Tom Fleck by Harry Nicholson - 5 Big Fat *****s from me

A superb historical novel

This book opens in 1513, in the reign if King Henry VIII in England.  I was immediately captivated by the main character Tom Fleck – a cowman who wants to improve his station in life.  His opportunity comes when he retrieves a ring lost by one of the King’s Heralds.

The setting of the book - the north east of England between and around the rivers Tyne, Tees and Wear, is one I’m very familiar with, having grown up in Durham City.  The descriptions of the places mentioned, the names of the local aristocracy and the events that take place during the story all all familiar to me through my knowledge of local history, particularly the Borders of England and Scotland during this period.

Mr  Nicholson’s writing style is superb, blending careful characterisation with an accessible use of language giving the flavour of the period without heaping onto the reader an indigestible amount of incomprehensible dialect.  What gave me most pleasure as I read was the knowledge of farming and animal husbandry, various country customs, the writer’s familiarity with the flora and fauna of the area, particularly with regard to the medicinal use of plants by the local wise woman. 

The story culminates in a major battle between the Scots and the English, the Battle of Flodden Field, which is described in careful graphic detail to such an extend that I’m buying the printed version of this book for my husband, a keen reader of military history. 

Here's a lovely 5* review from Amazon for my novel, Lying in Wait.

'Romantic thriller or thrilling romance? Take your pick! This book combines all the page-turning qualities of a thriller with the emotional pull of the best love stories as we follow Malachy Finn from the Emerald Isle to England's underworld in the 70s.

Mal is the book's greatest strength, a well-drawn character who transforms from naive farm-lad to tormented adult as he witness love and corruption. The other characters are also great... just don't get too attached to them (which is about all I can say without spoiling the plot!).

The settings are the beautifully evoked and there's plenty of period detail which will be enjoyed by anyone who lived through the 70s. Oh, and it's quite raunchy in places too! Read and enjoy... and be prepared for an unexpected twist at the end.'

Ingtrigued?  You can find the book on Amazon in Paperback or on Kindle and to download from Smashwords, Barnes & Noble etc. 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lying-in-Wait-ebook/dp/B0055T772K/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lying-Wait-Elizabeth-Jasper/dp/1908603720/

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/97159

I read this strange yet compelling book called 'The Legend of Lingess Cod' by Eric Walters.  This book, a big chunk of which is written from the POV of various sea creatures (I loved those bits), was about fishing wars and conservation.  During the course of this highly original and exciting story, fish hunted and ate one another, sea creatures fell in love, the baddies were very bad and the goodies were enterprising and cunning (and good).   Different, but in a very good way.  5*s from me.

I'm not in the first flush of youth, but I know there are things I would have liked to do with my life given different opportunities.  That's not to say I don't adore what I'm doing now - I love writing stories to entertain people and take them out of their everyday lives and I know I'm good at that but, if I had to choose something else to do with my life, I could be persuaded to try:

natural history and/or horticulture

furniture restoration and antiques.

Maybe that would take more than one more life.  It probably would to do it properly. What would you like to do and why, and how many lifetimes do you think you would need?  Please post your thoughts here. 

The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer by Jennifer Lynch (with a foreward from Twin Peaks co-creators Mark Frost and David Lynch)

Review by Elizabeth Jasper Writer

Many readers will recall the gripping opening of the TV programme, Twin Peaks.  What kept people tuning in week after week was the mystery surrounding the murder of a beautiful teenage girl, Laura Palmer.  As the series developed, more mysteries were uncovered than were ever solved and it was the anticipation of learning what actually happened to Laura Palmer that kept viewers rivetted to their TV sets week after week.  The haunting music, the darkness of the woods around the town of Twin Peaks, the enigmatic characters gradually revealed over the weeks and months all added to a mystique that ensured this programme is still remembered over twenty years later.

The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer is a prequel to the Twin Peaks story.  Through the pages of her diary, we discover how Laura’s inner demon drives her to use her best friend, her family, neighbours and, most of all, boys and men to achieve her dark desires as she gradually comes to terms with her own evil nature.  Although she fights her evil side as hard as she can to become a ‘good’ girl worthy of her parents and her friends, there is an inevitability about Laura’s story which, the reader soon realises, cannot end well.

Using the menace of unwelcome night-time visits by BOB, who alternatively challenges and threatens Laura, the darkness of the woods at night, where Laura seeks enlightenment as to the state of her soul, and a parade of good and downright bad characters, this diary is a fascinating glimpse into the progression of an ‘innocent’ girl into someone who, at the time of her death had morphed into an amoral, drug-taking manipulator.  Glimpses of the ‘good’ Laura become fewer as the years slip by until, at last, she can take no more and throws herself into a self-destructive pattern of behaviour that cannot have a positive outcome.

