Helen Glynn Jones

Indie Book Review: Hills and Valleys by Helen Jones

A lovely review of Hills and Valleys, my latest Ambeth instalment, from Kate M. Colby. Thanks, Kate!

Hills and Valleys (The Ambeth Chronicles Book 3) by Helen Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Hills and Valleys is the third novel in Helen Jones’s Ambeth Chronicles. You can read my review of the first two books, Oak and Mist and No Quarter by clicking on their titles. To avoid major spoilers for all three novels, I will focus this review more on my personal reaction to the text and the writing itself, and will refer to the content in broad terms. That being said, some mild spoilage will occur. You’ve been warned.

As with No Quarter, Hills and Valleys picks up right where the previous book left off. The reader is launched right back into England and Ambeth, as Alma and the members of the Light grieve the tragedy that…

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Caffeine Withdrawal and Game Of Thrones

*Note: This post contains Game of Thrones spoilers, so don’t read if you haven’t seen the latest episode yet 🙂

I am, for some reason, a day ahead of myself. I thought today was the solstice, but the 21st is tomorrow. Although, the solstice seems to move around a bit, so it could be today.

Sorry. I’ve just given up caffeine so I’m a bit foggy, hence this rather random blog post. As to why I’ve given it up, health reasons blah blah blah boring. I’m interested to see how it goes, as that’s how I tend to approach most things in life – with a ‘let’s try it and see’ attitude.

I also just watched Game Of Thrones episode nine and SPOILER ALERT DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN”T SEEN IT I’m totally overwhelmed. It was truly spectacular television. First Dany with her dragons taking control, then the Battle of the Bastards, then Sansa finally getting back into Winterfell and giving Ramsay his (very) just desserts. I sat there for a few minutes afterwards just taking it all in. Sounds mad, doesn’t it? After all, it’s only a TV show. But the beauty of GOT, the reason I think it’s so popular is that it is, at its heart, despite dragons and magic and castles, a soap opera. The characters drive the stories, and what started as a group of different kingdoms and families has now been woven together in ways unexpected, each twist and turn keeping the viewer hooked.

As a writer I can take lessons from the way the show pulls viewers along. We are made to care, to choose sides, to hope and fear and despair alongside the characters, to mourn (or rejoice) in their deaths. I realise GOT is based on the books by George R.R. Martin, and so reflect the world he has created – however, with his latest book delayed, the showrunners have had to forge ahead without a source document, and I think they have succeeded in keeping the story alive.

I’m not sure whether it’s caffeine withdrawal or dragons that has me so shaken up. I have editing to get on with, plus some other work, so I really do need to get back to work. But for now my mind is filled with smoke and battles, and the feeling you get at the end of a really good story, when things turn out as they should.

Oh, and Melisandre? You’re in trouble. Ser Davos knows.

A Trip Through The Old Town, Hemel Hempstead

Today’s post is a weekend wander around Hemel Hempstead. There is a reason for this – last week, on my Thursday Doors post, roughseasinthemed asked if I could post some pictures of the Old Town area, as I had mentioned that improvements had recently been undertaken. Apparently their partner used to live here, and was curious to see what had been done. So here we are.

Hemel Hempstead Old Town has buildings dating back to the 1500s, though it is believed there has been settlement here since Roman times. Henry VIII used to rampage his way through here, and had a hunting lodge nearby, plus there are rumours of secret tunnels and trysts with Anne Boleyn. He is reputed, as is Anne, to haunt at least one building in the Old Town.

The Old Town has a mix of architectural styles, from half-timbered Tudor buildings,

to Georgian shops and apartments,

to the Victorian splendour of the rebuilt Corn Market, home to my Thursday door.

There are old carriageways leading to hidden courtyards,

Where the gates have been open so long, flowers grow around them.

The improvements took place a couple of years ago and are still ongoing. A rather nice set of gates was installed, one with an image of the church steeple, the other with the old Town Hall.

New paving and parking bays were laid, adding to the appeal of the streetscape.

The building covered in scaffolding was, until recently, a rather unattractive late 70s/early 80s edifice in dark red brick, a bit of an eyesore when compared to the other architecture in the area. It has now been painted off-white and is undergoing other renovations, no doubt trying to make it more sympathetic to the area.

This building is still a mystery, though a small plaque on the front door reads ‘Bank’. It is no longer a bank, and the tattered curtains and peeling woodwork add to the air of intrigue.

This is a small parking area overlooking the Norman church and graveyard. When it was being repaved, an underground chamber was discovered. Perhaps a remnant of the rumoured tunnels?

