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Tiger Porten (Trade Winds)

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Storm över Högländerna

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Vientos Alisios (Trade Winds)

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Tormentas en las Tierras Altas

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Nieblas Mónzonicas

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El Beso Secreto de la Obscuridad

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El Suave Susurro de los Sueños

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El Kimono Escarlata

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The Inspiration behind Trade Winds

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Iinspiration for The Secret Kiss of Darkness

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The Inspiration behind Monsoon Mists

Monsoon Mists published by Choc LitThis is a historical romance and adventure story, set in India in 1759, and it's the third book in my Kinross series (although it can be read as a stand-alone). I hadn't planned to write a trilogy at all and when I finished the first book in the series, Trade Winds, I thought I was done with the Kinross family, but the characters just wouldn't leave my head. I ended up writing the second book, Highland Storms, about Brice, the son of the couple in Trade Winds. In that story, his younger brother Jamie seemed to be the villain of the piece, but he had his reasons and he wouldn't stop nagging me until I'd written down his take on it too. In the end I did, and I'm glad because I've enjoyed spending more time with this family.

So Monsoon Mists features Jamie Kinross, a man who is trying to escape his past and needs to get as far away from his native country of Sweden as possible. In the 1750s that usually meant going to the Far East, but as his brother and parents had already been there, he decides on India instead.

He eventually becomes a gem trader and ends up embarking on a dangerous mission, carrying the stolen talisman of an Indian Rajah.

This was great for me, because it allowed me to spend a lot of 'research' time looking at collections of fantastic jewels and gemstones - mostly in museums, but also in jewellery shops in Old Bond Street in London. Not a hardship at all!

From an author's point of view, I was also glad Jamie chose to go to India because I found a wonderful journal from that time with an account of a Swedish man's journey to Surat in the 1750s - Christopher Hinric Braad. This allowed me to see things through his eyes which was very helpful. And having already written about China and Japan, I wanted to try something new and exciting.

The book definitely works as a stand-alone, but it is probably more satisfying for the reader if they have read books 1 and 2 first as there will be things they recognise and little snippets of information about characters from the previous stories. And the ending, where everything comes together, includes characters from the previous books who have cameo roles in this one. So if you have the time, I'd recommend reading all three, but it's not essential!

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New on Kindle

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Suzannah with Brigid Coady at the RoNAs, 2013

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Sue Moorcroft with Suzannah & Brigid Coady at the RoNAs, 2013

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2013 RT Booklovers Convention Kansas City Poster

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The Silent Touch of Shadows Background

I first started writing this story many years ago, after I'd stayed at an old manor house (see photo below) which was reputed to be haunted. The owners told me they'd seen the ghost, a handsome man who looked as though he'd been there since the house was built some time during the late fifteenth century. This intrigued me and I started to wonder what would make someone's soul hang around a place for that length of time - it had to be something fairly traumatic!

I began to make up a story to account for this, and being a huge admirer of time slips, where the present and the past are interwoven, I decided that was what I wanted to write. The Silent Touch of Shadows slowly evolved from there.

The ghost must have lived during the time of the Wars of the Roses, a very turbulent period in English history. I had to read up on it in order to see where he fitted in and this gave me lots of ideas as well.

Since I'm a keen amateur genealogist, I decided my heroine should be a professional one - that would give her the knowledge needed to research the house's history and thereby find out what had happened to the ghost.

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Inspiration for Highland Storms

Highland Storms is the sequel to Trade Winds. Some sequels just seem to happen by themselves - it's often hard for an author to let go of characters once a book is finished and the temptation to continue with the next generation or another family member is very difficult to resist. I guess it's like when you read a really good book and you feel sad to have to say goodbye to people who you feel you know well. If you're the author, you don't have to - you can just carry on with another family member or the next generation. Sometimes certain characters cry out to have their own story told, but that wasn't the case here as Brice Kinross was only a baby in Trade Winds. However, I knew already then that he was special - not many foreign babies were born in China in those days and he had to be tough to have survived the journey back to Sweden so he was obviously good hero material!

I've always loved books set in Scotland and read everything I can get my hands on about the Jacobite rebellion, which fascinates me. When I realised that Killian and Jess's son would be coming of age only eight years after the battle of Culloden, I knew I had to write about him going back to his father's homeland. And as I started to research this period in history, the more I read about the horrible way the Highlanders were treated, the more outraged I became. It was the perfect scenario for a hero - coming to take over an estate where he's seen as an outsider, a potential enemy, even though he's actually the good guy.

I also love Scotland and take any chance I can to visit - please take a look at the 'Travel/Research' pages for some gorgeous photos of the Highlands and some of the settings I used for Highland Storms.

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Inspiration for the Scarlet Kimono

As I've mentioned, I had the good fortune to live in Japan for a few years and this proved to be great inspiration for my writing. I found everything about this country intriguing and started to read about its culture and history. I was especially interested in Japan's reaction to the foreign traders and missionaries that arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries, but disappointed to find that they were all men.

