Having previously had the chance to interview Manning Wolfe, here on Linda’s book Bag, I’m delighted to be sharing an extract from her latest Merit Bridges series and the new release Music Notes: Texas Lady Lawyer vs L.A. Baron

Music Notes: Texas Lady Lawyer vs L.A. Baron was published by Starpath on 18th November 2017 and is available for purchase from your local Amazon site.

Music Notes: Texas Lady Lawyer vs L.A. Baron

Attorney Merit Bridges is looking over her shoulder! Who’s back there?

When client Liam Nolan is slain with his own guitar, Davey Ray Bell shows up claiming to be Liam’s illegitimate son. L.A. Baron, Nolan’s former manager, makes a back-door music deal and vies for the estate.

When the probate court pushes Baron out of the power position, he pursues Merit with a vengeance. Using the dark web, he ruins her reputation, destroys her career, and finally attempts to take her life.

Who will come out on top of the scales of music and the scales of justice?

An Extract from Music Notes

Liam got up, picked up his Strat, and walked along the lake on the hike and bike trail toward home. As he dropped down under the First Street Bridge, he looked up from his dreamy state to see a Pursuer coming toward him. The Pursuer was slight in stature, but backlit by the bridge and Liam could only see an outline.
“Hey, Liam,” the Pursuer said.
“Hey. Who’s there?” Liam asked.
“Don’t you know who I am?” the Pursuer asked.
The voice sounded familiar. The Pursuer continued toward Liam until they were close enough for Liam to recognize the face.
“What are you doing here at this hour?” Liam asked.
“Looking for you. I followed you from the Saxon Pub.”
“Well you found me. What do you want? I told you I have nothing for you,” Liam said.
“Don’t be that way. Let me buy you a cup of coffee. I want to talk to you,” the Pursuer said.
“I don’t want coffee and I don’t want to talk to you. Leave me alone,” Liam said and turned to go.
“Don’t turn your back on me again!”
The Pursuer looked around and picked up a large rock from beside the path. Liam felt movement behind him. As he turned back, he felt a strong blow between his neck and skull. He fell, dropped his guitar case, then struggled to get up.
“You, asshole,” Liam said.
As Liam pushed himself up from the ground, the Pursuer grabbed the guitar case and slammed it into Liam’s head. Liam fell to the ground again and the Pursuer hit him with the case over and over until the latches broke and the case flew open, sending the Strat spiraling into the water.
Liam looked up to see the Pursuer freeze, blink, and begin to shake. A hand reached down by the dying face and gathered up the case handle and rock, and put them inside the broken case. The Pursuer ran along the trees and out of the park with the case. Liam’s blood spread out over the trail, pooled at the grassy edge, and finally spilled over into the dark water.
No one came to help poor Liam or see the face of his killer. Dozens of purple guitar picks lay strewn along the water’s edge.

About the Author – Manning Wolfe

Manning   an author and attorney residing in Austin, Texas, who writes cinematic-style, smart, fast-paced thrillers with a salting of Texas bullshit. The first in her series, featuring Austin Lawyer Merit Bridges, is Dollar Signs: Texas Lady Lawyer vs Boots King.

A graduate of Rice University and the University of Texas School of Law, Manning’s experience has given her a voyeur’s peek into some shady characters’ lives and a front row seat to watch the good people who stand against them.

You can find more about Manning Wolfe through these links: Facebook, website, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram, Google+ and LinkedIn.

Sometimes I get frustrated as a blogger as a book turns up that I know I’d love but I simply don’t have time to read and review. This is exactly what has happened with David Matthews’ That They Might Lovely Be. However, I do have an extract to share today as part of the launch celebrations for the book.

Published by Top Hat Books on 8th December 2017, That They Might Lovely Be is available for purchase here.

That They Might Lovely Be

No-one thought Bertie Simmonds could speak. So, when he is heard singing an Easter hymn, this is not so much the miracle some think as a bolt drawn back, releasing long-repressed emotions with potentially devastating consequences…

A decade later, Bertie marries Anstace, a woman old enough to be his mother, and another layer of mystery starts to peel away.

Beginning in a village in Kent and set between the two World Wars, That They Might Lovely Be stretches from the hell of Flanders, to the liberating beauty of the Breton coast, recounting a love affair which embraces the living and the dead.

An Extract from That They Might Lovely Be

Chapter One

Monday, 12 August 1940

All day there had been dogfights high overhead. It was mid- afternoon  when  the rector’s wife  stepped  through  the  French windows  into the garden.  Bullets  spattered  down through  the trees, ripping the turf around her feet yet leaving her unscathed. This, the second miracle of her life, turned her wits.

In the same hour, Delia Simmonds  was about to wring the neck of a young cockerel ready for the pot while her father, the retired schoolmaster, was sitting on the old oak bench, resolutely ignoring the combat above the clouds. The squawking of the doomed bird was drowned out as a stricken aeroplane came screaming down from the sky toward them. They watched as it roared above the roof of their cottage, skimming the tops of the trees before ploughing straight into the South Lodge on the other side of the wood.

They  heard  the  crash,  but  neither  felt  compelled  to  hurry along the lanes to see where it had hit the ground. News would reach  them  soon  enough.  They  had  inhabited  the  fringes  of village life for some years now. As an accumulation of barnacles and weed gradually renders a vessel unseaworthy, so the steady accretion of gossip and suspicion, which had attached itself to the schoolmaster  and  his  family  since  the  tragic  events  ten  years before, had made his position untenable. He had bought a small parcel of land in the woodlands and had a cottage built there for himself and his daughter.

As it happened, it could not have been ten minutes before a child came running up the path to the gate.

‘You’d  best  come,  miss,  sir.  Plane’s  crashed  into  the  South Lodge. They’re saying your Bertie and Mrs. Cordingley’s inside but it’s all ablaze.’

For  a  moment,  Delia  froze,  the  limp  bird  in  her  hand,  the basket for its feathers between her feet. Then she threw back her head and laughed and laughed.

The child fled.

About David Matthews

David Matthews was born in the middle of the last century to a Quaker father and a mother who left the Church of England to become a Jehovah’s Witness. After a number of years “in the wilderness”, he found himself back in the Anglican Church, active in the local community.

