From today for five days my latest novel SANTIAGO TALES is available FREE on kindle.  Why don't all you ebook lovers download a copy and enjoy following Beth as she walks the Camino de Santiago.  Beth has come to believe that her life is no longer worth living so she sets off to travel 800 kilometres in all weathers, looking for a solution to her problems.  On the way she meets many interesting characters and makes new friends, each one seeking their own solutions.  A modern-day take on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the novel explores the challenges that confront people today.

So, does Beth regain her will to live?  You will have to read the book to find out.

For your free kindle download go to  amazon.com

English language book clubs are springing up all over Spain these days.  The English are still, on the whole, great readers.  They will drive miles, sometimes, as in the case of the Rosilla Book Club in Solano, along windy, narrow mountain roads with spectacular views of the Sierra of Tejeda  and precipitous drops into the valley of the Rio Benamargosa.  They will brave rain and heat waves to join their friends and discuss the merits and demerits of their latest read.  I am fortunate enough to be invited to join some of the local book clubs when they are reviewing one of my books.  It is a most rewarding experience to get feedback directly from your readers and to get the opportunity to discuss the characters and why you made them as they are.

Book clubs are often 'single-title', where the whole group reads the same book but the composition and structure of these book clubs can vary according to the tastes and preferences of the members.  Some, for example, are merely excuses to get together and have a pleasant afternoon with friends, chatting about their latest books.  There is usually tea and home made cakes provided by whoever is hosting the event and sometimes, depending on the hour, wine and tapas.  I have a friend who belongs to one book club where they always kick off with a glass of cava.  Some are informal and the conversation meanders from book to book as the participants express their opinions.  Others are more structured.  Sometimes each person is given a category and must elect a book for the group to read from that category: foreign authors, crime fiction, romance, historical novel.  In that way the group covers a wide range of literary genres.  Some are designed to broaden the members' reading experience and chick-lit and crime novels are banned.  There are groups where the members are not expected to all read the same books, 'multi-title book clubs'.  Each member can summarise the book they have chosen, giving their opinion and then let those that wish to, buy  or borrow it.  Sometimes the leader of the group will pose specific questions about what they have read, in order to structure the discussion:  Were the characters in the book believable?  What did they each experience from reading it?
Some book clubs even morph into mobile libraries, with the members donating copies of the books they recommend to a central source so that they are available for all to share.  
I know people who have belonged to the same book club for thirty plus years, mums who joined looking for company while their kids were at school and found life-long friends.  Joining a book club is a wonderful way of fitting into a community and meeting like-minded people.

What all these members of book clubs have in common is a love of reading, whether it is on their Kindle, a paperback or hardback book, whether they have bought it on the internet or borrowed it from a friend.  Books are their friends and not one of them would ever be without them.

