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Progress report

May 10, 2024 by donnamareehanson

A few things on the boil.

Here is the cover for the robot-themed short story collection that I’ll put out this year. I was going to call it by a different name but that old name did not suit the cover. Matthew suggested Robot Hearts. Last week I drafted two of the stories and the rest I have are already written. What do you think? I’m in a quandary about an editor.

I’ve been reading through Ruby Heart, mostly to refresh my mind about the characters and story so I can write the next book. However, I’m repairing typos as well. Reading slowly out loud takes time, but it’s good at detecting missing words etc. Pity it was proofread too. I’m almost done. Then I need to read Emerald Fire so I can start on Amber Rose. I dug out the cover for inspiration.

I’m very excited to be working on this. I did start a while ago but life just went off in a big kaboom.

Yesterday was meant to be a full on writing day. However, after aqua aerobics I was wasted and starving. So we had lunch at the club as planned. Too many good options to choose from in the pensioner lunch category. And then I flaked. I felt dizzy and sleepy. We put it down to the medication I’m on. No trip to the National Library for me.

In bed, after a nap, I managed about 1000 words on The Lightning Strike on my lap top and had a cool idea where to from there. Yes, I’m seat of the pantsing this one. Eventually I’ll have to plan it, but I like to see where the story, characters and mystery goes. I’m really liking Gene and Lily but have decided to bring in Wolf and Abbie to create some huge sparks.

Today I stumbled across a review on Kobo for Oathbound, the middle book of the Silverlands series. It completely blew me away. It was nice, of course, so nice blown away and not jaw dropping to the ground appalling blown away. Link here.

Amazon put the price of Vorn and the First Comers to free and then changed it back up again. This means that this weekend I will try to get my book store live so anyone can get it free. I’ve also decided to do a hardcover of Vorn and the First Comers, which will be its first time in print.

I’ve two books on submission. And you know it is very disheartening when you know some award winning writers can’t place their books with publishers and or agents. I will try to brazen in out until I give up hope.

That’s it from me until next time.

Posted in A writer's life, Australian author, Book cover, cover reveal, Creative passion, Querying agents | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Trying to balance all the things

May 9, 2024 by donnamareehanson

I’m sure everyone has issues trying to do all the things.

I was saying to Matthew how hard I was finding working, writing and exercising and balancing between them. That doesn’t include all the other things such as social activities, reading, housekeeping and well thinking. Matthew said he was finding it hard as well.

I currently work three days a week. Lately, I’ve been a bit tired after work. I think it’s the cold. I am doing writing related stuff but not drafting so much. That I do on Thursdays and Fridays and on the weekend when I get some time.

I should say our house currently resembles a tip. We have been focussing on writing etc. I think we need to correct this on the weekend as I find chaos stressful.

I have to say while I am still feeling very energetic and enthusiastic I am struggling with balance. This week has been a bit unusual though. The kitten bit my foot and because I have metal in my knees I have to be careful of infection. And as I’m allergic to penicillin-based antibiotics and there wasn’t much to choose from I had to take sulphur-based ones that make me feel ill. Headache, nausea and tiredness mostly. I’m still on Flagyl. Grrr to the kitten. Both cats are now banned from the bedroom.

A typical Thursday for us is I get up and do some writing (I get up way earlier than Matthew) and then we go to the pool. I do aqua aerobics, Matthew does laps. Then we do the pensioner lunch thing at our local club before we head to the National Library to write. On Thursdays the reading room stays open until 8. We usually leave around 5 or 6 but that’s it. Light dinner afterwards. Friday I write and maybe socialise.

I’m also in a novel crit group, so I’m reading a draft novel a month. I get this month off as my novel is being critted in June. I listen to books, currently The Underhistory by the amazing Kaaron Warren. I’m reading through Ruby Heart to pick up typos and refresh myself on the characters etc. I’ve started a file for Amber Rose, the third book in the series, in Scriviner. I’m reading it aloud so that takes time. I’m nearly done and then I’ll start on Emerald Fire. I drafted two short stories in the last week for my Robot Heart collection. They need more work. I’ll need to pull all the stories together and get moving. I think I’ll relegate short stories to the weekend.

