The Heartbeat of Trees: Embracing Our Ancient Bond with Forests and Nature by Peter Wohlleben
This was a slow read for me as it’s not exactly a page turner. However, I loved and enjoyed reading and learning more about trees. A must read for anyone concerned about our environment, even more so for those who think that nothing is wrong with how we treat our environment.
To support this website and the author’s interviewed, visit Support MTA for suggestions. Thank you! – Camilla
“Disclosure: This website is an affiliate of Bookshop.org and will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.”
Today we travel to West Sussex in the UK to chat with Patricia M Osborne about how Open University, poetry, George Orwell, playing the piano, a broken hip, researching, snuggling on the couch, a feeling of belonging, freewriting, and life on Mars come together as part of Patricia’s current and past life.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m married, a mum to three and Nanna to six, and I live in West Sussex, UK. I’m a novelist, poet, and short story writer and I’ve even been known to dabble in scripts for stage plays, radio and screen. I have an MA in Creative Writing. When I’m not working on my own writing, I enjoy sharing my knowledge and act as a mentor to fellow writers.
In which genre do you write?
For my novels I tend to write historical fiction family sagas but for poetry, mainly narrative poems using myth and nature to tell mythical stories.
How many published books do you have?
I have six books published. Three of them are my trilogy, two poetry pamphlets and a third, co-authored – a poetry conversation. I have another co-authored poetry pamphlet coming out this year. When I look at my books, I can’t believe they’re mine as before 2017 when House of Grace was published, the idea of publishing a book was just a dream.
Where did the idea for House of Grace come from?
This is an interesting question. I was working on my final piece of work for my Open University degree which was a creative non-fiction life story. I suddenly realised it was too painful to write. I panicked. I was going to fail my BA degree at the final hurdle.
I started Googling story prompts for something to grab my muse when I suddenly remembered a character I’d created as part of my English GCSE. That isn’t as strange as it sounds. I had to leave school at fifteen to help bring in money for the family so when I was in my final year of my BA degree, I went back to college to do my GCSE English and Maths. It was through an English assignment after studying George Orwell’s Road to Wigan Pier that I created Grace, a coal miner’s wife. I had my character but needed more. TV dramas, Mr. Selfridge and House of Elliot provided great inspiration.
Can you play a musical instrument?
I play the piano and the recorder but am rusty on both. I’d always wanted to learn to play the piano but it was only when my youngest was learning, and I’d reached the grand age of fifty, that I had the opportunity to do this. While I had a piano teacher I thrived, managing to play Grade 8 pieces. Unfortunately, due to breaking my hip, I was unable to get to the piano and later lost my piano teacher. However, I do try to make some time to sit at my black beast and gain relaxation from playing just for myself.
What is the most enjoyable aspect you’ve found through writing?
I’m not sure I can answer that question in one. So many enjoyable aspects. I love the research process where I get to learn so many wonderful things, I love the idea of transporting myself to anywhere and anytime I want to be, and I love becoming anyone or anything. Another wonderful aspect that I’ve found through writing is being part of the writing community. For the first time in my life, I’ve found a place that I really belong.
Do you journal write or keep a personal diary? Has this helped with your published writings? If so, how?
When I first studied creative writing with the Open University, I wrote a journal. I was never the morning pages person but night-time. I’d freewrite and if I didn’t know what to write I’d continue to write I don’t know what to write until something popped in my head. This exercise helped me get into a routine of regular writing. It’s something I don’t do these days but occasionally I go through my old journals and find a gem to create either a story or poem. I’d highly recommend this process for new writers, or old, who haven’t managed to find that routine for themselves yet.
What do you miss about being a kid?
I miss snuggling up on the couch with my late mum and late sister. Mum would get my baby brother to bed and then have time for us. We were allowed to stay up and watch Coronation Street, Emergency Ward Ten and a real treat on Sunday ‘Beat the Clock’ on London Palladium.
