Tag Archives: Carol Thomas Author

Location, Location, Location with Kirsty Ferry.

Guest Post, Location!, Writing & Reading, , , , , , , ,
I am delighted to welcome fellow Choc Lit author Kirsty Ferry to my blog to talk about the setting of her latest novel Bea’s Magical Summer Garden.  Over to you Kirsty …

My new book, Bea’s Magical Summer Garden, features – well – a magical summer garden. I have taken some liberties with the location of the Garden and removed it plant by plant from Dilston Physic Garden, near Corbridge in Northumberland, to an unspecified location near Edinburgh in Scotland. I probably wouldn’t have located it near Edinburgh if I’d thought ahead, but I needed to do that because it is part of the Schubert the Cat series of books, which began with Every Witch Way.

Every Witch Way follows the adventures of Nessa, who lives in Edinburgh when she heads off on a Halloween road trip across Scotland to find out more about a legendary witch. I blithely gave Nessa four brothers, and when I realised each brother needed a book, the location stuck – because Schubert is an incredibly meddlesome cat and needs to be within easy access of each of his ‘uncles’ to help them find love. And I will forever be grateful to Joanne from Portobello Books, who helped me work out where pirates might have been executed on the Sands of Leith for It Started with a Pirate!

We first meet Bea, the owner of the Garden,  in the fifth book, It Started with a Wedding –  her cousin Fae is the heroine of that one; and, if you’ve read It Started with a Wedding, you’ll know why Bea’s Garden was a perfect setting for a lot of the action.

So the ‘real’ Magical Garden is quite a bit further south, but if you are ever in the area, I completely recommend you go. The place is an amazing mishmash of eclectic, scientific and spiritual; each plant, for example, has a sign in front of it telling you the folklore and magic side of things and the scientific health and wellbeing information. Dilston was created by Professor Elaine Perry, who is a prominent UK neuroscientist and is one of the most interesting and lovely people I have ever met. The first time I set foot in Dilston, I knew it had to appear in a book someday.

The wider estate that Bea’s Magical Summer Garden is set on, Glentavish Estate, is completely out of my imagination. The hidden gates that separate Glentavish House from Bea’s Garden owe a lot to ideas that sparked when I first read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett as a child, and maybe look more like something from Wallington in Northumberland, only with a higher wall!

Wallington in Northumberland

The Temple to the Four Winds that is alluded to in the book was inspired by the one at Castle Howard – only it is much, much smaller. When you read the book, you’ll get the idea why that had to be so!

The Temple to the Four Winds at Castle Howard.

I could genuinely draw you a map of how the ‘estate’ looks in my mind, but then it might spoil it for your imagination. I do hope you’ll read the book, though, and see it the way I see it. Because then I’ll know I’ve done a decent job writing it…and the locations might make sense when they are all plopped down in Schubert’s world.

This is the website for the real Magical Garden if you want to check it out: Dilston Physic Garden.

About the book

What’s not to love about Bea’s Garden?
Its higgledy-piggledy layout, fascinating plants and occasional resident black cat makes it the most charming place to visit on a sunny afternoon. Plus Bea has bees – and her Honey Festival is sure to create a buzz.

But not everyone thinks Bea’s Garden is the bee’s knees.

The Man at the Big House next door has been a thorn in Bea’s side for the longest time, with his unnecessarily snippy letters about her beautiful climbing plants ruining his ‘clean lines’. Could he and his poisonous project manager Carla pose problems for her Festival? Or can Bea rely on the Man’s cousin – and her newest annual pass holder – Marcus Rainton to fight her corner?

With bee best friends, big black cats, a secret garden gate and a surprising identity reveal, Bea’s Garden is surely in line for its most magical summer yet!

Buying Links can be found here: Kirsty Ferry (choc-lit.com)

About the author:

Kirsty Ferry is from the North East of England and lives there with her husband and son. She won the English Heritage/Belsay Hall National Creative Writing competition in 2009 and has had articles and short stories published in various magazines. Her work also appears in several anthologies, incorporating such diverse themes as vampires, crime, angels and more.

