Jean

Eccentric quirkiness

Delights and amuses.

Constant chatter

With kooky tangents,

Like growing tree branches

Or a busy map;

Lines lead

And cross over.

A long and interesting life

Makes for many stories.

Tales of dear friendships

And a Sheffield childhood.

Tales of art and creativity

And the Cathedral.

Sometimes, she’s naughty

And eats crisps

And chocolate,

But we laugh

Because we’re just the same.

Similar in so many ways:

Excitable conversation

And moments of inspiration.

She doodles on envelopes,

The pen comes alive

With her lively drawings;

Skilled illustrations.

But she talks of going,

Of fading now.

And tears sting my eyes.

I can’t imagine that.

I have never met anyone like her.

Eighty-four and full of vitality.

And a wonderful mischief

Dances in her eyes.

I like to watch her smile

And love to hear her laugh.

She’s unique.

You won’t find another Jean,

Even if you searched the world,

Until the end of time.

Caring for feline friends,

She has a beautiful soul.

And she is loved,

And that is why I can’t –

And won’t-

Imagine a world without her.

I don’t think she knows

That she plays such a big part

In mine.

Back to Whitby.

I’m off to Whitby next week and I can barely wait. I can’t sit still and I feel like screaming loud, giddy noises. I always look forward to my holiday there. I tend to leave a little bit of my heart in Whitby each time I leave. But … this time … I am going back as a published author. My debut novel, Black Eyed Boy, is set there and, soon, I will we walking the same cobbled streets and across the dramatic clifftops as my beloved characters; Emily and Dylan. I just know that I will have a soppy smile on my face for the entire week. I will sigh at the beach huts. I will grin at the whale bones. I will coo at the walk to Saltwick Bay. There’s something even more special about this particular trip.

I have written the sequel (Green Eyed Girl) and it is with my publisher, Crooked Cat, set for publication towards the end of the year. Have my feet touched the ground yet in 2015? Errrm ….. Nope. As this will be my second book, I hope to feel as though I understand the publishing process a little better this time. I will be out taking photographs of book locations for Pinterest boards, quotes, and the all-important book launch. It will, simultaneously, be a fun family holiday and a book research jaunt. And I am counting down the days now, much like a small child desperately awaiting the arrival of Father Christmas.

I have started the third and final instalment of the trilogy, yet I still have a long way to go. I’m aiming to be finished round about the end of the year. I feel slightly more pressure this time. All the ends need to be neatly tied up in a shiny bow. It has to be complete. And it absolutely must be as beautiful as I can make it. Luckily, I will have Whitby for inspiration. Because that’s what Whitby does. It makes me want to write and capture the essence, charm and splendour of the town.

*Whispers* Five … more … days. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

Green Eyed Girl

Black Eyed Boy being published was a whirlwind of fun and excitement. It was something that I had always wanted to do. I ticked a gigantic box on my bucket list. But, I always knew that there would be more to come from my characters. So much happened to them within the pages of the first book but the ending was left tantalisingly open for so many more adventures.

I found that having a book about to be released helps to focus the mind. I knew that I wanted to do this all over again. And, thanks to sleepless nights and non-stop typing Saturday writing days, I somehow managed to complete a first draft of the sequel – Green Eyed Girl - before Black Eyed Boy was even released. I submitted it to the publisher and I signed a contract last week. Before the year is out, the sequel will be published. This makes 2015 my most creative and productive year … and we’re still only in July. I have started to write the third and final instalment of this trilogy. I plan to take a little more time with this project as I aim to have all the threads tied up and I want the most beautiful and satisfying ending possible.

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. The reviews on Amazon for Black Eyed Boy are amazing. Most of them beg for the sequel as soon as possible (this is the biggest compliment!) and it makes me happy to be able to offer that to readers before this year will draw to an end.

As previously, I will be remaining tight-lipped about the storyline. But, I will tell you that the novel begins just over a year after the ending of Black Eyed Boy. Favourite characters (Mrs Bishop, anyone?) will return and there are some new characters joining the story too. If Black Eyed Boy was the emotional read, Green Eyed Girl will be the tense read. Start growing your nails now. And get ready to bite them all off.

Black Eyed Boy

The A-Z of Black Eyed Boy. Z is for ... Zest.

It’s the last blog post for the A-Z of Black Eyed Boy. I almost went with zeal. Emily certainly has much enthusiasm in her devotion and pursuit of Dylan. I changed my mind at the last minute, opting for zest instead. I think this theme really shows the impact that Dylan has upon Emily and her life. At the beginning of the book, Emily is bored and disillusioned with pretty much everything around her.

