It's a great pleasure to welcome you back to my blog, Valerie. I'm looking forward to hearing about your work and the inspiration for your Yorkshire sagas.
Here is Valerie walking the North Yorkshire "trods" as these ancient pathways across the moors are known locally.
'Thank you for inviting me to talk about my work and
The Yorkshire Saga series, Margaret.
'I was fortunate that, as a student of creative
writing, I had a brilliantly supportive tutor who inspired me to persevere in
the face of initial rejections (a vital lesson to take on board for anyone who
is serious about making it through to publication).
'My first novella was published in 2003. I love
writing novellas and did so for the next fifteen years, having over forty
titles published; romance and mystery, historical and contemporary. I look
on them as my apprenticeship as authors continually improve their skills the
more they write.
'My strap-line is: Love the Adventure! - and I do.
'Writing is a solitary occupation, the research is all encompassing, editing,
drafting, redrafting - the whole process from initial idea to published book is
a labour of love.
'The Yorkshire Saga series is set in my birth county
of North Yorkshire where I've spent many happy days exploring the coast, moors and
forests, discovering its ancient abbeys, stately homes and researching its
chequered history.
'The beautiful coastal bay towns such as Whitby,
Robin Hoods Bay, Staithes and Saltburn-by-Sea (my "Ebton" is where To Have and To
Hold begins) were places where smuggling thrived in the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries.'
Above is Valerie's fictional Ebton...
...and one of her favourite churches.
'Although we tend to glorify smugglers nowadays, historically
they were plying a violent trade. But taxes were unduly high, war was ongoing, and the government did not care for the plight of the common man.
'With many changes happening both here and abroad, life in both town and countryside was becoming more challenging as machinery
replaced cottage industries, so tensions were high. The period between
1800-1825 fascinates me. It is an excellent era in which to set stories that are packed with mystery, love and drama.'
Thank you for bringing us up to date, Valerie! You can find out more about Valerie and her fiction at: www.valerieholmesauthor.com.
