In conversation with Freda Lightfoot

Freda, I’d like to begin by asking what prompted you to become a writer – did you write as a child?
I used to scribble stories in a little red book, the stories generally bearing a strong resemblance to whatever I’d recently been reading: The Chalet School stories, the What Katy Did series, Malcolm Saville adventure books, and Secret Garden my all time favourite.

What is the first book you remember reading?
Little Grey Rabbit. Still have it somewhere. Must look for it.

I’m fascinated by your journey from Oswaldtwistle, to winters spent in a Spanish olive grove, via the Lake District! Is there anything you miss about England when you’re in Spain, and vice versa?
Ossy, as we called it, was a wonderful place to grow up. A friendly Lancashire town with a fabulous history. Home of James Hargreaves, inventor of the spinning jenny, and the Peel family of Robert Peel fame who started the police force. My parents had a shoe shop and I loved nothing more than chatting with people, somehow aware I’d write about all of that one day. David and I brought up our family in the Lakes, then rather bad arthritis drove me to become a snow bird and live in Spain in the winter. But we have a holiday home in the UK for the summer, so enjoy the best of both worlds.

Where do you do the majority of your writing – in Spain or England?
Anywhere and everywhere. Makes no difference to me, I’m an addict.

Do you think that at some point in the future one of your family sagas will be set in Spain?
I’m already planning one, but for now it still sits on that bookshelf in my head. I just need to live long enough to write them all.

Your family sagas and fictionalised biographies are set in very different eras – how do you plan your research, and how much time does it take up before you can sit down to the actual writing?
The fictionalised biographies take the most time as you can’t change the facts or someone’s character so every detail has to be investigated. It’s rather like being a detective searching out reasons and motivations. For the family sagas I love to interview old people who can tell me how things used to be. What treasured memories they have. Then I check all the facts to get the feel of period from my substantial library. With the sagas I try to do just enough to get started, then research what I need as I write. The story always comes first. 

You have said that your first mainstream saga – Luckpenny Land – was inspired by personal memories. What do you think your ancestors’ response to your novels would be?
I have used many family memories in my stories, including the one of my great aunt Hannah who pawned all her furniture during the depression to buy second hand carpets which she cut up and sold on the market in order to survive. I fictionalised this for Polly Pride, and I would think she’d love it, although her own husband was much more supportive than Polly’s. But then this is fiction and we need plenty of conflict.

The covers of your novels are very attractive – do any of them depict members of your family?
Yes, my mother is on the cover of Polly Pride, walking down the street with her aunt. And I am on the cover of Daisy’s Secret looking like a waif and stray.

Apart from the biographies, which comes first, the characters or the setting?
Always the characters. They drive the plot, determine the setting, everything.

Alongside a successful career with a mainstream publisher, you must be delighted with the success of your e-books – has this surprised you?
I’m totally amazed and thrilled. And so grateful to my many fans who have supported me for years. Where would I be without them? We chat on my Facebook page, which is great. I still love talking to people.

I found the article on self-publishing on your website very informative – and also realistic about the amount of work involved in creating a profile. You state the advisability of involving outside agencies for editing, proofing, cover art, promoting, etc; did you take this route from the outset or did you learn by ‘trial and error’?
I was fortunate in that all my books that I have published so far were previously  published with Hodder & Stoughton, so they are professionally edited. I did cut them a bit, and soften the Lancashire speech, but that’s all. Were I to put up a new book, then I would hire an editor. You really can’t spot all your own errors. I also do much of my own cover art, which I love doing, although if I don’t have time I do use a graphic artist. As for promotion I think building a relationship with your readers is the best way, and I do send out a regular newsletter.

And finally, Freda; is there a book by another writer you wish you’d written?
Oh, wow, what a question. There are so many writers and books I admire. But I would choose Rebecca, which is surely the best book ever written. Every time I read it I find something new in it. Daphne DuMaurier wrote beautiful prose and the most amazing stories in every genre.

Thank you for taking time out from your busy schedule to answer my questions, and every good wish for your continued success.
Thank you for having me. It’s been a pleasure. I’ve loved chatting with you.