Today, I’m going to write fresh words on a couple of WIPs, Lightning Strike, the next magical/werewolf story following from The Changeling’s Curse and another project I’m not too sure about which I’m 10,000 words in.

Theoretically I know there’s this concept called pacing but I never understood it.

Posted in A writer's life, All the things, am wrinting, Australian author, Being organised, Creative passion, Trying to focus | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Getting on with business

April 29, 2024 by donnamareehanson

I’m writing this post because the story I’m working on won’t open on my Mac. I’ve decided to take a breather before getting upset about it.

I’m really pleased with how my reengagement with writing is going. I’m spending part of every day in my office. A big hurdle.

Yesterday, I lobbed a children’s book manuscript at a publisher who had open submissions. Yay! And about two weeks ago I lobbed a 100,000 word manuscript to another publisher. That’s two manuscripts that had a lot of work put into them. I arrived home on February 29 and today is April 29. So that’s two months and a lot of work. I’m so proud of myself and I’m so happy that I enjoyed it. I work 3 in my day job days a week.

I thought I’d use this evening to write some new words. Alas I can’t. But I probably need to check I don’t have the document opened on my laptop. Hehe before I start doomsaying about lost documents.

It is really interesting that I’m starting to trust myself again. Instead of thinking -that rewrite/revision is going to take months…a year- I decided that I was kidding myself. I could do it much faster than that if I just got on with it. I had one goal, which was the novel crit group that Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild is running. I needed to get the bigger novel polished and ready. I had a structural edit on that already so I had been putting off tackling that.

With the children’s book, I had such lovely encouragement from my friend, Angie, that I just knuckled down again and concentrated on it. Being shorter it didn’t take as long. The read through was tougher though because I kept tinkering.

On my agenda is also writing a strategy and plan.

Projects

I have several/many other projects in progress either on paper or in my brain.

The Lightening Strike. I’m writing a new novel in the Cursed Ones/Spellbound world. Uniting them in Sydney. It should be fun. I’ve started that one. That document does open and is currently 15,000 words.

A Choice for Louisa (using another pen name). A kind of Regency novel/series/ not quite sure I can nail it project. If I could open the document I’d tell you how far along I am. About 5000 words maybe.

The Tainted Lady is a Regency romance. I have two lots of beta reader feedback and at 90,000 odd words it’s a big job to get stuck into that. I’d thought I’d start on that in May and see how I go. That will be the final revision I think before I decide what to do with that.

Robot Hearts SF short story collection. I have one maybe two more stories to write. One has been drafted. The rest are written. Part time project. I think.

Amber Rose is in the planning stage. I did write the first chapter long hand and lost the note book. I’m currently rereading Ruby Heart and then Emerald Fire to get reacquainted with the characters, their descriptions while at the same time fixing typos. I am using Scrivener for this one so it’s set up in there.

Into the Dark Glass is a YAish/steampunkish portal fantasy/that I have started to restructure. The sequel Dark Lady Rises is just a twinkle in my eye. My agent at the time didn’t like Into the Dark Glass and couldn’t tell me why. I have spent about eight years mulling it over. (There was a PhD in the middle of that). I don’t have an agent atm.

I have an SF novella that is is feminist SF but I need to get that out and dust it off. I might publish that this year.

I also have a crime novel I want to write but I need to do more thinking on that. Once I’ve cleared my plate a bit I think. There is also ideas for prequels and sequels to series I have already published.

Administration wise

I’ve got a newsletter and I’m not afraid to use it in May.

I’m still setting up the shop on this website. Slacker that I am.

I’ve put Awakening on special and listed it on a newsletter.

And am keeping my accounts up to date.

Travel

I’ll be popping of to NZ in May for five days for family reason.