It started me thinking though - what if a European woman had gone there? What would have been the reaction of the Japanese to a pretty female foreigner? Perhaps they would have viewed her differently to the somewhat coarse men who had come to their shores. And then I tried to imagine what it would be like for a young 17th century English girl to arrive in a country that was so completely different to anything she was used to. If she should happen to meet a powerful and handsome Japanese samurai warlord, how could she do anything other than fall in love? And so the heroine of The Scarlet Kimono, Hannah Marston, was born.

The hero of the book, Taro Kumashiro, was based on the legendary Japanese sumo wrestler Yokozuna (champion) Chiyonofuji (aka. The Wolf). This may seem like a strange choice, but I had the pleasure of meeting him once and his smile could melt any girl's heart. Check out the photo below and see what you think! (And do please let me know if you agree with me.) For more information on Chiyonofuji, click here.

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Chiyonofuji Mitsugu

Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, the 58^th Yokozuna (champion) of Sumo wrestling, nick-named The Wolf.

This unusual wrestler revolutionised the sport by doing weight training - he was known for being able to literally lift much heftier opponents out of the ring, some as much as twice his size! He became a champion at the age of 26 (in July 1981) and was one of the most successful sumo wrestlers ever. His explosive speed and muscular body helped him to secure victory after victory and the slightest hesitation on the part of his opponents always resulted in a loss for them. When he retired in 1991, aged 35, the sport lost one of its undisputed stars.

Like all sumo wrestlers, he lived and trained at a so called 'stable' in Tokyo and I was lucky enough to visit once, together with a group of family and friends. We were allowed to sit at the edge of the training hall and watch their morning routine, and Chiyonofuji was amazing. Despite his size, he was able to do the splits and we were fascinated to see his training methods. Afterwards, he graciously came to say hello and allowed us to take some photos. It was a day I will never forget.

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Chiyonofuji Mitsugu

Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, the 58^th Yokozuna (champion) of Sumo wrestling, nick-named The Wolf.

This unusual wrestler revolutionised the sport by doing weight training - he was known for being able to literally lift much heftier opponents out of the ring, some as much as twice his size! He became a champion at the age of 26 (in July 1981) and was one of the most successful sumo wrestlers ever. His explosive speed and muscular body helped him to secure victory after victory and the slightest hesitation on the part of his opponents always resulted in a loss for them. When he retired in 1991, aged 35, the sport lost one of its undisputed stars.

Like all sumo wrestlers, he lived and trained at a so called 'stable' in Tokyo and I was lucky enough to visit once, together with a group of family and friends. We were allowed to sit at the edge of the training hall and watch their morning routine, and Chiyonofuji was amazing. Despite his size, he was able to do the splits and we were fascinated to see his training methods. Afterwards, he graciously came to say hello and allowed us to take some photos. It was a day I will never forget.

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Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, 58^th Yokozuna of Sumo

Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, the 58^th Yokozuna (champion) of Sumo wrestling, nick-named 'The Wolf'.

This unusual wrestler revolutionised the sport by doing weight training - he was known for being able to literally lift much heftier opponents out of the ring, some as much as twice his size! He became a champion at the age of 26 (in July 1981) and was one of the most successful sumo wrestlers ever. His explosive speed and muscular body helped him to secure victory after victory and the slightest hesitation on the part of his opponents always resulted in a loss for them. When he retired in 1991, aged 35, the sport lost one of its undisputed stars.

Like all sumo wrestlers, he lived and trained at a so called 'stable' in Tokyo and I was lucky enough to visit once, together with a group of family and friends. We were allowed to sit at the edge of the training hall and watch their morning routine, and Chiyonofuji was amazing. Despite his size, he was able to do the splits and we were fascinated to see his training methods. Afterwards, he graciously came to say hello and allowed us to take some photos. It was a day I'll never forget.

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Hina Dolls Lady Attendant

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Raglan Castle seen from its highest viewpoint

When I moved to Herefordshire, I discovered that I lived fairly close to Raglan Castle. As I can never resist anything like that, I went to have a look and became captivated by the sad tale of how a once magnificent castle became what it is today - a beautiful ruin. It inspired me to write The Velvet Cloak of Moonlight which I hope gives an accurate account of the castle's final days before it was destroyed forever.

It all happened at the end of the English Civil War, in 1646. At that time, Raglan was owned by the Marquis of Worcester, a staunch Royalist who had supported King Charles I throughout the war, both by giving him lots of money but also by sending troops. The Marquis was an elderly gentleman, nearly 70, but still formidable and very stubborn. As most of the Royalist forces and strongholds had surrendered to the Parliamentarians by the beginning of the summer, he must have known he was fighting a losing battle, but he still decided to make a last stand.

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Raglan Castle, the new gate

The Parliamentarians came to lay siege to the castle, and the Marquis and his garrison of 800 men (and some women and children) held out for nearly ten weeks. In the end, however, they had no choice but to surrender, and on the 19th August 1646 they marched out through the gates for the last time. Lord Worcester was taken prisoner and escorted to London (where he died soon after of natural causes so was never tried), while everyone else was allowed to leave unharmed as long as they promised not to bear arms against Parliament again.