Visit Freda Lightfoot's website

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The Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight

Port Sunlight – the very name takes me back to my childhood; Sunlight soap, red blocks of Lifebuoy (used for personal hygiene before deodorants became commonplace among the working class) and the oval-shaped, almost translucent blocks of Pears soap, a luxury to most. I can remember my mother scouring the kitchen with Vim – do we really need our cupboards full of different cleaning products that we now stock up with on our supermarket trips?

When my family was using Lever Brothers products in the 1940s and ‘50s, I’m sure no one gave much thought to the man whose original vision created the multinational company – William Lever, later Lord Leverhulme. Now of course there is a wealth of information, in books and on the internet, about Lord Leverhulme and Port Sunlight Village, www.portsunlightvillage.com is an excellent source and also gives information on forthcoming events in the village such as the Heritage Open Days. William Hesketh Lever believed that ‘Art can be to everyone an inspiration’, although in the beginning he collected paintings for business reasons. Between 1886 and 1906, he spent £2m on advertising, buying paintings to illustrate his brands. By far the most memorable of these was Millais’ ‘Bubbles’, used to advertise Pears soap in 1914 and still instantly recognisable. Not all artists appreciated this use of their paintings – William Frith Powell, for example, objected to ‘The New Frock’ being used in this way. But Lever had hit on a very successful marketing tool; soap wrappers could be collected and used as vouchers to exchange for prints of these paintings. I remember something similar when I was a young housewife in the early 1960s when packets of soap powder came with plastic daffodils or tulips. Not as tasteful as prints of beautiful paintings, but it didn’t stop lots of housewives putting them in vases on their window sills. I can’t remember now which brand of soap powder they were given away with, so perhaps their advertising wasn’t quite as clever as Lever’s!

By 1912, William Lever was worth £3m, plus his income, and by 1925 employed 85,000 workers around the globe. His use of art in advertising had given him a taste for collecting and he had begun to buy for his own pleasure. His collection grew to contain 20,000 works of art, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, ceramics, textiles and ethnographic objects, many of which are on display in the gallery. As the collection grew, and to fulfil his ambition of sharing it with the public, it moved from the library to Hulme Hall, and eventually into the purpose-built Lady Lever Art Gallery, begun in 1913 and opened in 1922. He was the only British tycoon of his time to build a gallery.

My latest visit to the Lady Lever Gallery was primarily to view the drawings of the pre-Raphaelite Master, Edward Burne-Jones. These are described as ‘Independent artworks in their own right…Drawing for drawing’s sake’. We were lucky enough to be in the Gallery early in the day before it got busy and so were able to give these drawings the time and close attention they deserve. I was particularly drawn to the ‘Study of a Woman’s Head, profile to left’, dated the 1890s, it has an almost 3D quality, every hair on the woman’s head detailed. Burne-Jones was said to “idealise ‘helpless’ beauty”, but in another room, exhibiting his Preparatory Drawings and Sketches, he also depicts women as “powerful and dangerous”, as in his ‘Study to a Mermaid’s Head’. This is an exhibition well worth a visit before it closes.

On my visits to the gallery I always enjoy time viewing my favourite paintings in Lever’s collection, many hanging in the Main Hall. William Holman Hunt’s ‘The Scapegoat’; John Everett Millais’ ‘Apple Blossoms (Spring)’, and ‘The Black Brunswicker’; Walter Dendy Sandler’s ‘The End of the Skein’ – this painting intrigues me because of the shadow of an open newspaper lying on the hearth, did the artist change his mind? I love Bacon’s ‘The Wedding Morning’ and Joseph Farquharson’s ‘The Shortening Winter’s Day is near a Close’ – this because a large print used to hang over the fireplace of a dear friend who died in 2001. Frederic Leighton’s ‘Head of Spanish Girl’ reminds me of my Spanish heritage – I like to think that perhaps one of my forebears looked just like her. My husband’s favourites are Robert Van Herromer’s ‘The Last Muster’ and Briton Rivier's ‘Fidelity’.

All of these paintings tell a story, and I’ve used postcards of them in my U3A creative writing group as prompts for short stories – with excellent, imaginative result from the members. The frames of the paintings are also worth a mention, some of them being works of art in their own right.

Lord Leverhulme also collected 20th century paintings, some of which are displayed in the East Gallery. Unfortunately, at the time of my visit there had been a problem with a water leak and some paintings had been removed, but Dame Laura Knight’s ‘Ballet’ is still hanging.

