What I did on My Holidays

I'm back - did you miss me?

That was a wonderful weekend. Sun, sand, sea, singers . . . and bookshops of which more later.

Maybe it was because I'd worked myself into the ground to finish the book on Thursday and so I deserved a reward, but from Friday everything went wonderfully. The sun shone, the roads were clear (unheard of for a UK Bank Holiday weekend) and we had a fabulous time. I'm starting with a pic of the view from my hotel - I am so going to miss that. And everything else was just as wonderful.

It was also a weekend in which I achieved an ambition. I'm a Bronte sisters addict - I was brought up in West Yorkshire, not far from Haworth where the Bronte family lived in the Parsonage there in the 19th century. I've read all the books, seen all the films, all the TV programmes. I've even written and published articles on the family - and I wrote my MA on 'Fantasy & Prophecy' a comparison of the writings of Charlotte and Emily Bronte from their childhood stories to their adult novels. But - confession time - I've never visited Anne Bronte's grave.

Charlotte, Emily, Branwell, Patrick the father, are all buried in Haworth, but Anne , who died of TB in 1849, at the tragically young age of 26, died in Scarborough and her grave is high on a hill there, overlooking the sea. When I’ve visited Scarborough before, it was as a child, or with the Offspring as a small person so I’ve never made the long, step climb up to the little church in the shadow of the castle to visit where she is buried. This time I was determined to do so. And so on Sunday the BM and I made our way up Castle Hill - the sort of walk known in my family as ‘Good B&L work’ (bum and leg work) up to St Mary’s church where we found the special grave.

After that we visited the Castle itself which stood high on the headland separating the North and South bays. The weather couldn’t have been more lovely with a warm sun, cloudless skies and a mild breeze. And up at the Castle things were a little quieter than down in the town whe

re, as it was Easter weekend, the streets were thronged with families enjoying a trip to the seaside.

We’d done our share or wandering round the streets of the town on the Saturday when we found a few bookshops – the usual ones. The discovery of the map that showed where all the second-hand bookshops were to be found only happened on Sunday so then we had to find as many of them as possible for the BM to look for copies of the titles on his latest research list for potential new books that he’s going to write. And yes, Beverley was full of bookshops too – the car already had an extra bag or two in the boot from when we stopped on the way there. It had a few more bags on Sunday afternoon. I filled in time checking out different bookshelves from the ones the BM was looking at and I found an older M&B that brought back memories – more of that another day.

The concert was wonderful - so many favourite songs and some new ones to enjoy. One song – by Stephen Sondheim has the lyrics
Loving you is not a choice
It’s who I am
reminded me that it was hearing those words in a concert and then on a CD years ago that made me write Constantine’s Revenge. That’s one of those interesting little ‘seeds’ of a story that I could talk about when people ask me ‘Where do you get your ideas from’ – one that I’d actually forgotten until now.

One of my favourite memories of this trip will be of getting all poshed up for the theatre and then walking along the seafront, eating fish and chips from the paper (or in this case the plastic dish) while waiting for the doors to open and the show to start. There’s something very special about fresh cooked fish and chips and sea air that goes so well together.

Yes - a great weekend. I switched off, relaxed, ate delicious food (one night’s caramel panacotta was just out of this world) talked and I even read a whole book right through - something I haven’t done for ages. That was another ‘historic’ M&B - the very fist Lynne Graham ever published. I’d never read it before.

And now I’m home. Today will be catching up on all the washing that breeds while you’re aw

ay - I swear it mates in the case and creates more dirty washing than you could ever have worn. And then the office gets its post-book blitz and sort out and I’ll even (eugh!) tackle the accounts. I have just about 2 weeks before I head for London and the Romantic Novel of the Year Awards and I want everything to be sorted and organised by then – because, guess what – after that I’ll be back on dreadline.

I'll leave you with one last picture of the amazing staircase in our Victorian hotel - stunning isn't it?