I’ll finish with a view over Gadebridge Park, which runs behind the Old Town. Apparently ghostly galloping can be heard there at night – at one time, the Park was private land belonging to a large house (now gone). The owner of the house was a military veterinarian and he used the land to rehabilitate injured cavalry horses, so was somewhat ahead of his time. Apparently the horses lived out their days in peace and tranquility but, every so often, would make formation and charge down the field, as though reliving their battle days. So perhaps it is their hooves that people hear…

Thanks for taking a trip around the Old Town with me. Happy weekend, everyone!

Thursday Doors – Abandoned

I had a different door in mind to post this week, but on a walk the other day I spotted this door and couldn’t resist taking some shots. This building is tucked into the curve of a railway bridge for one of the main lines into London, meaning there are trains passing almost overhead on a regular basis.

I titled this post Abandoned, because that is what this door seems to be. The steps are mossy and overgrown, no footprints in evidence. But the door itself is in pretty good condition, and the house to which the building is attached is definitely occupied, despite the damage to the brickwork at the upper right corner.

So does someone live here? Do letters still fall through the slot onto a mat below? I guess I’ll never know, but it’s fun to imagine. I wonder if that’s why I like doors so much, because of the possibility of what might lie behind them, the stories they open onto almost infinite.

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This is my entry for Norm 2.0’s Thursday Doors Challenge. For more doors, or to add one of your own, visit Norm’s site and click the link 🙂

Wednesday Wander – The Coliseum, Rome

Arguably one of the world’s most recognisable structures, and one upon which modern stadiums are based, this is The Coliseum, in Rome. The scale of the building is quite extraordinary, considering it was built two millennia ago, as is the fact it is still standing after all this time. Much of the damage is due to man, rather than time, the Coliseum being used as a source for building materials once it had fallen out of use.

I visited Rome over twenty years ago now, just a blink of an eye in the life of this building. From outside you can see the different arched levels, as well as get an idea of the scale – it’s not hard to imagine how it would have been in its heyday, when gladiators battled and lives were lost on the turn of an emperor’s thumb.

This is a shot across what would have been the floor of the arena. The wooden floor is now long gone, and the walls are the remains of the rooms where gladiators, animals and prisoners would have waited, before being sent out to the mercy of the crowds. In the top right hand corner of the photograph, a cross is just visible – this is a memorial to the Christians martyred in the arena. When we were there, a small crowd of people gathered in front of this cross and started to sing. Everyone else fell silent, listening as the ancient stones echoed with a lament for the dead, the acoustics carrying it up and out of the arena. It was a beautiful moment in a remarkable place.

Thank you for coming on another Wednesday Wander with me – see you next time!

To Retreat, Or Not To Retreat?

Get away from it all... — Get away from it all…

I’ve been thinking recently about writing retreats. I know that organised retreats are popular, the amount of ads in Writing Magazine alone testament to their popularity. And I can see how, for many people, spending time somewhere with the express purpose of writing would be a wonderful pathway to creativity. However, I’ve never been on one myself.

It’s a tempting idea, to sit in a room with nothing more pressing to do for the next few days or weeks or however long than write. Ever since I’ve started writing, it’s always been with a backdrop of other things to do. A child to care for, work to go to or complete, a house to manage, appointments to get to, phone calls to take, classes to attend – you know, the usual bits and pieces of a busy life. Sure, I take walks and work out plot points, but those walks are usually to or from somewhere, like school or the shops or the dojo. When I’m on holiday, I always take my notebooks and part of a WIP with the best of intentions, yet I usually go home without much progress made.

I was talking to my brother about this a while ago – he’s a musician and artist, so is very familiar with the creative process. He agreed with me, that he’s always more creative when he’s busy. On his rare downtime, he finds he doesn’t really write many songs – it’s only when there are lots of other things happening that the music flows.

I know that writing retreats work for other people – I’m just not sure they would work for me. The idea of waking up and knowing I’m supposed to be writing would seem like the worst sort of pressure. And I personally feel I would find that counterproductive.

There’s a place quite near to where I live called The Booksellers Retreat. I had thought it a writing retreat sort of place, where you could rent a room for a day or week or longer, expressly for the purpose of concentrating on writing. However, it is something different to that, as I’ve subsequently discovered and, after some more research, I will write a post about it. But it got me thinking about the idea of a writing retreat, and whether it’s worth getting away from it all to write.

So I’m putting it out there. Have any of you attended writing retreats? And, if so, did they work for you? Or do you thrive on being busy, preferring to write as and when the muse comes to you?

Bloggers Bash 2017 – Part 2

There have already been several great posts about the recent Bloggers Bash in London, held this past weekend. And I’m here to add my voice to all those saying, ‘What a fantastic day!’

