Ann E Brockbank Novelist

Wednesday, 23 May 2018

See the book trailer for my romantic novel 'On a Distant Shore'

Monday, 30 April 2018

Author in residence at Poldhu Beach Cafe

During my break from blogging, I have been back at my desk, (beachside office) writing a new Cornish novel and immersing myself in the years 1913 - 1919.

Beachside Office at Poldhu Beach Café, Cornwall

I have a good feeling about this book. The words flowed from my head through my fingers. Sometimes I felt as though I couldn't type fast enough. It’s wonderful that all the characters which have kept me awake for many months have now been born onto the page.

I love writing all parts of my novel. First getting the bare bones of the story down is such an amazing feeling. The passion and urgency to tell the story, keeps me writing long into the night. Fortunately I have more time my hands now, so I am free to write until I am bone tired…which I do. Oh what a wonderful feeling. The second draft put the flesh onto the bones and the third draft is practically a re-write. After many edits and re-writes the story is ready to go out into the world.

Hopefully published very soon.

As with all my novels The Glittering Sea is partially set in the beautiful river village of Gweek, Cornwall. I will also take you to the Trevarno Estate Nr Helston and Gunwalloe Cove.

Set between the years 1912 to 1920, the story is an intimate portrayal of two young star-crossed lovers swept along by circumstances beyond their control.

Trevarno Estate, Nr Helston, Cornwall

The Bridge at the centre of the river village of Gweek, Cornwall

Gweek circa 1920. Courtesy of cornishmemory.com

Taken from the back of the book.

‘The Glittering Sea’ is an enduring story of love, loss, duty and friendship.

From the moment Lyndon FitzSimmons, a master hedge layer, encounters beautiful Jenna Trevone drawing in a Cornish corn field, they find themselves instinctively drawn together by their shared love of nature and spend an idyllic, golden summer together. But when autumn falls, Jenna is forced to make a heart-breaking choice between love and duty.

Through the pain of separation their hearts continue to beat as one, but when a glimmer of hope promises to reunite them, the dark clouds of war are gathering. As the world finds itself thrusts into a conflict unlike any had seen before, Lyndon is dragged into a hell-on-earth scenario. All they can hope for is to try and find their way safely back to each other …

This spellbinding tale will take you on journey from the hedgerows and coastline of Cornwall to the trenches of the Western Front and onto the bohemian life of the ‘Bright Young Things’ of post-war London.

The Glittering Sea at Gunwalloe, Cornwall

Book cover to be revealed soon.

‘The Glittering Sea’ was inspired by my own grandfather who fought in the Great War.

Also by Ann E Brockbank

#AnnEBrockbank #TheGlitteringSea #TheBlueBayCafe #OnaDistantShore #MrdeSousa'sLegacy #amwriting #Historicalfiction #Cornishfiction #happyauthor #authorblog #authorsofinstagram #writer #Fiction #Romance #author #ContemporaryFiction #Reading #writerslife #amwritingromance

Friday, 21 July 2017

Ann E Brockbank Author - Book recommendation

As an author myself, I love to read other people's books.

Let me tell you about the book I have just finished reading.

‘The Love Song of Miss Queeney Hennessey’ by Rachel Joyce.

Heart-breaking, touching, tragic and funny in equal measure, that just about sums up ‘The Love Song of Miss Queeney Hennessey’ by Rachel Joyce. It is a truly amazing read. If you have read and loved ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ this is an absolute must. This is not a sequel or a prequel; it is as Rachel Joyce says a companion to Harold Fry’s journey. Bringing Queeney’s story to the forefront, you wait and listen and cry with her as she recalls her memories of how and why she moved away from everything she knew to live in Northumberland. Throughout the book, her memories are punctuated with the progress of Harold Fry’s epic journey from Dorset to Berwick on Tweed to save her. Tissues at the ready.

Blurb taken from Amazon

When Queenie Hennessy discovers that Harold Fry is walking the length of England to save her, and all she has to do is wait, she is shocked. Her note had explained she was dying. How can she wait?

A new volunteer at the hospice suggests that Queenie should write again; only this time she must tell Harold everything. In confessing to secrets she has hidden for twenty years, she will find atonement for the past. As the volunteer points out, ‘Even though you’ve done your travelling, you’re starting a new journey too.’

Queenie thought her first letter would be the end of the story. She was wrong. It was the beginning.

Told in simple, emotionally-honest prose, with a mischievous bite, this is a novel about the journey we all must take to learn who we are; it is about loving and letting go. And most of all it is about finding joy in unexpected places and at times we least expect.

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It was about three years ago that I read ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ and I absolutely loved it. I don't think I have met a single person who has read it and not enjoyed it, and we all share the same feeling for it.

