Author Archives: Jane Cable

THE BOOK I NEEDED TO WRITE – MICHAEL PARKER

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When I was a Chindi Author (a group of indie writers in Chichester), Michael Parker was our elder statesman, the author who had been traditionally published, and who had time for everyone. It was hard to think I could come to respect him more, but since his beloved wife Pat died last year, he has written an incredible tribute which I hope to review for Frost next month.

I have always been able to write. As a teenager at Grammar school, I used to write hooky notes for my mates and charge them one cigarette for each note. You could say I was earning royalties even then. I was a prolific reader too and often found myself in awe of the authors and how clever they were. But I never aspired to become a writer; that was something only the clever ones did: those with university degrees and a middle-class upbringing. For someone like me: a working-class lad with no qualifications, I never believed I could become a published author.

I started dabbling with storytelling in my mid-twenties and wrote a family saga. It never saw the light of day, but it did become the seed, that feeling that there was something there. I remember contacting the Daily Mirror and asking them how I could get my book published. I had no clue about the publishing world. Their advice was to get an agent. It was when I was in my late thirties that I finally succeeded, when Macmillan agreed to publish my first novel, North Slope, in 1978. The Financial Times called me a “gifted narrator”. As rewarding as that was, it didn’t mean I would become a successful author.

Years later, when I was living in Spain with my wife, Pat, I found myself writing and being published. Eventually I ended up with seven traditionally published novels; six of them with Robert Hale of London. I was published in Norway, Denmark and Canada. Now I have fourteen books to my credit: all of them available on-line. But the book I needed to write: the book I want to talk about now, was a tribute to my lovely Pat who sadly died of cancer last year, 2020.

Pat became ill after a five-week trip to Australia and the Far East. She was diagnosed with cancer on our return after an examination for a spider bite. I looked after Pat for almost two years, here at home, until she finally succumbed to the disease. By this time, I’d already given up writing; there was no longer any inclination or desire. My sole reason for living was to be by Pat’s side and nurse her.

When it was all over, I was asked if I would start writing again. I would shake my head and say probably never. But my granddaughter, Gemma, wanted to know more about her Nan, and it was this that encouraged me to write down my memories after sixty years of marriage, and put them in book form: a tribute to my lovely wife. The book has now been published and is called, My Pat, a love story.

I don’t have enough time here to explain what a lovely woman Pat was, but the following is a short extract from the book:

I first laid eyes on Pat when she was fourteen. I was a “mature fifteen-year-old” who could not possibly have any interest in a girl as young as that. Besides, Pat was my mate’s little sister, and it was beyond parody to think I could have anything to do with her. But I still remember her dark hair, lovely eyes and generous mouth, plus the fact that she was wearing a canary yellow sweater. So, it stands to reason I couldn’t have noticed her. Four years later we were married.

Whether I’ll write again remains to be seen, but I am happy that I have published my best work ever.

You can learn more of me and my books by hopping over to my website: www.michaelparkerbooks.com.

 

 

 

 

 

WELSH WRITING WEDNESDAYS: INSPIRED BY A GHOST – INTRODUCING JILL BARRY

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In 1975, my husband and I bought and renovated a Victorian school. We faced a daunting task, but fast forward a year and we were in, complete with baby son born while we lived in our tiny cottage in a chocolate box Wiltshire village.

Soon we were offering accommodation to tourists from all over. My only creative writing consisted of menu preparation until one morning a guest entered the dining room, looked through the open door into the kitchen/family area and asked who my son’s playmate was. I insisted he was alone, but our guest looked at me strangely, saying, ‘Can you not see the little fair-haired girl beside him?’

I couldn’t, though I didn’t doubt the guest’s conviction. That ‘sighting’ sparked a short story which, with another, was accepted for broadcast by BBC Wiltshire. Years later, I won a local short story competition, but it wasn’t until my son went to Uni that I began taking my writing seriously. Frankly, my first attempt at a novel was so dire that I gave up until the bug bit again after I was widowed and moved back to Wales. I spent weeks settling into my lovely new home at the foot of the Eppynt Hills, exploring woodland tracks and getting to know nearby towns. I was inspired to write, but I needed a job.

