Do I really live here?

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One of my favourite things about living here in Suffolk is the wide open views from the myriad footpaths that criss-cross the countryside around us.  I get such a thrill when I turn back and spot our little cottage nestling in the heart of the countryside and here’s a new view which I discovered last week:

Just peeping through the trees, it makes it look as if we live in the middle of a great forest!  I couldn’t stop looking at it and thinking, do I really live here?  And is it only three months since I was living in the London suburbs surrounded by thousands of houses?

But there is a downside to living in such a paradise – mud! And let me tell you – there’s an awful lot of it round here at the moment and you have to be very careful that your dog doesn’t charge into the house before you’ve done your work with a big old towel.  Especially if you’ve got cream carpets downstairs…

Spring Chickens!

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We’ve been enjoying some unseasonably warm and sunny weather here in Suffolk and we’ve taken complete advantage of it by getting out in the garden and planting all the roses I bought for our cottage garden.  The hens have been out and about too, enjoying sun and dustbathing and revelling in the fact that the snow has gone and they can get on with the business of being hens again.

And Molly and I have been exploring more footpaths, watching the yellowhammers and listening to the skylarks.  It really feels as if spring has arrived early especially with all the beautiful wide-mouthed crocuses opening in the garden.

I’ve been writing in the evenings once it’s dark and the temptation of the great outdoors is no more, and things seem to be going pretty well at the moment.  I’m working on my new rom com, The Aphrodite Touch, and I’m also counting down the days until the publication of The Runaway Actress in the UK and Mr Darcy Forever in the US.  I got a glimpse of the new cover for The Runaway Actress this week and it’s gorgeous!  Can’t wait to share it with you!

Happy Bought Day!

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Today is a very special day because it marks one whole year since our lovely ex-battery hens came home!  It hardly seems a minute since we drove down to pick up our hens from the collection point in Surrey.  They were so pale and scruffy and didn’t know what to make of their new home in our back garden.  They’d never seen grass before, had never had a dust bath and didn’t know what to do when it got dark.

One year on and they’re beautiful, confident birds who know their way around a garden and even have the confidence to sneak into a house when nobody’s looking!  They’ve made friends with our dog, Molly, have moved house and settled into a life in the country and have even experienced their first snow.  Not bad for their first year.

Sadly, our dear Dolly Clare didn’t make a full year with us but her seven months of freedom were full of love and joy.

So what will our second year of hen-keeping bring?  Well, I’m hoping more hens!  I’d love to have a couple of ‘posh’ hens and rescue some more factory hens too.

So, Happy Bought Day to Alice, Minnie and Dotty!  We’re so happy you came into our lives!

New Short Story Collection!

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I’m delighted to announce the launch of a new collection of short stories available on Kindle today.  The Retreat and Other Stories
 was a lot of fun to put together with many of the stories having been published in magazines all over the world. The Retreat by Victoria Connelly_300There are 12 stories filled with love, laughter and lots of animals so grab yourself a copy and let me know what you think.  And eagle-eyed readers might just spot our dog, Molly, in one of the stories!

Snow in Suffolk!

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We have been anxiously awaiting our first snow here at Mulberry Cottage – desperate to see the beautiful countryside transformed.  It arrived last night – slow and steady – and, by this morning, we had six inches.

This was the hens’ first encounter with snow and they weren’t impressed, choosing to stay inside their coop but Molly enjoyed it – running about and pushing her nose into it like a little snow plough!

But it’s very hard to concentrate on the new book which is set on a summery Greek island when it’s like Narnia here.  Perhaps I should be writing a few chapters of my Christmas novella instead!

‘Novel in a Day’ writing course – booking now!

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Calling all aspiring novelists!  I’m delighted to be teaching a very special course at a very special place.  ‘Novel in a Day’ will teach you all you need to know about getting your novel written and published – from seeking inspiration to creating wonderful characters and plotting out your story, and approaching agents and publishers.  The one-day course will take place at beautiful Assington Mill near Sudbury in Suffolk.

The price – £85 – includes a home-made lunch in the mill’s wonderful farmhouse kitchen and there will be plenty of time for you to take inspiration from the surrounding countryside, sit by the mill pond and watch out for otters and kingfishers or meet the local herd of white goats.  It’s going to be a fabulous day so book now as there are only 10 places available!

US Blog Tour

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It’s been a busy start to the New Year as I’m out and about (on the internet!) doing a blog tour for my new release Dreaming of Mr Darcy.  So, if you’d like to find out what began my life-long love of Jane Austen or want to know about my writing habits, check out the following sites: Austenprose, Savvy Verse and Wit, Long and Short Reviews Laura’s Reviews and Royal Reviews.

