Hello Jo
Thank you so much for inviting me to be a guest on the Life Playlists feature on your blog. Here are five favourite songs which have marked various stages of my life.
First off, Bob Dylan’s Mr Tambourine Man, recorded absolutely decades ago while I was still a child, but which has been part of the soundtrack of my life ever since. Anyone who says Dylan is not a poet just needs to listen to this song! I kind of went off Dylan as he grew older and more aggressive in tone. But this song has stayed with me.
Next up, All Around My Hat. When I was a teenager, a long time ago, I was totally hooked on all those remastered folk songs performed so brilliantly by folk rock bands like Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. This song is so joyful and uplifting that it’s my go-to track whenever I am feeling a bit down. It’s so good to see that this band is still going strong!
When Freddie Mercury died I thought I would never get over it and wore black for a week. Bohemian Rhapsody – what can I say, except that it must be the best song by Queen, the best band ever! I’m just so sorry that at the stage in my life when I might have gone to their concerts I was the mother of small children and I never got to see them perform live. I once had a horrible job working for a small insurance company whose boss was an – insert your own bad word here – and I always played Queen’s greatest hits as I was driving home from work.
More recently, I’ve become somewhat hooked on hip-hop and rap, mainly as a result of seeing the musical Hamilton. I’ve never seen a show performed with such energy and emotion. It’s the life story of one of the founding fathers of the USA, and if you think you’ve seen his face before, that’s probably because his image is on the US $10 bill. What a life he led – born in the West Indies, the illegitimate son of a Scottish nobleman, he made his way to the fledgling USA, as it was to become. He lived a good life until – well, until it all went wrong for him in a very big way. As a subject – the musical biography of a politician who became the first Secretary to the Treasury of a new country – the show sounds deadly dull, but actually it’s mesmerising, and the music is fabulous. The theatre trip was a lovely Christmas present from my daughter. Here is the opening scene.
Finally, this is my most recent discovery, made earlier this year via Classic FM. It’s a piece of choral music that sends shivers down my spine. Composed back in the seventeenth century by a Portuguese missionary who worked in Peru, it’s sung in a Native American language. I can’t pronounce or spell the title, but this hymn to the Virgin is haunting. Give it a go and see what you think of Hanaq Pachap Kusikuynin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaiPw15q3cA
My crime and mystery novel The Final Reckoning is published by Ruby Fiction and is available in ebook and audio format from all the usual platforms, including Amazon and Kobo.
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A gripping thriller from this successful historical novelists and creative writing tutor. Perfect for fans of Erin Kelly, Linda Green and Laura Marshall.
What if you had to return to the place that made you fall apart?
When Lindsay Ellis was a teenager she witnessed the aftermath of a violent murder involving her lover’s father. The killer was never found.
Traumatised by what she saw, Lindsay had no choice but to leave her home village of Hartley Cross and its close-knit community behind.
Now, years later, she must face up to the terrible memories that still haunt her. But will confronting the past finally allow Lindsay to heal, or will her return to Hartley Cross unearth dangerous secrets and put the people she has come to care about most at risk?
Arriving back from our week away in Dartmouth I’ve now settled back into writing. Once more I’m nearly at the end of a book writing journey; one which has taken longer than usual. This is because I wasn’t happy with my opening chapter. I didn’t just revise it, I completely rewrote it . This had a knock on effect through the rest of the book, meaning more time working on changes. For me the first chapter is the most difficult to write. It is also the most important if you are planning to hook the reader and draw them into the story. Therefore I have to be happy with it.
far away from domestic and other day to day distractions, was going to be my salvation. In those moments between our days out and evenings spent in one of the local restaurants I sat and watched the river from the window seat in our apartment. It was an opportunity to give the whole thing my total concentration. And eventually it worked – that light bulb moment arrived.
Wendy is a former Coroner’s Assistant turned crime writer who lives in the UK with her husband.
One of my meets was with an old work friend. We met in Bradford on Avon for a light lunch at the double award winning Bridge Tea Rooms near the town bridge. The building dates back to 1502, which means small doorways, low ceilings and beams – not forgetting a couple of well worn steps you need to negotiate as you enter the building.
years after moving to West Wiltshire. Fitzmaurice Grammar School was a smaller school than Marlborough, where I spent my first year. It was also lot closer to home – two bus rides each way as opposed to a daily 30 mile round trip by train. During my first year at Bradford on Avon our form room was at the rear of the school in a long wooden building known as The Gallipoli hut (shown behind the main building in the picture below), which had been erected in 1920. It housed both second years (year 8 in modern speak), the 5th form cloakroom and the male staff room. These huts were like freezers in the winter and saunas in the summer. Thankfully, by the time we reached the third year (Year 9) we
had moved up to classrooms in the newly-built Physics and Chemistry block. It was in there that the whole class of 3A fell foul of an American exchange teacher. I think the move from a US high school in Philadelphia to a small provincial grammar school was a bit of a culture shock for him. I’m sure this was the reason he appeared to have very little humour and even less patience. On this particular occasion while we were waiting for him to arrive from the main school building a large black Labrador wandered in. As two of the class tried unsuccessfully to catch it and put it out, he arrived. Not at all amused, he wanted to know who had brought the dog into the classroom. When told it had come in by itself he refused to believe us. He gave ‘the culprit’ the chance to own up and when unsurprisingly no one did the whole class was given detention.
In those days school rules were strict. Any pupil discovered beyond the school gates without their hats or caps were automatically given detention. Eating in the street was another misdemeanour which attracted the dreaded ‘D’. Once a month the headmistress would keep all the female pupils back after assembly. On those occasions we usually had a lecture about short skirts, nail varnish and wearing hair loose below collar length (neither of the last two was allowed). When I see schools turn out today it makes me wonder if she was still around what she would make of 21st century uniform and rules.
canal to the hamlet of Avoncliffe (picture right) a couple of miles out of town then back along the road and into school. Remembering occasions when the fog came down really thickly I sometimes look back and wonder whether it ever crossed her mind about the danger of sending young girls out in twos and threes along deserted tow paths (in those days the local canal was full of duck week and fallen trees). On really cold days we got into the habit of setting off only to spend our 
time in Tithe Barn (left) where there was a certain degree of protection from the elements. We had the whole thing down to a fine art; staying there for the right amount of time and then sneaking across the railway line and back into town,looking suitably breathless as we struggled back to the changing room!
really miss those school days. Most of the teachers are, of course, long gone. The school closed in 1980 and transferred to Christchurch Secondary School at the top of the town (a larger more modern campus with the potential to extend) to become St Lawrence Comprehensive. For several years after the school stood empty and neglected – a sad end for this lovely building. Nine years after closure it was eventually rescued. The main school was converted into accommodation and several new builds added in the grounds to provide 42 upmarket retirement flats with a new name – Fitzmaurice Place. A happy ending after all.
Originally from Lyon in France, Marie has lived in the Rossendale Valley in Lancashire for the past few years. She writes both contemporary and historical romance, as well as short stories, always with ‘a French twist’. A SPELL IN PROVENCE, her debut contemporary romantic suspense, and historical romances ANGEL HEART, THE LION’S EMBRACE and DANCING FOR THE DEVIL, are published by Accent Press. Her latest contemporary romance, LITTLE PINK TAXI, is published by Choc Lit, and watch out for A PARIS FAIRY TALE, soon to be released by Choc Lit!
JO LAMBERT 