Saturday, April 03, 2010

The Joys of Spring-Cleaning

Funny the things you find when you start spring cleaning. When I was "tidying" my Sarah Mallory website to add my latest Mills & Boon Historical, Wicked Captain, Wayward Wife, I discovered a short story! It was one I wrote and added to the website some time ago but life has been so busy recently that I had forgotten all about it!

One of the lovely villages I discovered when researching for my very first Mills & Boon Historical, More Than A Governess, was called Rushton Spencer. I was determined to use it in my book, so I put my characters into a local inn (using the real-life Royal Oak as my model). However, while we were wandering around the village – in high summer – I had the idea for something quite different, a winter story.



The small church of St Lawrence is built on a small hill some way from the village and can be seen from the road. I did take a picture of the church but you will have to trust me on this, it is nestling amongst the trees and if you look carefully you can just make out the graveyard!
There is a footpath from the village leading to the church, and a very pretty walk it is, in summer. In my imagination I could see the church standing stark against the sky on a cold moonlit night with a blanket of snow covering the ground. There would be travellers at the inn, and perhaps a child lost in the snow……
This Christmas Story is still on my website, so if you want a coffee-time read, feel free to visit http://www.sarahmallory.co.uk/. you will fin ditlisted in the index onthe left hand side of the home page. I'd love to know what you think!






Melinda Hammond/Sarah Mallory Wicked Captain, Wayward Wife by Sarah Mallory Paperback published in the UK April 2010

5 comments:

Elizabeth Hawksley said...

Ah! Love the story. Just right for Christmas - atmospheric, great setting and a heart-warming ending.

Melinda Hammond said...

Glad you enjoyed it Elizabeth -with the chilly weather it doesn't feel that out of place for Easter! Landscape is very important to me: when I am in the right place I find the stories almost write themselves.

Louise Allen said...

Must go and read it right away - I've just finished Wicked Captain, Wayward Wife and loved it. What a gorgeous hero!

Melinda/Sarah said...

Thanks Louise - Nick was one of those heroes who strode into my head ready-made. I love it when they do that!!!

Mothers Day Flowers said...

Fantastic story, Thanks for sharing I really enjoyed reading this.