A weekend in France

We spent this weekend in the lovely French town of Montreuil-sur-mer which is situated in the Nord Pas-de-Calais not far from Etaples, although the sea is some miles away.

A short drive from Calais and not far from Le Touquet, this old town is contained within medieval ramparts where you will find cobblestoned streets with restaurants, cafes and hotels all offering traditional French food and lovely accommodation. The ramparts are accessible and when strolling around the boundary visitors have splendid views over the French countryside. We did this on Sunday morning after breakfast and were rewarded with fine weather as the temperature rose into the mid-twenties, (centigrade).

We went to Montreuil to celebrate a cousin’s birthday, why you might ask would we do that.

Our cousin decided that she wanted to do something different for her birthday and having discovered Montreuil some time before wanted to re-visit the town, so we all decided to go and celebrate her birthday there.

If you are ever in this part of France and wondering where to visit, then Montreuil should not be missed. Stroll around the ramparts then sit in a cobbled lane outside a restaurant drinking coffee and soak up the restful atmosphere. You might care to do a little research as Montreuil also offers a number of festivals throughout the year where it's not uncommon for the residents and visitors to dress up in costumes of various sorts.

It's nice to be popular!

On Friday evening I went to my friend Carol's book launch.

I first met Carol when delivering a talk about writing novels to a group of people in my neighbouring town. We formed an alliance and for a time shared a table at many book fairs and craft events across the county. About eighteen months ago Carol launched her book 'Evil Woman' and she asked me to bring my books along to her event where I sold several copies of 'The Witness' and 'The Belgae Torc'.

I was not asked to share her book launch this time as she has become a more popular author and also I didn't think it appropriate to ask, however, I did slip a few copies of my books in the car. When I arrived at the event on Friday I was suprised to be greeted by some of the people there who had read my books and were very pleased to see me. They were also pleased to give feedback regarding my work. Inevitably they wanted my latest novel and of course I obliged by signing from the boot of my car. I felt a little guilty as there were people there at Carol's book launch who had turned up hoping to see me, they did not buy her book but mine instead. I don't think Carol noticed as she did very well with sales from her latest book, which is called 'Evil Woman, Takes Revenge'.

 

News update

Good news, the final part of The Torc Trilogy is coming along.  Last week I wrote 5000 words and this week, not a lot!  I have, however, been working on the notes for the next section and recon to have another 5000 words at least.  They will spill out onto the page probably after the weekend.

Whilst planning the next bit I have been editing and typing the work that I did last week, so have not been totally idol.
I’m working on a marketing idea with my publisher at the moment, but this will take a little while to set up.  I will keep you informed about that.
My on line marketing is always ongoing with Goodreads, kindleusersforum and other social media sites.  Any ideas that you might have about marketing I would be very happy to discuss.

Enough for now.

Have a great weekend wherever you are.

Keep safe and don’t drink too deeply from the cup!

 

The title explained

This is the reason behind my choice of title.

 

The Gordian Knot is a legend of Phrygian Gordian associated with Alexander the Great and is often used as a metaphor for an intractable problem.
I thought this an appropriate title because of the challenges facing my characters. The mystery and power surrounding the Belgae Torc has an effect on them all and this forms the basis of The Torc Trilogy.
As the plot is linked with both Germanic Paganism and Celtic mythology, I chose the Triquetra, a three cornered shape and symbol used by both Christians and Polytheists, as a foundation for some of the druidic rituals in the story. It is also an appropriate image for the cover of the book.
This particular design is influenced by an illustration in the Lindisfarne Gospels and although it's a Celtic or 'trinity knot', I think it symbolises the metaphor perfectly. The colour green and the Celtic element is for Orlagh and her Irish roots.
Every aspect of my novel is influenced by this magical design, and the title; The Gordian Knot, leads nicely into the final part of The Torc Trilogy, but that of course is another story.

The artwork used to craete my book cover

I'm now working on the final book in the trilogy and have a working title, (top secret)!
Now all I need to do is find an appropriate image.