I'd been thinking about writing a story about the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela for some time, ever since we had made a visit to Galicia and fallen in love with the place.  All our Spanish friends had said that we had to visit the north of Spain, how cool it was in the summer and so green.   So one July we packed up the car and drove across Spain in temperatures that threatened to reach 50° C, until we arrived at Cambados on the Rias Baxas.  Everything our friends had told us about Galicia was right: the air was fresh and cool, the fields were lush and green and the coast line was spectacular.  After the heat of Andalusia we were ecstatic.  So we spent our first few days relaxing by the coast, eating the freshest and tastiest seafood we'd ever had and drinking copious glasses of the excellent wine from the area, Alberiño.  My Protestant genes will not let me laze about enjoying myself for too long and soon I was suggesting we should move and seek out a little culture.  
We drove a few miles up the coast to the famous city of Santiago de Compostela.  It was 2004, the Holy Year for pilgrims to the city.  People came from all over the world to pay homage at the shrine of St James, the patron saint of Spain, in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.  The remains of his body are in the crypt under the altar in the cathedral and draw thousands of pilgrims each year.  That year there were almost 180,000 pilgrims.  Luckily not all of them converged on the city in July, but nevertheless Santiago was packed with weary travellers.  It was impossible not to be intrigued by the spectacle and to admire the tenacity of these people, some old, some young, who had walked hundreds of kilometres  along the Way of St James or, as it is known in Spanish, El Camino de Santiago, just to be there.  It was also difficult not to speculate on the motives that drove people to walk across fairly difficult terrain and stay in pretty spartan accommodation for weeks on end, just so that they could have their pilgrims' passports stamped and receive their compostela, (completion certificate) at the end of the journey.  Some were obviously driven by religious reasons but not all of them.  It was this speculation that led me to write SANTIAGO TALES, my twenty-first century version of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.  However I did not begin to write the book until 2012, eight years later.  By chance my neighbour told me about a friend of hers who had just completed the pilgrimage from Roncevalles to Santiago de Compostela in five weeks, a distance of 780 kilometres.  An admirable feat by anyone's standards, but when she told me that the woman in question was seventy-six years old, my admiration soared.  She introduced me to this intrepid walker , who kindly told me about her adventures.  That was when I knew I had to write my book.  So thanks to her, SANTIAGO TALES was born.  In it the main character, a woman in her fifties, has a particular reason for walking the Camino, the details of which are revealed on the way.  On her journey she meets other pilgrims who, each in turn, in the manner of The Canterbury Tales, tell their own story.

SANTIAGO TALES is due to be published later this year.

Do you have a story to tell?

Have you lived through events that ought to be recorded?

Is there something – fact or fiction – you would like to write for future generations or for your family?

Do you know someone else whose story should be told?

This October J.G. Harlond  and I will be running the second of our Memory Keepers’ Workshops at the beautiful LA FINCA DEL NIÑO in the Spanish countryside, just outside Málaga.  So why not come along and join us.  We can guarantee good food, lovely surroundings and the chance to write up all those stories that you have been planning to pass on to your kids.

The Memory Keepers’ Workshop is a writing holiday designed for beginners, and writers with work-in-progress. Our objective is to help participants develop their writing skills and show them, if required, how to plan and set out a manuscript for publication. It is specifically geared towards people wanting to write about the past, be it an account of real events, an autobiography, biography or historical fiction. Groups are kept to a maximum of twelve, so each participant has time to discuss their work with us and receive personal feedback.

If this is something you have always wanted to do, then get in touch with us on:

http://www.jgharlond.name/brochure1.htm or www.fincanino.com or send me a message through my contacts page. 