First of all, congratulations to all the award winners, and huge thanks to the organising committee, Sacha Black, Geoff LePard, Ali Isaac and Hugh Roberts – your tireless efforts and excellent organisational skills created something completely wonderful.

I arrived early for the Bash to meet several bloggers at a pub near Euston Station, where we greeted each other like old friends. And it did feel that way. A lot of us remarked on the fact that, even though many of us were meeting in person for the first time, it was as though we all knew each other already through our interactions online. Of course, there were familiar faces from last year’s Bash, but plenty of new faces too, familiar to me only from their blogs. But nametags helped us to break the ice and, really, it felt like walking into a room full of friends, rather than strangers.

Me and Steve from Steve Says and Talk About Pop Music – we finally got to meet up!

So what else can I add? Food, drink and good company, plus a blogging/social media presentation by Automatic/Wordpress employee Luca, made for an afternoon that flew by all too quickly, and before we knew it we were saying our farewells, a last group of us heading out into damp streets before parting.

Love this photo! Me and Suzie from Suzie Speaks

I arrived home worn out from a great day. And the next day I even felt a little hungover, even though I hadn’t really drunk anything. Rather, it was the languor that descends after a big day out, when you just want to sit and remember it all (although, having to be at a 9am dress rehearsal for my daughter’s dance show kind of got in the way of any relaxing!). Facebook is heaving with photos of the event, and the date for next year has already been announced – June 10, 2017 – so put it in your diaries!

Lucy from BlondeWriteMore and Esther from Esther Newton Blog – I look a bit manic here because I couldn’t get my phone to work!

So who knows where we’ll meet up next year? Last year when we were in Pizza Express, The Royal Albert Hall was discussed as a possible venue, as was Buckingham Palace. Joking, of course. But the event is growing, and the difference between this year’s Bash and last year’s was easy to see. However, one thing remained the same. A group of people from all walks of life united under one common banner – blogging. And even though I didn’t get to speak with everyone there (which was a shame!), it was a wonderful way to share our passion for the written word.

Here’s to a wonderful Bloggers Bash 2016 – roll on next year! xx

Bloggers Bash, 2016 – Part 1

Or perhaps I’d be more accurate to call this part ‘The Prologue.’ Because this is it, folks – less than twenty-four hours until bloggers assemble in London for the second annual Bloggers Bash!

Some are already there, travelling by plane and train to the capital, soaking up the London atmosphere and getting ready to mingle. Others, like me, with not so far to travel, are putting together final preparations, exchanging phone numbers and printing out itineraries, making sure we know just where to go. I’m sure there are nerves, outfits being prepared, and a lot of excitement at the thought of putting faces to the onscreen words.

I’m a little nervous, which I think is natural, but I’m also really looking forward to seeing some wonderful bloggers I met at last year’s bash, as well as making new connections. Festivities are due to kick off at 2pm sharp tomorrow (under pain of punishment by Sacha if we’re late), but a few of us are meeting up earlier, which will be a nice way to start the day.

And so it begins. Bloggers are coming, London – are you ready for us?

Thursday Doors – Corn Market, Hemel Old Town

This rather impressive door is located in the old market place, Hemel Hempstead. The market dates back to 1539, when Henry VIII granted a Charter of Incorporation to the town, giving them a weekly Thursday market. The market grew in size and popularity to the point that Daniel Defoe, in his 1724 work, A Tour Of England, described it as an ‘extraordinary corn market’.

In 1851-8, the Market building was rebuilt in a grand Victorian style, part of which included this door, helpfully inscribed with the names of the architect, builder and local bailiff. You’ll note it’s now marked ‘Stage Door’ – that’s because the Victorian building is now a theater, hosting a variety of music, comedy and drama performances, as well as regular movie screenings.

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This is my entry to this week’s Thursday Doors, Norm 2.0’s regular blog challenge. To see more doors, or to add your own, simply visit Norm’s site and click the link.

Wednesday Wander – London Bridge, Portsea

No, it’s not the London Bridge you might be thinking of. This is a rock formation called London Bridge, at Portsea back beach just outside Melbourne, Australia. There used to be another arch of rock stretching into the ocean, hence the name, but it collapsed quite suddenly, leaving only two remaining.

It’s a wonderful place to look for sea glass and shells, or mermaid jewels, as we used to call them. The vast rock pool next to it is calm and warm, perfect for days when the surf is too rough or the swimmers too small. The surf pounds hard on the southern Australian coast, the water much colder than you would think, and it shapes the rocks into towers and caverns and sculptures, magical to explore.

For quite a few years this was my back yard, the beach just a short walk from home, cool sea mists wreathing the ti-tree and moonah. I miss the sound of waves at night, the smell of salt in the air. And so this week I chose to wander back there again – thanks for coming along with me.

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