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Raglan Castle, the oriel window

Just to make sure no one else could use the castle against them, the Parliamentarian troops did their best to destroy the buildings but there is enough of it left for visitors to get a good idea of what it must have been like. I love it and find it very atmospheric - well worth a visit if you're ever passing!

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Plymouth Merchant's House

Plymouth seems to have been the only west country town to have held out for the Parliamentarian cause throughout the English Civil War, and I found it very interesting to research this period of the town's history. Personally, I have always favoured the Royalists (well, I am a romantic novelist and what could be more romantic than the Cavaliers?), but for this story, I had to argue the case for the opposition, as it were, which was fascinating.
In order to study the layout of the town, I visited Plymouth several times, and in particular the so called Merchant's House, which is from the 17th century. I was able to use it as the setting for my heroine's relatives and seeing it firsthand made it much easier to envisage her reactions upon arrival.

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The Nice People in Plymouth Gave Me a Musket to Hold

I also researched lots of other things to do with this period, of course, and among other things I had a very enjoyable day out at 1646 Torrington, in Great Torrington in Devon. There they have a permanent exhibition about the time of the English Civil War. Visitors are given talks on things like clothing, weapons and medicine for this period and I had a wonderful time imagining myself back in 1646. Although I didn't get to try on the women's clothing (someone else did that), I wore a man's leather jerkin (which was amazingly heavy due to the fact that it was made of thick buffalo hide!), a Puritan style felt hat and I was given a musket to hold.

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How to Correctly Hold a Pikestaff

Later, I learned how to load and fire the musket (in principle only, I didn't actually shoot or anything) and how to fight with a pike as part of a 'hedge-pig' formation.

Finally, I had a lesson in medicinal plants, which came in very handy when my hero and heroine needed medical treatment!

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Meeting Highland Cattle with my Daughter

We drove around to look at the Highlands in general and had a look at several places which I later used as background for my fictional Scottish estate. I also stuck my hand in a loch to make sure the water wasn't too cold for swimming in (it wasn't, although I'd prefer not to try it for myself).

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Tokyo Street Scene

Japan is a fascinating country and I feel very lucky to have lived there, albeit only for three years. I recently went back, ostensibly for research reasons, but a little retail therapy was of course also necessary (although perhaps five suitcases full might be considered just a little bit OTT?).

I love everything about Japan - the food, the people, their orderly way of doing everything - and Tokyo is a great place to start. I'm always amazed at the way skyscrapers and modern buildings co-exist happily with traditional places like temples and shrines. You never know what you're going to encounter next, which makes every excursion exciting. The Sensoji temple at Asakusa is definitely worth a visit, as is the fish market at Tsukiji, Harajuku with all its crazy shops (and shoppers!) and Yoyogi Park where one can find anything from 50's style boppers jiving to their favourite music to heavy metal bands playing to an audience of three. Great stuff!

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Asukasa Temple

Another favourite place of mine is Kyoto, which seems to be an entirely different kind of city. Here the pace of life is slower and one is enveloped by a feeling of old Japan and the sense of tradition. Spectacular temples (Kiyomizu-dera up on the hills overlooking the town and Kinkakuji - the Golden Pavilion - set in perfect landscaped gardens for example), the old town where real geishas can be seen strolling around and in the centre of Kyoto, Nijo Castle, one of the former homes of the Shogun. This is well worth a visit if only to walk on the so called nightingale floor.

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Himeji Castle

Another favourite place of mine is Kyoto, which seems to be an entirely different kind of city. Here the pace of life is slower and one is enveloped by a feeling of "old Japan" and the sense of tradition. Spectacular temples (Kiyomizu-dera up on the hills overlooking the town and Kinkakuji - the Golden Pavilion - set in perfect landscaped gardens for example), the old town where real geishas can be seen strolling around and in the centre of Kyoto, Nijo Castle, one of the former homes of the Shogun. This is well worth a visit if only to walk on the so called \'nightingale floor&\#39;.

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Dejima Main Street, Looking towards Nagasaki

Finally, I also went to Nagasaki and specifically Dejima, the tiny man-made island near the harbour there. It was built in the shape of the Shogun's fan and was the only place the Dutch traders were allowed to stay from 1641 to 1853. They couldn't so much as set foot on the mainland, which must have been extremely frustrating for them. After having been lost for years due to landfill all around it, the Dejima site has recently been excavated and some of the original buildings reproduced in order to show visitors what it used to be like. It was wonderful to see it, having read so much about it, and I can thoroughly recommend a visit if you are ever in Nagasaki.

In fact, any part of Japan is worth visiting, it's simply a wonderful country!

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Me with Model of Dejima

Finally, I also went to Nagasaki and specifically Dejima, the tiny man-made island near the harbour there. It was built in the shape of the Shogun's fan and was the only place the Dutch traders were allowed to stay from 1641 to 1853. They couldn't so much as set foot on the mainland, which must have been extremely frustrating for them. After having been lost for years due to landfill all around it, the Dejima site has recently been excavated and some of the original buildings reproduced in order to show visitors what it used to be like. It was wonderful to see it, having read so much about it, and I can thoroughly recommend a visit if you are ever in Nagasaki.

