Dilly Court Travelling in Time

No - I haven't been lazing around since March when I did my last blog - in fact I've been working my cotton-socks off (metaphorically speaking).  Had a really enjoyable trip to Guernsey in May at the end of their Literary Festival and did a successful book signing at the Press bookshop in St Peter Port. This was for We'll Meet Again, (Lily Baxter), and I met some incredibly interesting people who had lived through the German Occupation in WW2.

Have completed two more books, one in the Lily Baxter series and the other as Dilly Court - titles yet to be decided - and I'm working on an idea for the next one. I really enjoy doing the historical research for my books and I try to make them as accurate as possible - it's quite a challenge.

Congratulations to Jane Townson of Preston, Lancs, who won the competition on Twitter for my book, The Ragged Heiress. It's on it's way to you now, Jane. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

Forgive me for blowing my own trumpet, but my latest novel A Mother's Secret is now an official Top 10 Bestseller, at number 10.  I couldn't be happier.

Am feeling free to have a little boast - my new Victorian saga, A Mother's Secret, has reached number 32 in the UK top 50 as listed by The Bookseller, and climbing. It's such a great feeling to know that people enjoy reading my stories and are prepared, even in such hard times, to go out and buy a copy.

I'm excited now about starting my new Lily Baxter book, as yet untitled, but it entails a lot of research about the suffragette movement and the heroic work that women did on the front lines in WW1. I learn something new every day.

This is a very busy year for me.  My Lily Baxter book We'll Meet Again came out in hardback in January,  and my third WW2 book Spitfire Girl is due to be published in June, the paperbacks of both coming out later in the year.

The paperback of A Mother's Secret is in the shops now, and I'm glad to say that its doing well in the charts. Another Cockney saga, Cinderella Sister,  is coming out in hardback in June with the paperback following in the autumn, and A Mother's Trust will bepublished in November.  Whew!!!  Hardly time to walk the dog and the poor old chap needs the exercise - so do I!

My second WW2 book written under the name of Lily Baxter came out at the beginning of January. It's set in Guernsey during the Occupation and I will be going there in May, soon after Liberation Day to sign books in the Guernsey Press Book Shop - really excited about that. I also hope to meet some of the members of the local book club and have a chat with them.

Most of my books both as Dilly Court and Lily Baxter are now on Kindle from Amazon and seem to be doing really well - perhaps I should treat myself to a an e-reader.

A Mother's Secret is out in paperback next month. 

A bit late, but I blame the snow and now the rain, but Happy New Year to all my readers and a vote of thanks from me for buying enough of my books to put them in the best sellers lists. I've got a new contract with Random House (Arrow Books) for four more Cockney sagas and two WW2 novels which will keep me busy for another two years, and I've just started writing my next Victorian novel, which is very exciting.

My new WW2 book is out now in hardcover and this is set in Guernsey during the German Occupation.  My  family lived in Guernsey for seventeen years and I spent many happy holidays there and love to visit there still. It's a beautiful island with fantastic beaches and charming people - and I don't get anything from the Guernsey Tourist Board for saying that - it comes from the heart, as do all my books. 

Once again I'm afraid I've let the time go by without adding to my blog, but I've been working hard on my latest novel. My first WW2 book, Poppy's War is out now and doing well at number 34 in the bestsellers chart. It makes a change to write in the twentieth century rather than in Victorian times, but it takes just as much (if not more) research.  It would be awful to make mistakes when there are many readers who remember the war clearly, and I feel I owe it to all those who died in the conflict to get the historical facts right.

My latest Victorian saga, A Mother's Secret, is out now in hardback and will be published in paperback in the New Year.  Must stop now and write my Christmas card list. I always mean to take a copy every year and every year I forget! That's what comes of spending too much time in another century.

A good question. Actually I've been really busy writing my novels which has left me little time to add to my blog. The Ragged Heiress is my latest Cockney saga and it will be out in paperback on the 3rd June.

Writing under the new name of Lily Baxter my latest book Poppy's War will be published in hardback on the 1st July and in paperback in October.