I also miss being free from worries and spending time with my late sister who was also my best friend.
What’s the clumsiest thing you’ve done?
I suppose that would have to be missing a step in a Bucharest metro while on a course with my MA university group. Missing that step caused me a broken hip, at the neck of the femur, and an operation in a third world hospital. I take so much more care now when walking.
If Mars or another planet was livable, would you accept a one-way ticket there? Why or why not?
Definitely not. For starters you’d never get me up in a rocket. I find it hard enough in a plane when I convince myself the clouds are snow and I pretend I’m on a coach, firmly on the ground. Apart from anything else I don’t think I’m ready to meet any aliens yet. And who knows what’s up there?
Do you believe things happen for a reason? Do you have an example from your own life to share why you believe this?
I definitely am a believer that things happen for a reason and a great believer in fate. An example of this is when I was caring for my late mum. I couldn’t get to my piano to play so I started to learn music theory. My piano teacher encouraged me to take this further with the Open University.
I enrolled for a music diploma and halfway through my course I took up the creative writing courses. If I hadn’t started playing the piano, I wouldn’t have started music theory, if I hadn’t started music theory, I wouldn’t have gone to the Open University and if I hadn’t done that then there would be no BA Humanities with Creative Writing and Music, no MA in Creative Writing, no House of Grace trilogy and none of my poetry books published or even individual poems and short stories that have appeared in magazines and anthology.
Yes, everything happens for a reason.
What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on ‘The Oath’ which is a late Victorian/early Edwardian set historical fiction novel and told in the point of view of two female protagonists. I’m also working on a variety of poetry projects, including a mythical poetry collection, one about life of the flamingo, and a co-authored poetry conversation with a fellow poet.
Tell us about House of Grace book.
House of Grace is not only my debut novel but the first book in House of Grace trilogy. It opens in 1950 with a sixteen-year-old protagonist leaving boarding school in Brighton. Grace Granville longs to be a fashion designer but her father, Lord Granville, has other ideas. He wants her to marry a suitor of his choice but agrees she can spend a holiday at her school roommate’s home in Bolton first.
House of Grace steps back to the 1950s and the reader travels with Grace through two decades as she struggles with family conflict, poverty and tragedy.
It was great having you be a part of MTA, Patricia. I loved learning more about you and your path to writing and becoming a published author. Wishing you all the best, with much success! – Camilla
Book Blurb
She was born into nobility. But with times changing, will she be allowed to marry beneath her station?
Brighton, England, 1950. Grace Granville has grand ambitions. So after finishing boarding school, the naive sixteen-year-old manages to convince her aristocratic father to allow her a short adventure to Lancashire. But her sweeping plans to become a fashion designer take an unplanned turn when she falls in love with a handsome coal miner.
Shattered when her domineering parent demands she return to meet the more proper suitors he has lined up for her hand in marriage, Grace desperately concocts a hasty way out. But the young noblewoman has no idea of the life-changing consequences her plan will set in motion…
Will Grace tempt fate and spoil her own future?
House of Grace is the enthralling first book in the House of Grace family saga trilogy. If you like strong-minded women, social conflict, and stories vividly told across fascinating eras, then you’ll adore this 1950s/60s journey back to the past.
Where can we purchase the book?
House of Grace may be purchased from Amazon as kindle or paperback (available to read FREE with Kindle Unlimited)
It may be ordered from any good bookstore or available from your local library on request. Signed copies available at discounted prices (UK only) from my website shop: https://whitewingsbooks.com/shop/
I’ve often wondered why so many of us are obsessed by our unique spirals of DNA, to the point of spending endless hours searching through immigration and naturalization documents on Ancestry.com?
When I mailed my spit-in-a-tube to be analyzed, I told myself this venture was purely an exercise in “method-writing.” In the same way Marlon Brando inhabited Stanley Kowalski in Streetcar Named Desire, I would “become” Alienor Crespo, the protagonist of my latest novel, Zahara and the Lost Books of Light. Alienor goes to great lengths to research her family tree. As her creator I felt obligated to do the same.
