Tag Archives: inspiration

The past revealed

18 Tuesday Sep 2018

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It’s been one of those summers, hasn’t it? The prolonged drought in the UK meant barely a week went past without there being news of some new historical or archeological remains being discovered. Ancient earthworks revealed when the grass or crops died, or reservoirs drying out to reveal long lost drowned villages.

Of course this all fascinated me, not least because my new book (out this week!) is called The Drowned Village and focuses on a dried-out reservoir revealing an old village, and the secrets buried within.

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Here are some links to news stories about what was uncovered by the drought. All amazing stories, and I know for certain if I hadn’t already written The Drowned Village I’d be inspired to write such a story now!

Haweswater and Mardale (the valley my novel was inspired by)

A ‘lost valley’ in Cornwall

And not just in Britain – here’s a reservoir in Wicklow, Ireland that dried out

Here are some older, archeological discoveries made due to the drought

And more from Scotland

I’ve always felt the past is still there, just beneath our consciousness somehow. We only need scratch the surface and we are reconnected with it. If I pass through an ancient doorway, I’m always drawn to wondering about all the people who’ve passed through it before me…  I guess that’s why I love writing dual timeline novels!

Speaking of which – here’s the link to The Drowned Village, out on 20th September, available from online retailers or your local Waterstone’s.  I can’t wait to find out what people think of this one!

 

 

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Not the only writer in the family…

04 Saturday Aug 2018

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I’m not sure I’ve ever met my father’s cousin Ann, although maybe she’ll say she was at my christening, or remembers me having a tantrum aged about 2, or something. But my brother visits her now and again, at her home in Glasgow. He was there recently, and chatted to her about my books, and she told him I was not the only writer in the family…

She then sent me these newspaper cuttings. The paper is very fragile – they are probably well over 100 years old. My great-grandfather, it seems, was a poet.EPSON MFP image

His name was John Coward, and I remember my grandmother talking about him. I knew him as an artist – I have two watercolours by him, and I know of several more of his paintings dotted around the family.

The poetry is perhaps a little flowery and Victorian for current tastes, but it is wonderful to read them and have this little glimpse into my ancestor’s heart.

Though stern old Fate our paths doth sever,

Still thou art dearer now than ever;

And thy bright glance,

In all its sweet angelic glory,

I see, as now I pen my story

With young Romance;

And Cupid’s bow, the golden token,

I fold within, for thought unspoken.

— John Coward

Of course, I’m wondering if there’s a novel idea in there somewhere. Woman is sent clippings of poems written by an ancestor, and discovers something encoded within the verse, that sets her off on a journey to discover the truth about some long-lost family secret…  What do you reckon? Shall I write it?

Life imitating art… again

18 Wednesday Jul 2018

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I love it when real life decides to imitate the plots of my books. It happened a few years ago with The Emerald Comb (see this post) and is happening again now with my new book, The Drowned Village.

9_DrownedVillage

 

My book was inspired by a visit to Haweswater Reservoir in the Lake District. A  village, Mardale Green, was evacuated and demolished to make way for this reservoir. What if, I thought, a secret was buried in the village, then lost when the village was flooded? What if, in a period of drought, the reservoir recedes and the village and its secrets exposed?

Well look what’s happened, in our current heatwave! More fabulous pictures in this article. Whether or not there’s a real life secret to be uncovered remains to be seen, though.

But there’s definitely a mystery to be resolved in my book – which you can pre-order here.

 

 

 

Between novels

29 Monday Aug 2016

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I’m in that wonderful, exciting, refreshing but also terrifying space between novels at the moment. I finished a draft of my last, still-to-be-titled, one over the weekend, and sent it to my editor today. There will still be plenty of work to do on it no doubt, but for the moment it is out of my hands.

Meanwhile ideas for the next novel after that are filling my mind, so although I’d planned to have a bit of a break I have spent a lot of time today scribbling notes and putting together a Pinterest board to inspire me.

There are a number of things I do when planning a novel before I start actually writing it. I’ll do them in roughly this sequence:

  1. Scribble notes about key scenes, in a lovely new notebook of course!
  2. Decide on names, ages etc of main characters
  3. Draw up family trees for main characters, especially important if genealogy is to be a theme in the book
  4. Draw up timelines for the two timelines in the novel
  5. Build up a Pinterest board of inspiring images
  6. Note down main areas where I’ll need to research ahead of writing, and order any necessary books
  7. Create detailed character sheets for the main characters so that I can really get to know them
  8. Scribble details of the main settings, draw a map or house-plan if necessary
  9. Write a one-page synopsis for my editor to (hopefully!) approve
  10. Write a chapter plan – two or three sentences outlining what will happen in each chapter

So although ‘the Irish novel’ has been sent off ready for the next stage (rather like a five-year old child being sent off for his first day at school), the ‘drowned village’ novel is already swilling around my head. You know you need to write a novel when you find yourself waking in the night with scenes for it playing out in full colour in your head.

It’s funny – to my readers Daughters of Red Hill Hall is considered my latest novel, but I feel as though I’m two novels on from that!

Inspiration from place names

28 Sunday Feb 2016

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For some time now I have wanted to write a novel in which all the characters are named after Dorset villages. Maybe it’d end up being a pastoral Hardyesque tale, who knows, but Dorset place names are wonderful for conjuring up characters. Here are some I’ve thought of.

Worth Matravers – elderly tweed clad, pipe smoking whiskery gamekeeper

Kingston Lacey – as Lacey Kingston this is our heroine, bit of an airhead, heiress

Margaret Marsh – the down to earth widow who runs the village post office

Piddletrenthide – split it as Piddle Trenthide and this is a fellow whose real name is Phillip, but he picked up his nickname in boarding school on account of his frequent bed wetting

Sixpenny Handley – dear old Simon went to the same school as Piddle Trenthide, and got his nickname for being not quite the full shilling

Melbury Osmond – all tan and teeth, tribute act playing the local pubs and clubs

Hazelbury Bryan – let’s rearrange her as Hazel Bury-Bryan,  horse mad and horse-faced

Bishop’s Caundle – Bishop Caundle is the white-haired retiring clergyman with a dark past

Maiden Newton – the town bike, ironically nick-named

Melcombe Horsey – actually he’s Malcolm, but he has such an upper crust accent it comes out as Melcombe

Wimborne St Giles – can be Giles Wimborne and I think he’ll be the hero who sweeps Lacey off her feet

I could go on! Wiki has a useful list of Dorset place names and I suspect there are other counties with just as wonderfully named villages. What do you think – should I write the novel? No idea what kind of plot could encompass all those characters!