It’s different when you live here; you forget to look at the picturesque views, and fail to remember the simple pleasures of feeling the sand between your toes. It all becomes just: a photograph on a postcard to send elsewhere, meant for those who appreciate it, who have saved their wages to come here for a short time, and then sullenly depart, back to their own lives. I’m always here; Whitby is where I was born and where we still live, and sometimes the pebbles and the candy floss just don’t thrill me. When all of the tourists had settled back into their holiday cottages, I had stayed out alone, wishing that something exciting would happen, but suspecting that it never would.

As you can see, zest, energy and excitement are clearly lacking. I feel sorry for her. She feels like a ghost in her own home as her parents are eternally preoccupied. There isn’t much hope left in her that things will ever change and improve. I think we’ve all felt like that at times. When she isn’t messing about with her best friend, Billy, Emily’s days are monotonous and dull. But, not for long …

We turned the corner and I stopped in my tracks. There was a boy, probably a little older than Billy and me. I’d never seen him before, so took him to be a visiting holidaymaker. He had the blackest hair I’d ever seen. It was long and unkempt, and he had to keep sweeping his fringe out of his face so that he could see properly. He was tanned and toned, and was wearing only a pair of black shorts and some tatty trainers. He was tall and ridiculously handsome. His bare chest and confidence made me lose composure. Suddenly I felt much too hot.

           

The change in her begins immediately. On seeing Dylan for the first time, she experiences a physical reaction. Little does she know that her life will now never be the same again. Emily has to contend with the biggest and most painful life events during the pages of Black Eyed Boy. She doesn’t understand how she will get through the tragedy and heart-break. But now she has Dylan and he loves her. And even during those bleakest moments, her heart still sings at the pure joy of her first-time romance. Dylan becomes something of a drug to her. She forever needs her next fix.

“Neither have I,” I confessed. “I hadn’t even kissed anyone until you came along.”

“That’s because those lips were made for me,” he said, softly tracing the shape of them with his fingertip, reigniting the fire that had only just been extinguished. We kissed for ages, standing on the edge of the sand. People walked by but I didn’t care. I was too busy falling head over heels in love.

But, unfortunately, when you’re kissing the boy of your dreams, something odd happens to the time. It races ahead without your knowledge or permission, and leaves you mystified as to how an entire day has remarkably elapsed.

I’m obviously not going to reveal the end as you may not have read the book yet. But there is hope. Emily finds her own way to pick herself up, dust herself down and find that all-important zest; the way to finally live her life with a sense of anticipation. Her eyes are open to all the beautiful things that life has to offer. And that puts a silly and soppy smile on my face. Because, it turns out, I am far more of a romantic than I ever knew I was.

 I hope that you have enjoyed the A-Z. There's a link below if you're interested in reading the book:

Black Eyed Boy

Black Eyed Boy - What's the Story?

Black Eyed Boy is a contemporary romance novel. Yet so much more. It is written through Emily’s eyes. Emily is a fifteen year-old girl and she lives with her parents in Whitby, North Yorkshire. She is lonely at home; her father is far more interested in drinking and her mother seems eternally cocooned from life, trapped in a bubble of private depression. Emily’s only company is her best friend, Billy. They share a fun and easy companionship, until Billy begins to have amorous feelings towards her.

Early on in the story, it becomes apparent that all is not well at home and Emily soon finds herself having to be strong, brave and older than her years. She worries how she will cope after receiving some heart-breaking news. But, then her whole life is tipped upside down by the arrival of a mysterious and handsome (oh my goodness, so handsome) stranger in town.

The stranger is Dylan; a charming, travelling gypsy boy. He has the darkest eyes and he is incredibly tight-lipped about this. Emily is soon smitten and wishes to spend every waking hour with this gorgeous, cryptic boy that she is falling in love with.

And the feeling is mutual. They quickly embark upon a close and all-consuming relationship. But, tragedy strikes and Emily is soon drowning in grief and sorrow. Her best friend, Billy, can’t stand the fact that she has a boyfriend and the jealousy changes him. He goes from being her sweet, reliable ally to a spiteful and problematic element in her life. All of the rapid changes and traumatic events leave Emily feeling more alone than ever. She wants to turn to Dylan but he will not share his secrets with her; Emily needs to know what is going on but she starts to feel increasingly left out in the cold.

Eventually, Emily discovers the dark truth. And she can’t face it. Her instinct is to run and hide away. But gypsies travel and Dylan is leaving Whitby, with or without her.

