As I sit at my desk looking out at the rain pouring down over my home town of Stroud, it is hard to imagine that a little over a year ago I was on a research trip to the South of France, basking in the sun and frantically taking notes and photographs for my novel. A little over two years ago, it would have been hard to imagine sitting at this desk with a finished copy of The Missing Pieces of Nancy Moon in front of me, my second novel already in the editorial machine, and a third in its early stages.
Books and I go back a long way, and my very first job out of university was as an editorial assistant at Hodder and Stoughton. I had originally trained as a classical musician, and thank goodness I had the sense to realise I was not cut out for the professional concert platform, and that it was in the world of books I felt most at home. I never gave up music completely, however, and one of my greatest pleasures in life is playing violin in string quartets and with my local chamber orchestra, and singing with the small choir I founded recently. Besides, all those years of learning instruments taught me the discipline needed to write a book: it’s hard, it’s lonely and there are no short cuts, but the rewards are boundless. After leaving London for the Cotswolds, I carried on some editorial work freelance, trying to work around my young family until the day I returned a manuscript whose pages were stuck together with jam and decorated with crayon. I took to experimenting with my own writing instead, to sustain me through those fuggy days of scraping food off the walls and toddlers off the floor. By the time I returned to work as a music teacher, writing had become an obsession, and I always kept my laptop handy so I could write through breaks and missed lessons.
Esta historia es de la edición August 2020 de Cotswold Life.
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Gloucestershire After The War
Discovering the county’s Arts and Crafts memorials of the First World War
THE WILD SIDE OF Moreton-in-Marsh
The days are getting shorter but there’s plenty of reasons to be cheerful, says Sue Bradley, who discovers how a Cotswolds town is becoming more wildlife-friendly and pots up some bulbs for an insect-friendly spring display
Mr Ashbee would approve
In the true spirit of the Arts & Crafts Movement, creativity has kept the Chipping Campden community ticking over during lockdown
The Cotswolds at war
These might be peaceful hills and vales, but our contribution to the war effort was considerable
Trust in good, local food
‘I’ve been following The Country Food Trust’s activities with admiration since it was founded’
Why Cath is an open book
Cath Kidston has opened up almost every nook and cranny of her Cotswold idyll in a new book, A Place Called Home. Katie Jarvis spoke to Cath ahead of her appearance at this year’s Stroud Book Festival STROUD BOOK FESTIVAL – THIS YEAR FREE AND ONLINE: NOVEMBER 4-8
From the Cotswolds to the world
Most people know that the Cotswolds have featured in a fair few Hollywood movies and TV series.
The Wild Hunt
In search of the legendary King Herla in the Malvern Hills
Fighting spirit amid the flowers
Tracy Spiers visits Warwick, a beautiful town that is open for business and ready to welcome visitors
Final journey
Cheltenham author and volunteer on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR), Nicolas Wheatley, recounts the fascinating story of funeral trains