June Gadsby - Writer

MORE GLORY GIRLS!

2007-04-01T08:07:00.000-07:00

There's still something magical in holding one's own published book in one's hands - touching it, hugging it, reading it, even - because you can never quite believe that it's yours. You think of all the years you slogged, contributing to agent after agent, publisher after publisher - and only rejection at the end of the day. Well, if you keep at it, the rejections have a good chance of turning into acceptances - mine did. But not until I looked at my writing with a critical eye. Now, I know the pitfalls - there weren't that many, really, but get them wrong and refuse to rectify the writing to suit those "experts" out there and you might as well give up.

I got my author's copies of THE GLORY GIRLS ahead of the publication date of 30th March 2007, just in time to take one to my mother for Mother's Day. A little late, but ne'rer mind. Edith (87) has just gone into permanent residential care in north-east England, which is a long way from where I live here in Gascony, south-west France. Last week was horrendous, travelling over to my old home-ground, but with no time to visit friends or see my favourite places, except Newcastle, but we had to rush that, fitting in visits to solicitor, banks and essential shopping for Mum.

Everything, including the travel (which I hate) ,went incredibly smoothly, thanks to the help and generosity of all concerned. And even the weather did us proud.

I am now back in Gascony, sorting things out at this end, and hoping to get back to grips with the new novel - VOICES OF THE MORNING - a saga of the twenties and thirties which features the Jarrow Crusade and has the usual murder and mayhem entertwined with romance.

The weather here? Colder than usual, but showing sunny promise and I can't wait to get out into the garden and do some physical slog. Got to get the place looking good for our Peruvian inlaws visiting in May - and we're also thinking in terms of selling up and downsizing. So, it's hands on to decluttering the place from now on - and that's no fun, I can assure you, with me an artist and writer and my husband a photographer - clutter galore!

Well, it's time for an aperitif and feet up. Speak to you soon!

THE GLORY GIRLS ARRIVE!

2007-02-17T08:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, the day is soon to arrive. The Glory Girls is officially published on the 30th March 2007. The real 'glory girls', the FANYs (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry) will be celebrating their centenary in November of this year and I hope that my book is, in some way, a dedication to their bravery, especially in times of war.

It is, of course, a fictitious tale, despite all the research I did in the writing of it. It's the only book I've ever written, in haste and under pressure of deadline - and all because I mentioned to my agent, Bob Tanner of International Scripts, that the centenary was coming up - I'd come across this information while doing research for the current novel I was writing - and he got a mite animated. Before I knew where I was I was agreeing to wite a book in less than six months and I had done no research, nor did I even have the vaguest of storylines. However, once I started delving into the past of the FANYs, there was no doubt in my mind that I would soon have enough inspiration to create a full-length novel. It was completed in three months. My agent expected a saga. I gave him, in his own words, a wartime thriller.

But my following of readers need not fear. I have always included as much suspense in my books as I possibly could, as well as a nice line in romance. The Glory Girls will not disappoint my readers and, I hope, will attract many more who like a bit of "oomph" along with their love stories.

Just to whet your appetites, here is the blurb from the inside jacket of the book: Mary, Anne, Iris and tough little Effie form a formidable group when in 1939, they join the FANYs, euphemistically calling themselves "The Glory Girls". However, the glory they dreamed of is short-lived as their unit moves from the London blitz to occupied France. Forbidden love, betrayal and tragedy stalk them and as their personal courage is tried - and sometimes found lacking - survival seems to depend largely on luck...

The main heroine is Mary, named after one of my real heroines and good friend, Mary Lambert, who served in the Forces during the Second World War, herself something of a writer and very brave, in her eighties, after being diagnosed with cancer, did stunts for Cancer charities, such as riding on the back of a Harley Davision motorbike (the local north-eastern group adopted her); abseiling from cliffs and high buildings and doing a free-fall in tandem from a plane. She insisted on helping me with my research and was thrilled to know that there would be a dedication in the book for her. Unfortunately, while preparing for her latest stunt last year, Mary died peacefully in her sleep, before seeing the book in print. She is a very much missed friend.

