Merville Battery Normandy, France

The Merville Battery is situated just a few kilometres from Le Bois des Monts and it was here that fierce fighting took place between the German gunners and men of the 9th Parachute Regiment.

A carefully restored Dakota, these aircraft were extensively used to drop parachute regiments into Normandy.  They were also used to tow gliders full of men and equipment to landing areas all over battle zone.

Views of just a couple of the fortifications used to house huge guns and German soldiers.  British paratroopers were given the task of taking out the guns that were aiming at the beach just a few kilometres away.  Many more Allied troops would have been killed if it was not for the para's, many of whom gave their lives to silence these guns, just before the beach landing began on 6th June 1944.

German soldiers manning one of  the guns that would have fired on the beach.

Le Bois des Monts, Normandy, France

Just returned from France.  We spent a week in Normandy near Caen staying at a family owned house high up on a ridge near Breville-Les-Monts.  The view over Caen, situated about 10km away, is spectacular with some of the best views from our bedroom.  We were able to sit in bed and look out over farmland whilst watching deer who visited the garden each morning.

Le Bois des Monts saw some fierce fighting during WWII and the house and gardens are regularly visited by men who fought there during the summer of 1944.

 

Views of Le Bois des Monts that served as British Headquarters during June 1944 as troops fought to secure the Normandy landings.

Literally just across the road German soldiers were stationed in the Châteaux.

There are several dedications to the men who fought and died here scattered along the road and in the villages.  This one stands at the entrance to the garden and is dedicated to the men of the Black Watch Highlanders.

Today Le Bois des Monts is a happy and peaceful place ideal for a holiday.

The heated swimming pool is a fantastic place to relax and unwind after a busy day.

The extensive grounds are a beautiful place to stroll.  There are woodpeckers, owls and a range of other wild birds to be seen.  Deer also visit the garden in the morning and evening.  There is also a tack room and stables in the grounds.

More pictures from Camberley

Daisy White's Booktique arrived at Camberley on 1st February.  We were there in the shopping Mall to promote our books and artwork, and to cause a little mayhem!



Some of us soon got into the spirit of things and began transforming into furry creatures

Carol, author of Evil Woman and Laura, artist and writer





Our young models, Chloe and Pearl, with me acting the fool





Our models at work advertising our books, Evil Woman and The Witness



We had a great time, many of the shoppers joined us for photographs and were generally keen to hear about the art of writing novels. 



Book promotion and other stuff!

We had a great day in Camberley on Saturday 1st February.  I finally met Daisy, author and owner of Daisy White's Booktique.  She organises promotional events for artists and writers all over the South of England, (and expanding up north)!, under the banner or 'Daisy White's Pop up Shops'.

As you can see, I decided to go dressed as an eccentric, (or mad), author.  It did the trick as people stopped to have their photgraphs taken with me, some even just took pictures of my shoes!

Hopefully there will some more pictures of this event soon.

Other News

The next book in 'The Torc Trilogy' is pretty much finished, just checking the ending to make sure enough loose ends have been tied.  I'm now fully committed to the first edit, trying to find and iron out all the awkward bits.  It will be a few months yet before this process is complete as the manuscript has to be proof read and tweeked to perfection.

I'm also working on the design for the cover.  I want it to be in keeping with The Belgae Torc and have some ideas as how it should look.  I will be working quite closely with Mark, my publisher, regarding the artwork and design.

The third and final part of the trilogy is begining to form in my head and I have notes and research material piling up in my study.  I must get those into a folder before they find their way into the recycling bin!

I'm off to France for a few days from next weekend, so you never know, I might chance upon inspiration for something completely new.  I'm working on notes for another book in the series that follows The Witness, it won't be a sequel, but some of the character in The Witness will also appear in the next book.  I'm hoping to produce five books that overlap in someway.  I'm quite excited about this as characters are popping up all the time and they all have their stories to tell!

Booktique event in Camberley, UK

I will be dressing up as an 'eccentric author' for the day and giving out information about my books whilst talking to people about fitting in writing novels when holding down a full time job.  As you can see in the poster, The Belgae Torc has become 'The Belgae Torch'!  Never mind, I can live with that.

Whitstable, my home town.

Whitstable Harbour is a small fishing harbour a few minutes walk from the town.

When my Dad was a boy he used to swim in the harbour.  He and his mates would tie a bicycle to a piece of rope and ride it over the edge, they could then pull it up and have another go.

The oldest railway in the world used to run from Canterbury, (about 10 miles away), into the harbour and there was a station there, but not much remains of that today.

This is part of a selection of sheds, small retail units that form Whitstable Harbour Village.  Live music is played here at the quayside bar which is really popular with visitors.  I have been known to buy hats from the shed that is partially hidden in the background. :-)

A view of the beach showing 'the street', a spit of land that appears at low tide, it runs out into the bay for about a mile.  The Isle of Sheppey can be seen in the background.

Whitstable beach is stony but the water sport and swimming is good.

There are windmills about eight miles off shore.  The Greta, and old Thames Barge, offers boat trips from the harbour in the summer, you can go out to see the windmills and World War Two forts in the estuary.  Seals can often be found basking on the sandbanks.  

Whitstable, (Tankerton), Castle where you can have your wedding ceremony, party or just take tea in the orangery.

My grandfather told me some stories about this place but they are for another time.

These pictures were taken on Saturday 25th January.  The weather as you can see is lovely, the temperature is about ten degrees C.  One of my favourite sayings is 'The sun always shines in Whitstable'.  :-)

First blog of the year

I can't believe how quickly the year is going already. Before Christmas was busy enough with book signing events and trying desperately to hit my deadline and finish the sequel to The Belgae Torc. The sequel is almost done; I have about 120,000 words in their raw state which desperately need editing. I still have to write a suitable ending which leads nicely into the third and final book in the series. This is proving to be the problem. I have the ending in mind but my characters keep on prolonging the last few chapters, it’s as if they don't want this book to end. Anyway, apart from that, I'm back on the road attending book signing events. The first was in Ramsgate, England on the south eastern coast near to where I live. It was a good day with loads of people attending a craft fair and looking in on what my colleague Carol, another author, and I were all about. We did sell a few books between us but I ran out of literature and bookmarks, I completely underestimated the number of people who would be about this soon after Christmas.

Carol and I at The Custom House, Ramsgate, Kent UK 18th January 2014

Margaret, one of my fans!, at The Canterbury Library September 2013