I’m going to RWA in August in Adelaide (just need to get my ticket)

I’ll be at Fiction and Friction in Adelaide in October (after I get back from Rarotonga and NZ). I’m currently working on my preorder form.

I’d like to visit Perth in November if I can.

Mental State

I fear the above might make you think I’m a freak. I’m sure there are other people who are much more productive than me or who have more project in the offing or stuff on their mind.

Also it was my birthday yesterday. Yay me!

Posted in A writer's life, All the things, am wrinting, Creative passion, revision | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

I promised photos from the trip

April 18, 2024 by donnamareehanson

I feel like a slacker but I have been busy. There’s so much going on, so much to write about. We’ve been back six weeks. It feels like a short time and a long time. I’ve been back at the day job and writing.

Now writing doesn’t just mean writing. I’m doing a bit more than that and writing admin takes time. But the good news is that I’m getting there. My newsletter has been sadly neglected and I will end up losing most of my subscribers with the last one I sent out. But it’s my own fault because being a slacktard! Lesson-Don’t stop sending newsletters! Because you get restricted to only those who interact with your newsletter in the last 90 days.

Next thing is picking up subscriptions for Bookfunnel, setting up my store (in progress), reducing the price of Awakening to $0.99 USD (check out the link in my books) and then getting in various newsletters etc. I’d really like to write a sequel to this story but i’ve got no reviews and it’s not selling and I don’t know why. Mind you I don’t advertise but that’s crazy these days, particularly on Amazon.

What have I been working on? Sihem, now called The Founders’ Legacy has been revised, reworked and will go to the CSFG novel crit group next month. Meanwhile I’ll start trying to put it on submission. I’m also working on a kids’ fantasy, Grandma Neebs: Through the Pantry Door. I had some lovely and encouraging feedback on this book. This, too, I will put on submission. It’s middle grade and around 43,000 words. I have a couple of things in drafting stage. A paranormal romance that links into by two series, Spellbound in Sydney and The Cursed Ones. I am also writing something else for a new pen name. Plus there is a backlist of stuff that needs revising/restructuring etc. My next project will be Amber Rose, in the Cry Havoc Series. We shall meet with Jemina and Fulton yet again. This time they are up against evil machines. Meanwhile I’m rereading Ruby Heart and Emerald Fire to make notes for Amber Rose. I’m also picking up typos so will fix them soon. I’m thinking of doing a paperback version of these.

Now for the photos.

This is the River Trent, Nottingham, in flood. It rained a lot before we got to England and more while we were there and it was still raining when we got home. I thought the submerged bench spoke volumes.

While in Nottingham we took a day trip to Cromford and Buxton, because there were bookstores there. This is Scarthin in Cromford. Cute town too. Below is a pond and tree opposite the bookstore.

That’s me walking into Scrivener’s bookshop, Buxton. I’m wearing my very warm Macpac coat. It was a godsend. Pity I’d spent a lot of money in Scarthins.

My bad but I can’t remember which shop this was in. Forgive me, I’m getting old. Matthew will probably know as he has a functioning brain. Lol.

By the way, Buxton is a pretty town. Apparently, the Dukes of Devonshire was wanting to make it rival Bath so there is some amazing Regency architecture there. It is also very hilly so some great views. If only I could paint.

In Nottingham we visited Warhammer World twice. Matthew was trying to connect with his editor but we had no luck as his emails went to spam. However, we had fun. Bought stuff and went to look at the gallery. I’ve posted pictures from this before. Actually my most popular images in the life of my blog. It used to be free but now you pay a small amount. But it’s now huge and amazing. Here are some shots.

I took this shot of Angron, because it was cool, of course, and because Matthew wrote a story about Angron in After Desh’ea, appearing in Tales of Heresy. The final masterpiece was a huge room for one diorama featuring the attack on a planet.

I should mention we took my son and grandson to Warhammer shop in Singapore, Katong to be precise. My son has painted some awesome miniatures but then he’s artistic.

