted to hear about a new project.  Let’s get back to The Lost Girl. Who would you like to read The Lost Girl and why? 

Pausing for thought, Carol laughed aloud before speaking.

Carol: The brilliant lovely producer who sees The Lost Girl as a film and makes it happen.

Jessie: You write scenically and draw the audience into the tension. And in The Lost Girl, you have captured a bleak event, through your imagination forever – it is a story that must be told. 

Carol: Yes, I agree, it is a story that needs to be told though I also appreciate that for some the events are too new. Having witnessed the real thing, I needed to recount those events giving them flesh and blood…

Carol Drinkwater

Jessie: The Lost Girl is safely stored in my handbag. Why should I keep your book in my handbag?

Carol: Because it is a story with a miracle at its heart and, from time to time, we all need one of those. Through the bleakest of days, though we may not be aware of it, hope and redemption are always present. The light always returns. The sun always rises.

Jessie:  Beautiful, inspirational message.  You are so blessed with your ability to craft words: your books will be a legacy to generations of readers. What is the last sentence written in your writer’s notebook?

Carol: It has nothing to do with The Lost Girl. It is for the novel I am writing now. Here goes:

‘N B and R B were lovers for fifty years.’

 Jessie:  You have intrigued me yet again.  There are so many delicious possibilities in this sentence.  You have told many stories, work so hard and have success that many aspiring writers can dream of. What is the biggest challenge for an author?

Carol: To keep going, to write every day, to keep the faith during the slow and arid patches, to believe in oneself. (I wish I could follow my own advice sometimes!)

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

Carol: Turn up at your desk every morning. No one else is going to write your book for you.

Jessie:  It must also be a challenge to combine your writing with the work on your olive farm.  Having devoured your wonderful memoirs from the Olive Farm series, I am curious if your olive crops have survived the terrible drought.

Carol: Olives are not too susceptible to drought because it is a drought resistant tree. Our biggest challenge is to remain organic, and so far we are winning that battle.

Jessie:  Your memoirs indicate you have survived tough times.  What have your learnt along the way?

Carol: I have found that life can be heart-breaking. I have known emotional rejection and loneliness. Through the journey of so many ups and downs, I have come to realise that kindness and laughter are two of the richest gifts I can share and enjoy.

Carol Drinkwater is one of my all time favourite authors, and I suggest you check out her work – you won’t be disappointed.  I am currently reading The Lost Girl and will blog my review in the future. My reviews of some of Carol’s other novels can be found at:  Books in Handbag

Carol shares her thoughts and dreams

About Carol Drinkwater:

Carol is an award-winning actress and Sunday Times bestselling writer. She was probably most famous for her role of Helen Herriot in the fantastically popular TV series, All Creatures Great and Small. She lives on an olive farm in the south of France with her husband, Michel, and several dogs.

 

Carol’s Contact Details:

olivefarmbooks@gmail.com
agent: Jonathan Lloyd at Curtis Brown
website: www.caroldrinkwater.com
Twitter:  @Carol4OliveFarm 

 

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

 

Windmills of my Mind in Devon

For me, the thrill of chasing ideas is the most exciting element of the writing process.

Words can take us to any place and any time. I was delighted to discover words I wrote in my notebook during a summer holiday in Devon.  My thoughts were scattered on the page, so I picked them up, revisited my photo album and returned to a time when I suffered a creative drought.

Words let us travel to any place, any time and any season.

The heat stifled ideas and frazzled my creativity. I complained the holiday cottage was too dark for me to write.  After a few days, I worried my ideas had taken leave.  I blamed the environment because small windows trapped the darkness in the room, and I seemed to have reached a dead end with the story.

I found the ideal house for an author.

Entering A la Ronde, created by Jane and Mary Parminter, confirmed that the correct environment is essential.  My creativity opened again as soon as I wandered around the eighteenth century house.  I found the ideal house for an author.  Imagine a sixteen-sided house that allows you to follow the light around the house. Perfect!

In this house, I would be able to chase my ideas around and around in circles until I found the correct room to write.  Ideas travel around like the wheels of a windmill until I get them on paper and stop them circling.  Sometimes, I release ideas too early and they must be abandoned.  For me, the thrill of chasing ideas is the most exciting element of the writing process.

At Greenway House, Agatha Christie’s holiday home, I found out that she also enjoyed chasing ideas for her stories.

