Sunday, January 03, 2010



At last I have a new book coming out! A new Sarah Mallory hits the shelves in February and it is one of my all-time favourites (in fact I like it so much that I am going to put my feet up and spend the last little bit of the Christmas holiday reading it again - very sad, isn't it???)


It feels like a lifetime since I wrote Wicked Captain, Wayward Wife; the idea first came to me when I was having lunch at the Mermaid Inn at Rye, Sussex (pictured here – just imagine the road without the cars!). This is a beautiful old inn and is well known as the haunt of smugglers. Sitting in the old dining room surrounded by oak beams and dark panelling the imagination really went wild, resulting in a romantic adventure that involves smugglers, treacherous villains and a heroine who thinks her life is far too safe and sheltered, until the wickedly handsome Nick Wylder rides up to her door!

Wicked Captain Wayward Wife is published in February in hard back, with the paperback following in April.

Sarah Mallory
(Melinda Hammond)

6 comments:

Jan Jones said...

Ooooh, good.

Wonderfully evocative photo.

Melinda Hammond/Sarah Mallory said...

Thanks Jan. I loved Rye and the surrounding area - can't wait to go back and set another book there!

Jane Odiwe said...

Oh, that inn looks lovely - just the kind of place I love to go.

Congratulations on your new book!

Nicola Cornick said...

The book sounds wonderful, Melinda, and I'm looking forward to it a lot. Love the cover too! I visited Rye many years ago and thought it was a very inspirational and atmospheric place for a writer with all those ancient building and winding streets.

Melinda Hammond/Sarah Mallory said...

Thanks Jane and Nicola. The Mermaid is a super place, very atmospheric but not for the fain-hearted - it is said to be haunted (although I didn't notice anything strange - it seemed one of the most restful buildings I had ever been in).

Louise Allen said...

I remember having lunch in this inn - fantastic setting, Melinda. I love smuggling stories, so really looking forward to this one!