January 2014

I suddenly realised that we are almost at the end of January  and I am way behind with news, not that there is a great deal as January is the month when I catch up with writing the 'novel in progress.'

December is generally hectic as we all gear up towards Christmas, but Christmas 2013 I chose to go away to Malta for the holiday, to take a rest after  a busy schedule and enjoy some sunshine. The sunshine was missing, however, and the weather rather dull and wet which was a pity but we saw the sights of Malta and the hotel was delightful as was the food. A big disappointment was the island of Goa where the rain came down in torrents; I'm sure it's lovely in the summer. Coming back into Heathrow we realised that we had missed the worst of the storms in the UK and felt the difference in temperature -icy blasts as we  scurried into the terminal building.

I've kept indoors since then apart from going out to shop or visit family. I'm definitely a hot house flower and don't like the cold or the rain, but my excuse is that I must stay in and finish the novel and as some of the settings are in Switzerland and Italy in June, I am at least enjoying the summer weather and the wonderful Italian food in my imagination as the rain streams down my window pane. One of the perks of being an author is that we can travel the world without leaving home! 

November News

This morning the 20th November came the announcement that Hull  had won the bid for the City of Culture 2017. What a glorious achievement that was greeted by a great cheer from those waiting at the Hull Truck Theatre and those who like me were listening in on Radio Humberside.
Congratulations are in order for the teams who were so actively promoting the city in the bid. Well done and well deserved.

I too have had a busy and exciting time in both October and this month of November. October saw in the Beverley Literature Festival with many celebrated faces and personalities and I  was fortunate to be there hosting a panel of Romantic Novelists; Rhoda Baxter, Jane Lovering and Sarah Mallory. I think I can safely say that it was a success and we were pleased to see other novelists in the audience to support us.
On the last day of the festival we also saw the culmination of the Val Wood short story competition and prizes were kindly sponsored by Quickline Communications to very worthy winners. The successful stories can be read on my website.

November is always hectic as this is the month when a new publication comes out. His Brother's Wife is my latest offering and as it is twenty years since the publication of my very first book The Hungry Tide, to celebrate I also wrote a short story, The Maid's Secret, which came out as an e/publication on the same day as His Brother's Wife. It is intended as short prequel to the main novel and tells the story of why the young Ellen Tuke became the person she was in His Brother's Wife. I will say no more about her, but suggest you read His Brother's Wife first!

The launch at Waterstone's Hull was brilliant and once more the staff there produced a wonderful window display. The Town Crier in all his splendour rang his bell and made a proclamation and so many of my lovely readers came along to help us celebrate.
My signing schedule is almost over now with just one more bookshop to visit in Doncaster on the 29th and then dear me, we shall be in December. Where has the year gone? Well, I might say the same for the last twenty; it's gone on writing books.

September

Today is the first of September and appropriately the day is slightly cooler than the glorious weather we have enjoyed in August.

At the beginning of August I attended the award ceremony at the Burstwick golf course where golfers kindly and generously took part in a tournament to raise money for The Friends of Hull Memory Clinic, a well deserving charity that I support. I and June Cooke who is Chair of the Friends both became quite choked when giving our grateful thanks, as we both have experienced at first hand just what it means to care for someone with memory loss. It is at times like this, when a kindness is given, that no matter how prepared we are, we are 'caught out.' But no matter; emotion is an important safety valve.

On the following week two friends celebrated their Golden Wedding and everyone had a lovely day and apart from a howling wind which threatened to lift off the marquee the day was sunny and we were able to lunch outside.

My youngest daughter and I enjoyed her birthday in the delightful market town of Helmsley, with lunch and shopping and then a walk round the lovely walled garden close by the castle. We hadn't time to visit the castle on that day, which gives us the excuse if we should need one, to visit again. As she always manages to make her birthday last a week, we then enjoyed a garden party at the weekend.

David Burns of Radio Humberside invited me into the studio to talk about the Val Wood Creative Writing Competition that with the support of the East Riding Libraries and Quickline Communications who are sponsoring the prize, is to be held this month. A series of library workshops start on Tuesday 3rd September. Details of this are on my website.
Coming up too is the Beverley Literature Festival and this year on Saturday 12th October I am acting as host on a Romantic Novelists' Panel. Three successful and prize winning authors, Rhoda Baxter, Jane Lovering and Sarah Mallory will be speaking about their own particular genre of Romance - Romantic Comedy, Historical and Paranormal. It should be an interesting and entertaining afternoon.
On the following day, the winner of the Val Wood competition will be announced and the prize presented. Both of these events take place at the Toll Gavel church in Beverley and details are on my website and in the festival brochure.