At Greenway House, Agatha Christie’s holiday home, I found out that she also enjoyed chasing ideas for her stories.  She spent time listening to conversations in hotels, researching and plotting.  She delighted in the process of developing her narratives but didn’t look forward to ‘sitting down and writing the darn thing’. Exploration of the garden of Greenway House did give my ideas more room to develop.  Sitting in Agatha Christie’s room, I met the anti-hero in my novel.

Since confessing my frustrations to my notebook, I have completed my second novel, Loving You (working title). I am using feedback from the RNA New Writers’ Scheme to control the ideas I chased across the page during a heatwave in Devon.  My RNA reader is currently sitting on my shoulder, shaking her head occasionally and pushing me to challenge my characters.

I have learned to move around the house in search of inspiration because working in one room inhibited my ideas. Moreover, I just need to get on and ‘write the darn thing’ and accept there will be times of frustration and many, many drafts of the novel.

 

Please see all my Handbag Adventures and 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.

 

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

A copy of my novel is available here.

All Aboard the Runaway Creative Train: The Year of the Handbag

In March, I discovered my husband had published my manuscript on Amazon. Clutching the lilac handbag, I went into a bit of a panic.  The delete button on my laptop did not remove the book from Amazon. There was no chocolate in the house, so I ignored him by reading a book.   Little did I know, he’d presented me with a ticket to begin a creative writing journey via social media.

While waiting to board the creative train, I watched YouTube footage about how to engage in social media. I wish I had known about Neetsmarketing rather than shouting at the lovely people who were trying to explain.  Fortunately,  there was light at the end of the tunnel, Sue Moorcroft was the first person to accept my friend request on Twitter.    Her response to my book review and ideas to promote ‘Just for the Holidays’ lit the creative spark, and she helped me to understand Twitter. The sound of the whistle jolted the pistons in my imagination.

Once I had boarded the creative train, some wonderful people waved me off. The first review request came from Angela Petch.   Her reaction to my review of ‘Now and Then in Tuscany’ fuelled the creative enthusiasm and the train started to increase pace.  She also agreed to join me in a whacky race to meet up with Sue Moorcroft’s character, in France.  Angela introduced me to Patricia Feinberg Stoner and Rosemary Noble.  Rosemary ‘Ranter’s Wharf’ made me rant on behalf of my ancestors. Patricia’s book is funniest book I have ever read about becoming an accidental expat, in France. It was a great day when Patricia sent me her ‘Rude Book of Limericks’, and I realised she had quoted me on her front cover.

I crashed into the inspirational Diane Need, in the Midlands, when my creative ideas were heading in all directions.  Diane’s heart-warming, fun novel was a great read on the journey.  Jan Ellis asked me to review one of her books and sent me a book parcel, and this was the ticket to my new collection of books. Jan is currently writing a blog post about the contents of her handbag, and I know it will be amusing.

On my creative journey abroad, I stopped off to meet Patricia Furstenberg. She took me on a magical journey back to my childhood through her children’s books.  She is also my Twitter guru and is Queen of the Hashtags.  At her stop, Patricia introduced me to Jennifer from ‘Jennieration’.  Jen is a ‘fearless thinker’ who delights in language, culture and creativity. Jen’s daughter, Ella, is the youngest author in my Handbag Gallery, and she wrote a wonderfully creative guest post.

While speeding along the tracks of creativity, I met Carol Cooper.  And I was thrilled when she came up with the idea of interviewing the interviewer.  She looked inside my handbag and made me reflect on my journey. Angela Petch also asked me questions about the editing journey.  At this point, I reached a bit of a crossroads, I had neglected my writing.  The blogging train had been gaining speed and getting out of control.  I decided to get off at the next stop and visit my book again.

Locked in my study, in ‘Editingland’, I couldn’t resist interacting with Wendy Clarke.  I stopped over at ‘Silent Night’ to present an extract, and found Wendy incredibly supportive.  She featured me in her blog, and wrote a generous blog post about how to use software to market a book.  What a wonderful stopover!  I would never have found out about this if I had not boarded the creative train via social media.

Finally, I realised the creative train isn’t out of control.  Sometimes, one shouldn’t worry too much about the final destination, but one does need to interact with others on the journey.  ‘You Can’t Go It Alone’ so I recently asked Angela for support. Angela will talk to me about my editing next year.  My interactions with Adrienne Vaughan and Jan Brigden also gave me a lovely boost on my journey.  Caz Greenham, the children’s author, has convinced me that Eric Seagull exists. I now live inside the creative world with authors. It was lots of laughs with the hilarious Lisa Mary London.  However, it was frightening inside the Dutch woods and the world of Imogen Matthews’s characters.  She is mailing a guest post to Books in Handbag about how she stumbled on a forgotten World War Two.  I will be travelling back in time to the seventeenth century with Anna Belfrage.