Blurb taken from Amazon

When Harold Fry nips out one morning to post a letter, leaving his wife hoovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other. He has no hiking boots or map, let alone a compass, waterproof or mobile phone. All he knows is that he must keep walking. To save someone else's life.

If you haven't already read it, I highly recommend you do.

In fact I highly recommended you read both of the books mentioned above, but read ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ first.

#TheLoveSongofMissQueeneyHennessey #RachelJoyce

#TheUnlikelyPilgrimageofHaroldFry #amreading #fiction

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Ann E Brockbank is the author of three Cornish Based novels

On a Distant Shore, The Blue Bay Café and Mr de Sousa's Legacy

Available from Amazon and Amazon Kindle

#AnnEBrockbank #OnaDistantshore #TheBlueBayCafe #MrdeSousasLegacy #Cornishfiction #historicalfiction #contemporaryfiction #booksetincornwall #thankyouforreading #Cornishfiction #Cornwall #booklover #story #storytelling #WhatAreYouReading #womensfiction #writer #writing #thanks #thankyou #readers #reading #romance #romancewriter

Thursday, 13 July 2017

What do authors read?

Book on my bedside table

One of my great passions is reading, either in bed or on my hammock outside. I find it is the most wonderful way to relax. Reading lots of books is extremely beneficial to a writer. The more you read, the more you learn different techniques of structuring a story. I probably read somewhere in the region of 14 to 15 books a year. You’d think I wouldn’t have time to write my own novel, but I find it’s a wonderful way to switch off from ones own novel writing.

This is my bedtime/hammock reading at the moment. ‘The Love Song of Queen Hennessey’, by Rachel Joyce.

It’s a perfect companion book to the fabulous novel ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’. If you have never read the latter then you have missed a real treat. It is one of the most moving novels I’ve read for a long time. I highly recommend it.

Book Blurb - taken from Amazon

#bedtimeread #TheUnlikelyPilgrimageofHaroldFry #TheLoveSongofQueenHennessey #RachelJoyce #books #Novel #Fiction #amreading

Ann E Brockbank is the author of three Cornish based novels.

Available from Amazon and to download to you kindle.

#AnnEBrockbank #OnaDistantshore #TheBlueBayCafe #MrdeSousasLegacy #Cornishfiction #historicalfiction #contemporaryfiction #booksetincornwall #romance #romancewriter #amreading #amwriting #inspirationalcornwall #Cornwall

Tuesday, 18 April 2017

Book Review for Diana Gabaldon's A Breath of Snow and Ashes

I have just finished A Breath of Snow and Ashes, the sixth book in Diana Gabaldon’s fabulous Outlander series and I have to say it was an absolute stunning read. I have never come across an author who can keep me glued to each and every page, or make the adrenalin rush though by body like Diana's writing can. Every subplot in this book had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. Never before, have I been so enthralled in a book that I actual started to say the narrative out loud as I was reading it. What next for Jamie and Claire I say? I know I should give my poor heart a rest for a while and read something else before I pick up book seven, An Echo in the Bone, but I’m not sure I can resist. I am hooked.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/21430792-ann-brockbank">View all my reviews

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Sunday, 16 April 2017

See the book trailer for my romantic novel 'On a Distant Shore'

Wednesday, 16 November 2016

A Novel of Cornwall and Greece On a Distant Shore by Ann E Brockbank

On a Distant Shore

An enduring love story, full of secrets, heartbreak and intrigue.

Come with me on a journey to a distant shore and enjoy the stunning locations used in my new novel.

This is where I’ve spent the last eighteen months. Lovely isn’t it?

This is Poros, Greece, one of the fabulous settings for my new novel, On a Distant Shore.

Poros is a small Greek island, in the southern part of the Saronic Gulf, about 31 nautical miles south from Piraeus, and separated from the Peloponnese by a 656 ft wide sea channel. It is a popular weekend destination for Athenians.

So, I have been spending my days on deserted beaches, basking under the hot Greek sun - eating crusty bread, drizzled in olive oil and oregano. In the afternoons I swim in deep, crystal clear water, then sit on the deck of a 30ft yacht, eating juicy watermelon. My evenings are spent on the terrace of a villa, listening to the cicadas, while drinking in the glory of a fiery amber Peloponnese sunset. In the cool of the night I lay amongst thyme fragrant hills, dreaming under a huge vault of stars.

I am of course only there in my imagination. I’m just a bystander, watching the characters I have created develop their stories.

The Poros I write about is not the bustling busy touristy place it is now, but the more sedate Poros of the early 80’s. When I visited all those years ago, I found it truly inspiring. It was virtually unspoilt and only a handful of people holidayed there. The sea, deep and crystal clear, lapped gently onto deserted shingle beaches. Hillsides smelt of wild thyme, and the people were lovely and welcomed you like old friends. There was only one bus on the island, which legally held a capacity of 28 people, but regularly held up to 58, plus the odd lilo.