David had a fulfilling career as a teacher, including eleven years heading a comprehensive school in Croydon, where he still lives with his wife and sons. His play Under the Shadow of Your Wings was professionally directed and performed in the summer of 2015, as part of Croydon’s heritage festival. He now feels he may devote a significant amount of time to transforming ideas, hatched over countless summer vacations, into novels, poems and plays. He enjoys spending time in south-west France where he is renovating a stone cottage with an idyllic view, and making a garden for it.

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When J. Scott Coatsworth got in touch about his ‘queer sci-fi novel’, The Stark Divide, I was intrigued. Given that the UK and the US are often ‘two countries divided by a common language’, I wasn’t sure if ‘queer’ referred to homosexual or unusual or both! As my TBR stands at over 900 books I couldn’t take on the review but I had to know more and luckily, Scott was willing to tell me!

The first book in the Liminal Sky series, The Stark Divide was published on 10th October 2017 and is available for purchase in e-book and paperback from your local Amazon site.

The Stark Divide

Some stories are epic.

The Earth is in a state of collapse, with wars breaking out over resources and an environment pushed to the edge by human greed.

Three living generation ships have been built with a combination of genetic mastery, artificial intelligence, technology, and raw materials harvested from the asteroid belt. This is the story of one of them—43 Ariadne, or Forever, as her inhabitants call her—a living world that carries the remaining hopes of humanity, and the three generations of scientists, engineers, and explorers working to colonize her.

From her humble beginnings as a seedling saved from disaster to the start of her journey across the void of space toward a new home for the human race, The Stark Divide tells the tales of the world, the people who made her, and the few who will become something altogether beyond human.

Humankind has just taken its first step toward the stars.

Introducing Queer Sci-Fi

A Guest Post by J. Scott Coatsworth

I’ve been writing sci fi and fantasy, on and off, for more than thirty years. But until I came back to writing seriously in 2014, I hadn’t embraced my queer roots in my writing. I’m a gay man, married to my husband since 2008 (and together since 1992). When I starting writing queer characters in my sci fi and fantasy, it really took off.

When I was growing up, I read both sci fi and fantasy voraciously. My mother was a member f the science fiction book club, and I read every book in her library, from Pern to the Foundation. I loved them, but outside of the green dragon riders in Pern, none of them reflected who I was.

I wanted to read about characters like me, guys who fell in love with other guys, and about characters like my friends across the LGBTIQA spectrum.

Sometimes queer speculative fiction is heavy on the romance. I write a bit of that. And sometimes it’s a lot more heavy on the sci fi or fantasy plot. Both have their place, but the important thing is that it is inclusive – and that people in both my community and the mainstream one can read it and see all kinds of different folks represented.

One of the first things I did when I started writing again was to create a new group and website – QueerSciFi.com. We serve as a safe space for all kinds of people to come together to talk about queer speculative fiction, and we’re dedicated to encouraging queer writers to try to push our way out of our safe spaces and into the mainstream, so that more of our voices are heard.

My own Liminal Sky series offers a glimpse at a world that mirrors our own in its diversity, and a look at where we might be going as a society if things continue the way they are.

In the process, it holds up a mirror to our society, and isn’t that what good sci fi does?

That’s what Queer Sci Fi is all about.

About J. Scott Coatsworth

Scott inhabits the space between the “here and now” and the “what could be”. He was shepherded into his love affair with fantasy and sci fi by his mother at the tender age of nine, and soon read her entire library. But as he grew up and read more, he wondered where all the gays were.

He came out as gay at 23, and decided to create the stories he couldn’t find at his local bookstore. He reimagined his favorite genres, subverting them and remaking them to his own ends. And every now and then he hopes someone finds and enjoys them.

His friends say Scott’s mind works a little differently – he sees connections between things that many people miss, and accomplishes more in a day than many people do in three.

Scott’s fiction subverts expectations and transforms traditional science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary life into something fresh and unexpected. He manages both Queer Sci Fi and QueeRomance Ink with his husband Mark to promote and celebrate fiction that reflects their worldview.

He infuses his work with love, beauty and power, making them soar, and maybe that changes the world, just a little.

Scott lives with his husband of 25 years in Sacramento, California, in a small yellow house with two pink flamingoes in front.

You can follow J. Scott Coatsworth on Twitter @jscoatsworth and find him on Facebook. You can also visit his website.

With two books out recently, from Zombie Cupcake Press, Lost Connections and The Place That Never Existed, I was fascinated to find out from author Jim Ody just how he managed to have two publications on the go at once. Huh! It wasn’t just two, as he explains in a guest post that made me tired just thinking about it.

The Place That Never Existed is available for purchase here and Lost Connections is available for purchase here.

The Place That Never Existed

For Paul and Debbie it was meant to be the happiest time of their lives. A small village wedding in front of their family and friends, followed by a quiet honeymoon in Devon.

Not everyone had been happy to see them together. A woman from their past refused to accept it. Her actions over the previous year had ended in tragedy, and had almost broken the happy couple apart.

Now, away from it all in a picturesque log cabin, Paul and Debbie look forward to time spent alone together… But she has found out where they are, and she will stop at nothing to make sure that the marriage is over… forever.

But Huntswood Cove isn’t just a beautiful Devonshire fishing town, it has its own secret. Recently, people have begun to disappear, only to turn up dead in suspicious circumstances. The locals begin to question what is going on.

Soon everything strange points to the abandoned house in the woods. The house that nobody wants to talk about. To them, it is the place that never existed.

Lost Connections

What would you do if the most important person to you had been kidnapped?

One minute your daughter is there, and the next she has been bundled into a van right under your nose. They want something of your father’s. You don’t know what that is, and your father mysteriously disappeared over 7 years ago. Going to the police is not an option. And the answers will slowly appear in the most unlikely of places.

As single-parent Eddie’s world falls apart, an unlikely alliance forms between friends and neighbours who put their differences aside to help get his daughter, Daisy, back.

As the mystery unfolds a huge secret is uncovered that not only will affect Eddie and his family, but the whole of mankind. Only the truth will set his daughter free…

Building Up A Momentum

A Guest Post by Jim Ody

I have always had a burning ambition to adorn a shelf or two of a bookcase with my own books. Having now re-released Lost Connections, and The Place That Never Existed, I know that it is important to keep the momentum going in order help build on a fan base and keep up the interest in my books. Only then can I not only fill up the aforementioned bookcase, but hopefully fill other people’s bookcases too!