Having established my seat on the creative journey, my role as blogger has gained pace in 2017. Thanks to the response of the writing and reading community, I have had a wonderful year. My role as an ‘accidental’ blogger and supporter of writers has pushed me towards an exciting, unknown destination. Each day, I open photos of handbags and develop more interactions with wonderful authors.  Next year, I will launch an initiative for readers with Anne Williams. I hope that many others will hop aboard the new initiative to celebrate reading.

While writing about my journey, Judith Barrow has just tweeted that she has ‘enjoyed being part of the journey’.  The people I have met on my journey have made the whole adventure worthwhile, as I get to peer through the window at their writing world.  Sue Bentley’s friendly comments always make me smile as I head towards my unknown destination.

A big thank you to everyone for supporting my blog – your enthusiasm has fuelled my creativity and put me on track. Have a wonderful Christmas! Best wishes for 2018! Hope you will join me for more adventures in 2018. 

For me, this has been the creative year of the handbag and new friendships!  How can you sum up your year?  The Year of …

 

Please see all my adventures at Handbag Adventures and my blog at jessiecahalin.com.

Alison May: Romance Fiction Rocks

I want the RNA to continue to be brilliant in all the ways it already is – supportive to new writers, friendly, welcoming and a real voice for professional commercial authors.

As a Leeds lass, I had to discover more about the dynamic Yorkshire woman who is Chair of the Romantic Novelists’ Association.  I invited Alison May to chat about the RNA and her writing. 

Jessie:  It is wonderful to finally meet you.  Tell me, who is Alison May, the writer?

Alison:  I’m a total control freak (which is helpful for writing novels – you basically get to invent a whole world and be god of it). If it was socially acceptable, I would live on toast and chocolate the whole time. And I have an uncontrollable tendency to take on one thing more than I have time to do – at the moment that one thing is ‘being Chair of the RNA’ so quite a big time-consuming thing!                             

Jessie: Chair of the RNA is a prestigious role and such an honour. What does your role as Chair of the RNA involve?

Alison: Essentially everything that goes wrong is my fault, and everything that goes well is down to the brilliant and inspirational management committee and volunteer team I have around me. On a practical level being Chair involves, hosting RNA events, chairing management committee meetings, representing the RNA at industry events and meetings, and, responding to whatever crises come up unexpectedly. And the start of 2020 has brought more crisis that any of us was expecting, so at the moment I’m mostly working on ways that we can respond to the Covid-19 outbreak and lockdown and support our members virtually.

And I also write collaboratively with Janet Gover under the penname, Juliet Bell. Juliet writes stories inspired by misunderstood classics…

Jessie:  What is your vision for the RNA?

Alison:  I want the RNA to continue to be brilliant in all the ways it already is – supportive to new writers, friendly, welcoming and a real voice for professional commercial authors. I want to see us develop the education and professional development opportunities we provide for our members. I want the RNA to be a critical friend to the publishing industry – it’s great for us to build close ties with romantic fiction publishers, but it’s also vital that we remember that we’re an author focussed organisation and authors’ interests and publishers’ interests overlap but aren’t always precisely the same.

I’d also like to see us become more inclusive. At the moment, like much of the publishing industry, we can be a bit white and straight and middle class. It’s really important to me that writers who have been under-represented in publishing know they have a place within the RNA.

Mostly though I want authors of romantic fiction to be proud of their genre and of what we create. There can be snobbery around commercial fiction, especially around commercial fiction that is often written and read by women. I am simply not at home to those sorts of attitudes. Romantic fiction rocks.

All That Was Lost is my most recent title writing solo as Alison May though.

Jessie: What are the essential ingredients of a great romance?

Alison: People who want to be together and a really good reason they can’t be.

Jessie: Why did you join the Romance Novelists’ Association and what has it offered you?

Alison: I joined the RNA in 2011 as a member of the New Writers’ Scheme. The NWS gives unpublished authors a critique on their novel in progress, but also means that you can attend RNA events as a member. In that first year I went to conference and the Winter Party and joined my local chapter. The conference was a two day whirlwind knowledge dump of a huge amount of stuff about how publishing works that would have taken years to learn without the RNA. Since then the RNA has become my village. Writing is incredibly solitary. A support network of people who get the emotional ups and downs of writing and publishing is essential. And I think the RNA provides the very best support network there is.