Kirsty loves writing ghostly mysteries and interweaving fact and fiction. The research is almost as much fun as writing the book itself, and if she can add a wonderful setting and a dollop of history, that’s even better.

Her day job involves sharing a building with an eclectic collection of ghosts, which can often prove rather interesting.

You can follow Kirsty and find out more about her work here: Facebook | Twitter | website | blog 

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog, Kirsty, and for sharing this insight into the setting of Bea’s Magical Summer Garden. xx

Location, Location, Location with Caroline James.

Guest Post, Location!, , , , , , , ,
I’m pleased to welcome Caroline James to my blog, not least because her post is going to whisk us away for some Easter sun as she tells us all about her forthcoming novel, The Cruise, and the inspiration behind its exotic setting. Over to you, Caroline …

A Caribbean sunset.

‘Can you write a romcom, set in an exotic location, about three friends in their sixties, heading off on a luxury cruise?’

That was a question from my publisher when discussing the brief for my new novel, The Cruise. Yes, I most certainly could! It was a pinch myself moment when I heard the title and the subject matter. Here was an opportunity to set the novel in a place I knew well and to virtually revisit the Caribbean.

My characters are three friends in their sixties. Kath is widowed, Jane unmarried, and Anne is almost-divorced. They join the Diamond Star, a luxury ship for those of a certain age, to set sail on a Christmas cruise, little knowing how their troubled lives are about to change.

Jane, Kath and Anne.

The story gathered pace as I wrote, and the ladies journeyed through the islands. I relived a time when I, too, discovered the Caribbean, when, in my early twenties, I was married to a Bajan man. We’d met when we were both working in London.

I was a naïve young girl when I first experienced life in Barbados and the islands. Still, memories don’t fade, and my recollection of those days served me well when writing The Cruise. Characters that I saved in my story bank began to come to life. Here was an opportunity to enrich the narrative, for I was familiar with the setting. I could taste the smoky rum and feel the tropical sun on my skin. I remembered the beautiful tranquil Caribbean Sea lapping soft white sands, contrasting with the wilder Atlantic rolling over miles of empty beach, where the two seas meet at northern points on some islands.

The Caribbean Sea in Barbados.

It was a joy to take my characters to markets in Martinique or an aerial tour of Antigua. I joined them on the balcony of their cabin to witness a stunning sunrise and magical sunset where the flame-like sky was hypnotic.

The fish market women who feature in The Cruise.

My marriage didn’t last, but I had reason to revisit the Caribbean a couple of decades later when my son owned a business there. For several years I indulged in a way of life so different from my life in northern England, and Barbados became a second home.

In The Cruise, Kath, Jane and Anne take an island tour around Barbados, and I couldn’t stop smiling as I wrote the chapter. Suddenly, incidents that had amused me on the island helped shape their tour. From the taxi driver smoking whacky baccy in his weed wagon, eating chicken feet in a rum shop, then swimming unknowingly in shark-infested waters, my ladies experience it all!

Whatever location your travels take you to, take care, safe journeys and happy reading.

With love,
Caroline. x

Thank you so much for sharing your inspiration, Caroline. It was great to hear more about the location of your novel, which is my current read, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. As you would say, I am sure it is going to fly! xx

THE CRUISE

 
Three friends set sail on a luxury cruise…

Will they be able to catch a husband on the open seas?

When widowed Kath, unmarried Jane and almost-divorced Anne decide to set off on a Caribbean cruise, they have no idea how their lives are about to change! The friends leave behind heartache and disappointment and, determined to find Anne a new husband, swap Christmas turkeys and BBC reruns for crystal waters, white sandy beaches and smooth golden rum. Throwing caution (and tradition) to the wind, they begin to husband hunt on the luxurious cruise ship. But will Anne get her wish, and will the friends find the comfort and joy they seek aboard the Diamond Star? With a cast of colourful characters from naturist Bridgette, con-artist gigolo Dicky and Londoner Selwyn, who is letting his old life go as he too embraces the new – all is revealed in this sparkling new novel by Caroline James.