Q:  Your latest novel, THE MASTER’S TALE, is a gripping account of the life of Captain Edward Smith, the Master of the TITANIC. What inspired you to write this particular story?
A:  In the summer of 2008, just as I was about to start work on a novel about the English Civil War, Captain Smith appeared in my life. As these things often are, it was a matter of chance. 
My husband Peter – a Master Mariner – came home after a routine visit to the Southampton Pilots’ Office with an extraordinary tale about Captain Smith and the Titanic. I was keen to see what he’d been looking at, so the office manager very kindly invited me down. Out of a metal filing cupboard, he brought out a great leather bound volume, the Dock Master’s Log Book for 1912. This official, handwritten document recorded the details of all ships entering and leaving the port of Southampton. 
He opened it to April, and there was Titanic’s name – with that of her Captain – Smith – departing at noon on April 10th.  Knowing what was to happen just five days later, I shivered. But then the pages were turned back to show two previous entries. And what they suggested changed my whole perception of the Titanic tragedy.
On March 30th, at 6 in the morning, just 11 days before Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage, the liner Olympic, with her Captain – Smith – was logged coming into Southampton from New York. 
I couldn’t have said exactly why at the time, but it seemed odd. I remember thinking he hadn’t had much time off before taking command of the new ship. But it was the next entry that set the hairs on my neck prickling.  Just after midnight on April 4th, less than 5 days after arriving from New York on Olympic, Captain Smith was again logged inwards by the Southampton Dock Master. This time the ship he brought in was Titanic – from Belfast.
We checked times and dates again. It didn’t seem feasible at first. But this was a legal document – and the facts were there before us. We worked it out. If Smith left the Olympic as soon as Customs and Immigration had cleared the ship, he could have taken the boat train up to London, the afternoon train to Liverpool and overnight ferry to Belfast, to arrive next morning, March 31st. 
I discovered later that the weather was bad, so the ship’s sea-trials did not take place until April 2nd. At 6 that evening Titanic was accepted on behalf of White Star. Captain Smith brought her back from Belfast, down the Irish Sea and up the Channel, to arrive in Southampton shortly after midnight on April 4th.  He would have been on the bridge for most of that time – some 36 hours, give or take the odd hour’s rest.  6 days later he was sailing again, for New York.
The pressure must have been phenomenal – and all this after a winter spent crossing the North Atlantic. 
 There are moments in every writer’s life when the urge to tell a story comes with a great flash of insight. In the early years of my marriage, I spent long months at sea with my husband, on voyages around the world. I know how bad the weather can be in the North Atlantic – and I know the kind of pressure that can be brought to bear on shipmasters by the companies they work for. So yes, I knew what those log book entries meant.
The evidence in that log book pointed to a man being pushed beyond the limits. And we must remember that at 62 years old, Captain Smith was not a young man. It was disturbing to say the least. Was he fit to take that ship to sea? Was the loss of Titanic his fault?
In any maritime disaster, the Captain must always carry the blame. His, after all, is the ultimate responsibility. But that’s not to say that Captain Smith was a fool.  This man was a professional, with some 45 years’ experience at sea – so there had to be more to it than that. What was going on beforehand? Where did this tragedy start?
I’ve never been a Titanic buff – married to a man who went to sea for a living I’ve preferred not to dwell on maritime disasters. What I knew was mostly based on films and hearsay. But the log book was direct evidence, evidence I could relate to in a very personal way.
I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I started checking – looking at accounts on the Internet to begin with, later borrowing books from friends. It struck me that the tragedy was constantly being viewed in isolation, while facts about Captain Smith were often vague or inaccurate.
After that first flash of understanding, I felt the need to take up the case for Captain Smith. To set his story – and that of the Titanic – in context. If I’d been a biographer, then I’d have written a biography – but as I’m a writer who can’t resist putting words in my characters’ mouths, it had to be a novel. 

Q:  You have obviously had to do a tremendous amount of research for this book. Was the information easy to come by?

A:  Information about the Titanic was easy to find. There have been books without number concerning the ship, the fanfare, the luxury aboard, the experiences of the survivors, and the poignant details of those who lost their lives. But reliable facts about Captain Smith were difficult to come by. He had but one daughter, and she survived her children – so there were no descendants to tell his side of the story. Eventually in Southampton library I discovered a slim biography first written in the late 1990s by an historian from Stoke-on-Trent, Captain Smith’s birthplace. The author had done the Smith family history, and researched Smith’s professional career – details of ships and dates which gave me a short-cut to the facts. 
The author, Gary Cooper, has said since that his motive in writing was similar to mine – to set the record straight. But his knowledge of professional seafaring – like so many of the Titanic historians – was lacking. With the approach of the centenary, the History Press commissioned him to re-write Smith’s biography, and it was published late last year. Mr Cooper and I were in touch with each other while working on our respective books, and in return for his excellent factual information, I was able to correct some nautical errors and give him an insight into Captain Smith’s profession. Both books have benefited, I believe, from this collaboration.
The most vital information I obtained, concerned the court case following the collision between White Star’s Olympic and HMS Hawke. Since time was short, I engaged a professional researcher specialising in maritime history, to obtain transcripts of the trial in which Captain Smith was a key witness. To my mind, that collision, and the subsequent court-case, is where the Titanic tragedy began.

Q:  Your husband is a Master Mariner, I believe. Did he help with some of the technical details?

A:  Yes, he did. Particularly with regard to navigation. But we both sweated blood trying to work out the visual reality of the collision between Olympic and HMS Hawke!