In fact, any part of Japan is worth visiting, it's simply a wonderful country!

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The Götheborg Moored at West India Dock, London

The original East Indiaman Götheborg was built in 1738 and made three journeys to China, two of which were very successful. The third one, however, ended in disaster. On 12th September 1745, the ship ran aground just outside Gothenburg, right in front of all those who were waiting expectantly for its return. Fortunately no one was killed and some of the cargo was rescued, but it was still a terrible shame when they were so close to their goal after having been away for more than two years.

The investors at the time cannott have been very pleased, but thanks to this accident, modern day shipbuilders were able to build the replica. This was done using traditional methods and the same raw materials as the original ship, although the new Götheborg contains modern equipment for navigation, cooking and so on, things a 21st century crew would not be able do without.

To read more about Trade Winds please click here.

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The Götheborg's Beautiful Aft View

The original East Indiaman Götheborg was built in 1738 and made three journeys to China, two of which were very successful. The third one, however, ended in disaster. On 12th September 1745, the ship ran aground just outside Gothenburg, right in front of all those who were waiting expectantly for its return. Fortunately no one was killed and some of the cargo was rescued, but it was still a terrible shame when they were so close to their goal after having been away for more than two years.

The investors at the time cannott have been very pleased, but thanks to this accident, modern day shipbuilders were able to build the replica. This was done using traditional methods and the same raw materials as the original ship, although the new Götheborg contains modern equipment for navigation, cooking and so on, things a 21st century crew would not be able do without.

To read more about Trade Winds please click here.

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Me on the deck of the Götheborg

The original East Indiaman Götheborg was built in 1738 and made three journeys to China, two of which were very successful. The third one, however, ended in disaster. On 12th September 1745, the ship ran aground just outside Gothenburg, right in front of all those who were waiting expectantly for its return. Fortunately no one was killed and some of the cargo was rescued, but it was still a terrible shame when they were so close to their goal after having been away for more than two years.

The investors at the time cannott have been very pleased, but thanks to this accident, modern day shipbuilders were able to build the replica. This was done using traditional methods and the same raw materials as the original ship, although the new Götheborg contains modern equipment for navigation, cooking and so on, things a 21st century crew would not be able do without.

To read more about Trade Winds please click here.

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The Rampant Lion Figurehead of the Götheborg

The original East Indiaman Götheborg was built in 1738 and made three journeys to China, two of which were very successful. The third one, however, ended in disaster. On 12th September 1745, the ship ran aground just outside Gothenburg, right in front of all those who were waiting expectantly for its return. Fortunately no one was killed and some of the cargo was rescued, but it was still a terrible shame when they were so close to their goal after having been away for more than two years.

The investors at the time cannott have been very pleased, but thanks to this accident, modern day shipbuilders were able to build the replica. This was done using traditional methods and the same raw materials as the original ship, although the new Götheborg contains modern equipment for navigation, cooking and so on, things a 21st century crew would not be able do without.

To read more about Trade Winds please click here.

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Viking Research image: Rune stone feaguring Odin's eight legged horse, Sleipner

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Viking Research: Longboat in Roskilde Viking Museum

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Viking Research: Viking Museum Ribe Denmark

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Viking Research: Me standing next to a rune stone

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Viking Research: Gold Torc, Historical Museum, Stockholm

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Writing Magazine Feature: Adventurous Heroines

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2011 Big Red Read Awards Ceremony

The award for Best Historical Romance was won by The Scarlet Kimono

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2011 Big Red Read Awards Ceremony

The award for Best Historical Romance was won by The Scarlet Kimono

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2011 Big Red Read Awards Ceremony

The award for Best Historical Romance was won by The Scarlet Kimono

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Can't Keep Up!

So much has been happening in recent weeks, I haven't been keeping up with blogging (or anything else for that matter!). I'll have to give you a quick resume:-

- First, I helped organise the RNA's first readers' day, the Regency Celebration, and it was a wonderful day. We had talks by award-winning Regency novelists like Jo Beverley, Nicola Cornick and Julie Cohen, plus the author of the new Georgette Heyer biography, Dr Jennifer Kloester, and in between the serious stuff, there were all kinds of other things going on. A troop of six Napoleonic era soldiers turned up and escorted us on walks around St James's. Jane Walton did costume demonstrations to show everyone what Georgian and Regency people would have worn (and let us try some of the outfits on). Mr Rogers and his assistant came to lead a lively session of Regency dancing, and there was the Waterloo Tea at the East India Club, as well as card and dice games. All in all, it seemed everyone enjoyed it, which was great!

I've been on a blog tour in honour of Highland Storms, which is out next week. I've had great fun being the guest of some lovely people and very much enjoyed reading the comments the posts generated.

