My First Radio Interview!

I was excited when Vanessa Woolley asked me to be interviewed on Marlow FM 97.5, but last Friday, as the minutes ticked on towards eleven o'clock, my heart was thundering in my chest!

But I needn't have worried, it was all very relaxed, and I felt that I was chatting to friends.

Vanessa, who's one of the presenters of the monthly Book Club feature, phoned me to do a sound test, and said that she'd put me on hold and the next time we spoke we would be on air!

She'd sent me some outline questions in advance, and I had jotted down some notes, but actually when I got into the swing of it, I didn't need them. When you think about it, no one knows more about writing a particular book than the author!

We talked about my novel, Gipsy Moth, and I told them:

It's set in 1929, and Kathy has been sent to Aunt Sylvia's in Devon because she's pregnant and Ben's family won't let them marry. However, her aunt's step-son, Paul, has fallen in love with her and supports her dream of flying a Gipsy Moth . . .

Haldon Aerodrome

How I came to write it:

I did a Creative Writing course and the lecturer offered two tickets to a literary luncheon for the best first 1,000 words of a novel. I didn't win, but I'd got those 1,000 words as a base to build on!

I was also interested in the role of women in the 1930s. Things were changing for them, but unmarried mothers were still being snubbed by society.

I wanted to set the novel in Devon, but had no idea, until I visited the Teignmouth Museum website to plan a trip, that there had been an aerodrome up on Haldon Moor. It was a lucky coincidence that the Prince of Wales (Edward VIII to be) flew his Gipsy Moth there in May 1930 to a reception like Robbie Williams might receive today, and that month Amy Johnson was setting off to fly solo to Australia. It really made my story take off too!

My writing routine:

When I said that I didn't sit down at 8am and write 1,000 words each day, there were words of agreement from the ladies on the show! They agreed it's difficult to write regularly when life gets in the way, (but of course we get on with it when we have time!)

What I'm working on now:

I'm working on two novels at the moment: one is a time slip set in the present day and in the First World War, and the other is a modern chick lit type of romance which is a bit of a relief because I don't have to do so much research!

I actually love research and spend a lot of time living in the past and not writing! So I thought I'd try something different.

All too soon it was over, and we were talking about where you can buy my book:

On line from Amazon, or from The Wallingford Bookshop, Wallingford OX10 0DL Tel. 01491 834383,

or The Quayside Bookshop, Teignmouth, Devon TQ14 8DE TEl. 01626 775436

I had a great time, but I was relieved when it was all over!

Judging Books by Their Covers - Life, Death and Vanilla Slices by Jenny Eclair

They say that you should never judge a book by its cover. Well, I often do, and I'm quite lucky with my choices!
The creamy yellow cover of Life, Death and Vanilla Slices caught my eye in Waterstones, where I was meeting someone and not intending to buy a book at all.
I think it was the vanilla slice that attracted me next, and then I saw it was written by Jenny Eclair. I only knew her as a comedian on TV, and didn't know that she'd written three novels. On the cover of this one were endorsements by Jojo Moyes and Jo Brand, two of my favourite ladies, so I reckoned that it must be good. Then, turning it over to read the blurb, I noticed that the heroine was called Jean. . . I was sold, and so was the book!
Jenny has such excellent storytelling skills that you are immediately immersed in the story of the Collins family when Jean is knocked down in an accident, dropping some vanilla slices which she only buys for family celebrations. Why has she bought them? She hasn't bought any for years.
It's a story of two women: Jean, the mother, who's in a coma and is sorting through her complicated life and trying to put it in order in her mind, and Anne, her middle-aged daughter, who has come to visit her in hospital, and is reassessing her own life too.
You discover that something terrible has happened in their family, but you don't know what it is or whether it was Jean or Anne who caused the awful event.
As she looks back at her life, Jean holds back from reaching the point when this thing happened, and Anne fights to keep the dreadful secret tucked away where she has hidden it at the back of her own mind, but eventually, they both have to face up to the past.
Jenny paints equally well a picture of life in the seventies, down to the stainless steel coffee pot (which I happened to have in my cupboard for the photo!), and life for Anne in the twenty-first century with her lazy, spoilt sons and indifferent husband.
She also cleverly combines the human drama and tenderness of Jojo Moyes with the dark humour of Jo Brand.
It's an excellent book and I'm glad I was seduced by the cover: it kept me hooked until the end.
And the vanilla slice that I bought for the photo from Sainsburys? Delicious!

