As you can see from the date of my previous post below, I’m taking a break from regular blogging.

I started this blog in May 2009 as I felt I’d reached a watershed in my writing, and I wanted to reflect on the ups and downs of my career as a novelist and poet.

I’ve enjoyed all the activities I’ve listed in the chart below, and although these have taken away more time than I’d wanted from my own creative writing, I’m hoping that this semi-fallow period will prove as productive as this wild poppy field!

If you’re new to this blog and want to find out more about me, click here and for more about my novels, click here
If you want to read a few tips about writing a book, click here and if you are interested in poetry, take a look at my Poetry page

In the past two years I’ve spent less time on creating new work of my own, than I have on the business of other writerly activities.
But this doesn’t mean that I won’t be taking part in any of these things!
I’ll still be happy to consider giving talks and/or running workshops, if you’d like to contact me by sending a message via the ‘Contact Me’ page above.

‘WordPress’ will forward any message to my personal email address, so please do let me know if you have read and enjoyed one or other of my novels, or have any other comments on my work. As you can see on this chart, you can still buy my novels at a reduced price from this site

or, if you prefer, Paper Lanterns IS available from Amazon, even though they will tell you it’s ‘out of stock’. All you need to do is click where it says, ‘new sellers’ and then, if you click on the option of ‘Novel Press’, you’ll receive your copy within 2 or 3 days, direct from Novel Press, with my personal signature above the printed name on this label, that is inserted into the front of the book..

I have now more or less reached the end of my search. Although I’d like to discover more about Douglas Gordon Bruce, and the women who loved him, I must admit that I’ve found out more than I’d expected when I started this Mystery Challenge.

(If you’re new to this blog, and you’d like to find out what this is all about, it’ll probably help you to scroll down to the first post about the Mystery Challenge,in which I’m asking readers to help me find out more about the love letters from 1920’s China.)

If you know anyone with one of the surnames listed in the 2 charts below, I would be very grateful if you could direct them to this website – specifically to the Category: ‘6 Degrees of Separation Mystery Challenge.’ There’s just a chance that this might jolt a memory of something relevant they have heard about a great uncle, aunt, cousin or other relative.

Here is a table with the names and dates of people whose descendants and/or friends and relations might be known to readers of this blog. The first chart gives details of Douglas Gordon Bruce and his sisters and their children.

When I’d discovered the death notice in the Times Archives, and found that he had been ‘a loving father and uncle’, my researcher friend told me how to send off to the Government Records Office for a copy of his marriage certificate. As you can see from a previous post,we’d already discovered the name of his bride, and the date of the wedding, but I wanted to know if this was his first marriage, and that would be recorded on the certificate. This document duly arrived in the post, and revealed that he was a bachelor, and his bride, Phyllis Dorothy Slaughter, was a spinster.

The wedding took place on 9th February in 1978 at All Saints Church in the London Borough of Ealing. Phyllis would have her 62nd birthday two weeks later, and DG B was a few months away from 86.DGB was recorded as ‘Director’, and Phyllis, as ‘Book-Keeper’. What did surprise me was the fact that they were both living at the same address, Weymouth Avenue, Ealing, W5, not far from where he grew up. From the photos and letters that I’ve already posted, I would have expected that he would have been married decades before this, though on the other hand, he could have been totally resistant to the idea of committing himself to one woman for the rest of his life!

As for Phyllis, there’s no way of knowing how long they had been sharing the same house, but as she was 24 years younger than DGB, and he was in his mid-eighties, it would have been irresponsible of him if he hadn’t clarified her legal status by making her his wife.

What if a bad bout of winter flu had carried him off, before they could walk down the aisle together as man and wife? I can imagine some of their friends and relations congratulating DGB and finishing by adding, “Better late than never.”

Here is another table of names and dates of other people who would have known D.G.B.

All that is sheer conjecture, and it could be leading me into rather dodgy ground. Although both Phyllis and DGB died several years ago, it’s still not all that far back in time, especially when compared to 1920s Hong Kong. But if any nieces and nephews of either Phyllis or Douglas Bruce (or great nephews/nieces) stumble across this website, I would happily adapt or remove the paragraph above.