- Finally, I attended the UK's first ever romance convention aimed at readers, the Festival of Romance. This was a mixture of talks and fun, and I had a brilliant time! I took part in a panel talk on the theme of â€œLove and Warâ€ with some fellow historical romance authors. Choc Lit sponsored a lady from Choc Chick to come and do a chocolate making demonstration, where she created a special chocolate just for my hero Brice from Highland Storms. And I was one of the authors a the special â€œfashion paradeâ€ where we had to dress up as our heroines - I was Hannah from The Scarlet Kimono, which was fun. It's no wonder I feel ready for a break! Hope November is a slightly less busy month…

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Can't Keep Up!

So much has been happening in recent weeks, I haven't been keeping up with blogging (or anything else for that matter!). I'll have to give you a quick resume:-

- First, I helped organise the RNA's first readers' day, the Regency Celebration, and it was a wonderful day. We had talks by award-winning Regency novelists like Jo Beverley, Nicola Cornick and Julie Cohen, plus the author of the new Georgette Heyer biography, Dr Jennifer Kloester, and in between the serious stuff, there were all kinds of other things going on. A troop of six Napoleonic era soldiers turned up and escorted us on walks around St James's. Jane Walton did costume demonstrations to show everyone what Georgian and Regency people would have worn (and let us try some of the outfits on). Mr Rogers and his assistant came to lead a lively session of Regency dancing, and there was the Waterloo Tea at the East India Club, as well as card and dice games. All in all, it seemed everyone enjoyed it, which was great!

I've been on a blog tour in honour of Highland Storms, which is out next week. I've had great fun being the guest of some lovely people and very much enjoyed reading the comments the posts generated.

- Finally, I attended the UK's first ever romance convention aimed at readers, the Festival of Romance. This was a mixture of talks and fun, and I had a brilliant time! I took part in a panel talk on the theme of â€œLove and Warâ€ with some fellow historical romance authors. Choc Lit sponsored a lady from Choc Chick to come and do a chocolate making demonstration, where she created a special chocolate just for my hero Brice from Highland Storms. And I was one of the authors a the special â€œfashion paradeâ€ where we had to dress up as our heroines - I was Hannah from The Scarlet Kimono, which was fun. It's no wonder I feel ready for a break! Hope November is a slightly less busy month…

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Rochdale Gargoyles look down on Byron's Birthday Celebration

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Suzanne, Organiser of this Celebration of Byron's Birthday

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With Sarah Mallory in Rochdale

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Dancers in Costume

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Regency Musicians

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I Want One of These!

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The Impressive Courtroom

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Courtroom Windows

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Costume Demonstration

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Greyhound Motif on the Walls

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Clog Dancing

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Fans of Japanese Anime Dress the Part

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Cooks Get Down to Business at All Things Japanese

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Japanese Little Guy Made of Mochi and Strawberry

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Official Photo by Martina Lundby Rekaa

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RONA Awards Flowers

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Group photo from the RONA Awards

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With Fellow Choc Liteers, Kate Johnson & Jane Lovering

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London Book Fair 2012

I have just spent three days at the London Book Fair, helping out on the Choc Lit stand and it's been great fun! The huge halls at Earl's Court were absolutely buzzing, the excitement of all the discussions going on around us almost tangible. Just being surrounded by so many books and book-related things is wonderful, and judging by everyone's enthusiasm, I wasn't alone in enjoying it.

Apart from the fact that we were handing out lovely little chocolate hearts wrapped in mauve foil (we sampled quite a few), I got to speak to lots of interesting people. And just watching everyone go by was fascinating too!

From the many languages I overheard it seemed that just about every country was represented and I had a chance to try out my best Spanish (very rusty!!) and some Swedish of course. I even had a go at Japanese, but was quite relieved to find the lady in question spoke extremely good English since my vocabulary is fairly limited!

There were some great displays too and the one I liked the best is this arch made out of books - I'm very tempted to try and duplicate this at home! (But I doubt I'll succeed…) All in all, a great three days!

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RNA Summer Party

So the RNA's annual Summer Party has been and gone, and sadly I didn't win anything this time. But I didn't really mind because it was lovely to have been shortlisted and it was still an extraordinary evening of celebration for the whole Choc Lit team since Evonne Wareham won the Joan Hessayon Award for a new writer and Jane Lovering won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award!! Huge congratulations to them!

Here are some photos, courtesy of talented photographer Marte Lundby Rekaa, of Evonne and Jane with their trophies, plus me and the other Choc-Liteers in party mode. It was definitely a night to remember!

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RNA Summer Party

So the RNA's annual Summer Party has been and gone, and sadly I didn't win anything this time. But I didn't really mind because it was lovely to have been shortlisted and it was still an extraordinary evening of celebration for the whole Choc Lit team since Evonne Wareham won the Joan Hessayon Award for a new writer and Jane Lovering won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award!! Huge congratulations to them!

Here are some photos, courtesy of talented photographer Marte Lundby Rekaa, of Evonne and Jane with their trophies, plus me and the other Choc-Liteers in party mode. It was definitely a night to remember!

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RNA Summer Party

So the RNA's annual Summer Party has been and gone, and sadly I didn't win anything this time. But I didn't really mind because it was lovely to have been shortlisted and it was still an extraordinary evening of celebration for the whole Choc Lit team since Evonne Wareham won the Joan Hessayon Award for a new writer and Jane Lovering won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award!! Huge congratulations to them!