The Cruise – Publishing as an eBook on 20th April 2023 / Paperback July 6th 2023

Publisher: One More Chapter for Harper Collins UK

Links:  Amazon | Apple Books | Kobo

 About the author: 

Best-selling author of women’s fiction, Caroline James has owned and run businesses encompassing all aspects of the hospitality industry, a subject that often features in her novels. She is based in Lancashire but has a great fondness for travel and escapes whenever she can. A public speaker, which includes talks and lectures on cruise ships, Caroline is a member of the RNA, the SWWJ and the SOA. In her spare time, Caroline likes to swim in a local lake or walk with Fred, her Westie.

Books by Caroline James: The Spa Break | Hattie Goes to Hollywood | Boomerville at Ballymegille | The Best Boomerville Hotel | Coffee Tea the Gypsy & Me | Coffee Tea the Chef & Me | Coffee Tea the Caribbean & Me | Jungle Rock

Discover more about her novels or contact Caroline here: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Blog | Amazon Author Page | Newsletter sign up | BookBub Profile

Review of Eva Glyn’s The Collaborator’s Daughter.

Book Review, Review, Writing & Reading, , , , , , , ,

My writing buddy, Eva Glyn, who also writes as Jane Cable, has a wonderful new book coming soon. The Collaborator’s Daughter is a dual-timeline novel set in Dubrovnik. Eva will be stopping by my blog on May 5th to talk about the setting of the novel, but as I have recently finished reading an advance copy of this book, I couldn’t wait to share my review.

The blurb:

In 1944 in war-torn Dubrovnik, Branko Milisic holds his newborn daughter Safranka and wishes her a better future. But while the Nazis are finally retreating, the arrival of the partisans brings new dangers for Branko, his wife Dragica and their new baby…

As older sister to two half-siblings, Fran has always known she has to fit in. But now, for the first time in her life, Fran is facing questions about who she is and where she comes from.

All Fran knows about her real father is that he was a hero, and her mother had to flee Dubrovnik after the war. But when she travels to the city of her birth to uncover the truth, she is devastated to discover her father was executed by the partisans in 1944, accused of being a collaborator. But the past isn’t always what it seems…

Published by One More Chapter.

My review:

There is much to like about this well-researched, dual-timeline novel. Set largely in Dubrovnik in 1944 and 2010, the story follows sexagenarian Safranka, who seeks to discover the truth about her father’s life and the circumstances of his death. Fran is a likeable character, she is quick to jump to conclusions at times,  but I enjoyed her journey of discovery (in more ways than one). The people she encounters in Dubrovnik are mostly welcoming; I particularly liked Jadran, who plays a significant role in her search.

The author’s depiction of the setting transported me to Dubrovnik in both time and place. I was drawn into the story, reading it over a weekend as I willed Fran to find and recognise the truth she was searching for. Based on real events, the impact of war is shown through the far-reaching consequences for all of those touched by it; because of this, it is an emotional read.

Preorder The Collaborator’s Daughter here.

(US cover)

You’ll notice I have shared both the UK and US covers. As I read, my kindle showed the US cover, it is my favourite as a result. Which do you prefer? Either way, you can enjoy the same great story within the cover.

About the author:

Eva Glyn writes emotional women’s fiction inspired by beautiful places and the secrets they hide. She loves to travel but finds inspiration can strike just as well at home as abroad. Her books are published by One More Chapter, an imprint of Harper Collins.

Although she considers herself Welsh, Eva lives in Cornwall with her husband of twenty-six years. She also writes romance with a twist of mystery as Jane Cable.