It would be great to receive a message from anyone who could give me some more information about the life and loves of Douglas Gordon Bruce.

As I’ve mentioned before, anyone who does this will receive a free copy of Paper Lanterns (or The Dangerous Sports Euthanasia Society) so do please spread the word to anyone who might be interested. If I do manage to glean more information I will publish it here.

I was about to post my latest (and probably final) information about Douglas Gordon Bruce, for my Mystery Challenge,
when I was suddenly whisked back to the end of June last year, at the Winchester Writers Conference, where the indomitable Director of the Conference, Barbara Large, MBE, kindly invited me to attend the plenary address on the Saturday morning, and say a few words about Novel Press and Paper Lanterns.

I was looking on the Conference website to see if the details of this year’s event had been published there yet, and I was reminded of an interview I’d given in the previous year. Some of the university students had been allocated the task of interviewing delegates from that year’s event.

I had walked out after Sir Terry Pratchett’s address to the conference into the blazing sunshine and was immediately accosted by a small group of young people wielding photographic instruments: Would I be willing to answer a few questions about why I was there, and what advice might I give to other aspiring writers?

When it comes to an opportunity for me to talk about writing in general (and mine in particular!) I’m not likely to turn it down, so I rattled on for several minutes, until I came to a natural ending. The interviewers were university students, and it was their project to make a record of the weekend for the university archives, with special reference to Terry Pratchett.

After that, I forgot all about it, so when I saw the yellow boxes on the left of the screen, I clicked on the one that was labelled ‘Delegates reactions to the 2010 WW Conference’. I started watching with interest, but without really expecting to see myself there.

I have to admit, that I did cringe a bit at the sight of me, jabbering away, seemingly non-stop. But on the other hand, I had to give myself some credit for being able talk off the cuff like that. Watching and listening a couple of times, I was slightly reassured to find that the words I’d spoken then were more or less what I’d say now, nearly a year later, (especially my final comment in the second section, on advice to other writers).

Although I’ve seen myself in action on a screen a few times, I don’t think I’ll ever get over the weird sensation of seeing myself in action, and what I must look like to others. Fortunately, I don’t give that a moment’s thought in everyday life! I was impressed by the clarity and calmness of the other five speakers – I wonder if any of them have had similar feelings.

I was pleased to see a pleasant man I’d had a conversation with, the evening before. He’d told me a little about his published book and it sounded very entertaining, but I’d forgotten all about him and his writing till I saw him on the video, so I was pleased to hear the title of his book, ‘Vet in Prospect’ and was able to find it on Amazon. I was delighted to hear that he’d landed a three-book deal as a result of attending the conference.

As you can see from the start of the video, he is not the only writer who has owed his success to this Conference over the last 30 years. I would heartily recommend this event to anyone who is serious about their own writing. There’s always a wealth of useful and encouraging information. Above all, it’s great fun!

With the help of my friend, I’m still finding out more about Mr Bruce and his relations, but I’ll get back to this research later.
(If you’re new to this blog, and you’d like to find out what this is all about, it’ll probably help you to scroll down to the first post about the Mystery Challenge,in which I’m asking readers to help me find out more about the love letters from 1920’s China.)

In a previous post I mentioned that Bessie had written two more letters to Douglas Bruce after she had told herself that she would not contact him again, so here is the first page of the handwritten version. It does seem that their ‘affair’ had not gone further than the kisses she refers to. The full transcript shows that her marriage to Jimmy had not been entirely happy even before she had met Mr Bruce.

One of the details that I’ve tried to research, is the ‘monastery tower’ she had visited with him – and declared her feelings for him. I came across a site which shows a beautiful porcelain dish with significant landmarks of the old city of Canton.

Bessie’s tower might possibly have been the Zhenhai Tower, which, according to this site, “is a bit of a hassle for a westerner if you don’t do this within a tour that stops right outside”

Here is my transcript of the complete letter.

