Don't miss Jonathan Cohen's Christmas Carol Singalong at the Royal Albert Hall!

I'd always wanted to see Jonathan Cohen's Christmas Carol Singalong at the Royal Albert Hall, but I was a little worried that it might just be him and a piano with us trying to sing along! However, I needn't have worried, he was helped by the London Concert Orchestra and the London Concert Chorus, and also Laura Tebbutt who had stepped into the soloist's shoes at only a week's notice and was making her first solo performance at the Royal Albert Hall. She was fantastic and what a voice!
The audience dressed up for the occasion in Christmassy jumpers and Santa hats and those in the posh boxes decorated them with fairy lights. There was even a couple with fairy lights on their Christmas tree type hats!
Jonathan Cohen, known for BBC's Playaway  in the 1970s, made sure we all enjoyed ourselves as we sang traditional carols like Once in Royal David's City and classic Christmas songs like Santa Claus is Coming to Town, although we were allowed to sit back and listen to the London Concert Chorus and Laura's magical items. The highlight was when we all danced and raised the roof to I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day by Wizzard and Merry Christmas Everybody by Slade.
If you want to get into the Christmas mood, this is the concert for you.
If you can't fit it in this year, or can't wait until next Christmas, Jonathan is doing a Summer Singalong in June!

Starry Night by Debbie Macomber - A Great Read for Christmas!

Christmas is nearly here, but you still have time to read Starry Night by Debbie Macomber, the well-loved American author.
It's the first of her books that I've read, and it's a Christmassy take on Beauty and the Beast.
Carrie is a social reporter, filling her life and her Chicago newspaper column with glitzy parties and gallery openings. She yearns to write more serious news stories, so her editor challenges her to find Finn Dalton, a best selling, but reclusive author who lives in the depths of snowy Alaska.
If she can get this scoop of a lifetime, her editor will reward her more demanding and stimulating assignments.
She is so determined to find Finn Dalton and write the piece, that she misses her family Thanksgiving dinner, and heads off to Alaska, but when she eventually meets him, she finds him as wild and uncompromising as she had been warned, and also strangely attractive!
As Carrie and Finn stand under the starry Alaskan skies and watch the Northern Lights, could they really be falling in love? How can she write her article and publish it against his wishes now?  And with Christmas just around the corner, do they have any future together?
I really loved this novel and felt that I was there in the cold Alaskan winter with the icy wind on my face, wondering what would happen to these mis-matched lovers.
If you don't have time to read this book, you could always buy it as a stocking filler for a romantic friend or relation!

Gipsy Moth Christmas Kindle Countdown Deal Results!

On December 1st, I set up a Christmas Kindle Countdown Deal on my historical romance, Gipsy Moth.
I experimented with putting it on Free Download last year, but now the rules have been changed so that these 'sales' don't count towards your ranking on Amazon, so although I had a great result then, which led to my book being recommended for a romantic read, any free downloads now wouldn't be taken into consideration.
I decided that the best way to promote my book was to run the deal over four days: two discounted to 99p and two at £1.99 before returning to the original price on Day 5.
Don't worry, Amazon works out the prices and time intervals for you. You just have to enter the dates, and can adjust their recommendations to suit your needs.
Obviously, the reason I tried this was to get people to buy my book, and I thought a good idea would be to put Christmassy extracts on my blog as tasters, and luckily the first one started on December 1st. Perfect!
I also found some snowy photos to set the scene and some vintage Christmas cards to get a feel of Christmas 1929.
Amazon recommended using social media to promote the deal, so of course, I blogged here; tweeted two or three times a day; and updated my Facebook page.
Was it a success?
After a good start and a rise in the rankings, on the first day, I slipped down again during the next two days, only for a rally on the fourth! I expect that was people buying the book before the final price rise.
Would I have done anything differently?
I think I could have been more enthusiastic to entice readers on Facebook and Twitter to read the extracts here and therefore buy the book, but overall it was a useful exercise and I enjoyed doing it.
Have you tried a Kindle Countdown Deal promotion?

Gipsy Moth Christmas Kindle Countdown Deal, Last Day!