Here are some photos, courtesy of talented photographer Marte Lundby Rekaa, of Evonne and Jane with their trophies, plus me and the other Choc-Liteers in party mode. It was definitely a night to remember!

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RNA Summer Party

So the RNA's annual Summer Party has been and gone, and sadly I didn't win anything this time. But I didn't really mind because it was lovely to have been shortlisted and it was still an extraordinary evening of celebration for the whole Choc Lit team since Evonne Wareham won the Joan Hessayon Award for a new writer and Jane Lovering won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award!! Huge congratulations to them!

Here are some photos, courtesy of talented photographer Marte Lundby Rekaa, of Evonne and Jane with their trophies, plus me and the other Choc-Liteers in party mode. It was definitely a night to remember!

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Evonne Wareham at the 2012 RNA Summer Party

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Scenes from the Forest of Ae in Scotland Where We Spent a Lovely Weekend

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Scenes from the Forest of Ae in Scotland Where We Spent a Lovely Weekend

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Scenes from the Forest of Ae in Scotland Where We Spent a Lovely Weekend

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Guest Margaret James

Today I have the lovely Margaret James as my guest. She's not only my friend, but also a fellow Choc Lit author, whose latest novel The Penny Bangle I thoroughly enjoyed. Although it's the third novel in a trilogy, it can be read on its own, but I would urge you to read all three as they're all wonderful! You can find my review of The Penny Bangle here.

Welcome to my blog, Margaret!

Thank you for inviting me to be a guest on your blog, Christina. I'm very happy to be here.

Your story is partly set in Dorset - what made you choose that as a location, and did you have any particular houses that you used as templates for the Charton Minster?

When my children were little, we had lots of seaside holidays in Dorset, and we all became very fond of places like Lyme Regis, Charmouth, (plenty of opportunities for fossil hunting and maternal heart attacks as my children strayed too close to those crumbling cliffs), Swanage and Weymouth. The sun always seemed to shine and we always had a lovely time. One day, we drove past a beautiful honey-coloured mansion which looked as if it was deserted. I haven't been able to find it since, and sometimes I wonder if I imagined it, but people who know Dorset will know exactly the kind of house I mean.

Some of your characters travel abroad, to places like Egypt and Italy - have you been there yourself or did you use eyewitness accounts to recreate these settings? If so, did you find that easy or difficult?

I love Italy and have been there many times. The last time was to Lucca, which is in Tuscany, a place where there was intense partisan activity during WW2 and which has many memorials to partisans who died defending their homeland. I've never been to Egypt, but I did lots of research into Africa during WW2 and found plenty of eyewitness accounts on line.

I love the fashions of bygone eras - do you like the styles of clothing from the 1940s? I really liked the descriptions of Daisy Denham's glamorous outfits, you must have done a lot of research for that?

I do love the fashions of the 1940s and in a way I wish we still wore clothes like that, but what a performance getting dressed must have been! We're so lucky to be able to live in jeans, if we so desire, and to have man-made fibres in our clothes. I can't imagine life without a washing machine and I would hate to wear clothes which couldn't be washed or cleaned, which was invariably the case until about fifty years ago. If you had washed a dress which had shoulder pads, stiffening of any kind and/or was made of anything but cotton or linen, you would probably have ruined it. The person who invented Lycra should be canonised.

Sometimes it's the little touches that make a story even more memorable, would you agree? For example, I loved the scene with the puppy (I won't give away exactly what happens, but that was very moving I thought.)

Thank you - I love the puppy, too. This scene picks up on something which happened in The Silver Locket and gives Rose a chance to make amends for letting down her childhood pet from all those years ago. I feel that in fiction small actions can reveal character as effectively as larger, more expansive and dramatic ones. The puppy incident reveals that Cassie is thoughtful, generous, imaginative and kind.

It's difficult for us now to grasp just how much tragedy people went through during the war - while doing the research for this story, did anything you read make you cry or did you try to focus on the positive things, like the amazing spirit of everyone involved and the fact that ultimately good triumphed over evil?

Anyone researching WW2 will almost certainly tell you that it throws up some amazing stories, both life-affirming and depressing. It seems to have been an exciting or even thrilling time for many young people because it gave them the chance to have adventures, even though there were plenty of opportunities to be hurt or even killed. I feel the Allies must have been constantly buoyed up by knowing they were morally in the right. They were fighting against an evil regime which had to be defeated, and in this respect WW2 was unusual.

I came across many very moving stories of human sacrifice and heroism, and these made me wonder what I would have done if I'd been tested. I particularly admire the quiet, unrewarded heroism of mothers with small children who were left alone at home to cope with rationing, wartime employment, shortages of everything, blackouts, raids, constant day-to-day frustrations and not knowing from one moment to the next if the people they loved were alive or dead.

Many thanks, Margaret!

The Penny Bangle is available to buy on Amazon or The Book Depository.

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New Auhor Pics!

