I am delighted to have been invited on to Crime fiction author, Val Penny’s, blog today to chat about my writing. To read the interview pop over to Val Penny’s Book Reviews
Interview with Val Penny
Guest Feature – Beth Haslam
We are popping over to France this week to hear from the lovely author, Beth Haslam. I first came across Beth on Twitter and in no time at all we’d built up a wonderful rapport. I was therefore delighted when Beth agreed to come along to Patricia’s Pen and chat about the birth of Fat Dogs and French Estates. It’s over to Beth.
I am honoured to be asked by Patricia to write a guest blog. Why? Because apart from being a lovely lady, I deeply admire her work and her generous support of fellow authors, both seasoned and new.
Aw, thanks Beth. The feeling is equal, I can assure you.
Fat Dogs and French Estates
Beth Haslam
I’m a storyteller. As far back as I can remember, I have written tales about my family and animals.
After graduating from university, aside from preparing endless business reports, a busy career stalled any erstwhile thoughts I might have had about progressing with my pen. Things eventually changed.
My husband, Jack, had worked his socks off for years too. When early retirement beckoned, we decided to buy a second home in a country with a warmer climate than England. We chose the south of France. Nothing grand, it would be a small house with enough land for me to walk our dogs and indulge my love for the countryside. A simple decision? In theory, perhaps.
Blissfully innocent, we set off with our two portly dogs on what would become an extraordinary adventure. Surviving near-death incidents, we drove thousands of kilometres, viewing French estates steeped in history and crazy aristocrats.
Despite my meticulous planning, every property on our list ended in disaster. Exhausted, and facing failure, a poignant twist of fate turned our lives upside down. We can smile about it now.
Today, we manage a French estate stuffed with wild boar, deer, hare the size of Labradors, and a host of rescue animals. We are immersed in a farming community that hasn’t altered much for the past thirty years. Friendships, and living in tune with the changing seasons are vital here. We cherish the lifestyle.
Despite the pastoral backdrop, there’s never a dull moment. Drama occurs in the most unlikely places. Jack, musing over a gin and tonic one evening, made a telling remark. “Our experiences are so unbelievable you should write a book about them.” So I did.
With the unstinting support from Victoria Twead and Ant Press, my first memoir, Fat Dogs and French Estates was published. As our adventures have continued, so has the series. Fat Dogs Part 5 will be released later this year with more planned for the future.
Wow, Beth, what an interesting story and I love your book covers. Do come back to Patricia’s Pen once Fat Dogs and French Estates Part V is released.
Click on the links below to purchase Beth Haslam’s books.
Fat Dogs Part 1 Fat Dogs Part II Fat Dogs Part III Fat Dogs Part IV
About Beth Haslam
Beth Haslam grew up on a rural farm in Wales. Her childhood was spent working with horses, helping the gamekeepers raise pheasants, or out sailing.
During her career, Beth worked as a Human Resources specialist. When she and her husband, Jack, decided to buy a second home in France, their lives changed forever. Computers and mobile phones have swapped places with understanding French customs and wrestling with the local dialect.
These days, Beth is occupied as never before. Raising and saving animals, writing, and embracing everything their corner of rural France has to offer. And she loves it!
Links to Social Media
Special Guest Feature – Isabella Muir
Today, fellow Chindi author, Isabella Muir, returns to ‘Patricia’s Pen’ to tell you about her latest release, Crossing the Line. So without further ado I shall hand you over to Isabella.
Crossing the Line – tragic accident or cold-blooded murder?
Isabella Muir
Crossing the Line is the first in a new series of Sussex Crime stories, featuring retired Italian detective, Giuseppe Bianchi. He has been a detective for many years, but felt compelled to retire early because of a tragedy that happened almost outside his front door. (No spoilers!)
In Crossing the Line, Giuseppe travels to England to spend some time with his cousin, Mario, who runs a seafront café in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex. Giuseppe struggles to adjust to the English climate and English food! Early mornings he’s often found strolling along Bexhill seafront, wishing he was in the port of Anzio (one of my favourite Italian resorts).