On the evening my results arrived in my Inbox, I clicked the link with no premonition of what was in store.
I was not surprised by all the Eastern European yellow and green, with a small dash of blue for the Baltic’s and the UK. I was philosophical about finding 6 great aunts and uncles on my mother’s side who I had no idea existed. My detachment, however, turned to deep curiosity when I investigated my dad’s side of the tree and started the hunt for the orphanage where he’d told me he’d been raised. If I’d taken a selfie at that moment, more than a hint of fanatical purpose would have shone in my eyes. I didn’t leave my dinner to burn on the stove but I would have if given half the chance.
The next day, over morning coffee, I got on the phone with the nun in New Jersey who maintained the archives of what was once the Nazareth Trade School. While we spoke I was looking at an online record of ‘students’ in residence, my nine year old father’s name written in surprisingly neat cursive, ten lines down from the top of the page.
(Image from Ancestry.com)
“He was with us until he was seventeen, except for some time in an orthopedic hospital,” the Sister told me.
That made sense. My dad used to say that being in the hospital after he came down with polio was the best year of his childhood. The Children’s Ward was where he learned to play chess and was introduced to Shakespeare’s plays. We didn’t have many books in our house but without fail Dad read his copy of Hamlet once a year. Now that I’m older, I can appreciate the significance this held for him.
Grandma Anna had been unable to support three children on her own during the Great Depression. She had placed my father at the orphanage/trade school when he was nine years old. She failed to visit him for eight long years and when she came to pick him up she was using a different last name than his, recently married, and ready to reunite her family.
No wonder Dad was a quintessential outsider who, when he met my mother, told her that his own mother was dead. Not true and after I was born there was a family reunion of sorts. But I was never close with my grandmother. The trauma endured by my father had marked him for life and as a child I was not the more forgiving person I’ve become.
So there he was, or at least the ghost of him, behind the walls of the orphanage in the photograph. For the first time I tried to see the world through his eyes. Somehow this allowed me to love him in spite of his deserting me the way his own mother deserted him. Maybe that’s why, when I wrote Alienor Crespo’s story, I decided to give her the gift of seeing through her ancestor’s eyes. In the end she too finds meaning in the painful discoveries she makes while recreating her family tree.
Follow this link to read Joyce’s previous interview …
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
I recently watched this movie, enjoying it so much that I sought out the book. The book was even better! I didn’t think I’d like the style of the book, written as letters back and forth between the characters. It grew on me though, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know everyone. A heartwarming, moving story with strong female characters. Loved it so much!
To support this website and the author’s interviewed, visit Support MTA for suggestions. Thank you! – Camilla
“Disclosure: This website is an affiliate of Bookshop.org and will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.”
Today we travel to Denver, Colorado to chat with Rob Samborn about how Venice, the Doge’s Palace, Cloud Atlas, playing the guitar, selling leather jackets, skydiving, lying about his age, and living on Mars come together as part of Rob’s past and present life.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m a native New Yorker, I’ve lived in Los Angeles for twenty years, and now live in Denver with my wife, daughter and dog. In addition to being a novelist, I’m a screenwriter, entrepreneur and avid traveler. I’ve been to forty countries, lived in five of them (including Italy) and studied nine languages. I’m a restless spirit and can’t remember the last time I was bored. I am on a quest to explore the intricacies of our world and try my hand at a multitude of crafts. I’m also an accomplished artist and musician, as well as a budding furniture maker.
In which genre do you write?
I write across genres since that’s the toughest to sell! In all seriousness, it’s what I love, I naturally gravitate toward cross-genre books, TV shows and movies, and I write what I’d like to read.
Tell us about your most recent book, and where we can purchase the book.
