Thursday 21 December 2017

THE TRUE WINTER WONDERLAND



You hear that song everywhere. Tinkling in the background as you fight your way through throngs of holiday shoppers laden with bags of fuzzy socks, foaming bath balls, and pricey charm bracelets. When you comb the racks for that last minute 70% off Christmas Home Decor even though you don't need that one more Santa on skis or that cute laughing snowman or that set of plastic antlers that would look great as a centrepiece trimmed with tea lights and ivy. It's infiltrated the drug store, so you can register it even with blocked up ears when you're hawking unmentionable substances into a kleenex as you load your basket with cough syrup, Tylenol and camomile tea.
The Forks Market, Winnipeg
It's that song everyone knows but has learned to ignore - a form of Yuletide white noise. It's Walking in a Winter Wonderland! Written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith, this classic "Christmas Song" been recorded by over 200 different artists from Clay Aiken to Billy Idol!

But it's not until you step into a true winter wonderland that you understand the magic  the original writers had in mind 84 years ago. Winter can be magical. On a recent walk through The Forks area in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada where the Red and Assiniboine rivers meet, I felt that sense of wonder. Check out these pictures taken on a warm (for Winnipeg -1C is warm!) Winnipeg afternoon.
Winnipeg has miles of skating trails along the rivers and through the riverside parks. If you work downtown you can actually skate rather that drive or cycle. It's peaceful, beautiful and therapeutic.
A beautiful view of the Forks Children's Playground, with the Canadian Human Rights Museum in the background. A powerful reminder of the darker aspects of Canada's history of human rights.
The early stages of construction the beautiful Ice Castles that stay on display throughout the winter. At night they're lit up in a rainbow of colours and you can walk through them, climb on them, have a picnic if you're dressed right!
What better than walking through the winter woods on fresh snow!

Or sitting by the window with a hot cup of coffee waiting for the snow ploughs to come and dig you out!
Or marvelling at the way hoar frost looks like spun sugar on bare tree branches! 

Or wrapping up to take a sleigh ride through the forest!

Well that's my ode to winter in Winnipeg! Hope you all have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday and a prosperous, peaceful New Year filled with new, exciting books.


In the meantime I'll leave you with one of the best renditions of Winter Wonderland by the smooth and suave Dean Martin.



Monday 20 November 2017

A TRIP TO ITALY

Sorry for the delay in blog posts. I was away in Europe last month, travelling through Italy. Though I loved the ancient grandeur of Rome, I have to say I fell in love with the less touristy south. In the towns and villages of Calabria you get a much more authentic Italian experience and you're not jostling with crowds of thronging tourists all vying to take the best selfie in front of some iconic statue or monument. Here's a list of my favourite things about Italy:



  • COFFEE - whether it's espresso, cappuccino or latte - it's always rich, delightful and best way to drink it is standing up at the counter of some gorgeous pastry or gelato shop.

  • EVENING SHOPPING - in the Southern towns, the shopping centres are pretty dead during the day but at night it's like a carnival. Everyone's out, dressed in their finest. From oldest to youngest they come out to shop, eat gelato, grab an evening meal or drink coffee on outdoor patios. It's a wonderful, festive atmosphere.

  • THE SANDWICHES - or pannini. We ordered a sandwich at a tiny cafe in Cosenza and the store owner lovingly cut the bread, shaved the meat and cheese and assembled it with careful precision, oblivious to the other customers who waited patiently. The result was the freshest sandwich I've ever tasted!

  • COSENZA OLD TOWN - Cosenza is a beautiful city in Calabria. There's a pleasant and bustling modern town area, but the old town is breathtaking. Haunting and beautiful, it sits on the other side of the river, Winding, cobbled streets and the decaying grandeur of its buildings show that this was an important centre in the past. 

  • THE HOTELS - Many of the hotels are independently owned and there are few large chain hotels. We stayed in some beautiful places which were all immaculately clean and relatively inexpensive, particularly the Civico 27 Guest House in Cosenza which had an incredible common area and balcony with a breathtaking view of the city.

  • THE MOUNTAIN VILLAGES AROUND COSENZA - Cosenza sits in a valley surrounded by hills and mountains. Ski towns like Camigliatello Silano are undiscovered gems, off the major tourist grid. This gorgeous mountain town just happens to be the porcini mushroom capital of Italy as well and the food stores are amazing. Fit for any gourmet traveller.