All the gallery’s paintings can be viewed on www.bbc.co.uk/yourpaintings, but as well as housing a world-famous collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings, the gallery also has five period rooms containing Neo-Classical sculptures, English furniture, tapestries, Chinese Art, etc – far too many interesting exhibits to do justice to them here, it’s necessary to pay many visits to appreciate the richness and diversity of the collection. I will mention one of my favourites – the statue of Kuan-Yin, Goddess of Mercy, from the Ming Dynasty. It is inscribed, ‘made by ten of the worshippers of the Temple, for the donor’. Unfortunately I don’t know which Temple, or who the donor was! I like Stella Benson’s description of Kuan-Yin, it begins, ‘Her hands are empty of weapons…’ and ends
‘She is still,
She is very still, 
She listens always.’

Ending the visit with our usual appreciation of the coffee shop in the basement, I was also amused to find that the doors to the Ladies toilets in the basement still have the brass machines that took payment of one penny. With its warning, ‘No bent or damaged coins’, it took me back to the days when ‘spending a penny’ was meant quite literally. Now it costs 30p to spend a penny in many public toilets – no wonder my grandchildren get confused!

From Lighthouses to Cemeteries!

Today, I’m speaking to John and Diane Robinson.

John and Diane, your book, Lighthousesof Liverpool Bay, is beautifully produced and for someone like myself, with no previous knowledge of lighthouses, or the lives of lighthouse keepers, it makes for very interesting reading. It portrays a lonely, arduous and often dangerous way of life that now belongs to maritime history but which would have been of tremendous importance to people like my grandfather, a seaman with the Liverpool-based Larrinaga Shipping Line.

Can you tell me something about how the book came to be written – did the idea come from a personal interest, or were you approached by the publisher, Tempus Publishing Limited?

It all started with family history research when it looked as if Diane’s ancestor, an overseer of the embankment, lived at Leasowe lighthouse. So one day we called in at the lighthouse and Eric, the chairman, persuaded us to join the Friends of Leasowe Lighthouse. John did some research, at Merseyside Maritime Museum archive, on the keepers of the light and wrote a little booklet. After that we were hooked. We gave tours of the lighthouse, helped set up an archive and eventually we went on to research the wider aspects of what we now realised were Liverpool lighthouses.

How did you set about your research? How much were you able to discover from local archives?

Having already discovered that the Maritime Museum held the papers of the Dock Trust, which preceded the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, we began researching the minutes of the Dock Committee in particular, finding all references to the building and maintenance of the port’s lighthouses and the hiring and firing of keepers, etc. We also found much valuable material at Liverpool Record Office and various record offices and libraries in Wales and on Merseyside.

Did you actually visit the site of each former lighthouse?

Yes. In fact we stayed in a keeper’s cottage at Point Lynas lighthouse. We were in the West Cottage and the sunsets were wonderful. Each evening we’d watch the dolphins playing off the point. The walks are marvellous, too. Even today it’s very isolated, but for the keepers it must have been a really remote place. Lynas was one of the earliest of Liverpool’s lighthouses and it was, since the 1780s, a pilot station where pilots boarded ships to take them into the port. However, the present lighthouse, as is the case with many of Liverpool’s lighthouses, is not the original building. Although the buildings at Lynas are privately owned now, the automated light is still in operation. We enjoyed standing under the light as it flashed into the darkness. Fortunately, the fog horn never sounded while we were there.

I was intrigued to read that Ormeshead lighthouse was eventually converted into a bed and breakfast establishment – were you able to stay there? If so, knowing its past history, how did the experience affect you?

We’ve stayed there twice, in two different rooms. The Lamp room is now a sitting room. It’s 325 feet above the sea and is particularly atmospheric on a stormy winter’s night. As we sat, cosy and warm while rain beat on the window, we felt for the poor keepers holding on tight as they cleared the snow from the outside of those great windows!

Lighthouses of Liverpool Bay, is full of human interest stories, were there any humorous moments during your travels, or poignant ones?

For Diane in particular, New Brighton lighthouse was terrifying to get into because it was Liverpool’s only rock lighthouse. So, twice a day it’s surrounded by the sea. All of Liverpool’s other lighthouses are land-based. When the tide’s out, it stands in a waist-deep moat which you have to wade through to get to a wooden ladder. This has to be lashed to the base of the fixed iron rungs that lead to the doorway, thirty feet above the water. At the top of the iron ladder you must haul yourself onto a narrow platform in front of the great iron door. Once inside, you get a real insight into the cramped conditions in which the keepers worked and lived.