Poppy's War is set in WW2 and begins when 13-year-old East End girl, Poppy Brown is evacuated to rural Dorset. Billeted in a grand country house she is received with cold indifference above stairs and gets little better treatment from those below stairs.  Lonely and unused to country life, Poppy is devastated when she hears that her family have been killed in the Blitz, but the kindness of a young man who is to play a large part in her life saves her from despair. Growing up in wartime England with all the dangers and hardships, Poppy discovers a shocking secret from her family's past, and falls in love with someone she thinks is far beyond her reach.

My latest Cockney saga is in the shops now.

A Mother's Wish - paperback £5.99 at WH Smith, Asda, Wilkinsons and Tesco and all good bookshops.

Since the untimely death of her husband, young mother Effie Grey has been forced to live on a narrowboat owned by her tyrannical father-in-law, Jacob. In spite of her own despair, she is determined to protect her brother Tom and her baby son Georgie from Jacob's bullying ways - for she is all they have in the world.

But when Jacob hires the villainous Salter and his vile wife, Sal, to run the barge, Effie's life becomes even more unbearable, and Tom is sent packing without a penny to his name. Living on deck with little to shelter her and Georgie from the elements, tormented by the Salters, Effie is driven to desperation. Having stolen Jacob's hidden cache of money, she escapes with her son. As she begins her frantic search for Tom, Effie vows that whatever happens she will make a home for little Georgie and keep him safe from harm.

Yesterday, 4th July, I was delighted to perform the opening ceremony for a new computer shop and repair facility in Weymouth. Aquila have been operating successfully on Portland for ten years as a retail outlet, repair facility and software providers to large and small companies. They also design websites and I think mine is a good example of their expertise.

With so many High Street stores closing down it is very encouraging that this young and enthusiastic team have made the decision to move into a prime location in the town.  It was a glorious day on Saturday and Weymouth was buzzing with holidaymakers, shoppers and beach activities. It was lovely to meet some of my readers, but unfortunately I missed the lady in the yellow T-shirt who had left before I had a chance to speak to her.

 I wish Aquila every success in their new venture.

What happened to April - it seemed to pass me by in a flash and I realise that I haven't entered anything on my blog since March.

Was I doing the Spring cleaning like my Victorian heroines? Was I taking up the carpets and beating the life out of them on the washing line with something that looked like a cross between a fly swat and a tennis racquet? Or was I black-leading the range or scraping soot from the flues to put on the roses?

No - even though the sunshine shows up dust motes and my grandchildren's sticky fingerprints on the windows and woodwork, actually I had a deadline to meet for my book A Mother's Wish, and of course there was Easter. Someone had to eat up all the leftover chocolate, although I am back on the diet now. I love researching the historical details for my books but I'm very glad I live in the time of washing machines, vacuum cleaners and microwave ovens.

I woke up to a snow-covered world this morning; a most unusual occurrence for the West Country in early March.  Warm and comfortable in my office I take myself back to Victorian London.  Appearing suddenly and seemingly uninvited in my story I find a sweep master with his little chummy, or apprentice - although anyone treated less like a chum could not be imagined. Most of these boys are orphans but some have been stolen by the sweep or sold by their own families.

The boy I see is undersized and pathetically thin. He is black from head to foot with a thick crusting of soot. His eyes are red and tears run down his cheeks. He wears a flannel shift and his bare arms are covered in sores. Being the smallest boy he is sent up the chimney first, followed by a bigger boy who sticks pins in the little one's feet to make him move faster and climb higher. Many boys like this die of suffocation having become stuck in narrow flues. Those who survive suffer from lung disease, testicular cancer and stunted growth. The practice was made illegal in 1840 but largely ignored, and has continued even after 1864 when Lord Shaftesbury introduced an Act of Parliament banning anyone under the age of 21 being employed by a sweep.

My latest book to come out in paperback is A Mother's Promise, the story of Hetty Huggins, a poor girl caught up in the matchgirls' strike of the 1880s. Against all odds, Hetty struggles to keep her promise to her dying mother that she will bring up her brothers and sister and raise them from poverty.

It was a real buzz to walk into our local branch of W H Smith and see my novel in pride of place amongst other best sellers. It will also be available at ASDA, Tesco, Sainsbury and most bookshops.  I hope my readers will enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed becoming involved in Hetty's life and writing about her fight for survival in the harsh world of Victorian England.