Fortunately, my secretarial skills landed me a role as a minute taker. I made new friends and was recommended to join Builth Wells Writers’ Circle. I gained a place at Trinity St David’s to study part-time for a Masters in Creative Writing. Several short stories were published in anthologies and women’s magazines and I won First Prize in The Lady magazine’s annual fiction competition. Another move followed, and soon I was finding kindred spirits within a local writing group called Hookers’ Pen.

Over the next few years, I took a script-writing course and saw one of my short plays performed at Swansea’s Dylan Thomas Centre. After gaining my degree, I ran one off writers’ workshops plus sessions for the Local Authority, and became Creative Writing tutor at an online high school. By then, I was well-published as Toni Sands, writing erotic romance for Accent’s Xcite imprint. I took two writing courses at Ty Newydd, working with mentors, Peter Guttridge, Rosanna Ley, Lynn Truss and Kate McCall, BBC Radio Producer. Rosanna mentioned the Romantic Novelists’ Association and soon I was in touch with Liz Fielding, who ran the Carmarthenshire Chapter.

Joining the RNA offered the perfect excuse to travel to London for whatever event was happening at the New Cavendish Club, as I could combine visits with seeing my son. Amazingly, although I’ve attended HNS and Winchester Writers’ conferences, I have attended only one RNA conference – the last one taking place at Caerleon. Little did I know that four years later, I would be living in nearby Newport. After Liz moved to Wiltshire, I looked after the Carmarthenshire Chapter until we joined up with a small group of writers, including RNA members, who met in Cardiff.

I truly believe, while the courses and workshops we attend help wonderfully, it’s the camaraderie so many Romantic novelists enjoy that’s invaluable. There’s always someone to gain advice from, to offer help to in return – and most importantly, someone with whom to exchange commiserations and congratulations.

Jill Barry pocket novels are available as Linford Romances in the public library system and the more recent ones are on sale via The Reading House: https://thereadinghouse.co.uk/

You can check out my other books and blog posts by visiting www.jillbarry.com

 

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCING WELSH WRITING WEDNESDAYS

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Although it isn’t often mentioned in Frost, I am very proud of my Welsh heritage. I was born in Cardiff and my father was an Anglo-Welsh poet and literary critic, so it is inevitable I have an affinity with other writers with connections to the principality. So much so, I am a member of the Cariad chapter of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, and it is to these wonderful women I looked first when I was considering Welsh Writing Wednesdays.

The idea is simple; on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month one of us will bring you an article about writing in Wales. And replacing the ever-popular Sister Scribes’ Reading Round Up on the last Monday will be Cariads’ Choice.

So here are some of the wonderful authors you will be meeting through Frost this year.

Judith Barrow

Originally from Saddleworth, a group of villages on the edge of the Pennines, Judith has lived in Pembrokeshire, Wales, for over forty years.

She has an MA in Creative Writing with the University of Wales Trinity St David’s College, Carmarthen, BA (Hons) in Literature with the Open University, and a Diploma in Drama from Swansea University. She is a Creative Writing tutor for Pembrokeshire County Council and holds private one to one workshops on all genres.

Jill Barry

Jill began her writing career with short stories for magazines and anthologies, winning prizes and being both long-listed and short-listed. She is a multi-published romantic novelist who also writes Pocket Novels for D C Thomson and who draws on her varied career and her travels for inspiration. She has also written one psychological suspense novel which is published by Headline Accent. A member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors, Jill enjoys mentoring new writers and is convinced she will never stop learning.

Jan Baynham

Originally from mid-Wales, Jan lives in Cardiff. As well as short stories and flash fiction, she writes full-length novels that deal with family secrets and explore the bond between mothers and daughters. Her debut novel, Her Mother’s Secret, was published by Ruby Fiction in April 2020. This was followed by Her Sister’s Secret in September 2020 and book three will be out next July.

A member of the Romantic Novelists Association, she values the friendship and support from other members and regularly attends conferences, workshops, talks and get-togethers. She is co-organiser of Cariad, her local RNA Chapter.

Jessie Cahalin

Jessie is a Yorkshire author living in Wales. Wales and words have a special place in her heart, and she wants everyone to meet the characters who’ve been hassling her for years. Penning women’s fiction is Jessie’s dream job, but she also writes travel articles and features for her blog and magazines.

You Can’t Go It Alone, her debut novel, was a bestseller in the UK and Canada. For Jessie, a good natter with other authors and readers is a special treat as she usually lives in her tiny writing room with Paddington Bear and a collection of handbags.

Alexandra Walsh

Alexandra is the author of The Catherine Howard Conspiracy, The Elizabeth Tudor Conspiracy and The Arbella Stuart Conspiracy, known collectively as The Marquess House Trilogy. A series of a dual timeline Tudor conspiracy thrillers, published by Sapere Books, the novels explore a secret hidden within history and the potential havoc its revelation could wreak. Her new book with Sapere, The Windchime, is due out in 2021. Another dual timeline story, set in present day and late Victorian times, it explores mental health issues, grief and rebuilding lives after the worst has happened.

Evonne Wareham

Evonne is an award winning Welsh author of romantic suspense – more crime and dead bodies than your average romance. She likes to set her book in her native Wales, or for a touch of glamorous escapism, in favourite holiday destinations in Europe. She is a Doctor of Philosophy and an historian, and a member of both the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Crime Writers’ Association.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RNA 60: ALISON MAY SIGNS OFF ON BEHALF OF THE ROMANTIC NOVELISTS’ ASSOCIATION

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Writing this piece for Frost turns out to be one of my very last duties as RNA Chair, as I’m standing down in January and handing over the reins. Being the Chair of the RNA is brilliant and overwhelming and challenging and wonderful and infuriating in roughly equal measures, and this year it’s been… well, it’s been 2020.

A year ago Bella Osborne and I shared some of our plans for the year with Frost readers. 2020 was the RNA’s Diamond Anniversary year and we had big ideas for a huge celebration event in June, alongside bigger and better versions of our regular conference, York Tea and Winter Party. As it turned out, of course, our awards ceremony at the beginning of March was our last physical event for the year, and probably our last event for a little while yet.

As Chair of the RNA the overriding feeling is that you’ve been handed custodianship of something very special, so the first priority is not to mess it up. There’s a rough calendar for the year that you expect to follow, and might then add to with special events for something like a big anniversary. When that calendar is suddenly completely empty and you know that the association has members across the country, and around the world, still keen to interact and develop as authors and network with industry professionals, the challenge of not breaking the organisation you’re charged with looking after can suddenly seem very large indeed.

But no good story reaches its resolution without some challenges and obstacles to overcome, and, in life as in writing, constraints bring forth creativity. So we might not have met up and celebrated 60 years of the RNA in the way that we hoped, but we did still hold our conference – albeit virtually -which opened up opportunities to members who might not normally be able to travel. In addition to our local chapter groups, many of whom have met up via Zoom during lockdown, we now have genre-based networking groups online to allow members to exchange ideas and get to know one another. And alongside our Rainbow Chapter, celebrating LGBTQIA+ romantic fiction and authors, we now have our DISCO Chapter, championing fiction from disabled and chronically ill authors, and representing disabled and chronically ill characters.

We presented our Joan Hessayon Award live in a webinar event, which means that our brilliant winner, Melissa Oliver’s, fantastic reaction is saved for posterity. We announced our Industry Award winners in a video presentation. We brought new opportunities for professional development to our members with the launch of our online RNA Learning programme. And we’ve continued to share ideas and articles on our blog and via our magazine, Romance Matters. Finally, in November we asked the wise people of Twitter to vote for their favourite romantic novel of the last 60 years. Take a bow Bridget Jones.