Maeve's Times by Maeve Binchy - A Great Collection of Articles from The Irish Times

Last year I wrote how Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without unwrapping a lovely book by Maeve Binchy, so I was very excited to receive Maeve's Times this year.
It's a selection of her work first published in the Irish Times over an amazing five decades!
Most people will remember Maeve for her wonderful novels full of warmth and humour, and indeed these articles reflect that too, such as A Week of Self-Improvement, where she attends an Italian class (which obviously gave her the idea for Evening Class); brightened herself up with a disastrous facial for £2.80 (well it was 1976); helped serve lunch to some elderly people and, impressed by their wisdom, came away not so afraid of getting old; dealt with her office being brightened up by crawling under her desk and getting stuck in the corner whilst the workmen got on all around her; and took a walk around the City and got her handbag knocked out of her hand by two men who were actually trying to kill each other!
Other articles are more serious such as two news reports about the Greek coup and Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster in 1987.
She was lucky enough to attend three Royal Weddings, perched high up with the Press in St Paul's or Westminster Abbey, and followed the story of Diana and Charles from their engagement in 1981 to his engagement to Camilla in 2005.
It is truly a fabulous book; one to dip into or read from cover to cover in chronological order. I really hope that Róisín Ingle, the editor, brings out volume two!

Night Music by Jojo Moyes is a Book Full of Passion!

Jojo Moyes has written another wonderful book, Night Music: full of passion for music; passion between lovers, passion amongst families; and passion for the Spanish House.
The story opens innocently enough with Laura McCarthy taking chicken casserole and a baked potato over to the elderly Mr Pottisworth in the Spanish House, but although Laura plays a significant part in the story, it's really about Isabel Delancey, a recently widowed, gifted violinist who inherits Spanish House from a distant cousin.
Is this the end to all Isabel's problems? No, the grand old house is falling apart, and she hasn't enough money to repair it. There isn't even a plug for the fridge or a plumbed-in bath.
Now, step in Matt, Laura's husband who is also a  builder. The pair have always had their eye on Spanish House, and Laura has looked after Walter Pottisworth, hoping that he will leave it to them, and Matt has even drawn up plans for its renovation.
However, Nicolas Trent, an estate agent, who discovers the house and grounds, also sees its potential and wants to redevelop it and remake his fortune. He seems interested in Laura as well.
Therefore, the house and its lake provide the backdrop to the evolving story of how Isabel and her children: fifteen-year-old Kitty and her younger brother, Thierry, come to terms with living there, with Kitty often taking on the role of mother instead of Isabel, who drowns her sorrows by playing her cherished Guarneri violin late into the night, whilst the others plot to take Spanish House off her hands.
Other characters who add richness and depth to the story are Byron, a man about Isabel's age, with a secret past who works with Matt and helps the family settle in, and Henry and Isad, the 'cousins' who run the village shop after careers in the City, and observe the comings and goings of village life.
This is altogether a wonderful mixture for a novel to settle down with on a cosy evening. It's believable, it's great and I loved it!

Happy New Year from Hogwarts!

Happy New Year from Hogwarts!
Over the holidays we visited the Harry Potter Studio Tour at Watford, and as Ron might say, 'It was bloody brilliant!'
We wandered through the Great Hall set up for Christmas, and saw costumes used in the films, then through sound stages J and K (yes, I know!) where we passed the Gryffindor Common Room, the boys' dormitory, Hagrid's house and Dumbledore's study and much more. Fabulous to think that the films were actually shot there over the years.
Only a certain number of people were let in at a time, by ticket, so it was never too crowded.
It's a great place to visit the next time you're looking for a day out!

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!