A year ago I had just self-published both of these two books and whilst to the outside world it looks like I’ve not written anything new since, that couldn’t be further from the truth! This year I have written my next book A Cold Retreat, and this will be released for the first time in January 2018, and will be the third release by Zombie Cupcake Press. Aside from this I have also written six short stories and am putting the finishing touches to a novella. I am not one for writing short stories as I love the complexities that a novel allows me. However since submitting and having my short-story A Moth In The Jar published by Bloodhound Books in their Dark Minds anthology, I realised that this was something that I could write quickly and potentially reach a whole new audience.

My books are psychological/thrillers with twists that hopefully you won’t see coming, however my publisher is more romance/sci-fi/horror focused. This has suddenly opened my books to a whole new audience who have happily embraced my writing. This is why I jumped at the chance to write more short stories as you offer out bite-size chunks of literature to other people’s fans gaining more readership as you go. Next month my short story The Reveal will be release in an anthology called Madame Scarlet’s Carnival, a collection of six stories that include the same characters that all intertwine. And I have a sci-fi/comedy called Virgin Women in Outer Space which uses the same format of using one storyline to weave the individual stories around. The anthology is called Off Course and is released in February. The other four stories are all horror and will be released in two other anthologies sometime in 2018.

You have to understand that as an author I am surrounded by fantastic books and huge competition (although I feel us authors work together rather than against each other). Just like the music industry if you remain quiet and low key you can lose your followers in a flash. For me I find it best to put together a two year plan and work towards that. The goals are more of a guide, but they keep me focused on what I am trying to achieve. So my aim is to release one psychological/thriller a year that will now be slightly more serious, commercial and mainstream. To counter balance this I am about to start a series which will be more comedic. The first book is called …Just South of Heaven and was written about eighteen years ago. I will be re-writing it for a number of reasons including the improvement of my writing, and updating things like technological advancements and my humor. I then hope to release novella each year too which will allow me to explore different genres and push me out of my comfort zone. My current novella is called Beneath The Whispers and is a cross-genre tale of love in the dark corners of the mind.

Sitting in front of a laptop and spilling out words onto a screen is what most people consider to be the main, and often, the only work for an author. If only. Thankfully we have social media and I have embraced it as much as I can. As I have grown and gained a following I have felt the need to interact more with them. I have written two books for myself, and whilst A Cold Retreat was also written in the same vein, there were a few changes in what happened after the book was written. For a start I put together a launch team of about fifteen to twenty people who I could share the ideas of my book with. I had half a dozen BETA read for me, and the feedback received was invaluable. When I signed for my publisher the group grew and turned into my street team called Jim Ody’s Spooky Circus and currently there are about seventy selected members who get insights into my writing, giveaways, ARC’s and answer questions in polls to name my books, choose covers, pick story ideas etc.

Being an author can be a lonely occupation, but it doesn’t, and certainly shouldn’t need to be. Whilst I am by no means successful, I have learnt a lot throughout my journey and already I am trying to give that knowledge back through a Facebook group that I helped to put together. The point of it is to help out self-publishing authors by bringing together all of the services an author could need for free. The services and advice are offered free of charge by people either looking to gain experience, build a portfolio, or just give something back. These range from editors and proofreaders, to cover and web designers and bloggers.

I love writing and releasing books, so I want to continue improving my writing and eventually have a larger publisher release my work. And then, of course, there are the film rights for the adaptation…

(Crikey Jim! It sounds like you’re going to be busy!)

About Jim Ody

Jim was first published in an English School Textbook in 1987. He won a competition to draw a dog-walking machine. Having won an art competition the year before, he felt that at the age of eleven he had peaked and consequently retired from art.

For 10 years Jim wrote for a number of websites reviewing and interviewing bands in his own unique way, as well as contributing dark poems and comedic features.

Jim likes to write psychological/thrillers that have endings that you won’t see coming. He also favours stories packed with wit.

He has a very strange sense of humour and is often considered a little odd.  When not writing he will be found playing the drums, watching football and eating chocolate. He lives with his long-suffering wife and three beautiful children in Swindon, Wiltshire.

You can follow Jim on Twitter @Jim_Ody_Author and find him on Facebook.

Since I’ve been blogging I have rediscovered the enjoyment of reading poetry again – something that I haven’t really done since I gave up teaching. It has given me great pleasure to read and review Sparkling Fountain by Oranmore for this tour.

Published by Clink Street on 30th November 2017 Sparkling Fountain is available for purchase here.

Sparkling Fountain

Life and death, conflict and oppression, nature, love, philosophy and faith. The poems of Oranmore resonate with deep, universal themes and are based on real events and poignant personal experiences. From growing up in Ireland to the 100th Birthday of his father — 4th Lord Oranmore and Browne and the longest serving member of The House of Lords — and his travels across the globe, Sparkling Fountain combines both previously published and new poems to create a fine original collection which is a joy for all to read.

My Review of Sparkling Fountain

Sparkling Fountain is such an apt title for this extensive collection of poetry because the language cascades and glitters like water droplets in the sunlight. I really enjoyed these poems. They are by no means perfect and occasionally tense shifts or clashes mean that the reader has to work just that little bit harder to grasp meaning but I think that is what makes them all the more appealing.

I got a strong sense of our literary history reading Sparkling Fountain. Is seems to me as if Oranmore has distilled a wide range of genres and styles into a unique voice of his own. I thought I could hear the cadences of Gerard Manley Hopkins in Mother Earth and there’s everything from the nursery rhyme-like An Irish Fiddle through poems that reminded me of the Romantic poets (Sit and Slumber made me think of Coleridge’s Frost at Midnight for example) to others like Honesty that reminded me of a local poet to me, John Clare. There are so many universal themes explored, from the political negligence of those in power and their disregard for the ordinary person, through love, faith and fate to the more prosaic concepts of cramped air travel (I loved Traveller to Australia) and a windy day that I feel there is something in this anthology for every poetry lover to enjoy.

I don’t usually quote from what I’ve read in my reviews, but of all the poems in this anthology, one of the more simple lines stands out for me and it is the opening to Destiny: ‘Try your best and then accept what the cards have dealt.’ That seems to me to be considerable common sense.

Whilst I don’t share any of the religious belief that features in many of the poems such as Good Friday, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Sparkling Fountain. The poems made me think, provoked memories from my past and gave me an insight into a highly educated and interesting mind. Sparkling Fountain is well worth dipping into.

