January 2017 – Call Me for Call the Midwife!
I know I’m really slow to discover this marvelous BBC series about a team of nurses in the East End of London in the 1950s and 1960s, but I’m so glad I did! I really have no excuse either as nearly all my friends in Australia are diehard fans. I’m not alone in loving it – when the first series ran in 2012, it was the most popular BBC show since 2001, and it’s kept its dedicated audience for the four series since then. This is one of those wonderful shows where you laugh, you cry, you sigh, you cheer. And it does all that while still giving a fairly realistic picture of how grim life was for women in Britain’s poorer areas before the pill and just as the National Health (universal health care) was kicking in after World War II. Read more…
February 2017 – Crazy for Christie!
I’m sure it will surprise a lot of you to know that a girl who’s always been book mad had never, until about six months ago, picked up any books by Agatha Christie. I’ve read a lot of Golden Age crime fiction – my favorite is Dorothy L. Sayers, but I love Margery Allingham and Josephine Tey too. Even more puzzling, I’ve long loved the TV adaptations, particularly the ones featuring David Suchet as Hercule Poirot (I even wrote a Favorite Things about them: https://annacampbell.com/my-favorite-things/2014-2/february-2014-its-no-mystery/). Read more…
March 2017 – I Struck Gold with Cormoran Strike
Like millions of other people around the world, I very much enjoyed J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. But for some reason, while I was aware they existed, I was a little slower to pick up her series of crime novels for adults under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, centered around private detective Cormoran Strike and his intrepid offsider Robyn Ellacott. Then a couple of friends recommended them in the strongest possible terms, so I decided to give them a go! And I’m so glad I did! Read more…
April 2017 – A High Mortality Rate in Midsomer
Do you know the most dangerous place in the world to live? Forget real-life statistics! Far and away the most dangerous place in the world is a small cluster of villages in the English Cotswolds, collectively called Midsomer. Don’t be fooled by all those doddery old dears (most of whom you’ve seen in a thousand British dramas down through the years). The golden stone buildings and those blooming cottage gardens full of roses and hollyhocks may look like the front of a chocolate box – in this case, the chocolates are full of cyanide! Read more…
May 2017 – Beautiful Banff!
After a fairly murderous time on My Favorite Things – Agatha Christie, the Cormoran Strike books by Robert Galbraith/J.K. Rowling, and the great British TV series Midsomer Murders, I have something a little gentler for you today. Lots and lots of lovely scenery! In October 2016, I was lucky enough to be accepted for a one month self-directed writing residency at the famous Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada. Read more…
June 2017 – The Historical Romance Retreat Was a Huge Treat!
From Thursday, 22nd to Sunday, 25th September, 2016, historical romance was the name of the game at the inaugural Historical Romance Retreat in Spokane, Washington State’s second city. 300 avid readers and excited authors invaded the very swish Historic Davenport Hotel to showcase a genre that pays its dues to the past, while it has a very exciting future ahead. Read more…
July 2017 – Go West for Great Reading, Young Man (and Woman!)
I’m very lucky to work with a critique partner whose work I absolutely adore. I can’t think of anyone to rival Annie West for an emotionally driven, passionate contemporary romance. If you want the sort of read that grabs you by the scruff of the neck and doesn’t let you go until the last blissfully happy page, give Annie a go. Read more…
August 2017 – Mad for Mather!
Having devoted last month’s My Favorite Things to Annie West, my current favorite category romance author, I found myself thinking back over the authors I read when I was a teen and who really rocked my world. And one name came to mind immediately – Anne Mather. Read more…
September 2017 – Hooray for the Hebrides!
As those of you who follow me on Facebook and Twitter know, I spent last April on a writing retreat on the beautiful Scottish isle of Eigg (pronounced ‘egg’). I absolutely love this corner of north-western Scotland, right from my first visit in 1985 (which was my first visit to the U.K. altogether). It’s so wild and dramatic and the unpredictable weather is part of the charm. While I was there this year, we had snow followed by a week of the best weather I’ve ever experienced in Scotland. As I said, unpredictable. Read more…
October 2017 – Hopping Over to Heide!
While Australia has always produced world-class singers (if you want to read about an exciting life, check out Nellie Melba, the superstar soprano at the turn of the last century – Brad and Angelina had nothing on her when it came to worldwide celebrity), the first art form to gatherus major international attention was painting. When artists like Sidney Nolan and Russell Drysdale hit the London, and later New York art market after World War II, people really sat up and paid attention. Partly because what we were producing down here was so different and powerful. Read more…
November 2017 – The Stately Homes of England Part 1
As many of you know, earlier this year I spent three glorious months in England and Scotland (with a side trip for a week to Belgium!). I thought I’d do a few My Favorite Things columns about some of the wonderful old houses I visited in pursuit of settings for my romances. If you follow me on Facebook, you’ll have already seen these but it’s always worth seeing a pretty photo again, isn’t it? Read more…
December 2017 – The Stately Homes of England Part 2
Today, I’d like to talk about one of most romantic places I’ve ever been, Scotney Castle in Kent. On the most perfect day, back in March 2017, I visited this gorgeous National Trust property with a good friend I hadn’t seen in 10 years. Look at the pictures of the blossom and the daffodils! Scotney is nestled in a beautiful valley that is a perfect example of classic English countryside. Rolling hills and extensive green fields. There are actually two houses on the estate. The oldest and most picturesque is 14th-century Old Scotney Castle down in the base of the valley. A half-ruined tower and moated manor house. Read more…