Christina Courtenay Christina's Blog

Have you ever had a blessing in disguise? …

When I was a teenager, my dad was offered a job in Japan and my parents decided it would be a great idea for the whole family to move there. I was at a very awkward age (15/16), had just got together with my first ever boyfriend and didn't want to move at all. In fact, I cried for three days when I arrived in Tokyo and refused to even talk to the kind neighbouring kids who came to welcome me and introduce themselves. In short, I thought it was the worst thing that had ever happened to me… but as it turned out, it was the absolute best!

Once I'd got over my sulks and started to get into the swing of things, I discovered what a wonderful place Japan is. The three years I spent there were the best of my life and I still long to go back there all the time. My stay in Tokyo had a huge influence on me, on my taste and thinking - I was a completely different person when I left. If I had stayed in Sweden, I don't think I would have been able to see the world in the same way. Life in Tokyo taught me to get along with all kinds of different people, to be tolerant of everyone else's beliefs and ways of life, not to judge anyone because of where they came from. So it was definitely a blessing in disguise!

Today is publication day for my friend Rhoda Baxter's novel Girl in Trouble, and her main characters have a similar experience - they undergo changes that they feel are bad, but end up being positive. Here's the blurb:-

Grown up tomboy Olivia doesn't need a man to complete her. Judging by her absent father, men aren't that reliable anyway. She's got a successful career, good friends and can evict spiders from the bath herself, so she doesn't need to settle down, thanks.

Walter's ex is moving his daughter to America and Walter feels like he's losing his family. When his friend-with-benefits, Olivia, discovers she's pregnant by her douchebag ex, Walter sees the perfect chance to be part of a family with a woman he loves. But how can Walter persuade the most independent woman he's ever met to accept his help, let alone his heart?

Girl In Trouble is the third book in the award nominated Smart Girls series by Rhoda. If you like charming heroes, alpha heroines and sparkling dialogue, you'll love this. Ideal for fans of Sarah Morgan, Lindsey Kelk or Meg Cabot's Boy books. Buy now and meet your new favourite heroine today.

Buy link (should go to your preferred bookstore): books2read.com/u/4Doy6r

(The book is on sale for 99p on the 9th and 10th of October, after which it'll climb up to 2.99. If you buy in the first week, you get some early bird bonuses - a short story collection and a recipe booklet containing recipes for the snacks mentioned in the Girl Having A Ball.)

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It's amazing how much fun it can be to sit in a student kitchen with your friends and talk about everything under the sun! From happy-ever-afters to religion, women's football to social welfare, hot heroes and suitable heroines, and most of all how the writing is going… That is the wonderful thing about the RNA conferences! There is never a dull moment and you never run out of people to talk to and catch up with, or topics of conversation.

I must have been to at least fifteen of these conferences by now and it never gets old. Each year it is just as much fun and there are always interesting talks on a variety of subjects. I learn something new each time and come away feeling inspired and more enthusiastic about writing, fired up and ready to go… once I've had some time to recover from the late nights and early mornings. Because who needs to sleep, when there is so much to do? Sleeping can be done afterwards!

This time I attended some great talks, among them Janet Gover's excellent one about how to manipulate pictures using programmes like Adobe Photoshop - I am now itching to go and play around with photos to see what I can do! There was also the brilliant and very useful talk by Ruth Long (R F Long) on how to do talks at schools. She had some great advice and made me feel inspired to give it a try.

I also participated in talks myself - one with the lovely Anna Belfrage, where we discussed time slip vs time travel and what an author writing in these sub-genres has to bear in mind. We had a wonderful audience who had some great suggestions when it came to finding a way to time travel that a reader could find plausible.

Then there was the talk with my fellow Paisley Piranhas (Gill-Marie Stewart, Claire Watts and Katy Haye) in which we discussed romance and relationships in YA novels. Our audience braved the early hour (nine on a Sunday morning after the gala dinner!) and we had some fun creating a YA plot together.

As happens every year, there were some great talks that I missed - because you just can't be in two places at once, sadly! - and people I didn't have time to chat to, but there is always next year and I'll definitely be there! Huge thanks to the organisers for this time!

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Last Friday I attended a service of rededication and songs of praise in honour of the altar cloth at St Faith's church, Bacton, in Herefordshire. That might sound a bit weird, but this was something that had to be done because the altar cloth in question isn't the original one, it's a facsimile - the original is at Hampton Court being restored by a team of textile specialists, a job which will apparently take something like 1000 hours (or 18 months)!

Some of you may have already heard the story of how this altar cloth was discovered last year and was found to be something extraordinarily special. For over a hundred years it had hung on the wall of St Faith's, a tiny village church that dates back to the 1500s, and before that it had been used to cover the altar until a new, bigger one, was installed.

It looked like nothing more than a grubby piece of material, in dull and faded colours, and cut into a strange T-shape. Most of the parishioners probably hardly glanced at it whenever they attended a service.

St Faiths and Bacton village are, however, connected with royalty, sort of. Queen Elizabeth I's 'Chief Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber' and confidante was someone called Blanche Parry, and she was born in this tiny village. She wanted to be buried there too, but the queen decreed otherwise and kept her in London (she's buried at St Margaret's, Westminster), so St Faith's has a monument to her instead, which she'd commissioned herself, thinking she was going to retire there. And at some point, probably after Blanche's death, the little church was also given an amazing gift - the altar cloth. Except that's not what it was originally.

A local historian and some of the parishioners eventually realised that it hadn't always been an altar cloth, and textile expert Eleri Lynn, curator of historic dress at Historic Royal Palaces, now believes it was part of one of Queen Elizabeth I's dresses. Possibly even the skirt of the one she is wearing in the famous Rainbow Portrait. Because when the material was sent for restoration, it was discovered that it's made from cloth of silver with the most exquisite and detailed embroidery, all done on this one piece of material. (In Tudor times, apparently most embroidery was done on separate pieces which were later affixed to the clothing, but that wasn't the case here). The wearing of cloth of silver was restricted by law at that time (the sumptuary laws) and only the monarch herself or immediate members of the royal family were allowed to use it. Since the material dates from the last decade of the sixteenth century, that meant only one person could have owned it - Elizabeth herself. There were no other royals at that time.

Eleri Lynn attended the rededication service and told us how finding this piece of one of Elizabeth's dresses was, to her, like finding the Holy Grail. She said that if anyone had ever asked her what she would most like to find, this was it. There are hardly any pieces of clothing left from Tudor royals, only what is assumed to be one of Henry VIII's hats. Of Elizabeth I's vast wardrobe there was nothing until now - so this is the only surviving item. Eleri had brought along another facsimile of the altar cloth, which we were allowed to take a closer look at after the service. It was fascinating to see the botanical pattern up close. She also showed us photos of some parts which have been restored already, and the difference was incredible! Instead of the dull and faded colours, there were the most vivid blues, greens and yellows. Amazingly beautiful!

The piece of cloth will eventually go on display when it has all been restored (a massive job, as I said) and I can't wait to see it in all its glory. It's going to be magnificent!

I love when discoveries such as these are made - so exciting!

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As I've been away, I'm a bit late posting about this, but I was absolutely over the moon to find out that not just one, but TWO of my books have been shortlisted for this years RoNAs!

The RoNAs are the UK Romantic Novelists' Association's annual awards for excellence in romantic fiction, and this year they comprise seven categories (one more than last year). My novel The Velvet Cloak of Moonlight is shortlisted in the newest category, Paranormal, as it features ghosts and other paranormal phenomena, and it's lovely to be one of the first books acknowledged in this way. I'm up against some great RNA friends of mine - Jan Jones, Kate Johnson and Hywela Lyn - and it will be very exciting to see which one of us triumphs on the night.

As if that wasn't wonderful enough, …

New England Dreams, written under my own name, has been shortlisted in the Young Adult category. I'm really pleased about this as it was self-published and this is the first time the RNA has allowed independently published books to feature on the shortlists. I may also be the first author to be shortlisted under two different names in the same year (?!), which would be an added bonus.

The awards event will be held on Monday 13th March and whatever happens I know it will be a fun evening - can't wait!

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Kirsty Ferry, whose latest book The Girl in the Photograph (the third book in her Rossetti Mysteries series) has just been published as an ebook, while the second book in the series, The Girl in the Painting is now out in paperback. I've had the privilege of reading an advance copy of this novel and I can highly recommend it - it's a wonderful time slip story!

Here's a Q & A with Kirsty to tell us a bit more about it:-

The books in this trilogy all feature Pre-Raphaelite or Victorian artists - what first drew them to your attention and have you studied them at uni (you are very knowledgeable about Victorian art)?

I think the thing that drew me to them initially was when I read about Dante Gabriel Rossetti digging up Lizzie Siddal's body and raiding her coffin to retrieve a book of poems he'd buried with her. I started researching a little bit more just out of morbid curiosity really, and the more I found out, the more fascinated I became. I wrote a short story called The Other Ophelia which was a YA ghost story where a young lad was recreating the famous Millais Ophelia painting and the ghost of Rossetti didn't like it. What actually happened in real life, is that Lizzie lay freezing in a bath of cold water while Millais painted her, and she became very ill - and the public turned her into a sort of Gothic, idealised, Victorian 'celebrity'. Beyond all that you have this overriding, quite dangerous, obsessive passion between her and Rossetti.

I filed the short story away for a few years, then pulled it out again when I decided to write The Girl in the Painting. I'd read some of Rossetti's poems by then, and was struck by Sudden Light, which is all about soulmates. Some Veil Did Fall was based on that poem, The Girl in the Painting was inspired by Lizzie and The Girl in the Photograph by Pre-Raphaelite photography - another art form that took the world by storm. I studied a little bit of art history during my degree but would love to take it further. Everything else was gleaned by good old-fashioned research and reading. You should see the pile of books I acquired!

I'm particularly fond of Millais' paintings, but also like other Victorian artists, especially Lord Leighton. Who is your favourite?

I love the Pre-Raphaelites of course, but some of Rossetti's work is quite wild and slapdash when you compare it with the perfection of Millais! I am also a huge fan of the Impressionists and could stare at Degas' ballerina pictures for hours. And John Singer Sargent did some fabulous work - but he was a little later, and more of an Edwardian artist, I suppose.

If you could own one painting from that era which one would you choose? (Not sure I could choose one as there are so many amazing ones!)

Ohhhh - what a choice! Can I just own the Tate Gallery? If pushed I'd have to say Millais Ophelia was up there, naturally, or I might have to expand the timeline slightly and go for Edward Robert Hughes Midsummer Eve, which is a gorgeous piece of 'fairy art' from about 1908. That's actually a really tough question! But do you know, Landseer's Dignity and Impudence would be wonderful - Google it. It's two dogs in a kennel and the little one is so cheeky!

This novel also deals with photography - did you have to do a lot of research about this? Have you tried it yourself?

I love old photographs and again did plenty of reading about the Pre-Raphaelite side of it, and especially about Julia Margaret Cameron for The Girl in the Photograph. Lorelei was a perfect heroine to team up with my Edwardian photographer - all she ever wanted to do was have a photograph taken of her. It's something we take for granted nowadays.

I also visited Lacock Abbey, which was the home of Henry Fox Talbot, an innovative Victorian photographer, and I saw the window which exists in the first photographic negative. At Lacock there were some astonishing statistics of the amount of pictures we take now to the amount they took then - it's very thought-provoking. I had a lovely camera when I was in my early twenties. Then my Dad dismantled it for some reason and I was left with a working light-meter and nothing else. He kindly held the meter up and demonstrated how it still worked, but that was no use to me at all! I've tinkered with things like Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro and have taken some really nice photographs unexpectedly; but again it's something I'd like to pursue further. Maybe one day!

Do you have any old photos you can share with us?

When I was researching photographic plates I fell in love with something on eBay from America - these original Edwardian glass photo plates. I have no idea who the people are, but had to buy them. I took them to work and one of the technicians scanned them into a machine for me and the pictures you see here are the result.

I've also got this lovely little one of my Grandma. I think it was a school photo, and it's tiny as you can see by the pencil I put next to it - I suspect she was just cut out of a group shot. She was born in 1909, so it's quite an old one. The original is all cracked and damaged, so I scanned it in and spent hours cleaning it up with Paint Shop Pro. Then I printed out a new copy for me and one for my mum. It really is one of my most precious possessions.

Many thanks, Kirsty! I love the old photos and photo plates, amazing what you can find on eBay. Happy publication for The Girl in the Photograph!

Bio:-

Kirsty is from the North East of England and won the English Heritage/Belsay Hall National Creative Writing competition in 2009 with the ghostly tale 'Enchantment'. Her timeslip novel, Some Veil Did Fall, a paranormal romance set in Whitby, was published by Choc Lit in Autumn 2014. This was followed by another Choc Lit timeslip, The Girl in the Painting in February 2016 and now The Girl in the Photograph (March 2017). The experience of signing 'Some Veil Did Fall' in a quirky bookshop in the midst of Goth Weekend in Whitby, dressed as a recently undead person, was one of the highlights of her writing career so far! Kirsty's day-job involves sharing a Georgian building with an eclectic collection of ghosts - which can sometimes prove rather interesting.

You can find out more about Kirsty and her work at www.rosethornpress.co.uk - catch her on her Facebook Author Page or follow her on Twitter @kirsty_ferry.

THE GIRL IN THE PHOTOGRAPH

What if the past was trying to teach you a lesson?

Staying alone in the shadow of an abandoned manor house in Yorkshire would be madness to some, but art enthusiast Lissy de Luca can't wait. Lissy has her reasons for seeking isolation, and she wants to study the Staithes Group - an artists' commune active at the turn of the twentieth century.

Lissy is fascinated by the imposing Sea Scarr Hall - but the deeper she delves, the stranger things get. A lonely figure patrols the cove at night, whilst a hidden painting leads to a chilling realisation. And then there's the photograph of the girl; so beautiful she could be a mermaid… and so familiar.

As Lissy further immerses herself, she comes to an eerie conclusion: The occupants of Sea Scarr Hall are long gone, but they have a message for her - and they're going to make sure she gets it.

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Travelling through the Welsh valleys on a beautiful autumn day is amazing and yesterday I had a great excuse for doing just that - I was heading for Ystrad Mynach in South Wales to do a library talk together with my fellow Choc Lit authors Chris Stovell and Evonne Wareham.

Ystad Mynach library has recently been refurbished and it was looking fab! Just the sort of place I love to go to browse the shelves and find reading gems. We were given a very warm welcome by the lovely librarians (including one from another nearby library) and then joined by the audience who had come to hear us talk about "Heroes, Heroines and Happy Endings ".

It all felt very informal, like chatting to friends, and we covered all sorts of topics/questions. Among other things we talked about our research and Chris demonstrated why trying to write a romantic scene with your hero and heroine wearing sailing gear and life jackets might not be such a good idea! Not impossible, but certainly not easy.

We all write different sub-genres, different heroes, and our opinions on happy endings were similar but not quite the same, but the main ingredient is of course the romance and being left feeling upbeat and positive after reading - we all agreed on that.

All in all, we had a wonderful afternoon and hope to go back again soon - thank you so much to the staff and everyone who came to our talk!

(PS. Many thanks to Alex for allowing me to use her photos in this blog post!)

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Yesterday I spent the day in Nottingham in order to attend my lovely friend Sue Moorcroft's book launch for her latest novel - The Christmas Promise. (A fantastic read - kept me up till the early hours as I couldn't stop reading it!) Waterstones in Nottingham have a wonderful event space and we had a perfect evening, listening to a reading by Sue followed by a Q & A session. Sue's heroine is a milliner so she wore a fantastic little cocktail hat made specially for her and some of the rest of us wore hats too. And to fit in with the theme of the book, the events manager declared the Christmas season officially started at the shop!

While waiting for this evening event, I wandered round the city as I'd never been before. Being a history buff, my first destination was of course the castle where Charles I started the English Civil War by raising his royal standard on 22^nd August 1642. Sadly though, there didn't seem to be much left of the castle he would have known as most of it was razed to the ground and another house built within the castle walls instead later on. (That, in turn, was badly damaged by fire during riots in the 1800s). I was disappointed to find so little mention of Charles and the war, mostly just a plaque put up by the Sealed Knot on the 350^th anniversary of that August day and what I assumed was supposed to be a reference to Charles's children on a pub sign - 'The Royal Children'. (Whoever painted that had obviously never seen Van Dyck's portraits of the king's offspring!)

The view from the castle grounds was fantastic though - if a bit scary for those of us who don't like heights - and underneath were caves (which I didn't have a chance to look at this time). And there was plenty of shopping to be had in the city centre, including a shop with my name on it - perfect!

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The Velvet Cloak of Moonlight at last and I'm so pleased it's finally out there! This was one of those novels that was "brewing " in my mind for a long time before I actually started it so it feels like it's been a long time coming, but I hope readers will enjoy the end result.

Here is the blurb:

"As the velvet cloak of moonlight settled over the ruined towers of Raglan Castle, the shadows beneath them stirred… "

When newly widowed Tess visits Raglan Castle, she experiences an extraordinary vision that transports her to seventeenth-century Wales and a castle on the brink of a siege.

Even when Tess leaves Raglan to return to Merrick Court, her late husband's home, the strange dreams continue as her life becomes increasingly intertwined with the past. And when the new owner of the estate arrives - New Zealander Josh Owens - the parallels become even more obvious.