The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer shocks the reader as the full extent of Laura’s character is gradually revealed.  Her wild behaviour and careless sexuality will stretch perceptions of teenage innocence, and by the time the Diary ends, the reader will wonder whether true innocence can actually exist.  Written in a frank, descriptive style with no-holds-barred use of language and without a single glance towards conventional mores, this book will linger long after the last entry has been read.

We’re leaving sunny Spain behind this year to spend Christmas and New Year with family in the UK.

To do list:

1.  Shopping:

We have finished the shopping.  We’ve sent the cheques, shopped on-line for Christmas day goodies and stocking fillers, paid over sums of money to our two daughters, who are each entertaining us for a week – one over Christmas and one over New Year.   Already funds are somewhat depleted so we’re hoping there won’t be any Christmas Eve panic buying like last time.  Like every time. 

But, hang on.  We still need to buy a couple of extra little gifts for people we have forgotten about.  It’s very easy to do that – forget about people, I mean.  You know how it is – you go to visit someone you’ve never exchanged gifts with – not once over decades - and they produce from under their Christmas tree a beautifully wrapped parcel with your name on it!  Aaargh.  What to do?  Solution, always keep a supply of small, beautifully wrapped Christmas gifts in the boot of the car, along with pen and little gift tags.  Then say something like, ‘Oh, how kind.  Yours is in the car.’  Then you go out to the car, rapidly scrawl their name on the gift tag and return, triumphant, hoping it’s something that will at least match the one they’ve bought you in value. No-one wants to appear a cheapskate at Christmas time, do they?  Of course, you know that when you get home and open their gift it is going to be something really cheap, but at least you appear to have remembered the forgotton ones. 

Then there’s the booze.  Having an Other Half who knows a lot about wine – well, about all things boozy, in truth, we always find ourselves alone with the shopping trolly full of festive cheer.  We must try to spend less time choosing it so we don’t get to the checkout long after the rest of the Christmas goodies have been bought and paid for and packed away in the car.    Aren’t those Christmassy CDs next to the checkout tempting?  How wonderful to listen to Carols from Kings while sipping Bucks Fizz and tucking into smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on Christmas morning.  And it’s only… HOW much?  Well, OK, after all, it’s Christmas.

 2.  Packing:

Now this can be tricky.  First of all, who is driving to the airport?  If it’s me (which it will be), I need to have driving shoes in the car as I cannot drive in my Ugg boots.  If you’ve ever tried driving in your Ugg Boots you will know what I mean.  So, Ugg boots to travel in (once we’ve got to the airport) because I’ll need them for the cold weather in the UK and they are enormous so I have to wear them as there is no way they will go into my suitcase. 

Next, articles requested by daughters and things we forgot to take with us last time.  So, must wrap up the chorizos and boquerones (pickled anchovies in vacuum packs) in sealed freezer bags so they don’t leak and/or stink out all our clothes.  And those books.

Must remember to copy various CDs as requested.  Must remember to load up my Kindle with great books for holiday reading (see recommended list below).  Must remember to pack blank Christmas cards (same as for forgotten gifts).  Must remember not only laptop but lead.  Must remember Kindle charger, phone charger, camera charger.

Medications – when you get to our age you need to take a veritable pharmacy with you wherever you go, so must remember to check that we have enough, plus extras in case of Ash Cloud from Iceland.  Got caught out by that last time!

Shoes – party shoes (indoors only), trainers (for power-walk on Boxing Day morning – well, good intentions are a start, aren’t they), boots, smart shoes (for smart pub visits). 

Clothes – I’m not taking too many clothes this time.  It’s no fun at all wearing multiple layers in UK Departures just because you’ve bought too much in the sales and you are over your weight limit.  Worse is getting off the plane in Malaga and sweating like a pig as you struggle with your bags to find car in the vast car park.  It’s never where you thought it was, is it?

One coat for all occasions and one fleece for power-walk on Boxing Day.  One party dress and two party skirts, plus jeans and a few tops.  Must not forget fleecy dressing gown – very lightweight but essential for loafing around trying to recover from hangovers.  Very comforting.  And bedsocks.  Underwear.

Makeup and toiletries – getting good at this.  Perfume and matching body lotions serves for any and every occasion.  Makeup is 6 items so no problem there.

3.  Essentials: 

Passport, driving licence, debit/credit cards.