  •  BEACH RESORTS NEAR ROME - About 75 kms from Rome are lesser known beach resorts, popular with Romans who want a weekend away from the hustle and bustle of the city. We stayed at the Oasi di Kufra, a gorgeous beachfront hotel in Saubadia. It was inexpensive and looked out onto a vast, sandy beach where we watched incredible sunsets and sunrises from our balcony.
WRITING NEWS:


I've been working on a TV adaptation of my YA trilogy. I've always thought it would make a great movie or TV series and many readers have reinforced that idea. I'll keep you posted with any updates.

QUICK READING RECOMMENDATIONS:

THE UNINVITED GUESTS by Sadie Jones



A witty, dramatic and clever Edwardian story set in a rambling, rundown mansion. It's Emerald Torrington's 20th birthday and preparations are underway for an elegant supper party, but an accident nearby causes a group of mysterious and unwelcome survivors to seek shelter at the ramshackle manor. What follows is a thrilling, surprising and delightfully dark story.

Monday 25 September 2017

MOVING OUT, MOVING ON



How do you say goodbye to a house? When you've created and shared so many memories within its walls, it's hard just to close the door and turn your back.
We recently moved out of the house we'd lived in for the past fifteen years and after a horrendous week clearing out all the furniture, knick-knacks, keepsakes and junk a family accumulates in that length of time, I wandered around the empty rooms and remembered. My son studying for hours on end at his desk to earn his bachelor's and Master's degrees and the many photos and keepsakes that celebrated all his volunteer and political work. My daughter sketching her first clothing designs at her drafting table under the bedroom window and the curving staircase she walked down in her grad gown and her wedding gown. The living room, dining room and family room where we celebrated birthdays, graduations, engagements, special holidays and get-togethers with friends and family.



 The deep bay window that was a perfect spot for a Christmas tree and the best place to watch the snow fall on the front lawn with its towering birch tree. Then the basement that served as a party central, a great place for the kids to hang out with friends, an amazing place to watch a movie and finally as a perfect suite for my son to stay until he moved into his own place.
Though I'm already settled in our new house, I realize the old house has become part of our family history. Another layer of memories and experiences associated with that particular, special place.
 I guess I was more philosophical about the move because I'd just finished my last novel, MATTIE WAS HERE, which is all about foster children who are bounced around from one placement to another, eventually traumatized by the chronic impermanence, the sense they don't belong anywhere and the lack of history and family roots. Though I haven't published this book yet, I did find a great cover for it should I decide to self-publish it. Check it out here

Here's a quick rundown of the story:

Traumatized by a childhood spent moving from one foster home to another, Anna Holt must revisit her painful past to find her lost twin sister, Mattie, while struggling with the unfamiliar challenges of love and intimacy with Guy, a man whose seemingly perfect family holds its own dark secrets that just might be tied up with Anna's troubled past and her sister's disappearance.

Anna is a great teacher. She can relate to the troubled kids who’ve fallen through society’s cracks because she’s been there herself and through sheer force of will she survived. But not without scars. She loathes small talk, fears intimacy and has no roots - no family. She’s a stone-faced liar and a compulsive shopper on the verge of bankruptcy.
When she meets Guy, a young prof and the son and business partner of a wealthy education guru, she can finally have a real family and live the lifestyle she’s dreamed of by moving in with him.
Anna’s damaged but she doesn’t reveal that to anyone – especially Guy. She endured violence, neglect, drug abuse and sexual exploitation in a string of foster homes but she always swore to protect her more vulnerable sister, Mattie. To hold onto her and keep the predators at bay. But when they reached their teens, Mattie drifted away and befriended Loni, a troubled, violent and manipulative drug user, shoplifter and prostitute. Anna fought to save Mattie but finally lost track of her.
Now Anna can’t enjoy her new happiness with Guy because memories of Mattie haunt her, drawing her to painful places from her childhood: crowded group homes, cheap motels, riverside hooker hangouts and a seedy downtown music store run by a suspected pimp and sexual trafficker who’s begun preying on one of Anna’s own students and has something to do with Mattie’s disappearance.
Anna must sort through a tangled web of memories to find her sister while negotiating the unfamiliar challenges of love and intimacy with a man whose seemingly perfect family holds its own dark secrets that just might be tied up with her own troubled past. 

Watch out for news on this new novel. I'll keep you posted!