Welcome to the final day of my Christmas Kindle Countdown Deal on my historical romance, Gipsy Moth. Each day I've been publishing a Christmassy excerpt from my novel to whet your appetite, but if you would like to buy a copy, do it soon as the price returns to normal tomorrow at 8am GMT! 

Christmas has arrived at last and Kathy can't wait  to see Ben again.

December 26^th 1929

Ben was due back on Christmas Eve, but it was Boxing Day afternoon before he could manage to escape from his family. Every time someone came to our door or the telephone rang I thought it was him. But, I didn’t dare telephone his house, or turn up at his front door for fear of what his parents would say. At last, however, there he was at ours, muffled with a long red scarf, and stamping the snow off his feet. We clung to each other like two children lost in a blizzard.

‘Happy Christmas, Kathy. I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long.’ His kiss was soft, warm, desperate. And that faint smell of engine oil on his clothes made me feel safe and reminded me of all the good times we’d had before I got pregnant and he’d gone away.

‘I’ve missed you too.’ I could hardly speak.

He touched my tummy. ‘There’s definitely a small bump.’

‘Yes, but it doesn’t show too much yet, does it?’ I held in my muscles and smiled.

‘No, but it will soon.’

‘I know, but it would be a lot easier if we could get married. Have you talked to your parents yet?’

‘I haven’t had a chance. You know what it’s like at Christmas. They’re so busy with the visitors, I’ve hardly spoken to them at all.’

‘Oh, Ben, you said you were going to, and I’ve been hoping and hoping that you would. Don’t you want to marry me?’ I made a puppy face with doleful eyes.

‘Of course!’ He kissed me again.

‘Oh, Ben, can’t you get them to change their minds? Then I could come up to Lincolnshire and be near you all the time.’

‘Look, I’ve got your little black bead here on my ID chain.’ He dug it out to show me. ‘It brings you to me, any time I’m lonely.’

‘I know, but I want you, Ben,’ I said, kissing him back.

Voices rose in the front room, and the door opened.

I let go of him. ‘Mother’s sisters are here with their families,’ I whispered.

‘Let’s go for a walk then,’ he whispered back, smiling.

Making excuses and getting disapproving looks from my aunts, we escaped into the sparkling wintry wonderland. I’d had a black fur muff as a present, and we held hands inside it, keeping our other ones warm in our pockets.

 Putting my worries behind me, I squeezed his hand, deciding to make the most of having him here. ‘Did you have a nice Christmas?’

 ‘No, of course not without you. Everyone was so boring; Great Uncle Peter, Great Aunt Jane, cousins I never see from one Christmas to the next. I’m not sure who half of them are. Even the table was groaning under the weight of all the food.’ He made a snowball and hurled it at a tree. ‘What about you?’

‘How could I have a nice Christmas, knowing that you were just a hundred yards away over the road, and I couldn’t see you? If I’d had my own aeroplane, I would’ve flown by and carried you off to, I don’t know, the Northern Lights, so we could fly round amongst all the shimmering colours. That is, if your parents would have let you come.’ I aimed a snowball fair and square in the centre of his. ‘Bullseye!’

‘Should you be doing that, er, in your condition?’

‘I’m blooming like a Christmas rose now you’re here. Never felt better.’ I gathered up some more snow and threw it at him.

‘Hey, Kathy!’ He seized my hand, then kissed my icy blue fingers. ‘I’m so sorry about this awkward business.’

We walked on in silence, through deep drifts of snow which stretched across the river meadows like frozen waves on the Arctic Ocean, and the winter sun shone through our cloudy breath and turned it into rainbow colours.
‘What do your parents say?’ he asked.

‘You know, don’t you? They want us to be married, but if we can’t, Mother wants me out of the way. She doesn’t want the neighbours to gossip.’

 ‘I’ve been thinking, she might be right to send you to Devon. I don’t want people saying awful things about you. You’ve got to be strong, Kathy.’ He ducked under a branch which hung heavy with snow, and created a little snowstorm of loose flakes. ‘When are you going?’

‘The day before New Year’s Eve.’ I brushed the snowflakes off his shoulder. ‘I used to love those New Year’s Eve parties at your house. We were so happy then, when your parents weren’t afraid that I might marry you.’