Travelling to England to escape one tragic death, Giuseppe then comes face-to-face with another. The body of a teenager is found on a Sussex beach, and Giuseppe is drawn to the case – a case with no witnesses, and a case about which no one is prepared to talk.
National news reports of a missing twelve-year-old in Manchester spark fear across the nation. The phrase ‘stranger-danger’ filters into public consciousness. Local reporter, Christina Rossi, already has concerns about her local community.
As the sea mist drifts in and darkness descends, can Giuseppe and Christina discover the truth and prevent another tragedy?
Let’s take a peek into the story at the point where we first meet Giuseppe, as he prepares for the long journey from Rome to England…
Giuseppe Bianchi had never mastered the art of packing. His suitcase laid open on the blanket box in his bedroom for two weeks before his planned departure. At random times of the day and night he went to his wardrobe or chest of drawers and pulled out a shirt or a pair of trousers, tossing them into the case. As a result, the clothes were piled high in the centre, leaving gaps around the sides.
The evening before leaving, he tried to inject some urgency into his preparations. He wandered from room to room in his flat, opening cupboards and drawers hoping to catch sight of an item of clothing, or toiletries, that might act as a reminder about what to include.
He would be arriving in England in July. He knew it would be colder than Rome, but not as cold as his previous visit ten years earlier. That had been for a two-week Christmas holiday. On that occasion he thought his repeated words of persuasion for Rosalia to accompany him might have worked. In the end she remained resolute. She planned to stay at home, spend Christmas with friends. An English Christmas was not for her. On his return he spent most of January back home in Rome, trying to thaw out. This visit would be different for many reasons, not just the weather.
Set in July 1964, Crossing the Line is the perfect summer escape. If you have seen the Italian police series, Montalbano, you’ll know all about charismatic Italian detectives. Combine that with the atmosphere and flavour of life in the ‘swinging sixties’ and you have all you need for a cracking read.
Crossing the Line is available now from Amazon as an ebook, or paperback – you can also read it for FREE on Kindle Unlimited.
A chance to get a book FREE
Grab your chance for a FREE book when you sign up to Isabella’s mailing list to keep up to date with the latest news on Sussex Crime! https://isabellamuir.com/
And you can follow Isabella on Twitter @SussexMysteries
About Isabella Muir
Isabella is never happier than when she is immersing herself in the sights, sounds and experiences of the 1960s. Researching all aspects of family life back then formed the perfect launch pad for her works of fiction. Isabella rediscovered her love of writing fiction during two happy years working on and completing her MA in Professional Writing and since then has gone to publish five novels, two novellas and a short story collection.
Her first Sussex Crime Mystery series features young librarian and amateur sleuth, Janie Juke. Set in the late 1960s, in the fictional seaside town of Tamarisk Bay, we meet Janie, who looks after the mobile library. She is an avid lover of Agatha Christie stories – in particular Hercule Poirot – using all she has learned from the Queen of Crime to help solve crimes and mysteries. As well as three novels, there are three novellas in the series, which explore some of the back story to the Tamarisk Bay characters.
Her latest novel, Crossing the Line, is the first of a new series of Sussex Crimes, featuring retired Italian detective, Giuseppe Bianchi who arrives in the quiet seaside town of Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, to find a dead body on the beach and so the story begins…
Isabella’s standalone novel, The Forgotten Children, deals with the emotive subject of the child migrants who were sent to Australia – again focusing on family life in the 1960s, when the child migrant policy was still in force.
Announcement
Unfortunately due to technical difficulties at the abbey the radio broadcast has been postponed until next Wednesday 22nd July 2020 – I hope you’ll tune in then.
Piano Sanctuary – Radio
Hi everyone
Just to let you know that I will be on Sound Cloud radio this evening (Wednesday 20th July 2020) as Piano Sanctuary’s guest and will be discussing my poetry pamphlet ‘Taxus Baccata’ with Andrew Quartermain.
The programme will go out from the abbey at 7pm. Do tune in on the following link.
www.soundcloud.com/liveattheabbey
Guest Feature – Lynne Hallett
It gives me great pleasure this week to welcome children’s author, Lynne Hallett, who I met last August at Swanwick Writers’ Summer School. Today Lynne has come along to Patricia’s Pen to discuss her writing journey. Without further ado, it’s over to Lynne.