About Oranmore

Oranmore, also known as Dominick Mereworth, is a poet and playwright. He has had numerous anthologies previously published including The Glory of Glories: Inspirational Poetry (Arcturus Press 2005) and has had a number of plays produced on Fringe Theatre London including Seal of Rome in Belfast and I married Madeline as well as others produced in Belfast and Cork.

Over the years Dominick has also had short stories published to wide acclaim in national magazines. In addition, he continues to work extensively in the voluntary and charity sector including: Kent Refugee Action Network and Rapid Ireland, he is the president of Celtic Vision and Vice-President for both Veterans in Europe and Montecassino Federation for Remembrance and Reconciliation. His father, 4th Lord Oranmore and Browne, was to date the longest serving member of The House of Lords and Dominick succeeded him in 2002 to become the 5th Baron. Today he lives in London with his family.

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My grateful thanks to the author Claire Cock-Starkey for a copy of The Book Lovers’ Miscellany in return for an honest review.

Published by the Bodleian Library on 13th October 2017, The Book Lovers’ Miscellany is available for purchase here.

The Book Lovers’ Miscellany

Ever wondered how ink is made? Or what is the bestselling book of all time? Or which are the oldest known books in the world? Highbrow to lowbrow, all aspects of the book are celebrated and explored in The Book Lovers’ Miscellany.

From a list of unfinished novels, a short history of the comic, the story behind Mills and Boon and an entry on books printed with mistakes, to a guide to the colours of Penguin paperback jackets and a list of the most influential academic books of all time.

Between these pages you will discover the history of paper, binding, printing and dust jackets; which books have faced bans; which are the longest established literary families; and which bestsellers were initially rejected. You can explore the output of the most prolific writers and marvel at the youth of the youngest published authors; learn which natural pigments were used to decorate a medieval bible; and what animal is needed for the making of vellum.

The ideal gift for every bibliophile, The Book Lovers’ Miscellany is full of fun facts, potted histories and curious lists, perfect for dipping into and sharing.

My Review of The Book Lovers’ Miscellany

The Book Lovers’ Miscellany is a cornucopia of bookish facts and information.

This is a little gem of a book. Although I read it in the order presented, it would pay huge dividends if treated like a bookish box of chocolates, dipping in at random and seeing what tasty morsel came out. Alternatively, as many pages are cross referenced, readers could enjoy a kind of literary mystery tour, jumping from one author led note to another. The footnotes too add an extra dimension of interest.

An aspect I really enjoyed was the way different elements prompted memories for me. The references to papyrus took me back to a trip to Egypt where I saw it made, for example. I adored the oath for the Detection Club that I hadn’t come across before because it made me giggle.

Whilst many of the materials such as the glossary of book and manuscript terms were familiar, and avid bibliophiles may feel they know much of the information already,  reading The Book Lovers’ Miscellany also provided new information and I especially liked learning the ages of older first time authors – there’s hope for me yet!

Claire Cock-Starkey writes with a meticulously researched, fluent and authoritative style that is a pleasure to read. I think The Book Lovers’ Miscellany would be a perfect gift for any book lover, be they a reader or a writer.

About Claire Cock-Starkey

Claire Cock-Starkey started out in media, working at BBC Radio Four and Five Live before going on to work at LBC. Having had a family, Claire is now a writer and freelance copy editor always keen to work on new projects.

You can find out more by visiting Claire’s website and following her on Twitter @NonFictioness.

Given the way life has been of late there couldn’t be a more fittingly aspirational title for a book than Brighter Days Ahead and I’m thrilled to be interviewing Mary Wood all about her latest novel as part of its launch celebrations.

Published by Pan Macmillan on 30th November 2017, Brighter Days Ahead is available for purchase through the publisher links here.

Brighter Days Ahead

War pulled them apart, but can it bring them back together?

Molly lives with her repugnant father, who has betrayed her many times. From a young age, living on the streets of London’s East End, she has seen the harsh realities of life . . . When she’s kidnapped by a gang and forced into their underworld, her future seems bleak.

Flo spent her early years in an orphanage, and is about to turn her hand to teacher training. When a kindly teacher at her school approaches her about a job at Bletchley Park, it could be everything she never knew she wanted.

Will the girls’ friendship be enough to weather the hard times ahead?

An Interview with Mary Wood

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag, Mary. Thank you so much for agreeing to answer some questions on my blog about your writing and Brighter Days Ahead in particular. Firstly, please could you tell me a little about yourself?

Hello Linda,

Thank you for having me as your guest today.

To begin at the beginning, I was born the thirteenth child of fifteen. We had a wonderful mother, who encouraged us all to follow our dreams.

We were very poor at times as my father’s work – farm labourer, wasn’t paid well. But always we were happy and loved.

My circumstances led me to have an empathy and interest in social history, which was later to influence my writing.

I met and married my husband, Roy when very young, and began a family of my own when just eighteen.

This led to me having a chequered career, from cleaning, to party plan, and working at home – stitching knickers! Anything and everything that brought in extra and fitted in with being a mum to our four wonderful children. Till eventually, I joined the Probation Service and became a Probation Service Officer, which was also to influence my writing – giving it the gritty element.

An avid reader, I always dreamt of becoming an author.

I began to write in 1989, but always my work was rejected. I never gave up, but it wasn’t until 2011, having survived breast cancer twice, and a year in a wheel chair struck down by M.E. that I took my fate into my own hands and self-published on kindle.

Each of my self-pub books went to number one in genre and then, the most wonderful thing happened. I was spotted by an editor for Pan Macmillan and at the age of 68 offered a seven-book deal!

I am now a grandmother and great grandmother many times over, and about to sign my fourth contract with Pan Macmillan and love working with the wonderful team that look after me and my books.

(My goodness! What a roller coaster of a life. And what an uplifting biography for the rest of us too.)

Why do you write?

Writing is a compulsion. It is a completion of me, and yet an escapism too. A short answer this time, but that’s it in a nutshell. It is something I did as a child, and what I will do until I die.

When did you realise you were going to be a writer?

The spark was lit by a teacher. There were two who taught me English. One used to set us a title for a composition, and then say – ‘And, Mary Olley, (my nee name) I want one side, and one page only – not a novel!’