Discover more about Eva Glyn: Facbook | Instagram | Twitter | Newsletter sign up 

In other news, my romantic comedy, The Purrfect Pet Sitter is 99p for a limited time only.  

Find out what happens with Lisa Blake rediscovers the one she let get away!

Location, Location, Location with Francesca Capaldi.

Guest Post, Location!, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Having lived in Littlehampton my whole life, I remember the Beach Hotel that once stood on the green at the seafront, and so I was intrigued to hear a radio interview in which Francesca Capaldi spoke about her historical novel, A New Start at the Beach Hotel, set in Littlehampton. Curious to know more, I invited Francesca to come on my blog and share the inspiration behind the setting of her latest novel.
Over to you, Francesca …

Thank you for inviting me, Carol. When I start a book, the idea begins with a certain character and something that has happened to them. But with A New Start at the Beach Hotel, set in 1914/15, the idea grew out of the setting.

I was coming to the end of the Wartime in the Valleys series and was keen to set the next one in Littlehampton in Sussex, where I grew up. I recalled the impressive-looking hotel on the common leading up to the beach, which had always fascinated me as a child and teenager, and it seemed the perfect setting. Luckily, my publisher, Hera Books, thought so too!

The Beach Hotel in the 1960s.

I’d never been inside the Beach Hotel and, sadly, it was pulled down in 1994; a crescent of flats was built in its place. All I had was several photographs of the outside, including some taken in the Edwardian era and one taken by my father, plus a list of staff in the 1911 census. In a way, that was better, as I was able to set it out inside in the way I wanted it, the dining room, conservatory, ballroom and so on, along with the staff quarters.

A New Start at the Beach Hotel doesn’t only take place in the hotel, of course, but in other parts of Littlehampton too. Edie, Charlie and Lili often go for walks by the beach and River Arun. Photos reveal many more activities on the beach and promenade than you’d find today. And the bandstand has gone. The tiny pier is the same, but the buildings near it, a Kursaal (later Casino Theatre), a windmill, tearoom and coast guards’ cottages, were pulled down in the early 1930s to make way for a Butlins indoor funfair. It’s now an outside amusement park. The path running past the river back in the 1910s was still level with the river’s shore, which was fully accessible, but that would be changed only a decade or so later. The warehouses, along both sides of the river in Edie’s time, are all long gone, though I do recall a few from my childhood.

The Littlehampton riverside in the early 1960s.

The characters sometimes have afternoon tea at the Harbour Tea Rooms. This did exist, sitting among the row of fisherman’s cottages next to the riverside on Pier Road, which was filled with fishermen, nets and boats. Fifteen-odd years later, that row was completely rebuilt, and many of the buildings became cafés. My father’s café was in the approximate location of the Harbour Tea Rooms, which I felt rather chuffed about when I realised.

Many parts of the town today would be instantly recognisable by somebody from 1914. The houses in the area behind the beach (what was known back then as Beach Town) are nearly all still there. The shopping streets retain many of the same buildings. The railway station, however, has been rebuilt twice since Edie’s day, whilst the Electric Picture Palace opposite (later the Regent), where she goes to see films, was pulled down in the early 1960s. I can just remember it.

Panorama of Littlehampton river and beach, taken from West Beach.

It has certainly been interesting, setting my new book in a place that is familiar, and yet at the same time, very unfamiliar. I’ve already written the second book,  All Change at the Beach Hotel, and started the third, so look forward to getting to know even more of old Littlehampton.

Thank you for that wonderful insight into the setting of your novel. I loved reading your post, Francesca. So many of the places you have spoken about are familiar to me, either from my childhood or from stories told to me by my parents and grandparents. I am looking forward to reading A New Start at the Beach Hotel. xx
About the Book

June 1914. Edie Moore is a Governess living in comfort at the grand Downland House in Sussex. But, wanting more from life, she flees in secret to Littlehampton, the place where she spent many idyllic childhood holidays.

Desperate for work, Edie begins working as a chambermaid at the prestigious Beach Hotel, even if the menial tasks are a far cry from her previous job.

Edie works hard and soon is in favour with Helen Probert, the manager’s wife, who sees that Edie is destined for bigger things.

But as she navigates her new life and finds friendship with fellow maid Lili Probert, she also grows closer to charming, cheerful porter, Charlie Cobbett.

However, what none of her new friends know is that Edie is hiding a secret from her past, one that would change the way they view her, forever. When the truth comes out, will Edie be able to keep her new life and remain in the place she loves so much?

Purchase  A New Start at the Beach Hotel here.

Other books by Francesca Capaldi:

World War 1 sagas set in the Rhymney Valley: Heartbreak in the Valleys (nominated for the Historical Romantic Award in the RoNAs 2021) | War in the Valleys | Hope in the Valleys | Trouble in the Valleys

Murder Mystery set in the Farne Islands: Danger for Daisy

About the author:

Francesca Capaldi has enjoyed writing since she was a child, largely influenced by a Welsh mother who was good at improvised storytelling. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists.

The first novel in the Wartime in the Valleys series, Heartbreak in the Valleys, was shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Historical Award 2021. Both the Valleys series and her new Beach Hotel series are published by Hera Books.

Francesca was born and brought up on the Sussex coast but currently lives in Kent with her family and a cat called Lando Calrission.

Follow Francesca on social media here: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram |Tiktok

#WritingWednesday with Chris Penhall: Writing Characters.

Guest Post, Writing Wednesday, , , , , , ,

My #WritingWednesday guest this week is fellow Ruby Fiction author Chris Penhall, talking about the benefit of writing characters as if they are in a film.

Over to you, Chris …

One of the best tips I ever had was to think about your characters and scenes as if they were in a film.  It may seem obvious, but it was a game-changer for me. I’d written my first novel, The House That Alice Built, and had some good feedback for it, but it wasn’t quite there, so I invested in a mentor who helped me get it to the finish line (i.e., it won the Choc-Lit Search for a Star Competition and was actually published).

And that was one of the things she told me to do.

I honestly think I thought that’s what I was doing. But once I really started closing my eyes and began to think about what my characters actually were doing when they were talking or where they were sitting when they were thinking, what they could hear, see and even smell,  I realised I’d been paying lip-service to it as I typed away.  (I do love the sound of a tap tap on the keyboard, especially if it’s fast, so can get carried away with volume rather than quality…)

I love watching films as much as I love reading books, so once I began to really picture each scene in my head, I enjoyed the process of writing even more.

What could Alice Matthews see when she was driven along The Avenida on the Lisbon coast in Ignacio’s yellow Rolls Royce for the very first time? As a heads up, the section of the film The Yellow Rolls Royce starring Shirley MacLaine and Alain Delon on the Italian Riviera is one of my favourite pieces of cinema – oh, the romance, the colours, the feel of it …. Alice had come from a rather grey London, and what she saw from the window of that car was full of colour and vibrancy. What was it like sitting in Ignacio’s yellow Rolls Royce at the beginning of the sequel New Beginnings at the Little House in the Sun? Another spoiler alert – there were many balloons. Why were they there?  That was easy – but also, what did they look like, what did they do, what did the car look like as it drove away?

It’s very easy to slip into writing banter when characters are having a conversation, and I have to discipline myself to slow down and think about what people do when they are talking to each other – smile, take a sip of a drink, glance out of a window – and, although I may not use all of that on the actual page, the fact I’m thinking of it as a film or television scene allows me to see it in 3D and somehow helps bring the characters to life in my mind.

Now I’m working on my sixth novel, I have already closed my eyes and plonked my main characters in the area where most of the action is set. I can see them walking around, exploring their new surroundings, having conversations and gazing out to sea (my characters always gaze somewhere…) I am seeing them in 3D, and that is what helps me to write. Even though I haven’t put any words on paper yet – my hands are poised above the keyboard so I can start next week – I am ready to move them around and start them on their new adventure.