 He kissed me on the forehead. ‘I won’t be there either this time, and Abigail’s going to Maureen and Hilda’s party, isn’t she?’

‘Yes, so everything’s changed.’  

Ben stopped, and faced me. ‘Listen Kathy, I’ve got to go back tomorrow.’

‘Tomorrow? But I thought you were going to stay a few days.’ I held him tight. ‘I’ve only just got used to having you here.’

GIPSY MOTH

It’s 1929, and Kathy’s greatest wish is to fly a Gipsy Moth like her childhood sweetheart, Ben. But when his parents find out she’s expecting his baby, they forbid them to marry, and Kathy is dispatched to her aunt’s in Devon in disgrace, whilst Ben is sent to Lincolnshire for his RAF officer training. 

How can their love survive when they’re so far apart? Especially now that Kathy has met her aunt’s stepson, Paul, who encourages her to take some flying lessons at Haldon Aerodrome, despite her pregnancy, and her imagination has been captured by Amy Johnson who is proposing to fly solo to Australia. 

But when Ben’s plane is lost at sea, Kathy is torn between raising her baby alone and being frowned upon by society, or giving it up for adoption and pursuing her dream of flying. On top of this, she uncovers a disturbing family secret which makes her decision all the harder.

If you have enjoyed this you can download the rest of the book, here on Amazon. (Offer available UK only)
Remember, it goes back to its full price at 8am GMT tomorrow!

Gipsy Moth Christmas Kindle Countdown Deal, Day 3

This is Day 3 of my Christmas Kindle Countdown Deal on my historical romance, Gipsy Moth. The price has gone up today, but don't worry, it won't reach the full price until 8am GMT on Thursday 5th December, so bear that in mind if you would like to download a copy!

Yesterday, Kathy replied to Ben's letter, and today, his sister, Abigail, comes with an invitation.

 

December 21^st 1929

Two o’clock in the afternoon of the shortest day of the year, and with heavy snow clouds in the sky, it seemed to be getting dark already. Dad had gone to the football, Mother was knitting, and I was roasting nicely by the fire, lost in thoughts of Ben coming home in only three day’s time, when the doorbell rang. Sorry to be roused from such a delicious daydream, I shuffled off in my old slippers to see who had disturbed us.

Abigail stood at the door, wearing a camel coat and hat trimmed with honey coloured fur that framed her pixie face, and matching tiny ankle boots with buttons up the sides. Snowflakes clung to her like sugar sprinkled on a cake.

‘Oh, Kathy, may I come in?’ She took a step forwards, her eyes glistening, as if she’d been crying.

‘Yes, of course, what on earth’s wrong?’

 ‘Mother is driving me mad. I’ve been trying to make her see reason about you and Ben, but she won’t listen. It would be so nice if you could come over to our house on Christmas Eve, like you used to, and sing carols, but she won’t hear of it. Oh, Kathy, she seems to think that it’s all your fault, and that you led Ben on. She even thinks that you are jeopardizing his time at Cranwell.’ Puddles of melted snow gathered round her feet on the doormat.

I nodded, and sat down on the stairs. I’d heard it all before. Abigail had been trying her best to make amends, build bridges and generally smooth things over between me and her parents, but they wouldn’t budge.

‘Oh, do come shopping with me, Kathy? I can’t bear it at home any longer.’

‘But it’s snowing!’ My thoughts went back to the warm fireside and my dreams of Ben. ‘No, I don’t really feel like it. I went with Mother last week and the shops were so crowded that we were squashed to bits. We could hardly carry our bags; they were nearly ripped out of our hands in the crush.’

‘Oh, come on, it’ll do you good to get out. You can’t spend all your time hiding indoors.’

‘I . . . but . . .’

‘I’ve got the car; Benson’s outside waiting.’

‘The Alvis Silver Eagle? I’ve been itching to go for a ride in that. But, I can’t, Abigail, what would your mother say?’

‘Oh, she’s busy this afternoon; she’s got her ladies round for bridge, and Father’s gone up to London for some Reunion Luncheon. Please Kathy, I’m all on my own. I miss Ben, and I never see you very much these days, please come?’ She begged with her large blue eyes.