But perhaps the visions aren't just trying to tell their own story, maybe they're also giving a warning…

Raglan Castle is a very special and magical place - if you're ever passing by, do stop for a visit if you have the time as it's well worth it. The people who defended it so valiantly during the final siege in 1646 must have been very special too and I hope I've done them justice!

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Just back from the 2016 Historical Novel Society (HNS) conference in Oxford where I had a wonderful time, as always!

The venue was superb in a truly beautiful city and I was lucky enough to have time for a quick wander round when I arrived on the Friday afternoon. I had a look at some of the famous colleges - including one with a fierce-looking porter/guard wearing a bowler hat! - and then managed a lightning tour of the Ashmolean Museum. I've wanted to see King Alfred's jewel for ages and although it was a bit smaller than I'd expected, it was lovely. Plus they had a lot of other interesting objects and paintings as well - I will have to go back some day for a longer visit.

Once the conference itself got going there was no time for sight-seeing - we were kept busy with some fantastic talks, panels and workshops, and among the main speakers were Melvyn Bragg and Tracy Chevalier, both excellent.

Of the workshops, I particularly enjoyed the one led by Paula Lofting and her Regia Anglorum friends where we were taught how to build a shield wall when fighting like Anglo-Saxons. This was fascinating stuff and I was really pleased to have a chance to hold a battle axe and a shield, both quite heavy! (Am now also very tempted to shout 'Ut! Ut! Ut!' all the time LOL)

I also loved the workshop on secret Stuart marriages by Nicola Cornick and Andrea Zuvich, and the panel talk about historical YA fiction featuring C C Humphreys, Deborah Swift and Simon Scarrow.

The 'gala' dinner was great, with a costume pageant and a brilliant after-dinner speech by C W Gortner. And meeting up with old friends and making new ones is always fun and I very much enjoyed chatting to various people, lots of whom had come all the way from the US - so lovely to meet them! My thanks go to the fantastic organising committee who, I know, had worked incredibly hard to put together the programme and they made sure everything was seamless. Huge thanks also to my workshop 'partner' and fellow Swede Anna Belfrage who made our own workshop run smoothly and put together our presentation. Can't wait for the next conference now!

Here are some of the photos I took:-

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I had a fantastic time last night at the Chippenham Library, taking part in a panel talk which in turn was part of the Chippenham Lit Fest. It's always lovely to get together with fellow RNA members and much more fun when you're not alone doing a talk!

There were six of us - Nicola Cornick, Louise Douglas, Alison Knight, Jean Burnett, Teresa F Morgan and myself - on the panel. There were some fab questions from the librarian in charge and also from the audience, and it's always fun to hear the varying answers of so many authors - we're all so different in the way we approach things!

There was delicious home-made cake and other refreshments, and lots of chatting afterwards. All in all, a really enjoyable event so huge thanks to everyone who took part and organised it!

Here are some of my photos:-

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Have just had a fabulous week with my Swedish "apprentice ", Adam! We've had fun going round London in search of ideas, inspiration, settings and characters and I hope he enjoyed it as much as I did 🙂

In Sweden, teenagers get to have a week at the end of year 8 where they go out into a workplace to see what it's like to do different jobs - preferably the sort they think they might like to pursue as a career in the future. They get to try out various aspects and really find out what a job entails, which I think is great. Either they'll love it or they can see it's not for them, but whatever happens it's important and a great opportunity.

Adam wants to be an author, so he'd asked if he could be my "apprentice " for a week and I was very happy to agree. I don't know how useful it's been in terms of deciding his future, but I hope I've given him a little taste of what I do. And London is definitely a very inspiring place!

Here are some photos from our outings/fact-finding missions:-

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Last week I attended the annual London Book Fair at Olympia, West Kensington, and as always the place was buzzing! There were some amazing stands with imaginative displays - not just of books, but everything the publishing industry could possibly want or need. A very enjoyable three days!

Here are some of the photos I took:-

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Had a lovely time at the RoNA Awards Event last night even though The Secret Kiss of Darkness didn't win - huge congratulations to Iona Grey who won both our category and the overall prize of Romantic Novel of the Year!

As always, it was wonderful to be at the Gladstone Library, the perfect venue for any literary event, and it was fun to catch up with friends and fellow ChocLieers, one of whom won the Contemporary category - congrats to Melanie Hudson!

The prizes were presented by TV personality and author Fern Britton and I really enjoyed all the thank you speeches, in particular those given by the two Outstanding Achievement Award winners, Claire Lorrimer and Anita Burgh. They were both very amusing and were given a standing ovation by the audience - fab!

I'm sure there will be official photos soon, but here are some of mine!

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I have just returned from two days in Spain where I attended the sixth annual 'Yo Leo RA' (roughly translated 'I read romantic fiction') 'Encuentros RA' conference in the heart of Madrid - a fantastic experience!

This was a conference for readers and authors of romantic fiction which started six years ago with around 80 people getting together in a bar to share their love of the romance genre. It has been growing steadily ever since and this time there were over 500 attendees, 120 of them authors! I really enjoyed chatting to some of them and all were enthusiastic and extremely friendly, making me feel very welcome.

Among them were the lovely Laura Frias of the Cientos de Miles de Historias blog (whom I have had the pleasure of meeting before so it was great to see her again!), fellow Libros de Seda author Nuria Llop and the lady who runs the Lectur Adictiva blog. It was great to see romance appreciated so much and the way the audience engaged in the discussions showed how passionate they are about romantic novels - just as it should be!

I was honoured to have been invited to take part in the programme and after listening to two panel discussions, it was my turn to take to the stage, where author and organiser Merche Diolch asked me questions. My Spanish is a little rusty (I can understand most of it but have forgotten so many words!) but fortunately I had two members of the Libros de Seda team (my Spanish publisher) to help me with translation - Maria Jos é de Jaime and Alex Many é - huge thanks to them and to Merche for her patience!

Unusually for Spain, the weather was awful with rain and strong winds, but I managed to get to the Prado and Thyssen-Bournemisza museums to have a look at all the fabulous artworks on display. It was almost too much to take in, a real feast for the eyes with some paintings so beautiful it was hard to believe anyone could have created them.

I finished my time in Madrid with a stroll round the old streets in the centre, narrow with the typical Spanish houses covered in wrought-iron balconies, and the sense of history was overwhelming. A stark contrast to the very new and very modern airport, whose ceilings had to be seen to be believed! All in all, a very enjoyable visit to one of my favourite countries - a very big thank you to the 'Yo Leo RA' organisers for inviting me!

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RoNA (RNA's Romantic Novel Awards) shortlists have been announced and I am thrilled to have The Secret Kiss of Darkness nominated in the Historical Romantic Novel category! I have known for a while but was sworn to secrecy so it's lovely to be able to tell everyone at last 🙂

I'm up against some fabulous historical authors and am very much looking forward to reading their books. Here's the list:-

and here are the author photos:-

Special shout out for fellow ChocLiteers Melanie Hudson, Alison May and Angela Britnell who are also shortlisted in various categories - so exciting!

The awards ceremony is on the 7th March - please keep your fingers crossed for me!

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Today I'm very pleased to be able to reveal the cover of my new Regency novella, Marry for Love - it's a new style of cover for this series and I love it!

Marry for Love is available for pre-order now and will be published in ebook format on Monday (11th January). Here is the blurb:-

Trapped in an intolerable marriage?

Delilah cannot bear to watch as her twin sister Deborah marries Hamish Baillie, Fourth Earl of Blackwood. Not only because she knows that her conniving sister has manipulated the poor man into marriage, but also because she has been in love with the Earl since she first set eyes on him…

Delilah is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save Hamish from a life of unhappiness - but will her plan work, or will she have to accept that she is no match for her twin's scheming ways?

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The boys and I just wanted to wish you all a very

Autumn is my favourite time of year and although it's getting darker, nature puts on such an amazing display to brighten up the days it doesn't matter!

All the Halloween pumpkins certainly add a splash of colour and it's wonderful to see all the little kids getting excited about dressing up - don't they make you smile too? Happy Halloween everyone!

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The Jade Lioness - I'm so pleased the third book in the trilogy is available at last! I always like complete sets of a series on my book shelves 🙂

In order to celebrate there is a competition over on the Choc Lit blog (Choc Lit Corner) where you can win these lovely jade items plus a signed copy of the book. Just head over there and leave a comment and you could be in with a chance!

Meanwhile, here is the blurb:-

Can an impossible love become possible?

Nagasaki, 1648

Temperance Marston longs to escape war-torn England and explore the exotic empire of Japan. When offered the chance to accompany her cousin and Captain Noordholt on a trading expedition to Nagasaki, she jumps at the opportunity. However, she soon finds the country's strict laws for foreigners curtail her freedom.

On a dangerous and foolhardy venture she meets Kazuo, a ronin. Kazuo is fascinated by her blonde hair and blue eyes, but he has a mission to complete and he cannot be distracted. Long ago, his father was accused of a crime he didn't commit - stealing a valuable jade lioness ornament from the Shogun - and Kazuo must restore his family's honour.

But when Temperance is kidnapped and sold as a concubine, he has to make a decision - can he save her and keep the promise he made to his father?

Buy links:-

Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jade-Lioness-Kumashiro-Christina-Courtenay/dp/1781892377/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1444222646&sr=1-1

Amazon US http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1781892377?keywords=The%20jade%20lioness&qid=1444222741&ref_=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2&sr=8-1

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Everyone has a favourite place in the world or memories of their best ever holiday and here on the blog I'm continuing to celebrate the e-book publication of my new novel, The Jade Lioness, by asking some of my fellow authors to tell me what their favourite exotic (or not so exotic?) travel destinations are and to recount some of their travel tales (good or bad!). Today I have Alison May with me and she has a truly magical place in mind:-

Picking my favourite exotic location was tricky. I'm a seaside girl at heart, and as soon as I started thinking about it I was torn between two gorgeous bits of coastline -Kaiteriteri in New Zealand and Kaanapali on Maui.

Now I get that that last sentence is the most horrid humble-brag imaginable so let me make clear that I haven't spent hours narrowing it down to those two from the vast array of exotic places I've been to; it's the fact that I've only been to two exotic places that's making it tough to choose.

Kaiteriteri is the place I most associate with the first big holiday I ever took with my beloved EngineerBoy. We rented a camper van and drove around the South Island of New Zealand. We spent two nights at Kaiteriteri's camping ground right next to the beach, where there was a sandwich bar that did cheese and ham toasties. I'm not sure if it's possible to achieve a higher level of contentment than sitting watching the sea eating a cheese and ham toasty. Unfortunately though cheese and ham toasties definitely don't count as glamourous and exotic so Kaiteriteri is, regretfully, relegated to second place, and my favourite exotic location is Maui.

At the risk of coming over all 'holiday brochure' about it, Maui is incredible. It's the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands, and along with its Hawaiian Island buddies, forms a tiny speck of land in the middle of the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. It's a weird cultural mix of American, Polynesian, and something completely unique. The beaches are incredible. The wildlife is incredible. The whole atmosphere is incredible. But none of these are my reason for picking Maui as my favourite exotic location. My reason is simple: Maui is magic.

Now you're going to have to bear with me here, because I don't mean 'magic' in the sense of 'romantic, beautiful, inspiring.' I mean actually magic. And I have evidence. While we were in Hawaii, EngineerBoy and I got a teensy bit fixated on wanting to see a whale breaching. A breach is when the whale 'jumps' out of the water. During our holiday we went out on whale-watching trips and snorkelling boats, and we saw lots of whales. We saw whales up close to the boats, and in the distance from the beach and the cliffs, but by the final day we still hadn't seen a proper breach. On the drive back to the airport we stopped for a few minutes at a viewing point on top of the cliff. We had no time left. There was a plane to catch and a home and jobs to get back to, but we both had that end of holiday 'Why can't we just stay here forever?' feeling. I stuck out my bottom lip, leaned on the barrier and announced that I wasn't moving from that spot until I'd seen a whale breach. And one did. Right in front of us. Right at that moment - the thing we'd been waiting for appeared on demand at the last possible second. And so there you go. Maui - it's actually magic. Either that or the whale thing was just a coincidence, but I'm going to go with the 'magic' explanation. It's much much more exciting.

Wow, that sounds wonderful, Alison - thank you for sharing!

Alison is a novelist and short story writer, who grew up in North Yorkshire and now lives with her husband in Worcester. Her contemporary romantic comedies, including Sweet Nothing, Holly's Christmas Kiss, and Cora's Christmas Kiss, are published by Choc Lit. Alison is also a qualified teacher with a degree in Creative Writing, and teaches novel writing workshops and courses. You can find out more about Alison at www.alison-may.co.uk or on Twitter @MsAlisonMay

Alison's latest book, Midsummer Dreams¸ is available for Kindle pre-order now.

About Midsummer Dreams:-

Four people. Four messy lives. One night that changes everything… Emily is obsessed with ending her father's new relationship - but is blind to the fact that her own is far from perfect. Dominic has spent so long making other people happy that he's hardly noticed he's not happy himself. Helen has loved the same man, unrequitedly, for ten years. Now she may have to face up to the fact that he will never be hers. Alex has always played the field. But when he finally meets a girl he wants to commit to, she is just out of his reach. At a midsummer wedding party, the bonds that tie the four friends together begin to unravel and show them that, sometimes, the sensible choice might not always be the right one.

Please come back tomorrow to hear about Georgia Hill's slightly scarier adventures!

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As my new novel The Jade Lioness is based on my favourite place to visit - Japan - I was curious about other people's, so I've asked some of my fellow authors to tell me what their favourite exotic (or not so exotic?) travel destinations are. Here is Gill Stewart to tell us about a truly outstanding one:-

For me the best destination has to be South Africa. It's where I used to live, although I haven't been back for 4 years and am missing it badly. South Africa has an amazing variety of places to visit, from the metropolitan, affluent Cape Town, to the spectacular wine routes or the arid inland Karoo. But the place to which I most want to return is the bush country of Limpopo Province. I didn't know this part of South Africa at all until my good friend moved there twenty years ago. Now I love it.

I love the clarity of the air, the way animals large and small can wander across the road, the way you live more outside than in. The peculiar vegetation, such as the massive 'upside down' baobab trees. The fact that you can stay overnight in a lodge beside a river where hippos swim - and wander out to rub themselves against the wall of your building, emitting deep (terrifying) grunts. Or you can swim below waterfalls and be delighted the water is cold because everything else is just so hot. You can sit on the terrace looking out over the bush to the mountains as the sun goes down. The pace of life is slower so you savour every moment. And yes there are lots of problems - poverty and crime being the most obvious. But it is a beautiful place, with amazing people. We're planning on returning in November and I can't wait.

There is a strange similarity between this part of South Africa in summer and Scotland (where I now live) in winter. If you go out ill-equipped you may well not survive! It is a harsh environment - here it is the cold, there the heat and lack of water. Actually, maybe what I like is extremes: another favourite destination is Iceland - land of ice and fire - but that's another story.

Thank you, Gill - I now have a great longing to visit South Africa and swim below a waterfall!

Gill's latest novel, Sunshine Through The Rain (written as Gilly Stewart) is set in Scotland, which although not quite as exotic is still one of my favourite places to visit and reading about it is almost as good.

Please come back tomorrow to hear about Alison May's adventures on the other side of the world!

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Continuing the celebrations here on the blog for the e-book publication of my new novel The Jade Lioness, I've asked some of my fellow authors to tell me what their favourite exotic (or not so exotic?) travel destinations are and to recount some of their travel tales (good or bad!). Today Sue Moorcroft is here to tell us about hers:-

I'm not sure that Malta qualifies for the 'exotic' label but as it's my favourite place, and not in the UK, I'm going to choose it.

When my family moved permanently to the UK, I had spent more than half my eight and a half years in Malta. The flat-topped limestone buildings, prickly pears, bougainvillea, blue Mediterranean, old-fashioned buses; these were the familiar landscape. Moving 'home' to London in January was a horrible shock!

One of our army quarters was a top-floor flat overlooking the Ta 'Xbiex Yacht Marina. We kids had a lot of freedom to explore the marina, cross the bridge to Manoel Island, or run around the surrounding fields (now built upon), but I also remember watching the boats from our balcony. It never occurred to me that one day I'd set a book in the marina - especially as I firmly believe that boats are best admired from the shore - but once I'd decided to send Lucas and Elle to Malta in The Wedding Proposal, nothing else would do but to moor the boat they live on, The Shady Lady, in Ta 'Xbiex.

The research, of course, was a particular pleasure. My favourite moment was asking a fisherman how deep the marina was at the point where he was fishing. He reversed his rod, plunged it into the water, withdrew it to display the wet section, and said, 'That deep.'

I wish I could have written some of The Wedding Proposal while in Malta. It wouldn't have been from 'our' flat (apparently a hairdresser named Adrian now lives there), but there are hotels. I could have got close enough. Maybe next time.

Thank you, Sue, and I think Malta sounds very exotic indeed! Sue writes contemporary women's fiction with occasionally unexpected themes. Love & Freedom won the Best Romantic Read Award 2011 and Dream a Little Dream was nominated for a RoNA in 2013. The Wedding Proposal, Dream a Little Dream and Is this Love? were all nominated for Readers' Best Romantic Read Awards. Sue's a Katie Fforde Bursary Award winner, a past vice chair of the RNA and editor of its two anthologies.

Sue also writes short stories, serials, courses and writing 'how to'.

