I’m working hard on the last revisions of my next book, Winterdyke which I hope will be published soon! I’m struggling over the cover image – I usually use my own photos, but there’s nothing which quite captures what I want. The story which is the latest of the Thomas Radwinter stories is set during an extended period of unseasonable snow (in Thomas’s world the winter of 2018 was the worst for some considerable time, with the country snow-bound!) The story takes place near am area called Winterdyke, so ideally I’d like something snowy and icy.
In case you haven’t come across my books, this is the blurb for the first:
Thomas Radwinter goes in search of his family roots; using the internet he traces his family back to war-torn eastern Europe, and follows their journey from arriving in England in the 1830’s, across southern England. However, the more he finds out about his family’s past, the more he sees his own family, his brothers and his wife differently. His relationship with them changes… and he begins to understand his own character, and to find out as much about his present life as his family’s history.
That first novel, set in 2013 also happened in winter, and Thomas had a few snowy experiences there; though hard they led to much happiness and a new better life. In Winterdyke, he’s reminded of that time, and reflects on how completely his life has changed since then. This is the blurb from the second book, Magick, set in 2014:
Encouraged by his success in discovering his Radwinter ancestors, Thomas Radwinter sets out to investigate his maternal line, starting with the mysterious and alcoholic Sylvia. His life has been somewhat dysfunctional, but now, gaining confidence through his new loving relationship with a beautiful young woman and her son, he is able to confront his own past.
His genealogical searches take him into the tragic histories of his family and other ordinary people who lived and worked under the appalling conditions of the Victorian age. His skills in finding people from the past encourage a friend to beg him to try and trace her long-lost daughter, a woman, who, it seems does not want to be found. He accepts her request, little realising this will lead him into danger.
Then the father of his partner’s son arrives; he’s come for his boy…
I have somehow ended up writing six Radwinter stories, and this is the seventh.
To be honest, I don’t meticulously plan my stories, so things which happen to Thomas sometimes come as a surprise to me as well as him! In the first book I had no idea how his life would change, although I knew it would, and I had absolutely no idea who would be instrumental in that change! Writing for me is somewhat of an adventure, at times an arduous and even tedious adventure (rewriting, checking for mistakes, abandoning chapters and characters that aren’t working) but the joy of it is completely worth it.
I already have two plans in the pipeline for what comes next – for Thomas and for me!
Here is a link to the Radwinter books: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/RADWINTER-6-Book-Series/dp/B07FBJTPDP/ref=sr_1_2?_encoding=UTF8&crid=2E5KR50C51DVR&dchild=1&keywords=lois+elsden&qid=1597495468&sprefix=lois+elsd%2Caps%2C272&sr=8-2
Lois Elsden 