Being There

Perhaps it was seeing lots of castles on my first trip to the United Kingdom. Maybe it was bronze age stone circles and avenues. But to be honest, I’ve no real clue where the idea for my current work in progress originated. Fantasy? A parallel medieval universe? Heck, the last fantasy I’d read was probably when I was about 6 or 7. Oh, of course, Harry Potter. But that’s different! All I know is that I woke up one morning with the idea embedded in my brain, and this writer of historical romance was forced to jump outside her comfort zone.

My characters lived in castles. Well, that was easy. I’d been to several. Harlech, in Wales, is my favourite. Maybe it was visiting the area immediately below the castle where ships had unloaded cargoes that influenced an early scene in my story. Nowadays Harlech is isolated from the sea. It’s strange how little facts like that stay with you! Those great stone castles obviously made an impression. I remember wondering what it would have been like to live in one.

So I wrote the story. Lots of jumbled impressions went into the tale. Places I’d been. London, Spain, Portugal, Italy’s Veneto, the Rhine. Watching the televised Tour de France provided scenes of the French countryside.

Then, the year before last, I revisited London. Spent one rare sunny day at Hampton Court. I’d been reluctant, wrongly believing we’d be shepherded about by tour guides. But no, we were free to wander. So many eras portrayed. Of course, my main interest was in the medieval, or rather, Tudor period. Rather spookily, I saw scenes from my imagination come to life. First, in the palace kitchens. A quiet corner seemed lifted straight from my imagination. Then, a tapestry. My hero’s mother’s tapestry. The great hall was pretty much as I’d imagined, too.

Hampton Court delivered. Not only can I recommend it as a marvellous day out, should you ever visit London, but it provided this author with a terrific boost of ‘reality’!

The Heart Has Its Reasons is available for ORDER by clicking this link https://www.bronwynhouldsworth.com/books

Enjoy.