/ en-US Tue, 11 Feb 2025 04:53:27 -0800 60 / 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg /author_blog_posts/25486532-you-have-a-train-to-catch Thu, 06 Feb 2025 07:03:00 -0800 /author_blog_posts/25486532-you-have-a-train-to-catch Beware the Midnight Train
has been chugging along selling a few hundred ebooks and more print books than I expected since it was published in October last year. It’s also picking up speed so make sure you catch the train before it disappears. That’s giving away a bit of the plot. If you’ve ever fancied a trip on the Orient Express sit back and enjoy the extravagant comfort of the Midnight Train.

However, you’ll have to endure a little unease before you set off. Ellie was delighted at first�

CHAPTER ONE
The best revenge

1970s
From the outside Eleanor saw no discernible reason why Flint Cottage should be dirt cheap to rent. Roses climbed around the porch, tubs of colourful flowers adorned each corner and the symmetry was perfect including the slightly unusual feature of two front doors, both in need of a coat of paint. Either side of the cottage were two small gardens, fenced off from the lane. Eleanor put down her suitcase � why didn’t these things have wheels � and gazed at the cottage. A plaque above the doors announced it had been here since 1832. Finally, she smiled for the first time in weeks. “See if I care!� she announced. To be dumped and told she was boring was bad enough but to be replaced by a skinny, tarty, flirty� “Stop it!� She looked over her shoulder, nobody had heard, then glanced to her left where a row of Victorian cottages with neat fenced gardens stretched towards the steep grassy bank of the railway line. It’s all perfect, even close to the station to catch the train for London. “Home, sweet home,� she whispered as she picked up the suitcase and went towards her door. Hers, and hers alone. She rummaged in her handbag and triumphantly pulled out the keys.

Inside, to the right, she found her bedroom; she pushed the door open and gratefully put the suitcase down. A double bed faced the white sash window; a built-in wardrobe stood in the corner next to the door and an old arm chair of indeterminate colour hid in the dark far corner. What a strange smell? She sniffed, then shrugged before happily wandering past the telephone on the hall table and into the sitting room.

The room felt cold, really cold. Like the bedroom, it faced north so it was to be expected. She switched on the two-bar electric fire, closed the door as she left and took a quick look at the single bed in the second bedroom. “Guest bedroom,� she whispered with a smile. “Bit musty.� She smacked the mattress expecting dust to fly up. It didn’t.

The kitchen overlooked the dustbin but beyond was a garden. Her garden. She’d grow vegetables and with the rent so cheap, she’d finally be able to save. Still holding her keys, she opened the back door, moved the dustbin so it wasn’t so obvious and surveyed the overgrown, unkempt sight before her. Walking along the paving stones, she detected another strange smell: woody, herbal. Perhaps the previous occupant grew herbs. What a good idea. She grinned as her new life took shape. Quiet, with no rowdy neighbours to disturb her, not even birds singing in the trees. Odd that. Wrong time of the day, perhaps? Tomorrow morning the dawn chorus would confirm that she now lived in the countryside.

Annoyingly, the word ‘boring� invaded her head. How could he have described her as boring? Her job was exciting: she met famous people. Though often they were too full of their own self-importance even to notice she existed. A creeping feeling of ‘not being noticed� and ‘unworthy� unsettled her. She pulled out one of the chairs at the kitchen table and put her head in her hands. For the first time she knew what heartbroken felt like. She almost felt sick. Fear followed. He had stung her like a bee, leaving only pain behind. She knew, of a certainty, that the best revenge was to be happy. “And,� she announced to the wall, “I’ll have time to read my Agatha Christie. A good murder mystery.�

But other people live in this country cottage, more than expected�

Here’s where to find the secrets that lie behind those walls:



posted by Anna Faversham on February, 11 ]]> /author_blog_posts/25345342-an-interview-by-hank-quense Sun, 15 Dec 2024 09:40:52 -0800 /author_blog_posts/25345342-an-interview-by-hank-quense Beware the Midnight Train

He'll be asking what problems I had, why I wrote it, what was the idea that triggered the book etc.

Hank is the author of several books about the art of writing and I shall endeavour to answer his questions as to how and why I started writing and my journey towards writing my 7th book.

It will be taking place at 3 p.m. GMT/UTC and Australian time will be Tuesday at 2 a.m! I'll leave you to work out any other times that might be necessary in case I make a mess of it.

