Christmas Reading

-

Christmas this year is going to be very strange after the events of 2020 and Covid-19. Last December seems a lot longer than just  a year ago and the way of life under the pandemic has almost become normal now.  I never really do very much over Christmas, anyway, apart from take some time off work, have a rest from routine, and catch up on things I don't have time to do at other times of the year. But one of my favourite indulgences over the festive period is reading and this year is no exception. 


One of the books on my reading list is The Turning Tides by Jane Fenwick, the second in her trilogy of  seafaring sagas set on the north east coast of England. I got to know Jane and her work when I created a website for her a couple of years ago and since then her books have become a must on my shelves, both for their engrossing story lines that really draw you in and also for her vivid and evocative sense of time and place. 

I'm also revisiting some old and well-worn novels. As I'm writing historical fiction at the moment, I've been delving into the books of my go-to historical authors.  So I'm planning to re-read Katherine and Green Darkness by Anya Seton and Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor over the next couple of weeks, not just as background to the period but for the enjoyment of being swept far away, for an hour or two at least, from the wind and rain outside the window to the colour and pageantry of the distant past.   

 



Merry Christmas and all good wishes for 2021!

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

RNA Conference 2016

-
The annual Romantic Novelists' Conference is one of the highlights of my calendar, and this year was no exception. Held at Lancaster University, the venue was lovely even if the weather wasn't exactly sultry and summer-like.  Getting together with good friends over a bottle or three of Prosecco was the absolute high spot of a wonderful couple of days. The sessions were interesting and inspiring, among them HQ Harper Collins 'Reaching the Top in Commercial Fiction,' Vasiliki Scurfield on 'Writing the Foreign Hero' and Kate Walker on 'Emotional Punch.' One of the most illuminating sessions, from my point of view at least, was Sonia Duggan's workshop on 'Rekindling your Romance with Writing.'  Having been writing for almost ten years and as yet unpublished, this one really struck a chord with me.  Sonia gave us an exercise on composing a Dear John letter to our writing and what I wrote both surprised and shocked me and, for the first time, I was...
Read more

RNA Conference 2018

-
Image
As a writer, the annual conference is definitely the highlight of the year for me and, surprisingly, it seems to come around quickly each time. This year was no exception and, from counting down the months, then the weeks, then the days, suddenly I was packing and wondering which shoes would go with which dress! Welcome with Nicola Cornick and Jan Jones This year, the conference was in Leeds Trinity University, a campus just outside Headingly. Leeds is a lovely city but I didn't see anything of it beyond the train station. Horsforth, where the campus is located, was really nice though, and I enjoyed a short and pleasant walk from the train station to the campus with HMB author Rachael Thomas . The conference sessions were useful and enjoyable and included a double presentation from Mills and Boon. This began with editors from the longer 'Trade' imprint giving a summary of the recent rebranding of the company, and concluded with the Series editors outlin...
Read more

Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus - Happy St David's Day!

-
Image
Okay, I am a bit late posting a happy St David's Day  here, but as it isn't officially a public holiday in Wales - at least not yet - most people are celebrating it today, Saturday.  I imagine that many leeks and Welsh cakes are still being consumed even as I write, though sadly, this year, Dydd Gwyl Dewi Day has rushed up at me rather, and was gone before I knew it! My publisher, Mills & Boon, remembered however, and put together this fabulous image for my Warriors of Wales series - the daffodils are my addition!  The first in the series, The Warrior's Reluctant Wife , was out in September 2023 and the second, The Warrior's Forbidden Maiden , will be out in June. This second book features the Abbey of Ystrad Fflur (Strata Florida) where the Life of Dewi Sant was possibly preserved after the Normans demoted the mother church of Llanbadarn, where it was written by Rhigyfarch, son of Bishop Sulien. The story features the Life of another saint, almost as revered in th...
Read more