Monday 22 May 2017

A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN AND A DARK ANGEL



In Virginia Woolf's extended essay, A Room of One's Own, she poses the idea that a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction. In Woolf's day this was absolutely true since women had very little they could truly call their own, including time to pursue their own interests or even be an individual separate and distinct from their spouse or children. Nowadays, things may be different.
It's true that having money or another source of income gives one the time and freedom to write. That's why so many writers have to wait until they retire from other day jobs in order to have enough time and headspace to write fiction. But having  a room of one's own might be highly overrated.  Maybe some writers are spoiled for space or just maybe the way we write and the milieu in which we need to do it have drastically changed.



I recently went to a reading by the prolific Scandinavian noir crime writer, Jo Nesbo, who was promoting his latest novel, The Thirst. Nesbo has sold an incredible 26 million copies of his books . When asked about his favourite place to write, he confessed that even though he has an incredible office in his Oslo condo, with floor to ceiling windows that overlook the ocean - equipped with state of the art tech equipment and lighting - he finds it's the only place he can't write. Instead he frequents a small, local coffee shop. There he covertly listens in to conversations and finds inspiration for plot ideas and characters in the rush of people that come and go.
I absolutely understand. I have a nicely set up office with framed copies of all my book covers around me. It's comfortable and quiet, but I often have trouble writing there. It's just a little too claustrophobic and isolated. Eventually I have to get out among people. The odd or complex behaviours, bizarre conversations and the everyday kaleidoscope of life somehow helps me write. I remember on one particular occasion I sat next to two guys who were actually firing someone from a job. I could barely contain myself while listening to all the doublespeak, the cold, calculated logic and sickening platitudes they were laying on this poor guy. All the while I was expecting him to stand up and deck them both. It didn't happen, but I'm sure I'll find a place for this somewhere in one of my books.  
So here are some famous authors and their favourite workplaces:

  • Agatha Christie liked to lounge in a large Victorian tub, eat apples and write.
  • James Joyce lay in bed on his stomach wearing a white coat and wrote with a blue pencil!
  • D.H Lawrence wrote beneath the shade of a tree. He said the trees were "like living company."
  • Gertrude Stein wrote in the driver's seat of her Model T Ford.
  • John Le Carre wrote many of his books during his 90 minute commute to work from Buckinghamshire.
DARK ANGEL, a review

Joanne Froggatt as Mary Ann Cotton

I was interested to see this ITV/PBS drama that brings to life the career of infamous British poisoner, Mary Ann Cotton and I have to say I have very conflicting feelings about it. 
When I wrote my novel, THE SAVAGE INSTINCT, I spent months researching the life and trial of Mary Ann Cotton. I read newspaper accounts from the era and several biographies of her life. I finally made the decision that Cotton, her "career" and her trial would provide a backdrop to a fictitious story that focused more on the impact of the trial on Victorian society at the time. In particular on the life of a childless woman on the edge of sanity. 
The Cotton case was sensationalized in the newspapers. The idea that a woman, and in this case, a working class woman, would actually go against all feminine ideals and murder her own children as well as her husbands and possibly her mother, caused great upheaval in an extremely patriarchal society. 
The real Mary Ann Cotton. Slightly less glamorous!
 This idea was completely absent in the PBS drama. While Joanne Froggatt gave a chilling performance as Cotton, she seemed too sympathetic and overly glamorized. At 2 hours 45 minutes the production seemed to hurtle through Cotton's many crimes at express speed. For viewers who have no prior knowledge of the case this proves very confusing and at times unintentionally funny. All we know is that when Mary Ann gets out the "Teapot of Death" and mixes a bit of arsenic into the tealeaves, SOMEONE'S GONNA CROAK!!
Mary Ann Cotton's real teapot from the collection at Beamish Museum.
The movie offers very little in the way of an explanation of her motives or her effect on the community in which she lived. It also totally ignores the trial. Cotton didn't have any counsel to represent her at first and then when she did, he was incompetent. This was definitely a missed opportunity. Given a lot more time and a greater attention to detail, it could have been a great adaptation of an important trial.
Let me suggest the following. If you want to know more about Mary Ann Cotton, read THE SAVAGE INSTINCT instead!!