His successor, an altogether, different person, said, – ‘Well done. You know, one day you will be an author, you have a special talent.’

This, and my mother’s tales about her grandmother, who was an author, my great grandmother, Dora Langlois, gave me a burning desire to follow in her footsteps.

(As an ex-English teacher I love hearing how teachers have inspired authors.)

Which aspects of your writing do you find easiest and most difficult?

Easiest – writing the first draft.

Most difficult – tackling the edit. I have a wonderful team of editors at Pan Macmillan, but when I am faced with page after page that has turned red, well, I fall out with them in my head, then love them again as I see what their suggestions have done to my novel – they contribute so much, with just a tweak of a sentence. An amazing skill to possess. I always say that an author is nothing without her/his editor.

What are your writing routines and where do you do most of your writing?

I rise early – sometimes as early as 4.30 am. When in Britain, I go to my little-bedroom office, to begin work. During my time in Spain, I still rise early, but I become a duvet writer and take my laptop to my bed – that is, until the sun comes up, and then I am on my rooftop solarium, or even on the beach!

I like to write between 3 and 5000 words a day, but my record is 8000! I have written three books this year, and am hoping to make that four. Usually, I will finish work at around two and then, Roy and I spend quality time together. Roy has all the chores done by then as he has taken over the running of the home. He is a gem, and I couldn’t do what I do without him. We are the A-team.

(Oh! I have one like that too and he’s worth his weight in gold!)

Without spoiling the plot, please could you tell us a bit about Brighter Days Ahead?

Set in wartime, the story’s main characters are Molly and Flo. Their stories are very different. Molly is an East Ender, and her story unfolds to a background of the blitz. She is wronged by her father who has become mixed up with a black-market gang. His greed leads to Molly’s downfall and she finds herself torn away from David, the love of her life, and forced to work in a brothel. David is called up and becomes a pilot. Neither know where the other is.

Flo has been brought up by foster parents in the North of England. A kindly employer sees her potential and pays for extra schooling for her. Through her tutor she becomes a candidate for the code breaking operations in Bletchley. Fitting into this world of upper-class girls isn’t easy for working-class Flo.

Molly and Flo are worlds apart and yet, through a chance meeting become friends.

Theirs is a story that touches many threads of life – The heartbreak for Flo of falling in love with a man who is homosexual, and the fear she has for him and his partner as they face the threat of a prison sentence, if they are discovered. The terrible consequences of the blitz and the poverty it inflicts. The love between Simon’s sister who is a journalist, and a German student she met at university before the war, and how that goes horribly wrong. And a deep friendship between Flo and Molly that is all that Molly has to cling to as she lives her daily life in fear, and not knowing if she will ever see David again.

Throughout, Flo remains strong and is the rock that the others depend on. For her, true love comes along in a surprising way, and helps her to see where her heart really lies.

And so, we have a mix of characters playing out an emotional, and thrilling drama – Prostitutes. A girl from the wrong background, but with a brilliant mind. Two gay men, who live in fear of discovery, and a young woman who has fallen for a fellow student, whom war turns into the enemy.

How did you go about researching detail and ensuring Brighter Days Ahead was realistic?

When I had the initial idea, the main place for the setting was going to be Bletchley. And so, I went on a daytrip there to find out all that I could. I found it a wonderful place, atmospheric, informative, and an ignite of my imagination.

I was then privileged to speak with a lady who worked there during the war and still does. And she shattered this notion that I had, that Bletchley was an exciting place to work. She told me that mostly, it was boring. Long hours sitting at a desk processing words that meant nothing to her. It wasn’t until afterwards that it all seemed worthwhile when she discovered what a vital part she had played in winning the war.

And so, the setting changed, to include many scenes at Bletchley, but spread out to London and the blitz, and of course, a northern city, which in this book, is Blackburn.

I know Blackburn well, as I worked there for two years, and London, the war and the blitz, is something I have researched many times now, but always there is a gap in my knowledge. This is when I turn to books and the internet.

Brighter Days Ahead has a cover that suggests true friendship to me. How did that image come about and what were you hoping to convey (without spoiling the plot please!)?

My editor at Pan Macmillan works with a cover designer, and they engage models to depict their ideas. I am asked for my final approval. I love what they come up with, and, because my editor thoroughly knows my book from the work she has done on it, I trust her. She hasn’t let me down. To me, the girls on the cover are my Molly and my Flo, and I love how their friendship comes across.

If you could choose to be a character from Brighter Days Ahead, who would you be and why?

Flo. For one, I would not like to go through what Molly does, bless her, and two: Flo is how I would like others to see me. She is kind, and does what she can for others. She is dependable. She has empathy, and is capable of deep love and loyalty. She hasn’t a criteria for giving of herself, all are encompassed, from prostitutes, to a high-born girl, to a destitute East Ender, and, in a time when it was criminal – those with the same sex persuasion, all are people to her, who need love, understanding, and occasionally help.

If Brighter Days Ahead became a film, who would you like to play Molly and Flo and why would you choose them?  

Oh, I wish! For Flo, I would choose, Clair Foy. She would be perfect and has the look of my Flo. She has a way with her, that gives the viewer the sense of her being able to cope in all situations and yet with compassion, as my Flo does. I can’t wait to see her in Breathe.

And for Molly, Jessica Raine, from The Last Post and Call the Midwife. Jessica, can convey emotion without all the tears and tantrums. She can get into people’s heart. Molly would need these qualities to put over how she is wronged – not the wrongdoer.

Many of your books are set in the fairly recent past. What draws you to the eras you write about?

I have books that are set in the mid nineteenth century, which is where The Breckton Series begins, and in May 2018, I have a book out that begins in the early nineteenth century, but yes, quite a few are set during the twentieth century and the two world conflicts of that era.

I have a fascination for the struggles and challenges that war presented to the women of the day. They were called upon to step up and keep the home fires burning, which entailed taking on traditionally male roles, and yet, still had few rights that were afforded to men.

I’m fascinated too, by the active roles that women took on during both wars, which took them to the heart of the fighting. My book, Proud of You is about a girl in the second world war, who became a special agent behind enemy lines. A theme that runs through my novels, Time Passes Time and In Their Mother’s Footsteps. Whilst, All I Have to Give is about a female surgeon in the First World war, and is a prequel to In Their Mother’s Footsteps.

