After almost two and a half years - for a proportion of which I wondered if I'd run out of stories - a new book has just been published! Hurrah! It's called The Art of Life and is published by Resolute Books. You can visit it on Amazon, marvel at the glorious cover, read a brief description, download it for a mere £2.99 or order a paperback for £8.99. I am obviously biased, but books are amazingly good value when you consider how much time and work goes into them, and not only in the writing of them. Editing, formatting, design, publicity, marketing...And you and a friend would probably spend more than £8.99 on a cup of coffee apiece!
Sue Russell's blog
Thursday, 22 August 2024
Monday, 18 December 2023
Research and fiction
I am now in the middle of writing my tenth novel. I like to write about things that intrigue and fascinate me, and I live in hope that others may also find them interesting. In November my intrepid husband and I took our elderly motorhome to North Yorkshire, because my current story takes place there in large part and while I have visited the Yorkshire Dales before it has always been in summer. Now, I needed to experience the area in worse weather, and was secretly hoping for snow (my driver was hoping quite the opposite.) As it turned out, for the eight days of our stay it rained every day but one, and we hadn't even arrived at our campsite before we were faced with impassably flooded roads. Some floods we braved, but others looked too deep and we were forced to take a back route - think tiny bendy roads, big puddles , drystone walls...
Owing to the unusual quantity of rain the rivers and becks were swollen, the waterfalls were roaring torrents and the low fields lay under water. A few meters below our campsite pitch a sizeable river rose and sank as the rain came and went, but luckily we were several meters above it.
This all made for dramatic scenery which as tourists we enjoyed, but I imagine the locals, especially the farmers, were less impressed.
The only day when it didn't rain we decided to drive the long, winding, and occasionally quite alarming but very beautiful (in a bleak wintry way) Buttertubs Pass, where we encountered high drama in the form of sharp bends, steep climbs and scary plunges - as well as many sheep.
These were the famous Swaledales, a hardy breed, with their curling horns and black and white faces.
Monday, 24 July 2023
A long goodbye
Saturday, 3 June 2023
An exciting new venture
Against a sun-drenched backdrop of the glorious hills and valleys of West Dorset in the UK, a group of authors - of which I have the privilege to be a member - celebrated the launch of our consortium, Resolute Books.
This came as the culmination of many months of discussion and preparation, and with the members coming from all over the country it was all done on Zoom. Some members hadn't met each other in person until launch day, and that was an added pleasure.
Two members launched their books on the day, making it even more special: Paul Trembling brought out his crime novel, Local Killer, latest in his 'Local' series.
And C.F.Dunn introduced Wheel of Fortune, the first volume of her historical fiction series, The Tarnished Crown.
Both these fine books can be ordered from bookshops or Amazon.
Other books by Resolute members, published elsewhere, were also on display. My own are there, flanked by Paul's other works and the Isabella M. Smugge series by Ruth Leigh.
No celebration would be complete without food and drink! The French fizzy was well chilled and the canapes were magnificent.
There will be more titles published under the Resolute banner in the fullness of time, with other members' work represented covering a sweep of genres, from thrillers to crime, memoir and contemporary drama, devotional and humour, among others.
For more information please visit www.resolutebooks.co.uk
Wednesday, 26 October 2022
A special birthday
My husband said he wanted to be mowing our acre in France on his 80th, and he got his wish. He is very fortunate to be able to! Here he is, wearing an appropriate T shirt given by a friend.
Having family members with us made it even better, and we did some touristy things, including a very wet visit to Mont St Michel!
The weather wasn't great, but it didn't deter us, and the dogs loved this beach.
The highlight was a musical party with friends, most of whom made a contribution. The family practised beforehand, indoors and out.
A clever friend made this magnificent cake.
Then everyone went home, and we got on with the jobs - including harvesting our apples.
Friday, 24 June 2022
More on the follies, and keeping up with Rosie
Friday, 27 May 2022
Put to shame by my dog
Some of you who have dipped into this blog may remember that my dog Rosie had a blog of her own, called Rosie's Ruminations. I think she's trying to shame me into posting more often, because I see she has just published a new post! If you would like to see what she's been doing, it's at www.doghair1.blogspot.com.
Here's a photo of Rosie in our motorhome, ready for a new adventure.
I can't feel too shamed because at least I have posted sometimes in the last nine years, whereas she has been most neglectful! We both need to do better.