‘I’ve got all the presents I need; I really can’t face all those bad tempered shoppers and gaudy gifts. Everything seems so glittery and false this year.’

‘Please, Kathy?’

Abigail’s earnest expression made me relent. ‘Oh, all right, but I’m only coming so I can have a ride in that car.’

Mother fussed that I was going out in the snow and made sure I wrapped up warm, but she was as keen as Abigail to keep the channels of communication open between our families.

Benson had the engine running at the kerb and the headlamps lit up the falling snow like a sky full of shooting stars. We sat back in the leather seats as if we were on a sleigh ride to fairyland.

GIPSY MOTH

It’s 1929, and Kathy’s greatest wish is to fly a Gipsy Moth like her childhood sweetheart, Ben. But when his parents find out she’s expecting his baby, they forbid them to marry, and Kathy is dispatched to her aunt’s in Devon in disgrace, whilst Ben is sent to Lincolnshire for his RAF officer training. 

How can their love survive when they’re so far apart? Especially now that Kathy has met her aunt’s stepson, Paul, who encourages her to take some flying lessons at Haldon Aerodrome, despite her pregnancy, and her imagination has been captured by Amy Johnson who is proposing to fly solo to Australia. 

But when Ben’s plane is lost at sea, Kathy is torn between raising her baby alone and being frowned upon by society, or giving it up for adoption and pursuing her dream of flying. On top of this, she uncovers a disturbing family secret which makes her decision all the harder.

If you have enjoyed this you can download the rest of the book, here on Amazon. (Offer available UK only)

Remember, the sooner you buy it, the cheaper it will be!

Gipsy Moth Christmas Kindle Countdown Deal, Day 2

I hope you enjoyed yesterday's seasonal installment of my historical romance, Gipsy Moth, which I am offering as a Kindle Countdown Deal over the next three days to celebrate the beginning of December and the advent of the Christmas holidays. Today, the price is still 99p, so if you haven't already downloaded your copy, you can use this opportunity to buy it at a discount because it goes up tomorrow at 8am GMT!!

Yesterday, Kathy received an Advent calendar from Ben. Although she's having his baby, his parents won't let them marry, and she's waiting at home to see him again at Christmas, whilst he's been sent on officer training in Lincolnshire.

As always, I sent him a reply by the next post. I had a large stack of his letters, and I imagined that he did too, tucked in a drawer. I often wondered if there was enough room for his RAF socks.

Dear Ben,

Only you would think of making such a wonderful Advent calendar. Thank you so much. I’m just itching to peep inside all the doors, but that would spoil all the surprises.

 I miss you too; time drags by so slowly without you here. I even miss the shop, and find myself longing to go back to work, at least that would make the days and weeks crawl past more quickly.

There’s nothing to do. No motorbike to tinker with and no trips into the countryside, hugging you for dear life as we breeze along the lanes. I’d really enjoy that, even though the weather’s turning cold and damp now. No poring over the latest magazines together, and dreaming about shiny new motor cars. No holding hands in the pictures and watching newsreels of aeroplanes and adventurers. Ben, my life is so empty without you. I can’t wait for Christmas to see you again. But afterwards, I’ll have to go away to Devon, and I’m dreading that. I really hope that you can talk to your parents soon and they will let us marry.

Hurry up and come home,

Your loving Kathy

GIPSY MOTH

It’s 1929, and Kathy’s greatest wish is to fly a Gipsy Moth like her childhood sweetheart, Ben. But when his parents find out she’s expecting his baby, they forbid them to marry, and Kathy is dispatched to her aunt’s in Devon in disgrace, whilst Ben is sent to Lincolnshire for his RAF officer training. 

How can their love survive when they’re so far apart? Especially now that Kathy has met her aunt’s stepson, Paul, who encourages her to take some flying lessons at Haldon Aerodrome, despite her pregnancy, and her imagination has been captured by Amy Johnson who is proposing to fly solo to Australia. 

But when Ben’s plane is lost at sea, Kathy is torn between raising her baby alone and being frowned upon by society, or giving it up for adoption and pursuing her dream of flying. On top of this, she uncovers a disturbing family secret which makes her decision all the harder.

If you have enjoyed this you can download the rest of the book, here on Amazon. (Offer available UK only)

Remember, it will be cheaper today than tomorrow!

