I was recently invited to a friend’s book launch of her new book ‘Emma’, second part of a trilogy set in the early 1900′s along the Devon coastline. The life of a writer can be fairly isolating. Isolation and time to think alone is one of my favorite things about being a writer, but it is wonderful to meet up with other writers and feel part of their success.
In the book On Writing, Stephen King gave the writer permission to read as many books as possible. From then on I stopped feeling guilty about reading when I should be writing. A writer should also be a reader, and unlike a normal reader a writer should read all genres and styles. As a writer and avid book-worm I have read a fair selection of every genre and this includes romantic historical fiction, though this style has never been my favourite, too mushy and the protagonists are usually fairly linear with no levels.
But ‘To Turn Full Circle’ and ‘Emma’ get it right. The characters have many levels and the author, Linda Mitchelmore has delved into the darker side of life in the southwest and the social structure of the times. Linda also get’s the history of the times accurately, enough to interest but does not dominate the story.
To Turn Full Circle and Emma are easy reading, I thoroughly enjoyed the two novels and couldn’t put them down. I will be eagerly waiting the third in this exciting, romantic drama.
