Festival of Romance

I thoroughly enjoyed The Festival of Romance in Bedford u.k.. I met friends, made new friends and for the first time met my book-trailer designer, Lynne Cobin who kindly popped in for a chat with me. My white silk sari embroidered with gold and my costume jewellery were greatly admired and I admired other historical author's historical costumes.

 

The extract I read from my novel, Far Beyond Rubies, was very well-received, and although the paperbacks had not arrived from my publisher, MuseItUpPublishing I thoroughly enjoyed talking to visitors at the book fair. Lots of people helped themselves to the postcards with pictures of the jacket covers of Far Beyond Rubies, Tangled Love, False Pretences and Sunday's Child on the front and brief descriptions of the novels on the back.

 

 

Festival of Romance

I've decided to leave earlier than necessary for The Festival of Romance to give myself a little time to have a look around Bedford. Amongst other things I want to visit the Higgins Museum.

I'm a little nervous as the paperback copies of Far Beyond Rubies haven't arrived, and I'm wondering if people will stop at my book table to help themselves to postcards featuring the jacket covers of my books and to some nibbles.

Once I'm part of the festival I know I shall enjoy seeing old friends and making new ones so I am looking forward to it.

I shall post about the events next week.

Festival of Romance

Tomorrow, I shall attend the Festival of Romance in Bedford. For details or to buy last minute tickets visit www.festivalofromance.co.uk.

Everything I plan to take with me is lined up on the beds in the spare room. Later on this morning I shall pack my bags. Hopefully, I have not forgotten anything I shall need.

I'm really looking forward to meeting friends, making new friends and acquaintances and the opportunity to meet members of the public who enjoy reading.

Kitchen Sink Drama etc. Continued.

When the carpenter turned up at 8 a.m. yesterday, I had emptied the cupboard under the sink and the work surfaces. The new cupboard did not match the other ones. He called out his supervisor who measured up and said all the cupboards and worktops need to be replaced. I also need to have parts of the walls re-tiled and the area behind the oven tiled. Hopefully the work will be completed in a fortnight. Deep, deep sigh! Since August, while waiting for the wall under the sink to dry, the kitchen has been in chaos. Anyway, at least the plumber came and re-connected the water.

 

As for the etc. I sorted out the postcards illustrated with the cover of my novel Far Beyond Rubies - they should arrive today. However, the copies of the novel have not yet arrived from my publisher and there are only 2 and a 1/4 days to go before I leave for the Festival of Romance.

 

Another problem has been solved. Thank goodness, the mechanic from the AA sorted out my car. Hopefully, I shall reach Bedford and return home without incident.

 

In spite of all the upheaval I managed to write and keep up with writerly activities, but, today, I need time out so my daughter and I are going to swim and visit the health suite at the local sports centre and enjoy the Jacuzzi, steam room and sauna.

A Trying Day

On some days it would be better to pull the duvet over my head to shut out the world , which involved many phone calls before the plasterer and the plumber came in the afternoon. While waiting for them I wanted to track missing postcards for my book table at the Festival of Romance. The order number is in an e-mail. When I tried to log on my isp was down in my area. Connection was not restored until 5 p.m. by which time it was too late to phone about my order.

 

With no water in the kitchen, I decided to dine out and then attend Watford Writers to cheer myself up. Guess what! My car wouldn't start. The battery is flat. Somewhat later I did go to bed and pull the duvet over my head.

 

Sometimes it is hard to be philosophical, but today is another day. Hopefully, the carpenter and plumber will be on time, I'll arrange for the postcards to be sent, and call the AA to sort out the car.

Blood Pressure Rising

My blood pressure must be soaring.

There's a long drawn out saga about my kitchen . The wall under the kitchen sink was wet. The kitchen cabinet had to be removed. The wall was treated and for months the contractor has been waiting for it to dry out. For the fourth time I emptied the kitchen and was ready for the plasterer at 8 a.m. At 9.30 a.m. I phoned to see why he had not arrived. He had not finished yesterday's job and could not start the work at my house but the work would be started on the 7th. I nearly exploded. Instead I said that I do have a personal life and the 7th is inconvenient. (I shall attend the Festival of Romance although I did not tell her that.). The person I spoke to said she would phone back in an hour to let me know what was happening. She has not and I daresay the saga will be long drawn out.
Sympathy please.