Q:  You have been writing now for quite a few years and successfully published a number of books: LOUISA ELLIOTT, LIAM’S STORY, DAGGER LANE, and MOON RISING, all historical novels. What is it that attracts you to the genre of the historical novel?

A:  I’ve always been fascinated by historical events as well as the history of places – and by the effects of the past upon the present. One of the reasons I felt so passionately about Captain Smith’s story, was because he was gaining his expertise at a time when maritime trade was everything. We imported raw materials from all over the world – and exported manufactured goods. Everything came and went by sea. Victoria’s empire was still building, and seafarers like Captain Smith were the men who put the great in Great Britain. 
On a different level, I was brought up with classic novels, and I guess my style of writing lends itself to the historical genre. Two of my novels, LIAM’S STORY and DAGGER LANE, are set in the present as well as the past, and to be honest I found the present-day sections very much harder to write. Somehow, having done my research, I can imagine myself in the past quite easily. I see the surroundings as they probably were at the time, and write from that perspective.
By the way, there’s an added plus to historical fiction: you don’t have to worry about being politically correct!

Q:  As a wife and mother you must lead a busy life. How do you find time to write? Do you work to a timetable or just write when you feel like it?

A:  When I started writing, my two children were at school and my husband was at sea on long voyages. Six months away with maybe two or three months at home between times. So writing was something which kept me occupied on a daily basis – it was another world, if you like, into which I could comfortably escape when reality got tough!  The children eventually grew up and left home, and in 2000 my husband came ashore to work, which entailed a move from York to Southampton. 
After that, writing fiction took a back seat for several years. I started painting again – enjoying the challenge and the quicker results. But once a writer, always a writer, and about 4 years ago I dug out some old research notes and started thinking about a new novel. I joined a local writers’ group, and have enjoyed the fun and the encouragement ever since.

How do I write? Well, nowadays, once I’ve begun writing, I like to work every day whenever possible, starting about 10 am and finishing about 6, with a short break for lunch. I try not to work at weekends, but if I’m on a roll I just want to keep going. A longish break of a couple of weeks or more can make it hard to pick up the thread, so I have to go back and revise just to get back into it.

Q:  As an experienced author, do you have any advice to give to new writers of historical fiction?

A:  My first completed novel was written in my early twenties – a slice of contemporary fiction that was rejected by at least a dozen publishers and literary agents. I was convinced I wasn’t meant to be a writer. The novel I longed to write (which eventually became LIAM’S STORY) was in my head for years, but all the advice I’d ever read treated history like some kind of quagmire. ‘Write what you know,’ the experts said. ‘Don’t be lured into historical fiction, which requires tons of research and has enormous pitfalls for the inexperienced novelist…’
Quite right. Except if history turns you on, and you’re willing to do the research because it fascinates you, then go for it. It’s what I did – felt the fear (to coin a phrase) and did it anyway. The research was a joy, and led me down paths I would never have trodden otherwise. Research made LOUISA ELLIOTT a big rich book in which 19th century York was almost one of the characters. But the reason for the novel’s success (or so I’ve been told) was that the themes were contemporary. In other words, I was writing about problems which are as relevant today as they were then.
So that is probably the key to grabbing your average reader. Historical fiction is rarely fashionable – but in the end it’s the characters that make a book, and your depiction of those characters must light a reader’s bonfire. 
Another bit of advice from a writer friend of mine, sadly no longer with us: ‘History must be part of the action, part of the characters’ lives. Not a backdrop against which the actors speak their lines…’
Another comment I’ve never forgotten came from a professional while I was still trying to gather courage after that first series of rejections. ‘Like all creative people,’ he said, ‘writers must be driven from within, by an idea that absolutely refuses to go away…’ 
So true. After all, nobody sensible would lock themselves away for months on end, scribbling away at a story that might never see the light of day. 
The satisfaction is in the creating of that other world – publication is just the icing on the cake. Reviews – if you are lucky – are the cherries. But the glowing candles are the letters from real readers, those wonderful people who have read your book, lived in your world for a while, and felt moved to write their words of appreciation. 
Even one such letter makes all the hard work worthwhile.

