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I’ve just returned from a wonderful Jane Austen weekend, staying at the fabulous house that was used in Emma Thompson’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. Overlooking an estuary and set in 5,000 acres of Devon countryside, it boasts its own beach and miles of glorious walks.
The footpaths and hedgerows were filled with bluebells, red campion, cow parsley and buttercups – the very same flowers which Willoughby picks for Marianne in the film!
It was a lovely experience to spend a weekend with fellow Janeites and, in return for sharing a sneak preview of my soon-to-be-published novel, A Weekend with Mr Darcy, they helped me with my research for the third book in my trilogy.
Here’s a photo of the track used in the film – the very one Colonel Brandon, John Willoughby and Edward Ferrars ride along. Unfortunately, no heroes on horseback made an appearance over the weekend but we consoled ourselves by watching the film again.
Continue reading Lost in Austen Land! »
Today was probably the first warm day of May and very timely it was too for a meeting of The Arthur Ransome Society on the beautiful Ashridge Estate. The event was ‘Picnic, parley and patterans’ and, after the picnicking and the parleying, it was time to head into the woods where the children had laid a series of patterans for the adults to follow.
It was great fun looking out for the patterans and I particularly liked the triangular ones indicating a warning which might well have saved the gossips in the group getting bogged down in mud!
Having made it safely back to the carpark, I left my fellow adventurers and the husband and I went on to explore the beautiful Ridgeway in our own particular ways: husband painting it and me and Molly walking it!
And it was the perfect spring day with the sun shining, a little breeze blowing and the fields full of dandelions and cowslips.
Molly adored rolling in the fields and sniffing for rabbits and I enjoyed a day away from the desk and laptop. Back to it tomorrow, though, because I really can’t leave my hero wearing nothing but a towel for much longer!
Continue reading Patterans! »
We’ve just returned from a wonderful week in Lyme Regis. This was a special research trip for my current novel – The Illustrated Darcy - the second in my series about Jane Austen addicts. We were staying in an apartment on the harbour front and had our very own view of the famous Cobb.
My novel centres around a new film production of Jane Austen’s Persuasion and it was fun to explore the settings of previous film adaptations. Here I am on the very steps that Austen’s characters would have descended as well as the lovely Rupert Penry-Jones who played Captain Wentworth in the most recent adaptation.
Lyme is rich in literary history and, if you want to find out more, book yourself on a tour with the wonderful Literary Lyme.
It was a real treat to be able to walk along the Undercliff each morning and to follow the River Lim to Uplyme. The bluebells were just beginning to open and there were primroses and violets along the paths and – everywhere – the incredible smell of wild garlic.
One of my favourite places to walk is Stonebarrow. The sheltered footpaths above the sea always remind me of a Rosamunde Pilcher novel.
Here I am at Stonebarrow with my trusty copy of Persuasion. Alas, I didn’t meet any Captain Wentworths in Dorset but I had plenty to write about my own wonderful heroes.
And I even managed to do some writing on the beach at Charmouth. It’s always great to write in situ but it was absolutely freezing. I really did suffer for my art that afternoon! Still, I got my scene.
And no trip to West Dorset would be complete without a visit to the Donkey Sanctuary where you can get up close and personal to the residents! I dropped by their wonderful shop to let them know that the sanctuary has a special place in my romantic comedy Molly’s Millions.
Here’s me with the gorgeous Little Pippa.
There was, however, one distraction with being based in Lyme and that was the proximity of some very nice shops! Book shops, boutiques and bakers were a particular weakness and one boutique I fell in love with was Frills which is definitely worth a visit if you want to find something a bit special and – if you go – look out for my books as they’re going to stock some lovely holiday reads soon!
If you’d like to see some of my hubby’s beautiful paintings from the trip, visit his blog here. I love those lasers!
Continue reading Lyme Regis »