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 of fruit flowers only to wake the next day to heavy rains, which have driven…
Dear Friends, Well, if you are reading this you, like Michel and myself, are still here. Thank heavens. We have all struggled through and reached December of this crazy, rollercoaster of a year of 2020. Earlier, back in the spring, which seems like many lifetimes ago now, I lost two very dear friends to Covid….
Dear friends and readers worldwide, It is ages since I have written a Newsletter. There have been several blogs posted directly to my website, but no Newsletter. My sincere apologies for this; we have been experiencing technical difficulties with the site and some glitch or other was blocking mails going out. Grrr. Fingers crossed my…
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 in the Seine-et-Marne region with the temps soaring to 34C yesterday and then an overnight…
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 live and procreate. Our “confinement” will due to ease in twelve days from now. It…
Hello dear friends, Apologies. I don’t seem to be very good at keeping to my schedules at present. There seems to be so much on, not least hammering away at a new novel. I am almost half way through – that’s of the rough draft so doesn’t quite count as half way through. Even so,…
I know that I am late writing this when I begin to receive emails from some of you asking why they have not received my Newsletter! My sincere apologies. I have two excuses: the publication on 16th May of The House on the Edge of the Cliff took me off on a fabulous book tour…
Hello, For those of us in the northern hemisphere, it is welcome to spring. Our winter has not been harsh but it has been unpredictable with, as is becoming the norm for many areas, extreme temperatures and erratic weather patterns. Dining outside for lunches on the terrace, wearing sunhats to protect against 22C in February…
Here in France, we have the right to wish someone a ‘Happy New Year’ up till the last day of January, so I am just in time even for those of you living in Australia. Phew! ‘Happy New Year’ and, as we say in France: ‘surtout la santé’. Above all else, good health. These last…
Dear Friends, Where has this year gone to? We have hit the olive harvest season and I am not really prepared for it. The trees are laden and the fruits are fat and healthy. If only I could persuade the three dogs to get their paws at the ready and get picking instead of lazing…
I want to begin by introducing you to our new member of the Olive Farm family. His name is Samson. He is a Tibetan Mastiff and has jaws like an alligator. I heard about him through my Olive Farm Facebook page where I saw a photo of him. He was in a refuge over on…
Dear Readers and Friends, This is an exciting month for me for several reasons, but let me begin with a bit of non-book news and then continue with the professional afterwards. Michel and I have just returned from a very short trip to Puglia in southern Italy. The winter has been very harsh, hasn’t it?…
Hello dear readers and friends, My sincere apologies. I am so very late with this short Newsletter. I seem to have been running behind myself for months. I have not sent out cards so please don’t worry if mine didn’t arrive with you. I have donated my modest pot to the Trident Reach Foodbank in…
My apologies for being rather slow in getting this letter out. I meant to pen it last month! So today I am finally settling to it, writing my news from fabulous Cork in Ireland overlooking the Wild Atlantic Way where I have been spending a few blissful days talking at libraries and a lovely fun…
The Film Festival has drawn to a close, the Grand Prix is at the starting gate, France is gearing up for summer after having enjoyed the most splendid May weather, and I have been very busy at my desk. June sees the publication of my new novel, THE LOST GIRL. It officially hits the shops…
There is NOTHING more exciting for me than seeing the jacket on my next novel brought to life by a designer. Nothing, that is, until the book itself arrives and I can hold it in my hands and know that it is real, that I really put all those words and thoughts together. Ask any…
I think I have begun every letter I have sent out this year by saying how tough these last months have been since the loss of my mother in February. And it continues with the recent loss of several friends and colleagues. Michel and I have decided to take time out quietly, just the two…
Today, midway through November, as winter begins to set in hard here in northern France – I am at our home outside Paris, not down on the Olive Farm – it is a day of mourning, of remembrance. All across the UK and the Commonwealth, on this second Sunday in November, Remembrance Sunday, wreaths of…
I am writing this in-between note because, as many of you may know, THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER was published in paperback on 8th September. To celebrate its publication Penguin, along with the magazine Top Santé, has come up with a splendid competition. Here are the details: Winner along with a partner or friend is invited to…
I am very late with this Newsletter. It should have gone out at least a month ago, but this has been a very demanding year and time has given me no slack! The good news is that this morning I have delivered the first draft of my new novel to Penguin. This will release a…