And finally for this set of photos, me with Marc Gascoigne at a restaurant in West Bridgeford, Nottingham. Matthew took the photo. I have no idea what Marc is doing. Oh well. We’ve known Marc a while and he first published Matthew when he headed up Black Library. It was great to see him again. The food was good too.

Of course, there are more photos and I’ll try to put more up over the coming weeks. We stayed in a delightful village outside of Lincoln. Now I’m using it in a story.

Next time!

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A home: feels like a whirlwind

March 7, 2024 by fantasywritersonretreat

We’ve been home exactly one week.

I was telling Matthew that I haven’t found my groove yet. I’m currently grooveless.

Last post was from London. I don’t think I’ve ever walked so much in my life. Even using the tube and so on, there’s always a walk and those steps add up. This was a good thing because it helped with the weight gain. Lot’s of nice but expensive food to be had in London.

We also discovered the river bus (ferry), expensive but so much better than being crammed into a tube train. And there was coffee.

Biggest takeaway was how to ordinary people live-it’s so expensive. And why are there so many obviously wealthy people.

After two weeks in London we went to Malta for about five days. Why Malta? It was on a list of the possibles (Spain, Ireland, Italy) but what it had in it’s favour was one flight direct, warmer and dryer than the UK, cheapish flight and lots of accommodation to choose from. We loved Malta. We stayed in Sliema, with views of the beach (St Julian’s Bay I think) and we did tours as you do. Not quite warm enough for a swim for me. We even took a day trip to Sicily, which was awesome. It’s only 52 Nautical miles from Malta. Next time, more Sicily and Malta. Also, did my fan girl, Montalbano, visit to his police station. I didn’t pay to go in, just took photos.

Next stop was one night in London and the Hilton Heathrow Terminal 4 and then Singapore. We stayed with my son and his wife and my grandson in their apartment. We ate crab! Thanks Taamo! and did the Night Safari and the Amazon experience. Again more walking. We also did the Gardens by the Bay, which was lovely but Singapore is humid and hot. We caught up with some writing friends, Dev and Joyce and ate lots of yummy food and swam in the condo pool, well I walked in the pool, which was lovely and huge.

Sadly, all good things come to an end. We came home. For a few weeks we had started thinking about home, what we wanted to do, changes in our habits we wanted to make and thinking about our lovely granddaughter who started school while we were away. Nothing hurts more than those heart strings and she sent us messages that made us almost weep.

I started work on Monday (Day job) and today was meant to be a writing day. Alas, dr appointment, tradie, pool walking, Genius appointment because my phone is chucking a wobbly, and then meeting friends tonight, I can’t see where I’m going to slot even a solid hour in.

I am doing a novel crit group thing so I have at least finished this month’s novel and just need to write up my feedback. I guess that’s what I’ll be doing today because that’s not hard.

Jetlag I’ve been okay. I think the stop over in Singapore helped me adjust to Australia again, although I do zone out and get fatigued.

Weight I’ve lost 2.5 kilos since I’ve been back. Most of that would be fluid retention from the flight. But I found this neat and free calorie food diary thing and that’s helping me keep track.

I’ve also am trying a new self mantra. Instead of looking in the mirror and criticising myself, I’m going to say “Hey gorgeous. You look fantastic. You’re awesome.” I’ve read about two celebrities that I really admire and both have talked about how they have hated their bodies (Winslet and Thompson) and how every woman is unhappy with her body. I think this is mostly the body norms that are thrust at us constantly. For years I’ve had body dismorphia and I’ve hated how I looked. Now I’m going to accept it. That doesn’t mean I’m letting myself go. I get sick if I put on too much weight so I’ll keep my goals but I’m going to stop the negative self talk. Try to at least. Not easy.

Next post I’ll put up some photos. I’m currently backing up the phone so can’t right now.

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Currently in London

February 3, 2024 by donnamareehanson

We are renting a small apartment near the Imperial Wharf. It’s lovely and a 15 minute walk to the metro, but close to overland trains which is useful when we go to Hampton Court if the trains are not strike affected.