I am finally getting into a writing routine here in our new home in Suffolk and have been making good progress on my new novel, The Aphrodite Touch, although the great outdoors is still proving a big distraction.  We’ve had some beautiful frosty days here and, when the sun shines, it’s absolutely magical.

We’ve also been musing over seed catalogues, planning the garden so we can grow masses of vegetables and I managed to sneak in a few roses too!  Well, you can’t have a cottage garden without masses of roses, can you?

Twelfth Night

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It’s rather depressing having a birthday at the beginning of January.  It’s so close to Christmas and the days are so short, dark and cold.  However, we made the very best of things yesterday with a trip to Long Melford where we spent a couple of happy hours poking around antique shops in search of bits of furniture for our cottage.  We then drove along the country lanes to Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast.  The sun was shining but it was bitterly cold.

The wonderful thing about winter is that you get magnificent sunsets and the colours in the sky were lovely.  I often envy my husband with his summer birthday but I always try to make the very best of my Twelfth Night one!

A New Year and a New Book!

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Well, here we are at the start of another year and I have a wonderful reason to celebrate – a brand new publication!  Today is the launch of Dreaming of  Mr Darcy in the US – the second in my Austen addicts’ trilogy.  It was published in the UK in April last year as The Perfect Hero but has a brand new look for the American market.  What do you think?

And I’m delighted to report that the ebook edition of my romantic comedy, Molly’s Millions, is currently riding high in the Amazon Top 100 chart and is Number 1 in the Humour Chart!

Today is also a very special day as it marks the ban on barren battery cages for hens.  From today, these wonderful birds will have a little more room in their cages, somewhere to perch and somewhere private to lay their eggs.  It’s still not ideal and it’s far from the free-ranging life that they should be leading but it’s a definite step in the right direction and my three ex-bat girls approve wholeheartedly!

Christmas is coming …

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and it’s been snowing here in Suffolk – not enough to settle yet but very pretty.  Puddles are icing over during the night and there are thick frosts in the fields.  Although it’s bitterly cold now, the winter light is stunningly clear and there are some fabulous views if you brave the weather and venture outside which – as a dog owner – I’m obliged to do twice a day!  Here are some photos from recent walks:

Life at Mulberry Cottage continues to make me smile and, this week, it was super smiles as we bought our first Christmas tree and decorated it with all the pretty gold, purple and pink decorations I’ve been collecting over the past few weeks and it looks lovely!  I can’t wait to show it off at the little party we’re throwing next week.

On the writing front, I’ve been scribbling down my thoughts about moving to the countryside and I hope to publish Escape to Mulberry Cottage some time next year so you can read all about it then.  And exciting news for my Jane Austen addicts’ trilogy – it’s going to be published in Russia!  I’m so thrilled and can’t wait to see my first book in Russian!

Our first week in Suffolk

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It’s been an incredibly busy week for us.  We moved from London to Suffolk last Friday and have been desperately trying to empty boxes all week and we’re still not done!  But all the stress and strain of the house move has been worth it.  We adore Mulberry Cottage and love our new life in rural Suffolk.  I’ve been on some beautiful dog walks with Molly and even saw a deer on the last walk through the wood.  Now that’s something you didn’t see in the London suburbs!

I am definitely going to have to rearrange my writing timetable.  I used to do my best writing in the mornings but, by the time I get back from these long dog walks and see to the hens (who are loving their new garden!) it’s almost time for lunch!  I’ve been working best in the evenings since moving here – once it’s dark and the great outdoors is no longer a temptation!  I’ve got rewrites to finish for The Runaway Actress and I’ve been working on a novella too – more about that another time.  Then, it’s back to the brand new novel, The Aphrodite Touch.  I’m really excited about this one and can’t wait to return to work on it.

Escape to Mulberry Cottage

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This week – at long last – we finally bid adieu to the Big Smoke and say a warm hello to rural Suffolk.  I can’t wait to start our new lives at Mulberry Cottage.  We’re in the very heart of the countryside with fields full of horses to the front and apple and cherry orchards at the back, and the village is laced with beautiful footpaths that I’m going to have so much fun exploring with Molly.

We have so much to look forward to – we’re planning to get a puppy in the spring and hope to have some more hens too.  The husband is getting nervous in case I sneak in a few goats, geese and pigs too!

And I’ve decided to write about the experience of leaving the city for a slice of the good life so watch out for Escape to Mulberry Cottage sometime next year.

So, this is my last blog from London and I look forward to writing my next one from my very own study overlooking those fields full of horses.