Gipsy Moth Christmas Kindle Countdown Deal, Day 1

I can't believe it's December already, and to get everyone into the mood for Christmas, I'm giving a seasonal Kindle Countdown Deal on my historical romance, Gipsy Moth! Over four days, the price will rise, starting today from just 99p! 
So if you haven't already read my novel, here's your chance. 

As a taster, I will be publishing a Christmassy extract from the book each day!

December 1st 1929

The days ground by, and the rest of November disappeared under a blanket of cloud and fog. I wondered why Ben’s parents were being so mean? Why couldn’t his mother cope with a wedding? I was good enough, wasn’t I? I wished that he could make them change their minds. I really didn’t want to be sent away.

I felt so empty each night; I wanted to see Ben and tell him how much I missed him, but all I had were his letters. I couldn’t wait to sit on the stairs in the morning, eager to grab the post as it came through the letterbox. I would search through the brown bills, scented letters from aunts, or airmail letters from cousins in Canada, until I found the blue one with Ben’s spiky handwriting. Then letting the rest fall, I would open it with a beating heart. His little cartoons made me smile. This time last year, marriage was the last thing on my mind, and Ben, along with Abigail, were just my best friends. Now I was expecting his baby, and I needed to be with him more than ever. The fact that we weren’t allowed to marry made it all the worse.

Today, a large mysterious envelope, with his familiar writing, burst through the letterbox with the usual post. I only just caught it as it sailed to the floor. Inside was an Advent Calendar, but instead of a Nativity scene, there was a red Gipsy Moth flying a banner which said, ‘Happy Christmas, Kathy!’ and a letter.

Dearest Kathy,

I love you so much and I miss you every minute of every day. Even though the chaps here are friendly, like Archie McCall who’s really looked after me, I feel lost and alone without you. I’ve made this calendar so you can open a door each day and count the time to Christmas when we can be together again.

I gently opened number one, and there was a cartoon of Ben wearing a paper hat from a cracker and smiling, with my little black bead around his neck. I stroked it with my finger and kissed it.

It’s only a few weeks till I come home, and I can’t wait. I’m so cold and lonely without you. Remember, every day that passes is a day less to wait. It won’t be long, until I am there and you are my arms. I love you, Kathy, with all my heart, and I’m going to talk to my parents when I get home and see if they will change their minds.

All my love,

Ben

GIPSY MOTH

It’s 1929, and Kathy’s greatest wish is to fly a Gipsy Moth like her childhood sweetheart, Ben. But when his parents find out she’s expecting his baby, they forbid them to marry, and Kathy is dispatched to her aunt’s in Devon in disgrace, whilst Ben is sent to Lincolnshire for his RAF officer training. 

How can their love survive when they’re so far apart? Especially now that Kathy has met her aunt’s stepson, Paul, who encourages her to take some flying lessons at Haldon Aerodrome, despite her pregnancy, and her imagination has been captured by Amy Johnson who is proposing to fly solo to Australia. 

But when Ben’s plane is lost at sea, Kathy is torn between raising her baby alone and being frowned upon by society, or giving it up for adoption and pursuing her dream of flying. On top of this, she uncovers a disturbing family secret which makes her decision all the harder.

If you have enjoyed this you can download the rest of the book, here on Amazon. (Offer available UK only)
Remember, the sooner you buy it, the cheaper it will be!

CS Lewis and The Chronicles of Narnia

Fifty years ago today, the news bulletins were full of the assassination of President Kennedy, which understandingly overshadowed the death of CS Lewis.
Although I can remember Emergency Ward 10 being interrupted by the news reports about Kennedy, I hadn't yet heard of the quiet Oxford don who wrote those magical stories about Narnia.
Looking at my books now, I can see that my first one, The Magician's Nephew, was a 1964 reprint. They are now all looking a bit tatty, but very well loved because they've been read so many times. Some are covered in sticky-backed plastic, and others not; I can't remember why!
I do remember that I borrowed The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe from my friend and enjoyed it so much I didn't want to give it back, and the book you see in the photo is the replacement I bought with my pocket money.
I certainly read The Silver Chair and The Horse and his Boy as library books, not realising at first that they were about Narnia, but very pleased that they were.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was one of my favourites after The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I bought it on a Saturday morning and went home and read it all in one go. I loved the idea of sailing to the islands and felt right there with Lucy on the poop deck feeding the hens!
So much of the land of Narnia lives on. Who hasn't tapped the back of wardrobe to see if it would melt away to snowy trees? Or watched the snow falling past an old fashioned lamp post, and imagined Mr Tumnus hurrying by with his parcels? Or thought about Edmund and the White Witch when presented with a box of Turkish Delight?
So let's not only remember the awful events in Dallas that day, but also give thanks for CS Lewis and his wonderful Chronicles of Narnia.
Which is your favourite book?

