Clare Flynn’s Blog
The Button Maker’s Daughter
I'm delighted to have Merryn Allingham as my guest on the blog this week. Merryn is the very popular author of the Daisy's War trilogy of books set in India and London in the 1930s and 40s. Her latest books explore two pivotal moments in the history of Britain. The...
“The Vilest of the Vile”
I've written before about Middlesbrough, the setting for my third novel, Letters from a Patchwork Quilt, but I read a fascinating piece this morning about the town in the 19th century that made me want to write about it again. It was an article from the Middlesbrough...
Behind the Scenes at Compton Place
Thanks to the Sussex Archaeological Society I was lucky enough to have a tour of Compton Place here in Eastbourne. The house and grounds are owned by the Duke of Devonshire and for the past sixty years have been leased to a ladies' finishing school which since became...
Painting in France
I've just had a fabulous week painting in France – blessed with beautiful weather until the very last day when a much-needed downpour arrived – the commune next door had actually run out of water. I was staying in the Creuse valley near Crozant – a stunningly lovely...
Reaching Fever Pitch
Striking a Balance Between Modesty and Self-Promotion Today I'm delighted to welcome Carol Cooper to the blog. Carol is a doctor, journalist, and author. She graduated from Cambridge University where she studied medicine and her fellow students. Following a string of...
Relics of World War 2
I wrote recently about the invasion that never happened and how it left its marks on Cuckmere Haven. Today I'm going to share with you a couple of small clues about WW2 from the roads around my home here in Meads, Eastbourne. During the War there were several...
Smugglers of Sussex
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the Cuckmere Valley during WW2 and its strategic role in the defence of the realm. Today I’m going to look at another of its claims to fame – as the beating heart of an enormous smuggling operation. Smuggling was big business in...
The Invasion that Never Happened
My teenage years were spent in Eastbourne, growing up in the shadow of the Downs, swimming from the beach and hanging out in the various hostelries of the town. Now that I've returned to live here I'm rediscovering the charms of the town and its surrounds. One thing...
First Impressions
In honour of Valentine's Day I thought it would be fun to share some extracts of first meetings from my novels, thinking of the words of Dostoyevsky - "We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly,...
Lurking in Graveyards with Literary Intent
Finding appropriate and memorable names for characters in my novels is a fun challenge. My favourite method – as I write historical fiction – is to have a wander round a graveyard. I’ve always had a weird fascination with cemeteries. I haunted Père Lachaise when I...
Location, Location, Location!
Location is always a vital part of my novels. I think of the setting as another character in the books. My work in progress, tentatively titled The Green Ribbons is set in a small village in Berkshire at the turn of the twentieth century. Sometimes I stick with real...
Writers’ Rooms #13 – Martine McDonagh
My guest today is Martine McDonagh the author of After Phoenix and I Have Waited, and You Have Come. From September 2015 Martine will be programme leader on the new MA Creative Writing & Publishing at West Dean College near Chichester. Martine is very adaptable...