In the meantime I have finished a short story for my publishers which will be presented as an e/book, but more of that at a later date. The cover for His Brother's Wife will be up on the website very shortly, and I'm delighted to say that The Hungry Tide, my very first book, is being re issued with a brand new, delightful cover to celebrate the twenty years since it was first published - and never been out of print. Also coming up will be a holiday, hurrah, and yes I have managed to do some work on the novel in progress, although I admit not very much. Time is at a premium - always.

July

In my garden I have Valerian, chosen, you will understand, for the association of the name; it's long and lanky as I was too when I was a teenager, and it is flourishing very well in my garden. It has been such a glorious weekend, weather wise and tennis wise with Andy Murray's championship win at Wimbledon but as I am more of a garden fan than a tennis fan, I spent most of yesterday, in between dashing inside to see the state of play, tidying up my patch. I had made the decision that the nettles that I had left in the borders in the hope that they would attract and encourage a butterfly or two hovering nearby, must at last be pulled out; there has not been a sign of even a cabbage white for weeks, the cold and wet weather in spring and early summer has I fear, finished them off. I have left the Herb Robert, which if it isn't allowed to spread too rapidly is a dainty pretty plant and the Fever-few with its delightful daisy like flowers that were used in the 'old' days as a cure for headache, the wild garlic and of course the buttercup that peeps its golden head through the 'proper' plants and when I cut the grass I left a small patch of daisies and clover to feed the bees.

I am continuing with the novel in progress, have written a short story for a Christmas edition of a women's magazine, been in discussion regarding events for November's launch of His Brother's Wife, and importantly over this last weekend have read and judged children's stories for a Literacy Celebration competition inspired by children's author Jacqueline Wilson and co-ordinated by Heritage Learning in co-operation with Hull schools.
If only, I feel I must say - if only there had been such an event when I was a child I would have known so much more pleasure in my school life; to have known that an ability to write and express myself in the written language was as important as remembering my times table. The children's stories I have read were delightful, funny and inspirational and importantly, imaginative. They may never know how lucky they are to be allowed to let that imagination fly, and why indeed should they be, for it is surely their right to express their ideas and fantasies.

On a personal note my eldest daughter celebrated her birthday on Sunday. Although she was in Worthing and her sister and I were in Beverley, we sent her flowers and raised a glass of bubbles to wish her a happy day. I recall the day so well and it seems like only yesterday.

June

Before I finally finish with May it is important to relate the very last AGM at the Hull and District Talking Magazine for the Blind that my colleague Irene and I attended before saying a final goodbye to the members of committee and volunteers. We were presented with a beautiful pot plant and rose bush as parting gifts which were  unexpected and so gratefully received.
The following week, we met again, unexpectedly, to attend the funeral of a very dear colleague who had died suddenly; a mild and gentle man who will be sadly missed, not only by his friends and family but by the charity where he has done such sterling work for many years.
On the 11th June I drove to Burniston near Scarborough to attend and speak at the 30th anniversary lunch of several local WI's. We had a splendid lunch at the Three Jolly Sailors and a lovely afternoon with such welcoming and charming ladies. Not content with that alone, I also went on a trip down Memory Lane to look up the house where my paternal grandparents used to live and where my sisters and I spent many happy holidays when we were young.
The next day was the Carers Anniversary Service at the Beverley Minster and I had been invited to speak, not in my capacity as an author but as a former carer. It was a lovely service with hymns by the Singing for the Brain choir, and a wonderful soloist in Noel Griffiths. Music is such a balm to the soul. Mary spoke of her recollections of the changes in attitudes towards the elderly and in my short talk I expressed the fervent hope that carers are given help and the recognition that they surely deserve.

On the writing front I eagerly await sight of the cover of my next book
HIS BROTHER'S WIFE due to be published in November. It might seem a long way off, but there is much to do in publishing to bring out a new book. The cover is an important aspect; the author has a picture in his/her head of the characters and setting, the sales dept need a cover that appeals to the reader, the bookshops want a cover that sits well and importantly fly off their shelves. It is a small miracle if everyone is happy!   