Every Picture Tells a Story

Bands of Gold at Yellowstone

I was lucky enough to be Highly Commended for this photo in a local arts and crafts exhibition. I just wanted to see if I could get anywhere with my photos, so I was quite pleased:)
I think pictures are very important, and in fact, I can't start writing my blog without putting in a photo first!
Recently, I was struggling to write a chapter for my work in progress. In fact I've been putting it off for a long time, because this particular bit is set in France in the First World War. However, I came across a photograph taken at the time of exactly what I wanted, and starting by describing the scene, I found that I was able to continue with the rest.
Have you been inspired to write by a picture?

Take a Look at Me Now (in San Francisco!) with Miranda Dickinson

I've been really keen to read Take a Look at Me Now ever since I got back from a trip to San Francisco and discovered that Miranda Dickinson had set her new novel there!

It's been great to revisit all my favourite places again with Nell Sullivan who loses her job at the Islington Planning Department, breaks with her boyfriend, Aidan, and blows her redundancy on a trip to stay with her cousin, Lizzie, in colourful Haight Ashbury.

It's quite a culture shock for Nell at first, but Miranda has such a way of immersing you in the story, that you are soon out there with Lizzie watching them turn the trams at the  Powell Street turnaround, and visiting the after school club where Lizzie helps out, and where she happens to be in love with the gorgeous principal, Tyler.

Or visiting Pier 39 to see Lizzie's friend Eric on his unicycle!

This diner is actually in Colorado!

A lot of the action takes place in Annie's Diner. Nell has always wanted to run a restaurant ever since a visit to New York with her friend, Vicky, who has also been made redundant, and Annie gives her a chance to get some work experience and meet her entertaining customers.
Life is going well for Nell, until she falls for the delectable Max Rossi.

So questions have to be answered, as the date for Nell's return to London looms nearer.
Should she stay in San Francisco with Max, or return home?
If she goes home what will she do for a job?
And what about all those messages from Aidan that she's been ignoring?

It's been a thoroughly good read, and I've really enjoyed it. I am also excited to hear that a new book is in the pipeline for next autumn, catching up with the story of Rosie Duncan who first appeared in Fairytale of New York! 

Which is your favourite Miranda Dickinson book?

I Couldn't Put Down The Shadow Year by Hannah Richell!

Hannah Richell's done it again with her new novel, The Shadow Year!

It's 1980 and five graduates decide to spend a year at a dilapidated cottage by a lake in the Peak District: Kat, through whose eyes the story is told; Simon, the self-appointed leader of the group, and the man she's fancied all through uni; Ben and Carla, a couple who are better at growing food and cooking it than the others; and Mac, the quiet one, who at least has some idea of living off the land. Then Kat's sister, Freya, turns up . . .

In the present, Lila is left the key to the same cottage by a mysterious donor. She's just had a miscarriage after falling down the stairs. She can't come to terms with her loss, or remember the details of how it happened, and decides to take some time away from her husband, Tom, and go up to the cottage. After all she is an interior designer, perhaps she could so something with it?
When she arrives, she finds it's been uninhabited for some time and it looks as if the people left in a hurry, leaving everything just as it was.

The two halves of the story are told alternately, each reflecting what happens in the present with what happened in the past. Gradually, the pieces of the mystery are put together, and Lila finds out the terrible secret of what happened during that shadow year.