Sue's latest book (set in Malta) is: The Wedding Proposal

Links:-

Website: www.suemoorcroft.com

Blog: https://suemoorcroft.wordpress.com/

Facebook sue.moorcroft.3

Facebook author page - https://www.facebook.com/SueMoorcroftAuthor

Twitter @suemoorcroft

Google+: google.com/+Suemoorcroftauthor

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suemoorcroft

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As everyone probably knows by now, Japan is one of my all-time favourite places in the world to visit. But there are so many other wonderful destinations, so to celebrate the e-book publication of my new novel The Jade Lioness, I've asked some of my fellow authors to tell me what their favourite exotic (or not so exotic?) travel destinations are and to recount some of their travel tales (good or bad!). Today I welcome Janet Gover to tell us about hers:-

I love wild places. I think it comes from growing up in the Australian bush. I also love history, so those are the places that attract me.

I particularly love the South West of the USA: New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Arizona. It's wild and beautiful and unique in so many ways. My holidays there really stand out in my memories for so many reasons.

I fulfilled a life-long wish when I visited the pueblo cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde in Colorado. It's amazing that a whole culture existed here - climbing and an out of these dwellings by simple hand holds in the rocks. There are slightly safer paths for tourists now, thank goodness!

In the middle of the New Mexico desert, inside a secure missile range, is the Trinity Site where the world's first atomic bomb was exploded. Growing up in the nuclear age, I always wanted to see that site and was thrilled to learn you can go there. The site is open to the public on just two days a year. We formed a convoy and were escorted in by military police. It was an awesome feeling to stand in a place where one event changed the whole world.

The craziest place I went to was just inside the same military base. It's officially a Missile Museum, but actually looked a lot like a spare room where you just dump everything you don't use any more but don't want to throw away… or rather how that room would look if you were a military superpower. The buildings and the area around them are littered with leftover missiles and bombs, looking like a child has tossed them aside after playing with them. I couldn't help but wonder what those missiles were pointing at - just in case…..

Like you, Christina, I have been to Japan several times and do enjoy it. But my favourite place in the whole world - well, Australia of course. That's why I set my books there. You can find out more about that on my website at www.janetgover.com

Thank you, Janet, that sounds awesome! And I'm sure the Australian outback is equally as amazing - I hope to visit both places myself one day.

For anyone who wants to visit the Australian outback from the comfort of their sofas, Janet's latest novel, The Wild One, is now available in e-book from all major platforms.

Please come back tomorrow to hear from Sue Moorcroft.

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As everyone probably knows by now, Japan is one of my all-time favourite places in the world to visit. To celebrate the e-book publication of my new novel The Jade Lioness, I've asked some of my fellow authors to tell me what their favourite exotic (or not so exotic?) travel destinations are and to recount some of their travel tales (good or bad!). To start us off, here's Liz Fenwick who agrees with me:-

I think I have travelled more than your average soul and seen some of the world's most beautiful places. But I have to confess I hadn't longed to go to Japan (or if I'm honest it might have been the fear of the food). I'm not sure why but maybe it was just too far from my imaginings. However, fate thankfully intervened when one of our closest friends invited us to his wedding in Kyoto.

I had no idea what to expect… and I came away enchanted and wanting more… except for the food. I'm not a huge fan of raw anything - let alone fish or even chicken. Mark's beautiful fianc ée Yumi took us to her favourite restaurant in Gion (the old Geisha district) and threw me in at the deep end with a dish of minced seasoned raw chicken. I will admit that it was delicious but my mind wouldn't let me do more than taste it.

The long weekend passed in a blur of beauty and culminated in a stunning wedding held in a temple followed by a feast that I will never forget - filled with more raw food exquisitely presented. I survived the meal, but as you can see from the picture… at times it was a challenge.

I'm looking forward to another opportunity to visit Japan, but in the meantime Christina's books are the next best thing to a visit and I don't have to eat the food!!

Thank you, Liz! I love everything about the Japan so I'm glad you enjoyed it (apart from the food - we'll have to work on that!). Gion and the city of Kyoto are absolutely beautiful and well worth a visit.

Liz's own wonderful books are set in Cornwall, another stunning place, and her latest one is Under a Cornish Sky.

Please come back tomorrow to hear from Janet Gover.

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Tomorrow is e-book publication day for my new novel The Jade Lioness. It's set in 17^th century Japan and is the third and final book in my Japanese trilogy. The story features Temperance Marston, cousin of Midori Kumashiro who was the heroine of The Gilded Fan (book 2). Here's what happens:-

Can an impossible love become possible?

Nagasaki, 1648

Temperance Marston longs to escape war-torn England and explore the exotic empire of Japan. When offered the chance to accompany her cousin and Captain Noordholt on a trading expedition to Nagasaki, she jumps at the opportunity. However, she soon finds the country's strict laws for foreigners curtail her freedom.

On a dangerous and foolhardy venture she meets Kazuo, a ronin. Kazuo is fascinated by her blonde hair and blue eyes, but he has a mission to complete and he cannot be distracted. Long ago, his father was accused of a crime he didn't commit - stealing a valuable jade lioness ornament from the Shogun - and Kazuo must restore his family's honour.

But when Temperance is kidnapped and sold as a concubine, he has to make a decision - can he save her and keep the promise he made to his father?

From tomorrow onwards some of my author friends will be helping me to celebrate the release of The Jade Lioness by telling us about their favourite exotic travel destinations - watch this space!

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Today I welcome back fellow writer Alison Morton to my blog. She's the author of the Roma Nova alternate history thriller series, and she's just published the fourth instalment, AURELIA. I loved the first three books, which featured Carina Mitela, American-born but with a Roma Novan mother. They followed her story as she returns to her mother's homeland where she has to adjust to living in a matriarchal society where women rule and her family is one of the top twelve in the country (something that brings both duties and privileges).

AURELIA takes us back two generations, to 1960, and is the story of Carina's grandmother. It's a cracking good read! I really like Aurelia, who is a fantastic heroine - courageous, strong, intelligent and decisive - and this fast-paced novel, which takes us on a journey through an alternative Europe, keeps the reader turning the pages throughout. And the villain of the piece is truly evil!

So, Alison, tell us what made you want to go back and tell Aurelia's story?

Two things, really. Firstly, we meet Aurelia as an older woman in INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS and SUCCESSIO and as I wrote her I found myself becoming fascinated by her common sense, toughness and her loneliness. In INCEPTIO, Karen struggles to visualise Aurelia twenty plus years before as a military commander leading a unit to retake a war-torn city. And the mystery of Aurelia's single life - there is no husband, lover or companion in the family circle or memory, yet she is Karen's grandmother.

Plenty to chew on there. Secondly, I wanted to write about the terrible events twenty-three years before INCEPTIO that scarred Conrad and threatened the destruction of Roma Nova itself. AURELIA is the pre-cursor to that story. Watch this space!

She's definitely what I would call a "kick-ass " heroine - is that something you aspired to be yourself? (I know you were in the army)

Well, all fiction is made up, but some of it is less made up than other parts of it. 🙂

As I said, the bad guy is truly evil, almost like a Bond-villain - is that what you based him on or did you have something/someone else in mind?

No, I didn't base him on a Bond-villain. 😉 The bad guy in AURELIA has all the gifts the world could give him, but wants more. This fascinates me. In a way, our modern culture centres on that. But he is beauty and intelligence with a rotten heart and represents our darker side. So I constructed him from those ideas. Of course, there may just have been the odd hint about him in the first three books…

I found your alternative Europe absolutely fascinating and especially the idea that if Germany/ Austria had reverted to tiny kingdoms/ princedoms/ mini republics after the Great War, they would never have had the energy to band together and cause a second one because they were always squabbling among themselves. Do you think that's what should have happened after the real World War I?

Well, maybe I'm a romantic, or possibly a touch Machiavellian, but I think it's a strong possibility. 'German-ness' has never been confined to national borders; for instance, Prague and Strasbourg were very much culturally and philosophically identified German cities for centuries. In contrast, German-speaking regions vary massively from each other in dialect, loyalty, food & drink, national costume, politics and identity from northern Italy to Hamburg, Alsace to Berlin.

You obviously do your research very thoroughly and there was a lot of information about silver trading, stock markets, banking and espionage - how did you go about finding all those details? (And I just want to add that you did a brilliant job in explaining it to the reader).

After hours, weeks, even months of research plus delving back into my own past. I worked in the City of London for a few years, and although not in metal trading or futures, I couldn't help but be aware of them. Ditto the banking. And doesn't silver fascinate everybody…?

The ending of the book isn't exactly a cliff-hanger (I think I can safely say that without giving anything away?), but at the same time I was left wanting to know more about what happens next. Will you continue Aurelia's story or are you moving on to her daughter Marina next?

I like to resolve each of my stories properly; I'm not a fan of leaving readers on a cliff-hanger as I think it's unfair to them. You may think that things seem settled for the moment, but if you look up a Roma Nova history book, you'll see that there's a catastrophe looming. Oh, are all the history books out on loan? What a shame! You'll have to wait until the next Roma Nova story to see what happens thirteen years later…

Ohh, intriguing! Best of luck and thank you for being my guest today!

There's a lovely book trailer for AURELIA here:-

https://youtu.be/K5_hXzg0JWA

Links:-

Connect with Alison on her Roma Nova blog: http://alison-morton.com/blog/

Facebook author page https://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor

Twitter https://twitter.com/alison_morton @alison-morton

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5783095.Alison_Morton

Buying link (multiple retailers/formats):

AURELIA: http://alison-morton.com/books-2/aurelia/where-to-buy-aurelia/

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At last I can share the beautiful cover of my next novel - The Jade Lioness! It is the third book in my Japanese trilogy, the Kumashiro series, and features Temperance Marston, an English girl who fulfills her dream of going to Japan. Unfortunately, things don't quite go to plan though…

Here's the blurb:-

Can an impossible love become possible?

Nagasaki, 1648

Temperance Marston longs to escape war-torn England and explore the exotic empire of Japan. When offered the chance to accompany her cousin and Captain Noordholt on a trading expedition to Nagasaki, she jumps at the opportunity. However, she soon finds the country's strict laws for foreigners curtail her freedom.

On a dangerous and foolhardy venture she meets Kazuo, a ronin. Kazuo is fascinated by her blonde hair and blue eyes, but he has a mission to complete and he cannot be distracted. Long ago, his father was accused of a crime he didn't commit - stealing a valuable jade lioness ornament from the Shogun - and Kazuo must restore his family's honour.

But when Temperance is kidnapped and sold as a concubine, he has to make a decision - can he save her and keep the promise he made to his father?

(It's available for pre-order from Kindle now - published by Choc Lit 15th May 2015)

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I absolutely love Scotland and will take any excuse to go there, so although it's a very long drive, I jumped at the chance for a visit last weekend. And I had a very good reason to go - the launch party of the Paisley Piranhas!

That might sound a bit strange and has nothing to do with fish - Paisley Piranhas is a group of YA authors (including me) who are working together to promote our teen books, and Sunday saw our official launch party at the Robert Burns Centre in Dumfries. A fab little cinema, we were able to use it to launch our books and to have a private showing of The Princess Bride, one of our all-time favourite movies (which also happens to be mentioned in one of the books).

With sweets, snacks and drinks on offer, as well as our books of course, it was a great afternoon and we were very pleased to welcome so many lovely people. Claire Watts, Gill-Marie Stewart and myself had a fab time and were only sorry the fourth member of our gang, Katy Haye, couldn't be with us on the day. Next time for sure!

The Paisley Piranha books so far are:-

Gill-Marie Stewart - Music and Lies

Claire Watts - What They Don't Tell You About Love in the Movies

Katy Haye - The Last Gatekeeper

Pia Fenton - New England Crush

Here are some photos from the event - huge thanks to everyone who came and Gill's and Claire's families who went above and beyond the call of duty to help us!

(For more information about Paisley Piranha and our books, please check out our website here)

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The RNA's annual awards event, the RoNAs, was held last night at the wonderful Gladstone Library, One Whitehall. It was a celebration of the very best in romantic fiction and the awards were presented by the amazing Barbara Taylor Bradford, herself the author of thirty romantic novels.

The lovely compere Jane Wenham-Jones introduced the shortlists and the winners were:-

Contemporary category - Lucy Dillon

Epic category - Ella Harper

Historical category - Hazel Gaynor

Romantic Comedy category - Lucy-Anne Holmes

RoNA Rose category - Louise Allen

Young Adult category - Joss Stirling

And the overall winner of The Romantic Novel of the Year was Joss Stirling with her YA novel Struck, a wonderful story with a quirky hero and a multi-cultural heroine. A truly worthy winner!

For me, it was my last awards event as chairman of the RNA so I was very glad everyone seemed to enjoy it. I'm already looking forward to next year's!

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Thrilled to find out today - on Valentine's Day - that The Secret Kiss of Darkness has received a Reviewers' Choice Award 2014 from the Single Titles reviewers!

There is a full list of the awards here and I'm very honoured to be one of them - huge thanks to the Single Titles review team and Happy Valentine's Day!

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Today fellow author Nikki Moore is my guest and she's here to talk about Valentine's Day and the third book in her Love London series - Valentine's on Primrose Hill.

Welcome, Nikki! Please tell us how you came up with the idea for this series and why London?

Thanks for having me 🙂 I can't really take the credit for the idea - that would have to go to my fab HarperImpulse editor Charlotte. My debut Crazy, Undercover, Love was partly set in London, and my next full length book Picnics in Hyde Park is wholly set in the city, because I've always loved London and get a real buzz every time I visit, but it was Charlotte who approached me with the idea of an eBook series of short stories linked to Picnics, that would all be romances set in London. We thought it would be nice if a character from each story could be linked to Picnics, so I did that too 🙂 As to why London, I find it endlessly fascinating because there's so much to see and do, and it's very diverse. I love the pace, architecture, nightlife, landmarks… I think I could live in London and still never come closing to experiencing all of it.

This is the third book in the series - which one has been the hardest to write so far? And did you have to make a conscious effort to come up with plots/themes that would go especially well with a London setting?

That's a tough one! I definitely found Cocktails in Chelsea and Strawberries at Wimbledon easiest to write, I'm not sure why, but they flowed better. Valentine's on Primrose Hill was quite difficult because I kept wanting to write a darker story, with a more damaged heroine that was probably better suited to a full length book. Luckily Charlotte is incredibly supportive and very good at giving feedback, so the finished product is one I'm happy with (until the readers tell me otherwise)! I suppose Skating at Somerset House caused me the most agonising because as the first story in the series I wanted it to be really strong. There was a balance between making sure I didn't disappoint existing readers and trying to entice new readers, and not put either group off the rest of the series. Thankfully, Skating at Somerset House has had over twenty Amazon reviews and all bar one are four and five stars 🙂

As for the plots, they really grew from the titles and covers, which Charlotte and I had agreed on in advance. The stories were also shaped by deciding which character in each story would be linked to Matt and Zoe, and how.

I love the idea of the heroine's mum buying her a puppy to get out of the house and as I have dogs myself (and have lived in London with them and had to walk them in Hyde Park) I know that it's a great way to get chatting to people. Is this something you've experienced yourself? Sadly I mostly met little old ladies, no handsome heroes!

I had a dog when I was little, a lovely Collie/Terrier cross who lived to a ripe old age, and loved our family dog, a mad Chocolate Labrador (some people might recognise Pudding from Skating at Somerset House here) who now lives with my ex-husband and his partner. I enjoyed taking them for walks and there is a great sense of community with dog owners, so I agree they're very social animals in every sense of the word. I felt that a puppy for Georgiana in Valentine's on Primrose Hill would be great for her in a few ways; as a companion; as someone to be responsible for and as a way to force her to go out into the world again after her accident.

What does Valentine's Day mean to you personally? Are you the kind of person who loves getting cards, balloons, flowers or whatever from the man in your life or are you a "bah humbug, it's all a commercial gimmick " type?

I think I'm a bit of both to be honest! On one hand I love romance, and the idea of celebrating it, and am certainly happy for my lovely boyfriend to get me flowers etc but on the other hand I resent the pressure of having to be super-romantic on one particular day of the year. Romance should be a part of every-day life!

Thank you!

No, thank you for asking me such brilliant questions 🙂 and having me on here as your guest.

Nikki's book Valentine's on Primrose Hill (#LoveLondon series; eBook 3) is released today and here is the blurb:-

For Georgiana Dunn, life changed forever in the devastating moment that the lorry hit her car.

Scarred and scared, she's not left the house properly in months. Then her mum buys her a puppy, forcing her to face the world again, walking on London's beautiful Primrose Hill. But that doesn't mean she's looking forward to Valentine's Day.

Leo devotes himself to working with children with special educational needs. In fact, he does very little else, and his friends are always telling him to get a (love) life. So when they challenge him to find a date for Valentine's Day, and he meets a lovely but lost girl who looks like she could use a friend, he thinks he's found the perfect solution.

But life has a way of being less than perfect… Will he be left standing on his own on the most romantic day of the year?

It's available from Amazon for only 99p! (here)

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I wish you all a very Happy, Healthy and Successful New Year 2015!

I'm hoping one of these little Japanese Darumas will grant me a wish this time as last year's failed to perform his duties - we will see! 🙂

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Today my fourth Regency novella, Never Too Late, is released on Kindle - a sort of early Christmas present for me and just in time to help me celebrate Swedish Christmas! Here's a little bit about it:-

Can true love be rekindled?