May 27th 2013

Has summer come at last? We have had two unbelievable days of sunshine although the forecast for today was rain. Who can we believe? The best test of all I find is on waking draw the curtains aside and look out of the window, then believe what you see. But fool that I am, on the last sunny weekend, I overdid the gardening, shifted pots and bags of compost in the fear that there might not be another chance of improving my small patch of garden, and then suffered a 'bad back' for almost a week. This weekend I have been more cautious and apart from wielding a watering can -- now there's a novelty -- I sat comfortably in my old basket chair and read a book; not a book for research but one of fiction, such a treat.

Last month I was a guest speaker at World Book Night at the Hull Central Library. I think I can say it was a great success with an attentive audience, not only for me but for the many events and speakers. It's so encouraging to know that people do still support their libraries and not only for the loan of books, but for information and research too and good to hear that many authorities have a Home Service where delivery of books can be made to those who, for whatever reason, are unable to access libraries for themselves.
At the beginning of May I was invited to speak at 'Lincoln Inspired' Literary Festival, 'In Conversation With Margaret Dickinson,' where we discussed the many similarities in our working pattern. Margaret and I enjoy a friendly rivalry across the Humber Estuary, Margaret on the south side and I on the north and where we both trespass on 'foreign land' from time to time. The Yorkshire author Mike Pannet was another who had dared to cross the strip of water, but both of us I'm happy to say were made welcome.

Then there was the Macular group meeting held at HERIB on the 17th. As usual there was warm hospitality and as many in the audience knew me from my voluntary work with the Talking Magazine for the Blind, there were plenty of questions from the audience, not only about books and audio books in particular, but also due to the fact that I have read and presented the recordings for the charity of TMB as we refer to it, for the last time. After nearly thirty years it was time to call it a day and time to move on, but I shall I hope, keep in touch with the many listeners, friends and colleagues made in that long association. There is a link on my website if anyone would like to take a look at what the organisation does and how it operates to provide a service to the blind and partially sighted community, and volunteers are more than welcome.

June is acoming in, but more of that when it arrives and in the meantime ignore the distractions and on with the writing.

April 2013

The blossom is almost out here in East Yorkshire and we get occasional bursts of sunshine, but it's still very cold and I can't yet divest myself of warm joggers, sweatshirts and thick socks as I sit at my desk.

I have had mixed fortunes since I wrote my last blog. I told you of the paperback launch of The Innkeeper's Daughter on February 14th and was then delighted to hear that it climbed into the Top 50 official charts and up to last week was still there at number 39. It does make me wonder what it is that makes one book a best seller whilst others never reach the charts. Readers of course have their favourites; perhaps within a novel there's a reminder of some loss or joy or remembrance of their own which gives a book a special appeal. I have been re-reading Barbara Kingsolver's
Prodigal Summer, a delightful book and wholly suitable for bedtime reading which is the only time I read fiction. I know that in a couple of years I will fish it out again and read it once more.


February and the first two weeks of March I had a hectic signing schedule but managed to finish and send off my new novel His Brother's Wife to my editor. I thought then that there would be time to dig out my office and dust my desk before beginning the next one. But life has a way of travelling its own course and sweeping us along with it. John Lennon famously said, 'Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.' It is true. Life and death stops us in our tracks and makes us aware that we are not in complete control after all, although many of us might think that we are until we discover otherwise.
I have spoken publicly on Dying Matters, was asked to speak on the subject as it was known I had lost my much loved husband to Dementia - but there, I have fallen into my own well sprung trap. I haven't lost him, he is still close to my heart. He died. Death is a difficult subject to discuss, but here I am writing about it again as I grieve over yet another sister, who died quite suddenly in March after heart surgery. I find I can speak of her or write of her if I imagine I am speaking as someone else, the third person, as we would in a novel. Wanting to telephone her to tell her something or entering through her front door when she is no longer there, is something else entirely and only time will change that.
The secret is keeping so busy that you don't have time to feel sad; that is until a piece of music or someone being nice to you can open the floodgates. To keep my equalibrium I have given two talks - speaking in the third person again, attended a literary lunch as a guest, had meetings with fellow authors and attended live concerts to hear beautiful music and shed a silent tear. I do believe that when a sibling dies, comes our awareness that life is short, and there's nothing more certain that I personally will avoid the tragedy of dying young, and that none of us will live forever in this life though your views on the life hereafter may bring up another story.

This year is the twentieth anniversary since my first novel The Hungry Tide was published and plans are afoot to celebrate. I know that they will be tempered by loss, but also am aware that those who are missing from my life would want me to continue living life to the full on their behalf.