Sep 26
Lynne Francis’ A Maid’s Ruin reviewed by Susanna Bavin This thoroughly engaging and enjoyable story follows the fortunes of young Molly Goodchild, a dairymaid whose life is one of unrelenting hard work. She dreams of better things, but this doesn’t mean she isn’t a practical person, well versed in the demands of everyday life and …
May 30
Lizzie Lamb’s Harper’s Highland Fling, reviewed by Jessie Cahalin Harper expected to travel to Tibet on her holiday adventure, but her niece decided to run away to Scotland with the son of the local car mechanic. Witty, feisty headmistress, Harper, meets her match and is forced to squeeze into biker’s leathers to travel with Rocco …
Nov 30
Kitty Our Story – Miranda Dickinson How I loved this book and Otty and Joe. Miranda Dickinson writes with such heart that it spills over into her characters and I fell a little in love with both of them, was desperately willing them to get together and getting a little cross when they were making …
Oct 19
In my previous article for Frost, I celebrated two novels, A Mother’s Secret and The Italian House, which are notable for their wonderful sense of place. In these stories, the authors, respectively Jan Baynham and Teresa Crane, created their settings so evocatively that they produced books of the type that make readers say, ‘It made …
Sep 07
I look for various things in a book – well-rounded characters and a gripping plot are the two obvious ones. I’m sure many other readers require the same of their reading. But there is another feature that I don’t regard as an essential, although when I come across it in a story, it is, for …
Jul 20
I say, I say, I say… When you were at school, were you taught to avoid using ‘said’ in your writing? Were you told it was dull? Were you instructed to use other, better words? Let me explain why teachers try to get you to do that. It isn’t because there’s anything wrong with …
Jun 08
Susanna invites Tania Crosse to talk about winning the first ever Saga of the Year award from the Romantic Novelists’ Association as it celebrates its Diamond Anniversary I was utterly thrilled when I learnt at Christmas that The Street of Broken Dreams had been shortlisted for the new saga category in the RNA’s major annual …
Apr 20
Jan Baynham is a good friend to all the Sister Scribes and here she provides an insight into writing her debut novel, Her Mother’s Secret: The Summer of ’69. Susanna Bavin asks the questions. You started out as a short story and flash fiction writer. What made you decide to write a full-length novel? On …