“Bruce dear,
There isn’t much point in my writing you, but I think I shall feel better if I do. I can’t tell you how sorry I am to have brought you into this mess. Now that Jimmy and I have had it out and he is convinced that I am not absolutely rotten (of course I had to lie to convince him – I said you had kissed me only once – so

I’ve got the seven or eight other times to remember, all to myself) he is doing all he can to make up for his past behaviour and I should be happy – but my dear, dear I’m not. Every time he kisses me I can scarcely keep back my cries to you. I’m not going to see you anymore and I can’t bear to think of it. There is a great hole in my heart – you have the piece that was dug out whether you want it or not.

Of course I had no idea that I cared this much and it surprises me all the time that I do, and I don’t want you to think that I want or expect you to do anything about it. I’ve chosen this way and I’m sure I’m right in doing so. I’ve made you out as a noble person as I could, because you have been so darned decent through it all. Of course it wouldn’t make any difference to you what he thought about you but I wanted him to know that it was fully as much my fault as yours, and I did my best to make him believe it.

Margaret gave me your note yesterday but of course you had Jimmy’s letter by the time I got yours so there was no need for me to do anything about it.

Poor Jimmy.I am much sorrier for him than for myself and you of course will forget all about it soon I hope. If I could just get you out of my mind everything would be all right but I’m not in the least ashamed to say that what I said in the monastery tower I meant.

Good-bye, dear person.
B

There was no use telling Jimmy that I care for you when I had chosen to stay with him, was there? It would only be worse for all three of us, and I did so hope I could keep him from writing that letter to you if I could persuade him that for the last few times we had seen each other there had been nothing between us. Besides, I’m a coward, so don’t like me if you don’t want to.

As you will see if you peer closely at the first handwritten page above, you’ll see that this transcript was written as an afterthought at the top of the first page. Although I know that the man in the picture above is indeed Douglas Bruce, I can’t guarantee that the woman leaning towards him is Bessie.

A BRIEF DIGRESSION from My Mystery Challenge!

Yes, I do have other things to think about - among these, a brief visit to London to catch up with my writing friends, Crysse Morrison - who took this photo (take a look at her blog to find out more).
and Roger Jinkinson (You can read about his own books and his passion for the research into the fascinating real-life story that led to his latest book, American Ikaros) Before meeting up with Crysse on the South Bank, I had time to browse through Poetry books and magazines at the wonderful Saison Poetry Library on Level 5 of the Festival Hall. The reference section seems to have a copy of every poetry book published in Britain since 1912. Without really expecting it, I was amazed to find that my own very slim volume, Single Travellers (Flarestack 2004) was squeezed in on the ‘C’ shelf.

Last week (Wednesday February 17, 2011) I was delighted to receive this praise from writer, Sally Jenkins for my professional publication of Paper Lanterns – and some nice comments about the contents, too! -

I’m getting more information about Mr Bruce from my friend Mary (see the post below) but today I want to show you the 3rd of Bessie’s love letters to him.

If you’re new to this blog,and you’d like to find out what this is all about, it’ll probably help you to scroll down to the first post about the Mystery Challenge,in which I’m asking readers to help me find out more about the love letters from 1920’s China:

If you compare this handwriting to the previous two letters, you’ll see that it was written by a different woman, her friend, Margaret Hartle. I found this very moving when I read it first (once I’d realised that Margaret was writing to explain to Mr Bruce why he had not heard from Bessie, and that Margaret had included a transcript of a Bessie’s own message to him.

To make this clearer, in my transcript, I’ve used italics for Margaret’s own words, and bold print for Bessie’s.

Dear Mr Bruce,
I sent you a chit Monday afternoon asking you to come over because I have a message from Bessie. Since you didn’t respond, I gather you didn’t receive it. They all had the flu and Big Jimmy developed double pneumonia & pleurisy. He was critically ill. Bessie was ill at the same time. You can imagine what she went through. She says

“It has taken me a long time to get over the flu, but I tell you that the flu was the least of it.
And now I must go back and tell you why you haven’t heard from me before this. I wrote you a letter on the boat telling you how Jimmy suspected that I had something in that box that I didn’t want him to see and full of things about Bruce. Jimmy opened the letter and read it and there was a scene. He was going to leave me at Shanghai & go back to Canton & commit murder, I reckon.

