Month: July 2016

Author Madalyn Morgan has just published her fourth novel The 9.45 to Bletchley and today she has dropped in for a chat on my blog.

Morning Madalyn and welcome. Can you tell us something about your latest book?

Good morning, Jo. Thank you for having me on your fabulous Blog. My latest book, The 9:45 To Bletchley, is the fourth book in the Dudley Sisters Saga. Set in the midst of the Second World War it is the youngest Dudley’s sister, Ena’s, story.
Ena works at Silcott’s Engineering, a local factory a couple of miles from she lives with her parents in a cottage on the Foxden Estate. She is taken off the factory floor and given vital work to do on disks and dials that are taken to a secret facility that Ena only knows as, Station X.
When Coventry is bombed, and Silcott’s parent company destroyed, Ena has to accompany the assistant of the boss, on the 9:45 train to Bletchley. Ena makes regular trips to Bletchley Park, until one day her work is stolen.
When she and her friends are accused of being involved in the theft, and later in sabotage, Ena investigates. While trying to clear her name, she falls in love.

This is the fourth in The Dudley Sisters Saga. Are there any more in the pipeline?

Yes. There may be more in the future, but at the moment I only have one plotted. Foxden Hotel opens during the New Year’s Eve party of 1948, exactly ten years after the first novel Foxden Acres. The land of the estate has been sold off and the hall turned into a hotel. The hotel’s opening celebrations are thwarted by someone from the Dudley sister’s past. Although the first four books were set during WW2, I have tried to vary the genres – land army, show business, undercover agent in occupied France, and Spy thriller. The Foxden Hotel is a murder mystery.

Is there anything in particular that draws you to write about the Second World War?

My mother used to tell me about the war. She told me about her life at that time; the work she did, the dances, the letters the girls wrote to lads in the forces overseas. I found it fascinating. So, when I did a writing course and came to the Biography module, I wrote about my mum’s life. My tutor liked it, but suggested that because mum and I were unknown, I should write it as a fiction. At the same time, my mother said she wanted to give the brass Wellington Bomber that had stood in our hearth for as long as I could remember, back to the Polish airman who had made it for her. He had died, but I found his son. He came up, met mum, and he was overjoyed with the plane. It was after that that I decided to set my novels in the Second World War. I had so many ideas in my head, too many for one novel. So, I plotted four stories. Four sisters, four jobs, four loves. I still have mother’s biography somewhere. One day I shall turn it into a fiction.

Have you been influenced by any favourite authors? If so who?

Yes, many authors have influenced me. From Shakespeare to Mary Webb, from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Virginia Woolf, and many modern writers like, Ben Macintyre and Robert Harris.

What are you working on at the moment?

I am plotting, The Foxden Hotel, and trying to get my garden in shape before I go to Fishguard. I attend The Writers’ Holiday every year. It was after a week at Caerleon, The University of South Wales that I finalised and published my first novel, Foxden Acres in 2013.

When writing do you keep to a set number of words per session or simply go with the flow?

I do hours rather than words. If I write for three hours in the morning, and what I have written is good, that’s great. If I go on in the same vein after lunch, that’s also great. But if I have lost the plot, excuse the pun, and I’m writing rubbish, that is depressing. It is then that I’ll go into the garden, or do the ironing. I think while I’m gardening. I watch old movies while I’m ironing. I do a word challenge with an author group, but I don’t give myself high targets, that kind of pressure I do not need. It’s why I don’t do NaNoWriMo. The research I have to do is pressure enough.

If you weren’t writing historical fiction is there any other type of genre that would interest you?

Yes. I have a contemporary book with the working title, 42 Into 28 Won’t Go! Briefly, it’s about a young guy who takes advantage of an older woman, an actress, in several very bad ways. In the end, he gets his comeuppance. It is part autobiographical. However, I shall write it as fiction because I can make it much more dramatic. I shall make the threats, happen.

ABOUT MADALYN

Madalyn Morgan has been an actress for more than thirty years working in repertory theatre, the West End, film and television. She is a radio presenter and journalist, writing articles for newspapers and magazines.
Madalyn was brought up in a busy working class pub in the market town of Lutterworth in Leicestershire. The pub was a great place for an aspiring actress and writer to live. There were so many wonderful characters to study and accents learn. At twenty-four Madalyn gave up a successful hairdressing salon and wig-hire business for a place at E15 Drama College, and a career as an actress.
In 2000, with fewer parts available for older actresses, Madalyn learned to touch type, completed a two-year course with The Writer’s Bureau, and began writing. After living in London for thirty-six years, she has returned to her home town of Lutterworth, swapping two window boxes and a mortgage, for a garden and the freedom to write.
Madalyn is currently writing the fifth novel in the Dudley Sisters Saga, The Foxden Hotel.