I love how this era takes you to many countries too, so my settings are varied throughout. You may find yourself in Poland, France, Ypres, or dodging bombs in London.

In all my books you will find that I take you right into the action in a gritty way that tells it as it is. I don’t relate events – the reader lives them. Quite hard to take at times, but then it was harder for my heroines, who did what they did so that following generations could live in peace.

It took a while for you to become conventionally published. What message would you give to other authors struggling to be recognised?

Love your art. Dedicate yourself to it. Work at becoming the best that you can be. Make your stories live on the page. There are rules to our craft – learn them and live by them, then, never give up. If you do this, then it will happen for you. But you must work towards making it happen.

Your writing has evolved over time. Could you tell us a bit about that please?

I think this is a natural process in any craft – you move with the times and the demand – readers want more war settings, and so I responded to that. This moved me away from my natural northern setting, but not entirely, as I always sneak a northern lass in there somewhere, and often as one of the heroines, as Flo, in Brighter Days Ahead.

You enjoy interaction with your readers. What advice would you give to new authors on developing a readership?

First and foremost – remember that nothing can bring you more readers, or more success, or that contract you so desire, than knowing your craft and putting your utmost into your books.

But, of course, in these days of social media, you can help yourself become known in other ways.

Create a page on Facebook. Make this space an interesting and welcoming place for your followers to be and make it visible, by including a link to it wherever you can – as a signature to your emails, in your books and especially on your webpage.

Don’t use your followers just to promote your work, or hard sell to them. Grow your community by being a true friend. I genuinely love every one of my followers of my Facebook page and I am always there for them, as they are for me. I love to share everyday life with them. I love too, to be able to make a difference if they are hurting, or to have their comfort if I am.

I think that a webpage, is essential, as this is how readers can find you. I love interacting through the email accessed through my webpage. I receive some lovely messages this way. And I send a monthly newsletter to subscribers.

Then there is: Twitter, and Goodreads, Google and any number of social media help, but be careful with your time management, as all social media can take up so much of your time that you can find that you have little to give to your writing.

When you’re not writing, what do you like to read?

I don’t read much at all these days – an awful admission for a writer, when the advice to us is to read all we can, but I don’t have the time. Also, I find it difficult. I find myself critiquing, instead of enjoying. My relaxation is in games, such as scrabble and word find, and I love crosswords and clue word, as well as solo card games. Oh, and I watch the tele. I like dramas. And I am thinking of joining audible, as I know I would enjoy listening to books, much more than reading them as I love listening to a narration on the radio.

If you had 15 words to persuade a reader that Brighter Days Ahead should be their next read, what would you say?

A gritty, emotional story set in WW2 driven by the power of love and friendship.

Thank you so much for your time in answering my questions, Mary.

Thank you, for having me. I have so enjoyed this interview. Much love to you and to all who follow your blog. Mary x

About Mary Wood

Born in Maidstone, Kent, in 1945, the thirteenth child of fifteen children, Mary’s family settled in Leicestershire after the war ended.

Mary married young and now, after 54 years of happy marriage, four children, 12 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren, Mary and her husband live in Blackpool during the summer and Spain during the winter – a place that Mary calls, ‘her writing retreat’.

After many jobs from cleaning to catering, all chosen to fit in with bringing up her family, and boost the family money-pot, Mary ended her 9 – 5 working days as a Probation Service Officer, a job that showed her another side to life, and which influences her writing, bringing a realism and grittiness to her novels

Mary first put pen to paper, in 1989, but it wasn’t until 2010 that she finally found some success by self-publishing on kindle.

Being spotted by an editor at Pan Macmillan in 2013, finally saw Mary reach her publishing dream.

When not writing, Mary enjoys family time, reading, eating out, and gardening. One of her favourite pastimes is interacting with her readers on her Facebook page.

You can also visit Mary’s website and find her on Twitter @Authormary.

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I’m absolutely delighted to be part of the launch celebrations for The Girl I Used To Know by Faith Hogan because Faith has previously provided a couple of lovely posts for Linda’s Book Bag but until now I haven’t had chance to squeeze in a review of one of her books. You’ll find a post all about character in My Husband’s Wives here, and another all about secrets, from when The Secrets That We Keep was released, here.

The Girl I Used To Know was published by Aria on 1st December 2017 and is available for purchase on Amazon, Kobo and i-Books.

The Girl I Used To Know

A beautiful, emotive and spell-binding story of two women who find friendship and second chances when they least expect it. Perfect for the fans of Patricia Scanlan.

Amanda King and Tess Cuffe are strangers who share the same Georgian house, but their lives couldn’t be more different.

Amanda seems to have it all, absolute perfection. She projects all the accoutrements of a lady who lunches. Sadly, the reality is a soulless home, an unfaithful husband and a very lonely heart.

By comparison, in the basement flat, unwanted tenant Tess has spent a lifetime hiding and shutting her heart to love.

It takes a bossy doctor, a handsome gardener, a pushy teenager and an abandoned cat to show these two women that sometimes letting go is the first step to moving forward and new friendships can come from the most unlikely situations.

My Review of The Girl I Used To Know

Tess and Amanda are at loggerheads and hate each other. However, they may have more in common than they thought.

Never having read Faith Hogan before, I was amazed at how much reading The Girl I Used to Know felt like returning to a favourite author. The writing felt familiar, loved and welcome. Faith Hogan has a style that is smooth and effective, drawing in the reader to the story without them actually realising they are reading a work of fiction. I loved the way in which events from the past were threaded through, providing insight into the lives and characters of Tess and Amanda and helping me understand them as people.

In fact, I was instantly invested in Tess and Amanda’s stories, even though I didn’t much like Tess to begin with as I thought she was too self-centred and delusional. The intense sadness of their later lives touched me so that I was desperate for each to have a happy outcome. I think there are aspects of both their characters that anyone could relate to as life doesn’t always pan out as we hope or expect. Although both Douglas and Richard are unpleasant men, they too felt real and three dimensional and their negative personalities were well complemented by the characters of Stephen and Carlos giving very balanced perspectives in men’s behaviour through highly skilful writing.

Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the story in its own right and found it very entertaining, particularly because I cared so much what happened to Tess and Amanda, it was the themes of The Girl I Used To Know that gave me the greatest satisfaction. Our routine lives can make us lose sight of who we really are or who we wanted to be when we were young and the way in which Faith Hogan wove in the subtle changes we can make so that all is not lost was beautifully handled. Reading The Girl I Used To Know restored my belief that age is just a frame of mind and that anyone can fulfil a dream. I thought that friendship, materialism and relationships were brilliantly explored, giving real prescience and understanding for the reader to apply in their own life.

It has been far too long for me to discover Faith Hogan’s writing. The Girl I Used To Know has shown me just what I have been missing. It’s a lovely book.

About Faith Hogan

Faith Hogan was born in Ireland.  She gained an Honours Degree in English Literature and Psychology from Dublin City University and a Postgraduate Degree from University College, Galway.  She has worked as a fashion model, an event’s organiser and in the intellectual disability and mental health sector.

She was a winner in the 2014 Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair – an international competition for emerging writers.

You can follow Faith on Twitter and find her on Facebook. You’ll find her website here.

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I love historical fiction and am thrilled to be part of the launch celebrations for The Fate of Kings by Mark Stibbe and G. P. Taylor today. With such a rich history to call on, I always wonder how authors select the period of time they are going to write about and create their characters. I have a wonderful piece from Mark Stibbe explaining how protagonist Thomas Pryce emerged for this new series.

Published by Michael Down on 3rd November 2017, The Fate of Kings is available for purchase here.

The Fate of Kings

1793. As the Terror begins to cast a great shadow over France, Thomas Pryce, the new Vicar of Deal, crosses the Channel to find the missing parents of his beautiful French wife. Facing grave dangers, he makes his way to Brittany where he not only discovers the fate of his in-laws but also uncovers a plot which threatens to topple the British monarchy. Fighting against a sinister secret society in a race against time, Pryce battles to thwart the plans of a Parisian spymaster and his agents in London.
The Fate of Kings is the first in a series of gripping spy thrillers that will engross readers of C.J. Sansom, Dan Brown, as well as the many avid watchers of Poldark and Grantchester. In the first years of the British Secret Service, Thomas Pryce truly is the original James Bond.

Thomas Pryce

A Guest Post by Mark Stibbe

The idea for the Thomas Pryce novels came to me at the end of 2012, when I was living in Kent. My wife decided I needed cheering up so she booked us into afternoon tea at Bleak House in Broadstairs. A venue with the word ‘bleak’ might not have seemed the best cure for melancholy but it turned out to be an inspired act of kindness. While we were there, we saw the desk where Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield and the museum in the musty cellars of the house, dedicated to the Kent smugglers and their trade in the 1790s and early 1800s.

That night I couldn’t get to sleep and it was as I lay reflecting on the Broadstairs experience that the figure of Thomas Pryce began to emerge in my imagination – a Vicar during the same historical period who becomes a spy for the newly emerging Secret Service in 1793. I had always been fascinated by this period of history since my childhood. The old adage, ‘write what you know’ came to mind and so I started to re-read all my old books on the Terror and the Napoleonic wars, as well as buy and read a lot of new ones. Twelve stories began to form around the figure of Thomas Pryce as I did.

In May 2015, after writing the first draft of the first story, The Fate of Kings, I invited my old friend G.P.Taylor to collaborate on the project, with a special mandate for him to turn the novels into film or TV screenplays. Graham has also loved this period of history since he was a boy. His first, best-selling novel, Shadowmancer, was based near this time and has many fans throughout the world. I am one of them.

Finally, the figure of Thomas Pryce taps into both of our own stories in powerful ways. We were both formerly Church of England Vicars, as Pryce is, so we understand from personal experience the challenges of clergy life, as well as the moral conflicts that being a man of the cloth and at the same time a flawed human being can generate, especially when living, as Pryce does, in a context of continuous moral dilemmas.

Writing about what we know has meant not only bringing Napoleonic history into our storytelling. It has also meant importing aspects of our own histories too.

About Mark Stibbe

Dr Mark Stibbe is an award-winning Christian author who has over thirty popular books and five academic books in print.

His academic books are required reading in universities and seminaries all over the world. Recently Mark has taken to writing works of fiction and is currently collaborating with G.P. Taylor in developing a series of novels about an English spy vicar in the time of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Mark is founder and CEO of KWS (Kingdom Writing Solutions), a holistic service for Christian writers. He is also a popular contributor at writer’s conferences and workshops and has recently started Stibbe Webinars, a web-based interactive teaching and training initiative.

You can follow Mark on Twitter @markstibbebooks. You can also visit his website for writers.

About G. P. Taylor

Graham Peter (G. P.) Taylor is a motorcyclist and former rock band roadie turned Anglican minister. His first novel, Shadowmancer, reached number 1 on the New York Times Best Sellers List and has been translated into 48 languages. G. P Taylor lives in North Yorkshire with his wife and three children.

You can visit G. P. Taylor’s website.

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It gives me very great pleasure to welcome back Lynda Stacey to Linda’s Book Bag to celebrate today’s publication of House of Christmas Secrets with an interview. Lynda previously introduced us here on the blog to Madeleine, one of her characters from another of her books House of Secrets, and you can read that post here.

Published today, 5th December 2017, by Choc Lit, House of Christmas Secrets is available for purchase here.

House of Christmas Secrets

This year we’re just going to have a nice, normal Christmas…

Last year’s Christmas at Wrea Head Hall didn’t quite go to plan which is why Jess Croft is determined this festive season will be the one to remember, for the right reasons. And she has plenty of reasons to be hopeful, she’s going to marry the man of her dreams, Jack Stone, seven days after New Year’s Eve.

However, as family secrets are revealed in hidden letters and two unexpected guests turn up on the doorstep, Jess is left wondering whether her life will ever be the same again.

Can Jess and Jack still experience a peaceful festive season that they had imagined or are there some problems that even Christmas can’t fix?

An Interview with Lynda Stacey

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag, Lynda. Thank you so much for agreeing to answer some questions on my blog about your writing and House of Christmas Secrets in particular. Firstly, please could you tell me a little about yourself?

HI Linda. Thank you so much for having me on you blog.

You want to know about me? Really… Lol…Well, I’m really quite boring. I work full time as a Sales Director, which means I get a fancy title in return for a lot of extra hours worked. I live in the countryside, in a small hamlet and if I didn’t go for a long walk to the end of the drive, I wouldn’t even know that I have neighbours. I can honestly say that I’ve lived here for ten years and still I have no idea of who lives next door but one.