I was paralysed and I think the scene was enough to make me realise that after all, my children come first and I can’t do anything that will make their lives the least bit more difficult than any life must of necessity be. Well I am thinking of no one but them & Jimmy now, & this is easier here than it was in Canton. Jimmy wants me to send Bruce’s picture back, and to ask him for mine.
You can tell Bruce that I will never forget that I know every word of his letter (which I am burning) by heart, and that I really don’t need his picture anyway. It is no plainer than the one I carry in my heart. He must know that I am happy, far happier than I was in Canton and than I have any right to be,

but I know perfectly well that it is not the same kind of happiness that I might have had if he had come in to my life before it was too late.

If you ever have a chance you may tell him this, but I am not going to write to him myself. I told Jimmy that I loved Bruce, but that I love him (Jimmy) more than anything in the world. Perhaps it’s true, perhaps not. I can’t really say. I had so little chance to find out how much I really did love Bruce. But I think I know. Please always give me what news of him you can in a casual way.”

She wrote me another letter which obviously was censored. So I enclose
your picture, and if you will send me the one of her you have I will send it on.

How are you? You looked very pale in Canton. Send me any news of yourself you would like passed on.
I am very happy and well. Wuchow is a pleasant spot although not a metropolis!
Sincerely,
Margaret Hartle
Wuchow
September 23 1920

I would love to find out more about Bessie, though without a surname for her, I think that’s very unlikely, but somebody might be able to shed some light on Margaret Hartle, Bessie’s loyal friend.
Please send this link to anyone who might be interested in reading this, even if you think they won’t be able to help in my Mystery Challenge - 6 Degrees of Separation. (A FREE Copy of Paper Lanterns to anyone who can find fresh information)

So far, this is all the information I have about Douglas Bruce, the recipient of the love letters I refer to in the previous post. I would be really grateful if anyone could find out more about him and/or his descendants .

Douglas G* Bruce was employed by the Asiatic Petroleum Company. The earliest evidence of his employment there is this company memo, dated in pencil, Wuchow 1915.

The memo itself was certainly not written during business hours, as you can see from my transcript of the original handwritten ‘poem’ .

The date on the back of the photo of Shing Mui is July 1916, so it is likely that her letters to Mr Bruce were written around that time.

(There were two studio photos of young Chinese women – the one here, and in my previous post has her name written on it. ) I’m not sure whether or not the girl below is a younger version of the same person. In one of my next posts I’ll be including an early, rather grainy photo of Mr Bruce with 4 young Chinese women, one of whom might be Shing Mui.

I’ve been trying to work out when and where Mr Bruce was born. There’s very little to go by, but he would probably have been in his late teens or early twenties, and this would place his birth in the early or mid 1890s.

The first letter from ‘Bessie’,
the married English woman,
would have been written in Canton in 1920,
or even 1919, and Mr Bruce must have been relatively young at that stage, as Bessie writes:
“What do you mean by upsetting the equilibrium of two highly respectable (!) ladies in their heretofore blissful states of married and single blessedness? And two at once mind you! And you so young and all.”

One of Bessie’s final letters to Mr Bruce shows that she also calls him ‘Gragg’, which seems to be his middle name*(see above).

If that is so, it could make him easier to track down as Douglas Graff Bruce, born sometime in the 1890’s, probably somewhere in London, as this picture seems to be the earliest one that I have and the picture was taken by London Portrait Co Ltd, 58, New Oxford St., W.C. 109 Finsbury Pavement 8 Aldgate High St, E.C.

In this one he might be a year or two older, because of what looks like the start of a moustache. It was taken by J.J. &S. Johnson – Artists & Photographers, Glossop Road, Sheffield. Is he wearing a uniform of some kind?

There are several more photos and a few more documents that might help readers to trace this man, and his friends, both men and women. This small photo below, taken in 1919 shows Mr Bruce on the right and his friend Mr Meyer, who appears in several other photgraphs and was clearly a very close friend, as there’s a picture of a baby boy named Bruce Meyer.

Although I know that readers of Paper Lanterns have enjoyed the novel, and the storyline of the main character’s grandmother that I’ve created, based on all this material, I have now become totally absorbed in all these real-life characters, most of whom, if not all, will have long departed this life. In fact, I have to admit that it’s becoming an obsession!

