My hunch about wartime Beachy Head is vindicated!

My hunch about wartime Beachy Head is vindicated!

About three years ago, when I was writing The Chalky Sea, I read as much as possible about the impact of the Second World War here in my home town of Eastbourne. I wanted my main character, Gwen Collingwood, a childless married woman whose husband has gone to war, to...
Reading of The Chalky Sea

Reading of The Chalky Sea

I was invited to give a talk, a reading, and a Q&A for The Chalky Sea at The Hawthorns in Eastbourne. I was a little nervous as they had taken out a half-page ad in the local paper and had kindly laid on tea and cakes for all. There was a good crowd who asked lots...
Scenes from The Chalky Sea

Scenes from The Chalky Sea

This is the first of a few brief tours of some of the locations from The Chalky Sea. It was a beautiful morning today (9th August) here in Eastbourne so I decided to take some pictures at Holywell which is a favourite haunt of Gwen in the book. The beaches here are...
Bombs, Ravilious, Eastbourne and The Chalky Sea

Bombs, Ravilious, Eastbourne and The Chalky Sea

(Image credit: Eric Ravilious, The Westbury Horse, 1939. Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne ) I’ve just returned from viewing the exhibition Ravilious and Co: The Pattern of Friendship at the Towner Gallery here in Eastbourne. I’d love to post some images but...
Interrogating my characters

Interrogating my characters

I published my latest novel, The Chalky Sea, this month and have promised my readers to write a sequel. As I sat down to work on the second book I found I was struggling to re-connect with my characters. One of them was a secondary character in The Chalky Sea but...