November Update

Details of what I've been up to this month ...  

Guest Blog Posts

As well as working hard to finish my latest book, I've written guest blog posts for other authors. Are there any you've missed? 

The Zodiac Files (Virgo)

for Terry Tyler

Does my star sign influence my writing process?

The Many Ghosts of Conwy

for Elaina James

I love visiting Conwy because of all the fabulous history. In this Halloween special, for Elaina James, I talk about the various ghost stories associated with the town. Some may have been faked to attract the tourists. But others ...

Interview

for Daniel Riding

In which I talk mainly about myself, as usual ...

Book Launches!

The Novelistas had a double book launch with A Christmas Cracker by Trisha Ashley and The Captain's Christmas Bride by Annie Burrows.

Trisha Ashley and Annie Burrows

Books and Goody Bags!

The cake!

Freebies!

Finally, did you know you can now read both my mini-novellas for free? Head to my Freebies and Price Promotions page for all retailers' links - not just Amazon!

Never miss a post! See that little box in the left-hand column, near the top, that says 'Follow by Email'? If you add your email address, you'll receive my latest blog post almost as soon as I've written it.

Dear Diary (or, a sneaky way to add backstory)

This morning I was sorting through my sock drawer (expert procrastinator, remember?) when I found this:

I know, it doesn't look very exciting, but this is the diary I had when I was thirteen. I started off writing very neatly and then, as the year went on, my handwriting deteriorated into a scrawl and there are whole weeks where I didn't write anything at all.

What was the first entry?

Today I start my diary. I hope I can keep it going for 5 year's.

Scintillating stuff. Not to mention inappropriate use of an apostrophe.

Tried straightening my hair. Was very awkward and didn't work.

Some things never change.

Today we bought a puppy. He's a labrodor. We're calling him Elliott.

And just as my punctuation improves my spelling goes to pot.

Being a thirteen-year-old I spent a lot of time talking about boys, using code names - presumably in case the diary fell into The Wrong Hands. (The heroine's sister does this in Nemesis - where do you think I got that idea?). If I could remember who any of these boys were, it might make very entertaining reading. It doesn't help that I've also Tippexed over some entries and cut others out altogether, leaving neat little square holes. (I expect those were the juiciest bits!) Obviously it didn't occur to me that more than thirty years later those Wrong Hands would be mine.

I still have a fascination with diaries and journals, and I love collecting elegant notebooks - although most of the time I can't bring myself to 'spoil' them by actually writing in them. I just like to admire them and stroke them occasionally ...

OK, moving swiftly on.

I've used journals as a way to describe past events  in two of my books Breathless and Something Wicked. Both stories are set in the present day but have a centuries old mystery to solve that I thought would more fun to tell first hand. For example, I could tell you that way back in 1696, herbalist Meg Lawrence was an outcast, despised and distrusted by the villagers she tried her best to help. Or I could allow her to tell you in her own words

"I might as well have 'witch' inscribed on my forehead..."

and allow her wry humour to show through.

Another reason I used a diary to tell Meg's story is because I've often found legend bears little resemblance to the truth - usually because a story has been told so many times it becomes garbled. In my fictional village of Buckley, the legend of 'Magik Meg' and her 'demon lover' has been heavily embellished to pull in the tourists. Back in the 17th century the characters saw themselves differently:

"Demon lover?" Jacob was delighted. "It seems my reputation precedes me."

Something else I had fun with was to have the characters in the present learn part of Meg's story, only for it to be followed by a contradicting entry in the journal. Which version is the truth?

The drawback to having characters in the present using a diary to solve a mystery set in the past is that all the work has been done for them. They know Meg died several centuries ago and that she was a witch. Obviously she was burnt at the stake or hung from the nearest tree. Or maybe flung from the bridge now known as The Drop? All they have to do is read her journal and everything will be revealed, right?

Of course, it's a pity the last few pages appear to be missing ...

Read More:

Beyond the Bridge
Let It Snow

(Photos taken at Plas Mawr, Conwy)

A Girl's Best Friend

I've written stories for as long as I can remember. The earliest were children's stories, as I was heavily influenced by what I had read - Enid Blyton and CS Lewis. As I moved into my teens I began reading fantasy, particularly Terry Pratchett, and I wrote my first - and last! - fantasy. It was called The Dreamscape and I still have a soft spot for it.

By now I was becoming more serious about my writing, reading lots of 'how to' books and attending writers' conferences, and it was then I had that lightbulb moment, realising I should really be writing what I was reading. I was in my early twenties and, while I still loved reading Terry Pratchett, I was increasingly reading big glitzy novels with glamorous characters and locations. So I thought, 'OK, what can I write about that's glitzy?' And the answer was diamonds.

Bishop's Palace, Wells

I failed to take into consideration what writers call their 'voice'. I might have loved reading glitzy books and I certainly enjoyed writing what I thought was a glitzy book, but by the time I'd finished it was something else entirely. In other words, the story grew into a typical Louise Marley mix of romantic suspense with a dash of humour.

I think if I were writing the story now, I wouldn’t have characters who are identical twins, because that has become such a cliché. At the time I wanted to write about two sisters and their love/hate relationship. Danielle and Isabel are two of my favourite heroines and I love the contrast in their personalities. Danielle is so obsessed by her work that she’s forgotten how to have fun. Isabel, who does nothing but have fun, needs to become more responsible.

