Cornwall – JO LAMBERT

A DRIFT INTO AUTUMN written 29.10.24

Posted on September 4, 2024November 5, 2024 by Jo Lambert - Author

Yes, I’ve been absent since my March/April update. Where has the time gone? It’s been a busy year, with lots of distractions, and suddenly here we are, almost at the end of October. Last year seemed to rush by as far as summer was concerned, probably because the weather followed a more balanced pattern. This year, constantly yo-yoing between rain and sunshine, and never seeming to settle for long bouts of one or the other (although there has sadly been more wet than warmth), the season seems to have stretched.

All in all, it has been a good year. Although a week in Derbyshire in May was a bit of a wash out, Fowey in June proved exceptionally sunny and dry. The week was busy, meeting family and old neighbours for lunch. In addition, friends came to stay with us for a few days. We had our usual Sunday lunch at the Fowey Harbour Hotel, where we discovered from staff that there were seagull deterrents in the form of giant water pistols placed on outside terrace tables. It’s one of the problems when eating outside and we have experienced Fowey seagulls in the past – at best cheeky and at worst determined to get you to share your meal with them!

Staying in Fowey proved a great opportunity for soaking up the atmosphere and getting back into my Kingswater mode. For those who are unaware, my fictitious Cornish coastal town is loosely based on a mix of Fowey and Dartmouth. Although I had planned to be part way through a new book by now – one based in Somerset, I got so far with the story and then somehow everything stalled. The work will not be for nothing though, as I have filed it for later use, when the Somerset muse comes calling again! No, what did influence the change can be blamed on the fact I had convinced myself that there was room for a fourth book in the Kingswater series. Another story that needed telling. So, I’ve been working on this with a view to begin writing in November. I usually write through the winter anyway, as there are too many distractions during summer months. Now, with our final two trips (one for a week in South Devon, the other to Brockenhurst in the New Forest, to celebrate our wedding anniversary), I can give my total concentration to writing.

Still on the subject of books, I hit my Goodreads 2024 target of 40 books read a few months back and can now add an additional 22 to the tally. Currently I am 55% over my target. Really pleased to have been offered a pre-published copy of the new Kate Atkinson novel, which I really enjoyed. I also have a copy of Annabelle Thorpe’s latest book, due to be published in March 25. This is the sequel to The Enemy of Love (renamed The Village Trattoria) which I read and reviewed in April 2023. Set in 1940s Italy during WW2, the story finished in a way that meant a sequel might follow. And happily it has. The Moonlit Piazza will be published in March 2025 and I’m hoping it will be every bit as good as the first book. If you are a fan of WW2 fiction then I recommend reading The Village Trattoria and following Sophia and Georgio’s journey.

And that’s it until next time. I’ll be back in the run up to Christmas. In the meantime I’ll leave you with a few photos of our holidays.

FOWEY, MEVAGISSY AND CHARLESTOWN ,CORNWALL (JUNE)

Seagull deterrent at The Harbour Hotel, Fowey

BAKEWELL & LADYBOWER DERBYSHIRE (MAY)

KINGSBRIDGE, DEVON (SEPTEMBER)

BROCKENHURST, HAMPSHIRE (OCTOBER)

Writing

A MARCH/APRIL CATCH UP

Posted on April 29, 2024April 28, 2024 by Jo Lambert - Author

What’s that famous saying about March? In like a Lamb and out like a Lion? Or vice versa. Well, now we are about to wave goodbye to the third month of the year, looking back, my lasting memory will be one of rain, rain and more rain. Yes, we’ve had one or two days when you get the feeling warmer, dryer days are about to arrive, but sadly, we’re eventually back to rain again. With the bank holiday imminent, and the fact British Summertime begins on Sunday maybe the weather might start behaving itself. Who knows? Miracles might happen.

I may in the past have mentioned that we look out onto green fields. A couple of years ago this came under new ownership and has been undergoing planting to turn it into a conservation area. During this last week in March, tree and hedge planting has been on-going, interspersed with visits from Roe Deer, pheasants and squirrels. Oh, and the pigeons have returned, which means once they begin nest building we’ll be back to having them wake us up each morning with their special version of the dawn chorus.

Writing News

I’m still working steadily on my new book. No title as yet, which is unusual as I normally have something in mind during the early days of my projects. I’m not duly concerned at the moment, what is more important is getting the story written. Looking back on my notes, it’s interesting to see how things have changed since I wrote my original outline for the book. As writers all know, inspiration comes at the most unexpected moments and can take you in new and totally surprising directions.

In 2018 I signed a one book contract with Choc Lit, under their Ruby imprint. A Cornish Affair was published in 2019 and I was working on a sequel until the moment I received a cancer diagnosis. All writing was understandably abandoned. I parted company with Choc Lit and the book remained available as an e-book. I am happy to say that after three years of monitoring I appear to be clear, although I have to return for a final procedure next year. I did pick up my keyboard again, but as an indie author and wrote my Cornish Coastal trilogy, the last of which was published in April 2023.

Last year, award winning Joffe Publishing took over Choc Lit and have been working with its authors. All previously published work has been given a new cover, some a new title, and been republished. A Cornish Affair, my first novel set in Cornwall (on the north coast) will join the others soon.

And finally, I’ve just joined a group working with Birmingham University as they explore Reading British Romance in the UK and Australia. The group will run for five weeks. During that time we read and share our thoughts on Shirley Conran’s successful 1980s novel Lace. Books in this genre became known as ‘bonkbusters’ because of the amount of sex they contained. I had originally read this back in the 1980s when it was first published and doing the rounds with it again, forty plus years later I’m reading it from a different age perspective, and very much seeing it with different eyes. So far it’s been interesting to see the thoughts of other members of the group. As I do a lot of reading and reviewing, it’s also interesting to see how different the structure of the novel is compared with modern day novels and also how female characters have changed.

So that’s it for now. I’ll be back again at the end of May, fresh from a holiday in the Peak District and hopeful we’ll be treated to some decent late spring weather.

Best wishes

Contemporary Romance, Costal Romance, Holidays, ROMANTIC SUSPENSE, Writing

ADIOS TO SUMMER…

Posted on August 31, 2022August 31, 2022 by Jo Lambert - Author

Yes, I know that seems a little depressing, but for me, the August Bank Holiday weekend has always been a symbol of the ending of summer. It feels like a door closing behind us, moving us on towards autumn. Looking back on this month, I have to confess that it’s been one of the most uncomfortable ever. Sunshine is definitely therapeutic. It energises me, makes me feel relaxed and puts a different face on the world. However, although the heatwave that arrived in the UK during August was very welcome, it soon turned uncomfortable. Despite having all the windows and doors open, some days there was little air. And nights, with most of those windows still open, still meant at times it was difficult to sleep. Open windows also proved an irresistible invitation for insect life. Moths are an expectation. Crickets maybe not, but the worst intruders were spiders, who seem to get bigger and bigger each year. All were given a helping hand out of the bathroom window never to be seen again.

I was around during the 1976 heatwave/drought (whatever you want to call it), when we had ten whole weeks without rain. Gardens were watered with bathwater, lawns went from green to brown (as they have this summer), and stand pipes were issued in some places, leaving people to queue with buckets to collect water. The stand pipes didn’t reach my road and thankfully the country has not experienced such draconian measures now. I remember ironing in my underwear because it was so hot and wondering if it would ever rain again. Comparing them both, Summer 2022 has definitely been the worst experience of the two. In those days there were no talks of global warming, it was just a very long, hot summer. Now what is happening has far reaching implications for both the planet and us in general. Looking forward, I guess the downside of all this is that we will have a very wet autumn. Mother Nature normally balances the seasons, and despite global warming, I have a feeling when the rain does arrive, there will be lots of it.

WRITING: At the beginning of the month my manuscript left the building for editing. Unfortunately, part way in my editor hit a problem. One which needed it to be returned and some comprehensive rewrites undertaken before she could continue. It’s the first time this has happened to me, and I guess it won’t be the last. Even after eleven books, I’m still learning. The delay has meant my hope of a late September publication date has had to be shelved. Instead, I’ve moved it to the New Year, probably late January or early February.

