An author’s fascination for a subject does not end once the book in question has been published. My great hope was that the release of The Water Doctor’s Daughters would produce new information. There were undocumented periods in the lives of the chief protagonists that I
Read more →It’s an extraordinary thing having two very different books published in one year, and it would be quite impossible for me to choose my favourite. My first, The Water Doctor’s Daughters, has a special place in my heart due to its content. I became so emotionally involved
Read more →ALL ALONG THE RIVER: TALES FROM THE THAMES was released on July 31 by London publisher Robert Hale. Rob and I celebrated with lunch at the Show Boat, moored by the river at the Harleyford estate just outside Marlow. It was owning a lodge in this glorious
Read more →THE GENESIS OF THE LAUNCH I hadn’t considered a separate launch for The Water Doctor’s Daughters in Australia, but a few months ago a generous offer came from Sydney’s Ashfield Library to do a book signing. It was to be part of their very popular ‘Authors
Read more →THE SOOTHING LINIMENT THAT COULD LEAD TO DEATH There is a chapter in my true crime book The Water Doctor’s Daughters titled; AS EASY AS ABC. The letters are a reference to a popular 19th century rubbing liniment made from three powerful, but potentially fatal compounds;
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WHAT IS A SCONE? According to the Bloomsbury Dictionary of Word Origins, scone derives from the Dutch schoonbrood – schoon meaning bright, white or beautiful and brood meaning bread, hence; ‘fine white bread’. The name made its way into Scottish English and did not become widespread in
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In The Beginning..The Water Doctor’s Daughter’s When I was writing my true crime book, The Water Doctor’s Daughters, I had a moment of panic and said to my husband Rob, ‘Oh dear, what if someone publishes this one day and I have to give talks about it?’
Read more →I thought I’d write a brief report on the official launch of The Water Doctor’s Daughters in Great Malvern. Editor Des was supposed to do it, but he was still in recovery from an unfortunate incident in London [see end of article]. WELL, THE BIG DAY DAWNED
Read more →MORE RIVER THAMES TALES! It is such a joy to be back in England and living by the Thames again. Not at dear old Harleyford by Temple Lock, but at Maidenhead, by Boulter’s Lock. The trouble is, I keep finding things I should have included in my
Read more →Have just spent a wonderful but busy few days in Great Malvern and Worcester finalizing arrangements for the launch of the Water Doctor’s Daughters on March 23rd. It’s to be held at 2.00pm in the spacious Morgan Bar at Malvern’s historic Foley Arms Hotel. I will be
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