What am I doing now? Well, I'm working on a saga inspired by another long-dead acquaintance and the famed Jarrow march of the thirties - a new era for me. Progress has, unfortunately, been slower than usual due to "life getting in the way", but I'm finally getting things under control, so look out everybody - there's more love, history, murder and mayhem on the way!

Hard work

2006-10-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

So far, I've been lucky. Not a lot to correct, revise or edit. This time it was different and it wiped the smug look from my face. I had finished the latest novel in record time, being pushed along by a very tight deadline (my first!). The Glory Girls was researched and written in three months. Had it been an ordinary story about contemporary folk set any time after the war, it would have been different. But this story was special, involving those "glorious girls", the FANYs. And there was a timescale that was so easy to get wrong - and I did. I'm not making excuses, but the Ts winged its way back to me for correction at the very worst possible moment in my life just now. Lessons have been learned, I can tell you. Never put forward an idea to agent or publisher unless you're ready to zoom away, prepared to fit everything into whatever time they give you. I didn't even have a storyline - just an idea for a type of novel because a centenary was coming up soon.

Well, I've had the publishing date put back to March instead of February 2007, and today I was relieved to be able to print off the corrected version. Now, all that remains is to read it through carefully, every word, checking with the editor's comments as I go and, fingers crossed, it should soon be on its way back to London, all flags flying.

Right now I'm off for a well-earned feet up in front of the tele - well, after dinner, that is, and after the husband has had his fill of football for a Saturday evening. Tomorrow I'll start tackling the re-read and hope the editor doesn't start shouting before I finish.

THE GLORY GIRLS (2)

2006-09-23T05:59:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I've been so quiet for so long. It's been a funny old year so far - apart from The Glory Girls being accepted for publication and the appearance of a novella and a short novel for D C Thomson, things have been quiet - if you can call the holiday from Hell in Spain where I was interrogated and robbed by bogus policemen 'quiet'.

I've been writing, but not as hard as I usually do, certainly not as hard as I would have liked, but life forces kind of got in the way. Things are now sorting themselves out, thankfully, because I've just received lots of queries from my editor on The Glory Girls, so it's head down and forge ahead from now on. The book is due to appear on 28th February 2007.

Once the edits are taken care of, I'll push on with finishing a novella I've been working on, plus a contemporary novel, which is about half way through.

Home news? We've had a long heatwave, a violent storm that demolished a couple of our lovely trees, and now some really welcome cooler weather. For us, it's the visitor season, so I try to write around friends and relatives, which isn't easy. Roll on November and the long, winter nights - long, fruitful days in the office and evenings in front of our log fire. And maybe I'll even find time to continue researching my family tree.

THE GLORY GIRLS!

2006-06-10T03:44:00.000-07:00

I managed to meet the very tight deadline and in less than 4 months THE GLORY GIRLS was finished and submitted, days before I went on holiday. On my return to France, I found an e-mail from my agent saying it had been accepted - talk about being cockahoop! I've just signed the contract and am waiting to hear when it will be published - but probably sometime in 2007 since it coincides with the centenary of the FANYs (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry) and the Glory Girls of the title are FANYs during the Second World War. The research was pretty horrendous, even though I used a tiny fraction of what I turned up from books, Internet and the FANYs themselves. The next step will be editing, liaising with the professional editors of Robert Hale, and, in the meantime, I'm writing something entirely different.

TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH (Review)

2006-06-10T03:40:00.000-07:00

My latest book, TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, was published on 30th December 2005, but only today have I discovered a superb review and I'm thrilled to have it - they don't get much better than this. Have a look and judge for yourselves:

http:/www.myshelf.com/romance/06/totheendsoftheearth.htm

I've not heard of Rachel A Hyde, but bless hear heart, she's done me proud!

NEW PUBLICATION

2006-04-16T00:29:00.000-07:00

The bad news (well, not really bad) is that I'm breathlessly racing towards my first real deadline, which is to get the current novel to the publisher this month. Having just started writing it in January, I've been working to a pretty tight schedule, as you can imagine.

