Tears While Writing.

While writing Chapter Thirty-Three of Monday's Child tears came to my eyes when I described my heroine's reaction to... On second thoughts I won't reveal the details.

Carol Service

This evening I returned home impressed by the carol service which my ten year old grandson participated in. Holy Rood Church was packed with parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends. Children read passages from the Bible, in between carols both traditional and modern. 240 children took part and as I watched I wondered what their futures held and said a prayer for them. Tomorrow they will be singing in a local shopping mall. God bless them one and all.

Extraordinary Vegetarian Meal.

Grandson, who is also a strict vegetarian who does not eat, eggs, fish or meat, described one of the meals served at the hostel where he stayed on a school trip. Mashed potato with fried onions on top served with apple sauce.

Time to Write and Christmas

I want to finish writing Monday's Child by the 31st of December but am worried because it might be impossible. To avoid the Christmas rush I spent the better part of the last two days shopping. Yes, I could shop on line but last year some presents didn't arrive on time. I enjoy the season but it's very time consuming. I now have to wrap all the presents, including three birthday presents, decorating the Christmas tree etc. As well as all this, weather permitting, I have some jobs to get on with in the garden.

Research - Imnportance of Minor Detail

I can hardly believe how long it took me this morning to choose a regiment which a minor character in Monday's Child, a traditional Regency novel, joined. It must have taken me over half an hour to check non fiction books, on line and photo copies. However, it is worthwhile because I want to get all the details right.

New Resolution & Writing & Christmas Shopping.

No, I haven't made a premature New Year's resolution. I did some Christmas shopping today and chose a desk diary and a pocket diary. There is so much more to being an author than writing books. So I have made a resolution to enter all the writing related activities I need to do every day. In other words, I have made up my mind to be more organised.

Penultimate Chapter & Research.

I had decided to write an epilogue after completing Chapter Thirty-One of my historical Monday's Child, but decided my readers would feel cheated. So I'm now writing Chapter Thirty-Two. I've completed my research and typed up all the important points. I did this for Chapter Thirty-one which meant I could write without constantly referring to non-fiction books. However, to write eight pages I have sixteen pages of notes. I hope that all the facts are correct and I can slip those I use into the novel. I hope to complete Chapter Thirty-Two this week and then write an epilogue.

Flash Fiction - Sharks & Violet Large

The topic for flash fiction at Watford Writers for this evening is Sharks. Violet Large often sends me junk mail. I took time off from researching and writing my novel to write a 350 word flash fiction story called Angel in Heaven. The big fish enjoyed being in a big pond offering protection and earning enough to look after Mum, buy a large house and send the kids to public school. The angel in heaven is Mum who was a regular church goer. The big fish goes to confession regularly to keep in with Him Up There and receives absolution. At the end of the piece the police arrive at the house to arrest Violet Large. I was pleased with my effort and prepared to print it. In spite of saving it on the lap top in desktop and a word document as well as saving on the usb key it had vanished. I tried to find it in the recycle bin and everywhere else I could think of without success. I could swear.

The Holly - Garden Bells The Magic of Herbs, Trees and Flowers

As well as The Potted Bay I blogged about yesterday I have a holly bush. This what Claire Nahmad, whose states her great-grandmother was a wise woman, writes in her book, Garden Spells The Magic of Herbs, Trees and Flowers, about holly.


"The handsome holly is a lucky tree, for it affirms life, and is a symbol of undiminishing vitality. Ensure that it has a place in your garden for its glowing green presence wards of unfriendly spirits. The Holly man lives in the tree that bears prickly holly, and the Holly Woman dwells within that which gives forth smooth and variegated leaves. The first is lucky for men, the second for women. Do not burn holly branches unless they are well and truly dead, for this is unlucky."


An Ale and Holly spell follows.


As I read this I imagined a young married couple in times past planting two holly trees and then casting the spell.


To be on the safe side I might be cautious when disposing of holly branches.