My most recent book, THE PRISONER OF PARADISE, is a commercial thriller blended with historical fiction and magical realism. It’s about a man on the brink of insanity who traverses present-day and Renaissance Venice to save his soul mate from a most unusual purgatory. It’s available at all major booksellers, including Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09F8RYG2M
What outdoor activity haven’t you tried, but would like to try?
Skydiving, without question. My wife and I had booked a skydiving experience outside of San Diego, California, but unfortunately it rained that day (one of the few rainy days they get), so it was canceled. Since then, we had a child so I’m reluctant to try a life-risking activity. But I plan on doing it one day!
Where did the idea for your most recent book come from?
I’ve been to Venice three times and I’ve found inspiration for different story ideas around every corner. It’s such a unique place – beautiful and mysterious. I was inspired to write The Prisoner of Paradise on my second trip to Venice, after seeing other paintings by Jacopo Tintoretto, located in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco.
His paintings are so lifelike and imbue so much emotion, I couldn’t help but wonder who the models were. As the idea for a book about souls trapped in a painting germinated, I researched Tintoretto’s work and discovered his masterpiece, Il Paradiso, located in the Doge’s Palace.
In a glance, I knew it was the perfect painting. As I researched the room it was located in, along with the building and the history of the complex and the painting, the idea unfolded before my eyes. I visited the Doge’s Palace and Paradise on my third trip to Venice.
What movie can you watch over and over without ever getting tired of?
Cloud Atlas. I find this movie to be remarkable in every sense possible and hugely inspirational and influential. Strangely, it’s very polarizing, as is the book, by David Mitchell. People either love it or detest it. I am very much in the “it’s one of the greatest movies ever made” camp.
Can you play a musical instrument?
Yes. I can play guitar and a little bass. I also sing. In fact, I was in a band one summer in Florence, Italy. It was me and two friends. I played guitar and sang, one friend played bongos, and one friend played clarinet. We were a folksy alternative rock/comedy act. By day, we sold leather jackets in the market and passed out flyers for our show. By night, we played in a few bars where we had set gigs. It was the best summer of my life. My first trip to Venice was that summer.
Can you share an interesting story from your childhood.
When I was six, my parents sent me to sleepaway camp for a month. I have a six-year-old now and the idea of sending her away for even a week is unfathomable. But, I had an amazing time and even had to lie about my age to make sure I didn’t get sent home. One day, a counselor was looking through some papers and asked me what year I was born. I had to do some quick math!
If mars or another planet was livable, would you accept a one way ticket there? why or why not?
Yes. It would be immensely difficult to leave my friends and family forever, but being that type of pioneer, the first in human history, is too great an opportunity to pass up. Not to mention, I’d have quite a bit of time to write!
It was great learning more about you Rob, and a pleasure to have be a part of MTA. Wishing you much success with future writings and all of your endeavors. – Camilla
Blurb:
The world’s largest oil painting. A 400-year-old murder. A disembodied whisper: “Amore mio.” My love.
Nick and Julia O’Connor’s dream trip to Venice collapses when a haunting voice reaches out to Nick from Tintoretto’s Paradise, a monumental depiction of Heaven. Convinced his delusions are the result of a concussion, Julia insists her husband see a doctor, though Nick is adamant the voice was real.
Blacking out in the museum, Nick flashes back to a life as a 16th century Venetian peasant swordsman. He recalls precisely who the voice belongs to: Isabella Scalfini, a married aristocrat he was tasked to seduce but with whom he instead found true love. A love stolen from them hundreds of years prior.
She implores Nick to liberate her from a powerful order of religious vigilantes who judge and sentence souls to the canvas for eternity. Releasing Isabella also means unleashing thousands of other imprisoned souls, all of which the order claims are evil.
As infatuation with a possible hallucination clouds his commitment to a present-day wife, Nick’s past self takes over. Wracked with guilt, he can no longer allow Isabella to remain tormented, despite the consequences. He must right an age-old wrong – destroy the painting and free his soul mate. But the order will eradicate anyone who threatens their ethereal prison and their control over Venice.