Can Emily accept the powerful secret at Dylan’s core? Or is it all too much, is she supposed to be alone?

If you like any of these things, you are in for a treat: romance, love, lust, beautiful boys, strong teenage girls, emotion, secrets, darkness, twists, friendship, relationships, to weep into tissues, hope, endearing old ladies, evocative scenery, the seaside, rooting for the main character, remembering youth, first kisses.

Black Eyed Boy on Amazon

The A-Z of Black Eyed Boy. Y is for ... YA.

I had never written one word, intended for a YA audience, before. And then, BOOM, before I knew it, I had written an entire novel aimed at young people. It came as a bit of a shock as I had never even thought about it. But I am so glad that I did. Writing about teenagers was a joy. They are still optimistic and have the world at their feet. They don’t have mortgage payments and are not stuck in a job they loathe. They are fresh and finding out who they are and what they want. I think they’re a lot more interesting than most adults in that regard.

It was lovely to see first love blossom too. Those kisses that mean everything and leave you feeling dizzy. The way your body lets you know that you might be ready for more. It made me rather nostalgic at times, remembering little snippets and emotions of memories from my own teenage years.

I have finished the sequel to Black Eyed Boy and it is now in the hands of the publisher. The contract has been signed, this week, and Green Eyed Girl will be out at the end of the year. I have started to write the third and final instalment. It will be a sad farewell to Emily and Dylan at the end of all of this. But, I have another book project lined up for afterwards. And it’s more for the YA audience. It will be completely different to Black Eyed Boy. But I already love the main character. I can hear her punchy words and the sarcasm thick in her voice. After that, who knows? But I’m not ready to move on from YA. They are the people I want to write for right now.

 Black Eyed Boy

The A-Z of Black Eyed Boy. X is for ... Xenophobia.

Okay. So, I was struggling with the letter X. Until I just thought of Xenophobia.

Xenophobe - A person who is fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or people from different countries or cultures.

It made me think of Emily’s dad and how disgustingly rude and prejudiced he is about the fact that his daughter is in a relationship with a gypsy traveller. He knows nothing about Dylan, but the fact that he is a gypsy seems to override the need to find out anything else. It completely and immediately clouds his judgement and he incorrectly assumes so much, based on ludicrous discriminatory and blinkered thoughts and opinions. Gladly, thoughts and opinions that Emily does not share. I felt angry writing a particular scene where Emily’s dad is especially hostile towards Dylan. Credit where it is due, my parents brought me up to believe that we are all equal and people ought to be treated so. They taught me that although we are all different, we are also just the same. People who don’t believe this basic truth leave me bewildered. I will not tolerate any form of narrow-mindedness in my own life. Intolerance, injustice, chauvinism and discrimination are things human beings should have grown out of long ago.

Here is an excerpt from Black Eyed Boy:

“He’s one of those dirty gypsies, isn’t he? Disgusting,” Dad said, shaking his head at Dylan, who seemed surprisingly still relatively calm. I don’t know how he could be, because I was ready to explode.

“Says the man whose jumper smells of whisky and whose trousers smell of piss.” The words rushed out through my gritted teeth before my brain could engage and realise what I was doing.

Dad’s hand flew and slapped me, hard, across the face, the force of it making me stumble backwards and bang my head on the flagstones. I was bleeding. Both Dylan and Mrs Bishop rushed to my side.

“Come inside now, Emily,” said Mrs Bishop. “I need to see your head in the light and make sure you’re okay.” Her hands were trembling.

Dylan’s eyes had never been darker, and his face was set in a vaguely controlled frown. I sat up and grasped his hand. I felt a bit woozy and so I hung on to his side.

“You’re not seeing this dirty little bastard again, Emily, so you had better say goodbye.” Dad spat the words out, and the hatred in his eyes was frighteningly real.

“Dad, I’m nearly sixteen, don’t be stupid,” I begged him.

“You’d better not have touched her,” my dad said. His eyes were wild and menacing.

“He hasn’t,” I shouted. “Stop it.”

“Don’t even look at her,” my dad yelled at Dylan.

“But I love her,” he said.

I was shocked, silenced and I looked up to see if he meant it. As awful as this situation was, there was still the time for my heart to sing and rejoice at those most perfect words.

“Love her?” my dad laughed, cruelly, riling Dylan who was struggling to maintain his composure. “This isn’t love! You’re just a filthy pikey, lad, out to fill your boots. Well, it’s over, you won’t be seeing Emily again.”

Black Eyed Boy