Blog
Spring 2021
Hello!
I am writing to you from the South of France where our first waves of spring have been very contradictory. The blossoms have been simply spellbinding. Hours I have spent strolling about the land breathing in the delicate scents… Continue reading
Happy New Year
Dear Friends,
Spring is coming – it really is. We’ve had some wild days here at the Olive Farm with winds blowing and trees creaking like ghosts opening doors in old houses.
Here’s a visitor who came to cut three… Continue reading
Saving lives in the French Alps. An Act of Love.
How do we find the stories, the ideas for our novels or how do they find us?
I am always on the lookout for ideas, for seeds that might grow like flowers into fully-realised stories. We writers are always digging… Continue reading
An Act of Love
Dear Readers and Friends,
I have been waiting quite a while to send out this letter to you, waiting while we finalised the colours and the look of this cover pic for my next novel, AN ACT OF LOVE,… Continue reading
Felixstowe Book Festival video
A Felixstowe Festival Zoom Chat between Carol and Rachel Sloane. This replaced the cancelled event https://www.facebook.com/FelixstoweBookFest/videos/716342118912290/
My first book as film
Someone sent this to me recently. It is the film found on Youtube, adapted from my very first novel for children, THE HAUNTED SCHOOL. It was made into an eight-part TV series which we shot in Australia. Disney bought… Continue reading
Jean Giono’s Legacy
I am frequently asked who my favourite writers are; authors I return to time and time again. One of the first who springs to mind is Jean Giono. Son of a cobbler and a laundress, he is a Provençal writer… Continue reading
June
Hello to you all,
I am writing this from our home/office up north, east of Paris. The pic above was taken at the farm last week. We’ll be back down at the farm after the weekend.
It’s mighty hot here… Continue reading
The House on the Edge of the Cliff – for 99p
Enjoying the peace and quiet at the Olive Farm
Dear Friends,
It is the last day of April. I am at my desk looking out onto more blossoms than I have ever seen here before. It is a riot of colour and a joyous expression of nature’s determination to… Continue reading
Easter
Dear friends,
I am waving a hello from the Olive Farm where we are in our fourth week of lockdown.
In spite of the horrific virus that has led us all to be isolated from one another, there are positives… Continue reading
Memoir Workshop
Last Week of May in Listowel, Kerry, Ireland. There are still a few places left on my workshop in Listowel at the end of May. We had a wonderful time last year. If you are in Ireland and fancy joining… Continue reading
The Olive Farm
It is very dark here and silent. Very early morning. I am up and at my desk before dawn. The quietude here seems a long way away from the frenzy of Christmas and holidays and shopping.… Continue reading
Autumn Equinox
The Autumn Equinox is upon us already; the year seems to have reached this point too fast, don’t you agree? Yesterday morning, I stood on the terrace looking out to sea, inhaling that wonderful sense of tranquillity I feel when… Continue reading
August in Greece and other matters
I am writing this from Kastellorizo, which is a small Greek island situated in the Eastern Mediterranean approximately two kilometres from Kas on the Lycian Coast of Turkey. We, Michel (husband) and I, are here attending a documentary film festival,… Continue reading
Wine Tasting in the South of France
I am frequently asked about good wineries to visit as a day trip from our Olive Farm in the south of France. The fact is there are dozens to suggest. So I thought it would be fun this month during… Continue reading
The Eiffel Tower celebrates 130 years
This year in France, our very own Iron Lady has reached her 130th birthday. Le Tour Eiffel. Receiving close to 7 million visitors a year, it is the most visited monument in the world,… Continue reading
Along my book tour, a return to James Herriot Country
I am in the north of England promoting my new novel, THE HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE CLIFF, which was published last week, 16th May. Yesterday, my stop was organised by the White Rose Book shop in Thirsk.… Continue reading
In London, in conversation
A French Corner of Paradise
We are less than three weeks away from the publication of THE HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE CLIFF. These days are always a little nerve-racking, because I am agitating about the book’s future success. Will it live up to… Continue reading
