Home Thoughts Weekly

It’s strange to think that when I post this blog, my elder stepson, his wife and their toddler son will be on a plane bound for Canada where they are going to live. Last week we attended a family farewell party for them and the next day Tom and I looked after the baby whilst they said goodbye to their work colleagues. It’s been a time of mixed emotions; we all want to keep our loved ones close, but our daughter-in-law is a French-speaking Canadian who can see the opportunities her country can offer their little family and Tom and I certainly support them in their quest to make a good life. This view was reinforced after our babysitting stint. It was getting late, but we decided to drive home to Wales whilst the roads were quiet. We stopped at the first takeaway we found to buy something quick to eat, a kebab restaurant in a straggle of run-down shops by a dual carriageway. As we waited for our order, a handful of men also waiting struck up a sexist, racist conversation that was p...

Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell has a new book out in September. I know this because Radio 4’s Today programme kicked off by announcing that the writer was trailing his new novel by putting a short story out on Twitter.  A four-minute interview, not to mention numerous plugs throughout the show, gave David Mitchell lots of lovely prime time exposure so that he could explain why he wasn’t ‘a social media animal’, didn’t want to be seen as a ‘gimmick chaser’ and, er, to promote his new book. Well, good luck to David Mitchell, or his publicist, for garnering so much attention, but I do wonder what made this particularly story so newsworthy. Twitter fiction isn’t news, as any of Joanne Harris’s followers will tell you (and her #storytime treats are exquisite). And although Twitter used to be about conversations, it’s now overflowing with authors flogging their books prompting me, one morning when I could see nothing but promotional tweets, to write this haiku: Twitter streams ...

Official Publication Day for Follow A Star found me at the OU in the Hub while Tom presented a paper to prospective PhD students.  It’s been a busy time for both of us so rather than travel all the way back to west Wales we stayed at a Premier Inn overnight then went off to see Coventry Cathedral. Like the Mappa Mundi at Hereford Cathedral a few weeks ago, it’s one of the places we’ve always meant to see … I’m so glad we finally made the effort.  It was a profoundly moving experience, marked throughout by poignant reminders of the horrors of the Coventry blitz on 14 November 1940 yet tempered by all the love, care and craftsmanship poured into the building that rose from the devastation.  We arrived early and wandered round the remains of the ruined cathedral before crossing over to the new building just as it opened. Here are some of the places where I paused for reflection. Ecce Homo, sculpted by Jacob Epstein Detail from the West Screen ...

“The wind has howled all day and I now know what hailstones look like when they hit the sea. I’ve also seen phosphorescence, not splashing over the stern in fluorescent spangles, but rather less romantically swirling round the loo! I got up for a wee in the night and although I’d been forewarned by Tom that the sea water flushing the loo was full of plankton, it was still a little eerie seeing the bowl come alive with sparks of coloured lights. Impressive, though, despite the setting. We have been on the mooring for 27 hours with no sign yet of being able to move on…" Extract from my sailing diary. Walton-on-the-Naze. Waiting to cross the Thames Estuary. Today sees the paperback publication of my third novel, Follow A Star , the second to feature Little Spitmarsh, a faded seaside town trying to reinvigorate itself. It’s also the second of my novels set around boats. In fact for much of the beginning of the novel May and Bill, the heroine and hero - neither of them...

Thanks for visiting the 'start the week' edition of Home Thoughts Weekly. This week I'm starting with something to read and a drink to go with it. I’m thrilled to bits to share the news that my novella, Only True in Fairy Tales , is available now, a week before the paperback publication of my full length novel, Follow A Star on 7 July. And just look at that cover (another stunner from Berni Stevens)! My stories, long or short, always begin with an image. For many years now, I’ve been watching a black rescue greyhound, Gracie, in my mind’s eye. Add to this image a house, a Gothic curiosity on the edge of the Downs where I grew up. And another house, a Victorian cottage, the house I really did grow up in, also on the edge of the Downs. Go to the front bedroom, the one I shared with my sister, where I would sit for hours staring out the window, watching the thoroughbred babies in the racing stables opposite being put through their paces....

Home Thoughts Weekly has been neglected this year, left on the shelf while I’ve been busy with other projects both professionally and personally. At the same time I’ve also noticed that the longer I’ve left it, the easier it is to put off writing the next post. Thinking about it, the slump probably means that somewhere along the line, the blog’s gone a bit stale.  What to do? Well, 'Home Thoughts' has brought me a publishing contract and new friends, it’s served as a mini newsletter for further-flung family and been lots of fun. So, rather than ditch it, I’ve decided to shake the mix up a bit, to blog weekly, on a Monday – a sort of Start the Week blog if you like – to widen the themes and invite some guests along too. The revamped blog begins tomorrow with some news I’ve been waiting to share, please join me when you can.

The country lanes have been especially beautiful this year. Despite cool temperatures and frequent heavy showers, we’ve been able to get out and about running, cycling and walking with friends. A combination of Romantic Novelist Association business and pleasure took us to Hereford last weekend. Our travels were somewhat curtailed by the car exhaust falling apart but thanks to the lovely folks at Kwik Fit who patched us up for no cost, we were able to visit Hereford Cathedral and see the wonderful Mappa Mundi. It’s one of those treasures I’d known about but hadn’t quite put myself out to see – and I’m so glad we did! It’s truly amazing and so touching. 'Beyond Limitations'. John O'Connor's sculpture in the Lady Arbour Cloister Garden A rather less well-known document also went on view to the public this week. My third novel, Follow A Star has just been released on Kindle before its paperback publication in July. It’s the second in my Little Spitmarsh ser...