Category Archives: Chrissie Bradshaw author

Meet Joy, The Giveaway Girl

2024 has been a busy year! I’ve finished the edits and published my latest book THE GIVEAWAY GIRL on Feb 29th. I’m really grateful for that extra leap year day because life has been so busy! 

I needed a cataract operation and it’s a small procedure but my eyes are vital for editing so, as they adjusted, I had to be patient. Aren’t we fortunate to have these treatments available though? In my latest novel, a well-loved character needs a new kidney but it’s 1964 and transplants are new and donors are few. 

I loved writing this novel about Joy, the giveaway girl. She is given away at birth and leaves Australia to travel to Northumberland, England to find her birth family.  THE GIVEAWAY  GIRL is a stand alone novel but links  to other books in The Kelly Family Series. 

THE GIVEAWAY GIRL is set in the 1960s so the sixties music scene and a rock star romance features strongly. Joy’s story starts in Australia then moves to a backdrop of the Northumbrian coast with a  visit to  Liverpool and France. There are tears, tantrums and troubles mixed with laughter, sacrifice and love. Does it end happily for Joy? My characters go through a lot but there’s always an uplifting ending.

  Here’s what one reader wrote on Amazon. 

“Thank you again for another great story. I couldn’t put it down. A great story about another of the Kelly clan. She is the next one? I truly love the books of this author

Now that makes the busy times worthwhile and spurs  me on to tell another tale. 

THE GIVEAWAY GIRL will feature on over 20 websites during March. Give Joy a wave 👋 or, better still give her a read on Ebook or paperback.

The Giveaway Girl: An emotional family saga of love, secrets and belonging.

Joy’s world is turned upside down when she discovers she was given away as a newborn. She runs away from her home in Australia to go in search of her birth family in Northumberland, England.

Coming face-to-face with the Kelly family ignites Joy’s envy of her sister, Rose, and she plunges into a tailspin of mistakes and heartache.

Joy’s trouble-strewn journey is set in the sixties, a time of freedom and promise. She sees that popular culture and attitudes are changing, yet she still hides the shame of being the giveaway girl.

What will it take for her to accept the events of the past, come to understand the meaning of love and discover her true worth?

My publishing story so far…

In 2016, I completed ‘A Jarful of Moondreams’ my first novel and sent it off to several agents. After a few months of agent rejections, some kind and some one-liners, I decided to find a publisher myself.  I didn’t have the time to wait around for years to see whether my first novel would fit an agent’s list. 

I see now- isn’t hindsight such a wonderful thing? – that I was impatient and new to the publishing world so of course I made mistakes. Luckily, I’m resilient and it’s all about learning. I’m not with the small publisher I started out with now – never explain, never complain – I should have taken more time to consider my options but I was keen to find readers.

 I wrote another book and eventually took my debut novel back from the publisher. I gave the two novels in my Dunleith series the beautiful new covers that you can see above and embraced becoming an independent author. 

I believe we must help to make our own dreams come true and proof of that is the success of my historical sagas, The Colliery Rows series. In the past year, two sagas and a novella set in Linwood Colliery have been published under my own imprint, Vallum publishing.

My most recent family saga is ROSE’S EVER AFTER

Can a broken heart find a happily ever after?  Rose is happily married to Danny and enjoying motherhood with a promising future stretching out before her until a cruel twist of fate seizes it. Will she overcome her heartache as she tries to build a new life? 

Rose returns to the safe haven of Linwood colliery and her warm-hearted family. As she settles into life in the colliery rows, Rose is makes an astounding discovery and a long lost family member decides to show up and make demands on them all.

This emotionally gripping saga follows on from ‘Rose’s Choice’ yet it can be enjoyed as a stand alone novel

The links below show where you can pick up ‘Rose’s Ever After’ to follow the twists and turns of Rose’s eventful life and find out whether the rugged path ahead, full of challenges, leads her to a new ‘happily ever after’

Amazon UK for e-book and paperback https://tinyurl.com/bek7673s

Amazon USA for e-book and paperback https://tinyurl.com/bek7673shttps://tinyurl.com/85rs2bwy

The paperback can be ordered from Waterstones, WH Smith and any local book shop 

You can find all of my books on my Amazon page https://tinyurl.com/9s36arn6

Do you know I send out a newsletter whenever I have news or something to offer? As soon as you subscribe, you receive a free prequel to The Colliery Rows series called ‘Rose’s War’ You are welcome to join – just click onto the homepage of this website and scroll to the green button to receive your free prequel.