HOLIDAYS: In three weeks we’ll be in Cornwall. Fowey is a place I never tire of. It’s somewhere that really influences my writing. It’s a place where Daphne Du Maurier wrote in her house on the estuary next to the Boddinick Ferry. In fact, in my latest novel, I have taken something from the town – the Old Quay House Hotel – as inspiration for the Estuary House Hotel, which is central to my story. At this moment, with the completion of the third and final part of my Cornish trilogy imminent, I’m fairly open minded about what happens next. It’s always good to discover another part of the West Country where I can put down ‘roots’ and create another community, weaving romance and mystery around the lives of everyday folk. However, there are still characters in my fictitious estuary town of Kingswater who might be able to provide enough interest for a fourth book. I’ll just have to see what soaking up that Cornish atmosphere does. Watch this space!

READING & REVIEWING: And finally, my reading for the month. You can find my reviews on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/thewriterwhoreads

So that’s all for now. I’ll be back at the end of September. In the meantime take care everyone…

Writing

Okay, we’ve sorted out the location, now what’s next?

Posted on August 31, 2021August 31, 2021 by Jo Lambert - Author

Earlier in the month I posted about the locations which had inspired me to create the coastal community of Kingswater – a town of two halves facing each other across the estuary of the fictitious Kings River. Fowey in Cornwall is the main setting, with a few additions from the town of Dartmouth in Devon. The backdrop to a story is important, but another essential part of this parallel universe is what lies within that setting. In Shadows on the Water, Heron’s Gate House and Vineyard played an important role. The inspiration for this came about on a river trip up to Totnes (used for the fictional town Kingshead in the novels) where I spotted what we were told by the tour boat manager was the Sharpham Trust’s Sandridge Barton Vineyards. A new state of the art winery has been built there and a future visitor centre is planned. The vines which sprawl over the hillside towards the banks of the River Dart, produce award winning wines and on September 9th this year the winery will be celebrating its fortieth anniversary. You can read more about the business, their history and the wines and cheese they produce by clicking on the blue and white Sharpham WordPress logo below.

Sandridge Barton Wines

The Sharpham Trust also own a 18th century grade I listed Palladian villa which overlooks the vineyards and faces the river. The house hosts everything from weddings to holistic and art experiences as well as walks, tours, and the opportunity to help in their working garden. I enclose a link below for more details

https://www.sharphamtrust.org

In Shadows on the Water Heron’s Gate was purely and simply a home, and not a place offering a host of courses and creative activities as Sharpham does. It’s also pale stoned, Georgian and listed with terraced gardens which reach down to the river. It was Sharpham’s location which made me decide it would work very well as Heron’s Gate

In book 2, A Kingswater Summer, one of the main characters, Stella Wynter is a retired actress who lives in a large house up river from Heron’s Gate. No prizes for guessing the inspiration for her home, Penmarra. Of course, it was Agatha Christie’s Greenway which we visited in September 2019. Seeing this amazing house, with its extensive grounds overlooking the river, my imagination began to go into overdrive, recognising the potential for a place where my fictitious actress could have her home.

Stella’s house is a little smaller than Greenway and built of local stone and while Agatha Christie’s home is filled with memorabilia, Stella has instead chosen a designated area in her house. With main character Kiera’s assistance, this will eventually become a place which holds all her treasures and awards from a long and successful acting career.

Greenway perfectly captured this wonderful home by the river with extensive gardens, woods and a myriad of pathways. I also added stables and a boathouse with an apartment over. The boathouse and its apartment were important because I needed somewhere away from the main house for Kiera’s love interest, actor Jake Paterson, to stay. I wanted him to remain a bit of an enigma. A previous and rather unfortunate encounter with Jake, means Kiera isn’t exactly pleased to find him living there. But she’s also curious, and, although she denies it, attracted to this infuriating man. Therefore keeping him at a distance added to the mystery surrounding who he was and why he was there.

So there we are. Location is essential in order to give a book a firm framework in which to tell your story. But equally significant within that setting are the places where people live and work. It gives the characters a proper identity; something I feel is important, especially when writing about communities, as I do.

Next time: Some of the real life situations and characters that have become incorporated into my fictional worlds.

Jo Lambert – Writer of Modern Romantic Sagas

Writing

This week Tuesday Talk is chatting to Choc Lit’s Search for a Star finalist Lisa Hill

Posted on July 12, 2016July 12, 2016 by Jo Lambert - Author

Good morning Lisa and welcome to Tuesday Talk. First of all congratulations on being short listed for Choc Lit’s 2016 Search for a Star. To kick off the interview can I ask you to tell us a little about yourself.