We are staying for two weeks because we wanted to get a feel for the place and do as many of things that we can. However, this is possibly the most expensive part of the trip just in accommodation alone. We had a lovely week in Kent with writing friends and we enjoyed every minute. Matthew was very happy to visit and, I think observing him and Dan together, that Matthew was nurtured and encouraged and mentored as a writer and fried.

The EV car is a gift that keeps on giving. Besides the scratch they have pinged us for lots of little things. No invoice as yet but Hertz had debited us $1200 so far. I don’t mind so much but an invoice would be nice so we can claim on our insurance. I wish Hertz paid as much attention to the EV battery performance as they do scratches on tire rims etc.

Yesterday after a late start we made it to the British Library for the fantasy exhibition: Realms of the Imagination. It was a lovely homage to the fantasy genre, with a focus on fairy tales and folk lore as origin, and featured some neat stuff. I have some new books to track down. Not comprehensive but a bit hard to do that I think. The exhibition was full of nerdy people like us who took ages to look at things so a bit frustrating for me, the whizz kid. Matthew took his time. I checked out the store and wept for the things I could not buy due to postage costs.

We went for a drink in a nearby pub then decided to go home and cook for ourselves. A quick shop and Sainsbury’s at the tube station and we had a heathy dinner except for the icecream. We have enhanced our supplies for breakfast and soon will be off to the Natural History Museum which isn’t far away. We will be taking the tube though.

Because we are here for two weeks, we get to fully unpack. I think I’ll have time to read and write but who knows. Sometimes I’m just so tired from walking around. I am averaging 9500 steps per day this last month. Of note, the weather is currently mild. I nearly died of heat in the tube with my coat on but no room to take it off. Today is set to be 13-14 degrees which is crazy warm. Where are the blizzards? I’ll probably jinx us.

We are scheduled to fly to Malta after this but now there are strikes in Europe so who knows. Watch and see.

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Travelling with too much to post

January 30, 2024 by donnamareehanson

Since Lincoln we have moved around a lot. We went to Newcastle upon Tyne, staying mostly out at South Shields. We loved this place. My Hanson grandfather was born in South Shields and it was lovely to get a feel for the place, where his father and his grandfather live. I went searching for the houses where they lived. Alas, the Long Row had been demolished and the Long Row now is only part of the original with new buildings, but they lived in these tenements along the river. They were seaman, steveadores etc so lived close by. I went looking for two other addresses. Catherine Street I found was now a library and the other place still existed but the house they lived it appeared on Apple Maps in someone’s backyard so no longer existing. We went looking for St Hilda’s cemetery and it is now a car park. I sort of gave up after that. I was going to go and look where my nana was born in Washington but her street didn’t exist and it was a suburb’s name now. Besides it snowed that day. We did one day in Newcastle and did my Vera thing, including Whitley Bay and the Holy Island on our way to Scotland.

In Edinburgh I caught up with a second cousin on my mum’s side. He and his wife were very interesting people. One of the things they do is medieval music. Fascinating.

We stayed in a lovely hotel, Holyrood with views to Arthur’s seat and very handy to the High street etc. They were so lovely. We left something behind and they posted it to us, charging us only for postage. Food was good, room was large and warm. We did a day trip to Perth to visit Farah and Edward and had a lovely lunch, talked about books etc before heading out to walk through the town/city. It’s quite big Perth. It was also quite cold with barely getting to the high of 1 degree C.

It was time to turn south and we stopped in Lancaster for the evening, meeting up with Patrick and Julie for dinner. Lancaster is a place we’d like to come back to as it seemed interesting but we couldn’t really look around as we were headed south.

In Knebsworth we stayed with my cousin and had a fab time. She took us to Windsor for the day and spoiled us rotten. Now we are in Maidstone in Kent also being spoiled, but today is chill day so I can blog.

It’s kind of sad as I have lots of photos but here are a few.

Windsor castle

Windsor Moat

Matthew in front of St George’s chapel, Windsor Castle.

A snap taken in the Undercroft Cafe with my cousin, whose treat it was for us.

