IMAGES FROM DEBUT NOVEL: THE DE CLERAMBAULT CODE ...

IMAGES FROM MY FIRST PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE NOVEL

Set in the shadow of Regent’s Park, my very first novel - THE DE CLERAMBAULT CODE - throws a special spotlight on this pocket of North West London.

Firstly, let’s take a look at Regents Park itself, a favoured all-year-round place for reflection for the novel’s protagonist, Laura Hill.

The park has an outer ring road called the Outer Circle (4.3 km) and an inner ring road, the Inner Circle, which surrounds the most carefully tended section of the park, Queen Mary's Gardens. Apart from two link roads between these two, the park is reserved for pedestrians. The south, east and most of the west side of the park are lined with elegant white stucco terraces of houses designed by John Nash. Running through the northern end is Regent's Canal which connects the Grand Union Canal to the former London Docks. The 166 hectares (410 acres) park is mainly open parkland with a wide range of amenities including gardens, a lake and a boating area. The northern side is the home of the London Zoo. There are several public gardens with flowers and specimen plants, especially Queen Mary's Gardens in the Inner Circle - where the Open Air Theatre is also located (snapped below from an air balloon)

The seasons snapped by Laura in Queen Mary’s Gardens (within the Inner Circle):

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

           Laura, herself, lives at Redhill Place (below) off Albany Street:

                                            To the east of the Park: 

       She runs the Hampstead English Language Academy on West End Lane, 
                                         near the Finchley Road:  

      The local bookshop, West End Lane Books, has been the spot of many

                 book signings like this one for crime novelist, Ian Rankin:

  Hampstead Heath – another favourite destination for reflection and jogging 
                                      (the City in the background)

                          Later in the novel, Laura travels to Croatia,
                          specifically to the walled city of Dubrovnik

                                      Then to the island of Korkula

                              And to the medieval village of Mali Ston 
                              (and its ominous castle in the background)
                               on the edge of the Peljesac Peninsula

          Towards the end of the novel and in mourning, Laura travels to Venice

   And to Torcello, specifically, the Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta di Torcello

 With its world-famous mosaics - which lead Laura to her ultimately fateful decision 
                                               (no spoilers here!) 

                                                                                          
As you know, all profits from the sale of all my novels, The De Clerambault Code, Soul Stealer and Retribution go to the charity Cudeca - see sidebar opposite (www.cudeca.org).

See sidebar or click HERE (Amazon UK), HERE (Amazon.com), HERE (Goodreads) and HERE for reviews and further shameless self-promotion! Thanks so much for your support!


N.B. Images from my two other novels are HERE (Soul Stealer) and HERE (Retribution).

And thriller number 4 - set in the UK's beautiful Peak District and the latest in the Alice Myers crime series - will be available soon both in paperback and on Kindle like its predecessors!

Enjoy!

NORA

VICTIMS & VILLAINS IN FICTION ...

                       Victim or Villain: who's your favourite fiction character?   

Ever wondered what happened to that childhood/teenage friend of yours? The one who suddenly wanted nothing more to do with you? Maybe you’ve since made contact at a school reunion or via Facebook or Friends Reunited? Or maybe you simply haven’t dared – scared of the reason? 

My latest crime thriller, Retribution – next in the series featuring the 33 year-old journalist, Alice Myers from Soul Stealer - deals precisely with this dilemma. She can’t understand why her closest friend, Ellie, suddenly broke contact years ago in the New Forest, Hampshire. 

Is Alice to blame? In unravelling the mystery of Ellie’s unexpected death and the subsequent murders together with DI Neil Hunter, Alice unearths secrets and confronts truths she can hardly believe - with enough red herrings for a Spanish fishing fleet!  

                                                       

I’m often asked about my novels. About how much of me and my personal experience goes into them. To give a brief but balanced answer: ‘yes and no’. Well, I did say brief! Yes, because, inevitably, those you meet do influence you. No, because the characters eventually created are composites.

As for authors who sell in the millions, do they portray themselves as they are or would like to be? Take the late Stieg Larsson (The Millennium Trilogy). His protagonist, Blomquist, is described as a good-looking, campaign magazine journalist attractive to women. Larsson was also a campaign magazine journalist. As for his looks, peep at his image on any back cover. Go figure! 

The names for characters have to be handled with real care, too. Take names like Beckham, Blair or Ramsay. Give any one to a quiet, self-effacing character and all the connotations take over. And in your mind’s eye, all you’ll see is Beckham/ Blair/Ramsay as, in psychologists’ jargon, feelings of transference take over. 

Which brings me on to that old chestnut: writer’s block. Here I’m reminded of (Raymond) Chandler’s Law: “When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.” Good grief! How did he manage to get away with it?

Finally and back to Retribution, as Alice peels back the layers of deception, she finds nobody is above suspicion. And as for the victim and villain … Well, you really don’t want me to give away the ending, do you?!

For more on the novel (which is selling really well) and photos of the places referred to in it, click here for the August Newsletter. Here you'll find further details of background, inspiration and locations allowing you to "live" the drama – as experienced by Alice and “seen” through her eyes ...

VICTIM OR VILLAIN: WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE FICTION CHARACTER?