PLEASE do circulate the link to this challenge! (And remember that anyone who contacts me with new information will receive a free a copy of Paper Lanterns or The Dangerous Sports Euthanasia Society)

No, not that one! – though there might be some connection between the TV programme my children used to love, and this weekend’s event at Jury’s Hotel in Swindon.

I drove down yesterday morning in welcome sunshine and managed to follow the directions I was given, supplemented by the time I spent on Google Maps trying to make sure if I did happen to find my way through this unfamiliar town to something called The Magic Roundabout , I wouldn’t spend the rest of the day circling round and round, trying to decide which exit to take.

I admit, it’s a very tenuous link, but this photo of the piles of random books at the Bookcrossing Unconvention evokes the constant movement of books as they themselves go round and round, from place to place and hand to hand. If you haven’t yet discovered the amazing world of Bookcrossers, >click here!

My invitation to attend the Unconvention as one of the author-speakers happened in a roundabout way. It started with my Cover Design Challenge.(Here’s the final one of 6 posts in this category) Each of the 150 entrants received an email acknowledgement from me, often with a comment about their choice of cover. I discovered that one of these came from Holland, a country which I feel an affinity with, as I am one-eighth Dutch myself.

When I found that Isabella was a Bookcrosser and was organising the international Convention in Amsterdam this year, I sent her a copy of Paper Lanterns, hoping that it would then be sent out on a journey to other Bookcrossers.

That wasn’t the end of it. I was delighted to get an email from Isabella, asking if I would consider giving an author talk. As a Bookcrosser myself, I receive the on-line newsletter and was aware of the event, but I certainly wouldn’t have put myself forward, so it was really nice to be invited.(Although I’m not (yet) an active member, I do have a Bookcrosser name: Paraglider)

Bookcrossers are friendly and welcoming people, and it was lovely to see so many familiar faces. I was also pleased to see my fellow ex-Transita author, Adrienne Dines, though it was a pity that I arrived too late to hear her speech – as well as being a superb writer,she also has a well-deserved reputation as a highly entertaining speaker.

On the subject of entertaining speakers, an extra bonus of that event for me was the author-talk by Jasper Fforde, which was made even livelier by the presence in the audience of so many enthusiastic readers of his novels. I really liked the way he explained his approach to writing – deliberate subversion of the expected, and his preference for ‘the path less taken’.

There was no photo of Jasper on his website, but though I found this one via Google, I have to say it doesn’t do him justice. From the what he has said about his books, I guess he’d happy to be represented by this dodo on a scooter from the cover of ‘The Eyre Affair’, the first of a series featuring Thursday Next.

I’ll take his advice and not try to describe what it’s about, and just say, ‘Read it.’
It was a shame that he hadn’t bought any copes of his books, as I’d definitely been tempted to buy one on the spot.

Come to think of it – a Dodo on a scooter wouldn’t have looked out of place on the original Magic Roundabout.

This is something that I find quite difficult to do because:
(1) that old chestnut of ‘not having time’
(2) I don’t find it easy to write a summary of a plot without giving the game away.
(3) When I’ve finished a book that I’ve enjoyed, I need to let it ‘settle’ in my head for a while, as I work out what feelings I’ve experienced while reading and how the author has achieved these effects.

I love reading detailed reviews on other people’s blogs, and that brings me to number (4) There are often so many excellent summaries and insightful critiques of a book that I’ve read, it seems a better use of my time to direct people to the relevant sites, as in this previous post so I’m delighted that there are so many enthusiastic book readers and reviewers out there. And yes, of course I’m doubly appreciative of reviews for my own novels!

Yesterday I was thrilled to get this wonderful review from a highly accomplished writer, Robin Lewis of Left Lion, a printed and online culture and listings magazine which covers Nottingham, with a specific focus on the local music and arts scene. (I love the first statement: “Unhappy families are always more interesting than happy ones”, though for me, it’s only ‘true’ in fiction!)