Rose is back!

Can a broken heart find a happy ever after?

It’s cover reveal time!

Rose is back. Can her broken heart find a happy ever after?

Rose has reached her mid-twenties and has a has a promising future stretching out before her until a cruel twist of fate seizes it. Will she overcome her heartache as she tries to build a new life? 


Rose returns to the safe haven of Linwood colliery and her warm-hearted family. As she settles into life in the colliery rows, Rose is shocked to discover another family member has decided to show up and make demands on them all.

Follow the twists and turns of Rose’s eventful life to discover whether the rugged path ahead, full of challenges, will lead her to a new ‘happily ever after’

Rose’s Ever After

will be released in ebook and paperback

11th May

Dear Reader

There are lots of you out there but there aren’t  many of you who get round to reviewing a book you’ve enjoyed. Statistics say for every 500 reads, you get one review! 

I’ve been wondering, why is that? Other online good get reviews so I’m tempted to blame those reading lessons where, as young readers, we had to write a review after every book we read in class. It was a chore! It had to be set out  in a certain way and then we were often told we hadn’t got it right when common sense tell us there is no right way to  review a novel. 

School is out so now you are free write a review in your own way. That might be an emoji or a star rating and no words at all! It might be a line or two in your own words. In these days of social media, you can share what you’ve enjoyed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or whatever platform you use most.  Share the books you love in the way you want to.

There is no right way to review BUT there is one wrong that I should point out. You’ll already know it if it’s ruined a book or film for you – the spoiler! I’m sure you’ll agree that there is nothing more disappointing than to be told about every twist and turn in advance. Think of your review as the trailer not the spoiler.

Why review at all you might ask?  The obvious reason is that it can help other readers to choose their next book but did you know that authors  love reviews because it gets the word out about a new title and they can use your genuine opinion to attract other buyers? Buyers who are like you and want to know if they’re getting a good read before they press click. 

Is it that important? Oh yes! My reviewers help me to sell more than anything else. I’ve pulled  out a handful of reviews to show you what they do for my novels and to see if you agree.

Rose’s choice 4 A Compelling, Poignant and Heart Warming Historical Family Saga!

Rose’s Choice is a heart warming and endearing Family Saga, of the struggles of war, it’s a story of survival, discovery, it has a coming of age feel to it.

Chrissie Bradshaw’s emotionally gripping historical reads have a Catherine Cookson vibe with a modern attitude.”

“A JARFUL OF MOONDREAMS spills over with longing, love and life. The exploration of sibling rivalry will make sisters all over the world laugh and cry.’ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Barn of Buried Dreams. I read the book in two sittings, I didn’t want to put it down… well researched and the storylines so believable. From clutter, bereavement, alcoholism, infidelity, trauma, infertility to Pilates, acting and true love this story is a page turner.”

“ The Unwelcome Angel -A lovely read x ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Set during WWII, this is a lovely heartwarming tale about how diphtheria affected a local mining community. As I read, the similarities to what we’re experiencing today ran through my mind. But it’s not a negative tale, it’s about community and family and how everyone pulls together regardless of social status. A lovely little book x “

Need I say more? 

I’m sure you’ve been drawn to one of those stories more than the others – all because of another reader’s description. My readers can sell my novels far better than I ever could! 

Not sure how to start? 

You can use your favourite social media. You can just tell people. Word of mouth never goes out of style. Next time you’ve enjoyed a book, why not give it a thumbs up or a star rating or write a line of two. Believe me, most authors read every line!

To those  81 special people who left either a star rating or a star rating and review for Rose’s Choice, a big thank you for your time! 

You can sign up for my latest news and chat by clicking on the green button here.

Hasn’t 2020 been the strangest year?

2020, it has been one of the most challenging year’s of my life. My challenge winner still goes to 2012 when a few rounds of chemotherapy and an emergency admission with sepsis after my daughter’s wedding made it memorably tough for me. 

We all have gruelling years so what’s different about the woes of 2020? I think the difference is how they have involved everyone! That ‘s what makes 2020 a time that none of us will forget in a hurry. Somehow, we’ve got through a year of pandemic and grief, isolation, shielding and masks and of rethinking the way we work and live. If we add another year of  Brexit negotiations and a USA election where one candidate still insists the votes were rigged, then there’s no escaping that  it’s been a troubled 2020 world wide. 