I have stepped back in time to London in the 1860s. Valentine's Day approaches and I will receive a bunch of roses, but what do they mean in the Victorian language of flowers? I want to find out, and I go first to Covent Garden, but the business of the day is over and porters are clearing away the squashed cabbage leaves and bruised apples that have fallen from their baskets. Flower girls scrabble about on the cobblestones picking up scattered Devonshire violets, snowdrops and heads of narcissi and jonquils. They sit crossed-legged on the ground twisting the blooms into posies and buttonholes which they will sell on cold and windy street corners for a penny or twopence.

I leave them to their work and head down Southampton Street to the Strand. I find an exclusive florist's shop where gentlemen of means buy flowers for their ladies. A young woman wearing a black bombazine gown with a starched white collar and cuffs sallies forward to greet me. I can tell by her tight-lipped expression that she is disappointed when I ask only for information, but she is too well-schooled in the art of serving customers to refuse my request.

I select a red rose. She says it speaks of true love and if put together with a white rose signifies unity. Red and yellow roses together mean happiness. A white rose says 'I am worthy of you. A daffodil means respect and a jonquil begs for a return of affection. A snowdrop means hope and a violet faithfulness. An anemone means forsaken and a daisy is for innocence. I have no old money but I give her a silver threepenny bit that came off my aunt's charm bracelet. I feel her eyes boring into my back as I leave the shop. She must think I am a stranger from another country or another planet.

The snow has gone but I'm stepping back in time to the heat of summer in 1888.

I step out of the recently opened Aldgate East Station, although I did not arrive by train. I am still a bit suspicious of trains that travel beneath the ground and prefer to ride in a horse-drawn ominbus. I make my way along Whitechapel High Street, and, avoiding George Yard where Mary Tabram was murdered on the 7 August, just days ago, I turn into Angel Alley. No Angels live here. There are brothels, a public house, and some respectable boarding houses where farmer's men put up when they attend the twice weekly Whitechapel Hay Market. 

I decide to return to the main street where the shops are of more interest to me. I walk past a tea dealer, a stay maker, a boot maker, a linen draper and a carpet warehouse. The tempting aroma from the gingerbread baker tempts me to stop and buy some, but I can't say the same of the eel pie shop, nor the butcher who sells pigs' heads, trotters, offal and cow heel. There are shops that sell the leftovers from hotels and gentlemen's clubs. The poor are not too proud to eat the scraps from the rich men's tables.

I cross the street, taking care not to step in the mounds of horse dung and squashed cabbage leaves.  A stuffed fox with glass eyes stares balefully at me  from a taxidermist's window. A fight breaks out between a costermonger and a drayman whose horse has gobbled up apples from the coster's stall. I think it it time to return to the 21st century.

Hello, I'm Dilly Court and I'm new to blogging, but I've been given good advice by my friends in the RNA and my son, who is a computer genius, so I'll give it a try.

I write historical sagas set in the East End of Victorian London, and although I can't claim to be an East Ender, I was brought up in the suburbs of East London.  The River Thames was never far away and school trips to the Tower of London and the old docks fired my imagination.  I used to make up stories long before I learned to write, and when I was at school one of my favourite subjects was history.  Combing the two is a thrilling occupation and one that I really enjoy.

I'm a morning person and my writing day begins when I go into a sunny room at the front of the house whichis part office, part library and a confused jumble of children's books, toys and jigsaw puzzles.  This is when I stop being a wife, mother, grandmother and housewife and become a time traveller.  I sit at my computer and go back to whichever part of the 19th century my story takes me.  I work from old street maps to give me a sense of place, and I use authentic street names, some of which are still to be found, but most have been gobbled up by new roads or modern office blocks.  I love the sound of Naked Boy Court, Hanging Sword Alley, Labour in Vain Street, Blue Boar Court and Bleeding Heart Yard (as mentioned by Dickens in Little Dorrit).  I can imagine the sights and sounds, the smells and the streets teeming with people and horse-drawn vehicles.  Awful poverty existed alongside incredible wealth.  Every day is an adventure and I can't wait to get started.