My Writing Journey
Lynne Hallett
Unlike many writers, I didn’t always dream of being a writer. I wanted to be an English teacher and that’s indeed the route I took. However, while I date my true passion for writing to around 2007, when my youngest son was one and the eldest four, a recent sort out revealed that I have been writing on and off all my life.
That evening in August 2007 was a turning point for me. I had come downstairs from putting the children to bed and it was just like someone turned a light switch on. I spent between 7.00 pm and midnight writing my first rhyming children’s story, A Pup Called Paddy, which opened the floodgates for many more. I entered this story into a competition and while it was not placed, I was offered the opportunity to do a children’s writing course, which I accepted.
I found doing this course amazingly useful. I may be a teacher, but it is quite nice to be taught actually and I do love learning. Through completing the modules and receiving feedback, I developed my skills and went on to come second in an international competition with Who Cut Up the Moon?, a book I later independently published.
A surprise bequest allowed me to get some of my books out into the world, using Aspect Design, which is based in Malvern. I absolutely loved the process of seeing my writing come to life as my illustrator, Roz, produced pictures for the books and Dan, who works at Aspect, put everything together. The moment I held my first two books – There’s a Mouse in the House and Awesome Adventures – it was not dissimilar to holding my sons when they were born. A lot of effort went into the
the production of both, though perhaps birthing the books was a little less painful! I went on to produce Who Cut Up the Moon?, Bear with a Sore Head, Hot Dog, Why Do We Have Night-time? and Other Stories, Alphabet Rhymes and two chapter books for girls, Lizzie Saves the Day and A Present for the Baby. The vast majority of my books rhyme and I attribute this mainly to my love of rhyme but also the belief that children really love rhyming tales when they are small. I was particularly fond of reading the works of Julia Donaldson and Lynley Dodd to my sons and felt very inspired by both authors.
I suppose the teacher in me comes out a little in my books. Alphabet Rhymes and There’s a Mouse in the House encourage children to learn their letters and numbers in a fun way. The other picture book stories are gentle or amusing, with subtle lessons embedded in them. In Who Cut Up the Moon? a mouse, who is very worried about seeing the moon shrinking, decides to try and find the missing piece or replace it with cheese, before learning about the moon’s cycles from a badger. Hot Dog surrounds a misunderstanding where a dog thinks he might end up on a barbecue and must get cool to avoid being eaten. Bear with a Sore Head shows how a grumpy, sleepy bear is brought out of hibernation and into the community by a persistent mouse. This book, in particular, has a lot of roaring and snoring in it, so great for children to join in with. Awesome Adventures is more an homage to Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes, but great fun for slightly older children.
Alongside my children’s writing, I have also drafted two YA novels and have another two in progress. I took on the Writers’ Bureau Comprehensive Writing Course after finishing the Children’s Writing Course to learn about all types of writing, and began to have articles and short stories for women published by The People’s Friend after doing a few modules. I think my writing seems to have mirrored different stages in my life. I wrote picture books when my boys were little, but they are now 14 and 17. My writing for teens is inspired by them but also stories I’ve been told or observations I have made of the children I teach, who are 13-18 years old. The short stories and articles have fitted nicely into the smaller slots I have in the working week and I see the stories, in particular, as being great practice for writing longer women’s fiction in the future. I would love to write something set in the past, either in the war years or maybe in the Regency period, which is one of my favourites. There is so much to write and so little time!
Whatever I am writing and whoever I am writing for, I can say that it makes my heart sing and fills my soul with joy. There is a power within the written word to transform and heal and if I can make someone happy with what I have written, allow them to escape for a while or make them realise they are not alone, then I think that is a wonderful way to spend my life.
All my books are available on Amazon, both as hard copies (UK only) and Kindle versions. They can also be purchased via my website or via Aspect Design. Independent bookshops can also order them via Gardners.
What an interesting writing journey for Lynne Hallett. Let’s find out a little more about her.