The good news is that my first (little) book with People's Friend Story Collection is on the shelves of WHS and, hopefully, other bookstores, as of this week. VALLEY of DREAMS (Series No. 550) is a romance set in my own breathtakingly beautiful Pyrenees here in south-west France. It's a bit of a tear-jerker. Alex is ten. In the absence of his own dad, he seems to have adopted the Frenchman as a father-figure, which draws his mother, Kelly, and Jean-Paul together too, with a magnetism that is hard to resist... Enjoy!

There's more!

2006-03-27T02:17:00.000-08:00

And, of course, I forgot to mention that My Weekly Story Collection have accepted another novella - VALLEY OF BRAVE HEARTS (set in the Lake District) - and I'm waiting to hear from People's Friend to see if they are going to accept a second short novel - PILGRIMS OF PASSION (set in the French Pyrenees). I had quite forgotten about those two items. It's been a long, grey winter here in Gascony, but now the sun is back and the garden is full of colour and I'm starting to come out of hibernation and unwrapping the cotton wool and cobwebs from around my brain - and writing up a storm!

New work in progress

2006-03-27T01:39:00.000-08:00

With the latest book published at the end of January - TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH - I was already working on another when, while researching, I came upon a piece of information that planted the seed of an exciting idea in my brain. My agent liked it and was delighted to hear that I was willing to pursue it, but panic set in when he said the book had to be finished by June 2006. But you don't hang about when an agent or a publisher get's animated over your work. The ongoing book was duly put aside, to be finished at a later date, and I started researching and writing the new one - feverishly, because it didn't seem possible that I could do it in time. However, once the panic in me subsided, I found the story rolling along and here I am at the end of March and the story is complete in it's final draft. I'm letting it rest for a week, to distance myself from it, then it's a case of giving it a final edit, tie up the loose ends, correct what needs to be corrected, then off it goes to the agent and fingers crossed. I'm not telling you what it's about as yet, but the title is THE GLORY GIRLS and it's a wartime saga.

And because I need a bit of a change, I'm today setting out on the trail of a love story. Not a saga in sight, but I'll be back in history soon - can't keep me away.

What's New?

2005-12-05T07:01:00.000-08:00

It's a while since I posted - too many things going on in my world. However, the last few months have been quite productive in terms of new publications. In September and November respectively, novellas The Safe Heart and The Miracle of Love were re-published in Large Print. The Safe Heart has a Provence background with murder and mayhem at the centre of its romantic heart. The Miracle of Love is a Christmas tale of romance and mystery and, according to my editor, is a real 'tear-jerker'. Wish I could write more in that genre.

The big news is the publication, on 31st December, of To The Ends Of The Earth, my 4th saga for Robert Hale, set mainly in Patagonia among Welsh and English immigrants, with a wild and beautiful Indios girl as the heroine. I so enjoyed writing this one, as it brought back nostalgic memories of my own time spent in Patagonia a few years ago. It's a touch on the Western side with gauchos and horses, but with the beautiful backdrop of glaciers and icebergs. I think my old granddad would enjoy reading it - he loved his cowboys and indians. The cover, I think, is quite different, and I really like it. I just hope my readers will give it the thumbs up.

New for 2006? The Large Print version of The Jealous Land is due out on 1st February - Marriage of convenience with murder and mayhem set in 1850's England and South Africa. Then in April/May, my first book for The People's Friend Story Collection will be published. My title is The Singing Valley, though it could possibly be changed by the editor. This is a love story set in the French Pyrenees involving a divorced woman, her ten year old son and a rather romantic Basque shepherd.

Work in Progress? I've just finished editing another novella, have a big saga ready for its final edit and am about a third of the way through the first draft of a new wartime saga, much in the semi-humourous style of When Tomorrow Comes. I've set myself an end of year deadline to get all three finished and ready to send to my agent, but I never make promises - even to myself. Life does tend to get in the way of them.

Wishing you all the compliments of the season, happy days, happy lives, happy reading.

A bad year, but...