However, a few glimmers  of light have  kept me going. I discovered zoom and attended “zoomba” classes with the group I usually met at the gym. I found I was more extrovert 💃 with my dance moves in my own bedroom and really enjoyed this new way or interacting. Since then, I have read from my novels via zoom and even attended a Christmas zoom party!

 The best glimmers of all have  been finding more time to read and write. I’m so thankful we have had books to entertain us and I’ve been reading and writing more than ever over the past year. 

We haven’t been able to travel much but this observation by Mary Pope Osborne rings true: 

‘READING IS THE PASSPORT TO THOUSANDS OF ADVENTURES

Through books, I haven’t just visited different cultures, I’ve travelled back in time! 

I released my wartime family saga, ROSE’S CHOICE,  in July and, at a time when shops were closing and entertainment was limited, a lot of people took up reading. I’m happy to find all of my books have sold well this year. 

My spin off novella, THE UNWELCOME ANGEL, was published in October and it is exciting to see that my gamble of writing about an epidemic during an epidemic paid off. This shorter wartime Christmas read is popular as an ebook and the paperback is clocking up Christmas sales.

I wrote this novella whilst we were locked down for an extra few weeks in Spain. We meet four families who face an epidemic that swoops down on the colliery rows of Linwood in 1944    I certainly felt empathy for the families as I was writing. It’s an uplifting tale with a dollop of romance so certainly not all doom and gloom. 

I love both of these covers by JD Smith and I’m delighted she’s going to create the cover for the sequel, ROSE’S EVER AFTER

As the year ends, I’m completing the sequel to ROSE’S  CHOICE and I’m hoping the second part of Rose’s life will be just  as popular. If all goes to plan,  ROSE’S EVER AFTER will be out as an ebook and paperback in the spring.

All I want to share now is a thought from Alfred, Lord Tennyson: 

Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering,’It will be happier.’

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 

Chrissie x

Give ‘Rose’s Choice’ a try

Everyone knows I love to match a book to a reader. ‘Rose’s Choice’ is a heart-wrenching saga set in a small Northumbrian mining community during World War 2. Events unfold from Rose’s point of view and the novel starts in 1944 when she is ten. Here is an extract to see if it’s for you.

1944

Ch1

Ten-year-old Rose Kelly could hardly remember the time when there wasn’t a blackout at night and you could buy as many sweets as you wanted. The older lads and lasses talked about those days and how they would be back after Hitler was sent packing. Until that day, carrying a gas mask and a trip to their Anderson shelter in the middle of the night whenever they heard the siren, Wailing Willie, was part of life. 

They might have to be careful with their sweets but they all ate well in Linwood colliery rows because of the allotments that grew all manner of fruit and veg. A strip of land was allotted to each house and the miners used their plot for growing food, keeping chickens and building sheds from whatever scraps of material they could find. After hours underground, pitmen liked outdoor hobbies like growing prize leeks or racing whippets and pigeons. Rose’s dad used his shed for painting and storing his canvases. 

Even though they had the allotments, a lot of a miner’s pay went on food because he did a job that needed fuel in the belly and he dreaded being laid off sick. Miners were allowed a few extra rations because of their work but it all had to be paid for. Her mam was a really good cook of stews and pies and soups but Rose’s favourite meal of the week wasn’t any of those. Her favourite was Friday’s dinner when she could have either her one rationed egg, fried, with chips and a slice of bread, or have some battered fish and chips from Charlie’s. 

Folk said her mam and dad made a handsome couple and Rose had to agree. Dad was as fair as her mam was dark. Her mam was the bonniest of all the women in the colliery rows, as pretty as that Vivien Leigh in the films. She had chocolate coloured curly hair that she tied up in a scarf when she was working, kind brown eyes and a big smile showing white teeth. Rose had her mam’s brown hair and her dad’s green eyes and, no matter how hard her mam tried, she put everything in her left hand like Dad too. Cack-handedness her mam called it.

Every weekend saw her dad sketching or painting after he’d done the gardening jobs and her mam making do and mending so much that she deserved a medal from Mr Churchill. Old clothes didn’t go on a scrap pile to make proggy mats for the floor as often. Clothes were unpicked to see if they could be altered or made into something new for Rose, her younger twin brothers or another bairn in the row. Their mam was very handy with a needle and careful with clothing coupons. 

