STORYWORLD

GREAT NEWS!  THE PITMAN'S DAUGHTER is now available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback versions.  Right now it's available on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca  Check out my author page here  to find it. This story of love, survival and ambition paints an authentic portrait of the North East and tells the story of four very different people: Rita Hawkins, the pitman's daughter who struggles to leave Crag Street; George Nelson, the "golden boy" and aspiring union leader; Maggie Willis, abused mother of seven; and Ella Danby the meddling street gossip. This novel was a finalist in the Chapters/Robertson Davies First Novel in Canada Award.  Be among the first to read it and send your feedback to me via the blog or my Facebook Fan page. But be warned - there's some racy content in it! Hope you enjoy!

Marjorie DeLuca's Storyworld: The pleasure and pain of finding a Soul Mate : Absence extinguishes small passions and increases great ones, as the wind will blow out a candle, and fan a fire . -  Franco...

Absence extinguishes small passions and increases great ones, as the wind will blow out a candle, and fan a fire . -  Francois de La Rochefoucauld Over the centuries writers have been fascinated by the idea that when it comes to love there is one perfect person out there, meant just for you, and when you meet this person your life will change forever.  You'll be drawn to them in a way you've never experienced before - with a deep, natural attraction that tells you this person absolutely must be a part of your life or you can never be happy. This person will stay in your soul, haunt your dreams and cause a longing so fierce that all other relationships are doomed.  Romantic tragedies are built around this idea and some of the greatest love stories - in books, movies and real life, are tales of soul mates struggling against all odds to be together, in some cases until they die. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet:the original star-crossed lovers from f

I've been writing seriously for the last sixteen years but I can definitely say the publishing industry has changed drastically in that time.  I'll tell you a story of THEN and NOW and it's all linked to my experiences with my novel, THE PITMAN'S DAUGHTER (due out on August 31st) THEN: I created the early drafts of this novel between 1997-1999.  Much of it was written when I studied Advanced Creative Writing with the late Carol Shields, Pulitzer Prizewinning author and wonderful teacher as well as mentor. Encouraged by support for the story I applied for local Arts Council Grants and received three. When it was complete I composed a query letter and SENT IT DIRECT TO PUBLISHERS!! And not just any publisher - I sent it to Random House US, UK and Canada, as well as Penguin, Harper Collins, McMillan and numerous other huge publishing houses.  They all requested a full manuscript.  I was over the moon.  I sent them and waited.  And waited some more. Then some more.  T

A preview of the beautiful cover for my new historical novel, The Pitman's Daughter. Designed by professional cover artist   Jeanine Henning , it captures the setting and mood of the novel.  Here's a quick blurb about the book: Rita Hawkins fought all her life to escape from Crag Street,  the grimy street of colliery houses where gossip reigned, tuberculosis killed, and mining families slaved to make ends meet. There she met George, the last surviving son of a poor mining family  forced against his wishes to start work as a miner. Her life becomes inextricably tied up with his but love eludes them, though events in their lives constantly throw them together.   George the high-minded idealist gets caught up with the miner’s union, while cold, hard cash drives Rita, the pragmatist, towards independence and success in business. Their relationship is complicated by the tragic Maggie, abused wife of seven children and Ella, the childless street gossip with h

Marjorie DeLuca's Storyworld: ANOTHER GREAT REVIEW FOR "THE FOREVER ONES" : Happy Writer! Getting a positive review for your stories really spurs you on to keep writing. The latest review for THE FOREVER ONES ...

Happy Writer! Getting a positive review for your stories really spurs you on to keep writing. The latest review for THE FOREVER ONES comes from     +Zili Robins   at her great Zili in the Sky blog based in the UK.  Check it out here at  http://ziliinthesky.blogspot.ca  More reviews to come soon.  Now I'll really have to buckle down and try to finish Volume 2 of The Iduna Project, which will be entitled THE PARASITES.   So if you haven't picked up your copy of the book (available in paperback or Kindle on Amazon), now's the time to do it! THE PITMAN'S DAUGHTER update.  I'll be revealing the professionally designed cover in the next few days and letting you know when the book will be available!

Marjorie DeLuca's Storyworld: WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM? : As a writer you have to be constantly alert to everything around you.  Snippets of conversations, unusual images, incidents, interactions, s...

As a writer you have to be constantly alert to everything around you.  Snippets of conversations, unusual images, incidents, interactions, smells, sounds, dreams and odd ideas that just pop into your head.  You mull these experiences around in your head until you come up with a "what if" idea. Here's how I got the idea for some of my novels: UNNATURAL : I discovered that serial poisoner, Mary Ann Cotton had spent the early years of her life just around the corner from my grandma's house.  When I read more about her and discovered she murdered husbands, children and step-children then gave birth to another child in prison I thought what if a childless woman became obsessed with trying to understand why someone would murder their own children. THE PITMAN'S DAUGHTER : My parents and grandparents lived in an area of Durham County UK that had been the centre of coal mining.  On a visit there in the 1980's I was amazed to see the mines had all shut down a