(The Lion logo makes more sense when you know that it was named after a stone lion outside the Council House. )It’s the place where I did my MA in Writing (and also where my son was born, over thirty years ago) so I have great affinity with the city. You’ll also see Robin’s detailed on-line interview with me, if you scroll down after the review.

Getting published is hard enough, but marketing your book is even harder, especially when you are your own publishing house. So I’ve been very heartened recently to find yet more insightful critiques. It’s fascinating to find how different people react to the characters in Paper Lanterns – I can see that it makes for a lively discussion for book groups, as you can tell from this extract below from the friendly group in Tennessee (holding their own paper lanterns on the evening of their discussion).

I’ve mentioned them in a previous post but I’ve just realised I haven’t explained how they discovered this novel. It’s not (yet!) available in bookshops in the U.S. so I’d thought that Tammy must have found out about it from the review on Rhapsody in Books, but no. Tammy explained how she’d Googled for Book Club Reads and then had arrived at a new on-line book group based in Birmingham (UK)

They’d wanted to choose a book by a local author, and Paper Lanterns was one of them. Tammy had followed the link to my Amazon page and had liked what she saw, so she contacted me via this site, and the rest is history.(I’ve hidden a few phrases that might have given awat too much for those who haven’t yet read the book)

“Everyone could relate to the family drama– we had a deep discussion about how things were probably hidden in every family from different generations, and which generation we could most closely relate to at this point in our lives.
Most thought that at first it was hard to keep up with the characters (who was who) until we kept reading and then it all fell in place. We also talked about how it took a talented writer to be able to pull that off like you were able to do. (smiles)
Ann was a huge discussion– we wondered if there was a reason she was made to sound so homely looking.
Also, the way you portrayed Vivienne as such an uncaring mother, xxxxxxxxxxx was a big discussion. No one could relate to how a mother could be so cruel to her child (the negative remarks she would make). It takes a great writer to be able to evoke these kind of emotions in the reader.
We all loved your writing style and thought you did an excellent job with the descriptions of Hong Kong and the surroundings. And, the way you left xxxxxxxxx (the ending) left the reader thinking long after the novel was finished…..We have all passed our copy of the book on for others to enjoy. (so many people in our area will enjoy your talent)

It’s so nice to know that my novel is being read so widely - though anyone reading this on my blog will see that my books can be ordered here from anywhere in the world with free P&P. I’ll soon be sending off a package of 13 copies of paper Lanterns to a book group in Italy.

And of course, there are the wonderful Bookcrossers to spread the word!
– I’ve been given links to the ‘Journeys’ that several copies of my book are making and it’s been fascinating to read their responses.

The arts pages of newspapers and magazines often have recommendations for holiday reading but I haven’t come across a travel webpage that gives a link to a novel that is set in an exotic holiday destination. Well, not until Google opened up a lovely surprise for me.

I was engrossed in one of my favourite displacement activities: Googling for links to a random range of topics that happened to have caught my attention that day – anything from Aardvarks to the Zodiac . In this case, it was ‘Lamma Island’, for reasons that’ll be clear to followers of this blog, and as I scrolled down the first page that Google had led me to, I found this link.

There was a photo that I recognised and it immediately attracted my attention. You can guess how amazed I was to find a direct reference to my novel, Paper Lanterns, under the heading Lamma Island Holiday Read

“Looking for a book to take on your holiday to Lamma island? Want to read a book that is set in, and captures the spirit and charm of Lamma Island to give you a taste of what to look forward to? Or do you want to relive happy memories of a previous visit? Then take a look at the Christine Coleman’s latest novel, Paper Lanterns.”

As you can see in the review by John Cairns, a resident of Lamma Island himself, I have received the seal of approval for my representation of the island and the lifestyle of its ex-pat inhabitants.
This has made me wonder if there are any other travel sites that have caught on to this idea.

There are a couple of authors in particular whose books immediately spring to mind as ideal for promoting the places in which they are set.
Linda Gillard is renowned, not only for her brilliant writing and strong themes but also for the way she draws the reader into her landscapes and entices them to discover the Isle of Skye for themselves.

Emotional Geology is a novel in which the landscape itself becomes a key character in the story.