2005-11-07T11:17:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's been a bit of a bad year, what with one thing and another. A couple of health scares and other things to dampen down the old enthusiasm and the morale. Plus, the writing has not been going like it should. Normally, I have no problem keeping the flow going, but 2005 has proved diffiucult in more ways than one. The contempoprary romance that I was writing proved to be as dull as ditchwater, so I ditched it. I'm now searching for a new idea. I've got lots in my files, but because I'm so used to writing contemporary novellas, for some reason I'm finding extending them into full-length novels quite difficult. Don't ask, because I don't have an answer. Just not in the mood, I suppose. No problem churning out sagas, however.

I did have a Large Print version of THE MIRACLE OF LOVE (a Christmas tearjerker novella) come out this month. I was quite pleased about that and Linford Romance certainly produce a very good book. Next month, my 4th saga is due to appear - TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH. I'm looking forward to that. The cover picture is quite good and really does depict one of the scenes in the book. For once there is not a heroine who bears no resemblance to my heroine. It does look a bit like a story about cowboys and indians, but I don't mind that. A large part of the story takes place in Patagonia around 1900 and, having visited Patagonia recently, it is very like the wild west, even today. Now, what am I going to do for this blessed contemporary novel?

BAD NEWS AND GOOD NEWS

2005-10-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

Hi folks! This is me and Candy on a local walk up in the Pyrenees a couple of weeks ago. I need these days occasionally - they happen all too rarely, I'm afraid - to blow away the cobwebs and empty the head of all the clutter that accumulates there. We're so lucky having this kind of terrain virtually on our doorstep.

The bad news is: My Christmas Play got the thumbs down from BBC Radio 4, but they did send a constructive crit. Unfortunately, they seemed to think that I should have made more of the homeless/drink/drugs background scenes. I touched too lightly on this aspect apparently, which is not surprising, really, since the story was actually about an old man and a bag lady and the granddaughter he didn't know he had, with a touch of fantasy thrown in - grown-up fairytale, you might say. Ah, well. Life's full of these small disappointments.

The good news is that I've put aside the contemporary novel I was writing, after tearing my hair out over the fact that I really wasn't enjoying writing the darned thing, and because of this, the writing wasn't flowing well. In fact, it was pretty pathetic. So, my still-born novel has been put to rest. Maybe I'll resurrect it some day, when I run out of fresh ideas in about 25 years time! So, I'm now working on another saga, having finished it once, then decided that I had condensed it too much to meet the publisher's demands. Well, it's a good story and cutting it down spoiled it for me, so I'm writing it now the way it was intended to be written. As far as I'm concerned, if I don't enjoy what I'm writing there's not much point in going on with it. I've set myself a deadline and hope it's finished and off to my agent before Christmas - that and the novella I'm also working on at present. So I'd better get the old finger out and get stuck in.

NEW BOOK OUT

2005-09-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I got things up and going again re my pc - now have new innards and a nice 17" flat screen monitor - wow what a difference.

Bookwise, I have a new novella out, a romantic suspense set in the South of France called THE SAFE HEART. This is published by Linford Romance Library in Large Print for people with sight problems - but it's very comfortable to read - and what a sexy cover they've given it.

TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH has now gone to press and will definitely be published in December and publishers Robert Hale have done me proud with a lovely cover depicting one of the scenes in the book, which takes place mainly in Patagonia.

I haven't been able to write today because we've been stormed upon and lots of rain, thunder and lightening dashing around, so everything's been unplugged. Still not sure that it's finished, so I may just go and do some editing of hard copy in front of the tele. I have various novels awaiting my attention and the sooner I can get them all finished and off to my agent, the sooner I can get started on something new - and that is an exciting thought.

PC CRASH!

2005-09-09T04:46:00.000-07:00

The very worst thing for a writer, other than having both arms in plaster, is that the PC should crash. That's what happened to me recently and I'm just coming out of weeks of hair-pulling stress, during which not a lot of writing got done. However, I'm up and running in full force again.

During the crash, my publisher sent me an urgent email and a request to okay the proposed book jacket of the new book coming out in December (TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, pub. Robert Hale). The email disappeared into cyber space and I didn't get it, but was contacted just in time for me to say go ahead rather than hold up publication.