And our members have continued to write. Against the backdrop of 2020 it would be understandable to question whether telling beautiful stories really matters, but it does.

Romantic fiction is an escape. It’s an escape from a real world that can be overwhelming and unremitting. Romantic fiction is a place of safety. It offers the chance to cry your heart out within a bubble of an imaginary world. It offers catharsis and a space to explore fears and hopes. And, most importantly, romantic fiction is a promise. It’s a promise that obstacles can be overcome, that dark clouds will clear, and that better times will come.

Coronavirus will pass. The need for stories, and storytellers, never will.

 

Alison May is a novelist and short story writer and current Chair of the Romantic Novelists’ Association. Alison also writes as Juliet Bell (www.julietbell.co.uk and @JulietBellBooks).

 

 

 

SISTER SCRIBES’ BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2020

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SUSANNA

For me, there was no question as to which would be my Book of the Year. The Ferryman’s Daughter by Juliet Greenwood is an outstanding novel that will appeal to historical fiction buffs and saga lovers alike. I was utterly caught up in this enthralling tale set in rural and coastal Cornwall in the early part of the 20th century. In Hester, Juliet Greenwood has created an exceptionally strong and appealing heroine and I loved and admired her as she fought to follow her dream in spite of numerous setbacks that occurred thanks to the conventions and expectations of the day. This is a thoroughly engrossing and satisfying book, packed with drama and emotion and enhanced by a strong sense of time and place, all served up by a gifted writer. More, please!

 

KITTY

Hamnet is a remarkable book. It is rare that I am moved to tears by reading and is testament to O’Farrell’s writing prowess that I was here, especially as readers come to the book knowing Hamnet’s fate. The way she weaves the story of this boy and his family is spellbinding, her writing evocative and a reminder to all of the beauty of prose. I loved every page.

Maggie O’Farrell creates scenes that are vivid and captivating, making you feel you are there in that moment, whether it be in woodland in the English countryside, a bedroom in the Shakespeare’s family home or aboard a ship from Italy as a plague carrying flea. She describes emotions with such beauty, such depth that I felt them myself – hence the tears and I can only bow down to this Queen of storytelling. I want to read it again and again and again. I cannot recommend it enough, it truly is a thing of beauty.

KIRSTEN

I am rather late to the party with Hamnet – but, just, WOW! Staggering beautiful and heartbreakingly poignant, this exploration of love and loss deserves every accolade and award.

 

JANE

The most incredible thing about Joe Heap’s When The Music Stops is the way it mixes the ordinary with the extraordinary.

The clever structure gives the book rhythm. It’s very much tied to the music, so rhythm seems like the right word. It makes for very long chapters (sections, really) but that’s fine, because I didn’t want to put it down. At first you wonder what’s happening in the present day but then it begins to make sense and you expect each section to have a certain chain of events. You even know what will happen in the end. But that’s comforting when the boundaries of your imagination are being stretched in other ways.

The love story running through the book is compelling too and each decade incredibly well researched so you feel each period, rather than words being wasted describing it. Ella and Robert meet as children in pre-war Glasgow and have so many near misses you wonder if they will ever get together. I would have enjoyed it on its own, and have appreciated the quality of the writing, but adding the extra dimension makes this a standout book.

 

CASS

Jane Cable’s Another You is a moving saga of modern-day family life. Despite touching on the horrors of combat, past and present, it’s a heart-warming tale of one woman’s fight to reclaim her identity and discover what really matters to her.

Another You was a brilliant read, and Jane is a proficient storyteller. Her characters are entirely relatable, their faults as much at play as their strengths. Although touching upon the lingering effects of PTSD and the invisible scars left by all wars, Jane manages to blend in romance, mystery, family relationships and an unforeseen twist towards the end.