One of the images that Hannah uses through the book is honesty, the plant with the seed cases like the face of the moon. Honesty grows in the cottage garden, but also forms the theme of the story, about who is being honest and who is hiding a secret.
Another image is the alder trees sheltering the lake. They remind me of the poem by Charles Stuart Calverley called Shelter which mentions 'the wide weird lake where the alders sigh'. (You can find it here. It's worth a read.)

Walden Pond

This in turn brings me to the lake itself. In the epigraph, Hannah Richell quotes Henry Thoreau, talking about Walden Pond: he says that a lake is like the Earth's eye, and in this book the lake sees and reflects the drama that unfolds around it.

Apart from Hannah Richell's emotional descriptions and believable characters, she really has the skill to keep you guessing. I even found myself going through the possibilities, summing up what I knew and trying to work out what had happened, in just the same way I might work at one of my own plots!

This is Hannah's second novel, I reviewed Secrets of the Tides last year, and said that I just had to sit down and finish it! It's been the same with this one too!
I think it's a great book in the style of Jojo Moyes. Start reading it today, but make sure you're sitting comfortably: you won't want to stop!

How Paul McCartney, CS Lewis, and Reading on the Toilet got me into Writers' Forum this month!

It's been a good writing week for me in Writers' Forum: I've been mentioned three times!
Recently, Paula Williams was asking for writers to tell her about how their day job had inspired a story or a novel for her 'Ideas Store' column.
I wrote in and told her how working at a hotel where The Beatles had stayed in 1963 had prompted me to write about fourteen-year-old Molly who wanted to tell Paul McCartney that she loved him. (You can find out what happened in my collection of summer short stories, Postcards and Suntan Cream!)
I was really pleased to see that Paula had included my story. It was quite funny because a few years ago, I heard about her column and how it could inspire you to write and so I became a subscriber to the magazine. Now here I am in it myself!
There has also been a series by Douglas McPherson, helping you to break into non-fiction article writing. I never thought that I could do it. However, one day I watched The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on TV, and remembered that CS Lewis had died 50 years ago, in November 1963, so began to write an article for practice. I saw that a free magazine had a few articles each month of local interest, and so, because Lewis lived in Oxford for many years, I pitched it to the editor. I was thrilled to be asked to write 500 words and afterwards told it would be in the November issue. On the back of this, I decided to write a letter to the 'Writers'Circle' letters page about it, and they printed it as well!
Lastly, I saw an article in the Metro newspaper reporting on a survey that said that one in 10 men and one in 30 women read their books on the toilet. It also went on to talk about the British people's lack of knowledge of Shakespeare and Dickens. I wrote it up for the 'Newsfront' digest and got it published too with my own byline!
I just shows what you can do, if you look for opportunities and act on them!

Guest Interview - Liz Harris and A Bargain Struck

Hello Liz, and welcome to my blog. It's lovely to have you here today to talk about your new book A Bargain Struck.

Does a good deal make a marriage?

Widower Connor Maguire advertises for a wife to raise his young daughter, Bridget, work the homestead and bear him a son.

Ellen O’Sullivan longs for a home, a husband and a family. On paper, she is everything Connor needs in a wife. However, it soon becomes clear that Ellen has not been entirely truthful.

Will Connor be able to overlook Ellen’s dishonesty and keep to his side of the bargain? Or will Bridget’s resentment, the attentions of the beautiful Miss Quinn, and the arrival of an unwelcome visitor, combine to prevent the couple from starting anew.

As their personal feelings blur the boundaries of their deal, they begin to wonder if a bargain struck makes a marriage worth keeping.

Set in Wyoming in 1887, a story of a man and a woman brought together through need, not love …

Wyoming is an ocean away from Ladakh, north of the Himalayas, where your first novel, The Road Back, was set. What made you choose nineteenth century America?

My starting point was the subject of the novel.

To wind the clock back. When wondering what novel to write after The Road Back, I knew only that I wanted it to be another historical novel, and that, having loved learning about the culture of Ladakh for The Road Back, I’d be happy to explore another culture again.

I was driving along the road one day, mulling over ideas for a novel, Radio 4 on in the background, when I heard the words ‘mail-order bride’. A bolt of excitement shot through me: I’d found the idea for my next novel.