It may seem a big leap from lighthouses to cemeteries, but there is a link between your two interests. You both belong to ‘The Friends of Rake Lane Cemetery, Wallasey’, and I see from your website www.wallaseycemetery.co.uk that a past keeper of New Brighton lighthouse, John Thompson Francis, is buried in this cemetery. The cemetery also has other strong seafaring links, with many monuments connected with major maritime disasters of the early twentieth century. I believe The Friends lead regular, themed walks exploring these; perhaps you could tell me more about this aspect of your involvement? Who decides on the format?

The format for walks has evolved into ‘Sea Disasters’ (Titanic, Empress of Ireland and Lusitania, all three have lots of local connections), ‘Local and Maritime History’ (includes The Wallasey Hermit, the pilot boat tragedies and the training ship Indefatigable). The two World Wars are also available, depending on the interests of those on the walk. Usually we end at the cemetery chapel, which has been rescued by Father Paul and his congregation and converted into a beautiful Russian Orthodox Church.

Do you have a group of volunteers who lead the walks – and how many people usually take part?

It’s usually just Diane and John and our chairman, Mark Joynson. Numbers vary. It could be just two people or a group of up to twenty.

Are these walks advertised and is it necessary to book a place in advance?

They are currently advertised in the Wirral Heritage Open Days booklet and on the internet and are available on request.

I believe that you have also undertaken research in connection with the cemetery on behalf of others; from how far afield have these requests come?

We’ve had requests and donations from all over the world, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, the USA. Often they have also given us extra information about the cemetery’s history and the people buried there.

I note from your website that you also hold monthly meetings, are these open to the general public?

Yes, we’re happy to see anyone with an interest in the upkeep of the cemetery.

Finally, which came first – Lighthouses of Liverpool Bay, or your interest in Rake Lake Cemetery?

The lighthouses came first, about fifteen years ago. The Friends of Rake Lane Cemetery started about five years ago.

Thank you, John and Diane, for taking the time to answer my questions. I hope your answers will encourage many more Merseyside people to take an interest in our historic maritime past.

Lighthouses of Liverpool by John and Diane Robinson

A visit to the Victoria Gallery and Museum in Liverpool

I read a tweet from Liverpool’s Victoria Gallery and Museum advertising their free guided tours. This building was converted from the original University of Liverpool building in 2008 when the city was European Capital of Culture, and I realised that although I pass by on a fairly regular basis and always admire the architecture, I have never actually been inside. Time to ‘seize the day’, and explore this hidden gem. I call it a hidden gem because even though it stands in a prominent position at the junction of Brownlow Hill and Ashton Street, the trail most visitors to the city follow leads towards the waterfront via St George’s Hall, the World Museum, Art Gallery, etc. Yet the VG&M is only a ten minute walk from Lime Street Station, a bit of a climb, admittedly – the clue is in the name, ‘Brownlow Hill’! For those less able, or just to save time, you can catch a bus from the side of Adelphi Hotel which will drop you right outside the VG&M, they run every five minutes or so. And there are plenty of car parking provisions close by.

Arriving just before 12.30pm, the advertised time for the tour, we were soon joined by our guide, Barbara Marshall. We were a small group, five in all, which included a small boy who was not only very well behaved but also very bright. The tour takes approximately one hour and there is no need to pre-book, it’s a case of ‘first come, first served’. I’m not sure how many can be accommodated but I think we benefited from being a small group.

We began the tour outside the building, in Ashton Street, which is actually in the form of a square, so that Barbara could point out the different architectural styles of the University buildings. Architect Nikolaus Pevsner, likened the original University buildings to ‘a zoo’, not, I hasten to add, because of its students, but because the buildings represented ‘one of every species’, architecturally speaking.

The original Gothic Revival building in red Ruabon brick – the inspiration for the term ‘red brick universities’ – sits quite comfortably next to a 1913 building in classical style. Waterhouse must have had quite a quirky sense of humour because, as our guide pointed out, if you look up, above the Grecian pillars there are several sphinxes adorning the building!