Their neighbours, the Elliots, had given up sharing the Anderson shelter with them. It now had a shelf and blanket arrangement that her dad called a bunk at the end of it for her and the twins, Stanley and David, to sleep on. Benches ran along either side and a shelf under the bunk held jars of water, some old crockery and an oil lamp, candles and matches. Their oldest proggy mat was on the floor and they had put a couple of blankets in there. Her dad and Mr Elliot’s son, Larry, had sealed the panels well with that stinky hot stuff before covering it with soil, and the shelter hadn’t leaked so it was dry but, goodness, it could get cold down there.

Mr Elliot thought the cold and being underground reminded his chest of the pit and made it worse. ‘I don’t mind dying in my own bed,’ he claimed. ‘When your time’s up then it’s up.’ Mary wouldn’t leave him so she stayed in the house too.

‘Do you think they’re daft Mam?’ Rose couldn’t understand the Elliots ignoring the siren.

‘I wouldn’t make their choice but our neighbours have lived through a lot. They lost two boys in the first war.’ 

To Rose, that was all the more reason to stay safe. ‘What about Larry? He’s lost two older brothers and might end up with no mam or dad?’ she asked.

‘You’re getting to be a real chip off the old block,’ Mam answered. ‘Let me get back to peeling these taties.’

‘What does that mean, Mam? What old block?’

‘It means you ask too many questions, just like your father.’

Rose went out to play with her best friend, Lottie. She had a hundred questions in her head. Maybe her dad did too. It was better if she didn’t ask too many at once because grown-ups didn’t answer them carefully when she asked too many. Like her mam, just now. 

She should be like her mam who eked out the meat ration with lots of veg. She would eke out her questions a few at time and keep the tricky ones for Miss Wakenshaw, her favourite teacher, or Dad. 

Rose loved school and she always wanted to read but often she had to put her book down and help out by keeping an eye on her brothers or running errands. She didn’t mind because it seemed to her that Mam never ever stopped working. 

On Mondays, Mam helped Mary-from-next-door with her week’s washing because Mary was nursing Mr Elliot who was proper poorly with his lungs. Mary had no daughters so Rose’s mam stepped in. Her daughter-in-law, who was married to Larry, hardly came by even though she just lived in Burnside, the next village. She always sent Larry and the bairns over for Sunday tea and had a nice rest herself. When she listened in to their crack, Rose could tell her mam and Mary hadn’t much time for Larry’s wife, Kate.

That’s why it seemed so strange when Kate and the two children burst into Mary’s kitchen one Tuesday afternoon.

ROSE’S CHOICE – a heart- wrenching wartime saga of family, live and secrets.
Rationing, bombing, disease and pit disasters are part of Rose Kelly’s Workd War 2 childhood. When the spirited coalminer’s daughter discovers a family secret , she makes a choice that overshadows her teenage years. Rose tried to make the most of post war opportunities but family tragedy pulls her back to the rows She relinquishes a bright future for domestic duties because her family comes first. Will family ties get in the way of her dreams?

Purchase Links ~ Amazon UK |  Amazon US 

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Before I start chapter 1

Like many readers, I love reading between the lines of a book and guessing at the untold bits of the story so I suppose it is only natural for me to invest a lot of time in creating a setting for my own novels and a back story for all of my characters. This spade work is done ‘before the lines’. I start creating my characters and setting before I write their story and some of this background is just for me to know whereas a lot of it is revealed through my characters’ actions. 

‘Roses Choice’, my new novel, is set in a Northumbrian mining village during the 1940s and 50s. It is a heart-wrenching saga of love, family and secrets told by its feisty heroine, Rose Kelly. The inspiration for setting this saga during World War two and afterwards came from tales of colliery life in the forties that I loved listening to from my grandparents.

The first thing I did was to sketch a map of my fictional village. It was five colliery rows, miners’ allotments, a pithead, a few shops, a school, a working men’s institute and a chapel and it was set right in the middle of the Northumbrian countryside. After sketching it, I described it to myself in words. It is typical of the little mining villages scattered through the Northumbrian countryside.

Linwood nestles in a dale surrounded by farmland that stretches all the way to the sandy beaches of Northumberland and, on the horizon, you can see the North Sea blend into wide skies. A patchwork carpet of allotments sits behind the five rows of colliery houses that lead up to the pit head. Rolling fells rise behind the pit wheel giving it a backdrop of dark green.