Jessie:  It’s obvious you are a perfect ambassador for the RNA.  I love the fact that it has become your village as I feel the same way.  I am impressed you have written six books.

Alison: I’ve actually written 8 (I think!) – some of them were novellas though so are published separately and together which makes counting tricky! And I also write collaboratively with Janet Gover under the penname, Juliet Bell. Juliet writes stories inspired by misunderstood classics – most recently, The Other Wife, which was inspired by Jane Eyre. All That Was Lost is my most recent title writing solo as Alison May though.

Jessie:  Capture All That Was Lost in one sentence.

Alison: One lie – told for a lifetime. What would that do to the girl you used to be?

Jessie: Can you tempt me with an extract from the book?

Alison: She’s stylish, but never threatening. She could be other mother of the bride at an elegant country wedding … but she’s not. She’s Patrice Leigh, the woman who’s built a fifty year career on the claim that she can talk to the dead.

Jessie:  Wow!  The final sentence evokes mystery.  What did the readers say about the novel?

Alison:  I am delighted with the responses.  Readers really connected with the subject and the characters and loved the humour.

‘I love the touches of humour Alison writes into what is, in essence, a very sad tale.’

‘I am not going to forget Patience/Patrice any time soon. She is one of the most original characters in any novel I’ve read recently.’

‘I loved this book – couldn’t put it down. It was thought provoking and I am still thinking about it many weeks later.’

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

I think the characters, especially Patrice, from this book have stayed with me more than any other book that I’ve written. I don’t miss them exactly. I definitely don’t think I’ll ever write a sequel but they’re all still there inside my head.

Jessie: Who would you like to read your book and why?  This could be another author, someone famous, a friend or a member of your family.  Perhaps it could even be a friend or family member that has passed away.

Alison: The person I most want to read this book is Jack Thorne. He’s a playwright and screenwriter and I’m a huge fan of his work from The Cursed Child to National Treasure and lots of other things beside. I have a recurring fantasy where he reads All That Was Lost and adapts it for TV and I believe that if I mention this enough in interviews and online it might one day happen! (If I’m allowed a second person I also have a very similar recurring fantasy about Lin Manuel Miranda and a Broadway hip hop musical version.)

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

Alison: ‘If you change Alice back to Anna you can reuse the Annabel line.’

And it’s true. I can.

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

Alison: ‘Work out what your dream is and follow it.’ Once you get to the point of having a completed manuscript there are a lot of people who will tell you that you ‘must have an agent’ or that ‘looking for an agent is a waste of time and you should self-publish’ or whatever else might have worked for them. And that’s fine but the right option for them might not be the right option for you, so work out what you really want and pursue that first.

Jessie: What do you when you are not writing?

Well at the moment a lot of my time is spent on RNA projects, but asides from that and writing, I also run a novel-writing tutoring and mentoring business. That means I work one-to-one with authors and also offer manuscript critiques and teach group workshops and lead residential retreats. I LOVE teaching. It’s basically my happy place. And I’m super-proud like a mother hen of all my past students. I have three shelves above my desk. One has my own published books on it, but the other two have books by former students. Those shelves are my absolute pride and joy!

When I’m not teaching, writing or working on RNA stuff, I love baking and reading and sleeping. Sleep is really excellent.

Alison joined the RNA as a member of the New Writers’ Scheme in 2011 and won the Elizabeth Goudge Trophy in 2012.   All That Was Lost is the sixth novel, but she also writes as Juliet Bell, in collaboration with Janet Gover.  Alison also runs writing courses and is currently offering virtual Book Doctor appointments on a ‘pay what you choose’ basis.  I am impressed with her innovative approach to supporting others at this challenging time. 

Contact details and book links:

You can find out more about me at www.alison-may.co.uk, on twitter and Insta @MsAlisonMay and on facebook – www.facebook.com/AlisonMayAuthor

You can find all my books at www.alison-may.co.uk/books and buy All That Was Lost.

 

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

A copy of my novel is available here.

Another Chapter of my Writing Adventure

Meet the members of RNA South Wales and West Chapter meeting.

Desperate to fall in love, my characters have been demanding my attention for months.  They tease me with the knowledge I am writing a manuscript for the RNA New Writers’ Scheme.  I’ve been travelling back to the seventies with my book folk, Pearl and Jim et al, and we’ve had fun, tears and tantrums.  Pressing pause on the lives of Jim and Pearl, I attended the RNA South Wales and West Chapter meeting.