Maude is devastated when the interference of her strict father prevents her from eloping with Luke Hexham. It is not long before she is married off to Edward, Luke's cousin - a good match in her father's eyes but an abhorrent one to his daughter.

Eight years later, Edward is dead. Maude, now Lady Hexham, is appalled to find his entire estate is to go to Luke - the man she still loves - with no provision for either herself or her young daughter.

Luke has never forgotten Maude's apparent betrayal, but he has the means to help her. Maude doesn't want his charity, but agrees to stay as his paid housekeeper.

Soon Maude and Luke realise that perhaps it is never too late for true love. But, even after eight years, there is still somebody who would stop at nothing to keep them apart…

Another lovely surprise is that my other three Regency novellas - Marry in Haste, Once Bitten Twice Shy and Desperate Remedies - put together as a collection, are currently #1 in the Amazon UK Regency Kindle chart! I think I'd better go and celebrate with some chocolate… God Jul everyone, I hope you're having a great day too!

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It's taken a bit longer than I thought, but it's finally done - New England Crush, the second book in my contemporary YA series, is out now!

I've chosen to publish this under my other name, Pia Fenton, as I wanted to distinguish my YA titles from my adult historical/time slip novels. As I have self-published this time, it kind of felt right to do it under a different name. The lovely cover - as always, thanks to talented Berni Stevens for that! - shows both in order to (hopefully) avoid confusion.

Book 1, New England Rocks, featured Rain Mackenzie, an English girl forced to attend an American high school for a year because of being expelled from her posh boarding school back home. New England Crush is the story of her younger sister, Raven, who follows in big sis's footsteps, although against her will.

Here's what it's all about:-

Crushing on the wrong boy - why does it feel so right?

Raven Mackenzie has finally settled into her posh British boarding school when her parents decide she has to attend an American high school for a year just because her older sister enjoyed it - so unfair!

Being a newcomer is never easy, but to her surprise she's befriended by a group of Goths. She's teased about her accent and English ways by others, but with the support of friends it's easy to cope. In fact, everything would be perfect if she wasn't crushing on the one boy she can't have - a jock whose current girlfriend will fight for him by fair means or foul (well, mostly foul!)

Liam Donnelly is easy-going and has never given much thought to his friends' cliquey behaviour. But when new girl Raven quite literally falls into his arms, and his friends do everything they can to keep them apart, he starts to wonder - what's up with that?

I had a lot of fun writing this so I hope readers will enjoy it just as much!

Buy links:-

Ebook: http://www.amazon.co.uk/England-Crush-Northbrooke-High-Book-ebook/dp/B00OYLB636/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418492749&sr=1-1&keywords=new+england+crush

Paperback: http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-England-Crush-Northbrooke-High/dp/1503096351/ref=sr_1_1_twi_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418859091&sr=1-1

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Today I have another guest, fellow author Nikki Moore who wanted to share the news about her latest release, which is out now - Book 1, #LoveLondon Series; Skating at Somerset House

There's nothing Holly Winterlake loves more than Christmas and skating, so working as an Ice Marshall at London's Somerset House is a dream come true.

Noel Summerford hates the festive season and is a disaster on the ice, so taking his godson to Somerset House is his idea of the nightmare before Christmas!

Things are bound to get interesting when these two collide…

With a forty foot Christmas tree, an assortment of well meaning friends and relatives, and a mad chocolate Labrador, will this festive season be one to remember… or forget?

Skating at Somerset House is available to buy athttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Skating-Somerset-House-Love-London-ebook/dp/B00P5V4T4C

More books in the #LoveLondon series coming soon!

Sounds great - happy publication day, Nikki!

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Today I'm very pleased to have as my guest fellow YA author Katy Haye, whose debut novel The Last Gatekeeper is out now! Here's a quick Q & A session to find out more:-

1 - So, Katy, The Last Gatekeeper is a YA fantasy novel - please tell us about it!

If you've ever felt like you didn't fit in, then The Last Gatekeeper should strike a chord. The main character, Zan, knows she doesn't fit in with modern life. She has electrical hypersensitivity which means she can't have a normal teenager's life - texting, using the internet, even shopping aren't possible for her. Her mother has the same thing, so Zan assumes it's one of those things that has to be tolerated (and her life's never been anything but isolated, so it isn't as though she really knows what she's missing). But on her seventeenth birthday life takes a turn for the weird. Zan's mother vanishes, she finds her father unconscious in their home, and a rather gorgeous alien knocks on her door to tell her she's the only one who can stop life on Earth being wiped out.

2 - Why did you want to write for teens rather than adults?

YA is about 90% of what I read, so for me it was natural to write for a teen rather than adult audience. YA fiction tells some of the most intelligent, imaginative and unlimited stories around and that's what I want to be a part of.

I also think the human question, "Who are you, and where do you fit in life? ", is particularly key during the teen years and examining that question is a strong vein in my writing.

3 - And what made you opt for fantasy and not any other sub-genre of YA?

My mantra for writing seems to be, "If you're going to make it up, you might as well REALLY make it up. " My imagination teems with fairies and genies and ghosts and aliens, so I guess fantasy is a natural home for the stories that interest me and which I long to tell. I also have quite a taste for melodrama - in The Last Gatekeeper, Zan needs to save the world. That would be a hard sell in a contemporary novel (I guess a thriller could just about manage it), but such high stakes are entirely natural in fantasy.

4 - Your heroine has been kept in the dark as to her true identity. Can you explain why her parents thought that was the best course? And do you think they come to regret it, following the things that happen in this story? (No spoilers, but quite a lot does happen to her!)

Ooh, well, I think one explanation is that her parents have simply not noticed that she's no longer a child. At the backs of their minds has been a nagging thought that they should tell Zan the real reason why she has electrical hypersentivity and can't have the sort of life a modern teenager would expect, but they keep putting off telling her until - bang! - one day it's too late. They certainly underestimate her - but luckily for them Zan turns out to be capable of far more than anyone might expect!

5 - There is romance/first love in your story as well as adventure, mystery and excitement - did you find it difficult to write about this aspect of being a teenager?

Once I'd met gorgeous talvarrine Thanriel I fell a little bit in love with him myself, so that initial rush of infatuation wasn't difficult at all! The Last Gatekeeper is written in the first person and really I saw everything through Zan's feelings and emotions. I didn't find it difficult to write her falling in love because I was simply writing what she experienced - but whether that also communicates to the reader I guess is for other people to decide.

6 - Is this book the first in a series or is it a stand-alone? If it's a series, is there anything you can tell us about what might happen next? Or if it's not, what are you working on now?

There will be more Chronicles of Fane. I'm working on book 2 at present. That tells the story of the dreamseer - a gifted fane who would give anything to be rid of her abilities. It'll be a while before that's ready for an audience, however!

Well, I hope it won't be too long, Katy!

About the author:-

Katy Haye spends as much time as possible in either her own or someone else's imaginary worlds. She has a fearsome green tea habit, a partiality for dark chocolate brazils and a fascination with the science of storytelling.

When not lost in a good book, Katy may be found on her allotment growing veg and keeping hens in order to maximise her chances of survival in the event of a zombie apocalypse or similar catastrophe (yes, she has a very vivid imagination).

Find out more at www.katyhaye.com, check out her blog about books, reading and writing at www.katyhaye.com/add-more-narrativium, or chat on Twitter @katyhaye

The Last Gatekeeper is available as a Kindle ebook or as a paperback.

Zan knows she's different. Today she discovers why…

Zanzibar MacKenzie knows she's a freak. She has EHS - electrical hypersensitivity - which leaves her trying to live a Stone Age life in the twenty-first century: no internet, no phone, no point really. Then Thanriel knocks on her door and the dull summer holiday becomes maybe too exciting. Zan discovers fairies and angels are real beings from other planets, she herself is half alien, and the future of life on Earth rests on her shoulders.

Thank you so much for dropping by, Katy - I've had a sneak preview of The Last Gatekeeper and can highly recommend it, it's fab!

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Last year, I had so much fun helping out at the annual Christmas Fair held at the Swedish Church in Harcourt Street, London, that I couldn't wait to do it again! The fair was held this weekend and, as always, was a huge success with so many people through the doors they had to queue to get in. And no wonder it's so popular when there's so much to buy, eat and look at - an absolute treasure trove!

I was helping out at the stand called 'Viltboden' where we sold the very best of Scandinavian food - elk and reindeer meat, sausages, seafood salad, salmon (both smoked and special 'gravad lax', marinated to perfection in gin and juniper berries by stall manager Stefan Hising), caviar, handmade blue cheese and so much more. Customers had a hard time choosing, which I could fully understand as it was all delicious. I couldn't resist buying quite a lot of it myself 🙂

The Swedish church itself is always turned into a cafe for the occasion, selling what we in Sweden call 'fika' (a very useful word if you ever go there) - ie coffee and cakes, including cinnamon and saffron buns. Yes, I had my fair share (and more probably!).

But the best thing about it all is the camaraderie of all those helping out, all cheerful, helpful and with a smile on their faces, and all wearing either the traditional costumes or pretty Victorian style aprons. And of course all the lovely customers who come to share the Swedish Christmas spirit and stock up on all the things they miss or, in the case of non-Swedes, try something new.

I, for one, can't wait until the next one and I want to say a huge thank you to the wonderful staff at the Swedish church for organising this event so superbly!

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Autumn is my absolute favourite time of year and I couldn't resist sharing some lovely photos here - taken in the UK and on my recent trip to Sweden. Enjoy!

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I've had a fantastic week in Sweden (despite the weather!), going on a mini tour of book stores in the Southern part and meeting lovely, enthusiastic store owners and readers!

We kicked off in a town called Laholm, near Sweden's south west coast, where the owners of Laholms Bokhandel, Diana and Stefan, had invited their customers for an evening of books and chat. And what a fabulous spread they put on - delicious home made soup and bread to start off with, then some wonderful chocolate cake with coffee after the talks. I teamed up with fellow EA Förlag authors Ulla Gabay and Gustave Lund, and we had a very enjoyable evening!

The following day, after a quick visit to see EA Förlag's offices, I spent some time in the town of Varberg, where the staff at Göranssons Bokhandel (aka Akademibokhandeln Varberg) made me very welcome. I chatted to their customers and met some lovely people. During the afternoon I had a chance to explore the town and its famous fort - Varbergs Fästning - a truly intimidating place (see photos below)! There had been a fort on the site since the 13th century, with the Swedes and Danes taking turns to occupy and own it (and this part of the country). Also used as a prison for a while, I could well imagine how bleak and forbidding it must have seemed, especially in winter, to the poor souls incarcerated there. But what views, truly stunning!

In the evening I attended a mini fashion show in the shop She in Halmstad, Another city on the west coast. The store owners put on a great show for a select audience and very kindly featured me and my books as well. And apart from some fabulous fashion, the attendees were treated to drinks and canapes - what a brilliant idea!

That concluded my trip to the western parts of Sweden and I headed towards more familiar territory - the county of Småland, which is where I come from. I did a book signing in the Eksjö Bokhandel, a small but perfect indie book store, the kind where you feel warmly welcomed and free to browse for hours. Once again, the owners made me feel at home and I enjoyed chatting to readers and friends who kindly popped in. I hope to visit the store soon again as they are only a short drive from my home town.

Finally, Gustave and I met up in the city of Jönköping, at the southern most tip of Lake Vättern (one of the two largest in Sweden), where we did a joint signing at the A6 Mall, a haven for local shoppers. My "clan " and some of my friends very kindly turned up to support us, and we had fun talking to other readers, as well as the wonderful staff at Akademibokhandeln A6.

Huge thanks to EA Förlag and to all the wonderful book stores who hosted us - hope to see you all soon again!

Now I have some time to enjoy the Swedish autumn, which is much further along than in England. The forests around here are beautiful at the moment and the air is crisp and fresh - bliss!

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Last Saturday I spent a lovely day in Leighton Buzzard, which is where the Festival of Romantic Fiction was held this year. I had never been a 'market trader' before, but the authors taking part were allocated a proper market stall in the High Street and we set out our wares. All the books on the stalls were a lovely sight (although being a book worm, I may be slightly biased).

Members of the public passing by were interested and supportive, asking if we'll come again next year. It was huge fun chatting to everyone - and selling some books of course - and I could happily have stayed there all day.

In the afternoon we had to go on to the local tea room, however, for a traditional afternoon tea and readings from our books. The Green House in the Market Square put on a fabulous spread which included my favourite type of scones - those without raisins or currants. No dinner was needed after that!

Which was just as well, because we then continued on to the Festival Awards presentation at the Leighton Buzzard theatre, where we were treated to some dance displays by a local theatre school - the children taking part were very talented indeed!

Although Monsoon Mists was shortlisted in the historical category - which was lovely - it didn't win, but as it lost out to the wonderful The Dress Thief by Natalie Meg Evans, I didn't really mind. Other winners included Fiona Harper, Rowan Coleman, Alice Peterson, Jo Thomas and Nicola May. And our lovely RNA President Katie Fforde was inducted into the Festival Hall of Fame - very well deserved!

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This weekend I attended the Historical Novel Society Conference 2014 in London, something I'd been looking forward to immensely. I knew from previous experience that the talks would be excellent and varied and I definitely wasn't disappointed - the organisers, Charlie Farrow, Richard Lee and Jenny Barden had done a brilliant job!

The programme kicked off with a panel talk on the challenges and triumphs of selling historical fiction. Chaired by the lovely Carole Blake, this was a wide-ranging discussion which concluded that in order to sell historical fiction you need a combination of paid advertising, social media networking and an absolutely fantastic cover design. We were also told to be bold and use our passion to write the best possible story (without following trends) so that it has something very special to offer, but above all to enjoy writing it.

This was followed by the keynote speaker Conn Iggulden, best-selling author of action-packed adventure stories. He was a fabulous speaker, very entertaining and amusing, and we could have listened to him for a lot longer!

There were some smaller break-out sessions and the one I attended was extremely interesting - how to make an attention-grabbing book trailer. Filmmaker Philip Stevens of Urban Apache Films and best-selling author Giles Kristian told us how they went about creating the best possible trailers for Giles' books. Trailers that had a real impact on the viewer and instantly made you (a) grasp what the book was about and (b) made you want to go out and buy it. They showed us the do's and don'ts of trailer-making. It should be a collaboration between the author and the filmmaker, and should capture the essence of your book. It should inspire the audience to find out more about your book.

Unfortunately book trailers are not yet seen as a 'must-have' marketing tool by publishers, but Philip and Giles felt that they should be because people spend a lot of time online so this is a great way of making them aware of our books. The only downside is that a really good trailer costs a lot of money so I'm going to have to start saving up I think!

The afternoon featured a fun session where five authors argued in favour of the particular eras they write about ('My Era is Better than Your Era') and somewhat surprisingly, I think the early Georgian won (?!), although to my mind you can't beat the Vikings or the Civil War period. Finally we had a wonderful interview with Lindsey Davis, who chatted to Jerome de Groot and gave us some great insights into her writing process and the inspiration behind her books - very enjoyable indeed!

Unfortunately I wasn't able to go to the Sunday morning sessions, but I understand they were all just as good. Many thanks again to the organisers - I'm looking forward to the next conference already!

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Monsoon Mists at last! I'm so pleased to have the final instalment in my Kinross trilogy available - it feels as if I've come full circle and although there are other members of that family trying to attract my attention, I feel I can leave them for now and get on with other things.

As I'm not a champagne kind of girl, I will be celebrating with some cake and chocolate today, but feel free to raise a glass to Monsoon Mists if you want to!

Blurb for Monsoon Mists

Sometimes the most precious things cannot be bought…

It's 1759 and Jamie Kinross has travelled far to escape his troubled existence - from the pine forests of Sweden to the bustling streets of India.

Jamie starts a new life as a gem trader, but when his mentor's family are kidnapped as part of a criminal plot, he vows to save them and embarks on a dangerous mission to the city of Surat, carrying the stolen talisman of an Indian Rajah.

There he encounters Zarmina Miller. She is rich and beautiful, but her infamous haughtiness has earned her a nickname: "The Ice Widow". Jamie is instantly tempted by the challenge she presents.

When it becomes clear that Zarmina's step-son is involved in the plot Jamie begins to see another side to her - a dark past to rival his own and a heart just waiting to be thawed. But is it too late?

I'll be a guest on various blogs during the coming weeks and I kick off on the lovely Tara's blog Book Babe today - many thanks to Tara for hosting!

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I have just returned from the RNA conference, which was held at Newport near Telford this year, and I've had a lovely time! The weekend began with a series of reader events, first at Wellington Library where many of our authors took part in talks and activities, and then at Blists Hill Victorian Town in Ironbridge Gorge where we put on a 'Meet-the-Author' and book signing/selling event. And what a fab time we had!

There were authors of historical romance, Regency romance, sagas, steampunk and alternative history, and the displays were as diverse as they were wonderful! Visitors to the Goods Shed (where the event was being held courtesy of the lovely team at Blists Hill) could come and look at exquisite Regency fans and prints, medical instruments from the 1940's, a model of the Roman Coliseum, Titanic and suffragettee memorabilia, Elizabethan musket balls, Georgian scents and alternative history books of the UK. Our authors had gone to great lengths to make it all as authentic as possible, which was much appreciated.