Plans for a university in Liverpool were discussed at a town meeting in 1878. Manchester already had a university and there has always been a sense of rivalry between the two cities, with the merchants of Liverpool referring to, ‘Manchester Men, and Liverpool Gentlemen’!

The architect was to be Alfred Waterhouse, son of a wealthy Quaker mill owner from Aigburth. Alfred’s dream was to become an artist but his father advised him against it, saying there was more money to be made from a career in architecture. His advice turned out to be sound – Alfred became a prolific and popular architect, designing some 600 buildings in all, including eleven in Liverpool, Manchester’s Town Hall, and The Natural History Museum in London.

Money for the university was raised by public appeal with wealthy merchants, ship-owners and philanthropists donating large sums. Henry Tate (Tate & Lyle sugar) donated £20,000, with an extra £5,000 to provide books for the library. William Hartley (Hartley’s jam) donated £4,300 to provide the clock and bells for the tower. The original estimate for building was £35,000, but it eventually cost £53,000 – nothing changes! The University College of Liverpool was built near the site of a disused lunatic asylum and in 1882 opened its doors to 45 students. Twenty-one years later it became The University of Liverpool. Who could have foreseen that over a century later Liverpool would welcome tens of thousands of students from home and abroad to its colleges and universities? Although we were visiting during the summer vacation, evidence of student occupation was all around us, with cranes visible on the skyline as another huge accommodation block is being erected nearby.

The tour lasts one hour, and so provides only a ‘taster’ of everything on offer inside the building. The interior is a marvel of pillars and Moorish-influenced arches, tiled in the browns and greens favoured by the Victorians. The floors tiles are the original – mainly in the Roman mosaic design. A moment on the tour to pause and wonder how many feet had trod those tiles before us – what did they go on to achieve?

In what was the Women’s Reading Room there is an original fireplace, designed by a woman and also carved by a woman – the wife of a Professor at the university. The little boy accompanying us was quick to spot the various animals skilfully carved into the surround. A magnificent tiled fireplace still exists on the ground floor in what is now the Waterhouse Café.

The museum exhibits are housed in a mock-Tudor ‘Great Hall’; Waterhouse was obviously given free rein to indulge all his favourite architectural styles – but it works, because a wander through this building provides a surprise around every corner. There are permanent exhibits in glass cases in this room, but there is also a large exhibit which will, I think, change next year. This is a mock-up of a ‘dig’ in Turkey in the late 1800s, when archaeologists went to discover proof of the Hittites, previously thought to be a mythical biblical tribe. This must prove a very popular exhibit with children as there are opportunities to dress up, dig in sand to discover hidden treasures, etc. (For the times of specific events consult their website). I was particularly drawn to a photograph taken in 1913 by Lawrence of Arabia!

This building contains far too much of interest to do it justice here. There are sculptures; zoology and dentistry exhibits (including a complete dentist's surgery); paintings by Turner, Lucien Freud, JJ Audubon; icon paintings from Crete, Greece and Russia collected by Professor Roaf; Rembrandt etchings, and much more.

As a grandchild of Spanish immigrants, I was particularly interested in the exhibition by Kurt Tong, who explores his Chinese heritage through his own modern photographs, treasured family photographs and writing, which he began ‘as a visual storybook to share his roots with his daughters’. A visit to this gallery is concluded at certain times of the day by a Chinese tea ceremony! A wonderful experience hosted beautifully by volunteer Yeshan, who made and poured delicious Jasmine tea into tiny bowls that looked particularly delicate in my husband’s large hands. I’m told there may even be a photograph on the Gallery’s Facebook page!

Once our guide had left us, we wandered into the Quad, a peaceful (at least when we were there) outside space designed and built for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. From our seat in the centre we were able to gaze at the historic buildings, the Ashton, built for the Faculty of the Arts in 1913; the Harrison Hughes; the Johnston; the George Holt. Famous Liverpool men immortalised in brick and stone. I spotted a blue plaque on the Johnston building commemorating Sir Donald Ross (1857-1932), the discoverer of the transmission of malaria by mosquitos, who had worked in the building. I thought back to the tiled floor inside the VG&M – had we perhaps walked in his footsteps?

The inevitable conclusion to our trip was coffee and a chocolate muffin in the pleasant Waterhouse café, and as we wandered back down the hill to Lime Street Station, we vowed to come back soon and explore each room in detail.