Hi Jo, and thank you for inviting me to Tuesday Talk! I was born in Cheltenham but moved to a little village called Bussage, near Stroud, when I was fourteen months old. My Dad was from Slad, where Laurie Lee grew up and Cider with Rosie is set. I had an idyllic childhood growing up in the Cotswolds, dancing around maypoles and riding ponies until I returned for schooling in Cheltenham as a teenager. My first encounter of an author was Jilly Cooper who lived in Bisley, the next village to us. My Dad would take me for summer walks (he was a photographer, always after his next best shot) and he used to chat with ‘Mrs Cooper’ over her garden wall. It wasn’t until some years later I realised how famous Mrs Cooper was! I have three sons; Hamish, 13, Archie, 10 and Laurence, 7 who is named after Laurie Lee (as my Dad was Godfrey and I couldn’t bring myself to name any of the boys after him!). I have been married to my Superhero, Matt, for two-and-a-half years and I carry out the admin and accounts for his electrical firm. Before I met Matt my career was in property which is where I drew much of my writing inspiration to begin with. We have a bonkers Vizsla x Weimaraner called Sparky who I enjoy taking for country walks even though he has a propensity to go missing!

When did your writing journey begin and what was the trigger?

I have always been a book worm. When I was a child my favourite series were The Worst Witch and Sweet Valley High but GCSEs, A-Levels and then College kerbed my appetite for reading and it wasn’t until Hamish was born, when I was twenty-three, that I really got into reading romance; lots of breastfeeding gives you plenty of time to read! I enjoyed writing stories at school, I was always writing up little books of some description or other (mainly about horses) but it had never occurred to me to write a novel until I started reading romance. At first I would find myself coming to the end of a novel and continuing the plot in my head. Then, when my first marriage became an unhappy one, I would imagine myself as the heroine in my own novels, a lot of the time with Sean Bean as the hero. The threads of stories came together and I decided after Laurie was born to take up creative writing evening classes. I joined the RNA New Writers Scheme in 2011 and have written three full novels in my time as a member.

Who are your favourite authors and did any of them inspire you?

Anyone who knows me will know how star struck I am by Jill Mansell. I don’t even try to hide it. If we go back to the breastfeeding period for a moment, that was when I discovered her novels. It was in 2003 and she had a decent back catalogue even then. The first novel I read of hers was Head Over Heels and I fell in love with her writing, her characters and her sense of humour. A few years later I read an article in a newspaper about her writing career and realised that if Jill could go from being a medical professional to being a bestselling author then there was no reason why I shouldn’t try either (although I’m still trying!).

What is the best part of writing for you? And the worst?

For me, it’s when the unexpected happens. I love coming up with characters and a setting (I even draw a picture of the town or village where my characters live) but it’s when I start writing and the characters come to life and do something, make a decision or act differently to how I expected, that I really enjoy the writing process. My worst has to be editing. I wish I didn’t but I find it hard to juggle so many plates in the air. Although my good friend and Choc Lit Author, Alison May, has helped me with coping strategies i.e. not trying to edit everything at once. Now I do one read through to deal with plot issues, a second read through for grammar and spelling then a final read through for anything I miss. Hence why it’s my worst; it seems to take so long!

How do you spend your chill out time?

Well, funnily enough, writing is my chill out time. We recently went to Corfu and I spent most of my time sunbathing and writing! With three lively boys and an even livelier eight-month old puppy there is precious little chill out time and writing is creative for me; I find it therapeutic.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

Ashamedly, I am thirty-six and have only been abroad four times (this is what happens when you spend your twenties reproducing), something I intend to rectify as the children get older. However, I am quite a home bird. I am very lucky to live in the Cotswolds; sometimes an afternoon out can feel like a holiday. My favourite holiday destination has to be Devon and Cornwall. We are off to Cornwall again later this summer, to Port Isaac where Doc Martin is filmed (another favourite of mine).

If you were able to go back and live in any historical time period what would it be and why?

I think it would have to be the 1920’s. Women’s appearance and independence changed dramatically during this era and it would be amazing to experience (not to mention all the wonderful couture and dancing!).