The play ON THE SUNNY SIDE, is now lodged with BBC Radio 4, but they've warned me that it will take between 2 and 4 months to get feedback. It's my first attempt, so fingers crossed.

Before the pc crash I was working in overdrive, trying to keep all the balls in the air at one time, or in my case, too many balls. The anxiety this caused was affecting the quality of my writing, so I've re-grouped and have things back in control. As in I'm now concentrating on one thing at a time and telling my overactive imagination to wait! At present I'm about to tackle the closing chapters of a novella and this first draft should be finished sometime this weekend. The big heat of our Gascony summer seems to be coming to an end with cooler days and much needed rain, so it's more comfortable working in my office and also great for gardening.

THE SAGAS

2005-07-31T06:17:00.000-07:00

THE SAGAS
Published in hardback by Robert Hale, and in Large Print Format by Ulverscroft)

TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH (Robert Hale, December 2005)
Wild and beautiful, Gwyneth Johns is a Patagonian with a scandalous past that shocks the Victorian ladies of the small pioneering town in the Valdes Peninsula. She has sworn never to let any man get close, but her resolve is weakened by handsome Spaniard, Miguel, who is not all he seems. Then, new immigrants arrive from the northeast of England. Gentle giant Rob, his younger brother Davy and the hard-drinking, amoral Matt with his young and naïve wife. Gwyneth is called upon to teach them how to be gauchos. Reluctantly, she accepts the challenge – and risks losing her life and her newfound love to the cold glaciers of the Andes.

THE JEALOUS LAND (Robert Hale, 2005)
Following the death of her parents, Sophie is sent to live with relatives in London, where she is treated like a servant. Later, her chance to escape an imposed life of hardship comes in the form of Daniel Clayton – a formidable explorer and photographer.
Sophie agrees to his proposal of a loveless marriage, but this union plunges her into the midst of a family feud. She faces unforeseen treachery, a terrible secret in her husband’s past and her greatest dilemma yet.

WHEN TOMORROW COMES (Robert Hale, 2004)
Hildie Thompson is an eternal optimist, but even her indomitable sense of humour is shaken when war is declared. Hildie’s war, however, is a fight to the last to support her family and friends who are battling wars of their own. An unhappy marriage, an illicit love affair, infidelity, a pit disaster and a murder all within that one little mining family just about knocks Hildie off her perch. But, through it all, she must submerge her own lost secret dreams and make the best of things.
Then, when her famous ‘lovely day tomorrow’ finally dawns, she receives a mysterious letter that could change her life. But would it be for better or for worse?

THE IRON MASTER (Robert Hale, 2003)
Newcastle, 1908. turning down a proposal of marriage from her older employer is perhaps the first mistake in Ellie Martin’s young life. Leaving the professor and running back to a family in trouble is the second. A new beginning awaits them in Durham, but at what cost? Her mother, with a dark secret in her past, mysteriously obtains jobs for her men in an iron foundry – and Ellie finds the magic she dreams of with Adam, son of the ironmaster of ill repute.
However, the hatred harboured by Ellie’s mother for the Rockwells leads Ellie to believe that she is in love with her half-brother. And so she returns to Newcastle and tries to ignore her heart. Then Adam goes to war. But will love save the day?

Weekend Play

2005-07-30T05:16:00.000-07:00

What a laugh! I've just been asked what I find to do with my time here in France - question posed by Mr Negative (who shall remain nameless). He's the type that gets the hackles rising each time we speak - doesn't like this, won't do that. But enough of Mr N. It's the weekend, and at the weekend I play, potter and do just what I feel like doing - unless there's a pile of ironing to do and you will hear my cry: "I need a wife!" Male writers have it easy, believe me - but don't get me started on that.

This weekend, however, I'm still in writery mood and hope to make a start on my first radio play with a story that's been in my mind (and on paper as a short story) for a long time. It's a sort of bittersweet tale aimed at the Christmas pull-at-the-heartstrings market, if such a market exists. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing how I do. Otherwise, it will be a case of continuing with the wartime saga, which is going along nicely and rushing down the straight towards the end. Then I must spend time on the contemporary women's read, which is plodding along gamefully and Monsieur, who has just read the story so far, has given me the thumbs up - and believe me, he's my greatest critic and not beyond telling me if he thinks what I write is rubbish. We do have our little arguments when he says: "You can't have her doing that!" or "He wouldn't say that!" I always take his criticisms on board, then decide whether to go along with them, or throw them out..

