Month: October 2015

Real footage of a race, just like the ones Katy and Douglas enter in Speedwell

http://amzn.to/1SjD4cD

I never thought I would be researching country garages in the 1920\’s but that\’s one of the best things about writing. Your imagination takes you down paths logic never would!
I started the story of Daffodils because I was fascinated by the history of the village we lived in when our kids were born. One thing lead to another, as it so often does. So, after writing Peace Lily, I had to find out what Katy Phipps would do with her engineering experience, how Jem would react to his wife becoming an entrepreneur and how it would test her friendship with the aristocratic Cassandra, and wrote Speedwell. http://amzn.to/1SjD4cD
My Dad, now nearly 94, had an uncle who had a garage in just this era. As a very young boy, he would ride, Toad of Toad Hall-like, through Battersea Park in London as the mechanics test drove the cars. He imparted that enthusiasm and excitement to me as he recalled the sheer joy of those trips in open-topped cars.
But as well as picturing the scene in my head, I had to do some serious investigation into, literally, the nuts and bolts of starting up an enterprise like The Katherine Wheel Garage in the post-war 1920\’s.
Here\’s some pictures from that fascinating journey:

Very neat storage of tools

So many makes! Quite sophisticated bit of kit here This is just how I pictured the office at the back of the workshop at Katherine Wheel Garage. I think it would have had a flat cap on the cabinet until Jem returned from America!

Yesterday, my dog, Sky, and I zoomed up and down the motorway for over 200 miles just to go for a walk. I\’m researching a little known battle in the Civil War for my new story, The Rose Trail. It was a cracking walk, if a little far to drive to. The weather was perfect at home, bright and sunny with a crisp autumnal snap to it. At my destination I found a roiling sky of threatening clouds, which only added to the dramatic landscape.
Having fended off no less than three terriers who wanted to steal my picnic, I bumped into a lady with a kind, intelligent face. I had a hunch she\’d know about the history of the place, which I needed, having jumped in the car on a whim that morning. I had not prepared for the trip at all. I had brought none of my helpful research books, or even a map of the territory. This lovely woman told me where the battle had started and that the rout covered the whole of the countryside next to me, literally for miles.
I stood alone, after she had left, having given instructions on where to walk, and pictured the scene almost 400 years ago. I swear I could hear thundering hooves.
Here\’s a few pictures of what I saw.

This is me with my border collie, Sky and his new friend, spaniel Oscar. We had a cracking walk from Pennard down to Three Cliffs Bay (the limestone triangular rock on the beach behind me) this week, in the charming company of Richard Hardie.
Richard writes Young Adult fiction and I\’m currently enjoying his first book, Leap of Faith, which is set on Gower.
Here is the link for this book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leap-Faith-Richard-Hardie/dp/1909841269/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444329493&sr=8-1&keywords=leap+of+faith+by+richard+hardie

It\’s a lively tale involving smugglers, caves and secret coves. A salty taste of time travel and, for me, animating the scenery and seascape I have come to love since I moved here way, way back in 1989.
The dogs weren\’t this well behaved the rest of the time! They got on like a house on fire and encouraged each other to wallow in muddy puddles.
The weather was sunny and breezy in defiance of the miserable forecast. Richard and I talked books the whole time.
Time well spent.

                                      Richard Hardie, author of Leap of Faith and other tales.

Pauline Barclay : Alex Martin Sitting Round My Pool: Sitting round my pool today is the lovely Alex Martin who writes poignant World War One dramas. Describe yourself in 3 words …