About Lynne Hallett
Lynne Hallett is an English and Drama teacher at Malvern College and author of children’s fiction and short stories for women. She has independently published nine books for children and writes for The People’s Friend. She hopes to write YA and women’s fiction in the future, possibly a Regency Romance, which would satisfy her love of the Regency period and Jane Austen, in particular. She lives with her husband and two sons in Malvern, Worcestershire. Alongside writing, she also enjoys reading, drawing and painting, knitting, walks and talks with friends, and going to the theatre.
You can find Lynne on Facebook here
Links to Social Media
My Facebook page is Lynne Hallett, Children’s Author
Sunday Monthly Writing Challenge
This month’s writing challenge features Cheryl Caesar with Marriage , John Grey with Autumn Affair and Jonathan Squirrell with A Good Story. Enjoy.
Marriage – Cheryl Caesar
Trees talk silently:
adjusting to branches, roots;
sharing water, sun.
There’s no way to know the shape
of a single tree
This poem was featured in Poetry Leaves, an anthology published by the Waterford Township Public Library. If you’d like to know more about Cheryl and her poetry you can visit her website.
Autumn Affair – John Grey
Wind blows from the north,
trees shed their turning leaves.
Grey clouds almost brush the tops
of oaks and elms.
Green and blue no longer
primary colours, night drains
day from both ends.
Raindrops establish a pattern,
no downpour, merely drizzle,
yet, I could live this season
year round, not cruel like winter
but a poet’s playground
within easy reach of my pen.
A Good Story
Jonathan Squirrell
They’ve parked a turbine blade in Queen Victoria square. Something to do with City of Culture. Seventy-five metres of smooth whiteness, a giant piece of sci-fi detritus, like a memorial to fallen starship.
I don’t know if it that’s art, except in the sense that anything can be.
A feat of engineering could be called a sculpture, I suppose, but science can’t have all the fun. It has to work both ways. So, a poem can be a peer reviewed paper, a painting can be a map of the world, and a short story can appear on the periodic table.
Then there’s architecture, which might be the true marriage of art and engineering. Sitting amidst it all, between the golden gates of the Maritime Museum, the pale Corinthian columns of the Art Gallery, and the baroque pillars of City Hall, it’s hard not to admit that there’s something about that giant slice of windmill that really adds to the scene. I could sit here for hours. If it wasn’t winter, wet and freezing.
But some people don’t seem bothered at all.
‘This is the real culture in this city,’ says Nathan. At first, I think he’s talking about himself, shabby chic without the chic, busking for handfuls of change.
Then he nods at the two slackers sauntering under the blade’s shadow. Skinny jeans, sallow faces. Thin white arms, slurring self-confidence.
‘Alright mate,’ thick ‘Ull accent. ‘Merrt.’
Nathan, plucking and tightening a loose string, looks up.
‘Can you help us out? Me mate’s from Italy, he needs a tenner for a bus to the airport. He’s got his ticket and he needs to get back because his Mam’s in hospital. He’s been over here studying music but he has to get back. He’s got his plane ticket but he needs money for the bus. So we’re asking ten people to give us a quid each and we’ll have a tenner, and he can get home and see his Mam.’
He gestures to his mate, who looks about as Italian as a pattie buttie.
Without speaking, Nathan rummages in his guitar case for a handful of silver, carefully counts out a pound and hands it over.
‘Cheers mate, thanks a lot, appreciate it.’ And off they strut.
Nathan fiddles through a couple of chords. I glance up at the blade. Somehow it’s changed. Reminds me less of a Star Trek prop and more of a giant syringe, like god would discard if he was a junkie. Maybe that’s what art is. Our own perceptions.
Nathan shoulders his guitar and we meander on.
‘That was a waste of money,’ I say ‘They were obviously lying.’
‘Investment,’ murmurs Nathan, ‘Well worth a quid for a good story.’
We haven’t gone twenty steps further before we meet an old couple wandering back the other way.
‘Excuse me,’ says Nathan, sweet as you like, ‘Can you help us out? My mate is from Italy …’
If you liked Jonathan’s story you can find out more about him by visiting his website.
