Hallowe'en

Today is of course Hallowe'en.

The modern festival of Hallowe'en developed from the two closely linked Christian Festivals of All Saints (1st November) and All Souls (2nd November) both of which were concerned with the dead.

The Festival of All Saints, known in English as All-Hallows or Hallowmas (Hallow from the Old English word for holy man or saint) commemorated all the Christian saints and martyrs.  The Feast of All Souls was added later to commemorate the faithful departed.  In particular, the early Church believed that souls who had died without proper preparation or who died without final rites could be helped towards Heaven and their sufferings relieved by the actions of the living.   All Souls was therefore an important feast at which special masses were held and pious acts were encouraged.  One of the most tangible methods of assisting souls was in the ringing of church bells and this went on for hours at All Souls.  The idea of Purgatory and the living interceding on behalf of the dead was rejected during the Reformation and All Souls was excluded from the English Religious Calendar.

Thereafter Hallowe'en became generally known as the time when spirits and the spirit world were close to the living.   Old texts often describe the games and love divinations (a popular pastime at any time of the year, it seems! :D) that were carried out.  This description is from 1825...

The virgil of All Saints' Day on which it is customary for young people in the North of England to dive for apples, or catch at them upon one end of a kind of hanging beam, at the other extremity of which is fixed a lighted candle and that with their mouths only, their hands being tied behind their backs.

 And this one from the early 20th century...

It was also the custom on All Hallowe'en to peel apples, then whirl the peel three times around the head and then throw it over the left shoulder to the floor.  The letter formed on the floor by the apple peel would be the intitial of the future husband or wife.  Mrs. H assured me that her apple peel always formed the letter J, and she eventually married a man called Jack.

Two nuts could also be chosen to represent two potential lovers and placed side by side on the fire shovel over the flames of a fire.  The future for the couple could be gauged by whether the heated nuts jumped apart or together!

Another tradition was if you brushed your hair in front of the mirror at midnight, it was said the face of your future spouse would appear over your shoulder.

In some areas, Hallowe'en was also known as Mischief Night when misbehaviour and trickery was encouraged and allowed.  Perhaps the origins of trick or treat!

Whatever you're doing this Hallowe'en, stay safe and have fun!


 PS  the Kindle edition of my debut Regency novel The Paradise Will is now only £3.35 on Amazon UK or $5.40 on Amazon.com - great to relax with after all that trick or treating;0)

And hurry...for a limited time only I think Ice Angel is available for just 99p on Amazon UK and  $1.59 on Amazon.com !!




Jack O'Lantern image by Toby Ord, from Wikimedia Commons
Snap-Apple Night (1832) by Daniel Maclise, from Wikimedia Commons
Early 20th Century Hallowe'en card, from Wikimedia Commons

Nell Dixon's new release is available now

While promoting the Kindle release of The Paradise Will and waiting for updates on other fronts, I'm busy sketching out ideas for a new story.  Once the original idea has ignited, I find my characters and plot need time to take shape, and then evolve.   Try and rush the process and it doesn't work.  It all has to make some sense in my head before I can start writing.  I make notes, decide on character names, do some reseach (a great way to procrastinate *g*) and I might even get the opening line sorted.  Sometimes I'll use visual prompts (currently a photo of a house, torn out of a magazine and stuck to the wall above my PC!).  It all feeds into a creative melting-pot which will hopefully churn out a first draft down the line.  We shall see ;0)

Meanwhile, it's a pleasure to announce that my author buddy and all-around lovely person Nell Dixon is launching a new book.   I can't wait to read it!  Here's more details and an excerpt to whet your appetite:-

Renovation, Renovation, Renovation is the new release from multi award winning author, Nell Dixon. 

Overworked, over budget and just so not over him! Kate would like an engagement ring from Steve but instead he's lumbered them with a thirteenth renovation project, and doing up Myrtle Cottage disturbs a ghost from the English Civil War who has romance troubles of her own.

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon.com 

Renovation, Renovation, Renovation is a contemporary romance with a twist. One of the residents at Myrtle Cottage, a fifteenth century house is a rather mournful ghost called Mary Ann. She was resident during a turbulent period of English history when Oliver Cromwell was coming to power and civil war raged throughout the country. Mary Ann’s story becomes entwined with that of Kate, the current owner bringing glimpses of the past into the present.