I think that’s the lot.  Let me know if you think I’ve forgotten anything.  Meantime, have a great Festive Season and see you again with my New Year Blog.

Recommended reading list for Kindle:

Lying in Wait by Elizabeth Jasper – only £0.86 or $0.99 to 31 December

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lying-in-Wait-ebook/dp/B0055T772K/

http://www.amazon.com/Lying-in-Wait-ebook/dp/B0055T772K/

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/97159?ref=ElizabethJasper

Meggie Blackthorn by Elizabeth Jasper – only £0.86 or $0.99 to 31 December

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Meggie-Blackthorn-ebook/dp/B005UBZOPA/

http://www.amazon.com/Meggie-Blackthorn-ebook/dp/B005UBZOPA/

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/97169?ref=ElizabethJasper

Award-winning books: Both of my e-books have been finalists in the YouWriteOn Book of the Year Awards ( http://www.youwriteon.com) - Lying in Wait (2010) and Meggie Blackthorn (Children's 2011). Meggie Blackthorn is the all-time No 1 in the YWO Best Seller charts. Download them for only £0.86 for December.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Meggie-Blackthorn-ebook/dp/B005UBZOPA/

Early 1960s - Newcastle, UK

When eleven-year-old Meggie's feckless Dad doesn't pay the coal man she takes matters into her own hands. With her younger brother, Jack, she sets off to find the free coal she knows can be found in the pit heaps opposite their village. When she and Jack return home from their adventure, she's punished. Does she still love her dad? She's not so sure and when she has to make a choice between going to live with her grandparents at their newsagent's shop in Newcastle so she can go to the grammar school or staying in Shippon and going to the local secondary school she decides to leave home.

She soon finds herself in an ever bigger mess. Billy Fish and The Codmother are ripping off Meggie's grandparents. With her new friend, paperboy Dave Spedding, she tries to help, but finds herself trapped in a dangerous situation.

Growing pains, a new school, dealing with Billy Fish's threats against her grandparents and coping with long-hidden family secrets stretch Meggie's resourcefulness and strength of character to the limit. (66,000 words)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lying-in-Wait-ebook/dp/B0055T772K/

'He could just see himself, in a year or so, going back home with his pockets stuffed with cash and his Da, Zach and Ma welcoming him with big smiles and open arms. It would be that grand he could hardly wait.'

But when Malachy Flynn finds himself mixed up with the Conway family in Dublin, he realises that making money isn't always easy - or legal. Then there's gang boss, Brogan. No-one messes with Brogan. Ever.

Northumberland farmer Tom Oliver prefers the company of married women, but time's running out for him when his new dairyman moves to Netherwell Farm with his dangerously attractive wife and her pretty younger sister.

In London, Mal falls in love with Tom's niece, Jess, but they are forced to flee to Northumberland when his secret past catches up with him. Revelations and death turn everyone's lives upside down. Can Mal protect those he loves or will he forever be watching over his shoulder, waiting for Brogan to take revenge? (99,000 words)

After Midnight by Eryn Lockhart

I haven't had so much fun reading a Historical Romance since I read Kathleen Windsor's 'Forever Amber' more than forty years ago. Eryn Lockhart has the exact same ability to keep the reader glued to the narrative with her complex and fascinating plot, her beguiling characters, the situations they find themselves involved in and the superb pacing that forced me to carry on reading while my eyelids were determined to close. Tension, conflict, danger, romance and sex framed by excellent period settings added to this unforgettable reading experience. In addition, I can say in all honesty that I have never, ever read a historical novel with such an incredible climax right at the end.

Get it here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/88138?ref=ElizabethJasper

Now available on Amazon Kindle - here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Meggie-Blackthorn-ebook/dp/B005UBZOPA/

Early 1960s – Newcastle, UK

When eleven-year-old Meggie's feckless Dad doesn't pay the coal man and they have no hot water, she decides to take matters into her own hands. With her younger brother, Jack, she sets off to find the free coal she knows can be found in the pit heaps opposite their village. When she and Jack return home from their adventure, she's in big trouble.

Meggie passes the eleven-plus examination and is sent to live with her grandparents who own a newsagents in Newcastle. She soon finds herself in an ever bigger mess. Billy Fish and 'The Codmother' are ripping off Meggie's grandparents. With her new friend, paperboy Dave Spedding, she tries to help, but finds herself trapped in a dangerous situation.

Growing pains, a new school, dealing with Billy Fish’s threats against her grandparents and coping with long-hidden family secrets stretch Meggie's resourcefulness and strength of character to the limit. (66,000 words)

On My Own