Far from the Madding Crowd
This is Gladstone’s Library, a haven for readers and writers in the Flintshire village of Hawarden, near Chester. I’ve just returned from a glorious week here: getting words down, being fed and watered by the friendly staff, and not once having to remember to put a wash on or feed the dog. If you’ve ever wondered about going on a retreat, here’s my week’s diary (below). Might inspire you too!
Plus I got to spend mealtimes and evenings with my close author buddy, Lynn Johnson. If you don’t yet know Lynn’s Potteries Girls series, Lynn burst onto the romantic saga landscape in 2020, roared up the charts with The Girl from the Workhouse, and has been a best-seller ever since. She was here to write her fifth novel in the series. No, I’m not going to give away any spoilers — just to say if you love historical romance, you’re in for treat.
[Here’s Lynn in the magnificent Reading Rooms at Gladstone’s Library.]
Before I get into my own week here, I have a new review to share. The Historical Novel Society, a global society for lovers of historical fiction, has just published a glowing review of my latest RomanBritain mystery, The Loyal Centurion. I’m delighted to share the review here. Such feedback makes all the hard work worthwhile. It also helps to vanquish some of the imposter syndrome we writers talk about. (I’m still overcome whenever a reader puts up positive feedback on Amazon or Goodreads, or writes to me to say how much they’ve enjoyed one of my books. Don’t suppose that will ever change!)
What else have I got for you this month? I’ll share a YouTube programme I’ve found fascinating for researching my new book set in Roman Bath, and let you know what I’ve got coming up by way of author events.
First, my Retreat Diary:
Day One: arrived by train and taxi, braving delayed connections and extensive flooding in Herefordshire and central Wales. After unpacking in my large beautiful room and a catch-up lunch with Lynn, I cracked on with drafting a new short story, Home to Palmyra. A group of us historical fiction/crime authors are planning to publish a short story anthology for charity, themed around the handing down of a ring through our various historical periods, from Julius Caesar to modern-day Edinburgh. My story is a homage to the love story of real-life Roman Britons, Barates and Regina. More about the anthology to come...
Day Two: after an excellent cooked breakfast, I popped into the library’s Reading Rooms. Amazing — like somewhere out of Hogwarts!
You can read/work in one of several wonderful rooms, or, as I did, take books back to your study bedroom. Today was mostly research for The Bath Curse, plus I edited the short story. Ticked off the ToDo list. Then a walk through the village, rather a wet one.
Day Three: Foggy. I researched and made notes for an interview I have scheduled with BBC Radio Gloucester on 4 March. The presenter Nicky Price is interested in Roman Gloucestershire, and how I set scenes there in my books. So my patchy knowledge of Roman Glos definitely needed fleshing out. There’s more to Gloucestershire than just Cirencester, I discovered (see the battle scene in Corinium in The Governor’s Man) ! Then cold walk before a welcome coffee break with Lynn.
Day Four: Made some changes to the short story, where I switched which character is giving whom the ring. Drove our editor/fellow Roman author mad with multiple script sends. Sorry, Fiona Forsyth! Then I wrote 1800 words of Chapter 4 in The Bath Curse, in which Julia Aureliana uncovers unexpected details of the man who’s just died in front of her at a feast.
Day Five: edits back from my First Reader (aka husband) for Chapter 4, which I redrafted. A nice walk on a bright morning, then began Chapter 5. I had to move several planned chapters around to get Tiro and co in the right place, at the right time. Thank goodness for Scrivener. After dinner I finished reading SG Maclean’s first Damian Seeker book. A brilliant read!
Day Six: A blustery day of grey clouds and spots of rain. Found Julia, scantily clad, in the Gladstone’s garden on my walk. Ran into problems with Chapter 5, finding a place where Tiro and friends could plausibly cross the badly flooded Avon to reach Bath, after a major confrontation with baddies. Oh dear, why do I do this to myself? If you’re a denizen of Bath, you’ll be pleased to know that Bathampton came to my rescue after a long period of panicky research. 3,400 words done, then fizz with dinner to celebrate.
Day Seven: my final day. Waved goodbye to Lynn, who was flying back to Orkney a day before my own departure. We’ve both had such a productive time here, and will miss each other. Began work on Chapter Six, while awaiting feedback from my First Reader on 5. That’s pretty much how it works, toggling to and fro between drafts and edits. This chapter is back to Quintus, who is (literally and figuratively) getting into deep water in the little spa town of Aquae Sulis, now cut-off by flooding. Everyone trapped in the town seemed to have a motive to want rid of the dead man. Still no Tiro! And just when it couldn’t get worse, another body is found in the Great Bath…
Gladstone’s Library is available for residential and day visits, to anyone who would value the peace and quiet to just read and write.
Women of Roman Bath
I’m probably way behind the curve with this terrific series by Amanda Hart, the Roman Baths Manager at Bath. If you’re at all interested in the real women of Roman Bath — and I certainly am — I highly recommend her short (15 min) videos. I’ll just add that some of the women featured here are currently finding their way into my new novel, The Bath Curse.
My February news/upcoming events
As mentioned above, my third Quintus Valerius book, The Loyal Centurion is reviewed in the February issue of Historical Novels Review.
March 4: I’m meeting BBC Radio Gloucester presenter Nicky Price for a live interview on her midday show, sometime between 12.00 and 14.00. We’ll be talking all matters Roman Gloucestershire. I don’t have details of my time slot with Nicky, but if you can’t tune in live, I hope to share the link for BBC Sounds with you soon.
I’m visiting the Hanley Swan Women’s Institute, St Gabriel’s, on Tuesday 12 March, to talk about my books and how I research them. The talk was originally booked for April 2023 and had to be postponed. So I’m very eager to be meeting the lovely ladies of St Gabriel’s WI this month instead.
We’ve got a weekend of grandchildren-sitting in London coming up in mid-March, so we’ve squeezed in a trip to the British Museum to see the major new exhibition there. Legion: Life in the Roman Army is getting rave reviews. I’m so excited — expect pix and more raving in my March news!
If you’re a keen Romanophile, you may already have heard that this year’s Eboracum Roman Festival at York has been postponed till summer 2025. That is disappointing, as my roba and palla were keen on another outing. But all is not lost — my fellow Roman author pals and I are in conversation with the organiser of a special festival being mooted for Leicester in October, to mark the re-opening of the Jewry Wall Museum. I hope to have more on those plans soon.
[Jacquie’s latest Roman mystery/thriller, The Loyal Centurion, is out in ebook and paperback now. You can follow Jacquie on social media, watch her research videos, and read her magazine articles from her Linktree.]
Fascinating stuff Jacquie, you're a true writerholic! x
The Library is very photogenic, isn’t it? Glad you had such a good time!