Tomorrow is the End of an Era

Tomorrow marks the end of an era for me. I am travelling about thirty miles up to Preston, the town where I was born and brought up. I moved away once I went to University and never went back there to live, but I still considered it my 'home town'. My parents lived there, so I visited quite often, even slept in my 'old' bedroom. More recently, my father and step-mother (whom he married when in his 80's) lived there, although no longer in the house where I grew up. I continued to visit my step-mother, after my father died nine years ago.

Following her passing last May, I travelled up to Preston several times to help clear the contents of the apartment she'd shared with my father. Memories returned when I found things that had once belonged to my mother.

After Christmas, the apartment was cleared of all the larger items and it was put on the market. I expected a long wait for a sale, but no, we have a cash buyer less than two weeks after the agency put it up for sale. So tomorrow I am going to Preston to collect one final box of items.
It will probably be the last time I ever go to Preston. I have no other friends living there now, so there will be no need for me to go back there.
It's quite a strange feeling. Over the years, I've become used to the inevitable changes in the town, but there were still plenty of reminders of my childhood and teenage years there - the house where I lived until I was eleven, the fish and chip shop round the corner, the church where I used to attend Sunday School, the park where I used to play withmy friends on the swings and slide, and of course my old Junior School too. Then there's the house we moved to where I spent my teenage years. Lots of memories there, too. I got used to seeing them all when I went 'home'. Sometimes I smiled at the memories they evoked, sometimes I simply took them for granted.
Maybe tomorrow, after I've picked up the box from the apartment, I'll drive around and have a last look at some of the places which were part of my growing-up years. And then I'll drive back to the house where I've lived for the last 40+ years.
Of course, there's nothing to stop me from going to Preston again, even without anyone to visit there, but I doubt that I will. Tomorrow I shall be saying a final goodbye to the 'home town' of my childhood. It really does feel like the end of an era.

Six Sentence Sunday

'Fragrance of Violets' was released on February 1st and you can see a preview of the first chapter at Whiskey Creek Press http://bit.ly/yy73N9

Here are this week's six sentences from near the end of Chapter 1, when Abbey meets Jack for the first time since his return to her home village in the English Lake District. She's shocked when he tells her he intends to stay.

“Why shouldn’t I stay?”

As he took a few steps towards her car, the light spilling from the shop doorway illuminated his face, and her glance took in his handsome features – the blue eyes, the high cheekbones, the well-defined square jaw, the perfectly shaped mouth and the cleft above his chin.

A quiver rippled through her but she ignored it. “Because people here haven’t forgotten, and many won’t forgive you.”

“What about you?” His eyes challenged her, forcing her to remember the night everything had gone wrong between them.

More next week!

Please visit more of the Six Sunday writers here:

Six Sentence Sunday

'Fragrance of Violets' was released on February 1st and you can see a preview of the first chapter at Whiskey Creek Press http://bit.ly/yy73N9

Here are this week's six sentences from near the end of Chapter 1, when Abbey meets Jack for the first time since his return to her home village in the English Lake District and has just asked him, somewhat brusquely, why he has returned:


“Welcome to Rusthwaite,” he said with amused irony.
 
“You aren’t welcome here,” Abbey retorted. “Not by me, not by anyone.”
 
“Maybe not, but I’m back, and I intend to stay.”
 
Shock ran through her like a cold shower. “You’re staying?”


More next week!

Please check out more of the Six Sunday writers here:

First Feedback for 'Fragrance of Violets'

It's always a nerve-wracking time, waiting for the first feedback about your recently released novel.  No matter that my critique partners loved it (eventually, after they'd helped me to sort out a few tricky moments) or that my publisher accepted it, or that my editor thought it was a great story...

Far more important is what the 'average' reader thinks of it!

This week I've had two messages about "Fragrance of Violets"which have not only helped to put my mind at rest, but even resulted in the fist in air 'yesss' moment.

The first came from a reader in California:
"I thoroughly enjoyed Fragrance of Violets. It's another page turner, especially with that secret hovering over most of the story. I kept wondering when someone was going to spill the beans, because of course, there had to be the conflict between our couple before we could have the happy ending. :-) I'm glad to see that another novel has been accepted by your publisher so that I have more to look forward from you."

The second came via Facebook this morning:
"Wow, excellent, what a rollercoaster, you owe me a box of tissues!"
I hope that means tears of happiness when the hero and heroine finally overcome their problems and conflicts and get together for their happy ending!

So - two satisfied readers. Hope it's going to be third time lucky too!

By the way, today I'm interviewed on the Romantic Novelists' Association blog. Finally I'm starting to think I really AM a Romantic Novelist!
http://romanticnovelistsassociationblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/interview-with-paula-martin.html

Six Sentence Sunday - Fragrance of Violets

'Fragrance of Violets' was released on February 1st and you can see a preview of the first chapter at Whiskey Creek Press http://bit.ly/yy73N9

Here are this week's six sentences from near the end of Chapter 1, when Abbey meets Jack for the first time since his return to her home village in the English Lake District:

Jack Tremayne stepped into the dim light cast by one of the car park lamps and Abbey caught her breath.