The castle ruins in Rochester, Kent. We went for a day to check it out.

Medway River at Maidstone, we did a long historical walk around the town.

A Tudor style house in Maidstone. Then we went to lunch at La Villetta, enjoyed some great food and company.

We went to Aylesford to visit to Friars again and it was misty and moody and very serene. We enjoyed it so much.

The peace walk lookiing back to the gatehouse at the Friars. Note, to Ruby Heart/Emerald Fire fans, this is the priory I used in the book. It was a great setting for a secret society of magicians.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more photos. We head to London for two weeks on Thursday. The sand in our hour glass is running down. Although we are going to Malta and Singapore before we see our cats and family again.

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The downside of renting an EV vehicle in the UK as a tourist

January 30, 2024 by donnamareehanson

We have an EV at home in Australia and we love it. When we planned our trip to the UK we decided an EV would be the right thing to do. Guilt free travel and better for the enviroment.

Immediately, though, we had issues, the first thing was charging in the suburbs of Brighton. There are a huge number of providers and apps, but some of the key apps can’t be downloaded to an Australian phone. Admittedly I was sick with a lurgy and it played on my mind and I was saying just take it back and get a hybrid, but my partner didn’t want to. If we had we might have found out that UK Hertz charge way too much to drop a car to a site that isn’t the orginal hire site. Like some 200 GDP.

After a few days we were able to charge on the motorway services using Gridserve, which has lots of chargers. However, the cost per kw is quite high in comparision to Australia, even though in Australia it is rising. So on average 79 pence per kw so that’s about $1.60 per kw so nearly what we pay for a litre of petrol at home. But consider I kw is not equivalent to 1 litre in terms of distance. Anyway we were just grateful to just to be able to charge. Eventually we worked out our favourite chargers and also our least favourite. Scotland Charge Place is our least favourite because can’t download the app, and they were everywhere in Scotland! So to charge in Edinburgh it was a hunt and then a long drive to charge, in the opposite direction. We almost always needed fast charging because the slow chargers were not accessible without RFID cards or apps.

The next challenge was that the car we drove a Corsa E did not go as far on a charge as advertised. It would say 219 miles on a full charge on the dash and it barely went 100 miles and so on average one and a quarter to one and a half hours before having to charge. We became very cautious because it was unreliable and we didn’t want to get stranded. At times it was cold and that affects the distance a battery will take you and having the heater on. We tested it without the heater on and it still fell very short distance wise. So when we planned a trip to move from Lancaster to Luton I added an additional three hours for charging. I was very pissed off at this stage. The reason we surmised was because this car was a rental, it had been slammed and only subject to fast charging which depletes the battery. So not only were we paying heaps for charging we were charging a lot more often so it was double the cost. It sucked big time.

Then if your plans change or you don’t want to drop the car at 8.00am at Heathrow try to find an alternative. Phone numbers not answering. Finding someone to talk to and eventually finding out that dropping the car anywhere than Heathrow was going to cost an addition 200 GDP so $400 in Australian money and that is ridiculous. When we picked up at Heathrow they said it was 200 GDP to drop at Marble Arch and we assumed that was because of congestion charges etc. But no, it is what they charged for any drop off other than Heathrow which I assume we are also paying a airport fee. We really like Hertz Australia, so efficient and helpful but alas the same cannot be said of Hertz UK.

We ended taking the car back to Heathrow early the day before it was due to save getting up early, getting caught in peak hour traffic etc. When we dropped it back the bloke assessing the car was not interested in how the battery sucked but he was interested in the scratch on the car which we didn’t know was there. Fair enough, but really he should have noted down and expressed some concern at the crap battery on this car.

Also, did I mention they charged us extra for the electric car. We had found that car at that price in Australia but they didn’t honour it because we didn’t take a screen shot. So lesson learned if you are looking find something but can’t reserve it take a screen shot. We had issues with our Aussie credit card not being accepted on the UK site (various cards over days) that we had to book from Australia using Australian Hertz.

