Carisbrooke Castle

Historic Carisbrooke Castle is the setting for my latest novel, A Halloween Murder. It is well worth a visit if you are ever on the island. As well as the beautiful castle, you can see the castle donkeys and, in the museum, a Turner painting of the castle. Here are a few photos.

Mottistone Down

Mottistone Down features in a number of my books set on the Isle of Wight.

I walk up here often and look over to the long stone and a solitary house now owned by the National Trust. Both are featured in Behind the Smile.

There are actually two long stones and they are thought to be the place of a Neolithic burial ground where bodies left out for the birds and then the bones buried. Long stone could also have been at the entrance and in Saxon times it was a meeting place.

Legend has it that St Catherine and the Devil had a contest to see who should control the Isle of Wight. The Long Stone’s tall iron sandstone pillar was supposedly thrown by St Catherine from the Down to the east which bears her name.

The small woodland you can see on the left is where I created my village of Elmstone. The Longstone Lowri walked to is out of sight behind the shrubs.

This is Mottistone manor, the Elizabethan manor house I based Elmstone manor (in Behind the Smile) and Bishopstone Manor (in A Christmas Murder) on.

The woods behind are spectacular in spring with carpets of bluebells.

In Behind the Smile Lowri walks along Brook beach; it is here and on Compton Bay that she finds the fossils. Brook beach also features in The Island.

Jane Austen stayed on the Island in June 1813. She is the author of perhaps this  most famous quotation about the Isle of Wight, from Mansfield Park.

Letter to Tegan

If you have read Free to Be Tegan, you will remember that Tegan catches a train to Birmingham, on her way to Wales. A man on the train buys her a coffee and closely observes her. This letter is not in the book, but is what I imagine he might have written to her:

letter-to-tegan

Cambrian Mountains

In April 2013 I visited the Cambrian Mountains researching locations for Free to Be Tegan. These are just a few photos which give a feel for the area.

Gower Peninsula

Hidden Chapters is set on the beautiful Gower Peninsula. Here are just a few pictures: