Thursday Chat with Jan Baynham

Today I’d like to introduce you to lovely Jan Baynham as she shares an excerpt from one of her books.

Over to you, Jan!

Extract from The Secret Sister

Claudia was entranced by the pretty, narrow streets of Castella di San Niccolò. The ones that led away from a main street, where shops displayed local crafts and produce, were so narrow it would be difficult to pass anyone even when walking. Brightly coloured ceramic pots containing plants stood on some of the steps. Looking up, she saw many buildings had balconies edged with metal railings, full of terracotta pots brimming with the fiery-red geraniums she was getting so used to seeing. Along one side of the street, she stopped to look at a beautifully detailed mosaic picture set in the wall.

A sense of place is important in all my novels and I chose this extract to illustrate how my character, Claudia, feels when she visits Sicily for the first time. It is so different to rural mid-Wales where she was born and brought up. Although the town is fictional, it was inspired by a street in beautiful Taormina.

Oh wow, Jan! These pictures bring back wonderful memories of when I used to work in Sicily. Everywhere you walk, there is a feast for the eyes and so much history. Having read your book, I know that you have captured all that in a cracking story. Thank you so much for sharing.

Love the cover and the title too.

BIO

Originally from mid-Wales, Jan lives in Cardiff. After retiring from a career in teaching and advisory education, she joined a small writing group in a local library where she wrote her first piece of fiction. In October 2019, her first collection of stories was published by Black Pear Press. Fascinated by family secrets and ‘skeletons lurking in cupboards’, Jan writes dual narrative, dual timeline novels that explore how decisions and actions made by family members from one generation impact on the lives of the next. Setting and a sense of place play an important part in all of Jan’s stories and as well as her native mid-Wales, there is always a contrasting location. She is published by Joffe Books/Choc Lit. The Secret Sister is her fourth novel.

She joined the Romantic Novelists Association in 2016 and is an active member of her local Chapter, Cariad.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Twitter – @JanBaynham

Facebook – Jan Baynham Writer

Blog – Jan’s Journey into Writing

Instagram – janbaynham

Bookbub – Jan Baynham

BUYING LINKS

amazon.co.uk

amazon.com:

CAPTIVE ON A CAROUSEL OF TIME

Long time, no chat. Life has been as busy as ever and my blog has been neglected.

 I returned from an amazing two months visiting New Zealand and Thailand and it’s been good to spread wings, see new corners of the world and re-assess where I want to go in the next months.

I fell in love with New Zealand. When I was in my twenties and living and working in Tanzania, East Africa, my husband I were offered a job in New Zealand, but at the time we discarded the idea.

I know what-ifs are negative but if it were possible to turn back the clock, I’d be sorely tempted. What a country! How beautiful! How empty! What lovely people!  What adventures we had and how we walked off our socks. I so want to return. We now have a Kiwi daughter-in-law, so if we are good, maybe we’ll be invited back.

I have another big birthday coming up next month. My clock is ticking. I want to pack as much in to the remaining years as my body and mind will allow.

Next month Bookouture is publishing Book number seven. I can’t tell you the title as yet and in fact I haven’t even seen the cover they have designed. Watch this space. But here is a hint of one of the settings.

I have decided to take a break before I start writing another novel. I need the head space and time to hunt for different ideas.  Carpe diem – it’s time to think where and what to plunge into next… It’s a phrase that’s been used again and again since Horace in 23 BCE. Nothing original about my decision.

These photos will never put over the beauty that my eyes and head experienced New Zealand, but here are a few to share with you.

I am starting Thursday Chats later this week with author friends and have asked them to share excerpts from their novels. Hopefully I’ll help you discover new books to add to your pile of to-be-reads.

Speak again in a couple of days.

Bits and Bobs…

I’ve sent off my seventh book to my editor at Bookouture. Now comes the hard work with changes, deletions and suggestions to improve the story. It always happens in autumn with the schedule I have. While I wait for my edits to return, I’m filling my time with walks, gardening, seeing friends but I still can’t switch off from the writing process. I guess it’s a part of me.

I thought I’d share some points I’ve learned about my writing process over the past years and I’d love you to contribute any tips or methods of your own that you find helpful.

“TIME AND TIDE WAIT FOR NO MAN”, wrote Geoffrey Chaucer

This is perhaps the most obvious point, but time counts so plan your writing slots. I find the mornings are best for ideas to flow. Sometimes, in the first waking minutes, a plot improvement, a new character, a change I need to make, comes more easily to my brain. So, I get up there and then, make a cup of tea and write. Work out the best time for yourself to fit in with other commitments

My editor and I plan a schedule so I have a date when I know my story must be submitted and I plan my diary around this. Each day I try to write a minimum of one thousand words. Some days it might be less, other days more if the writing flows. Even if you don’t have an editor or a deadline, you can create your own writing programme. Otherwise, the days will pass and you will lose momentum and those words will not get written. You can’t get back the minutes you waste. Also, you never know what might happen to put a spanner in your writing schedule. I fell this winter and had to have an op on my right thumb which set me back. My husband had a serious shoulder op after a nasty accident, which was a huge shock, but with a few tweaks to my schedule, I kept on track.

As you write, keep a summary of your chapters, word counts, characters, times, locations and main events. This will be invaluable when you are re-writing. Completing your first draft is only the beginning. There will be many changes and improvements to be made and there is nothing worse than sifting and scrolling through your text to find the section of your story you need to amend.

I compile my own spread sheet but other writers use programmes like Scrivener, Atticus or Papyrus Author or simply use a notebook.

Always carry a notebook and pen around with you to capture ideas, names, questions you need to research, quotes, overheard conversations etc. You’ll probably forget them otherwise.  If you prefer, you can record on your phone. Personally, I use my phone to take loads of photographs. The book I have just written takes place in Sicily, so on my research trip there, I took photos of everything and anything to stimulate my writing later on.

You never know who you might meet on your research trips, so don’t be shy. Often when strangers know you are an author, they open up. Have a card with your details at the ready and ask cheeky questions. In May I met a charming young historian whilst out walking along the sea who was only too ready to share his knowledge of the Allied invasions  of 1943 along his coastline and he turned out to be a fount of unbelievable anecdotes which have now enriched my storyline. Ask, ask, ask… “Seek and ye shall find”.

My helpful guide around the sites of the allied landings on the south eastern coast of Sicily: Giovanni Abela. He also referred me to invaluable text books and a Facebook group. Social media and the author go hand in hand, if used properly.

Your research will be extensive. You won’t need to use it all. I write historical fiction, not history books. But don’t discard ANYTHING. You never know when it might come in useful for something else: a short story, another book. Keep everything.

I had a story published this summer in a magazine and it was compiled from a writing exercise and ideas I had saved.

Remember to treat yourself too. Take breaks from your hunched-up position at your laptop. Use a timer to remind yourself to move. I have some five and ten-minute stretching exercises on my phone that I like to do. Your break doesn’t always need to be a drink and a chocolate biscuit. It’s easy to pile on pounds when you are a writer and not so easy to discard them. But do remember to spoil yourself too. And, above all, to ENJOY your writing. Don’t let the deadlines stress you out. That’s why it’s important for me to keep to my schedules if at all possible.

Relaxing today along the river Marecchia and reading. Reading is part of writing…

Don’t forget to share your own writing tips with me. The above are only a few. More to come at a later date.

As seen in Arezzo market on an afternoon off. Afternoons off are important!

Every new friend is a new adventure…

This month has been special for meeting new friends here in Italy.

Last week, Kate Bristow drove about 40 kms over the mountains from Le Marche, a region bordering Tuscany, to come and introduce herself. We spent a delightful couple of hours talking about books and other life matters.

Posing beneath Il Mulino

We have Urbino in common.  Kate divides her life between a town nearby and in America. My Italian mother-in-law hails from Urbino and I married her son in a tiny hamlet outside this beautiful city, in Castel Cavallino.

Walking around Urbino in 1977 after our wedding and forty + years later, outside the church where we married.

My latest book, The Girl who Escaped is located primarily in this beautiful, compact city. While Florence is well known as “the cradle of civilisation”, Urbino also had its golden age during the Renaissance and this walled city has the most stunning historic UNESCO world heritage centre.  And plenty of stories to be told…

At one stage, Kate confessed that when she heard I had published my new book, The Girl who Escaped, and located the story in Urbino, her heart sank. Her debut novel is to be published this autumn (see wonderful cover in the bookmark in above photograph). She uses a true story about the Nazis’ art thefts during World War Two and the courageous efforts of Pasquale Rotondi, Superintended of Arts in the region, to save many masterpieces.  She is adamant his story should be far better known; it is not only the Monuments Men who should be remembered for sterling, courageous work and she is determined to spread Rotondi’s story. 

I tried to allay her fears. Yes, my story is set in Urbino but every author has a different voice and a unique way of telling their story. I am sure her passion will shine through in her words and I cannot wait to read an early copy of Saving Madonna.  

There is room for everybody in the world of books. I can think of many stories told, for example, about Paris: Charles Dickens, “A Tale of Two Cities”; “Suite Française” by Irène Némikovsky, Ernest Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast”, “Nôtre Dame de Paris” by Victor Hugo etc and they are all very different. All classics and widely read.

I had the same worry when nearing completion of The Tuscan Secret. I read a novel with a similar story and was anxious that readers and the author would think I had copied the idea. I wrote to the author: Deborah Lawrenson and she kindly responded with the same message that I shared with Kate.

I’m not sure if this edition is still in print but if you can get hold of a second hand copy, it is a great read.

I do love the writing community and I try to share as much as I can of my experience to date. It is give and take in this world.

My next blog will include a few tips I’ve picked up along the way in this writing business. In the meantime, on with the next, set in Sicily and hopefully, to be published by #Bookouture next spring.

Before I go, may I thank all of you who have recently bought The Girl who Escaped It’s on offer until THE END OF TODAY at 99 pence/99cents on Amazon kindle

You helped me gain a bestseller sticker. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!  

Onwards!

An Unexpected Gift

Yesterday a group of four people turned up at our gate and hovered there for a while. Ours is a private road but we leave a gap next to the gate, so that visitors can safely reach the river. that runs alongside our converted mill and stable. So, my husband went up the drive to explain where the path was. It turned out that they simply wanted to know if it was the mill that features in my first book. It was an exciting event and also very humbling.

The Tuscan Secret has now been translated into Italian, with a different title: La Casa sulla Collina dei Papaveri and this was the version that one of the visitors had read and clutched in her hand.

It was a serendipitous experience and over glasses of beer, we chatted to my new friends. Bianca, who really enjoyed my book and had brought it with her (and asked me to sign it ♥♥♥), had found out details about her own father after his demise and my story spoke to her. He had spent time in Nottingham as a POW during the Second World War, working on a farm, (as a “co-operator”: a subject I covered in my third book: The Tuscan Girl).

Like many of his generation, Bianca’s father never talked about his time in the war very much. She cannot remember him ever smiling. Although he was treated well in England, it was still unbelievably hard for a young man to be separated from his family for six years. Especially true for Italians who are such family people.

 From what I gathered, the missing links were pieced together as a result of finding a photo after his death, showing a British family standing by their car. Her sister has written a short account of what she discovered when they visited England and they kindly shared the book details with me. (I’m looking forward to reading the Pdf copy they gave me and I shall keep you posted.) Apparently, they had very little to use in their research. they had the name of the farm where he had worked: Pear Tree Farm and the area. They knew roughly where their father’s prison camp had been – somewhere with a fountain in the grounds. A kind taxi driver helped them, decided he would concentrate on them for the rest of the day and would not accept a penny from them either. They eventually found the camp and a relative of the family that had been so kind to their father. A wonderful story!

We found we had a lot in common and knew some of the people I had come across in my own research. It was one of those unexpected gifts of a morning, when the goosebumps kept on coming as we shared stories.

Bianca asked to be photographed with my book in front of the old mill: Il Mulino

 As I’ve mentioned in other blogs, these memories and accounts of our lost relatives are so important. #lestweforget. I like to include as many true stories in my own books as I can, as a way of recording events and personalities that might otherwise be forgotten.  As one of our new friends commented yesterday as we shared a glass of beer: ‘If the world could only understand and appreciate what ordinary people went through during World War II, then there would be no more wars.’ If only that were true. Witness our troubled planet at the moment. We never seem to learn.

I feel sure we shall keep in touch.

I can’t tell you how much the visit yesterday meant to me. Lately I have been feeling tired and discouraged about my writing. Drained creatively, I suppose.

My last book, The Girl who Escaped, has not done as well as we expected. It’s a shame as this story has very personal connections. I based it on the true story of my Italian grandfather-in-law and his courage in WW2. It is on offer for the rest of July on Amazon, for 99 pence/99 cents.

 Over the last few years, I have written quite a few books in a relatively short space of time.  I know that some authors manage more than one book a year. But each book for me involves a ton of research and emotion and I can’t write any faster. The visit yesterday was a huge consolation to me. The fact that my first published book still moves new readers is immensely gratifying.

The Tuscan Secret

With over 13,000 ratings now and over 164,000 units sold, plus more than one million KU pages read, nobody can take that away from me.

So, if I were never to write another book, I know I shall have left something behind.

I am very grateful to my publisher, Bookouture, for helping me introduce my books to a wider audience.

I am hoping, however, that after a break, inspiration might strike again. I have the first draft of a new book almost ready to submit to my editor at Bookouture in the meantime and after that we shall see.

I would love to know how other “creatives” sustain their energy. levels and maintain the fire needed to write their books. Do let me know!

Apart from devoting more time to my family and friends in the months that follow publication of my next book, it will be good to garden, walk, play tennis, write short stories, travel more and simply pootle. I shall leave you with a couple of photos of a “village of stones” that our Finnish friends recently created recently along our stretch of the river. Marecchia. How glorious to be “busy doing nothing”.

The model village created from tiny stones of all shapes, collected from the river bed. The “architects” are all adults and enjoyed becoming children again!

The Girl who Escaped

Tomorrow is publication day for my latest book, The Girl who Escaped.

The story is very personal. Set mostly in the beautiful city of Urbino, Le Marche, Italy, where I married, and basing one of the main characters on my husband’s Italian grandfather: Nonno Luigi Micheli, I do not want it to fail.

Nonno Luigi as a young man during #ww2

Little did I know that I would write a book about the elderly man sitting next to me on September 8th 1977: my wedding day. He was so brave and an ardent Socialist. His work as registrar in the city town hall helped him change details in the census, thereby saving the lives of many Jews.

In the photograph below, I’m next to him and Nonna outside the abbey church of Castel Cavallino, a few miles from Urbino, on my wedding day. I used this location too in my new book as the clandestine meeting place of a fledgling partisan group. Fact and fiction combined to help me create a story I felt needed to be told. Jews were far safer in Italy during the war and that is due to so many Italians risking their own lives to save them. The numbers speak for themselves:

At the end of September 1943, in occupied Italy, there were 38,994 Jews (33,452 Italian Jews and 5,542 foreign Jews). Approximately 80% of Jews in Italy survived. In the rest of occupied europe, approximately 80% perished.

I’ve been without internet for a few days here in Italy, so I was overjoyed (and extremely grateful) to find a 5-star review on Netgalley (where readers can review advance copies of new books). It’s an agonising time, waiting nervously for a book to be published. Will anybody like it? A book takes me about a year to write. It takes hours to read. So, this review is such a gift to a worried soul. Many thanks.

Wow, what another captivating on-the-edge-of-your-seat story by Angela Petch! The detail in this narrative is stunning. The knowledge from her personal research has added another layer of authenticity. By the end of the story, I certainly felt as if I had walked a mile in the shoes of Devora, an Italian Jew, and others. Her friend, Luigi was a favourite. Devoted, gentle, unselfish and caring. And, Enrico, the other man in her sphere, was cut from quite a different cloth. Self-absorbed and often seeking gratification for himself. And as Devora says, ‘elusive and mysterious as ever.’ Devora’s infatuation with Enrico initially clouds her vision but her feelings for him go through some changes with the passage of time. At one point, trust is challenged with thoughts of possible betrayal. That question mark hangs heavy over her life. 

I have to say I admired Devora’s feistiness, her desire to focus on medicine, to contribute to the war with the best talents she had. Her steadfastness and love for her family were also quite heart-warming, even lasting well beyond their differences. 

There is little joy for the characters in this novel. With war comes separation from families and premature death. I felt so often the pain and anguish of the Jewish people who were treated badly for their faith. The needless torture and hardship the war imposed on such innocent souls broke my heart and Angela delivered this reality in such a profound way (as she always does). The racial laws meant they were constantly on the move seeking hiding places. Never safe, always filled with fear. The one shining thing in this whole mess was how the kindness of strangers flooded their lives. There were people who took risks to save those who did not deserve to be hunted down like animals by legions of Hitler’s soldiers. 

But there are moments of reprieve: places that become special to those needing solace. Devora has an olive tree where she likes to go. The knobbly trunk gives her comfort. Olive trees represent peace. Whether this is why she feels a sense of calm under its branches, I don’t know but it is a nice thought: this symbol of something she and all those caught in the ugly war desired with all their hearts. Ida also speaks of the grove and how her ‘tears have watered’ it: a sentiment echoed by Devora. Together they bury the family’s candlestick (menorah) beneath the tangled roots of an olive tree with Ida saying a prayer for peace. It is a very moving scene, knowing they must move on, leave all they love to flee danger. But will there be any place they will be free? As they move like ‘tall shadows in the eerie light’ Devora feels ‘each step’ is ‘like a long goodbye.’ 

The story also addresses love: who should expect it? The views of the era are echoed in Anna Maria’s words when Devora asks her if she has ever been in love. ‘Do you think it’s possible for a woman like me to be in love? A woman past her prime, not beautiful, uneducated, with no dowry to her name?’ Devora’s response to her is so true: “I don’t think any of those are necessary for a woman…to have feelings.” Of course, we learn more about Anna Maria’s past love and what happened, her loss and disappointment.

Besides grief, this story does have moments of hope. Though there will be great loss for many of the characters, maturity brings to light a lasting love in Devora’s life. And possibly the opportunity to forgive. Or not.

I found the ending truly excellent. Like Devora, I whispered, too, ‘I’ll never forget you.’ This deeply moving novel pierced my heart and made me feel the anguish of the victims. I longed as Devora, to wave a magic wand and see these people ‘return to their carefree days before war had shattered their lives.’ … ‘to banish despots and ensure nobody died prematurely in such barbaric ways.’ This novel is a testament to the Jewish people’s suffering and their resilience. And of those who were saved—those who managed to escape. It also brings to light the internment camps in Italy and how they were different from the rest of Europe. 

I believe Angela Petch accomplishes her mission to show that ‘goodness exists amidst evil’. For the generosity of spirit rose up once Italy joined the allies in 1943. This, as I mentioned before, is the shining grace of this story. I highly recommend this outstanding novel. The Girl Who Escaped deserves to be remembered. 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for my review copy.

I went up to London

Over four years ago, Granny went up to London to visit her publishers. https://angelapetchsblogsite.wordpress.com/2019/12/20/granny-goes-up-to-london/

This is a sequel: “Granny Does It Again”.

London is still busy, the skyline etched with construction cranes and new skyscrapers. (I spied some that my lovely travelling companion/hubby was involved with in his other unretired life: the Cheese Grater and the Walkie Talkie). Commuters looked tired and preoccupied, but I enjoyed eavesdropping on a lively, fresh-faced group of young Spanish families on their city break. It’s good to see life returning to the city once again.

I listened to one of the Spanish mothers translate this for her young son. Not easy!

On the tube, I enjoyed reading the underground poetry and tried to look at the notes to share with my editor at Bookouture, but I’m too nosey – other passengers distracted me, and I managed to drop my pen and papers on the floor. Far better to examine the people and surroundings and remember them for future scribbles.

This time we stayed overnight with Rose, whom my husband has known for longer than me. Her home for almost forty years has been in Richmond and we enjoyed the ‘villagey’ vibe that evening.

Lovely Rose and Maurice outside her Georgian home in Richmond

Richmond theatre, on The Green

We all met in the magical 70s in Sicily, the location of my work in progress (hopefully to be published in 2024). There was a lot to talk about. “Do you remember…?”; “What happened to?…” etc.  I know we are all the age we are now, but we don’t feel what we think we ought to feel – if you see what I mean. Long may it last. (Although I do have to say that my mirror tells me I look like my mother, rather than the twenty-something I was during our Sicilian period).

Grown-up Granny travelled alone to Blackfriars and the Thames Embankment to visit the impressive Bookouture office and team. I was then was taken out for lunch in the equally impressive Oxo Brasserie by my lovely young editor, whom I’ve been with since the start.

We chatted a lot about the way forward and brainstormed some of my (rather zany) ideas for my Sicilian story. It was a good day and I’m feeling positive again and ready to go. Next stop: the delicious prospect of a Spanish writing retreat in Andalucia with the excellent Rosanna Ley and… publication of my latest book in April. My editor hinted at the cover design and title, which I hope to be able to reveal to you soon. Think Urbino, think beautiful buildings and fingers crossed I will love it.

Living the life, I think they say. Feeling blessed.

Location of 2024 histfic

Be good to yourself…

Even though I’m retired, I find that life seems to get busier by the day. We have six grandchildren now and it is a joy to be able to look after them when we spend our six months in England. In Italy we have a small holiday business and a large plot of land to tend to.

Writing is also a joy but I have to know how to balance everything. For me, I have to be in a quiet place to be creative and that isn’t always easy. I don’t mean physically quiet: I mean to have time to think.

I so admire mothers who still have children at home, hold down jobs and are also writers. Carol Thomas is an author friend with an extended family and I chatted to her about how she manages her time. I would love to receive thoughts from others about their strategies for a good work/life balance.

Over to lovely Carol:

Being a mum to four children (three still living at home), a full-time teacher, and a romance writer is both fulfilling and challenging. Writing time has to be balanced with family time and meeting my professional responsibilities in ways it never did when I started writing –over four novels, two children’s books, and ten years ago; but, despite the demands of life, I am finding my way.

Instead of waiting for a free weekend or taking an extended amount of time to write (as I used to), I aim to utilise the small pockets of time I have during the week. I think about my plot in the shower or on the drive to work. I write when my daughter is doing football training, or my children are swimming; I take time between the end of my working day and my local coffee shop closing. This occasional half an hour or an hour (if I am lucky) becomes valuable.

As much as I aspire to be as productive as I used to be before life got so busy, I have learnt to accept that progress is often slow. Writing requires concentration and focus, which can be challenging to achieve with multiple distractions or time pressures.

I remind myself that small steps are still progress, no matter how insignificant they may seem when my word count hovers around the same number, or I am still writing on the same chapter when I want to be moving on. I try to remember that every step counts towards my final goal.

As a writer, I have the habit of editing, sometimes extensively, as I go. This can feel (and probably sometimes is) counterproductive, especially with limited time. I know other writers who aim to get their thoughts and ideas on paper, even if they are not perfect, producing what they might call a first, messy draft. I wish I could be more like that, as it would be easier to see the progress in my word count. But what I have learnt, is to trust my process and to have faith in it.

For anyone with a busy life trying to find time to write, I would say utilise small pockets of time and celebrate small milestones. Find and trust what works for you, know your go-to places where you have (mental and physical) space to write, and remember to be patient and persistent. The small steps you take each day will eventually lead you to achieve your writing goals.

About A Summer of Second Chance:

A heart-warming romance full of love, friendship and four legged friends!

Does first love deserve a second chance?

Ava Flynn sometimes feels like the clothes donated to her charity shop have seen more life than her, but ‘maximum dedication for a minimal wage’ is what it takes to keep her mother’s beloved wildlife charity, All Critters Great and Small, running especially in the village of Dapplebury, where business is certainly not booming.

But when Ava’s first love, Henry Bramlington, returns to the village, suddenly life becomes a little too eventful. Henry escaped Dapplebury many years before, but now he has the power to make or break the village he left behind All Critters Great and Small included. Can Ava trust the boy who ran away to give both her and her charity a second chance?

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Published by: Choc Lit

Buying Links:

Amazon: http://getbook.at/SOSCAmazon

Other books by Carol Thomas

Maybe Baby: http://getbook.at/MBAmazon

The Purrfect Pet Sitter: http://getbook.at/TPPSAmazon

Crazy Over You: http://getbook.at/COYAmazon

About the Author:

Carol Thomas lives on the south coast of England with her husband and four children. She has been a primary school teacher for over twenty years and has a passion for reading, writing and people watching. Whenever the opportunity arises, Carol can be found loitering in local cafes drinking too much tea and working on her next book.

Carol writes contemporary romance novels, with relatable heroines whose stories are layered with emotion, sprinkled with laughter and topped with irresistible male leads.

Website and Social Media Links:

Home

http://carol-thomas.co.uk/blog

http://facebook.com/carolthomasauthor

Tweets by carol_thomas2

https://www.instagram.com/carol_thomas2/

Thanks so much, Carol, for sharing your precious time with us.

Good luck with all your writing and home life xxx

Fit for purpose …

Do you properly take time out for yourself? Allow time for nurture? It could be something as simple as a soak in a bubble bath, listening to a favourite piece of music, curled up on the settee wrapped in a blanket, reading? Or – my favourite – going for a walk.

I needed “me-time” today. The rain was sheeting down horizontally, the trees whipping their bare branches back and forth as if scratching the sullen sky. I have a long list of “to-do” things to cross off (including dreaded housework), but I wanted to be outside. Recently there have been many hours spent doing edits on my next book, slumped over my laptop in our cold cottage. (We are trying to keep the heating off and I look a sight: plaid blanket over my knees, wearing a thick hand-knitted jumper and mittens). Outside, today looked cold too, but forth I sallied armed with waterproof trousers, walking boots, anorak and gloves and hat. And, of course my rucksack with fruit, water, notebook and pen (essential) and… my bus pass. I love this aspect of being a senior! Freedom without the pain of parking. Hardly anybody was about (I wonder why?) And the bus was almost empty, despite it being Saturday morning. The rain and wind lashed against the top deck window and I settled into doing little else but observing. High up, with a different perspective, you can nose into people’s back gardens along the route and I started to wonder about the occupants. My mind doesn’t stay still for long.  Story ideas seeped into my head.

 

What if I’d witnessed a murder through one of the bedroom windows in the houses we’d passed? Out came my pen. The man in the seat across the aisle began to pick his nose (yuck) and I immediately cast him as a baddie… serves him right. The bus stopped outside a florist’s shop: “Sweet peas and honey bees.” I imagined who the owner might be, when and why he had opened it. What was his backstory?

It was still raining and I noticed rain beads on top branches and along the puddled-street plucky dog walkers dressed in all-weather gear. Unexpectedly, the war in Ukraine came into my head. How lucky we are to be able to do everyday things like walking pets and travelling on the top-deck of a bus without fear of death. And I thought about other places on the globe… Here, I don’t have to wear a headscarf and cover my body from head to toe or worry about speaking my mind about injustices. We have so much freedom that we take too much for granted.

My plan was to walk from the seaside town of Littlehampton back home, mostly along the beach. (About 12 kilometres). This would include a pit-stop for tea and cake (why not?) and a rummage in a charity shop along route for whatever…  I say “whatever”, because I don’t set out to find a particular item in a thrift/charity shop. It doesn’t work like that. Expect the unexpected*.

I accomplished my mission, dear reader. The sun peeped out for a few minutes and it stopped raining. And now I feel nurtured, calmer and ready to go with the next round of edits. A little bit of stress is good for us but we must make sure we don’t overload the stress. Find positive ways of dealing with it if you can. You don’t necessarily have to spend a fortune on counsellors or psychiatrists. If you’re able, stop and observe the world, take time to breathe slowly and still your anxieties.

Euphorbia in the rain

What strategies do you have? I’d love to hear about them.

*p.s. my charity shop haul included a long skirt, two tops (Joules and East) – total spend: less than a fiver. Bargains!

Research and “small discoveries”…

Congratulations to Angela Barton on the recent publication of her #historicalnovel, Spring Breeze , set in France, during World War Two. It’s another triumph for this talented author, artist and friend, whom I greatly admire.

I’m always interested in how authors carry out their research and I shall be blogging about this very soon. Here is a taster: Angela spoke to me about her trip to Paris and a discovery she made.

“I love researching for a story because every small discovery gets my mind whirring with ideas. Who can discover this, or what can I make happen here? While researching for Spring Breeze I went deep below the city of Paris into the miles of catacombs. I knew exactly which character I was going to place there. Absolutely nothing can beat visiting a certain place that will feature in your book. No amount of reading about the catacombs would have made me feel the way I did when I could touch, smell, hear, see and absorb the atmosphere by being there. I’d read about the macabre displays of bones piled high in patterns, but seeing them for myself made describing them so much more realistic. Maybe I should write about a tropical island paradise for my next novel, because research is so important for a story to be realistic!

I remember this scene well. Surprisingly, the conditions in the catacombs turned out to be more comfortable than I imagined. But, goodness, how awful to have to resort to hiding away underground. Angela’s comment about nothing beating visiting the locations we write about, comes up time and time again with authors I speak to.

I gave 5 stars to this important book. Four years earlier, I devoured Angela Barton’s Arlette’s Story and I’ll post both my reviews below.

Keep them coming, Angela! And thank you for the reads.

My review of Spring Breeze (Five stars)

“This was a book I couldn’t put down. It works well on so many levels.

Usually, we read more about the background to the writing in the acknowledgments at the end, but I found the opening lines in the Foreword extremely poignant. And I prefer it this way round because we were immediately immersed in something that we know to be true and shameful. Angela Barton explains early on that Operation Spring Breeze took place in Paris in July 1942, when Jews were kept in the Vélodrome d’Hiver for several days in awful conditions, before being transported in cattle trucks to concentration camps.

So, right from the outset, we know this is not going to be a sugar and spice read.

However, L.R. Knost’s words, also in the Foreword: “The Broken world awaits in darkness for the light that is you”, give a hint of what might come. Will the human spirit triumph? Are we going to read something ultimately positive?

You will have to read this moving book for yourselves to find out, but I love the way we see the heroine, Mathilde, mature from a young woman (who has not really “grown up”) to a character to totally admire because of the road she decides to take. She has worked previously in a Parisian auction house and the Wehrmacht need her for important work. Will she be accused of colluding with the enemy?

The historical detail merges perfectly with the narrative and I was right there in the terrifying world of occupied Paris, where the only people who do not have empty bellies are the Germans and the collaborators, and where fear is palpable.

The hero, Corporal Hans Engel, is an interesting character. And we also see him develop throughout events. His dilemma adds to the tension and conflict, increasing the drama. No spoilers.

The slow seeds of resistance in Operation Breeze grow stronger and stronger and we are presented with conflict and knife-edge moments a-plenty. At the start, we hear that “small victories … [are] victories nonetheless…” The courage of ordinary people is powerfully portrayed in this story. There are also some twists which I didn’t see coming.

Angela Barton is a very creative lady and I liked the way her painterly descriptions fitted one of the main themes of the story: art theft. I highlighted many lines – too many to report here.

“With each gust of wind, raindrops blew like silver beads from trees and hedges.”

“… the sky, the colour of watered-down milk”

My thanks to Angela Barton for giving me the chance to read an early copy. I went on to buy the book; I wanted it in my library. Five stars, without a doubt.

Another gorgeous cover, with a link to my review below

My review, also 5 stars