Most of my days are a little like groundhog day, I get up, I go to work, I get home, eat tea and by 6pm I’m sat in front of the log fire in my pj’s. This is when I try to fit in a little writing, after which I go to bed and it all starts again.

Why do you write?

Because I feel that I have a story to tell. The stories build inside me and the characters begin to take over my thoughts. If I didn’t write it all down, they’d annoy the hell out of me until I did.

When did you realise you were going to be a writer?

At a very young age. I can’t ever remember not wanting to write a book. I had a real wish to see my name on the front of one.

I always loved books and used to go to the library all the time and I distinctly remember my mum having to take whole bundles of books off of me, tutting and saying, ‘Darling, you can only borrow six… just six… not all of them.’

Which aspects of your writing do you find easiest and most difficult?

Easiest… lol..! None of it…!

I’m full of ideas, but with very little by way of ‘good’ education, I struggle with it all. I work very hard to create scenes, to keep the emotion in the words and to ensure that something happens on every page.

I really don’t find any part of it easier than another. All I know is that from somewhere the story emerges and if I’m honest, I have no idea where it comes from. Many times I read back what I’ve written and I astound myself with what it says.

What are your writing routines and where do you do most of your writing?

I try to write on an evening. But I do prefer to write early in a morning. I like to get up while the house is quiet. It’s a time when I can get lost in the scene.

Your own life has been quite unpredictable. How has this led to your career as a novelist?

You’re right. My life has been a little unpredictable and certainly challenging, however I don’t allow my past to cloud my future, although I do use my experiences to give my novels emotion. I also think that my history has given me a strength and a determination to succeed and I wanted to make my mum proud, I really did… and if she’d lived she would have been proud. Even though it did take me a long time to realise that I really didn’t need to do anything very special, she’d still have been proud of me.

(I know your Mum would have been immensely proud Lynda.)

Without spoiling the plot, please could you tell us a bit about House of Christmas Secrets?

This was the book that I was never going to write. I’ve watched far too many film sequels that really didn’t live up to expectations. But, everyone kept asking me to write it, especially my publisher. And, how can you say no to your publisher… it’s impossible. I spent a long time thinking about how to write it. In House of Secrets, I’d pretty much thrown everything that I could at my heroine Madeleine and even I couldn’t be that cruel as to throw some more at her, so I picked up her sister’s story. Jess played quite a part in House of Secrets and I felt that she really should have her own story, besides she had one or two unanswered questions of her own, which I felt really deserved an answer.

House of Christmas Secrets follows House of Secrets. What essential elements do readers need to know about that first book to enjoy House of Christmas Secrets?

I’ve tried very hard to make this book stand alone. I bring some of the history back via memories, but I really hope that anyone reading House of Christmas Secrets wouldn’t feel as though they’ve missed out if they didn’t first read House of Secrets. Although of course, I’d love for the readers to buy and read both.

Many readers tell me they don’t read Christmas themed books before December. What do you think to this philosophy of reading?

Wow… I don’t know. I’ve never felt that it has to be a certain time of year to read a book. You don’t only read beach books on holiday, do you? If I love the author, or the subject, I’d be happy to read it at any time. I really do hope it’s picked it up all year round and that the word ‘Christmas’ doesn’t make people feel as though it’s only a book for December.

To what extent do you agree that a Christmas setting lends itself to books centred on relationships?

House of Christmas Secrets is definitely a book about relationships, however it literally could have been set at any time of the year, with the same storyline. Most people feel that Christmas is the perfect time of the year for love… personally I just think that December is cold.

You were part of the Romantic Novelists Association New Writers’ Scheme. How did this impact on your writing and what advice would you give to other aspiring writers?

I was part of the RNA New writers scheme. I felt that it gave me a fabulous platform on which to learn. Once other authors found out you were on the scheme, they tended to take pity on you a little and give you little nuggets of valuable information that they probably wouldn’t have felt comfortable advising someone who’d published half a dozen books.

What advice would I give… GO FOR IT, focus and keep going. If it’s your dream to become an author, don’t give up. If I can do it… you can do it…! x

(I’ll bear that in mind if I ever stop blogging long enough to complete my own novel!)

When you’re not writing, what do you like to read?

Mmmmm, time to read, that would be nice. I rarely ever read unless I’m on holiday. At which time I love to read books by my many author friends.

If you could choose to be a character from House of Christmas Secrets, who would you be and why?

Oh, I’d love to be Nomsa. She works at the hotel in the kitchens and whatever happens she puts the kettle on and spends her days feeding everyone.

If House of Christmas Secrets became a film, who would you like to play Jess and why would you choose them?

That’s a really difficult question. Jess is of mixed race, she has crazy wayward hair that never looks brushed, but always looks perfect… my problem is that I don’t know of any actresses that look like this. So, maybe it’d be a chance for a newcomer.

Finally, Lynda, if you had 15 words to persuade a reader that House of Christmas Secrets should be their next read, what would you say?

This is so much more than a novel about Christmas, it’s about love & family.

Thank you so much for your time in answering my questions Lynda.

About Lynda Stacey

Lynda, is a wife, step-mother and grandmother, she grew up in the mining village of Bentley, Doncaster, in South Yorkshire.

She is currently the Sales Director of a stationery, office supplies and office furniture company in Doncaster, where she has worked for the past 25 years. Prior to this she’d also been a nurse, a model, an emergency first response instructor and a PADI Scuba Diving Instructor … and yes, she was crazy enough to dive in the sea with sharks, without a cage. Following a car accident in 2008, Lynda was left with limited mobility in her right arm. Unable to dive or teach anymore, she turned to her love of writing, a hobby she’d followed avidly since being a teenager.

Her own life story, along with varied career choices helps Lynda to create stories of romantic suspense, with challenging and unpredictable plots, along with (as in all romances) very happy endings.

Lynda joined the Romantic Novelist Association in 2014 under the umbrella of the New Writers Scheme and in 2015, her debut novel House of Secrets won the Choc Lit & Whole Story Audiobooks Search for a Star competition.

She lives in a small rural hamlet near Doncaster, with her ‘hero at home husband’, Haydn, whom she’s been happily married to for over 20 years.

You can follow Lynda on Twitter @LyndaStacey, find her on Facebook and visit her website.