I love Cornwall, Cornish cream,
Cornish history I’m a fan of author, Jane Jackson. Jane makes Cornish history come alive in her
books. I have asked her to be a guest on my blog, so here she is.
Ladies
and Gentlemen, (imagine trumpet fanfare here) allow me to introduce the
talented, gorgeous and kind Jane Jackson. She also has a free gift for you.
Told you she was kind, didn’t I?
Hi everyone. It's a real pleasure
to have this opportunity to talk about the source of my inspiration – Cornwall.
I live in a village at the head of a creek that flows out into the third
largest natural harbour in the world. As children we used to go blackberrying
in an old stone quarry half a mile along the creek. We swam off the shingle
beach along from what was then a working dockyard dating back to Nelson's time,
but is now a yacht marina. After our swim we would build a fire from driftwood
and cook dampers made from flour and water wrapped round a twig then stuffed
with jam. In late autumn we went to the woods and collected chestnuts, opening
the cases with our feet to avoid the prickles.
The
village is surrounded by footpaths across farmland, through woods, beside the
creek and around the coast to Flushing. I do a lot of my plotting while walking
paths that have existed for hundreds of years.
Though
Flushing was where many of the captains chose to live, Falmouth – across the
river - was the base for the first packet service. These ships carried mail to
every corner of the world, dispatches to theatres of war, and ransom money to
free the wives and daughters of merchants captured by Algerian pirates. They
brought back bullion from sugar plantations in Jamaica and silver mines in
South America. The roles of the packet ships feature in Dangerous Waters and Tide of
Fortune. In Eye of the Wind, a
boatyard building a packet ship, and the woods supplying the timber, are background
to a story of espionage, treachery, courage and love.
Of
my 27 published books, 16 have either been set in Cornwall, or the story has
started there before events send the characters on a journey both physical and
emotional.
When
people think of Cornwall's history they often think of tin mining and fishing. I
have never used tin mining as a background. Because other authors have done so
to excellent effect, I chose to explore different backgrounds and settings: Cargo
broking; C19th medicine; building a railway; granite quarrying; ship-building;
woodland management; packet ship (1) carrying ransom money to Tangier; packet
ship (2) work of a ship's doctor; work of a local justice; smuggling; port
development.
I'm
thrilled that my books are now available on Kindle and other ebook readers. Accent
Press has already published ebook editions of Dangerous Waters and A Place
of Birds. Eye of the Wind
(shortlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award) The Iron Road and Tide of
Fortune will follow over the next few days.
From
Sept 9th to 13th A
Place of Birds will be free of charge so why not download it?
I
hope to have my latest historical romance, Winds
of Change, finished before Christmas as the next story is already bubbling
in my head demanding to be told.