Guest interview with the novelist JG Harlond:

In your latest book, "The Chosen Man", you have an array of interesting and vivid characters.  How did you come up with them?  I particularly like the incidental characters, such as the mother-in-law and McNab.  What inspired them?

My new novel was something of an accident. I was working on the sequel to The Magpie, to cover the years 1940 – 1950, and went back to Cornwall to do some research. The house manager of Cotehele, which is the Tudor house in Cornwall that is the model for my fictional Crimphele, took me on a private tour, starting in the old Great Hall. As I walked in out of the watery English summer sun, I saw a tall, sinister figure step out of the shadows near the fireplace and disappear. His name was McNab. I knew that immediately.

Ludo, for instance, why did you choose such a squash-buckling rogue for your main character?  

After the Great Hall we wandered through the interconnecting bed chambers, examining Belgian tapestries and chatting about trade between Britain and the Low Countries then we onto the flat roof of the original 15th century fortress. I looked over the wall at a familiar scene, I used to live in the area and I know the River Tamar well. But this wasn’t now and it wasn’t 1940 - I looked down on the river and saw an inland barge bringing the charming rogue hero from The Magpie (set early C20th) upriver in the mid-17th century! After that we went over to look down at the interior Retainer's courtyard. And there was that nasty McNab again crossing to the stables, pretending he wasn’t watching me. But he was - I could feel it. Thinking back it's rather spooky, but to be honest, at the time it felt totally real. The man coming up river on the barge was Leo's ancestor Ludovico - Ludo because life’s all a game for him! Another charming rotter.  

And Alina?  She is an intriguing young woman, we are never sure, until the very end of the book, what she will do.  

Alina, who is the heroine, arrived that day as well, and virtually wrote the first half of the novel herself! The sequel to The Magpie was set aside and she started to dictate her life to me through colours - the colours of her tapestry wool. 

However, before I could let Alina take us much further I had to stop and do an awful lot of research. I hadn't planned to write about the tulip scandal in Holland in 1636, although I did know a little about it - fortunately. I had to read a good deal about the Hispano/Vatican conspiracy, starting with Eric Frattini's work 'The Entity'.

And the other characters, such as the mother-in-law?  She has a particularly strong personality.

 About the secondary and minor characters - well, that creep McNab in the shadows - all I can say is that he was there. Lady Marjorie, the mother-in-law? In the end I felt rather sorry for her. Very few people are wholly bad, like McNab: Lady Marjorie felt threatened and believed she had a lot to lose. 

I have to say I'm particularly fond of the witch/cook Crook-back Aggie. Years ago when I was a student, I had a menial job in a local hotel - there was a Crook-back Aggie there, but nowhere near as interesting.

Thank you Jane, I look forward to reading your next historical novel.

Why is it that some successful writers want to be considered as literary?  What is a book of literary fiction anyway?  Literary, according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary is: Of, constituting, occupied with, literature, polite learning, or books and written composition (especially the kind valued for form).  So, there you have it.  But where has the idea come from that some books can be categorized as literature and others not? Who do we consider to be the authors of literature?  Is there a list?  Why do we consider the books of Tolstoy and George Elliot  to be literature and not, say Ian McEwan or Graham Greene?  Or maybe I have it wrong.  Maybe the net of literary writing is much wider, maybe it includes the aforementioned and even Brenda Bainbridge and Margaret Attwood.  And, more to the point, why do we all want it so badly?

The publishers of one of my favourite authors, William Boyd, who has made a good living I imagine over the years with his excellent books, many of which have won prizes and been made into films, have taken to adding the word ‘literary’ to the blurb on their covers.   “A combination of suspense and literature” is attributed to one, while another sports the legend: “the art of the literary page-turner.”  Mr Boyd does not need this.  His work stands on its own merit.  His stories are readable, entertaining and well-written.  What more can we want?  Maybe, in a world where so many below-standard books are published, his publishers feel the need to point out that his work is written composition, especially the kind valued for form.