Interesting to note that our last charge on a Tesla supercharger was cheaper than any on the other chargers we used. Go figure that.

That said, some of the charging at services was really brilliant. Ten or so fast chargers and a separate bank of Tesla chargers. Only a select few of the Tesla chargers allowed non-Tesla charging. To do so, google Tesla superchargers UK, then un highlight everything but non-tesla superchargers, then if you are actually at that charger just press on the charger on the map, find the number, add your credit card details and you are away. I found that worked with BP Pulse too, using a map etc, much to my partner’s surprise.

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Next book signing March

January 16, 2024 by donnamareehanson

Just a quick post to encourage you all to come along to the ARRA book signings. It’s a great opportunity for romance readers and fans to meet authors. The signings are all over, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

In March 2024 I will be signing at ARRA’s A Romantic Rendezvous in Sydney and Melbourne. These multi-author signings will be held in four cities and will feature up to 30 authors at each event. You can find the full list of signing authors here: https://australianromancereaders.com.au/events/arr2024/. Tickets are now on sale: https://www.trybooking.com/1123090

Another great bit of news is the ARRA awards are going to be hosted in Brisbane this year. I really like going along to support ARRA and the nominated authors and it’s a fab time too.

I had hope to have a new book out in time for the book signing. But naughty me went skiving off to the UK for a few months. I will have my newish releases available, Awakening and The Changeling Curse. And if I get a move on, I might have something else in the pipeline.

See cool banner below.

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In the North and Winter is here

January 16, 2024 by donnamareehanson

We’ve moved on from Nottingham and spent a lovely week in a village just outside Lincoln. Nettleham was so lovely. Lots of quaint stone houses, a beck and great, great company. We loved it.

This photo is Matthew on one of the little bridges over the beck. The whole village was wonderful.

The picture above is Lincoln cathedral. We really liked this and the city of Lincoln was an unexpected pleasure.

The remains of the city wall.

Now we have moved onto South Shields, where my paternal grandfather was born. My paternal grandmother was born nearby in Durham. These next few days we will explore. Today we walk into South Shields and maybe find the house where it began about 200 years ago. There are even some relatives nearby. Not sure I’ll meet them. The people are very friendly.

On BailWe did a big walk today down to Long Row but the house wasn’t the house but a 25 year old one. Later research revealed the Long Row had been subsumed into a wharf/ship building thing and the existing Long Row is just on the end of it. Also, Thrift Street was subsumed too and there was another relative there. We walked to St Hilda’s church hoping to find a cemetery but no graves were there. We walked to the churchyard and it was a car park (apparently the bodies were exhumed and it closed in 1855) and then went to another address but that was weird and I don’t think that house exists either. Then when we got back I did some research and the other place I wanted to find in Catherine Street is now a library. I should write a story about an unquiet carpark. Look, my relatives were poor so their houses don’t exist anymore. I was kind of sad. I haven’t give up hope of finding a grave but we will see.

This is a view of the Long Row but it is a newish construction and only part of the original, the original long row being absorbed into the dock expansion. It did give me an idea of how close they lived to the docks where by GGG grandfather was a stevedore in 1894. There is some historical photos which I’ll buy of these streets that don’t exist now.

A bit of trivia. My great grandfather was Alexander Hanson, but he was born after the other Alexander Hanson, his brother died at 15 months. Alexander is one of those repeating names because Elizabeth Erichsen and John Hanson who married in 1834 both had fathers named Alexander.

The above is the local church I believe my ancestors went to. As discussed, no cemetary.

Also, snow was predicted and we got a short film of it. I think it then turned to sleet but excitement.

A view of Littlehaven beach where we are staying. That’s the head of the River Tyne.

I’m tacking on the trip to Newcastle yesterday. It’s an amazing place. Too short a time to explore and we walked so much. I did my Vera homage, and we went to the castle, the cathedral, the Milenium Bridge and did a M&C cafe lunch.

We walked up the Longstairs on our way back from the bridge.

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