Scones, cream and a seal sanctuary

Last week was spent in Tintagel on the north Cornish coast. What a beautiful place it is too.

The weather held out and we sat eating many fantastic lunches in the sun, drinking Cornish beer in the evening and sampling local seafood.

Due to a dental emergency - I can't say enough good things about St Austell Community Hospital and the NHS helpline - I was dosed up with antibiotics, so spent most of the week on the wagon.

And still I managed to enjoy myself. I think it gives you some idea of what a great week it was.

One evening we met some old friends for a meal at Widemouth Bay. It has a beautiful beach and watched the sun set as we chomped through fish and chips (no, the tooth wasn't that bad). It was a great way to spend the last night of our holiday.

My favourite day out was the Seal Sanctuary at Gweek. I have a bit of a soft spot for seals and it was such a pleasure to spend some time there, hearing about the care and welfare of them. I even eavesdropped on a conversation some of the staff were having as I queued for a Cornish pasty (ok, so it wasn't that painful to eat). The staff were talking about the animals they were looking after in such a caring way, and how they didn't blame them if they bit now and again - they were only frightened.

If you're in the area and get a chance, pay it a visit. You won't be disappointed.

We stayed at the fantastic fully equipped Gilbert Lodge in Bossiney Bay, a short walk from Tintagel where I even managed to get some writing done. Information and bookings here

Blog Tour and writing processes

Many thanks to Adrian Magson for asking me to take part in this blog tour. It's something I've never been a part of before, and other than my gratitude to him for the invite, I'm also really pleased he explained to me exactly what I had to do.
Adrian is the author of 16 spy and crime thrillers, short fiction anthologies and writes book reviews for Shots magazine. In addition, he also writes a column for Writing Magazine which I had the pleasure of appearing in last April. Adrian Magson




What am I currently working on?

Remember, Remember is the second book in the Nina Foster series and is due to go to print on Tuesday 27th May 2014. It has been intense finishing the editing straight after completing Never Forget but worth the hard work. I am thinking of starting another police procedural series, but have to confess, I've done no more than think about it. I'm certainly not leaving Nina Foster behind. She's here to stay.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

As a serving police officer who investigates murders for a living, my books have an authenticity about them. Everything that happens in the books could happen in real life, and if I was working on an actual murder, the working practices and procedures I use in my job as a detective constable, are the same as the ones I write about in my books.

Why do I write what I do?

Murder investigations are fascinating and people are intrigued about the work of police officers. I wanted to write accurate crime fiction with believable police characters, and most importantly of all, I was desperate to show the team work involved. It's not about one lone detective doing everything, but a team of dozens and every murder investigation will involve in excess of two hundred police officers and police civilian employees to bring it to a successful conclusion.

How does your writing process work?

I have to make myself sit down and get on with it. Working full-time and often unpredictable hours means that I write when I find the time. It's never been a case of setting a target for a number of words or writing on particular days of the week or times of the day.
Once I have the first draft, I ask my husband to read it. He's good at spotting errors and will say if something doesn't read quite right. It's then a matter of taking a deep breath and sending it to my publishers to wait for the editing to begin...


Next week Caroline Mitchell is taking over. She is the author of the fantastic Paranormal Intruder, a true life story of paranormal activity in a family's home.
You can catch up with her on her blog here.

The President's Wife is a Cheeseboard

My hearing has always been good. Granted, I am often lost deep in thought and conversations take place around me with little notice on my part. When I am paying attention, I am all ears. Therefore, it surprises me when I frequently mishear the odd word. The situation has everything to do with the quality of listening, and not only the acoustics. The setting prepares you for the type of conversation you're likely to have or witness going on around you. Sometimes, you're just not prepared for what you're about to hear, largely because it's so out of context.
Visit any city or large town in Western Europe or the US (I can't comment on the rest of the world as my travel to these places is limited) and the chances are that a coffee shop, bar or restaurant may well be staffed by those from overseas. This is never an issue when there isn't much background noise, the waiter/server doesn't have a strong accent and I'm sober. A combination of all three is bound to end in confusion.
A very pleasant dinner in a New York restaurant was topped off by the waiter asking if myself or my husband would like a dessert. It's true that we had consumed a few drinks, it was busy and I don't think the waiter was a local either, but in answer to our boozy nods, he informed us that, "The President's wife is a cheeseboard."
I still have no idea what we ordered.