Many of us had dressed up in costume and I loved every one of them - see photos below - although I have to say that my favourites were the steampunk ones. But everyone looked just right for their chosen period and the attention to detail was brilliant! I really enjoyed the day and I hope all the visitors did too. A huge thank you to Blists Hill for hosting us!

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It's finally here - Monsoon Mists is available on Kindle both in the UK and the US!

This story follows Jamie Kinross, the younger brother of Brice (hero of Highland Storms) - since he seemed to be the bad guy in that novel and that wasn't entirely fair, I had to let him tell it from his point of view because things aren't always what they seem…

Here's the blurb:-

Sometimes the most precious things cannot be bought…

It's 1759 and Jamie Kinross has travelled far to escape his troubled existence - from the pine forests of Sweden to the bustling streets of India.

Jamie starts a new life as a gem trader, but when his mentor's family are kidnapped as part of a criminal plot, he vows to save them and embarks on a dangerous mission to the city of Surat, carrying the stolen talisman of an Indian Rajah.

There he encounters Zarmina Miller. She is rich and beautiful, but her infamous haughtiness has earned her a nickname: "The Ice Widow". Jamie is instantly tempted by the challenge she presents.

When it becomes clear that Zarmina's step-son is involved in the plot Jamie begins to see another side to her - a dark past to rival his own and a heart just waiting to be thawed. But is it too late?

Buy links:-

UK -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=monsoon+mists&rh=n%3A341677031%2Ck%3Amonsoon+mists

US -

http://www.amazon.com/Monsoon-Mists-Choc-Kinross-Book-ebook/dp/B00LI7J1C2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1404464804&sr=1-1&keywords=monsoon+mists

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I'm very pleased to have been invited by Jane Jackson to take part in a continuing series of blog posts called "Meet My Main Character". It was started by Debra Brown, who is the Administrator of English Historical Fiction Authors, a great website for anyone interested in obscure bits of British history. Please click here for her original post.

Jane's latest book is Crosscurrents and her website is at www.janejackson.net - please go and have a look at her post about the main character of this novel which sounds brilliant!

My own main character:-

1. What is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or historical?

My character is called Jago Kerswell and he is entirely fictional although I borrowed his surname from a Devon ancestor of mine as I liked it very much.

2. When and where is the story set?

The story is set in a fictional village on the south coast of Devon in 1781/82. The village is called Marcombe and is somewhere near Kingsbridge. It's part of a fictitious estate owned by Sir John Marcombe of Marcombe Hall (another imaginary character).

3. What should we know about him?

Jago is a smuggler and an innkeeper, but he's only taken to smuggling in order to help the villagers, who were very poor and struggling to feed their families before the extra income came their way. He's not married and happens to be half-brother to Sir John Marcombe - they share the same father but Jago is illegitimate. His mother was a gypsy, so he has a gypsy grandmother who tells fortunes and knows how to cast spells.

4. What is the main conflict? What messes up his/her life?

Meeting Sir John's wife, Eliza, out on the cliffs one dark night totally messes up Jago's life. It turns out John has been mistreating her and in despair she wants to kill herself. Jago saves her, but the two of them fall in love which was never part of his plans. He knows there is danger in the stolen moments with her, but he discovers he'll take any risk to be with her, including submitting to one of his grandmother's spells.

5. What is the personal goal of the character?

His main goal until he met Eliza was to keep the villagers and his fellow smugglers safe and prosperous and to live a comfortable life on his own terms, beholden to no one. Once he meets her, however, things change. He begins to plan how to get her away from her brutish husband and perhaps for the two of them to emigrate to the Colonies. But there are things that stand in his way…

6. What is the title? Can we read more about it?

The Secret Kiss of Darkness. You can read more about it here.

7. When will the book be published?

The book was published in February 2014 so is available now as a paperback and ebook (all formats).

Thank you for visiting! The next Main Character blog post will be on Henriette Gyland's website on Tuesday 8^th July when she'll be talking about The Highwayman's Daughter.

Please also check out Tom Williams' Main Character from his novel His Majesty's Confidential Agent, which is part of this series of blog posts as well. You can find it here!

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Yesterday I had the huge pleasure of taking part in the Worcestershire Lit Fest, thanks to fellow author Alison May. She had invited me, Sue Moorcroft and Liz Harris to form a Romantic Novelists' Panel, being held at St Swithun's Institute in Worcester in the afternoon. It sounded like fun so we all said yes!

I had never been to Worcester before (only Worcester, Massachusetts, New England - which is an entirely different kettle of fish!) and loved driving into town over the magnificent bridge that spans the river Severn. The venue wasn't hard to find either, being right in the centre of town.

Despite the wonderfully sunny weather, a small but lovely audience came to hear us answer questions on everything to do with writing. Alison proved to be the perfect compere, skillfully keeping the conversation flowing, and it was fun to hear how differently the three of us approach everything from research to the writing itself. There really is no right way of going about it obviously - it's whatever works for each individual author!

Before the talk began, the audience was asked to write down questions they would like the answers to, which I think was a brilliant way of doing things. It ensured - hopefully - that they got to hear what they wanted to, rather than topics that didn't interest them.

A huge thank you to Alison and the organisers, who very kindly provided some absolutely delicious cakes with tea afterwards - a wonderful end to a lovely afternoon!

The Lit Fest runs from 20th - 29th June, so for anyone wanting to attend other talks and events, there is still time.

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Today I'm very happy to welcome my friend Alison Morton back onto my blog. Alison has just published the third book in her Roma Nova series, SUCCESSIO, and is here to talk about it. (The previous two books in the series were INCEPTIO and PERFIDITAS). As I've mentioned before, they are an intriguing blend of alternative (alternate) history, suspense thriller and romance, so I had some questions for her:-Q - Okay, first of all, what does the title mean and what made you choose it for this book?

A - SUCCESSIO has a double meaning: 'what happened next' and 'the next generation'. As you've seen before, I love playing with words and their meanings. No doubt I'll get into trouble for it one day! I think the original Latin word successio has shifted in meaning in English although it's kept it in the romance languages like French.

Q - This is the third book in the series and your heroine Carina Mitela has come a long way since the first time she found out Roma Nova existed. What's been the hardest thing for her to adapt to? And does she ever wish she could go back to a time before she knew about Roma Nova?

A - Although she's thoroughly at home in her role as a Praetorian and has slowly grown into her social role, she sometimes has feelings of still being the outsider. As she says, she has 'zero intention of going back to the EUS' where she was brought up, but she is very happy to speak in English from time to time. When you cross cultures, there are always gaps both in knowledge and values. But they can be strengths: she often looks at things with a different perspective which triggers her into finding a unique solution to a problem.

Q - I have immense respect for the real Romans and always find it amazing that some of the things they invented were lost for centuries (millennia in some cases!) after the fall of Rome. Which of their achievements are you most in awe of?

A - I won't go into the John Cleese speech in the Life of Brian, but although there were massive failures in this respect, I think the idea of the rule of law is very important. Also the fact that if you were a Roman citizen, you had the ability to rise to the top. Now, that's a massive generalization for a society riddled with class systems, but it was possible on merit, connections (networking as we call it now) and proven track record. In the military/political field.

Q - The Roman empire fell spectacularly in the end and one can't help but think of the phrase 'pride goes before a fall' - do you think we're in danger of heading the same way now? (That's a bit of a 'Mad Max' question, but you know what I mean)

A - Well, the Roman Empire declined and dissolved over quite a long period, rather than collapsed in one go. It was weakened in many places and on many layers by a variety of things so when the crunch came, it was fatal. Here's more about the Roman dusk: http://alison-morton.com/2013/12/20/shedding-light-on-the-roman-dusk-4/

My personal view for now is that we have to keep our heads, ignore the hysteria in the newspapers and dig out hard facts. Homo sapiens is supposed to be intelligent and adaptable. It would be a shame if she/he succumbed to irrationality and rumour and didn't have the vision to look towards a better, more realistic future.

Q - I'm still intrigued by the concept that Roma Nova is ruled by women. Do you think we should be to a much greater extent? (I'm kind of thinking of Angela Merkel of Germany who seems to be the only leader in Europe recently not to have received a drubbing at the polls!)

Definitely! Women of all political shades and talents should be much more present in government, industry, science and commerce. There is a tendency to lump 'women' together as a heterogeneous group. We are people as well. 😉 Politically, you have had Mary Robinson, Margaret Thatcher, Hillary Clinton, Golda Meyer and Angela Merkel - all completely different characters, but they all stand out because they are so few. That's the problem.

Q - Finally, what's next for Carina and Roma Nova? Are you working on a fourth title or would you like a break now to start a different project?

Roma Nova marches on! The fourth novel tells the early story of Aurelia Mitela, Carina's grandmother. Book five will be about the terrible rebellion that almost destroyed Roma Nova. So I have quite a lot to be getting on with!

Many thanks for being my guest today!

A pleasure, as always, Christina. Thank you for having me!

So what's SUCCESSIO about?

Roma Nova - the last remnant of the Roman Empire that has survived into the 21^st century - is at peace. Carina Mitela, the heir of a leading family, but choosing the life of an officer in the Praetorian Guard Special Forces, is not so sure.

She senses danger crawling towards her when she encounters a strangely self-possessed member of the unit hosting their exchange exercise in Britain. When a blackmailing letter arrives from a woman claiming to be her husband Conrad's lost daughter and Conrad tries to shut Carina out, she knows the threat is real.

Trying to resolve a young man's indiscretion twenty-five years before turns into a nightmare that not only threatens to destroy all the Mitelae but also attacks the core of the imperial family itself. With her enemy holding a gun to the head of the heir to the imperial throne, Carina has to make the hardest decision of her life…

And here's the SUCCESSIO book trailer (quite exciting!): http://youtu.be/B6Tr0VvKbJI

About Alison
Alison Morton writes Roman-themed alternate history thrillers with strong heroines. She holds a bachelor's degree in French, German and Economics, a masters' in history and lives in France with her husband.

A 'Roman nut' since age 11, she has visited sites throughout Europe including the alma mater, Rome. But it was the mosaics at Ampurias (Spain) that started her wondering what a modern Roman society would be like if run by women…

Both INCEPTIO, the first in the Roma Nova series, which was also shortlisted for the 2013 International Rubery Book Award, and PERFIDITAS, the second in series, have been honoured with the B.R.A.G. Medallion®, an award for independent fiction that rejects 90% of its applicants. Alison's third book SUCCESSIO is being launched this month!

Links:-


Connect with Alison on her blog http://alison-morton.com/blog/

Facebook author page https://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor

Twitter https://twitter.com/alison_morton @alison-morton

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5783095.Alison_Morton

Buying links (multiple retailers):

INCEPTIO: http://alison-morton.com/inceptio/where-to-buy-inceptio/

PERFIDITAS: http://alison-morton.com/perfiditas/where-to-buy-perfiditas/

SUCCESSIO: http://alison-morton.com/successio/where-to-buy-successio/

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In between RT sessions, we all went out to explore the wonderful French Quarter of New Orleans, obviously an absolute must-see for anyone visiting the town.

For someone who loves history and old houses, it was a complete gold-mine! Street after street with old-fashioned houses, covered in wrought iron balconies, window shutters and hanging baskets. Ornate doorways and hidden courtyards, old paving stones worn smooth by thousands of feet, mimosa and acacia trees, intricate verandahs and porches… I couldn't stop taking pictures and here is a small selection - believe me, I have lots more!

Music - mostly in the form of various types of jazz - is of course very much a part of the New Orleans ambience. Not just in the bars and cafes, but on every street there were musicians and buskers and wherever you went, your feet were tapping. On one street corner a group of kids were doing proper tap-dancing (the youngest surely no older than three and such a sweetie!). A group of Christians sang out their messages on another, and late on Saturday night we came across a wedding party dancing their way down a street in the wake of a marching band - fascinating!

The local food had to be sampled and I did my best to try all the specialities - gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice, crawfish cakes and even alligator. And the absolute favourite - beignets. I left the cocktails to others, but loved the names like 'Hurricane' and 'Blue Bayou' 🙂

Magic and voodoo featured hugely in all the shops, so a visit to one of the cemeteries became another must. We saw the grave of the supposed 'voodoo queen' and knocked on it three times (to gain her attention) before leaving an offering. The cemetery was a very evocative place, with some of the graves and monuments crumbling, while others were brand new. A lot of French names added a distinctly Southern flavour.

So many impressions crowd my mind - the heat and humidity, the Southern drawl sprinkled with "y'all" in every other sentence, the friendliness of everyone, the vibrant colours and insistent beat of the famous Bourbon Street at night, the beautiful street cars (trams), sparrows stealing crumbs at café tables, the paddle steamboat, crudely made voodoo dolls and Mardi Gras bead necklaces, Café du Monde… I think I might just have to go back in order to absorb it some more!

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Laissez les bon temps rouler! - let the good times roll - was a phrase I saw and heard over and over again in New Orleans during the past week, and we definitely did! This year's RT Convention was bigger than ever before and even more fun! At least after we ironed out a few initial glitches (which all had to do with airlines and shipping rather than the convention itself, I have to stress)…

Having attended RT last year, I was really looking forward to going back and it was great to know what to expect this time. I'd booked my spot in 'promo alley' and packed a lot of UK goodies for a gift basket to be raffled, plus I'd spent ages putting together some swag - in other words, I came prepared! Unfortunately our flight from London was delayed and we missed our connection to New Orleans from Washington, and for some reason our bags were sent to Chicago and stayed there for two days. Not ideal! Just as we were beginning to despair, though, they all turned up in time with the swag intact - phew!

The Choc Lit author team this year consisted of myself, Sue Moorcroft, Janet Gover, Liz Harris, Beverley Eikli and Kate Johnson. We had a very British table as our base and took turns to sell books there and chat to attendees, which was lovely! I don't suppose anyone can have missed the fact that we were from the UK, with all those flags 🙂 (and some lovely mini koalas and kangaroos to show that we had two Aussie authors as part of the group of course).

We did a panel talk about heroes & heroines and how to create a spark between them, held a 'tea party' for booksellers and librarians plying them with proper English tea and shortbread, and we attended lots of talks, workshops and parties between us. It was all huge fun! I particularly enjoyed the 'Call my Historical Bluff' session devised by Susanna Kearsley and her friends, which featured some fiendishly difficult words.

In between, we explored the French Quarter of the city, which was just outside the hotel, and it was so beautiful and fascinating, I'll have to do another post with pics of that tomorrow!

I'll just leave you with some photos from the Convention and of the view from our room - the mighty Mississippi river in daylight, at night and close up (very muddy!). I was reminded not to go swimming in it in case I came across an alligator. The only way I wanted to meet one of those was in a restaurant - deep fried and delicious!

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Today I welcome my Swedish friend Anna Belfrage to my blog - we met quite by chance at a conference in York some years ago and, as well as being delighted to find a fellow Swede (or half Swede in my case), we also discovered a shared love of time travel stories! She's here today to talk about the latest instalment of her wonderful series about the Graham family. Over to you, Anna!:-

The other day, one of my sons and I were standing in the supermarket, considering what vegetables to buy.

"April is when most people starved to death in the old days," he said out of the blue, frowning down at a plump Spanish tomato. Not exactly news to his history nerd of a mother (some interests, it seems, are passed along with the mother's genes), and we spent a happy half-hour discussing just how exposed the people some generations back were to the vagaries of weather and the resulting famines.

For us, it is difficult to comprehend what it means to starve. We read about people mixing ground bark into the flour to make it last longer, but none of us have ever tasted bark bread. To us, nettle shoots are a delicacy (and they are, let me tell you!), to our great-grandmothers they were a way of ensuring her family survived - one more day.

A long, cold spring was a disaster, the depleted winter stores down to the last wrinkled carrot by April. If the crops failed, there was no if about someone in the family dying, it was simply a question of who.

Famine was one of the driving forces behind the mass immigration to America in the 19^th century. People fled Ireland and Sweden, dirt-poor Norway and overcrowded Holland, in the hope of making themselves a new life "over there".

However, famine was not the only reason why people set off across the Atlantic, never to return. There was another, just as forceful reason, and that was the desire to escape religious persecution. From the 17^th century on, people left Europe in boatloads for the Colonies, because they were Catholic, or Puritans, or Presbyterians, or Quakers, or Baptists, or… And the colonies received these religious immigrants with open arms - well, more or less."Quaker? Pennsylvania for you, m'dear!""Puritan? Welcome to Boston!""Good Anglican stock? Virginia welcomes you!""Catholic? Hmm. Ah, yes - Maryland!"

Life was no easier for the religious immigrants than it was for those fleeing starvation. Setting down roots in a new country is a difficult business, even more so when your allotted farm consisted of virginal forests that had to be cut down before the land could be cleared and planted. It wasn't as if you could call the nearby logging company and have them come in and do it for you… And yet they came, all those people who could no longer stand living in constant fear because of their faith. Impressive people, in my opinion, which is why my books centre round one such man, Matthew Graham, who had to flee his beloved Scotland in the late 17^th century due to his Presbyterian faith.

Fortunately for Matthew, I gave him quite the companion through his very adventurous life. Alex Graham is creative, optimistic and buoyed by a firm belief in the future. Well, she would know all about the future, having been born in 1976 before being thrown three centuries backwards in time to land at Matthew's feet. In Matthew's opinion, Alex's drop through time was an act of God, a divine gift, no less. In Alex's opinion, it was all a matter of a number of improbable circumstances. Whatever the case, they both agree it was somehow meant to be - she is his woman, he is her man, no matter that they were born three centuries apart!