The railway line that transports the coal is flanked on either side by hedges that flower throughout summer and give up a harvest of blackberries, sloe berries and rosehips in autumn.The tiny hive of industry that is Linwood Colliery has been carved from a once tranquil beauty spot because, hidden far below the fields and fells lie great riches. Seam after seam of black gold runs under land and sea waiting to be mined.

With this picture firmly in my mind, I was ready to fill the rows of Linwood Colliery with my characters and make the colliery rows come alive.

The first character I wanted to create was Rose  who was born to Ginnie and John Kelly but, first of all, I had to imagine her birth. Was she wanted? Was she one of many? What were her parents like? So my prologue was another starting point. Rose was born to parents who wanted a lot for her.

NEWCASTLE EVENING CHRONICLE

BIRTHS

Born at home on August 15th 1934

to John and Virginia Kelly of 1, First Row, Linwood Colliery

a daughter, Rose Virginia.

Mother and baby well

John Kelly cut the birth announcement out of last night’s evening paper and tucked it inside the family bible beside the certificate of his marriage to Ginnie. He put the bible back into the drawer of the dresser before placing the rest of the newspaper and a few sticks of wood by the hearth ready to lay a fresh fire in the morning.

Dry crumpled paper in the grate, then sticks crossing each other and a shovel of coal would get their range going in no time tomorrow morning before he set off to the pit. He was on the early shift but he wanted to get the fire going for when Ginnie and their firstborn came downstairs. Even though it was mid-August, the fire would blaze to heat the oven and boil water. Ginnie loved her early morning tea.

Quietly climbing the stairs, avoiding the creak on the third step from the top, John found Ginnie lying on her side with her hand resting on the baby’s crib by the bed. He’d sanded and painted the crib as Ginnie knit an intricate white shawl during their last weeks of waiting.

His wife looked beautiful with her dark curls tumbling to her shoulders and she didn’t even stir as he tucked her hand under the blankets and stood over his daughter’s crib.

Ever so gently, he picked the baby up and cradled her in his arms drinking in her warm, sweet smell. He traced the back of his finger around the curve of her cheek. Her skin, so soft, reminded him of the petals of the roses that grew in his allotment and they had the same cream tint with a blush of pink. That rosebud mouth, now there was an exquisite shade that he would find hard to recreate on his paint palette. He would never capture such beauty with a pencil or a brush.

He took her over to the open window to catch the last of the day’s light and some cool air. The clock on the nightstand broke the silence as it marked time ticking by and, as John watched Rose breathe, he marvelled at this little being. Would he ever tire of watching those changing expressions?

Tears blurred his vision as a surge of love and protectiveness coursed through his body. Rose Kelly was his flesh and blood and he wanted her to flourish in his care, to grow rich roots of confidence and courage. He placed his little finger in the centre of her open palm and, even in sleep, she gripped it. He hoped she would always grasp opportunities. He would be a happy man if his daughter was given the chance to see the world in all its wondrous colours beyond these dark colliery rows.

Yes, there is a lot of thinking going on before writing a single line of chapter 1 but I love the part of getting to know my characters and their setting before I start.

ROSE’S CHOICE – a heart- wrenching wartime saga of family, live and secrets.
Rationing, bombing, disease and pit disasters are part of Rose Kelly’s Workd War 2 childhood. When the spirited coalminer’s daughter discovers a family secret , she makes a choice that overshadows her teenage years. Rose tried to make the most of post war opportunities but family tragedy pulls her back to the rows She relinquishes a bright future for domestic duties because her family comes first. Will family ties get in the way of her dreams?

Purchase Links ~ Amazon UK |  Amazon US 

A lockdown tour with my new book

 I haven’t written on here for a while yet I’ve written several blogs. That sounds like the start of a riddle doesn’t it? But it’s not. It’s  because I’ve been busy writing contributions for my blog tour.  It is running next month between 14 th and 21st of July and I’ve been scribbling away because 21 (yes 21!)bloggers have offered to help me to launch my new book ‘Rose’s Choice’

For those of you who haven’t met one before, a blog tour is ideal for our lockdown situation. It is a virtual tour on the internet and I appear on the 21 blogger’s sites with either an interview or an article or an extract from ‘Rose’s Choice’. Some bloggers read and review the book too so I’m excited to hear what they say about this heart- wrenching wartime saga. I hope it goes down well because I’d hate to disappoint my readers and I start to worry about a month before delivery of my book baby. 