A Day Out

Met a friend for a coffee yesterday at The Coach and Horses in Rickmansworth. We then visited the museum in the High Street, which was once William Penn's House, and found lots of things to interest us, as we are historical novelists. After lunch at an excellent Italian restaurant, we toured the charity shops where I found a couple of books for historical research and a copy of Two Under the Indian Sun by Jon and Rumer Godden. And, of course, we chatted about our writing, tossed ideas backward and forward, throughout the day. We concluded with a coffee and a snack at Café Nero, (my snack was an almond croissant stuffed with marzipan - naughty but nice.  Thoroughly content, we then made our separate ways to our homes.

 

Day Out

Recently, I wrote about The Coach and Horses in Rickmansworth. A friend, who is a novelist, wants to see it so we are meeting there  this morning. Afterwards, we might visit the local museum and then have lunch. We also intend visiting the charity shops. One of them has a huge selection of out of print books from which I might find one or more to add to my non fiction collection of history books.

Extract from Far Beyond Rubies

"Gervaise drew closer to the pavilion with the intention of announcing his presence.

Feet pattered within. A young woman peered through an open window. Her pale oval face looked troubled, and her coal black hair was slightly disordered.

For a moment Gervaise could not speak. The sight of her drew him back to India. Her form changed to one he knew intimately – yet not in this lifetime. He recognised the mark of a crescent moon on her right cheekbone, and sensed the love they once shared. A tremor ran through him. Never before had he thought the Hindu belief in reincarnation was worthy of serious consideration. Yet, in spite of the teachings of the Anglican church, what if -"

Far Beyond Rubies

 

Far Beyond Rubies

Chapter One

1706

 “Bastards, Juliana! You and your sister are bastards.”

Aghast, Juliana stared at William, her older half-brother, although, not for a moment did she believe his shocking allegation. 

It hurt her to confront William without their father at her side. At the beginning of April, she and Father were as comfortable as ever in his London house. Now, a month later, upon her return to her childhood home, Riverside House, set amongst the rolling landscape of Hertfordshire, his body already lay entombed in the family crypt next to her mother’s remains. Would there ever be a day when she did not mourn him? A day when she did not weep over his loss?

 

Far Beyond Rubies is available as a paper back and an e-book from:

 

https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/2

amazon.co.uk

amazon.com

And elsewhere

 

 

 

Competition. Win a paperback copy of Far Beyond Rubies.

Today to celebrate the publication of the paperback of Far Beyond Rubies I am offering the first and last entrants a copy of the novel.

To enter answer the following questions, the answers to which are at www.amazon.co.uk or www.amazon.com

Q. In which year is Far Beyond Rubies set?

Q. To which country is Gervaise drawn when he first sees Juliana?

Q. What do Gervaise and Juliana want to prove?

Q. What are the titles of Rosemary Morris's other published novels?

Send the answers to: rosemarymorris@hotmail.co.uk  and include your name. Subject. Competition. Far Beyond Rubies

Competition ends on Saturday, 2nd November.

Prize Winners announced on Sunday, 3rd November

The prize winners will be notified by e-mail

Digital Camera

A novelist's life is always busy and never dull. There's never time to do everything. I would like to lock myself away in an attic, press a magic button to have food and drink supplied, and write all the hours of the day and most of the night. Ahem. Back to reality. I've decided that I really must learn how to use a digital camera and upload photos. It can't be that hard. So I went to town today and bought a digital camera. (I also treated myself to a pair of very pretty amber earrings.)

Under the Weather

I woke in agony on Saturday night and thought I was having a heart attack, but realised the pain was too low down. I spent a very uncomfortable weekend on a liquid diet including yoghurt drinks - yoghurt's so good for the stomach - and am still too wobbly to do much although I am sticking to a light diet. Oh well, tomorrow is another day and, hopefully, I can catch up and do all the things I should have done over the weekend. Illness is such a waste of time!