Here's the link sent to me by Hank:



Hank says you'll be able to ask questions! I hope I'll be able to answer them!



posted by Anna Faversham on December, 15 ]]> /author_blog_posts/25259391-early-christmas-present Thu, 14 Nov 2024 01:01:57 -0800 /author_blog_posts/25259391-early-christmas-present
Immortality This Is Probably a Novel by Anna Faversham

Immortality: This is Probably a Novel will be free worldwide on Amazon as an eBook from 14th November until 18th.

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.� —Mark Twain

If a stranger said to you, “Let me take you to the world’s best kept secret,� would you go? Chester, a successful investigative reporter, is not given the choice. He prefers to think about Kate, the woman he loves and has left behind. In fear of his life, he is hiding in a remote cabin in New Zealand. So who is this stranger and what is this secret? You are invited into a mystery: intriguing, exciting and deadly. ‘Powerful, moving and thought provoking.� ‘Packed such a punch…You’ll love watching Chester’s world slowly unravel.�

Sorry it’s so early! My diary is full of ‘stuff�! Yours too perhaps as Christmas approaches. Sorry, also, if you have already got this book. If you have then perhaps you can tell a friend and say it’s an early present from you! Oh groan, I’ve been reading ‘marketing� ideas�

Forgive, forgive... please

Anna

posted by Anna Faversham on November, 14 ]]> /author_blog_posts/25183243-beware-the-midnight-train---now-published-and-awaiting-passengers Tue, 22 Oct 2024 04:14:00 -0700 /author_blog_posts/25183243-beware-the-midnight-train---now-published-and-awaiting-passengers


If you’ve been following my other blog posts in the past couple of months, you’ll know something about this time travel book (with a slow-burning romance bumbling along). But did I mention that the ghosts want Ellie to do something for them? The dishy vicar cautions Ellie. The loveable, zany, almost famous neighbour cautions her too. Does she take any notice? Okay, you can guess the answer � but would you? And when you find out the worrying consequences of time travel, would you still be determined to seek justice?

Beware the Midnight Train will be at a reduced price until 14th November so please take a look soon.

The paperback will be published on 25th October.

posted by Anna Faversham on November, 05 ]]> /author_blog_posts/25180009-beware-the-midnight-train---it-s-steaming-into-the-station Wed, 16 Oct 2024 04:33:20 -0700 /author_blog_posts/25180009-beware-the-midnight-train---it-s-steaming-into-the-station � Seen a ghost? Well I haven’t.
� Like ghost stories? I didn’t. Charles Dickens� ‘A Christmas Carol� is the exception and the only one I’ve read � as far as I remember.

So why did I write this one? Like all the other books I’ve written, it took shape in my mind and then wouldn’t shut up until I started telling the tale. The fact that I remember practically everything that happened helped shape it.

BLURB � If you were offered a dream cottage in an English country village and it was dirt cheap, would you jump in without viewing it? Perhaps you would if you had walked out on a no-good two-timing whatsit and had nowhere else to go? Even the neighbours are great, bit strange perhaps. And the dishy local vicar declares himself willing to help day or night. Night? And what’s this talk about a mysterious Midnight Train…are you sure you’re doing the right thing?
It's the 1970s and Ellie attempts to make a new life for herself, ignoring the gossip about ghosts and disappearing people. Boring? She’ll never be called that again and I think you’ll agree with her.
From an award winning, Amazon #1 Time Travel Romance author comes this treat for the imagination � based on truth. Yes, really. Go on, travel in style on the Midnight Train and see where it takes you.

Here’s a short excerpt:

From the outside Eleanor saw no discernible reason why Flint Cottage should be dirt cheap to rent. Roses climbed around the porch, tubs of colourful flowers adorned each corner and the symmetry was perfect including the slightly unusual feature of two front doors, both in need of a coat of paint. Either side of the cottage were two small gardens, fenced off from the lane. Eleanor put down her suitcase � why didn’t these things have wheels � and gazed at the cottage. A plaque above the doors announced it had been here since 1832. Finally, she smiled for the first time in weeks. “See if I care!� she announced. To be dumped and told she was boring was bad enough but to be replaced by a skinny, tarty, flirty� “Stop it!� She looked over her shoulder, nobody had heard, then glanced to her left where a row of Victorian cottages with neat fenced gardens stretched towards the steep grassy bank of the railway line. It’s all perfect, even close to the station to catch the train for London. “Home, sweet home,� she whispered as she picked up the suitcase and went towards her door. Hers, and hers alone.

Here’s another quotation from Beware the Midnight Train:

‘Training him to be normal is more difficult than teaching a hippopotamus to fly.�

Who could this refer to? I’ll give you a clue (which you probably won’t need once you start reading). A wife says it about�

Not long to go now.

posted by Anna Faversham on October, 16 ]]> /author_blog_posts/25102758-beware-the-midnight-train---october-release-of-spooky-mystery Wed, 18 Sep 2024 04:13:00 -0700 /author_blog_posts/25102758-beware-the-midnight-train---october-release-of-spooky-mystery why I should beware.� Oh good.

Ellie, the young lady who features in the book (she isn’t me, I promise you) is also curious. And bored. And called boring. She should have known better, of course, but sometimes curiosity (which killed the cat) gets the better of us, doesn’t it?

Here’s a few chapter titles:

Chapter One � The best revenge. What would you suggest?

Chapter Two � Closing the door. Good idea or bad?

Chapter Three � Gifts from the gods. Food raining down from Heaven? Be careful what you wish for!

The theme of the book, well one of the themes (I get carried away) is ‘the error of revenge�. Interesting? I hope you will love the time you spend with it.

You might remember that I try to remember (!) to end my blog posts with interesting quotations from around the world. This one hasn’t even got out into the big, wide world yet but soon�

“Giving a sermon, however, was his forte: no deluge of gabbled garbage but trickles of tantalizing tips delivered in a masterful manner.�

Presumably, not many of us are called upon to give sermons but someone’s gotta do it if we want to have some wise, Godly guidance from time to time.

What no bargains? I usually include one, I know but not today. Sorry

posted by Anna Faversham on October, 16 ]]> /author_blog_posts/25035210-truth-is-sometimes-stranger-than-fiction Sat, 24 Aug 2024 07:27:00 -0700 /author_blog_posts/25035210-truth-is-sometimes-stranger-than-fiction
Flint Cottage is the setting for the story which is based on truth. I usually include true experiences of my own in each of my books � bet you can’t guess which bits are true though! At least I hope not. However, the opening chapter of Flint Cottage is sort of true. I did move into Flint Cottage, I did experience strange happenings and I did have an upstairs neighbour who asked me “Have you seen them?� Her husband did become famous and that’s only one of the reasons why the story becomes fictionalized.

Here's the opening sentence: “From the outside Eleanor saw no discernible reason why Flint Cottage should be dirt cheap to rent.�

If you were offered somewhere that looked like a dream cottage in an English country village and it was dirt cheap, would you take it without viewing it? Perhaps you would if there was usually very little available to rent at a price you could afford? Perhaps you would if you had walked out on a no-good two-timing whatsit and had nowhere else to go? Might it seem like a dream come true?

The story becomes fictionalized in the very first chapter but truth drops in here, there and not quite everywhere! I knew that what happened in Flint Cottage was beyond belief but an idea began to take shape though I was reluctant to tell the tale. Maybe, I thought, maybe one day� Then strangely (!) I was contacted by someone I hadn’t heard from in over 30 years. He’d learnt that I am now an author and he wondered why I hadn’t told the tale of Flint Cottage. Well, apart from Charles Dickens� ‘A Christmas Carol� I don’t remember ever reading a ghost story and writing one was definitely not my thing. Then a story took shape in my head and I had to get writing.

Flint Cottage is almost ready to be released into the big, wide world. Of course, I hope you will love it. I also hope you will not be coerced into catching any late-night trains.
~

The first time travel I wrote is now available on a Kindle Countdown Deal.

Amazon US #1 Best Seller in Books>Romance>Time Travel. If you like a romance with a little bit of mystery, a touch of humour and something of the thriller, then please grab a copy and visit another time, another place and find a love that never died.

0.99 from 25th to 31st August Hide in Time

Also on Kindle Unlimited so sort of FREE!

And to end with a quotation � I have taken one from the soon-to-be-published book:

"A dog has lots of friends because it wags its tail and not its tongue."

True?

posted by Anna Faversham on August, 24 ]]> /author_blog_posts/24882879-anything-to-worry-about Thu, 27 Jun 2024 07:12:00 -0700 /author_blog_posts/24882879-anything-to-worry-about
Many people are worried about the future. I found on my travels earlier this year that our friends in New Zealand and Australia have similar worries to us. Friends in the US and Canada say the same. Thousands of miles away, yet we face similar worries and threats.

Many writers and health practitioners over the years have given us tips on how to cope with worries. As a reader and writer, I would say: read a good book. And it’s true, isn’t it? If you get lost in a book, you’re in another world.

Of course, there are many other ways: keep busy, decide if it is worth worrying � can you directly influence the cause of the worry? If so, do something positive maybe. If not, what’s the point of worrying? Again do something positive. I haven’t a clue who wrote the hymn ‘Count Your Blessings� but I do know that if we did, we would probably realize our lives are so much better than those of our ancestors.

So let’s not rage when the ‘wrong� party forms the government or the ‘wrong� person is elected President, or the world is creaking under our poor management in one way or another. Let’s create happy environments for those around us. If we all try, little by little, we can change the world for the better.

All I have to do now is follow my own advice.

If you have any tips, please do share them.

One person who found he was up to his ears in trouble is Chester. Chester manages to get through some horrendous situations but eventually he helps others on the way. As an investigative journalist, he’s come up against a crime gang. And when he gets to New Zealand, he finds life is not quite what he imagined and he narrowly misses� well, I’d better not give out any spoilers.



It's on a Kindle Countdown Deal from Thursday 27th June, through until 3rd July 2024. For 0.99 if you live in the UK or US, or not much more if you’re unable to get the deal. And, of course it is FREE on Kindle Unlimited.

Immortality: This Is Probably a Novel

“Courage isn’t having the strength to go on � it’s going on when you don’t have the strength.� Napoleon Bonaparte said something similar and Theodore Roosevelt also has a claim. Or so I’ve read on Google. And oh boy am I glad someone invented Google � now there’s a blessing recently dropped on us.

posted by Anna Faversham on June, 27 ]]> /author_blog_posts/24712414-desert-island-books Fri, 26 Apr 2024 08:11:00 -0700 /author_blog_posts/24712414-desert-island-books
What if you were asked to choose seven fiction books to take with you if you get marooned, which ones would you take? If you can only manage one, then do tell us which one. If you are an author, you are allowed to take one of your own books!

Of course, you will find that when you get to this island that the book associated with your faith is already there to greet you.

And if you want to get stocked up before you get marooned then two of my books are on sale:

is currently on a 0.99 Kindle Countdown Deal until 2nd May

will be 0.99 from 2nd May through to 8th May

Both are FREE if you are a member of Kindle Unlimited.

And a favourite quotation to leave with us all is from Mark Twain (again!)

“The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer somebody else up.�

Or I would add - to read a good book with lashes of all the things you like and having a happy ending.

posted by Anna Faversham on April, 27 ]]> /author_blog_posts/24589896-a-gift-for-you---wherever-you-live-in-the-world Fri, 15 Mar 2024 01:43:57 -0700 /author_blog_posts/24589896-a-gift-for-you---wherever-you-live-in-the-world

is free across all Amazon markets from Friday 15th March.

A collection of five short stories:

Deep in the World of the Dead � Former Army soldier, Ben, tries to settle into civilian life and moves to a new town to audition as a Big Band trumpet player. But when his housing arrangements fall through, he learns how easy it is to become homeless through no fault of his own. Dark clouds sometimes have a silver lining and none shine brighter than those with romance attached.

Judge Not � You know what they say about assumptions. A holidaymaker in Italy makes the mistake of misjudging and is humbled when, at last, she discovers the truth. Love comes in different guises.

Angela � Angels come in all shapes and sizes, and some of us have entertained them unaware. As the poet says, “God moves in a mysterious way�.

A Wonderful World � The loss of a loved one can lead to loneliness, but new doors stand open.

One Stolen Kiss � Set in 1814 England, this is a prelude to Anna Faversham's Dark Moon Trilogy. Daniel, a key figure in the smuggling community, becomes aware of a young girl who will change his life.

I hope you will enjoy them and if you do, I'd be very grateful for reviews :o)

posted by Anna Faversham on March, 15 ]]>