Born a Crime – Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
This is the first book I’ve read about life during apartheid and the days that followed freedom. A brave, courageous, eye-opening book about Noah’s childhood, his mom, his family and growing up as a mixed race person in South Africa. Not only that, being born a crime, as he is the son of a Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother. Which at the time was punishable by five years in prison. Also the story of unconditional and unconventional love, family, friendships, and Noah’s coming of age. Delivered with fearless honesty. I highly recommend this one.
To support this website and the author’s interviewed, visit Support MTA for suggestions. Thank you! – Camilla
“Disclosure: This website is an affiliate of Bookshop.org and will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.”
Beginning tomorrow, Friday, December 3rd, and running throughout the weekend. Join us for great gift ideas. Each day will hold different and beautiful gifts. With books, candles, and handmade gifts, there’ll be something for everyone! Have a browse and invite your friends too. The more the merrier! 🎄🎄🎄
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By Philip K. Dick
This is the book from which the movie Blade Runner was based. I did not like the movie as it made absolutely no sense to me. A friend suggested I read the book. I’m happy that I took her advice. I enjoyed the writing style, getting to know the characters, and being immersed in this classic science fiction story. Loved it!
To support this website and the author’s interviewed, visit Support MTA for suggestions. Thank you! – Camilla
“Disclosure: This website is an affiliate of Bookshop.org and will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.”
Today we travel to Oxfordshire, England to chat with Alistair Birch about how a dramatic social circle change, cooking, happy dancing, puzzles, paying it forward, the Liverpool Rock and Roll marathon, Barney Rubble, the Forest of Dean, the river Wye, and a simple picnic come together as part of Alistair’s current and past life.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
Hi, I’m Alistair, and I’m a British author from Oxfordshire in England where I live with my second wife and stepson. I like to write thrillers, though I have been known to write comedy and rhymes, the sillier the better. I try to take a relaxed approach to life where humour and kindness are prominent. We aren’t allowed pets where we live, though we are allowed regular visits from George dog who we adore. I enjoy cooking and running long distance, though all the food I consume means I don’t run too fast.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer and what ignited your author’s flame?
I only got the writing bug in the last few years though I’ve always had a love of making up rhymes. At school, I didn’t really write, and I wouldn’t say that my skills with English language were all that good. This will probably have you scratching your head, thinking, why now? Simply, I am in a new and happier marriage and over the last 8 or so years I have changed my social circle dramatically. A few years ago, I felt frustrated and anxious that I didn’t know anyone in my local town despite having lived here for a few years. As though I’d flicked a switch, I decided to do something about the situation, which I did with surprising enthusiasm. Now I run marathons and I write books and I’m incredibly lucky to know some amazing people who are now life friends. I also have a desire to be better tomorrow than I am today.
What is your favorite time of day and why?
If it is a weekday and I have been out all day at my day job, then assuming she is home, my favourite time is 5:30pm when I walk in to see my wife. My head and heart always do a little happy dance when I see her at the end of a working day.
Have you ever had any Do It Yourself disasters?
Absolutely. I worked in a college and took advice from the on-site electrician ‘Rocket’ Ron. All I needed to do was drill a hole through a thick wall from a caretaker’s room through to a storeroom next door so I could wire up a phone socket. The sensible thing would be to drill low down at the skirting board height and feed the cable straight into the back of the box. Unfortunately, I took Ron’s advice. Picture if you will, me, aged around 20, standing on top of a ladder, drilling through a fifteen-inch wall. The heavy drill was above my head, and I could only grip it from one end as there wasn’t a second handle grip. I got more and more tired as the drill bit inched through the concrete. Suddenly my wrist knocked a button which put the drill onto an automatic always on setting. My grip slipped and the entire drill spun at high speed with me no longer holding it. Within a few seconds the lead wrapped itself around the tool which yanked it from the power socket, all the while I stood white as a sheet atop the ladder.
What is the most enjoyable aspect you’ve found through writing?