During the week of the tour, the bloggers tweet and use Instagram as well as having me as a guest on their blog so, if you see any of these, please retweet and let as many people as we can reach find out about my new release. Promotion is important because I’d hate my wartime saga to be a book without a reader. 

It’s ebook or paperback and available on Amazon which is perfect for those who feel nervous about going out to shop or, when they open again, any good book shop will order.

Ebooks can be pre- ordered now and it’s exciting to see how many readers have already ordered. Thank you if you were one of them!  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roses-Choice-heart-wrenching-wartime-Colliery-ebook/dp/ 

Rationing, bombing, disease and pit disasters are part of Rose Kelly’s World War 2 childhood. When the spirited coalminer’s daughter discovers a family secret, she makes a choice that overshadows her teenage years. Rose tries to make the most of post-war opportunities but family tragedy pulls her back to a life in the colliery rows. She relinquishes her bright future for domestic duties because her family comes first. Will family ties get in the way of her dreams?

What Would Happen If?

I’m a writer and I ask myself the “what would happen if?” question a lot. 

That question is part of my toolkit when I’m starting a new novel. It’s the question that encourages me to try different paths for my stories. 

I’ve never asked myself the question so much as I have  in the dark hours of the night during the past couple of weeks. The story that’s unravelling on the news every day still seems unbelievable to me. I’m sure many of you feel the same way. 

My “what would happen if?” questions  range from scary world wide problems involving whole continents not being able ride out the virus to equally scary personal fears as I try to assess which of my family and friends might be healthy enough to withstand an encounter with this unknown enemy. 

Some of you may know that isolation and not knowing whether I’ll survive or not is not new to me.  In the past, I’ve had two bouts of cancer treatment. The day after my daughter’s wedding, I was hospitalised with sepsis when my immune system was weakened by chemotherapy and couldn’t cope with hugs of congratulations. However, this battle just involved me. I didn’t have to worry about my grandchildren, my family and a husband with an “underlying condition”. 

Right now, my brain is on danger alert for everyone and it’s exhausting. So many of my writer friends are saying that they are locked down and, although it’s an ideal time to escape into their writing projects, they can’t. I’m sure that’s because all of our “what would happen if?”questions are now about our own world, the survival of Mother Earth and how it will change in future. 

I don’t know how you are coping but I’ll share my strategy. I’m trying to structure when and how often I listen to news, I’m trying to ration how long  I’m anxious before distracting myself because worry changes nothing and I’m trying to enjoy the pleasures that are still present in this wonderful world every day. 

There are good stories as well as bad coming out of this crisis – brave key workers, community spirit, hilarious dark humour and less pollution. 

Today I’m in Spain on day 17 of lock down and I’m  sitting at my laptop writing this blog. I’m healthy and able to write and that makes me feel blessed. 

My motto is to stay safe, be kind and enjoy everything I can. What’s yours? 

New Year, New House, New Book

Whitley Bay Northumberland

I’ve got great hopes for 2020 and a new decade. A lot  happened to me in the last decade and a lot of it was tough to get through so I’m hoping for an easier time ahead. Well, I can wish!

The good parts of the last decade were the writing successes – completing three novels and starting a fourth, winning the Elizabeth Goudge award at the RNA conference, talking to people who enjoy reading  and making such good author friends from all over the world. An additional three grandchildren to join the family and a little dog to run on the beach  with me were blessings to enjoy.

HAPPY TIMES!

Award winning kicks

 

 

The bad parts of the decade were cancer treatment and surgery twice within three years, fractured pelvis, two hip replacements and carpal tunnel surgery. Amazingly, I’m still alive and kicking and I’ll be happy to avoid further work even if offered a face lift for free!

To start thIs new decade, himself and myself will be moving half a mile and will be even nearer that beautiful coastline that you can see at the top of the page.  A beach walk with Oscar is great for sorting out tricky characters and their tangled lives.  After three months of renting, the move to our dream home next week will be extra sweet.

This pit village below is typical of a Northumbrian mining community  in the 1940s  The mining took place right in the middle of farmland and countryside

Lynwood Colliery Rows

This photo brings me to my book news – I’m really excited about it! I’m writing  a family saga in two parts and I’m halfway through the second part.  My aim is to get it completed by summer and publish them both later in the year.
The photos below tell more about the setting.

 

NORTHUMBERLAND