Monday 27 March 2017

CHILDHOOD IMAGININGS

BAMBURGH CASTLE: " King Ida's castle, huge and square,"
I just finished working on a very harrowing novel that dealt with some tough social issues so, while I let that book sit for a few weeks before I make final revisions, I like to move away from harsh reality and step back in time to the magical world of imagination and myth.
I'm working on a Middle Grade/Young Adult novel set within the rich folklore and mythology of North Eastern England, my birthplace. I was inspired by a quote from a book written in the early 19th century by Walter White who travelled through Northumbria and the borders. He visited the remote Farne Islands and quotes the words of a 7th century contemporary of St. Cuthbert's:
In the northernmost reaches of England, near the wild Northumbrian coastal islands we encountered the Farne Devils. Clad in cowls, and riding upon goats, black in complexion, short in stature,
 their countenances most hideous, their heads long - the appearance 
of the whole group horrible. Like soldiers they brandished in their 
hands lances, which they darted after in the fashion of war. First the sight of the cross was sufficient to repel their attacks, but the only protection in the end was the circumvaliation of straws,
 signed with the cross, and fixed in the sands, around which the 
devils galloped for a while, and then retired, leaving us 
to enjoy victory and repose.
This new book is inspired by the incredible castles at Bamburgh and Lindisfarne in the old Kingdom of Northumbria. Since I spent my childhood sixty miles south in Durham City, I visited these places as a child and later as an an adult. I remember being struck by the mysterious castles perched on rocky crags above remote and untouched beaches. They sparked something in my imagination  I knew sooner or later I'd have to explore and use in a story. Hence The Flamebearer was born.
LINDISFARNE CASTLE
So many of the books I enjoyed as a child were set in haunting, strange, mysterious - even bizarre places. Here are a few of my favourites. Perhaps they'll remind you of your favourite childhood stories or maybe you'll be tempted to look them up again and read them to your children or grandchildren.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS


Who can forget the bizarre dream world of Lewis Carroll's famous character Alice. Like walking into a strange dream or hallucination where everything is just slightly off kilter and a person can grow bigger or smaller just by nibbling a piece of cake or drinking a mysterious drink. This is a world of transformations where a screaming baby turns into a squealing piglet, where chess pieces take human form, where courtiers become playing cards, and a pet kitten becomes a queen. I remember being so struck by this book I made paper cutouts of all the characters and re-enacted the scenes against hand-drawn backdrops! Slightly obsessive!



MOOMINLAND MIDWINTER

This haunting story by Finnish writer Tove Jansson is set in a dark, lonely winter world. Young Moomintroll suddenly awakes to find himself alone, while his family family rest in the deep slumber of their annual hibernation. Unable to get back to sleep he wanders through his house which seems strange and unfamiliar with its covered furniture and unseen creatures under the sink. Outside he discovers a world he's never encountered where the sun barely rises and the ground is covered with cold, white powder. At first he's scared and angry until he meets Too Ticky and Little My, a strange little creature who sleds down snow hills on Moominmamma's silver tray and skates with their kitchen knives as blades. In this book winter is personified as The Lady of the Cold, who freezes squirrels with one look from her eyes. A magical book!



THE SECRET GARDEN by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Set on the bleak Yorkshire Moors and the dark, forbidding Misselthwaite Manor, this classic children's story features Mary, a grieving orphan sent to live with her uncle since her parents died of cholera. Mary is a sickly, sour child used to being waited on by servants in the lush, tropical surroundings of a large colonial home in India, so the cold, bleak landscape of Yorkshire comes as a shock to her. Soon Mary begins to explore her surroundings and discovers the beauty of nature with the help of friendly housemaid, Martha, groundsman, Ben Weatherstaff and Martha's outdoorsy brother, 12 year old Dickon The two become great friends and work together on a hidden garden that belonged to her deceased aunt, Mrs. Craven. They also discover her young cousin, Colin, confined to a wheelchair and deprived of fresh air for years. Together the two children secretly nurse him back to health while cultivating the beautiful secret garden. This is a touching novel of love and compassion.



MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransom Riggs

The most recent of my recommended books for children but enjoyed by adults. This story brilliantly intertwines vintage photographs with a thrilling story to create a creepy and strange atmosphere. After a horrifying family tragedy, sixteen year old Jacob journeys to a remote island off the coast of Wales where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As he explores the abandoned rooms he discovers the strange children, pictured on the set of vintage photographs given to him by his deceased grandfather, may still be alive and do actually possess strange and dangerous powers. The story becomes a fast-paced mystery as Jacob races to help the children who are threatened by a ruthless enemy.

There isn't enough room here for the other great children's books I could have mentioned. Maybe I'll do that in a later post. Meanwhile - back to the drawing board and time to step back into the world of the dark Northumbrian coast!!




Monday 30 January 2017

SNOW WALKING AND MORE GREAT READS





I've finally made a vow to keep going with my morning walk schedule regardless of the winter weather outside. And despite the challenges of walking outside at temperatures of -22C and lower, I've discovered snow walking can be fun, beneficial and incredibly beautiful.