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Special Guest Carol Hedges

Today I'm very pleased to have Carol Hedges as my guest. Carol knows a thing or two about perseverance, which I can really empathise with, but I will let her tell you all about it herself. Over to you, Carol:-

First, I'd like to thank Christina for her generosity in letting me invade her blog site to share some of my writing journey with you.

So. Here we are. It is April 2012. I am waiting for an email from my agent telling me she's read my new novel, liked it, and is sending it straight out to publishers. I check my inbox. There is an email from my agent. She has read my new novel, liked it, but is not sending it out to publishers because nobody is interested in 'mid-list' writers like me any more.

This is the fifth time in as many years that I have been here. Five separate novels have done the rounds and been rejected. Previously, I have had 11 YA crime thrillers published. I have been nominated for many awards - including the Carnegie. I have had stories broadcast on the BBC. I think: I am 61, it is too late to start building my writing career from scratch all over again. I put my head down on the desk, and cry.

Fast forward to August 2012. I have an ebook, Jigsaw Pieces, out on Amazon Kindle. I have a blog. I have a Facebook page. I have a Twitter account. I contribute to an American writing-site. How have I accomplished this in such a short space of time? Pigheaded determination to 'beat' the system, a lot of very hard work, and the support and friendship of the online writing community.

Jigsaw Pieces is an ebook rewrite of a novel published by OUP in 1998. Based on my experiences as a teacher, and my love of World War I poetry, it is a coming of age story about 18 year old Norwegian student Annie Skaerstad. Like all my heroines, Annie is strong minded, feisty and a trenchant observer of life around her.

The book touches, in part, upon some difficult areas - teenage suicide and the exploitation of vulnerable young people. I decided to revisit the plot in the light of the various cases that have been in the press recently. And I wanted to write more about Annie, a teenage mix of Sarah Lund and Lizbeth Salander. She narrates the story, and her wonderfully wry personality stops it from being a totally tragic read.

The response to the ebook has been brilliant: I already have a 5 star review on Goodreads. Right now, I'm working on my next ebook, a 'Victorian-lite' crime thriller called Diamond Girl, which will be available to download in the Autumn. My advice? Never, ever give up on yourself. I am living proof that even in the latter stages of decrepitude (sic), marvellous things can still happen.

Many thanks, Carol, it's lovely to hear that you've fought back and are doing so well!

You can read more about Carol here:-

Blog: http://carolhedges.blogspot.com ; Twitter @carolJhedges; www.Facebook Carol Hedges and www.Shewrites.com (American).

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Characters in Costume helped to set the scene at the 2012 HNS Conference

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Welcome to the 2012 HNS Conference

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My Certificate of Long Listing from the HNS

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The Silent Touch of Shadows Awarded Best Historical Read at Festival of Romance 2012

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With Sue Moorcroft, Last Year's Winner, Receiving Award for Best Historical Read

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The nominees (from left) me, Liz Harris, Nicola Cornick, Jenny Barden, Jean Fullerton and Charlotte Betts, plus Sue Moorcroft

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1,2,3 (from left) Me, Liz Harris, Nicola Cornick, Jenny Barden

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Receiving the Award for Best Historical Read at the FoR from Sue Moorcroft, Last Year's Winner

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New on Kindle

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2013 RT Booklovers Convention Kansas City One Sweet Ride

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2013 RT Booklovers Convention Kansas City Decorated Lift Door

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2013 RT Booklovers Convention Kansas City Part of the Choc Lit Team

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2013 RT Booklovers Convention Kansas City Christina's Favourite Delegate, Milo

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At Club RT, a chance to meet readers

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Tights!

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CJ Hollenbach

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Chocolate Fountain Heaven!

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A chance to wear my red slippers

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The Choc Liteers

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Cinderella

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Signing at the giant book fair

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Heather Graham and Bobbi Smith

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At the Harlequin party

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Giant Book Fair

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Freaky Friday Party Girls

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Freaky Friday Party Table 2

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Freaky Friday Party Table 1

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Call Nurse Millie by Jean Fullerton

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Character Inspired Bookmarks for New England Rocks

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RNA Conference 2013 GIft Bags All filled by our own fair hands

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Fourteen Chocliteers Photo by Liie Lamb

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Elilzabeth Gouge Finalists Kate Hall, Kate Johnson (winner) and Jacqui Cooper

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RNA Conference 2013 Snacks in the kitchen before the Gala Ball

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RNA Conference 2013 Snacks in the kitchen before the Gala Ball

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Some Young Adult Readers from Heartlands High School

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Thrice daily live interview with Lotta on the EA stage

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Christina with Henri Nassjo

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Book signing here!

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Zombie on the loose!

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Radio interview overlooking Gothenburg harbour

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Being interviewed on the EA stage

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The EA stand was by far the most outstanding one there.

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The EA stage

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Chilling with Rebecca Chance

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Chrster Nylander

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Lill Babs (Babro)

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Hentiette Guyland

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Christina with copies of Tiger Porten

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Christina with Jonas

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Visitors on the EA stand

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One of the Beautiful Rune Stones

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Viking Treasure

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Part of Visby Town Walls With Sea Outside

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Lill Babs Here on Thursday

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View of Kalmar Harbour

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My clan chilling with Lill Babs

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The Fab Bar at Hotell Wisby

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The Old House of a Vilby Merchant

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A Cobbled Street in Visby

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Me with My Friend Annika

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Nicer Than Your Average Do Not Disturb Sign

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Literary Wraps for Dinner

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View from Hotell Tylösand

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My Favourite Swedish Food Chocolate Kisses!