On her website, this photo aptly illustrates her explanation of the title:“Rock is a concrete record of the past, of what happened to the Earth – a build-up of pressure, seismic upheaval, erosion. When you look at rock you’re looking at layers of time. I think our minds and our memories are like that - a record of what we’ve been through and the toll it has taken - so the “excavation” of the past (which is what happens in the novel) becomes emotional geology.”.

The heading on the review page of her enthralling second novel, A Lifetime Burning,
would be perfectly at home on any travel webiste: “FIND A PLACE FOR IT IN YOUR HOLIDAY LUGGAGE!”

Among the accolades and prizes for her third book, Star Gazing,
is one that the Scottish Tourist website should include: STAR GAZING was shortlisted for the UK’s first environmental book award, the Robin Jenkins Literary Award, promoting writing inspired by Scotland’s landscape.
(Oh, and as well as being shortlisted for the romantic novel of the year (2009) it was also shortlisted in 2010 for Woman’s Weekly’s “Best Romantic Novel since 1960!)

Adrienne Dines is another author whose novels evoke the differing moods of the geographical and cultural settings of an island –her landscape is rural Ireland with its humour and hospitality and its dark side of shame and buried secrets.
Her first book, Toppling Miss April,
has been described by the Irish Examiner as ‘A cross between Father Ted and Ballykissangel…hilarious!’ There’s no doubt about Adrienne’s wicked sense of humour in this novel,

but her next book, The Jigsaw Maker, moves from affectionately gentle fun and romance to something far darker.

Her third novel , Soft Voices Whispering,has been described as “Hard to put down and impossible to forget, this is a book with a big heart. (And the cover is so bleakly beautiful, it’s worth framing.)”

If you’re planning a holiday anytime now, you couldn’t do better than order some of these books to take with you!

So what’s the connection between Rhubarb Crumble and getting published? The first clue is: The Custard Factory. I guess that won’t help much unless you’re familiar with Birmingham’s revolutionary new arts and media quarter, opposite the Coach Station in Digbeth.

For me, the relevance of that former factory building, is the fact that it’s the home of Radio Rhubarb – of which the jewel in its crown is The Crumble, a weekly broadcast presented by the multi-talented Jan Watts

I’d first met Jan in Erdington library, last year
and again this year in June

I was delighted when she invited me to be interviewed on The Crumble. She’d already emailed me the link to her programme so I knew she’s a highly competent and enthusiastic presenter.

The last time I visited the Custard Factory was several years ago (It was when I handed over the complete manuscript of The Dangerous Sports Euthanasia Society to Luke Brown of Tindall Street Press – although they eventually rejected that novel, it was through them, in a roundabout way, that I found a different publisher.

Yesterday, as I approached the entrance to the Custard Factory, the narrow street seemed even more colourful than before, and I don’t remember ever having seen this amazing sculpture of a giant Green Man. (You can get an impression of the scale from the man at the bottom of this picture, on the left of the green wall.)

Here’s Jan in the studio (affectionately called The Fish Bowl – as you can see from the photo above) with Kip, the calm and very efficient producer.
After an amusing pre-recorded poem about Ants (or Aunts), I was fascinated to hear Steve Ball,
Associate Director (Learning & Participation) of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, talking to Jan about his work, which he describes as “the best job in Birmingham” and he made it sound as though that could be true.

You can listen to Steve and the rest of hour-long programme by following the link. If you can’t spare a whole hour, you can click the right-hand arrow below the bar, until the orange strip is about an inch along (just above the ‘r’ in ‘player’ in the sentence: ‘Open in popout player’.) Here,

you can listen to me reading an extract from The Dangerous Sports Euthanasia Society. After that, Jan asks me about getting published that first time, and what happened with my next book, Paper Lanterns. I mentioned the cache of real-life love letters
(see the Sunday Mercury article)
and I read the heart-breaking letter from the young Chinese woman. You can also hear me reading the prologue to Paper Lanterns, which is set in Sutton Coldfield in 1971. This is one of the three significant periods in the novel.
You can read an extract from the middle section of the book, in which I’ve used these letters to invent a whole new storyline, in the on-line magazine, Cairns Media.
If you’d like to read the first extract published by the same on-line magazine, you can see it here.