 Excerpt:

“Hey, Kate, can you get me the torch from the kitchen?” Steve’s voice was muffled but excited.

I went and collected the torch from the junk drawer and passed it to him. “What have you found?”

He’d pulled a crate into the fireplace and balanced on it, shining the torch into the flue. Knowing my luck he’d happened on some protected species of bat and we’d have to abandon the whole project or live in the Hammer house of horrors for evermore. I could hear him scrabbling around.

“This is so great.”

“What?” My curiosity was piqued in spite of myself. Maybe he’d found treasure – some previous owners nest egg of sovereigns perhaps?

Decorated with yet more dust and soot, he emerged from the fireplace clasping a small dirty brown object in his hand.

“I never thought we’d be lucky enough to find one of these. I’ve heard about them but never, ever thought I’d find one.” An excited grin split his face and he looked like a small boy who had just been given the world’s biggest treat.

He held the object out towards me almost reverently. “It was on a ledge, quite high up inside the chimney.”

As I looked more closely I could see that what he’d found appeared to be a child’s shoe. Much worn and filthy dirty from its time in the chimney. I failed to see why Steve was so excited.

“You do know what this is, don’t you Kate?” Steve touched it carefully with the forefinger of his other hand. Again a cool movement of air swirled around my feet and ankles.

“It’s a shoe.”

“It’s a spirit trap.”

Mark your diaries...

...The Kindle edition of The Paradise Will is published on 30th September!

It's been a while coming so thanks to everyone for being patient; I know how frustrating it was to be unable to get hold of a copy because the print run had sold out. 

The Paradise Will was my debut novel and a finalist for the RNA Joan Hessayon award.   I loved writing it and adored each and every one of the characters (well, almost ... one character is better described as - er - interesting rather than adorable ;0) ) and am looking forward to re-visiting it via the shiny new Kindle I had for my birthday :-)

You can pre-order from Amazon UK and Amazon.com.  Other formats available very soon. 

Hope y'all enjoy!

Some exciting news

Sharing is always fun so I'm delighted to share the exciting news that my Regency romance The Paradise Will is to appear as an ebook in September.  Yaaaay!!

The Paradise Will was first published in 2008, but it has been out for print for some time due to heavy demand.  An ebook edition is therefore good news for all those who have contacted me about getting hold of a copy, and for everyone else who enjoys a great story!  You don't even need a Kindle or any other reader - ebooks can be downloaded to your PC.  :0)  More details as I get them, but mark the date in your diary now and in the meantime, here's a little reminder.....

When spirited Alyssa Paradise unexpectedly inherits her uncle’s property in Dorset, she is determined to   meet the challenge of running a grand estate. However, there is a surprising condition: every week for six months she must dine tête-à-tête with the enigmatic Sir Giles Maxton, who owns the adjoining land. Alyssa wonders how she will endure this arrangement – Sir Giles cuts a dashing figure but he is positively insufferable.

 *Finalist in the RNA Joan Hessayon New Writers Award*
 *Finalist in the RedRosesforAuthors Christmas Awards 2008*

And there's more good news... Brief Encounters - a sparkling new anthology of six romantic short stories - is currently available for just £1.39!   Sweet and sexy, contemporary and historical, the collection has something for everyone and is perfect if you need a quick fix of romantic fiction during your coffee or lunch break, or to wind down with in the evening.

The other Brief Encounters tales are by fellow members of the Coffee Crew, Nell Dixon, who writes warm-hearted contemporary romances, and Phillipa Ashley, who writes lively, sexy and fun romantic fiction.  Nell and Phillipa have had exciting news too.

Nell has just sold two romantic comedy novels to Myrmidon.  In the first Renovation, Renovation, Renovation, Kate would like an engagement ring from Steve but instead he's lumbered them with a thirteenth renovation project, and doing up Myrtle Cottage disturbs a ghost from the English Civil War who has romance troubles of her own.

Phillipa's brand new US release Wish You Were Here is riding high in the Amazon charts, as is Dating Mr. December which is absolutely free for one week in the USA and Canada.  As I type this, DMD is #1 in the Top 100 free Kindle books and WYWH is #20 in the Top 100 paid Kindle books.  

Congratulations to Phillipa and Nell!