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Book Signing Tonight!

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Amazing Glass Bar

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Glass Bathroom

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Swedish Bedside Lamp 2

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Alison Morton

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Shortlistees for Best Historical Read

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Saying thank you on behalf of the RNA

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With Liz Harris and Adrienne Vaughan at the fair

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With Sue Moorcroft and Jane Lovering at the fair

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With Liz Harris at the fair

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Getting in the spirit of historical reading, wearing my 1640s costume

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Jenny Barden, Liz Harris and John Jackson

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My historical reading

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Lifetime achievement award presented to the RNA

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Accepting an award on behalf of the RNA

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Author panel led by Louise Graham

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At the Romance Fair

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My historical reading

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Regaional variations in Swedish national costume

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With my new friend Lucky

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The lovely Camilla

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More stalls inside the Swedish Church

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Stalls inside the Swedish Church

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Christmas Fair stalls outside the Swedish Church

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Regional costumes from the county of Darlarna

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Torgny, Christer and Stefan

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Christina in traditional Swedish dress

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Pru from the Regency Bookshop in Surbiton, Surrey looked after us brilliantly

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Me, aged about 3 celebrating the festival of St Lucia

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The Gilded Fan is a Winner!

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Me with Darcy Bussell

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Me with Dr David Hessayon

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Group photo of all 2014 RoNA winners with Darcy Bussell

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Presenting flowers to the lovely Katie Fforde

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A Rose for me!

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Vientos Alisios (Trade Winds)

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With Laura

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At the Libros de Seda stall

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Rosa, Maria Jose and I

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Gordo the adorable dog

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Me at the Libreria Maite Stand

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One of the many historic buildings in Barcelona

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Laura and I

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Rosa at the Libros de Seda stand

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I want to live in this lovely yellow house

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Gorgeous windows

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A sunny courtyard to relax in

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Old and new street signs

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Love this gargoyle

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Lizards(?) crawling down Sagrada Familia

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Strange Sofa

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Me with Alison Morton and Sue Moorcroft

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The Koi Pond mat

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Korea was the featured country at the London Book Fair this year

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Voodoo Queen?

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Alligator Bites!

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Even dogs were allowed to dress up

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Heroes and Villains Party

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Place setting at the heroes and villains party

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Getting Ready for the Choc Lit Tea Party

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Me with the fab winner of my raffle goodies hamper

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The muddy waters of the Mississippi

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The Mississippi by Night

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The Mississippi in daylight

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Me with Liz, Kate and Beverley

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Me with a dragon friend!

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With Sue Moorcroft and a Storm Trooper in a bar (of course)

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Voodoo Doll

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Lovely balcony seen from inside the restaurant

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Mimosa Tree

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Streetcar

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Mississippi Paddle Steamer

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Caf&ecute; du Monde

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Cheeky Sparrow

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Graveyard

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Tomb of Voodoo Queen

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Mardi Gras Beads

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Inside a Bourbon Street Jazz Bar

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Bourbon Street at Night

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Bourbon Street at Night

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A Bourbon Street Balcony

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Bourbon Street at Night

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Beignets

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Alison surveys Rome where much of her research is done

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Alison Morton and Christina at the London Book Fair

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A buzzing goods shed

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Nurse Jean Fullerton in very authentic costume

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Alison Morton and the Roman Colliseum

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Regency authors Nicola Cornick and Anne Stenhouse

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Regency ladies, Romy Gemmell and Annie Burroughs

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The lovely Mary Nicholls

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The seriously cool Liesel Schwartz

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Kate Johnson in her gorgeous steampunk outfit

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Suffragette Juliet Greenwood

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Freda Lightfoot in her lovely outfit

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Carol McGrath as a 12^th century lady

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Jenny Barden and Janet Gover at Wellington Library

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Welcome and keynote speakers at the HNS Conference 2014

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Welcome and keynote speakers at the HNS Conference 2014

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Scenes from and friends in the book tent at the Festival of Romantic Fiction 2014

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Scenes from and friends in the book tent at the Festival of Romantic Fiction 2014

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With my childhood friend Chicki at JÃ¶nkÃ¶ping

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Book signing here!

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Varberg Fort courtyard

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Varberg Fort back entrance?

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An Ancient Swedish fortified wall

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Varberg Fort/FÃ¤stning

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My youngest fan? The lovely Astrid!

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Meeting fellow author Ewa Klingberg in EksjÃ¶ was a highlight!

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Me and Gustave in JÃ¶nkÃ¶ping

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At EksjÃ¶ Bokhandel

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Signing at GÃ¶ranssons Bokhandel

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EA FÃ¶rlag offices and owner Eva

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Ulla Gabay, me and Gustave Lund

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