It takes twice as long to dress up for the weather with extra leggings, thermal socks, snow boots, wooly hat, scarf, parka, hood and thick mitts, but I have this theory that plunging through the park or climbing a snow hill dressed like a yeti, burns at least three times the usual calories for a walk. The only trouble is that we've also been experiencing some higher than normal temperatures more recently and that means the snow turns to ice which then makes it feel like you're walking on an ice rink.




For many writers, a quiet walk outdoors is the best way to think of new ideas and sort out plot problems, and winter has a certain sleepy, silent magic about it that seems more inspirational than any other season. To write a novel you need to do a whole lot of thinking before you even sit down and put your fingers on the keyboard, and once you're into the first draft you need to take breaks and think about the way the story is developing. Tearing yourself away from that screen and plunging out into the fresh air is the best way to go.
Since winter is a great time for a quiet read by the fireside, I've highlighted a few more great books I've enjoyed recently:



THE PURCHASE by Linda Spalding

Set in Virginia, 1798, this Governor General's Award winning book explores the indignities of slavery from a unique perspective and shows how one man's single impulsive action can create ripples that affect the lives of multiple generations of his family.
This is the story of Daniel Dickinson, a Quaker from Pennsylvania, whose wife has passed away and left him alone with five children to raise. He hastily marries a fifteen year old orphan and sets off with his entire family and his few meagre belongings to forge a new life across the border in Virginia.
At first life is tough, the family buys a plot of land in a tiny community and begins to establish a life there, but when Daniel goes to market one day and encounters a slave auction he is horrified. A firm abolitionist, this spectacle goes against all his values and beliefs. On impulse he buys the boy but is completely unaware how this action will resonate with his family through the decades, leading to conflict, passion and tragedy.
This story is a complex exploration of emotions, morals and the struggle to maintain one's beliefs in a changing world. The characters are well drawn, memorable and imperfect which makes them all the more intriguing. Also the author conveys the hardships of life on the American frontier with unsentimental but beautiful, spare prose that will keep you reading to the last page.



HUMAN REMAINS by Elizabeth Haynes

This suspense filled thriller is made even more compelling by its imperfect narrator and its exploration of a major societal problem - the epidemic of loneliness suffered by people forced through circumstances beyond their control to live alone, unloved and unnoticed by their community. Most often they are seniors, but sometimes they're younger - possibly suffering from mental illness, depression or some other crippling problem.
Anna, the main character, is one such person. A police analyst with a busy job and an aging mother to check in on, Annabel is socially awkward, has poor self-image and is a loner at work. She lives alone but doesn't see herself as lonely. When she discovers her neighbour's decomposing body in the house next door, she is shocked that no one, including herself, noticed the woman's absence. When her colleagues show a lack of interest in the case, she takes it upon herself to investigate and discovers a disturbing pattern of such cases, leading her to believe that something is not right and this can't be a coincidence. But as Anna gets chillingly close to the solution, she reveals her own vulnerability in the depths of her depression and puts herself in danger.
This was a refreshingly different take on the usual police procedural thriller, mainly due to the originality of the characters and the complete believability of the situations portrayed. Reading it, one is reminded of one's deepest fear - of being completely and utterly alone and uncared for - invisible to the people around you.



THE WONDER by Emma Donoghue

Another novel by the author of the wonderful Room, this novel is definitely as compelling. Set in the  19th century, this is the story of an English nurse who is brought to a small Irish village to provide objective observation of what is thought to be a miracle: an 11 year old girl who lives and thrives without touching a morsel of food. Tourists already flock to the small cabin to see little Anna who lives, according to her family and the local priest, on manna from heaven. Lib, a veteran nurse from Nightingale's Crimean campaign, is hired to keep watch on the girl, but soon finds herself fighting for the child's life, together with a journalist sent to cover the miracle.
As with all Donoghue's books, this is an in-depth psychological exploration of the motivation of diverse individuals - each with their own agenda. This story begins slowly but picks up pace so that it becomes impossible to put down as the stakes are raised and Lib must make a choice to do as she's told or to defy the orders she's been given and possibly put herself in danger. Ultimately this leads to a gripping life or death scenario with an innocent child at the centre.

HAPPY READING!

"THE LONG CON": RESEARCHING THE NIGHT SIDE:

  Pre-writing: The   Research Stage When a new story idea is formulating in my head, the first thing I do is pick out a beautiful notebook, ...