I discarded my writing clothes and magic slippers.  Resisting the temptation to visit Narnia in my wardrobe, I hunted down a skirt, lamb’s wool jumper and shoes.  Pearl was a little concerned about the choice of footwear and wanted me to wear suede knee length boots.  I shrugged at her concern because I felt the writer should be in charge for once.

It was a joy to meet a group of writers who had also emerged from their writing caves.   I discovered that there was a Norwegian writer, a writer of erotic fiction, a family saga author and romantic suspense author in our midst.   I didn’t ask which characters they’d locked in their caves back home, or if they’d left their companions in a good place.

Sue, an employee of House of Fraser, took us on a journey through the decades of the store that started life as Howells

The writers adjusted to daylight and ordered drinks before the speaker arrived.  Sue, an employee of House of Fraser, took us on a journey through the decades of the store that started life as Howells.  We learned of the Howells family and the changing face of the store.  The stories led us behind the scenes of the store to meet with the resident ghosts of Howells’ past.  As our imaginations travelled down the hidden subterranean corridors of the attic rooms, we were introduced to a woman dressed in grey and a man in a top hat.  The woman in grey chiffon danced in Jan Baynham’s imagination and will no doubt arrive in one of her stories.

My characters continued to knock on my imagination throughout the meeting.  I have since discovered that Evonne Wareham has a very effective way of dealing with petulant characters.  This is the kind of advice I need to keep me on track.  I am sure I saw the man in a top hat sitting at our table during discussions.  He wandered through my imagination and into the café where he barged Pearl and Jim out of the way.

It was fascinating to observe the way a wall of the old chapel is embedded into the store.

After the meeting, the man in the top hat led me to the site of the former chapel where the shoe department is now located. It was fascinating to observe the way a wall of the old chapel is embedded into the store. New stories and new characters created a fog in my mind.

As the handbag lady writer, I couldn’t help wishing I could nip back in time one hundred and fifty years to grab a vintage bag for the Handbag Gallery.  I would like to chat with Mrs Howells to discover which book she would like to place in the gallery.  I am sure I could also persuade Mr Howells to sell books in handbags.

The RNA Chapter marked a new chapter in my writing career.  I learned that I need to press pause on a chapter of my book occasionally. Leaving the writing cave gives my imagination a boost, and I am excited at the prospect of getting to know this group of local authors and hope to find out more about their characters.

Take a look at Jan Baynham’s experience of the meeting at:

http://janbaynham.blogspot.com/

 

Please see all my adventures at Handbag Adventures and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

My novel is available here.

New 2020 Vision

I can see clearly now the blurring has gone.

It is almost 2020 and I have discovered I do not have twenty twenty vision.  I can see clearly now the blurring has gone. It turns out that my Kindle companion was a way of coping with my less than perfect sight, and I have astigmatism.  Joy of reading a physical book has been revived for me.  To look at the front cover, blurb and mark my favourite pages is a luxury I had forgotten.

I will take a step at a time and negotiate the paths no matter how difficult they are.

I am currently drinking in the stories of the books but without picking up my review notebook.  Maybe this is because I can see the words now and don’t need to break from the strain of reading.  It is wonderful not to suffer the terrible migraines that previously impacted on my day.  And I know why I was constantly complaining about the way the light reflected on my book or keyboard.

Now I have clearer vision, I intend to reread a printed version of my work in progress. I will read it without a review pen in hand and think about weaving in some secrets.  I am attempting to consume my work in progress as a reader viewing the novel for the first time. Whilst on handbag leave ideas have been popping and bubbling, and I hope they come into focus.

For the time being, I am abandoning the kindle for the book so will need a considerably bigger bag.

I must admit I also rather like my glasses as a new accessory.  Books in Handbag with Glasses could be a new direction for me.  I’ve also spied an opportunity to shop for snazzy glasses cases.  For the time being, I am abandoning the kindle for the book so will need a considerably bigger bag.  However, I must confess I am not getting along very well with the varifocals as they make me a little dizzy.  I need to focus on one thing at a time.

I will take a step at a time and look forward to the destination.

My vision for 2020 is to write, write, write and to look ahead.   I have no specific resolutions. Adventures will come into focus as the year unfolds.  I will take a step at a time and negotiate the paths no matter how difficult they are.  I look forward to you all joining me on my adventures and feel privileged to have your company.

“The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space to place new steps of change.” -Maya Angelou

Wishing you all a Happy New Year, and the strength to let your dreams unfold and surprise you.  I will leave you with Maya Angelou’s advice:

“The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space to place new steps of change.”