Would you like to see your story or poem published on the monthly writing challenge? If so check out the full guidelines and submit via the online form for consideration.
Signed copies of ‘Taxus Baccata’ now available
You can now order a signed copy of ‘Taxus Baccata’ from the first print run. Click on the ‘SHOP’ link below to place your order and pay safely via PayPal.
SHOP
Praise for ‘Taxus Baccata’ from poet, John McCullough (shortlisted for the Costa Poetry Award 2019) and Alison Chisholm, (Poet, tutor, and Poetry Columnist), can be found here.
Tomorrow on Patricia’s Pen features three writers who submitted to the Sunday Writing Challenge (Monthly) – don’t miss out.
Piano Sanctuary – Press Release
‘Patricia’s Pen’ has something for everyone. Today brings a press release from Procorda’s Piano Sanctuary.
PRESS RELEASE
New ‘Piano Sanctuary’ for adult learners
of all ages and abilities from Pro Corda
Covid-19 has prompted invention and innovation at Pro Corda, the music school and charity based at Leiston Abbey in Suffolk. Inspired by the success of a lockdown podcast, Pro Corda has realised long-held ambitions for adult piano leaners with a relaunched learning and lifestyle offer named ‘Piano Sanctuary’.
At the end of March, wanting to connect through lockdown with staff and students, Pro Corda Chief Executive Andrew Quartermain took to the school piano and recorded his first-ever podcast which he dubbed ‘Piano Sanctuary’. It was a decisive moment, crystallising years of thinking and experience.
Andrew Quartermain said: “My idea was always that there was such a need out there for busy adult learners to get an exciting and fulfilling relationship with the piano that wasn’t stuck in a score based approach. The other thing I learnt from years running adult piano weekends is that the social aspect is so important. How people who have the piano at the centre of their lives want to come together and share that love with like-minded people. Recording the podcast, I slowly but surely realised how Pro Corda could bring all of these things together.”
Taking the podcast’s name as its overall brand, ‘Piano Sanctuary’ has been conceived to offer the widest possible welcome – or welcome back – to adults of all ages and abilities wanting to study the piano in an enjoyable and creative way that also offers community spirit and connection.
With lockdown still a fact of life for many, two digital courses have been created to enable home study. Piano Sanctuary Starter caters to adult beginners, while Piano Sanctuary Adventure is for more advanced students interested to fast-track progress through a creative, score-free approach.
Full-board piano retreats at Leiston Abbey were successfully trialled over the weekend of 4-5 July, with specially reduced group sizes and distanced teaching in line with regulations.
One adult student commented: “It was very special to be playing together again but also felt very normal. I feel optimistic that the measures needed for safety can be lived with.” As regulations hopefully relax into the Autumn, Pro Corda aim to further add to the lifestyle-social element of Piano Sanctuary with concert meet-ups and social gatherings.
As for the original Piano Sanctuary podcast, it continues to broadcast weekly and has also spawned a weekly offshoot, Piano Sanctuary Spa. The shows have drawn nearly 20,000 listens from pianophiles around the world, and fan-mail from as far afield as Estonia, the USA and Brazil.
Pro Corda are offering a 15% discount on their new online Piano Sanctuary Adventure and Piano Sanctuary Starter courses. Please quote SANCTUARY15 by email to hello@pianosanctuary.co.uk or by phone on 01728 831 354. Offer valid until end of September 2020.
The above photo is an old one of me being instructed in a piano workshop at Procorda – Leiston Abbey.
Andrew Quartermain, director of Procorda will be featured on ‘Patricia’s Pen’ later this month. Don’t miss out – sign up to keep in touch.
Hope
Hi everyone, I was hoping to bring special news today about how you could order a pre published signed copy of my debut poetry pamphlet ‘Taxus Baccata.’ Alas although the courier has delivered to the publisher, my batch has not yet arrived. Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow.
Instead, here’s a poem I wrote quite early on after the pandemic was announced. I was feeling desolate but after watching and listening to Nature on my early morning walk I experienced a new vibrancy and was full of hope. I’d like to share that Hope.
