Category Archives: Writing

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September 26, 2017 · 6:50 pm

Novel Idea ~ It’s a Secret!

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How soon do you share the secret of your next book?

You cannot imagine how wonderful it is to be writing fairly regularly again. I hesitated over the word ‘wonderful.’ Should I have said fulfilling, satisfying, rewarding ~ even therapeutic or a HUGE RELIEF! After eighteen months abstention (predominantly to settle into our new life here in Fife) I am  over half way through writing my next novel now and the ideas are flowing. I have made a few false starts over these months but the seeds of this book have laid dormant, waiting for the right conditions to germinate and grow.

Writing my current book, however, is a totally different experience to all the novels I’ve completed in the past where I have involved friends, family and experts in various fields of history from the outset. For my second novel ‘Ancasta’ I even had a fishing lesson!

Why is this different? Because I have shared my ideas with no one as yet. It is a secret burning within and I’m so excited about it. It is like an unborn child.

What I can say is that it is not part of my historical fiction series, which will disappoint many of my readers I know. It is also not memoir but it is a mystery ~ in fact several mysteries. The location? I’m not ready to share that as yet either.

When the time comes I am going to try to find five beta readers, but I don’t think I want these to be friends or family, as I have done in the past. I would love them to be discerning readers and writers.

If you’d like to offer to be a beta reader then please drop me an email diana@dianamaryjackson.co.uk. You would be one of the first people I’d share my secret with. Would you like me to reciprocate too or if you are a reader, would you like a signed copy when it is published? Just let me know.

Many thanks Diana Jackson

ps my reviews of Scottish authors will begin in December.

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June 8, 2017 · 10:38 am

Luton Paranormal Society Investigates Nellie Rault’s Murder!

Back coverMNATLife as a writer is always full of surprises. I had an unexpected email from a member of Luton Paranormal Society saying that they were about to investigate Nellie Rault’s unsolved murder case and that they had read my novel ‘Murder Now and Then.‘ My murder mystery IS fiction, although Nellie’s story, whose murder in Haynes in1919, was unsolved (Lucille Vardon in my novel) is as close to the true story as I could surmise from research in newspaper cuttings of the day.

 

I stress that my solution to Nellie’s murder back in 1919 in my novel and the fictional murder in 2019 are pure fiction. (of course because the latter is set in the future one hundred years on!)

If you scroll down on this link you

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Nellie Rault’s grave in Haynes churchyard

will find that the Paranormal Society’s investigation has now been put back to 2018 but I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything. How exciting!

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April 8, 2017 · 10:13 am

The Healing Paths of Fife by Diana Jackson

coverThe Healing Paths of Fife – a personal Memoir – Fantasy, will be released on Kindle on 20th April 2017.

It can be pre-ordered here in the UK or on Amazon.com.

Part 1 From Redundancy to Rejuvenation has been available in paperback form, but this is the first time that it will be released on Kindle together with

Part 2 Letting Go and Moving On  – released for the first time – both parts as a combined novel:
The Healing Paths of Fife

Here is a description:

Diana walked along the Fife Coastal Path from North Queensferry – beneath the famous Forth Rail Bridge – to St Andrews. While on her way she trod in the footprints of a multitude of pilgrims and famous people through the ages, but she also followed in the steps of ordinary folks of Fife. She ‘met’ some fascinating characters – from St Margaret in Dunfermline to the real Robinson Crusoe, Alexander Selkirk, in Lower Largo.

Diana was enamoured by her beautiful surroundings along these healing paths. As she paused to have a ‘wee blether’ with those she ‘met,’ she learnt a new way of looking at her world, finding values which gave her a blueprint for the next stage in her life and she was fortunate to discover a sense of peace.

The further Diana travelled the more she became absorbed in the history of Fife and her affinity for the area grew.

As you read on you may find yourself ‘walking beside Diana.’ Her experiences might help you with some of the challenges you face in your own life, or they may inspire you to visit the region of Fife and have adventures of your own. Some would call this an allegory but it is certainly a memoir with elements of fantasy. Diana leaves the reader to judge which is which.

Part 1: From Redundancy to Rejuvenation

Serendipity! Diana’s husband’s job temporarily located them to Fife, at the same time as Diana was made redundant from a life time of teaching.

Part 2: Letting Go and Moving on

In order to live her new life to the full, Diana needed to truly let go of much of her old life. That did not mean forgetting her friends and family but finding a new and deeper relationship with them, even at a distance. As she and her husband threw themselves into a community life in Fife, deep down Diana was still searching for her true purpose and with the encouragement of new and old friends alike she ….

ISBN 9780993260834

The Healing Paths of Fife will be available as a paperback through Amazon by the end of April.

 

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