 

Please see all my Handbag Adventures and my blog and website at JessieCahalin.com.

A copy of my first novel is available here.

Moments of Joy

The Tryo must have spent a lifetime perfecting their art and teasing out every single note.

Enchanted by a musical trio, we joined a crowd as they danced, swayed and tapped their feet to the beat.  The international language of joy spread across everyone’s face.

Situated next to the Roman Forum, musical notes suspended us in a moment.  The entertainers beamed at their audience’s response.  As I tapped my feet, I realised how few people placed money in the guitar case, and no one would part with ten euros to buy the compilation.   Many people expected the impromptu entertainment to be free.

The Tryo must have spent a lifetime perfecting their art and teasing out every single note.  I tried to imagine their stories.  Who were the loves of their lives?  How did they manage perform the music with such soul? As a gesture of kindness from a writer to musicians, I decided to pay the ten euros for the CD. The trio smiled again but looked a little surprised.  My action prompted a few others to buy the music.  I do believe that people had forgotten that we can’t always expect to be entertained for free.  Alas, other people continued to record the music on their phones and never looked up.  However, I did hear the happy clang of coins hitting the guitar as I walked away.

Here I am feeling happy in Delfryn Abbey (inspired by Tintern Abbey).

Listening to the CD at home takes me back to Rome and a moment that bonded a diverse group of people in the city of Romance. This weekend, I was suspended in another moment of joy when readers, across the world, paid ninety nine pence for ‘You Can’t Go It Alone’. My book climbed the charts, and I performed my happy dance.  I imagined the coins falling into my handbag ready for me to buy a coffee and another book.

Olivia, Rosa and Matteo’s Olive Tree Café and music venue.

I do wish I could gather the readers of my novel together, smile at them and say thank you to them for buying my words.  I would love to be able to invite the readers to the Olive Tree Café, in You Can’t Go It Alone, and ask Rosa, Olivia and Matteo to perform music for them.

Presenting You Can’t go It Alone

Wishing you all moments of joy.

 

Please see all my adventures at Handbag Adventures.

 

The Romance Novelists’ Association as my Shield

When Jessie Met Angela

A knight from the House of York

As a Yorkshire lass visiting Lancaster, I entered the city with trepidation.  Would I be safe?  Would I be welcome?  With my white rose hidden in my handbag, I approached Lancaster University and entered the magical world of the Romantic Novelists’ Association.

I exchanged my white rose for a pink lanyard, grabbed a black bag of bookish goodies and planned my battle for the day.  A wave of nerves washed over me when I saw my name listed on the one-to-one timetables.

RNA
Romantic Novelists’ Association is a shield protecting writers

With the ‘Sound the drums and trumpets’, the day commenced with a meeting of authors on the New Writers’ Scheme led by the wonderful Immi Howson.  Listening to the success stories of the NWS authors made me realise the Romantic Novelists’ Association is a shield protecting writers and giving us to tell our stories.   Writing can be a battleground and as many said, ‘we all have downs’, but with the support of the RNA one can survive ‘the slings and arrows’ of the process.

Encouraging smiles and greetings from fellow authors lifted my heart throughout the day. Lynda Stacey, my fairy godmother, prepared me for the first meeting.  Members of the South and West Wales Chapter offered constant support. Surrounded by the warmth of the writers, I calmed down and looked around for familiar faces.

When Jessie met Angela

But the ‘sound of drums and trumpets’ heralded again and a knight from the House of York pushed me towards a writing heroine, Angela Petch.  Her presence glowed in the room and I knew I would be safe from the ‘slings and arrows’ of my writing doubts. She handed me a notebook with ‘Dream big because dreams do happen’ written on the cover; these words started to ring in my ears for the rest of the day.  It was overwhelming to meet this lovely lady in person and snatch chat time between meetings.  Her kind words armed me with confidence, and I mused on how I felt as if I have always known Angela.

She handed me a notebook with ‘Dream big because dreams do happen’ written on the cover; these words started to ring in my ears for the rest of the day.

The one-to-one meeting with the industry professionals were enjoyable but too short.  My writing was praised, and I began to smile again.  It was a pleasure to introduce Pearl and Jim to new people, and I was delighted everyone loved naughty Doreen.

Being involved in the RNA is ‘a kinda magic’ that enables authors to slay the self-doubts and carve out a pathway towards achieving one’s dream.  All I can do now is wish on a star, edit, write and ‘dream big’.

 

Please see all my adventures at Handbag Adventures and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

A copy of my novel is available here.