STORYWORLD

While doing research for my last two books ( The Savage Instinct and A Proper Lady ) I kept coming across a term that was used to define the role of women during the Victorian era. The term Angel at the Hearth or Angel in the House defined the ideal image and essence of womanhood. It was widely portrayed in the art and literature of the time and was used as a standard to define the perfect woman, mother and wife. This idea actually gave rise to a whole genre of painting known as domestic pictures in which the ideal wife was portrayed as an earthly though angelic Madonna, soothing, comforting and submitting to her husband. Selflessly encouraging, watching over and nurturing her children while presiding over a well ordered, highly moral household. A poet named Coventry Patmore actually coined the term in his narrative poem The Angel in the House, first published in 1854 and   dedicated his first wife, Emily, whom he considered the ideal woman. Emily Patmore, painted by J...

So a long, lazy summer has just begun and it's time to get outside and enjoy the sun. The flowers are planted, the lawn seeded, watered and groomed and all your garden knick-knacks and solar lights set up. Here's a photo of our backyard. My husband keeps sneaking out and buying more lights and ornaments. The latest one is the lighthouse with a revolving solar light. And he's threatening to bring in some garden gnomes. As if the pelican with the knapsack isn't enough! So now what? It's time to enjoy it all with some great food, drink and fun! COCKTAILS ON THE DECK: There's nothing better than having friends over for a deck party and sipping on some cool summer cocktails. Check out these great recipes from Pinterest. Blood orange margarita: a rich, tangy taste! Get the recipe her e I'm very partial to gin-based cocktails, so here's another one for a cool basil cucumber gin cocktail from Host the Toast Cool raspberry lemonade sangria. ...

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 feudi...

There's a rule in the fiction world that you never send a pitch to an editor or agent unless you have a finished manuscript, unlike the world of journalism where you can pitch just an idea. Unfortunately, not all authors observe this rule. Me included. I recently made the mistake of getting so caught up with an event that occurs on Twitter called Pitmad , I submitted an idea for a book I haven't actually finished. Let's put it this way - the first half is done, but the second half is badly in need of revision. Pitmad is an event held once every month or second month. Authors are able to pitch the log line for their novel twice an hour for the duration of the event, which goes on for most of the day. Editors and literary agents are alerted to the event and watch out for pitches that interest them. If they favourite your pitch it means they want to read a sample of your work. So basically you sit on the computer all day and plug in your pitch, then wait for the agents to...

THE SAVAGE INSTINCT, release date May 18th 2021 It's been almost eight years since I made the startling discovery that the street just around the corner from my grandmother's house in Hetton-le-Hole, Tyne and Wear, UK was actually the birthplace of Mary Ann Cotton, one of Britain's most prolific murderers. Once I started reading about her case and the sensation it caused in the newspapers of the time (1872-73), I knew I had to write a novel inspired in some way by the events at the time. I didn't want to write it from the murderer's point of view. Many articles written since that time have argued about the extent of Cotton's guilt, and there is still wide disagreement about how many people she actually killed. Instead I was more interested in how the case influenced the men and women reading the newspapers at the time and how it caused sensation and outrage at a time when women's roles were restricted to the domestic sphere, and fulfilling one...

Sorry it's been a while since I posted. Sometimes you just get lost in your various projects and caught up with submissions to publishers. Well - after a long and torturous process, my historical novel, UNNATURAL, was passed by major publishers despite the overwhelmingly positive feedback it received . This happens in the publishing industry and you just have to keep on going. So I took a good look at the manuscript and decided to publish it myself. I've had great luck with THE PITMAN'S DAUGHTER which continues to sell steadily and hit the Amazon bestseller list several times. I've renamed the book THE SAVAGE INSTINCT and I'll explain why. The book is mainly about the perception of women in the Victorian era, a time when women's sole purpose was to be "the angel at the hearth" - a wife and mother selflessly devoted to her family. A person who had few, if any rights as an individual and owned no property because what was hers, was automatically ...