Bay - The Herb

Whenever I re-arrange books on their shelves, it's often  a pleasant surprise to find one I've forgotten about. I collect non-fiction on many subjects because, as an author, I never know when they might come in useful.


Today, I found Garden Spells:The Magic of Herbs, Trees and Flowers by Clare Nahmad.


I have a potted Bay Tree that my daughter bought me last Christmas that is flourishing, so I enjoyed the following quote.


"Wherever the bay flourishes, that garden and the dwelling it graces are protected from flash and flood. It is a tree of the old gods, a tree of the Lord, and its spirit is valiant. Its fragrance and essence celebrate holy valour and human triumph. Take bay leaves in your food or make of them a tisane (one teaspoon of the herb to a cup of boiling water) for they have properties which heal and restore."


I frequently make tea from herbs in my garden. So far I haven't made bay tea but I shall try it.

Special Offer. Only for 5 Days. 5 Traditional Historical Novels in 1 Bundle.

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1,313 pages.

 

Special offer.  $4.99  (£3.23)

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False Pretences.  Annabelle runs away from school into the arms of a charismatic gentleman…but can she trust him to help her?

 

Far Beyond Rubies  When their eyes first meet, Gervaise’s soul recognises Juliana’s and from that moment on, their destinies become inevitably entwined.

 

Sunday’s Child  If Major Tarrant expects Sunday’s Child, a Regency lady, to be a ‘bread and butter’ Miss he will be surprised.

 

Tangled Love  The throne has been usurped by James II’s daughter and son-in-law, Mary and William of Orange. In 1693, loyal to his oath of allegiance, ten year-old Richelda’s father must follow James to France.

 

The Captain and The Countess.  His heart captured by the Countess only Captain Howard sees pain behind her fashionable façade and is determined to help her.

 

 

Too view the book trailers, read the first three chapters of each novel and reviews please visit www.rosemarymorris.co.uk.

 

 

 

 

New Twist on a Christmas Carol

My just 5 year old granddaughter came home delighted with the carol she and her class are learning at reception. Unfortunately she misunderstood the words. "Mary and Jessica's baby Jesus is born..." she sang. We burst into laughter and told her it should be Mary and Joseph. She  burst into tears and said it really is Mary and Jessica. I hope her voice singing Jessica won't come across loud and clear at the carol service.

Monday's Child. Epilogue

This morning, I finished writing Chapter Thirty-One of Monday's Child, a traditional historical novel set in the Regency era. It is a stand alone novel in which some of the characters from my published novel, Sunday's Child, take part.


I spent the rest of the day considering the book and realised that all I have left to write is an Epilogue.


By the end of the next week I will have finished Monday's Child and can then begin revising and editing it.

Historical Accuracy While Writing Fiction

I've reached a complicated chapter in my novel in which I need the geographical features, proposed plans and timeline to be correct. I read the relevant parts of five historical non-fiction books and made notes, but I still didn't have a clear picture in my head. So, after considerable thought, I wrote chapter headings and typed up the relevant information under each titl3. Next I made a list of things my protagonists would do, and their reactions to events as they occurred in sequence, in each chapter and finished by typing up a few quotes from historical personages.


For the last three days I've been working on Chapter Thirty-One. Thanks to my notes everything, as the saying goes, has fallen into place.

Learning to Read.

My just five year-old granddaughter is learning to read. For homework she has the following. She has a card with coloured pictures and the letters of the alphabet plus ch, ff etc. She also has cardboard cut outs in the shape of pencils with a few words on each one e.g. oh, on, to etc. Finally she has first readers with one sentence on each page. E.g. Look at Mum.


The other day when I was helping her she said. "This is hard work but I've got a good idea, grandma. You read and I'll listen."

What am I reading?

This year, I made a note of the novels shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists' Awards and the finalists with the intention of reading them all.  As well as some others I have now read 222 pages out of 390 pages of Just for Christmas by Scarlet Bailey.