We've had a couple of days of stormy weather here in Gascony, thank heavens, and the garden is beginning to breathe again (us too), but it's starting to warm up again this afternoon. What a good job Monsieur has finished stacking the 20 square metres of firewood that arrived this week. Well, that's all for now. I'm off to my proper job and that Christmas Play.

Too darned hot!

2005-07-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

It's the time of la canicule - in other words, the annual heatwave, which gets hotter every year. We had lunch on the patio where the temperature in dappled sun was 40C. We stuck it out, but it was a bad idea. Inside the house it was much cooler, and that's were Candy, my miniature Yorkie, retired very quickly, bless her. How can you explain to two kilos of dog why she's so hot? We have plenty of trees in our garden, but even in the shade it's too hot to sit out in the afternoon. Fortunately, I remembered to keep the shutters and windows shut this morning and it's just about bearable in my office with the fan going. A good job, too, because I really need to buckle down and do some work. Yesterday, an hour's coffee break with Maryse left me brain dead and with ears that drooped with fatigue. I don't think I said more than half a dozen words and I doubt she heard them. It's a while since we saw one another, so she had a full itinerary to report and did, from A to Z and back again! Tomorrow, it's the turn of Marie-Catherine. She, at least, leaves me space to practice my French, other than shrugs and nods. Okay, chapter 11 awaits and I'm looking forward to a bit of forties nostalgia.

The continuing saga

2005-07-26T23:43:00.000-07:00

I had breakfast in the patio this morning. It was beautifully cool at about 70F because the morning sun hadn't yet infiltrated. Last night I worked until 10 p.m. as usual, then went down to watch Silent Witness (BBC programmes for us are an hour later than in England).

The saga I'm working on is coming along fine. I edited three chapters last night. This is the story I was working on two years ago when my agent told me he would prefer something in a different period since I had only just had published WHEN TOMORROW COMES, which was also a wartime story. So, I shelved what I was doing and started out on something much more historic - an 1850's saga set in England and South Africa. Never having enjoyed history at school, here I was suddenly researching early trains and photography - and loving every minute of it. I spent a lot of time on the research, but it was worth it. THE JEALOUS LAND appeared in print in March of this year (and will be in Large Print soon), has had wonderful reviews, and now the publisher is going to enter it for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2006. Well, that was a turn up for the books. I'm still not touching ground after that bit of exciting news, though I know I stand little chance of coming near to winning the much coveted prize since there is so much tough competition from all over the world. The results will be known in February, so I intend to get back to earth, forget about it and just get on with the work in progress.

Speaking of which, I'd better get on and do something useful before friend Maryse comes for coffee. I have three larger than life good friends - all French - and Maryse is the largest of the three, in all ways. Hope you all have a good day.

NEW BLOG ON BLOCK

2005-07-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

Well, this is my first blog post and I have absolutely no idea what to say, having just failed at uploading a picture - bah! A 'techie' I am not. I'm sitting here in my office in Gascony (south-west France) and it's steaming hot, even with the fan going full blast. That's not the best working condition for a writer. I find that too much heat blocks the concentration, but having said that, I live in what I call my 'petit paradis' and it's here that I've known success as a writer after many years of trying. This morning I pottered about, not really doing much at all, apart from helping monsieur with the woodman - monsieur doesn't speak French, so I have to translate. We had coffee in the patio under the parasol and lunch in the back garden on the swing seat in the shade of a hawthorn tree looking at our very dry garden, but there is, nevertheless a gorgeous pink and feathery albezia tree in the centre which is flowering beautifully. Oops! Picture now appearing! Yes, that's me. Now, before it decides to disappear, I must save and get back to the writing. As soon as I have a minute to spare, I'll have a go at uploading some shots of 'petit paradis', as well as talk to you all about what I've done/am doing/am planning for the future etc., etc., Nice talking with you.