Welcome to my blog Patricia. I’ve been waiting with anticipation for your new book The Coal Miner’s Son. A little bird hinted that it’s a real page-turner and bursting with lots of twists and turns. Being a fan of your first book House of Grace I can’t wait to hear more about your new release. However, I’m conscious that some of my followers may not have heard of your books so let’s start by learning about you as a person and your previous experiences as a writer and novelist.

Over to you Patricia…

Thank you for inviting me over, Lynette.

 1.   How long have you been writing and what got you started?

I’ve been writing all my life, or at least as long as I can remember. However, I only started writing seriously once I took up a creative writing course as part of my Open University BA degree. It was hard at first coping with all the technical tools as my writing became stifled, however, once the module was finished I completed an online concrete/visual poetry course and found this released my inhibitions. My muse returned and I could incorporate all the new things I’d learned about writing.

 2.   What are your hobbies?

I like walking around lakes, by the sea, and National Trust properties and taking photos of trees and water wildlife. All this also offers inspiration in my writing. I love swimming and go to the local pool once a week with a friend. Reading, of course, because you can’t be a writer without reading and I love socialising with friends and family.

 3.   Where do you live?

I live in West Sussex. However, I was born in Liverpool and spent some of my early years in Bolton. Bolton had a big impact on me and tends to crop up in my writing. House of Grace was no exception and a big chunk of Part 1 is set in Bolton.

 4.   Do you have any Children/Grandchildren?

I am blessed and have three grown-up children and six beautiful grandchildren.

 5.   What is the most interesting part of being a writer?

I suppose that has to be being able to lose myself into any world I want to be and to become anyone I want to be and to step back in time or move to the future, whenever I like. I love it.

6.   How long does it take you to write a book?

Ha. How long is a piece of string? No, seriously. To be honest I never thought I would be able to write a book until I did a screenplay of House of Grace for my BA dissertation. It was only then that I realised the potential to add more material and introduced Grace as a sixteen-year-old whereas she was a married woman in the script. It took me a year to write the book but then it sat on my computer for at least one more year. ‘The Coal Miner’s Son’ took probably a year and then sat in my archives. Book 3 ‘The Granville Legacy’, I hope is only going to take one year as I am halfway through it already.

 7.   What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?

I tend to use the first part of the day for marketing, editing or feedback on other writers work and marking assignments for my poetry students. This leaves me the latter half of the day and evening to write my own work. Of course when you add looking after a household and socialising, there isn’t always as much time to write as I’d like. However, I’ve never been one of those writers that need to write so many words a day but I do like to have completed some form of writing activity whether that is editing, writing a poem, short story or working on my novel.

 8.   How many books have you written and what are the titles?

 I have written two so far, House of Grace, A Family Saga, and Book 2 ‘The Coal Miner’s Son’.  I also have a debut poetry pamphlet ‘Taxus Baccata’ that is to be published by Hedgehog Poetry Press during 2020. My intention is to also produce another couple of poetry pamphlets/collections this year, one of which I hope to use the profits to raise money for the homeless.

 9.   What was the most surprising thing you learned whilst writing your books?

I suppose that a first draft is just that. I now consider the first draft as a framework to build upon whereas before I had any technical training I would write one draft of a short story or poem and consider it to be finished.

 10.   If you were to hold a celebrity dinner party, which writer, alive or dead, would you invite and why?

I think that would have to be Barbara Taylor Bradford as many of my readers have likened my writing to hers. I therefore believe she would be a great mentor.

 11. What is the title of your new release?

 The Coal Miner’s Son ‘A Family Saga’.

 12. Who is are the main characters and what type of people are they?

The book uses two narrators. One is George a nine-year-old coal miner’s son whilst the other is Elizabeth Granville, his estranged aunt. George is a kind, bright child and Elizabeth is the daughter of titled parents and a good person whereas Lord Granville, George’s grandfather, Elizabeth’s father, can be ruthless. Grace Gilmore, George’s mother, is a strong independent woman.

 13. What genre is your new book?

Historical fiction – family saga. It is set in the sixties and runs through the decade.

14. Who will this book appeal to?

It will appeal more to women, particularly a mature woman who is able to reminisce the retro detail in the book but also to the younger woman who will enjoy learning what life was like in the sixties. That doesn’t mean to say that men won’t enjoy it too as I have a fair few male followers who have read House of Grace and can’t wait for the next instalment.

Blurb of The Coal Miner’s Son:

After tragedy hits the small coal mining village of Wintermore, nine-year-old miner’s son, George, is sent to Granville Hall to live with his titled grandparents.

Caught up in a web of treachery and deceit, George grows up believing his mother sold him. He’s determined to make her pay, but at what cost? Is he strong enough to rebel?

                           Will George ever learn to forgive?

Step back into the 60s and follow George as he struggles with bereavement, rejection and a kidnapping that changes his life forever. Resistance is George’s only hope.

When and how can we grab a copy of your new book?

Kindle Link:  http://mybook.to/Thecoalminerson

Paperback Link:  http://mybook.to/Thecoalminerson

Where can we connect with you?

I can be reached via the contact page on ‘Patricia’s Pen’  https://patriciamosbornewriter.com/contact/

Email: patricia.m.osbornewriter@gmail.com

Twitter: @PMOsborneWriter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/triciaosbornewriter/

Link to purchase House of Grace via Amazon for Kindle and paperback

or order from any good bookstore or library quoting ISBN 9780995710702