Poetry and School

Proud grandmother today. It was the parents teachers meeting at my grandson's school. He had been asked to read one of his poems to the entire school at assembly. One of the lines read: The lead in a child's pencil is the road to imagination. He is doing really well in all subjects but he received the award for being the best reader and speller in Year Four.

Indian Costume Jewellery

I bought a beautiful matching set comprising a necklace, earrings and a ring as well as eight bangles to wear at a special event at the Festival of Romance, where I shall wear a sari. The fancy dress is appropriate for the theme of my novel Far Beyond Rubies.

Fancy Dress for Festival of Romance

The hero of my novel, Far Beyond Rubies, set in England in 1706, has strong links with India, so I shall wear a sari for a special event at the Festival of Romance.

Today, my daughter and I are off to Southall to buy some appropriate artificial jewellery to wear with it - great fun!

Flash Fiction

Yesterday evening Watford Writers, the writers group which I have joined, invited members to write a 250-300 word flash fiction on the subject of Dreams. Although I did not have time to enter, the variety of interpretations of the subject was interesting. A new writer, who has enrolled on a writing course won. My favourite was about a little boy with high hopes of finding treasure with his metal detector.

Weather and Writing Fiction

Yesterday a flash of lightning visible through the venetian blinds in my bedroom woke me. A clap of thunder sounded. It was so loud that it frightened my 12 year old grandson so much that he fell out of bed. It also startled me. Torrential rain followed the thunderstorm. Later the sun shone. I thought my newly planted winter cabbages and purple sprouting broccoli would have been flattened, but no, amazingly they were still upright. By then the day was mild so I worked in the front garden. Later, the sky darkened and more torrential rain fell.

The contrasts in the weather throughout the day would make an excellent backdrop for a day in a novel but not in the clichéd style of: "It was a dark and windy night..."

Far Beyond Rubies

Far Beyond Rubies by Rosemary Morris

 

Set in 1706 in England during Queen Anne Stuart’s reign, Far Beyond Rubies begins when William, Baron Kemp, Juliana’s half-brother, claims she and her young sister, Henrietta, are bastards. Spirited Juliana is determined to prove the allegation is false, and that she is the rightful heiress to Riverside, a great estate.

On his way to deliver a letter to William, Gervaise Seymour sees Juliana for the first time in the grounds of her family home. The sight of her draws him back to India. When “her form changed to one he knew intimately—but not in this lifetime,” Gervaise knows he would do everything in his power to protect her.

 Although Juliana and Gervaise are attracted to each other, they have not been formally introduced and assume they will never meet again. However, when Juliana flees from home, and is on her way to London, she encounters quixotic Gervaise at an inn. Circumstances force Juliana to accept his kind help. After Juliana’s life becomes irrevocably tangled with his, she discovers all is not as it seems. Yet, she cannot believe ill of him for, despite his exotic background, he behaves with scrupulous propriety, while trying to help her find evidence to prove she and her sister are legitimate

 

Available now as an e-book from https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore/2, amazon.co.uk,amazon.com and elsewhere.

 

Available as a paperback on 30th October, 2013  from MuseItUp publishing.

 

Writing and Gardening

After I blogged and checked my e-mails yesterday, I completed my goal, which was to write 2,000 words of my new novel, Monday's Child. (The heroine is the younger sister of the main character in Sunday's Child published  by MuseItUp Publishing.) I had finished Chapter Nine so I e-mailed it to a friend, another historical novelist, for her opinion.

I could sit happily at the laptop or computer writing all day, but that would result in all sorts of aches and pains. So, on most days I work for four hours in the morning and four hours in the late afternoon or early evening. The time is flexible, but I try to write and deal with writerly matters for two four hour sessions every day.

Yesterday was a mellow autumn day, so I worked in the garden. I tidied up the narrow flower bed on the right of the path leading to the front door and planted frilly rose-pink and peach coloured tulip bulbs in bare patches. I did some more weeding, replanted some broad bean seeds which recent rain had brought to the surface, and then planted out some purple sprouting broccoli. It's late in the year to plant it, but I bought a tray of plug plants in a sale at a garden centre for a pound. If they don't thrive I won't have lost much.

All in all an enjoyable morning.