Also – I’d love my novels to be made into films. Any producers out there? Just thought I’d ask…

Definitely worth an ask 😉 Thank you for sharing another great writing tip, Chris. xx

Books by Chris Penhall:

The House That Alice Built

Home is where the heart is … Alice Dorothy Matthews is sensible. Whilst her best friend Kathy is living it up in Portugal and her insufferable ex Adam is travelling the world, Alice is working hard to pay for the beloved London house she has put her heart and soul into renovating. But then a postcard from Buenos Aires turns Alice’s life upside down. One very unsensible decision later and she is in Cascais, Portugal, and so begins her lesson in ‘going with the flow’; a lesson that sees her cat-sitting, paddle boarding, dancing on top of bars and rediscovering her artistic talents. But perhaps the most important part of the lesson for Alice is that you don’t always need a house to be at home.

Discover more or purchase here.

New Beginnings at the Little House in the Sun

Follow your yellow brick road …. Alice Dorothy Matthews is on the road to paradise! She’s sold her house in London, got rid of her nasty ex and arranged her move to Portugal where friendship and romance awaits. All that’s left to do is find a place to call home. But Alice’s dreams are called into question when complications with friends, work and new relationships make her Portuguese paradise feel far too much like reality. Will Alice’s dream of a new home in the sun come true?

Discover more or purchase here.

Finding Summer Happiness

You won’t find happiness without breaking a few eggs …Miriam Ryan was the MD of a successful events and catering company, but these days even the thought of chopping an onion sends her stress levels sky rocketing. A retreat to the Welsh village of her childhood holidays seems to offer the escape she’s craving – just peace, quiet, no people, a generous supply of ready meals … did she mention no people? Enter a cheery pub landlord, a lovesick letting agent, a grumpy astronomer with a fridge raiding habit – not to mention a surprise supper club that requires the chopping of many onions – and Miriam realises her escape has turned into exactly what she was trying to get away from, but could that be just the thing she needs to allow a little bit of summer happiness into her life?

Discover more or purchase here.

The House on the Hill – A Summer in the Algarve

Layla is calm, in control and is definitely not about to lose her serenity for the man next door!
Surely it can’t be hard to stay peaceful at one of the oldest yoga and mindfulness retreats in the Algarve, surrounded by sea, sun and serenity? Mostly, owner Layla Garcia manages it – with the help of meditation and plenty of camomile tea, of coursekeeping her grandparents’ legacy alive is stressful, and Layla has become so shackled to the work that, for her, The House on the Hill is fast becoming ‘The Fortress on the Hill’.
Then writer Luke Mackie moves to the villa next door, bringing with him a healthy dose of chaos to disrupt Layla’s plans, plus a painful reminder of a time when she was less-than-serene. But could his influence be just what Layla needs to ‘dance like no-one’s watching’ and have the fun she’s been missing?

Discover more or purchase here.

About the author:

Chris Penhall won the 2019 Choc-Lit Search for a Star competition, sponsored by Your Cat Magazine, for her debut novel, The House That Alice Built. The sequel, New Beginnings at the Little House in the Sun was published in August 2020. They are both part of her Portuguese Paradise series of novels.

Her third novel, Finding Summer Happiness, is set in Pembrokeshire in South-West Wales and her fourth – The House on the Hill – A Summer in the Algarve, is another in her Portuguese Paradise series.

All are available in e-book, audio and paperback.

Chris is a writer and freelance radio producer for BBC Local Radio. She also has her own occasional podcast – The Talking to My Friends About Book Podcast in which she chats to her friends about books. Good title!

A lover of books, music and cats, she is also an enthusiastic salsa dancer, a keen cook, and loves to travel. She is never happier than when she is gazing at the sea.

You can find out more about Chris and her work here: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook