I have been telling stories for as long as I can remember – many of them born of frustration when I was stuck in a classroom longing to be rescued! I love anything romantic, whether it is a grand opera or a beautiful painting. It doesn't necessarily have to be happy, as long as it is inspiring.
I grew up reading swash-buckling adventures like the Three Musketeers, Captain Blood, Scaramouche etc., and then discovered Georgette Heyer, whose witty and stylish historical romances are still my comfort reads.
Living up on the Pennines I find walking on the moors a wonderful way of sorting out knotty problems with a plot. Even when I am not in writing mode, I still find myself formulating new stories. In this part of the Pennines there are lots of paths lined with large, flat stones called "causey stones". These are the old motorways of England, the paths used by the pack-horses that carried goods from one end of England to another, often striking out across high ground because the valleys were thickly wooded and impossible to negotiate. Even until the eighteenth century travel by coach was something of a hit and miss affair, carriages were heavy and uncomfortable and the roads in a very poor state of repair - in winter many were impassable. The stones are worn in the centre from the thousands of travellers who have used them, pack-ponies, travellers on foot and on horseback. Whenever I am walking on these stones my imagination goes wild thinking of all the people who have travelled this way before me - what were their lives, where were they going and why? It's not long before I am off on another story................
LEISURE TIME ...... I have just come back from a lovely weekend in Scotland, enjoying the beautiful Georgian architecture of Edinburgh and enjoying the sunshine on the east coast near St Andrews. If you think of Scotland as only rugged heather-covered hills, think again, this area is rich agricultural land with beautiful views of hills and sea. Note for diary - must explore Scotland more!
Melinda Hammond Romantic Historical Novelist