Madalyn Morgan – Novels

First novel, Foxden Acres

Foxden Acres: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BCX59LE/
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBox21aU8TY

Second novel, Applause

Applause: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00J7Y5LCW/
Trailer: https://youtu.be/qFqzoVHMm9Y

Third novel, China Blue

China Blue: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00XD85NQW/
Trailer: https://youtu.be/NVv-lyE79xw/

 

Fourth Novel, The 9:45 To Bletchley

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01GEVW3Z8/

Trailer: https://youtu.be/SZdBoQEEHQM

Visit Madalyn Morgan online:

Non-Fiction Blog: http://madalynmorgan.blogspot.co.uk/
Fiction Blog: http://madalynmorgansfiction.blogspot.co.uk/
Actress website: http://www.madalynmorgan.com/

Twitter Name: ActScribblerDJ
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/madalyn.morgan1
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/madalynmorgan/
Radio Links: http://www.raidersbroadcast.com/

Tuesday Talk is taking a break this week so I thought it would be a good opportunity to write about something personal to me. Something which I though might help reassure anyone who has either been diagnosed with a cataract or is awaiting cataract surgery for the first time.

Three weeks ago I had a cataract op. It was something I wasn’t particularly looking forward to.  In fact the thought of anyone doing anything around my eye just about freaked me out.

My eyesight has always been good and I’ve been lucky enough only to need glasses for reading or PC work.  However, about three years ago I noticed a definite change in my left eye.  It was subtle at first and mostly noticeable when driving.  The number plates of vehicles in front became blurry.  They were ‘ghosting’, so effectively I was seeing two plates, one slightly to the right of the other.

My annual eye check revealed I had a cataract developing and the ‘ghosting’ was due to the fact it was a rare vertical variety which splits the vision.  Everything stabilized for a while and was copeable with, the only changes being to the lenses in my prescription glasses.  Then last summer I began to notice a definite deterioration. An eye test in September confirmed the cataract had worsened but it was borderline so my optician was unable to refer me. It was suggested I return for another assessment in the New Year by which time they felt it would have reached the stage to justify surgery.  This I did, in March and a referral letter was written to my GP.

Once the paperwork was processed I had my initial consultation and was measured for a new lens. Then I had to wait to be contacted and offered a suitable date for surgery.  When I received the call I chose 14^th June, two days after returning from holiday.  With hindsight I’m not sure whether this was the most sensible thing to have done.  OK I was away relaxing, but each day my date with the surgeon was looming ever nearer.  By the time Sunday 12^th came and we had arrived home I wasn’t looking forward to what was about to happen…not at all.  However putting things into perspective, like it or not the situation was a ‘must do’ if I was to retain my sight.

My appointment was scheduled for 1.40 pm.  I arrived and was directed to the Day Surgery Unit. I had arrived minus make up and any earrings or necklaces had to be removed.   A nurse arrived and a gown was slipped over my clothes. We then went through the form I had completed on my initial consultation just to clarify nothing had changed – prescription meds etc.  I was then given two lots of post op eye drops and guidance on how to manage the eye after surgery.  Before the nurse left he inserted a tiny drug delivery bead behind my lower left lid.  This gradually released medication to dilate the pupil.  It took about an hour to take effect following which I was taken into surgery.

Looking back I realise the great unknown was driving most of my fear; that and the fact the eye is such a delicate organ for someone to be operating on.  As it was I have to say the whole process (which only took 20 minutes) was nothing like I expected.  The face is covered; the anaesthetist who sat on a small stool by the operating couch was merely there as he put it ‘for hand holding’.  I had instructions to squeeze his hand if I wasn’t comfortable and wanted them to stop.  As it was I didn’t.  There was the sensation of having liquid poured across the eye followed by an awareness of light to my left.  While the surgeon carried out the procedure I felt absolutely nothing.  Once the op had been completed I left the theatre with my eye protected by a clear plastic shield. I kept this on overnight and removed it the next day, although I did use it for the first few nights afterwards to continue to protect the eye while I was asleep.

My OH joined me back in Day Surgery reception where were brought tea and biscuits. The nurse arrived to complete the discharge paperwork and eventually we went home.  The anaesthetic gradually wore off, of course, and regular doses of paracetamol were needed afterwards for a couple of days.   I was also one of those patients whose eye was closed post op and it took around a quarter of an hour for it to open properly.  My first sensation was brightness, then it was as if I was looking through fine gauze so everything was slightly hazy before my vision eventually cleared.

Once home, there was a regime of four lots of drops per day for the first two weeks and two for the second two weeks. I had to wait 24 hours before being able to wash my hair.  There was also a make up ban for the first week and for me who never goes anywhere without putting their ‘face’ on, it was like going out in public wearing just my underwear. But it was a small sacrifice in order to make sure everything was allowed to heal properly.  A week after the op my eye still felt a little scratchy but my vision was amazing.  What it did show was how bad the ‘good’ right eye had been .

I had my follow up appointment last Tuesday and it’s been a complete success. My right eye will need the same treatment as a cataract is already developing. However, now I know what to expect the future holds no fear for me, only the expectation of having clear vision once more and that, for me, is incredible.