Monday 26 May 2014

Castles, Cake and Dreams


Hello! Just how important is the Setting of a story? And how much does it affect whether you choose to read a book? Are you drawn by a Cornish Romance, a countryside escape , some city pizzazz, or something exotic and faraway? 

“Hold Tight to Your Dreams”, my latest novel, is set in a stunning Northumbrian Castle. It places you in such a historic setting, yet it’s a modern Romantic Comedy. The story is about Ellie taking a chance on her dreams of running her own Tea Rooms (oh, yes, plenty of cake), leaving behind the city and her dull office job… and of course, being a romance, falling head over heels with the rather gorgeous estate manager.
 
I live in the amazing countryside of Northumberland UK, rolling hills, big open skies, farmland, moorland, and just a few miles away from the most stunning sweep of golden sand with a Castle towering over the beach at Bamburgh. There are castles inland too, nestled away in a valleys, or the focal point of market towns such as Alnwick. Castles, castles everywhere!
 
 
So this amazing county colours the settings of my novels. Like Ellie, I want you to as a reader to discover somewhere new, quite different, and somewhere that will soon begin to feel very special. Don’t you ever feel that you want to stop – step out of your everyday life, give up the safe but dull job? Turn a hobby you love into a career? Reach for your Dreams? 
 
As a writer I’m trying to do that too – reach for my dreams. I have always loved writing, but only now am I trying to make it into a career. Writing stories which explore our relationships and the ups and downs of life, hopefully to be published one day soon – fingers crossed! – so that readers can enjoy them too. 
 
I love how a story fits with its setting. And how the setting is not just a backdrop but can also empower the plot. It can give you a sense of getting away to somewhere new as a reader, like you’ve landed on holiday in your head. Even better when there’s a particularly hunky male in residence there too! 
 
And then of course, there’s the essential cake; chocolate, Victoria sponge with strawberries and cream – all in abundance in the Castle Tea Rooms, and the smells of scones baking; raspberry and white chocolate anyone? 
 
Where would you like a story or novel set? Any ideas for an inspiring location? Or would you like me to welcome you to the wonders of Northumberland and Ellie’s Tea Rooms? Please comment below! I’d love to hear from you.
 
 
 

6 comments:

  1. Setting is so important. It is why readers return time again and again to certain authors. Think Robyn Carr and her Virgin River series. It is what being a Milieu author is all about. It is not just the settting, but the culture and the desire to spend time getting to know a place until it becomes a second home.

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    1. Thanks for your interesting comment, Michelle. Yes, I totally agree. Readers can be excited by a new setting, yet also feel at home in a setting they come back to and enjoy in a series of books.

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  2. Love the idea of a Castle tea room (years ago I used to work at the tea room attached to Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye!) Your mention of those assortment of cakes is making my mouth water too! Hope to read the novel when it's published.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed this blog and the idea of the Castle Tea Rooms. I can just picture you waitressing in those Isle of Skye Tea Rooms, Jan!

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  3. Love the blog post! The photos are inspiring - especially the photo of the chocolate cake - off I go to get my mixing bowl out!!!

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  4. Thanks Lindsey! Hope your writing is going well too, and your baking!

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