The latest release in The Graham Saga, Serpents in the Garden, has just been selected Editor's choice by the Historical Novel Society. It shares that honour with one of the previous instalments, The Prodigal Son, which has also won a B.R.A.G. Medallion and is shortlisted for the 2014 RONE Awards. If you want to find out more about The Graham Saga, please visit Anna's website, or why not pop over to Amazon US or Amazon UK?

Anna is also a proud member of the RNA New Writers Scheme and is presently in the final editing phase of her manuscript. As all her books, this m/s combines love with gritty historical detail and quite some adventure. And no, they don't eat nettles - but Alex Graham is a major fan of nettle soup!

It sounds lovely, Anna, thank you for being my guest today! And just to confirm that the threat of starvation wasn't that long ago in our countries, my Swedish grandmother told me about eating bark bread when she was a little girl (just before World War I) and she also made me nettle soup 🙂

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Since I love everything to do with history, I found Barcelona and the city's architecture absolutely fascinating, and I can't resist sharing some of the photos here on the blog.

First of all, there was the Old Town with its many narrow lanes and every now and then a piece of the old Roman wall popping up where you least expected it. It was wonderful walking on the old paved streets, worn down by thousands of feet through the ages. I couldn't resist a visit to the Historical Museum too, where you can see a large area (4,000 sq.m.) of excavated Roman ruins, criss-crossed by walkways that showed everything in detail. I'm always astonished at how the archaeologists can decipher old ruins and tell us exactly what each building was for, in this case a Roman laundry, dyeing workshop and a winemaking facility among other things!

Then there was the architecture of the buildings themselves. The fantastic creations of Gaudi of course - the cathedral of La Sagrada Familia has to be seen to be believed! - but all over the town, on every street, there were some amazing houses. I fell in love with quite a few, especially the Art Nouveau ones, and could quite happily live in an apartment there! See here for yourselves and let me know what you think please.

I'm sure there was a lot that I missed, so I'm just going to have to go back another time!

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This year I was thrilled to be invited by my Spanish publisher Libros de Seda to take part in the Sant Jordi (or St George's) day celebrations in Barcelona, which are held every year on 23rd April. It is a day when men are supposed to buy women roses and the women reciprocate by buying them books - a perfect combination!

I had never been to Barcelona before, but right from the start, I loved it! Everywhere you went, there were vendors selling beautiful red roses, most of them with a stem of wheat as added decoration. The vendor's tables, and indeed a lot of balconies throughout the city, were decorated with the Catalan flag in vivid red and yellow stripes. This made for a very colourful display and added to the festive atmosphere. Publishers and bookshops also had stalls in the streets, selling books and arranging book signings by authors, and I was lucky enough to take part in three of these.

First I spent some time with the lovely team from Libros de Seda - Rosa, Maria Jose and Alex - meeting some readers and trying to practise my very rusty Spanish. (Not that it was really needed, as almost every person I met spoke extremely good English!).

I also had the great pleasure of meeting Laura from the book blog Cientos de Miles de Historias who had travelled all the way from Segovia especially for this day, something we all appreciated very much!

After a while, we headed off for a book signing at the Plaza Monumental - an enormous shopping centre which has been built inside Barcelona's former bullfighting arena. As someone who loves ancient buildings, I was very pleased to see that they had retained the original facade of the building completely and the result was amazing. I was given a very warm welcome by the FNAC Arenas bookshop team.

Later it was time to go to another book shop, Libreria Maite in the Gracia area of Barcelona, where I joined four other authors for another signing. Here I was again given a warm welcome and I got to meet the bookshop owner and also three lovely ladies from the book group 'Be Romantic Addict - B'Radic' which was great!

The final part of the afternoon was spent back at the Libros de Seda stand, something I enjoyed very much. Friends and family of the team joined us from time to time (including the lovely Gordo - a dog who despite his name was not fat but gorgeous), and I had fun chatting to everyone. After such a brilliant day, it was sad to say goodbye, but I'm hoping to go again next year!

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Last week was the London Book Fair - for the last time at the Earl's Court venue as they are moving to Olympia next year. As always, it was busy and buzzing, filled with publishers, agents and providers of anything and everything to the book trade - fascinating!

The Choc Lit stand was a vision in fuchsia pink this year and really stood out - I loved it! Seeing the shelves stacked with Choc Lit titles, all written by my friends the lovely "ChocLiteers", was a joy, and lots of people stopped by to have a look and a chat, and of course to sample the chocolates on offer. (Yes, I had my fair share, possibly a few too many…)

The Book Fair isn't really aimed specifically at authors as such, but there are still lots of things of interest, not least the many varied talks, some of which I attended. Really enjoyed listening to Katie Fforde, Manda Scott and Jo Fletcher discuss genre fiction for example. Wandering along the many aisles you come across all manner of sights and my favourite this year was the virtual fish pond with koi fish swimming leisurely. If you stepped on it, the water rippled - magic!

The best thing for me though is just being surrounded by books on all sides, that's pure bliss!

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This year's RoNA's (the RNA's Romantic Novel Awards) took place in the gorgeous Gladstone Library at One Whitehall in London, and I think a good time was had by all! The pink fizz was flowing, the canapés were delicious and the tables were covered in pink heart-shaped chocolates (my personal favourite, of course!). As always, at an RNA gathering, the noise levels had to be heard to be believed.

There were lots of witty speeches (although probably not mine - can't actually remember what I said), and I particularly enjoyed those of Milly Johnson, Dr David Hessayon and Helen Fielding. The awards were presented by the lovely Darcey Bussell and it was a great pleasure to meet her.

For me, it was an extra special evening as The Gilded Fan won the Historical category, despite being shortlisted together with amazing authors Liz Harris, Charlotte Betts, Carol McGrath, Annie Murray and Joanna Hickson. I was so thrilled the readers had chosen my story - huge thanks to them, whoever they are! (Readers for the award are anonymous) And of course, a massive thank you to the wonderful Choc Lit team who believed in this story and published the book!

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It's cover reveal time for my next novel, Monsoon Mists, the third in the Kinross trilogy. The wonderful Berni Stevens has once again worked her magic - many thanks, Berni!

Here's the blurb:-

Sometimes the most precious things cannot be bought…

It's 1759 and Jamie Kinross has travelled far to escape his troubled existence - from the pine forests of Sweden to the bustling streets of India.

Jamie starts a new life as a gem trader, but when his mentor's family are kidnapped as part of a criminal plot, he vows to save them and embarks on a dangerous mission to the city of Surat, carrying the stolen talisman of an Indian Rajah.

There he encounters Zarmina Miller. She is rich and beautiful, but her infamous haughtiness has earned her a nickname: "The Ice Widow". Jamie is instantly tempted by the challenge she presents.

When it becomes clear that Zarmina's step-son is involved in the plot, Jamie begins to see another side to her - a dark past to rival his own and a heart just waiting to be thawed. But is it too late?

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Today I was absolutely thrilled to find out The Gilded Fan has won a coveted 2013 Single Titles Reviewers' Choice Award from the wonderful Single Titles website! This is a huge honour and I'm so pleased they liked my story - many thanks to the lovely reviewers! The full list of winners can be found here.

Yesterday was the day the Romantic Novelists' Association announced the shortlists for their RoNAs (Romantic Novel Awards) and I'm very happy to have two books selected - The Gilded Fan in the Historical category and New England Rocks in the YA group. Many thanks to the readers and organisers who do such a massive job and congratulations to all my fellow shortlistees!

And finally, today is release day for The Soft Whisper of Dreams, the digital only sequel to The Secret Kiss of Darkness. Here is the blurb:-

Some dreams shouldn't come true…

Maddie Browne thought she'd grown out of the recurring dream that plagued her as a child, but after a shocking family secret is revealed, it comes back to haunt her - the same swing in the same garden, the kind red-haired giant and the swarthy arms which grab her from behind and try to take her away…

In an attempt to forget her troubles, Maddie travels to Devon to spend time with her friends, Kayla and Wes. However, it becomes clear that relaxation will not be on the agenda after a disturbing encounter with a gypsy fortune teller. Not to mention the presence of Wes's dangerously handsome brother, Alex.

And then there's the fact that Maddie's dream seems to be coming true…

It's been quite a week!

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Many thanks to Liz Harris for inviting me to take part in this 'blog hop' - you can find her post from last week here. All the participants have to answer four questions (see below) and then pass the baton to others. I asked Henriette Gyland and Celia J Anderson to take part and their blogs will appear on 10^th Feb so please don't forget to check them out! You'll find their links and a short bio for them at the end of this post. Thank you for stopping by!

Q & A:-

1) What am I working on? - At the moment I'm working on the third book in my Japanese themed trilogy, which began with The Scarlet Kimono and The Gilded Fan. The final instalment is provisionally called The Snow Ghost and follows Temperance Marston on her adventures when she travels to Japan with her cousin Midori. She's always dreamed of travelling and thinks it's going to be wonderful, but the reality isn't quite the way she had envisaged it. And when she is kidnapped by some Japanese ronin (outlaws), she embarks on the biggest adventure of her life…

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre? - I think mostly it's the settings I choose that are different, as I often feature Japan (or other places in the Far East) and/or Sweden. They say you should write about what you know and as I've lived in these countries myself, I try to follow that advice and hope it will interest readers.

3) Why do I write what I do? - I have absolutely no idea - the stories just come into my head, triggered by all kinds of weird and wonderful things. You could say I write romantic fiction because that's what I love to read myself, and mostly I write historicals, as I've always been fascinated by history.

4) How does your writing process work? - I think I may have mentioned this before, but I work in a very haphazard way. My stories usually start with a scene that pops into my head unexpectedly, and then grow from that. The scene can be anywhere in the book, so I might find myself working backwards or forwards from that point on. Somehow it all comes together in the end - just don't ask me how!

These are the authors who will be joining the blog hop next week (10^th February):-

Henriette Gyland grew up in Denmark but moved to England after graduating from university. Before she became a writer and a freelance translator, she worked in the Danish civil service, for a travel agent, a consultancy company, in banking, hospital administration, and a county court. In 2011 Henriette won the New Talent Award from the Festival of Romance. Her website and blog can be found at http://henriettegyland.wordpress.com.

Celia J Anderson - when she's not teaching ten year olds or writing stories involving pants, this author spends far too much time on Facebook and does a lot of walking to counteract the cooking, eating and drinking which form most of her hobbies. She blogs as part of the Romaniacs online writers' group, her website was recently launched thanks to Lucy Felthouse - http://celiajanderson.co.uk and she tweets spasmodically as @CeliaAnderson, She now has an author page on Facebook to celebrate the August 2013 release of her first novel Sweet Proposal with Piatkus Entice after winning a writing competition for a contract. Her ultimate dream is to have children's books published. Usually sea-starved in the depths of the Midlands, she can often be found wandering around Brighton visiting her two daughters and pretending to collect ideas for her next book.

Enjoy their posts and thank you again for reading this!

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The Secret Kiss of Darkness is published on Kindle now, soon to be followed by the paperback! Forbidden love, smugglers and romance guaranteed.

Here's the blurb:-

Must forbidden love end in heartbreak?

Kayla Sinclair knows she's in big trouble when she almost bankrupts herself to buy a life-size portrait of a mysterious eighteenth century man at an auction.

Jago Kerswell, inn-keeper and smuggler, knows there is danger in those stolen moments with Lady Eliza Marcombe, but he'll take any risk to be with her.

Over two centuries separate Kayla and Jago, but when Kayla's jealous fiancé presents her with an ultimatum, and Jago and Eliza's affair is tragically discovered, their lives become inextricably linked thanks to a gypsy's spell. Kayla finds herself on a quest that could heal the past, but what she cannot foresee is the danger in her own future.

Will Kayla find heartache or happiness?

Buy links:-

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Kiss-Darkness-Christina-Courtenay/dp/1781890676/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389145312&sr=1-5

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Kiss-Darkness-Christina-Courtenay/dp/1781890676/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389145429&sr=1-14&keywords=christina+courtenay

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I wish you all a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR - GOTT NYTT ÅR - BONNE ANNEE - PROSPERO ANO NUEVO - AKEMASHITE OMEDETO GOZAIMASU!

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Hope you all have a lovely time!

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One Day Blog Hop - Casting Light upon the Darkness

This post is part of a 'blog hop', and I hope you're reading this as well as checking out lots of other connected blogs on the above theme (see below for a list of participants). Thanks to Helen Hollick for organising this!

When Helen told me what the theme was, my thoughts immediately went to the Swedish tradition of celebrating St Lucia on the 13^th December. I may have mentioned this before, but I hope you'll forgive me if I repeat myself as it seems very apt.

It gets very dark in Sweden during the long winters and by December, there is only daylight between about 9am and 3pm, if that. By the time the longest night of the year comes around (the winter solstice), any kind of light is very welcome and that's where St Lucia comes in.

She is celebrated on the 13^th of December, even though the actual solstice isn't until 21^st (- it used to be on the 13th when we still used the Julian calendar in the 18th century). It is a rather strange tradition where the saint comes to light up the dark night and sing to you. Most Swedish girls dress up in long white nightgowns/shifts and put candles on their heads (usually fake, although real ones can be used too), then go around and sing special songs. Every school and every town will choose their own Lucia and the other girls are her attendants, called tärnor. I was only ever Lucia at home (from an early age as you can see in this photo!) as to my great chagrin I was never chosen to be an official Lucia, but I enjoyed it anyway.

Little boys are made to wear strange looking hats and similar nightgowns, but some of them prefer to dress up as mini Santas instead (can't blame them!).

It is also tradition to offer people Swedish gingerbread cookies (pepparkakor), which are not as strong as the English variety, and saffron or plain buns, shaped like an S (or cat), called lussekatter. I make them every year as they are delicious, especially hot out of the oven!

Why St Lucia of Syracuse, Sicily, who was obviously Italian? Apparently the poor woman suffered a sad death (some say she had her eyes put out before becoming a martyr), so she is deemed the best person to guide us through the darkness. I have no idea how this tradition first started, but it has its origins in pagan celebrations which have somehow been connected with Christianity. It certainly brightens up one December morning in the whole of Sweden though!

Thank you for visiting my blog - Happy Winter Solstice!

Now please continue to the next blog:-

Helen Holllick - A little light relief concerning those dark reviews! (plus giveaway)

Prue Batten - Casting Light…

Alison Morton - Shedding light on the Roman dusk (plus giveaway)

Anna Belfrage - Let there be light!

Beth Elliott - Steering by the Stars: Stratford Canning in Constantinople 1810/12

Melanie Spiller - Lux Aeterna, the chant of eternal light

Petrea Burchard - Darkness - how did people of the past cope with dark? (plus giveaway)

Richard Denning - The Darkest Years of the Dark Ages: What do we really know? (plus giveaway)

Pauline Barclay - Shedding Light on a Traditional Pie

David Ebsworth - Propaganda in the Spanish Civil War

David Pilling - Greek Fire (plus giveaway)

Debbie Young - Fear of the Dark

Derek Birks - Lies, Damned Lies and… Chronicles

Mark Patton - Casting Light on Saturnalia

Tim Hodkinson - Solstice@Newgrange

Wendy Percival - Ancestors in the spotlight

Judy Ridgley - Santa and his elves (plus giveaway)

Suzanne McLeod - The Dark of the Moon

Katherine Bone - Admiral Nelson, A Light in Dark Times

Edward James -The Secret Life of Christopher Columbus

Janis Pegrum Smith - Into the Light (a short story)

Julian Stockwin - Ghost Ships (plus giveaway)

Manda Scott - Dark into Light - Mithras and the older gods

Pat Bracewell - Anglo-Saxon art: Splendour in the Dark

Lucienne Boyce - We will have a fire - 18^th century protests against enclosure

Nicole Evelina - What Lurks Beneath Glastonbury Abbey?

Sky Purington - How the Celts cast light on current American Christmas traditions

Stuart MacAllister (Sir Read-a-Lot) - The Darkness of Depression

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Last night Henriette Gyland and I had the pleasure of doing a book signing event at the Regency Bookshop in Surbiton and we had a wonderful time!

The store owner Pat and her helper Prue were extremely welcoming, and had invited all their customers for a special evening with wine and mince pies. It was great fun to mingle and chat with them, all obviously book lovers - our favourite kind of people 🙂

The bookshop itself has an original Regency bow fronted window, which I loved, and inside is a veritable Aladdin's cave of books, toys and stationery.

I couldn't resist a bit of browsing myself and although I managed to resist the books, I found some fab Christmas wrapping paper with brussels sprouts on - I'm sure my OH is going to love that!

For anyone who lives anywhere near Surbiton - a visit to this shop is a must! A huge thank you to Pat for having us!

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As you may have gathered, I'm half English and half Swedish, and most of the time I don't feel I belong more to one or the other. However, sometimes one nationality takes over completely, like for instance this weekend, when I was at the Swedish Church's annual Christmas Fair and felt totally Swedish!

I've been told there are more than 10,000 Swedes in England and I think the majority live in London. And for one weekend of the year, most of them descend on the Swedish Church in Harcourt Street, not far from Edgware Road, to attend the Fair. In the past I've gone to this event in order to stock up on all the necessary Swedish Xmas essentials like pickled herring, bread, cheese, mulled wine, candles and decorations of various kinds. And each time I've thought to myself that I really ought to help out - well, this year I finally did!