The book stayed with me long after I’d finished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SISTER SCRIBES: A LAST WORD FROM KITTY WILSON

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As this is my last Sister Scribes post I thought I would use it to update you on where I am now in terms of my writing career and what I have learnt along the way.

When the Sister Scribes started writing for Frost I had just published my second book in The Cornish Village School series and signed a contract for three more. Truthfully, it still hadn’t sunk in that I was a published writer.

Now two years on, all five books in the series are published digitally, available on audible and the final book, Happy Ever After, will be joining the others in paperback next month. I have loved writing this series although am still a little stunned that what began as a simple experiment in my living room – writing what I knew – has taken on a life of its own and spans five books.

I have spent this year writing a new romantic comedy, centred around the city of Bristol where I now live. Currently I am tweaking it and don’t know what changes will be made once my editor has read it but I do know that I was worried that the strength of community I had created in Penmenna would be hard to recreate in a city. I am so pleased to have been wrong. Community is alive and well in the area in which I live, and I hope I have managed to do it justice.

This book is for a different publisher with a brand-new editor and I am so excited, though I can’t tell you who just yet. The Cornish Village School had three different editors and I have learnt that each one has different ways of working, different priorities and will therefore teach you something new. Each one helps you to refine your writing and being published is the start of learning to write professionally. I think so many aspiring authors see publication as the end goal, I certainly did, but it really is a beginning rather than a finish. I feel that my writing has improved with each story and I hope it continues to do so.

There are many things I wish I had known or been more secure in with my first book. But I am forever telling my children that we aren’t born knowing how to do things, that it takes time and patience and practice and the same is absolutely true of writing. I enjoy studying the craft and think it’s important to maintain. I am currently working my way through John Truby’s The Anatomy of a Story and whilst dense it’s remarkably helpful. For those starting out I highly recommend Emma Darwin’s This Itch of Writing blog and Jessica Brody’s Save the Cat Writes a Novel. Every other profession has Continuing Professional Development at its core and I think writing should be no different.

The other thing to learn is that writing is a business. You have not been published because people want to be your friend or are being kind, you have been (or will be) published because a publisher can see potential profit. Thus, rejections aren’t personal they are professional and the same applies for contracts. Make sure you recognise your own value and don’t put your success down to others just being nice. I’m giggling as I type this because I do it all the time. Maybe I’ll get better at that one in 2021.

 

Merry Christmas everybody, thanks so much for supporting all of us at Sister Scribes, we’re wishing you all a very happy 2021.

Kitty x

 

 

 

 

 

 

SISTER SCRIBES: OVER AND OUT FROM KIRSTEN HESKETH

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My last ever Sister Scribes post – and what a blast it has been!

And, my, what a lot has happened in the two years since the five of us named ourselves the Sister Scribes and banded together as friends and fellow writers. We’ve written before about how we went to stay at a wonderful house – Darcy’s Abode! – in Bath and spent a few fabulous days writing, sightseeing, eating and getting to know each other better. Back then, getting published was just a twinkle in my eye –  a twinkle that I feared might be extinguished at any moment – and how in awe I was of my fellow Scribes with their launches and their multiple deals. Would it ever happen for me too?

Fast forward two short years – and so much has changed. My debut, Another Us, was published by Canelo this year. It came out in in ebook in May and I had the loveliest of Zoom launches, complete with dying my hair red to match the cover and to raise money for Mind. And then, in August, it came out in paperback. I originally had a digital only deal with Canelo and the fact they had enough faith in me and my book to then invest in a paperback in this most difficult of years really was the icing on the cake. Thank you so much, Canelo, you really have been fabulous to work with. As has my wonderful agent, Felicity Trew.

And, basically, it’s been brilliant ever since. Another Us (very briefly) had bestseller flags in the UK, Canada and Australia, which was totally beyond my wildest dreams. It’s been featured in Woman and Home, Women’s Weekly, Woman (there’s a theme here!) More, Pick Me Up, Waitrose magazine … the list goes on. It was longlisted for The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize and was a contender for the RNA’s Joan Hessayon award. But best of all have been the dozens of messages I’ve received from readers all around the world telling me how much Another Us has touched, informed, amused or plain old entertained them. I think that has been the very best bit of all. That and getting to know a whole host of other debuts – including my lovely Sister Scribes – because no one understands quite what it’s like to have your debut come out in a global pandemic than someone who is going through exactly the same thing ….

And now it’s time to look forward. I have been lucky enough to secure a two-book deal with Hodder and Stoughton for a series set in London in WW1. The Post Office Girls follows the experiences of three girls who join the Army Post Office – in a huge, wooden, building which was been hastily thrown up in Regent’s Park to cope with the sheer volume of mail being sent to the various fronts. My grandfather – who himself served in WW1 – worked for the post office in London his whole life – and the first book is dedicated to him. It will be published in May next year and the second book – A Post Office Christmas – follows the November afterwards. I wrote the first 50,000 words of that during Nano (success – hurrah!) and am now feeling deliciously Christmassy – if absolutely exhausted!

So, all that remains to be said is a huge Merry Christmas to each and every one of you. Thank you for following our adventures over the past couple of years and best wishes for a safe and happy 2021.

Over and out x

 

           

 

 

 

HOW YORK LIBRARIES DIGITAL SERVICES ROSE TO THE CHALLENGE DURING LOCKDOWN

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Gillian Holmes, Executive Assistant at Explore York Libraries & Archives, shares their fascinating story

From the onset of the lockdown in March, Explore York, which runs libraries and archives for the City of York in northern England, saw usage of its OverDrive e-library double showcasing a huge rise in digital reading whilst the physical library service was closed.

“We already had a well-established e-library in place, in terms of functionality and awareness, so we were ready,” said Helen Whitehead, e-services librarian for Explore York.

More than fifty percent of the users during lockdown were new to the OverDrive e-library. Comments received show customers were impressed with how easy the site was to use, and they spread the word to friends, increasing even more uptake. Usage increased in all categories, but especially in children’s e-books. During the Summer Reading Challenge for children, five times as many e-books were issued than in 2019. In total, for the period January 1st to December 1st 2020, the OverDrive e-library saw 77,000 checkouts against 41,500 checkouts for the same period in 2019 an 86% increase.

Generous donations from publishers, together with cash grants from City of York Council and Central Government, meant Explore York kept up with the increased demand for e-books. Having books available even when physical libraries were closed was so important for wellbeing. As one customer put it, “(OverDrive’s Libby reading app) has been a lifesaver for me during lockdown.”

“People are reading all kinds of publications, including some we could never have offered in hard copy,” Helen said of the staggering uptake.

We have had many comments from people expressing appreciation for PressReader, including a health worker at the local hospital: “I’ve downloaded the PressReader app and it looks awesome. Will give me something light-hearted and diversionary to read on a break at work!”

As well as providing online reading materials, Explore York moved quickly to create a virtual “Library from Home.” The website was updated so that customers would easily find what they needed. Archive and Family History sites such as Ancestry were offered from home. Librarians and archivists created new online resources to support home-schooling and reminiscence sessions. Explore York’s well-loved events programme moved to Zoom and has proved to be as popular as ever despite the virtual format. One example is a regular monthly poetry evening, which achieved a record audience with participants joining from around the world. Explore York also developed a number of new online platforms, including a Lego Club on Facebook, a volunteer programme via Flickr and curated watchlists on its YouTube channel.

As library services have been transformed in the last six months, Explore York staff have also been on a real journey of learning and discovery of all that can be achieved online. The experience of 2020 will inform the way library and Archive services are delivered in future.

The last word goes to one library user who speaks for many:

“When I look back over this difficult period, I hope I’ll remember the fantastic books that took me to a different place and helped me reflect on my place in this world. I’ve laughed out loud, I’ve cried and shouted at the iPad. I’m hooked!”