Just for Christmas is a fast-paced, contemporary novel quite different to the historical fiction which is usually my first choice. However, it's always interesting to try different genres etc., by authors whose books I have not previously read.


So far I'm enjoying this novel about Alex who moves from Edinburgh to Cornwall when the love of her life decides to marry another girl. She moves into a cottage in which a smelly, scruffy dog, who regards it as his personal property, refuses to allow her to sleep on the only bed.


I'm anticipating and hoping for a happy ever after ending.


My thanks to Scarlet Bailey for an entertaining read which I will review on Amazon and Good Reads.

More Painful Decluttering

My collection of Solander and Historical Novel's Reviews dates back to 2006. Unfortunately, I don't have the space to keep all the books and magazines I've collected, so painful as it is, I am leafing through my copies of Solander and Historical Novel's Reviews and getting red of most of them. I've enjoyed re-reading many of the articles but it really is time to part with them. Deep sigh. Oh for a huge library with bookshelves from floor to ceiling on all four walls.

5 More Novels on My To Be Read List

Five more novels reviewed in Historical Novels Review that I intend to read.



Ruth's Journey by Donald McCaig. "The New York Times best-selling author of Rhett Butler's People now takes Margaret Mitchell's nameless Mammy from her survival as a four-year old orphaned by the slave revolt on Haiti at the beginning of the 19th century to the days following the Twelve Oaks barbecue when Georgia secedes from the Union."



Teardrops in The Moon by Tania Crosse. "The research is impeccable. I learned much about horses in World War 1, the ambulance service and the major battles. ... The book is about how the war affected a particular family."



Road Ends by Mary Lawson. "Megan Cartwright is the glue that holds her family together. At twenty-one, she's never ventured outside the small isolated town of Struan, in northern Ontario, Canada; instead she keeps house for her parents and six brothers. ...Megan knows she can do more though, and leaves her family behind to start her own life across the Big Pond in England."



The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes. "Set just after World War Two this is a fictionalised account of the transport of hundreds of wartime brides from Australia to England."



Before the Fall by Juliet West. "Before the Fall is a debut novel inspired by real events in London during the First Word War.  "... the central love story is enveloped by a superbly drawn East End ripped apart both literally and emotionally by the First World War."

 

5 Books I Shall Read

I enjoy reading historical fiction and non-fiction, so I always study my copy of Historical Novels Review published by The Historical Novel Society, which lists novels published in the United Kingdom, The United States and elsewhere.

Unfortunately I don't have sufficient time or money to read all the books that interest me, so I don't add novels published in the U.S.A to my list because they are unlikely to be available in my part of the world in bookshops or libraries.

The books I have chosen are published in the U.K. I shall list five. It would be interesting to know what other people are reading or plan to read.

1.The Barefoot Queen by Ildefonao Falcones (trans Mara Faye Lethem), "the saga of the Spanish gypsies in 18th century Bourbon Spain, their culture and their persecution."

2.Queen of Bedlam by Laura Purcell. "When George III falls ill, Queen Charlotte, a perfectionist tries very hard to maintain the expected decorum, but her world is quickly falling apart. The man she fell in love with no longer exists and she must face life alone without her king."

3. Fools Gold  by Zana Bell "The cover is beautiful and romantic and as it says 1866 New Zealand is no place for a lady."

4.Ticket to Paradise by Elizabeth Morgan. A novel about Welsh people desperate to preserve their way of life who emigrated to Patagonia..

5.Bittersweet by Colleen McCullough. Her second big Australian saga. I hope I will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed The Thornbirds.

Tomorrow, I shall list another five novels.

Historical Novel Society, Historical Novel Review

Today, I received my copy of the Historical Novel Review which gives details of new deals with publishers, contains articles and reviews of historical fiction and non-fiction published on both sides of the Big Pond.

I put my feet up and opened the 'treasure house of information. I read the magazine from cover to cover and made a list of books which I want to read.