I didn’t want to set the novel in Russia, however, which was the subject of the Radio 4 programme. Fortunately, I knew of an alternative, very romantic location where mail-order brides were fairly common – the American West in the mid-nineteenth century. And by the time I’d reached my destination, this had become the setting and period for A Bargain Struck.

How common was it for a man like Connor, a widower with a young daughter, to advertise for a wife to look after his homestead and bear him a son?

Fairly common. The men advertising might well have different backgrounds and characteristics, but their reasons would be pretty much the same.

For a man, the pioneering life meant working outside the house from dawn to dusk, cultivating the 160 acres allowed under The Homestead Act of 1862. He couldn’t, therefore, also tend the vegetable garden to provide food for their immediate needs, make their produce into preserves, cook the meals, make and wash their clothes, clean the house, look after any children. He needed a woman to do the woman’s work while he did the man’s work.

And he needed help in the fields and someone to take over the running of the homestead after him, which meant that he needed a wife rather than a housekeeper.

Ellen wasn't entirely honest about herself. Did you come across any other stories of women being economical with the truth in your research?

Not really, but I assume that women who were desperate to find a husband would be sparing about anything negative about themselves. I know that I would be!

When researching A Bargain Struck, I read a number of letters between men and women who were getting to know each other – although not in a mail-order bride situation - and I was struck by how down to earth they were and how mundane were the details in their letters. The pioneers of the American West were definitely not given to extravagance of expression. In fact, I’d go even further in saying that they clearly mistrusted ‘romantic’ feelings and avoided giving expression to them.

This makes sense when you realise that marriage was essentially a practical matter: both parties were working hard to make sure that there was food on the table and a future for the family. Expressing extreme feelings of either kind could jeopardise the harmony that they needed in order for their homestead to survive.

You have lived in America. Was writing about the Wild West something that you'd always wanted to do?

It’s a period that’s always fascinated me, but to be honest, for the six years that I lived in California, I wasn’t thinking about writing anything – I was far too busy enjoying the fabulous life I was having. I did read voraciously, though, and I devoured many books about the American West. My fascination with the period stayed with me after I returned to England, so hearing those words ‘mail-order bride’ when I was looking for an idea for the next book …

What are you working on at the moment, Liz? Is it set in another distant country?

I’ve just submitted the novel that will come out in September 2014. The working title is In a Far Place. That title might change, though. This time I don’t have Radio 4 to thank for the idea - I have the readers of The Road Back to thank for it.

I’ve received an amazing number of letters from people who’ve read The Road Back, and a number of readers have asked what happened to the missionaries’ son, Peter. When a fellow Choc Lit author asked me the same thing last November, I knew that I’d found the idea for the novel that I would be writing this last year, and that became In a Far Place. It is set in Cobar, on the edge of the outback in New South Wales, Australia so, yes, it is in another distant country. 

Now that I’ve finished the novel, I’ve started to write a novella set in the American West. I so enjoyed writing A Bargain Struck that I don’t feel ready to leave the period and setting just yet. After Christmas, I’ll be starting another full-length novel, which will be destined for publication in 2015, but in the meantime, I’m back in Wyoming in the 1880s.

I already have two ebooks out under the Choc Lit Lite label, Evie Undercover and The Art of Deception. This novella will, I hope, join them.

Your novels also have historical settings or connections. Which other place and time would you like to travel back to if you could?

That’s an interesting question and I’m not sure that I have an answer. I’d have to really feel strongly about a place to forego modern sanitation, and I’m not sure that anything grabs me enough to do that. Yes, trivial, I know!

And if I went back in time, there would always be the proviso that I would be one of those Upstairs and not one of those Downstairs, which might be against the time-travel rules. I just can’t see myself rolling up my sleeves and blacking a grate.

I think the truth is that I love the present, with all its faults and flaws, and have no real desire to go back in time anywhere other than in my head. However, when I’m writing about a period that interests me greatly and have immersed myself in the time and place, I would rather like the satisfaction of going back and seeing if I got it right.

Thank you for answering my questions today, Liz, and good luck with In a Far Place too!

A Bargain Struck is available from Apple iTunes, Kobo, Nook, and here on Amazon.

You can also find out more about Liz on her website:

http://www.lizharrisauthor.com