To get to the island, you had to take a converted fishing boat called the Flying Dolphin from the port of Piraeus. It was a long arduous journey and you were lucky if you managed to hold onto your breakfast. But oh, when Poros came into view, you knew you were somewhere special.

The main male protagonist in my story is a young Greek fisherman. He really did exist! Though the man he was based on was middle aged when I first saw him. He was still very handsome, as you would expect a Greek to be, but his long dark hair was peppered with silver. I remember he had an air of melancholy about him, as though his life had not turned out as he expected. I would watch him from my hotel balcony. Every morning, as dawn broke, he would pull his boat upon the beach and more often than not, proceed to smack an octopus, or it could have been a squid, on the rocks, presumably to kill it. He would then bring the rest of his catch up to the hotel kitchens, returning to the beach to strip off his shirt and dive into the sea. I never actually spoke to him - though I did find out he was called Yiannis. With my imagination running wild, I very soon built as story around him.

Yiannis has been sitting in the back of my mind now for a great many years. I tried to write his story a long time ago, but shelved it. Periodically Yiannis would give me a nudge, asking me when I was going to write his story properly. Well, now I have done it, and along with a host of colourful characters, we have all had a rather splendid time on this lovely Greek Island.

Greece isn't the only wonderful location for my novel 'On a Distant Shore', as with my previous novels Mr de Sousa's Legacy and The Blue Bay Café, the tranquil river village of Gweek, on the Helford River in Cornwall, is an integral setting for my book.
This is where the story starts.

The bridge at Gweek, Cornwall

I cannot write a novel without including some of the many spectacular places I love in my beloved Cornwall. Therefore I will take you on a journey to some of my favourite haunts such as
St Ives, Botallack and Church Cove Gunwalloe.

Church Cove Gunwalloe. Cornwall

St Ives

Crown Mines, Botallack, Cornwall

On a Distant Shore also takes you to Portugal - to a little village in the mountains of Monchique.

From there we visit Lagos on the beautiful western Algarve, where we find the Ponta da Piedade headland - a series of highly weathered cliffs lined with spectacular grottos, arches, sea caves.

Lagos has some stunning views, from the Ponte da Piedade you get a fantastic view of the sweeping sands of Lagos bay with the Monchique hills as a backdrop, and you can also see all the way to Sagres to the west ( the base for the 'voyages of the Discoveries' instigated by Henry the Navigator) and the popular seaside resort of Albufeira to the east

The Ponta da Piedade is possibly the most beautiful natural feature of the Algarve coastline. The shoreline, fringed with heavily weathered cliffs, carved into rock pillars, tunnels and hidden grottos is simply stunning. I will never forget how beautiful the sandstone cliffs looked against the shimmering turquoise sea. If you ever visit Lagos in Portugal, I can highly recommend a trip on one of the small fishing boats which navigate through the maze of these unique formations. It was truly amazing.

Well, that tells you about the locations in my novel, if you want to read more, see below.

On a Distant Shore

After the shocking death of her parents’ in a tiny Cornish village, nine-year-old Laura Tempest is taken to stay with her wealthy grandparents’ on the beautiful Greek Island of Poros. But life is far from idyllic on this sun-drenched, cosmopolitan island. Local business woman, Eva Barzini, believes her family’s land was unlawfully taken by the Tempests’ and is intent on retribution, and a hidden family secret makes Laura’s grandmother indifferent to the child’s plight.

Left alone to deal with her grief, Laura befriends Yiannis Kiassos, her grandparents’ young handyman, himself struggling with his own misfortunes. This tender friendship would transform each other’s lives, enduring years of separation, as Laura completes her education back in Cornwall. Now a young woman, full of dreams of a future with him, Laura returns to Poros, but when Eva’s slanderous lies cause her to question Yiannis’s integrity, and secrets within her own family begin to emerge, suddenly no one is who they seem to be.

From the picturesque Peloponnese to the wild, romantic Cornish coast, On a Distant Shore is an enduring love story, full of secrets, heartbreak and intrigue.

On a Distant Shore is now available from +Amazon.com +Amazon.co.uk +Poldhu Beach Cafe & Shop and to download from the +AmazonKindleEbooks

On a Distant Shore by Ann E Brockbank

I’d like to thank in advance, every single reader who has read this blog and then decided to spend their hard-earned money on my novel. Without you, I’d be a very miserable writer without an audience. I am honoured that you selected my story to read and especially grateful to all those readers who take the time to write a review - your kind words and support inspire me to keep writing.

I hope you enjoy reading the novel as much as I enjoyed writing it.

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Incidentally the beautiful covers from my novels are painted by Robert W Floyd - A Porthmeor Studio St Ives artist in the 80's #RobertWFloyd #BlueBayArt

https://www.facebook.com/Bluebayartonline

Also by Ann E Brockbank

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Greece

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