There are two things. I only loosely plot my books, so I have a start and an end, and a few characters figured out, but that is about it. I am what is known as a ‘Pantser’ as I write by the seat of my pants. My day job is in IT and I have a very logical brain. I am good at picturing things, and I enjoy puzzles. So, the first thing I enjoy is working things out as I go. Sometimes I may find myself a little stuck and that is when I can form it as a challenge. The second thing I am proud of is I had help to improve when I started out and now, I have newbie authors approaching me for advice. I love paying kindness forward.
What is the most inspiring thing that has ever happened to you?
Another easy one for me to answer. I ran my first full marathon, by signing up just one week earlier, and with little training. It was the Liverpool Rock and Roll marathon and I had been chatting with a virtual friend called Rob. I’d never met him, though we knew each other from a Facebook group and on our messenger conversations I knew he was running this event and he was anxious about it.
He was running for charity, and he told me his medication was making him dizzy. I called him and after a conversation with my wife we booked me onto the race so I could run it with him. We had little money, and needed to pay for travel, the race, food, and accommodation, but it felt like the right thing to do. On race day we ran from Liverpool waterfront up around Everton and Liverpool football grounds, with Rob doing great but going too fast. I kept up but I kept telling him to slow down. After 8 miles Rob stopped with horrible shin pain. We slowed and managed to get to 12 miles when his race was done. At his request I carried on and completed the 26.2 miles. That wasn’t Rob’s day, but he did complete a full marathon the following year.
If you were trapped in a cartoon world from your childhood, which one would you choose and why?
I would answer with The Flintstones. As a kid in primary school and some of secondary, I was given the nickname ‘Barney.’ Simply I looked and acted a bit like Barney Rubble, including the silly voice.
Describe the perfect solo date you’d take yourself on … where, time of day, weather, place, etc.
I love the peace and tranquillity of nature. I love mountains, rivers, lakes, the sea. I grew up in Gloucestershire so a walk in the Forest of Dean, along the river Wye is hard to beat, or maybe climbing the Malvern Hills in the middle of the day. A gentle breeze to take the edge off a warm sun, with a few cumulus clouds across a bright blue sky. To eat, just a simple picnic, bread, cheese, chutney, a little fruit and a bottle of water.
What are you currently working on?
I am almost between projects. I have just finished a draft manuscript for a new standalone psychological thriller which I started in July. This is set in a school, mainly in the early 1980’s. I need to get some beta feedback and submit this one, but friends have read chapters all the way through the writing process, and I have done basic edits as I went along. I am already happy with it. While I think about a little polish on this one, I may write a 1940’s wartime thriller. I have a friend I’d like to collaborate with on this one, so I’ve started those conversations.
Tell us about your most recent book.
My debut thriller, ‘Shadow Pursuit,’ hit the shelves on 18th October 2021. I took a piece of artwork called ‘The Great Bear’ as inspiration. Google it, and you will see it is an unusual map. For me as a thriller writer that offered an opportunity to hide secret information in plain sight. There are good guys in the security services, bad guys plotting terrible stuff and innocents caught up in between. Within each chapter I took the point of view of a character and went with it. So sometimes the reader is in the head of a bad guy and sometimes good. I tried to cram loads of fast paced action in and I left some threads hanging which I pick up in the sequel. I submitted the sequel to Dark Edge Press in the summer.
It was wonderful having you on MTA, Alistair. Wishing you much success with your books, and all you pursue! – Camilla
Blurb:
Samir El-Mudarini is deep undercover investigating a human trafficking syndicate when he is murdered.
Eva Merriman, a Metropolitan Police detective, is reassigned to the manhunt for El-Mudarini’s killer.
Sam Keplar wakes to an emergency call, sending him on a quest to save his brother.
Eva and Sam are brought together by the actions of a shadowy organisation that has slipped through the cracks of British society. And it is up to them to prevent the worst act of terror London might ever see while fighting for their own survival.