Dressed in my regional costume (most regions of Sweden have their own variation on a 'national' outfit), I arrived at the church on the Thursday morning, not quite knowing what to expect, but I was very lucky and was assigned to the Tornedal stand (Tornedalsståndet) where the lovely proprietors Stefan and Christer put me to work. (On the Saturday and Sunday we were also joined by their friend Torgny). We were selling Swedish delicacies, such as reindeer and elk sausage, smoked reindeer meat, 'gravad lax' (marinated salmon), 'löjrom' (special caviar) and blue cheese (Jarse Ost) handmade by a lady in the north of Sweden. It was great fun!

The fair was organised by two fantastically efficient ladies - Camilla and Åsa - and I was in awe of their organising abilities and eye for detail. Everything ran like clockwork! The selection of things to buy was amazing and I have to admit I spent quite a lot of money myself, not least in the upstairs café where I found cinnamon and saffron buns, and other cake treats (best not to mention how many I had!). Everyone had worked extremely hard to make this all happen and I take my hat off to them, it was very well done!

The Swedish church is a 'home from home' for Swedes in London and they do so much good for the community. I'm really pleased to have been able to help a little bit this year and will definitely go back again next year - in fact, I can't wait! If you've never been, please come next time, I promise you'll love it!

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Last weekend I attended the Festival of Romance in Bedford and thoroughly enjoyed myself! At the moment, it's the only event of its kind here in the UK, and if you ask me, we need more of them because it was such fun!

The weekend started with an Art & Romance evening on the Friday night at the newly opened Higgins Museum, which was great. We were given a quick tour and being a history buff, I really liked the China collection (especially the tea pots and caddies), fascinating pieces of furniture and other displays. The house itself was lovely too! After the tour, there were readings by authors of historical novels, including me. Most of us had dressed up in period costume and mine was that of an ordinary woman of the 1640s (English Civil War) - this was in order to fit the clothing of the heroine from my novel.

On the Saturday, there were lots of things going on at the same time - a Romance Fair, a Coffee & Cake morning with readings, an author panel (led by the brilliant Louise Graham), plus talks and workshops. I enjoyed all the events I took part in and only wished I'd had time to go to everything.

The day culminated with the FoR Ball and Awards, where Choc Lit triumphed as Publisher of the Year and a lot of my friends won other categories - Liz Fenwick for Best Romantic Read, Charlotte Betts for Best Historical Read, Fiona Harper for Best Short Romantic Novel, among many others. I also accepted an award on behalf of the Romantic Novelists' Association who were inducted into the FoR Hall of Fame for "being a defining, driving and positive force for the genre since 1960" - well deserved I think!

All in all, it was a great weekend which even the miserable weather couldn't put a dampener on!

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Welcome back to the blog, Alison! I really enjoyed your first novel INCEPTIO and am very much looking forward to the second book in the series, PERFIDITAS. Please tell us a little bit about it and what that word means?

Thank you for a warm welcome, Christina. Great to be back!

PERFIDITAS means betrayal - our word 'perfidy' is closely related - but for the Roma Novans who have invested their whole way of life and motivation for survival over many centuries in their core values, it's deeply repugnant. And entangled with that, there's betrayal on a personal level…

In INCEPTIO, Carina, the heroine has to cope with a whole new way of life, Roman style, and it was fun to follow her journey as she learned about her mother's country of birth, Roma Nova, and adapted to it. Is there more for her to learn in book no 2, any surprises for her and the reader?

Plenty of surprises! Although Carina knows in her head that she has to be involved in the family-based social system, she tries to dodge it - she's more interested in her exciting job. But with privilege comes responsibility and she has to face up to it. But in doing so she surprises herself.

I loved the way in INCEPTIO she decided to learn to defend herself and really knuckled down to it. Those scenes were very real, so did you have to go to a boot camp yourself to get this right (or did you send someone else? I would have!)?

Haha! No, they're drawn from my own military training. Many's the time I've had to go out on exercise in sleet or rain on the north German plain, or creep on my stomach across a frosty field while the opposition tries to outwit you. The training for it was pretty rigorous!

The heroine learned to speak Latin fairly quickly - I assume the spoken version was easier than the written one? And would you, yourself, be able to communicate with someone in Latin if you had to?

Like children with parents of different nationalities, Carina learnt her mother's native tongue when she started to speak as a very young child. Her father insisted she went to Latin class, but that stopped when he died when she was twelve. It's a little like the heroine in the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding who went to Greek school on Saturdays. Carina didn't use Latin again for years, but once the language is imprinted in the brain when small, it comes back. I'm sure you know the experience yourself with Swedish!

Et ego? Difficile est tenere quae acceperis nisi exerceas!

Me and Latin? It's hard to remember what you learned unless you practise it 🙂

Conrad, the hero, had been a bit of a bad boy before meeting the heroine, although the people of his country didn't seem to look at it quite the way we do. Does this come back to 'bite him on the bum' at all in the rest of the series?

You'll have to wait! But yes, the Roma Novan system of morality is quite different from ours, being based on inheritance of names, rights and property through women. This goes back to the earliest times in Roma Nova when they were struggling to survive and women ran social, political and economic life when men were defending the young country.

Everything is based on the family/tribe. Men join women's families and take their partner's family name, if the couple chose to marry formally. Traditional Roman marriage is more a social and economic arrangement, not a religious one. In modern Roma Nova, they can contract for a term, i.e. so many years, if they choose. It's always the woman's eldest daughter who inherits whatever her parents' contracted arrangements. After all, you always know who a woman's child is…

Conrad tries to hold it and himself together by doing the right thing all the time, but he struggles sometimes because of his traumatic childhood and it's all bound to unravel sometime in the future. But that's a little way off yet.🙂

It was interesting to note the matriarchal society you created - is that something you think we should have? Women are, after all, capable of multi-tasking to much greater effect than men (or so I'm told :-))

I wanted to explore the 'what if' idea where society was a mirror of the way ours had developed. The real late Roman period was one where women's power and influence were growing. Without the patriarchal Christian political system that developed in Western Europe, I think that women wouldn't have been so contained and relegated as they have been.

I had a lot of fun writing a potted 'history' on my own blog about how I imagined Roma Nova developing into a 21st century matriarchy which is a far more egalitarian society than ours and one that doesn't conform to the male/female stereotypes or gender roles. Whether readers would enjoy living there is something for them to decide…

Thank you, Alison, for telling us a bit about the background to PERFIDITAS. I look forward to the continuation of the series!

PERFIDITAS blurb:-

Captain Carina Mitela of the Praetorian Guard Special Forces is in trouble - one colleague has tried to kill her and another has set a trap to incriminate her in a conspiracy to topple the government of Roma Nova. Founded sixteen hundred years ago by Roman dissidents and ruled by women, Roma Nova barely survived a devastating coup d'état thirty years ago. Carina swears to prevent a repeat and not merely for love of country.



Seeking help from a not quite legal old friend could wreck her marriage to the enigmatic Conrad. Once proscribed and operating illegally, she risks being terminated by both security services and conspirators. As she struggles to overcome the desperate odds and save her beloved Roma Nova and her own life, she faces the ultimate betrayal…

Book trailer: http://alison-morton.com/blog/perfiditas-book-trailer/

Buying links: PERFIDITAS is available through your local bookshop (paperback), on your local Amazon (paperback and ebook) and on other online retailers.

Website: www.alison-morton.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor

PERFIDITAS page: http://www.facebook.com/Perfiditas

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alison_morton

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Barely two weeks after leaving Sweden and the Gothenburg Book Fair, Henriette Gyland and I found ourselves back again in the (not yet) frozen north! We were going on a mini book tour with the lovely team at EA Förlag, including of course ace radio presenter (and fellow author) Lotta Bromé and famous Swedish singer Lill-Babs (Barbro). And even though we were only in Sweden for five days, we saw and experienced so much this is going to have to be a two-part blog post!

We started on the island of Gotland, which is outside Sweden's east coast in the Baltic Sea. Even though it's quite big, the whole of the island only has a population of 57,000 so it's not exactly crowded except perhaps in the summer when it's full of visitors. We headed for the city of Visby on the island's west coast. This is a medieval town with 3.2km of town walls still intact and it's absolutely beautiful! In summer, it must be even more stunning and as it's situated right next to a beach it is an ideal holiday destination. The beach and harbour are just outside the town walls and there was a lovely walkway in between.

After settling into the unusual Wisby Hotell, adapted from an old merchant's house or similar, we took part in "Bokens Dag", ie "the day of books", a celebration of all things literary. There had been talks and panels of authors all day and we were the last ones to take to the stage in front of a large audience. The organisers made us extremely welcome and the audience too, so it was a great start! I love meeting fellow book-lovers.

The following morning we had time to wander round the quaint town, which is full of old houses and where all the streets are still cobbled. Being a history buff, I immediately headed for the local museum where they had an impressive collection of rune stones. I find these fascinating and it was great to see so many in one place! There were also other displays, including some Viking treasures and other precious objects. Despite the rain, we went for a walk along the sea front and around the town, before we had to leave for the airport. I will definitely be going back to Gotland if I can, it's a magical place!

After two short plane journeys, with a quick change in Stockholm (where they lost our luggage), we arrived at our second destination, Kalmar. This is a much bigger town on Sweden's east coast and the lovely owners of the local bookshop, Dillbergs, had gathered a huge audience for us, including some of my relatives who live nearby. It was a fun evening (made even better when we were reunited with our luggage) and we had the pleasure of staying in yet another wonderful hotel, Packhuset, this one converted from an old seafront warehouse with old beams still intact. The view from our little balcony was lovely!

After a few hours spent being tourists, guided by my relatives, we set off by car for our next destination… (see Part 2)

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Driving more or less straight inland from Kalmar, you enter the huge forests of Småland, the county I grew up in. We were heading for a particular area which is known for its glass factories, such as Kosta/Boda and Orrefors. Sadly a lot of them are now closing down, but Kosta/Boda is still going strong and that was our destination.

We were to stay in the Kosta/Boda Art Hotel, an amazing place with glass absolutely everywhere - somewhat scary for someone who is as big a klutz as I am! But I managed not to break anything, despite the fact that even our bathroom sink was made of glass. The hotel bar was entirely made out of blue glass, so pretty, and there was a swimming pool with glass sculptures at the bottom. I could have happily stayed in there for days!

The following day we had a signing at the local bookstore, where yet again the staff were brilliant (and I was able to relax and speak my own dialect of Swedish with them too :-)). After some browsing in the glass shop (of course), we then set off on our travels once more. This time we were going to a place called Tylösand, which is just outside the city of Halmstad on Sweden's west coast. The fabulous Hotel Tylösand is situated right next to the beach and I would love to go back during the warmer season as you can literally go straight outside and into the sea - perfect! The hotel also has an amazing collection of photographic art (by, among others, Terry O'Neill) everywhere so it's like walking around an art gallery. And it's part owned by Per Gessle, half of Roxette, one of my favourite Swedish bands.

We took part in an afternoon tea event on the Sunday, together with an array of Swedish authors. Their books were diverse and it was great to get to know them and find out more about their work. Sadly, that was it for this time, but we hope to go back to Sweden very soon!

Stort tack till alla!

PS. Forgot to add that in Halmstad I met up with a friend I hadn't seen for nearly 40 years - it was amazing! Thank you so much for coming to the event Annika 🙂

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Last weekend was the Gothenburg Book Fair and Henriette Gyland and I had the great priviledge to be invited to help launch our first books which have been translated into Swedish by E A Förlag - Tigerporten (mine) and Alltför Nära (Henri's). We had an absolutely brilliant time!

Shortly after arrival, we were off to E A Förlag's stand at the fair to attend a cocktail party where we got to meet our fellow EA authors Rebecca Chance, Christer Nylander and Lotta Bromé, together with the subject of Lotta's book - the famous Swedish singer Lill-Babs (Barbro). The EA stand was by far the most eye-catching with a black/orange/red theme I really liked, and it was a huge thrill to see one of my books in Swedish at last, lined up along the others on the shelves.

For me, the Friday morning started with an interview at the local radion Station, Radio Göteborg P4, where the presenter Jonas Slättung and his co-host Helena made me very welcome. The studio was in the most fabulous location, right next to the Gothenburg harbour, and when I arrived (fairly early) there was a mist floating over the water which the receptionist told me is referred to locally as "sea smoke" - I loved that! Must put it in a book 🙂

Then it was off to the fair again, where all the authors were interviewed live in front of an audience by Lotta, three times a day - slightly nerve-racking at first, but after about the fifth time I forgot to be scared. We sat on a little raised stage and Lotta made us relax with her great questions and wonderful sense of humour. The rest of the day we mingled with visitors to the fair and it was great fun chatting to some of them and signing some books. The Gothenburg Book Fair was buzzing as members of the public were allowed in from the Friday afternoon onwards and most of the stands were selling books. I had a quick browse and also met one or two strange creatures - see photos below!

We didn't have time to visit Gothenburg itself, but managed a quick break by one of the city's pretty canals. The weather was sunny but fairly chilly!

Saturday was even busier but just as much fun, and Henri and I were sad to leave at the end of the day. But we headed off to Småland to visit my family and on the Monday we also did a book signing in my home town - something I never thought I'd do! We managed to fit in a quick sight-seeing tour - the countryside in Småland is so beautiful (although I may be biased of course) and the little towns are quaint. All in all, we had a fabulous week and I can't wait to go back next year!

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Today I was very excited to see that Trade Winds is Book of the Week in the iBookstore, which means it's free to download for a week! The editor made some lovely comments about the story too, which quite made my day 🙂. Next week I'll be at the Gothenburg Book Fair helping to launch the same book in Swedish, where it is called Tigerporten. Swedish publisher E A Förlag will have a stand and if anyone is around, I shall probably be there at least part of the time during Friday 26th and Saturday 27th - would love to see you!

It's very exciting for me to have one of my books translated into Swedish as I have so many relatives and friends over there. Now they will be able to read it as well, which is great!

Naturally I'm also looking forward to eating one or two Swedish cinnamon buns - if you've never had one, I can highly recommend them 🙂

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I'm ashamed to see I haven't posted on the blog for over a month!  But it's been a manically busy summer for me and there just never seem to be enough hours in the day.  Perhaps I need better time management?  Or just less work 🙂

At the moment I'm working on the edits for my next novel, The Secret Kiss of Darkness, and this reminded me that I haven't done a cover reveal for it yet.  So here it is - tah-dah!  Yet another triumph for Choc Lit's cover designer, Berni Stevens - I love the deep, dark red!

The Secret Kiss of Darkness is a time slip novel and here is the blurb to give you an idea of the story:-



Kayla Sinclair knows she's in big trouble when she almost bankrupts herself to buy a life-size portrait of a mysterious eighteenth century man at an auction.

Jago Kerswell, inn-keeper and smuggler, knows there is danger in those stolen moments with Lady Eliza Marcombe, but he'll take any risk to be with her.

Over two centuries separate Kayla and Jago, but when Kayla's jealous fiancé presents her with an ultimatum, and Jago and Eliza's affair is tragically discovered, their lives become inextricably linked thanks to a gypsy's spell. Kayla finds herself on a quest that could heal the past, but what she cannot foresee is the danger in her own future.

Will Kayla find heartache or happiness?

It's due to be published by Choc Lit in February 2014, but should be available as an e-book before then.

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In the meantime, New England Rocks has been well and truly launched and my talented daughter has helped me create some lovely character bookmarks to use as giveaways for reviewers, bloggers and competition winners.  If you'd like some, let me know!

Hope you've all had a great summer!

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There is nothing better for an author than meeting your readers and this week I had the great pleasure of meeting some of my young adult readers for the first time at Heartlands High School in Wood Green, London!

HHS is a fairly new school and I was extremely impressed when I went on a tour of the buildings with the lovely librarian, Helen Swinyard.  The campus had everything the students could possibly need and I loved the differently coloured ‘houses' (the school is divided into houses to encourage a spirit of competition among the students).  The emphasis is on learning and enjoying learning, and I found all the students I talked to very articulate and well informed.

Some of the Year 9 girls had been reading my book, New England Rocks, and Helen had invited me to come and chat to them about it.  It was great to hear the girls' thoughts and we discussed things like what their perfect hero would be like - I have a feeling the boys at HHS are going to find it hard to live up to the girls' high standards!  But they've given me some good pointers for my next book 🙂

We compared UK schools to the American system and all the girls said they'd love a chance to attend a US school for a year, just to try it out.  And we discussed cover art and how they perceived different covers.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and hope to be able to go back there soon - many thanks to Helen and the girls for making me feel so welcome!

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I have just come back from the 2013 RNA Conference, which was held at the conference centre called The Edge at Sheffield University's Endcliffe Village site.  Apart from the fact that the air conditioning wasn't working in the meeting rooms, I had a wonderful time!

Our stay began by helping to stuff the goody bags, which this year were brilliant silver and pink - they looked amazing when all 180 of them were done!

The sun shone throughout our stay and it felt more like being in a Mediterranean country than Sheffield.  Sitting outside under parasols at breaktimes and in the evenings was lovely and I really enjoyed catching up with old friends and making new ones.

The "ChocLiteers" were out in force - I think there were fourteen of us - and we scrubbed up nicely for the gala dinner.  The previous evening we had a little kitchen get-together too and it was great to meet the latest recruits.  One of the ChocLiteers - Kate Johnson - won this year's Elizabeth Goudge award, which was a lovely surprise!

As always, I came home exhausted, but inspired by all the wonderful talks and fired up with the urge to write.  Can't wait for next year's conference!

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Today New England Rocks is released on Kindle and other ebook formats will follow shortly - yeah!

I had such fun writing this book as it took me back to my teenage years and especially the time I spent at the American School in Japan, Tokyo (ASIJ).  Those were great times and we had a blast being expats on the loose in Japan!  Because we were all foreigners together we bonded in a special way and when I met up with some of my fellow alumni a couple of years ago, the bond was still there.  Huge thanks for inspiring me to write this, guys - I hope to see you all soon again!

Meanwhile, here's the blurb for New England Rocks:-

First impressions, how wrong can you get?

When Rain Mackenzie is expelled from her British boarding school, she can't believe her bad luck. Not only is she forced to move to New England, USA, she's also sent to the local high school, as a punishment.

Rain makes it her mission to dislike everything about Northbrooke High, but what she doesn't bank on is meeting Jesse Devlin…

Jesse is the hottest guy Rain's ever seen and he plays guitar in an awesome rock band!

There's just one small problem…  Jesse already has a girlfriend, little miss perfect Amber Lawrence, who looks set to cause trouble as Rain and Jesse grow closer.

But, what does it matter? New England sucks anyway, and Rain doesn't plan on sticking around…

Does she?

One of my talented daughters has designed these fab character bookmarks to go with this novel and I'll be giving them out at talks and signings!  There will be more to come as well…

Kindle UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-England-Rocks-Choc-ebook/dp/B00DRLAILU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372971005&sr=1-1

Kindle US - http://www.amazon.com/New-England-Rocks-Choc-ebook/dp/B00DRLAILU/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372971137&sr=1-1&keywords=new+england+rocks

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Today I'm very pleased to have my friend Jean Fullerton as my guest as part of her blog tour promoting her new novel Call Nurse Millie.  Welcome, Jean!

"Maybe it's because I'm a (East) Londoner"

Thank you, Christina, for allowing me to pop onto your blog for a chat.  For those of you who haven't met me before I'm Jean Fullerton, an award winning author, and I'd like to tell you about the area where I was born and write about, East London.

The Fullertons came to the Wapping area of East London from Rothesay in Scotland in the 1820s and my great-great-great grandmother, Elizabeth Fullerton, is shown on the 1841 census as living in Star Lane at the back of Cable Street.  It was natural then when I started writing eleven years ago that I looked no further than my own backyard for inspiration.  Why wouldn't I, when East London has such a rich vein of pageant and spectacle?  Add to that the river pirates, the gangs, pubs and music halls that were a feature of the teaming waterfront and there's drama enough for any writer.

This is why East London is a character in its own right in all my stories.  My first book No Cure for Love features such delights as the White Swan known locally as Paddy's Goose, which was the notorious public house at the corner of Ensign Street.  My Victorian characters regularly dash along the Highway and up and down Old Gravel Lane or Wapping High Street and Millie in, Call Nurse Millie, cycles along the very same streets.  Whereas in my previous books my characters duck behind the Raines Memorial in St George's-in-the-East's graveyard to avoid the police, Millie's mum is a Mother's Union member in the same church although minus it roof as it was blown off by an incendiary bomb in 1942.

Millie and her mum also shop in Watney Market as Ellen and Mattie did before them.  In my third book Perhaps Tomorrow our heroine finds herself incarcerated in the damp women's cells under Wapping Police Station and Alex Nolan, the hero in Call Nurse Millie, is a police constable at the same station.  I also have Millie's mum living in the same house that Ellen lived in a century earlier.  Kate Ellis's workingman's eating house from Hold on to Hope survives as Kate's Café where Millie and her fellow District Nurse meet for a cuppa mid-morning.

Of course, I have invented places too, such as the Boatman grogshop where Ma Tugman runs her murderous empire in A Glimpse at Happiness which now has Vi White as a more respectable landlord.  And Munroe House, named after the founder of the St George's and St Dunstan's District Nursing Association Miss Robina Munroe, Ellen and Robert's daughter from No Cure for Love.  But in truth even the places and people created in my imagination probably had their real life counter parts.

Of course, for many in modern East London the world I write is a far cry from the pleasant residential area of East London of today but sometimes, in the dusk or on a foggy night, if you're quick you might just catch a glimpse of one of my characters hurrying home out of the corner of your eyes.

You can purchase a paperback or ebook copy of Call Nurse Millie most easily from Amazon at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Call-Nurse-Millie-ebook/dp/B00BMUVRT0/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363121249&sr=1-1

Book description: An absorbing and richly detailed novel following the life and work of a young nurse in post-war East London - perfect for anyone who loved CALL THE MIDWIFE

Blurb

It's 1945 and, as the troops begin to return home, the inhabitants of London attempt to put their lives back together.  For 25-year-old Millie, a qualified nurse and midwife, the jubilation at the end of the war is short-lived as she tends to the needs of the East End community around her.  But while Millie witnesses tragedy and brutality in her job, she also finds strength and kindness.  And when misfortune befalls her own family, it is the enduring spirit of the community that shows Millie that even the toughest of circumstances can be overcome.

Through Millie's eyes, we see the harsh realities and unexpected joys in the lives of the patients she treats, as well as the camaraderie that is forged with the fellow nurses that she lives with.  Filled with unforgettable characters and moving personal stories, this vividly brings to life the colourful world of a post-war East London.

Jean Fullerton - Fall in Love with the Past.

Call Nurse Millie

Available from Orion Publishing

Website.http://www.jeanfullerton.com

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At the recent Romantic Novelists' Association's summer party I had the great pleasure of meeting Lindsey Davis, the best-selling historical novelist, and I just had to put up this lovely photo of us taken by the RNA's photographer Marte Lundby Rekaa.

Ms. Davis was the guest of honour and, after a brilliant and very amusing speech, she presented the RNA's Romantic Novel of the Year Award to the winner Jenny Colgan.

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I think I have finally got over most of the jet lag so now I can report a bit more from the RT Booklovers Convention.  I think my overall impression was - FUN!  There was so much going on each day that it was almost impossible to take it all in, but I've got lots of photos to remind me and I thought I'd share some of them with you.  Here goes:-

First of all, we were there to spread the word about our books and I very much enjoyed the various signings where I got to talk to the wonderful American readers.  They are so enthusiastic about romance, it was a joy to meet them!

The first thing people say when you mention the RT convention is usually - cover models!  And yes, there were some but I was mostly impressed by their hair.  (The tights, not so much!)

The parties were great fun, starting with The Red Slipper Lounge - of course I had to wear red shoes!  And the chocolate fountain was to die for!

Then there was the Ball - we all got to wear our (fake) tiaras and felt like princesses!

And best of all - the Freaky Friday Party!  The table decorations were fantastic and we were glad we'd dressed to suit the occasion.

On the Saturday we all took part in the Giant Book Fair - and giant it certainly was!  Something like 350 authors all signing books in one place, awesome.

And then it was almost time to go home, but not before I'd met some more lovely authors and attended the Harlequin Disco Party with the other ChocLiteers.

All in all, a fantastic week!

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I can't believe I'm finally here at the RT Booklovers' Convention in Kansas City!  I'm having a wonderful time and meeting so many lovely people - it's all a bit overwhelming but in a good way!

There's so much to see and do - here are a few of the photos I've taken so far, starting with my favourite donut shop which I was very pleased to find at Newark airport en route to KC 🙂

More photos to come!

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Had a great time at the London Book Fair this week!  Loved the "buzz", loved meeting lots of fellow authors and loved chatting to people visiting the Choc Lit stand!  And of course, trying out the amazing chocolates supplied by House of Dorchester… (I only had a few, honest!)

I also really enjoyed wandering around looking at all the beautiful book covers on display - plus the weird and wonderful ones 🙂  Fellow ChocLiteers Sue Moorcroft, Henriette Gyland and I checked out all the stands and Sue and I had our photo taken with a lady pirate.  Haven't seen the result yet though - watch this space!

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Here are some Easter feathers to wish you all a very HAPPY EASTER!!

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Today I'm very pleased to have my friend Alison Morton as my guest as part of her blog tour promoting her first novel Inceptio, which is released today.  Welcome, Alison!

Thank you for inviting me to be a guest on your blog, Christina. I'm delighted to be here. You've asked me some wide-ranging questions; I hope I've done them justice!

You describe your novel as an "alternate history thriller" - can you tell us a bit more about that, as it's not a concept I was familiar with?

Alternate history is based on the idea of "what if"? What if King Harold had won the Battle of Hastings in 1066? Or if Julius Caesar had taken notice of the warning that assassins wanted to murder him on the Ides of March? Sometimes, it can be on the personal level such as in the film Sliding Doors, when the train door shuts and Gwyneth Paltrow's character splits into two; one gets into the train, the other is left on the platform.

True alternate history stories contain three things: a point of divergence when the alternate timeline split from our own timeline; some description of how that world looks and works; and a logical sequence of how things have changed since the split.

In my book, four hundred Romans trekking north and founding a small colony in the late fourth century changed the whole world: the British didn't leave North America until 1865, Europe is split into small federated countries. The thriller story - kidnap, death threats, mystery plus romance - takes place against this background.

Does your novel feature any ancient treasures? (I'm very partial to books about those, I have to confess 🙂

Haha!  Not as such. Their values and way of life is their treasure.  But who knows in a later book in the series …

Who are your favourite thriller writers and is there anyone in particular who inspired your own writing?

When I was young, I adored Simon Templar The Saint by Leslie Charteris. Although he did some morally dubious things, he was one of the good guys and an incurable romantic (I was also reading a lot of Georgette Heyer at the same time which may explain why I went around in a day-dream when younger!).

I think Lee Child, Robert Harris and William Boyd are current favourites for their sheer, sparse style and intelligent plotting. William Boyd's espionage thriller, Restless, with two strong female leads, is one of the best books I have read. Wandering into historical crime, one of my favourites is Lindsey Davis' cynical, but good-hearted Roman detective, Falco. I loved Kate Johnson's The Untied Kingdom, both for its alternate history flavour and the jolly adventure. Although I loved the complexity of Sebastian Faulks' Charlotte Gray. My favourite crime and thriller female character is Eve Dallas written by J D Robb (Nora Roberts).

I understand that you have created a new country/state (well, new world really!) - how difficult was that?

Yes, Roma Nova.  It's huge fun, but it takes a lot of research. Setting a story in the past is a challenge - you know this yourself! And the same is true if your story takes place in another country. But if you invent the country and have to meld it into history that the reader already knows, then your task is doubled. Unless you are writing post-apocalyptic, which is too fantastic for me, you have to make the geography and climate similar to the region where your imagined country lies. I'll make a confession: I 'borrowed' Slovenia as the model.  And one of the big things you can't neglect is the social, economic and political development; this sounds dry, but every living person is a product of their local conditions. Their experience of living in a place and struggle to make sense of it is expressed through their culture.

Do you think it's possible that any such secret civilisations could exist, hidden away somewhere in the corner of the Earth?

With Google Maps, spy satellites and social media? Sadly, probably not, but it's a lovely romantic thought. If you set a story before 1939, you could probably get away with it. But now, I think you have to alternate time as I did, if you want to play with that idea.

What pivotal moments in history really interest you and is there one in particular where you wish a different choice had been made, thereby changing the course of things to come?

Oh, what a gift of a question! Thank you. Any historian will give you a full list, but my personal one is when Emperor Julian the Apostate was killed in AD 363 at the Battle of Samarra. He was the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman Empire and wanted to bring the Empire back to its ancient Roman values to save it from dissolution.

His laws tended to target wealthy and educated Christians. Julian's aim was not to destroy Christianity but to drive the religion out of the governing classes of the empire. He was well-educated, a clever and successful military commander, an able administrator and a survivor of lethal imperial family politics. He was only 31 when he died. You could draw a parallel with the death of JFK in 1963. Would that clever and talented leader have gone on to great things or would his own brilliance have been his downfall? If Julian had lived, would he have rolled back Christianity? A big "what if"!

You are obviously very fond of the Romans - why them in particular?

Strange, isn't it, when they weren't exactly a feminist bunch? Rome was founded in 753BC by riff-raff led, according to the legend, by Romulus and Remus and ended in the west in AD476. That's an impressive 1229 years, seven hundred years of which Rome was the most politically important, richest, and largest city in the Western world. I don't want to copy the John Cleese speech in The Life of Brian "What have the Romans ever done for us?" so I won't go on about baths, transport, trade, architecture, etc.

Throughout kingdom, republic, principate and dominate empire they were a regulated and military society. They aspired to the highest values of service to the state and civic virtue. Although ideal Roman family life included the lowest status members of society, such slaves were the most fortunate. Repugnant to us now, all ancient, medieval and early modern societies and some even in the 20th century, used slavery as an economic force.

Corruption was rife in most periods, but the Romans developed systems of law, politics and taxation as well as the principle of the rule of law and for over two hundred years established the Pax Romana. Literary arts, learning, technology, engineering and the decorative arts flourished. But the impressive thing is the complexity of their civil and economic as well as military life, multiculturalism and scientific engineering.

Their attitude to women was legally repressive, but towards the later period, it changed considerable with much more freedom to act, trade and own property. Divorce was easy, but adultery could be fatal. And there are many accounts of women owning and running businesses of all types. As you know, history is not all it seems to be in the public perception.

Are you good at Latin and did you enjoy learning it at school?

Am I going to take a Roman attitude and say yes, I was top most of the time, or a British one and say, well, actually, I wasn't too bad at it? 😉  I loved it, especially the rude and sexually explicit poems of Catullus…

Thank you so much for answering my questions, Alison - it all sounds absolutely fascinating and I can't wait to read Inceptio!

Blurb for INCEPTIO:-

New York - present day alternate reality. Karen Brown, angry and frightened after surviving a kidnap attempt, has a harsh choice - being eliminated by government enforcer Jeffery Renschman or fleeing to the mysterious Roma Nova, her dead mother's homeland in Europe.

Founded sixteen centuries ago by Roman exiles and ruled by women, Roma Nova gives Karen safety and a ready-made family. But a shocking discovery about her new lover, the fascinating but arrogant special forces officer Conrad Tellus who rescued her in America, isolates her.

Renschman reaches into her new home and nearly kills her. Recovering, she is desperate to find out why he is hunting her so viciously. Unable to reply on anybody else, she undergoes intensive training, develops fighting skills and becomes an undercover cop. But crazy with bitterness at his past failures, Renschman sets a trap for her, knowing she has no choice but to spring it…

Buy links:-

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inceptio-Alison-Morton/dp/1781320624

US: http://www.amazon.com/Inceptio-Roma-Nova-Alison-Morton/dp/1781320624

Website/blog links:-

http://alison-morton.com

http://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor

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Today I'm honoured to be guest blogging on Rom Con - please drop by and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Highland Storms!

Here is the link!

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Here is the final clue for this week to help you guess what the prize is - "anagram CRAG SHH TOM (2 words) now open Pandora's box"!

Previous clues were (1) "it's something you can wear on your wrist (and it's vaguely related to the book)", (2) "it's made of silver", (3) "it's not very big" and (4) "it's paranormal".

The answer will be revealed tomorrow, together with the lucky winner of this item, plus details of how to win one more next week!

Have you guessed it yet?  Then please leave your answer below - thank you!

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So the weekend is over and it's time to give you clue no.4, which is "it's paranormal"!

The other clues were as follows:-

1 - "it's something you can wear on your wrist (and it's vaguely related to the book)

2 - "it's made of silver"

3 - "it's not very big"

Please keep the guesses coming - tomorrow I'll give you the final clue and on Wednesday we reveal the first prize winner and the prize!

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It's time for Clue No.3 to help you guess the answer to the competition question, which was - "Can you guess what this week's prize is?" Here it is, together with the previous two:-

1 - It's something you can wear on your wrist (and it's vaguely related to the book)

2 - It's made of silver

3 - It's not very big!

Happy guessing and have a lovely weekend!

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Thanks for the guesses so far - here is the second clue to help you a bit more!

It's made of silver!

The first clue was "It's something you can wear on your wrist (and it's vaguely related to the book).

The answer will not be revealed until next Wednesday, so even if you've figured it out before then, I won't tell you. I will, however, keep all your names for the draw. Keep the guesses coming, please!

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I've been hooked on genealogy for nearly 30 years now and don't think the fascination will ever go away. Once you start trying to puzzle together your family tree, you never stop. It's definitely addictive and since you don't necessarily have to stick to one branch of ancestors, you can literally go on searching for them forever.

I decided early on, however, that I had to stick to just one name or I'd never get anywhere, so I chose my maiden name and started collecting information about everyone with the same name. Eventually, this led to me becoming a member of the Guild of One-Name Studies, which is an organisation "dedicated to promoting the public understanding of one-name studies and the preservation and accessibility of the resultant information." (quote from their website)

Apart from the obvious benefits of belonging to such an organisation, I've also met some lovely people, all enthusiastic genealogists whose eyes don't glaze over when I start talking about census records or elusive convict ancestors. And tomorrow I'm hoping to meet some more of them, as I'll be helping out on the Guild stand at the "Who Do You Think You Are? Live" exhibition at Olympia in Kensington. It should be great fun and I'm really looking forward to it. If you're planning on going, please stop by and say hello - hope to see you there!

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