As you know, all profits from the sale of my novels, The De Clerambault Code, Soul Stealer and Retribution go to the charity Cudeca - see sidebar opposite (www.cudeca.org)).

See sidebar or click HERE (Amazon UK), HERE (Amazon.com) and HERE (Goodreads) for reviews and further shameless self-promotion! Thanks so much for your support!

Enjoy!

Nora

VILLAINS IN BOOKS ...

Dear readers, this week, N is for *N*apoleon and other villains in books for children (of all ages) ...

Heroes too, but villains are so much more interesting so let’s look at a few of them first!

Napoleon – Animal Farm (above)

Napoleon is the kid of a villain that makes us shout at the page "Don't trust him! He’s evil". When he takes the pups from the farm dogs and trains them privately, we know he's a first class fascist pig. The novel was written by Orwell as a scathing commentary on Stalin's Russia.

Captain Hook – Peter Pan:

Maybe the first super villain? Sophisticated, egotistical and totally ruthless.

John Silver – Treasure Island:

The silver-tongued pirate who won Jim's affections before he betrayed him. Such a famous villain, he's had us all growling "arrrr, Jim lad!". 

Prof Moriarty – Sherlock Holmes

Moriarty, the smartest villain ever? So many genius villains have followed in his image. Inevitable that Sherlock's equal would eventually show himself, and Moriarty was certainly up to the task. Sherlock and Moriarty sparred for a long time before that tragic confrontation at the Reichenbach Falls.

Count Dracula – Dracula

If you look at the source material, there’s nothing glamorous about Bram Stoker's original text. Dracula crawls down castle walls and talks to wolves. Just as frightening now as he was then.

The Joker – Batman

A brilliantly creepy character who's managed to progress gradually from clown to layered psychopath, with Heath Ledger's chilling version a definite climax.

Blofeld – Thunderball

James Bond's nemesis in many of Ian Fleming's books (and movies). First seen in the novel Thunderball where he masterminds the theft of two nuclear bombs and uses them to blackmail the world's governments with meticulous and dispassionate organisation

And as for Heroes? How about:

Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain:

Just William – Richmal Crompton: 

Pippi Longstocking – Astrid Lindgren:

OTHER FAVOURITE VILLAINS / HEROES IN BOOKS / MOVIES ?

Do tell me! And do check out other posts  @ Jenny Matlock-Alphabe-Thursday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Macro Monday2, Ruby Tuesday & Outdoor Wednesday.

On a completely different note, many thanks to all of you who’ve purchased my own novels, Retribution, Soul Stealer and The De Clerambault Code, and helping them, at the time of writing, all reach the top 70 eBook thrillers on Amazon.es! All profits to charity!       

And, finally, thank you to all my dear readers who visited or commented.

Enjoy!

XOXO NORA & LOLA:)

BACKGROUND, INSPIRATION & LOCATIONS IN MY LATEST THRILLER ... RETRIBUTION

Now, those readers who have already downloaded Retribution will know that the protagonist, Alice, a London-based journalist, is back investigating the sudden, unexpected death of her closest childhood friend, Ellie, in an isolated, close-knit community. 

And the relentlessly chilling, life-changing consequences for those left behind, especially those searching for the truth behind this apparent suicide and ... subsequent deaths. As she peels back the layers of deception, Alice finds nobody is above suspicion and … Well, you really don’t want me to give away the ending, do you?!

But what I can reveal is the background, and inspiration, to the novel - the New Forest National Park, Hampshire (pictured above), and the main places that Alice visits. Here then are some images (hopefully this should soon be possible on Kindle – hopefully by the time of publication of the next in the series!)

So, follow Alice’s journey – as “seen” through her eyes!

The countryside near Alice’s cottage (left) at Bull Hill – with its nearby wild ponies and deer:

And its many bluebell-covered woods:

The pub, the Fleur de Lys, near Boldre (below, left) - where Tim and Alice meet for a drink in an early chapter:

Via Brockenhurst (right):

To Lyndhurst (below, left) – and its one-way traffic system - in the centre of the Forest:

Also the location of DI Neil Hunter’s workplace - 

Lyndhurst Police Station (right) -

opposite the Waterloo Arms, his local pub (right):

                                                

Other favourite pubs referred to in the novel:

The Queen’s Head, Burley (left, where Alice and Jim meet) near the village centre (right & below): 

The Borough Arms, Lymington (right) – favourite watering hole of cops from Lymington Police Station:

Views of Lymington (late summer, left) and autumn (right):

The ferry from Lymington to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight – a fatal journey ...

Local beauty spots Alice won’t have missed during her stay:

Exbury Gardens, belonging to a branch of the Rothschild family, situated in the village of Exbury:

...just to the southeast of Beaulieu (below, left) and Beaulieu river (right):

… and across the river from Bucklers Hard:

And finally, Rhinefield Ornamental Drive – with its redwoods ...

                                                                                             
Rhododendrons:

Beech trees:

And plentiful gorse and heather:

As you know, all profits from the sale of my novels, The De Clerambault Code, Soul Stealer and Retribution go to the charity Cudeca - see sidebar opposite (www.cudeca.org)).

See sidebar or click HERE (Amazon UK), HERE (Amazon.com) and HERE (Goodreads) for reviews and further shameless self-promotion! Thanks so much for your support!

Enjoy!

NORA