Monthly Archives: August 2013

A Writer and a Camera

August 28, 2013Books, Jessica Blair Country

A camera can be a useful assistant to a writer. Photographs of people can help when creating characters; scenes can help with backgrounds and so on. They can help recall, so that what may have faded in the mind can be brought back in lively detail. Many years ago I visited Arctic Norway and Spitsbergen. Fortunately I had wonderful weather and my camera worked overtime.

Such photographs as these recalled the scenery and atmosphere of the Arctic when I was using such settings in several of my novels: The Red Shawl, A Distant Harbour, Secrets of the Sea, The Restless Heart, Secrets of a Whitby Girl.

Jessica Blair Country and a Writer’s Mind.

August 16, 2013Books, Jessica Blair Country

I’ve had a couple of days off from my writing but the novel I’m writing was still buzzing in my mind. Now I’m back to it and my characters have welcomed me. Yesterday I went to Scarborough and had beautiful sunshine. My return journey took me through Troutsdale, a very pretty route through countryside so typical of ‘Jessica Blair Country.’ Great background material. A writer always has to be aware of surroundings — they might become useful in the next novel and they might spark the idea for a new one, even the old dilapidated chapel I passed along this road. Why had it been built in a lonely place? Why had it fallen into disuse? Who had worshiped here? Why had they left? Where had they gone? A writer’s mind can get to work!

Jessica Blair seeks calm waters

August 11, 2013Books

Ran into a little rough sea in the early afternoon today. The morning had gone well with the writing floating along smoothly. Then the trouble; the immediate way ahead was not totally clear though the distant destination was. However the rough sea served a purpose and focused my intention to outrun it. I reached clear water this evening and provided it remains calm the writing should be plain sailing tomorrow

A Book On My Bookshelves

August 10, 2013Books, BOOKS FROM MY BOOKSHELVES

I have recently placed on my bookshelves DAM BUSTERS FAILED TO RETURN by Robert Owen, Steve Darlow, Sean Feast and Arthur Thorning, published by Fighting High. Many books have been written about 617 Squadron that was formed especially to destroy vital German dams in the Second World War and went on beyond that to continue carrying the war to Germany. This book, which is beautifully produced, concentrates on some of the men who did not return from that famous raid on which the Lancasters had to attack their targets at 60ft, at night, in the face of enemy fire. This book follows the lives of some of these young men who came from around the world, why they joined the RAF, how they trained, what took them to this special squadron when it was formed, what happened during the raid, where they crashed and where they lay at rest. These are moving stories, delicately handled by the authors after a great deal of research, with each of them supported by a wealth of photographs. An important book for anyone interested in the Second World War and especially in the role played by Bomber Command on the road to victory.

Beating A Deadline

August 8, 2013Books, BOOKS FROM MY BOOKSHELVES, Jessica Blair Country

My on-going contribution to my new novel has been interrupted for a week in order for me to concentrate on checking the proof copy of A TAPESTRY OF DREAMS which will be published in February. It is concentrated work looking for errors that need correcting. It is one aspect of an author’s life that is probably never considered by the reader. The author has to know or have access to the set of symbols and marks used to indicate where the correction is needed and what it should be. I completed this yesterday and put it the post, for next-day delivery, thankful that I had beaten the deadline set by my publisher, Piatkus, for its return. The manuscript will, of course, be rechecked in-house, another step towards final production.

Jessica Blair and wartime sagas

August 1, 2013Books, BOOKS FROM MY BOOKSHELVES

I recently watched on TV Appointment in London starring Dirk Bogarde and Dinah Sheridan. It was released in 1952 after being filmed at RAF Upwood.

While appropriate in one sense, its title gives no hint that this film is set on a Lancaster bombing station during the Second World War. The story-line is good, the romance pleasantly done, the background of life on a Lancaster bomber station at that time is authentic and holds the interest throughout. I can vouch for that because I served as a Bomb Aimer in Lancasters of 44 Squadron, 5 Group, Bomber Command.

That time led to my first published novel in 1959; I used my knowledge to write a war story with a RAF background. The writing bug had got me and many more books, fiction and nonfiction have followed. Though I am really Bill Spence my novel output since 1992 has been under the name of Jessica Blair. These are historical sagas mainly set in the nineteenth century but include three with wartime backgrounds THE RESTLESS SPIRIT, WINGS OF SORROW and IN THE SILENCE OF THE SNOW, all published by Piatkus an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group.