His dark sweatshirt stretched across wide shoulders and broad chest, and mid-blue jeans encased his slim hips and long legs. No longer a teenage boy, but a man whose compelling figure exuded confident masculinity. Something deep inside her turned a double somersault.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Resentment at her involuntary reaction to him lent an extra sharp tone to her voice.

More next week!

Please check out more of the 'Six Sentence Sunday' writers here.

The English Lake District

Thanks to Sylvia Ney for this 'Smart Cookie' award.  I've never thought of myself as 'smart cookie' before LOL

Rules for recipients:

1) Thank and provide a link to the persona who awarded you.

2) Share 4 interesting or little known facts about anything.

3) Pass the award on to other "smart cookies".

Okay, so for my 4 interesting facts, I'll give you four facts about the English Lake District, since my recently released romance 'Fragrance of Violets' is set there.

1. The poet William Wordsworth is buried in Grasmere Churchyard.  Probably his most famous poem is 'Daffodils'

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high, o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw crowd,

A host of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

2. Wordsworth attended this school in the village of Hawkshead, from 1778 to 1787. The school was founded in 1585, but the present building dates from 1675, and it remained as a school until 1909.



Like many schoolboys, he even carved his name on one of the desks (now preserved in a special frame)

3. St Michael and All Angels Church in Hawkshead is on a small hill
overlooking the village.

Wordsworth wrote about it in one of his poems:

I saw the snow-white church upon her hill
Sit like a throned lady sending out
A gracious look over all her domain.

At the time he was at school in Hawkshead, the 12th century church was whitewashed, hence the 'snow-white church'.

4. Near to the village Hawkshead is the small hamlet of Near Sawrey, where the children's writer Beatrix Potter lived.  She bought a 17th century stone house, called Hill Top, in 1905, and lived there for several years. Many of her characters, such as Tom Kitten and Jemima Puddleduck, were created here, and her books contain pictures which show the house and garden.



Now to award some other 'Smart Cookies' - doesn't say how many, so any blogger from The Writers' Post blog group is welcome to pick up this award, since you're all 'smart cookies'!

Lovable Snippets

Evidently the Liebster Blog Award originated in Germany. Liebster means dearest or beloved, and Liebe is love. The award is to encourage readership of small, lovable blogs with fewer than 200 followers.

Many thanks to Celia Yeary for this "lovely" award. I'm delighted you think my blog is "lovable."

In keeping with the award's meaning, here are five "lovable" snippets about me you might not know:

1. I love bacon toasties - English back bacon, of course, and grilled until it's crisp, on golden brown toast.

2. I love Berlin, my favourite city, with so much history from so many different eras (and I love Paris and New York and Washington DC too!).

3. I love Martin Sheen, Colin Firth and Hugh Jackman - especially Martin as President Jed Bartlet, Colin as Mr Darcy (of course!) and Hugh as the Drover in 'Australia' - and I can't wait to see him as Jean Valjean in the film version of Les Mis.

4. I love the English Lake District, only about 60 miles away from me, a beautiful area of lakes (as its name suggests) and mountains. One of my early novels was set there, and two of my more recent ones, plus the current 'work in progress'.

5. I love meeting up with friends for pub lunches - not just because it saves me having to cook a meal in the evening(!) but because it gives us all an opportunity to meet up and keep in contact after many years of working together in the UK GirlGuiding movement.

Okay, and now I have to pass this award on to 5 other lovable bloggers:

Jennifer Wilck, my friend on our writers' group blog Heroines with Hearts
Rosemary Gemmell, my Scottish friend
Jenny Twist, a very lovable English writer who now lives in Spain
Hywela Lyn and the gang at Author Roast and Toast - a great site with a fun post every Friday.
Elizabeth Grace for her wonderful Word-Nerd-Speaks blog

Six Sentence Sunday - Fragrance of Violets

'Fragrance of Violets' was released on February 1st and you can see a  preview of the first chapter at Whiskey Creek Press http://bit.ly/yy73N9

Here are this week's six sentences from near the end of Chapter 1, when Abbey meets Jack for the first time since his return to her home village in the English Lake District:

Abbey swung her car into the car park and pulled up beside the shop. After she’d unlocked the side door and switched on the light, she returned to the car and opened the boot. She’d just lifted out the first box when a voice startled her.

“Want some help with that?”

It was dark but she didn’t need to see him to recognize his familiar voice.

“No, thanks, I can manage,” she said curtly, even though her hands had started to shake.

More next week.

Please check out more of the 'Six Sentence Sunday' writers here.

'Fragrance of Violets' - my new contemporary romance - released today!

My contemporary romance, Fragrance of Violets, is now available as an e-book or paperback from Whiskey Creek Press http://bit.ly/AnU6qV

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds 
on the heel that has crushed it."
(Mark Twain)

Set mainly in England's beautiful Lake District, Fragrance of Violets is a story of two people who need to forgive each other and also deal with other issues in their lives.

Abbey Seton distrusts men, especially Jack Tremayne who destroyed their friendship when they were teenagers. Ten years later, they meet again. Can they put the past behind them?

Abbey has to forgive not only Jack, but also her father who deserted his family when she was young. Jack holds himself responsible for his fiancée’s death. He’s also hiding another secret which threatens the fragile resumption of his relationship with Abbey.

Will Abbey ever forgive him when she finds out the truth?