FROM PONTELAND TO PORT STANLEY – FALKLANDS WAR 30 YEARS ON

John wearing his Falklands medal by the River Tyne

30 years ago, Geordie matlot John Mew was heading south on HMS Coventry as part of the British Task Force. He didn’t know then that his ship would be bombed and he plucked from the South Atlantic during the Falklands War. We knew him from his involvement with Ponteland Rugby Club in Northumberland where my husband Graeme played in the 1980s and 90s. When he was home on leave John would lead them in vigorous training and fitness sessions – with exacting Royal Navy standards!

After the Falklands conflict, John was generous in talking about his experiences and knowledge of the Navy when I was researching my novel, FOR LOVE & GLORY.

Amy, myself and John by the River Tyne

It is set in Wallsend on the River Tyne from where my husband’s family come. I have them to thank for much of the background information on this vibrant community where many of the world’s greatest ships were built. The Falklands material was inspired by veterans I’d read about – ordinary people who’d shown extraordinary courage – long after the short war was over and out of the news. But in particular, I’m indebted to our brave friend, John.

We met up recently to launch a new version of the novel. It’s now available as ebook for the first time. My daughter Amy is the model for the new cover!

These days it is John’s sons who are playing rugby for Ponteland – but I’m sure he can still teach them a thing or two about fitness!

FOR LOVE & GLORY ebook

A Crimson Dawn Now In E-Book Formats

It’s been a while coming, but I’ve finally got A Crimson Dawn converted to e-book formats:

Emmie Kelso is only nine years old when she’s rescued from a dingy Gateshead tenement. Sent to Crawdene, a mining village on the fell, she’s taken into the vibrant, loving household of the MacRaes and brought up as one of their own.

Blossoming into an intelligent and spirited young woman, Emmie is soon swept off her feet by handsome miner Tom Curran but it’s only after their wedding that she learns of his possessive, violent nature.

As war engulfs Europe in 1914, the community divides. Tom enlists and despite his disapproval, Emmie joins the MacRaes, among others, in their cries for peace. Working with those opposed to the war, Emmie finds herself alongside Rab, the MacRaes’ eldest son and a conscientious objector, and their childhood devotion to each other sparks into a love too strong to hide. But as the war worsens, the atmosphere grows ever more tense.

Women hand out white feathers to those refusing to defend their country and Rab, arrested as a ‘conchie’, faces the ultimate penalty. And when a brutalised, war-weary Tom returns home, there’s trouble ahead. The war may be drawing to an end, but Emmie’s fight for happiness is only just beginning ….

For full details of this book, please go to my page on Family Sagas.