The mysterious Nico is one of my favourite heroes. In the original paperback version he was a lot meaner, but while I was revising the story for the ebook version I had a change of heart and made him kinder. This was the first and last time I ever based the appearance of a character on a real person. Who? I'm not telling, but if you read the book you'll spot the clues!

St Bartholomew's, Botley, Hampshire

I used Bishop's Palace in Wells as Nico's family home and St Batholomew's Church in Botley for St Mary's Church (even though there's no crypt or cliff!). The exterior of Stortford House, where the twins live, is based on Highgrove in Gloucestershire, although the garden, with its topiary, is Levens Hall in Cumbria. I did so much research about diamonds that I swore I'd never write anything requiring that amount ever again! Something I also swore after writing Why Do Fools Fall in Love (film industry) and Breathless (marine archaeology) and - well, you get the idea!

I nearly gave the story the title of Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend, but decided it was just too long. This is the title of a famous song, sung by Marilyn Monroe in the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - a movie based on a book by the famous author Anita Loos. I've referenced one of her quotes within my story. I wonder if you can spot it?

I had great fun writing A Girl's Best Friend - I hope you enjoy reading it!

Amazon UK

Amazon USA

A Girl's Best Friend

Are diamonds really a girl’s best friend? Danielle van der Straaten thinks so. Her boyfriends cheat on her, her sister drives her mad and her father only wants to see her married with children - despite all the work she’s put into the family jewellery business. Diamonds are the only thing she can rely on.

Her sister, Isabel, doesn’t care about diamonds, provided she has something sparkly to wear to a party and a gorgeous man to dance with. Life is for living and having fun. And if their money disappeared tomorrow? She’d be in serious trouble.

Jemma Stortford finds it hard seeing Danielle and Isabel living the life that should have been hers. But when she wakes up one morning to find the handsome Nico Morales in her bed, it appears her luck has finally changed. But is Nico who he claims to be? And why is he so interested in the van der Straatens?

As the three women are about to find out, sometimes diamonds aren’t a girl’s best friend at all!

To read an extract, click here

A Girl's Best Friend: Behind the Scenes

Let It Snow ...

Most of my books are set during the summertime. I write romances and it's easier to get your characters out of their clothes when the weather is hot; you have to be a lot more creative when the temperature plummets! But I've always wanted to write a book set in winter, with frost and ice and lots of snow. I expect this is because of the kind of books I liked to read as a child, such as The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Can there be anything more magical than stepping through an old wardrobe and into a world where it's always winter?



I'm also a huge fan of fairy tales, and there is one part of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe which always reminds me of Hans Christian Andersen's Snow Queen. In The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Edmund meets the White Witch in her sleigh and she enchants him with Turkish delight. Whereas in The Snow Queen, Kai falls under the witch's spell when she kisses him after he's hitched his sled to her sleigh (that's not an euphemism!). There's probably a moral in there somewhere, about keeping well clear of women in sleighs, but what struck me about both stories is how the snow is considered to be A Bad Thing. In Narnia it is 'always winter and never Christmas', and in The Snow Queen Kai becomes obsessed with snowflakes. And this contributed to my inspiration for Something Wicked.

I grew up on the south coast of England where we never saw much snow. I'd watch movies and read books where the characters had snowball fights, went sledging and got snowed in - it sounded like a lot of fun! The first time it snowed properly I was thirteen and I went completely mad. I built a whole family of snowmen and even an igloo for them to live in. The next time it snowed I was a lot older and supposed to be going on a hot date with a new boyfriend. I was totally unimpressed - both with the snow and, as it turned out, with the new boyfriend.  Then I married and moved to Wales, where it seemed to snow every winter.

Our first house was in the Conwy Valley and there was a hill directly behind it, which turned out to be perfect for sledging! When you see other people sledging, and think what fun it looks, it's easy to forget the slightly more important stuff. Sledges don't have brakes and sometimes seem specifically designed to dump you upside down in a snow drift, or worse still, a freezing cold stream. Being caught in a blizzard is pretty much the same as being caught in a heavy downpour, except you end up being half-frozen as well as absolutely soaked. And being snowed in isn't quite so romantic when the pipes begin to freeze over. Lots of inspiration there for a story about snow, right?

Hmm ...

Writers are always told 'write what you know'. Personally, I think it's a lot more fun to make it all up! When I began writing Something Wicked I thought I'd be able to put everything I knew about snow into my story. Except I didn't. There isn't any sledging. No one gets snowed in and the pipes are just fine. But I remembered how magical it is to watch the snow fall, to see those flakes whirl about, to watch patterns form and for all kinds of things to take shape.

And how, if you stare at the falling snow for long enough, you can almost imagine ...

Something Wicked

Katrina Davenport has opened a coffee shop and bookstore in the notorious Raven’s Cottage, once the home of a 17th century witch known as Magik Meg. The locals have told Kat stories, of how the cottage is haunted by the witch and her demon lover, but Kat doesn’t believe in witches, or ghosts, or anything that goes bump in the dead of night. Every strange thing that happened since she moved in must have a perfectly logical explanation.

Unfortunately it doesn’t really matter what Kat believes, because something wicked has returned to Raven’s Cottage.

And this time it’s come for Kat.

To read an extract, click here:

Something Wicked: Behind the Scenes

Related Posts:

Beyond the Bridge: A post about Tu Hwnt i'r Bont, the inspiration for Raven’s Cottage.

Music: Wings to the Mind: How music inspires me and influences my writing.

Dear Diary: How I love using diaries to tell a story