Thank you to the receptionist who came running after me when I left my handbag on the sofa in Reception. Thank you Yeshan – I hope I’ve spelt your name correctly.

And finally, a big ‘thank you’ to Barbara for being such an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide. I would recommend anyone visiting the building for the first time, to take a guided tour – without Barbara pointing it out would we have noticed that all the pillars are designed in contrasting pairs?

Reflections on Santiago

In a recent edition of the town and parish magazine, Your Berkhamsted, I read an article by Kate Perera, Singing in Santiago, which evoked my own thoughts of the city.

I made my own very special pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in the year 2000, researching my family tree. My maternal grandparents were from Galicia and I had been told that my grandmother left Santiago in the early 1900s after a double tragedy and settled in Liverpool, where she met my sea-farer grandfather and where my mother was born. I knew very little of my grandmother’s life in Spain except for anecdotes passed down through my mother – my grandfather had died before I was born and my grandmother didn’t speak English – so I went to Santiago with no information but a great deal of hope.

The Museo del Monasterio San Martin Pinario was crucial to my search. This magnificent building also houses the church archives for Santiago and it was here in June 2000 that I met the young priest – by an incredible coincidence also from Liverpool – who was to prove invaluable in my search for my roots.

Kate’s mention of the Hostal de los Reyes Católicos, also brought back memories. This is now a sumptuously and historically furnished parador, where my husband and I were lucky enough to spend one night a couple of years ago. In my grandmother’s day it was the hospital for Santiago, with its own chapel, and during our stay I was able to lay my hands on a physical piece of my family history. It still makes me weep to remember the story behind it.

And so to Santiago’s magnificent catedral; I remember the first time I traversed its wide aisles before climbing the steps behind the high altar to touch the statue of St James. I am not a Roman Catholic, unlike my ancestors, but during a pilgrim’s mass on that first visit I had the unforgettable sensation of a distinct link with the past. On a later visit, I was also lucky enough to be present on a holy day when the botafumeiro was swung; the one now in use is a replica as the original was stolen by Napoleon’s troops!

Kate’s article made me feel nostalgic; it has been two years since my last visit to Santiago and I must return soon. Since my first visit 13 years ago, I have unearthed more information about my grandmother and her – my – family than I ever thought possible. And it is only now that I fully understand what a brave woman she was. I hope she would have been pleased that I’ve visited her city; when I walk the streets she walked as a young girl I feel that I’m taking her home. I also hope she would be pleased that I’ve recently been interviewed about my search for my roots in the Galician newspaper La Voz de Galicia.

A chat with Janet MacLeod Trotter

Today, I am talking to Janet MacLeod Trotter, successful author of family sagas and historical novels.

Janet, having just read, and very much enjoyed, No Greater Love, I see from your website that the ending has been changed from when it was originally published and I wonder what prompted this?
This was a new edition for the centenary of Emily Wilding Davison (the suffragette martyr who was trampled to death by King George V's horse at the Epsom Derby) who inspires my fictional heroine Maggie Beaton. As I was revisiting the story, I decided it would be interesting to take the action a little bit further than in the original, so it's more of an addition than a complete change. Also my daughter has always wanted a different outcome, so it was partly to please her!

I found some passages very disturbing. Given what the suffragettes went through to gain women the vote, what do you think about the low turnout of voters for local and general elections?
It upsets me when women don't exercise their right to vote. Three of my own great-aunts and my great grandmother (also called Janet) were very actively involved in the campaign for the vote, and I'm humbled and proud that they marched, sold newspapers and took part in civil disobedience to achieve emancipation. If they were prepared to risk their liberty and careers, then turning up at the polling station is the least we modern women can do.

What is it about the period this book is set in that you find particularly interesting?
I find the Edwardian era fascinating. Coming on the heels of the Victorians, changes were happening for some women such as greater education, travel and careers, yet they were still having to battle the constraints of class and strict social conventions. Then comes the world-shattering experience of the First World War, which throws both men and women's lives into turmoil – grist to the mill for a writer!

How much historical research do you have to do, and how do you go about it?
A lot! I spend several months reading and researching a topic or an era that intrigues me – for example suffragettes or Italians living in Britain through the Second World War – and from this the ideas for the plot and characters grow.

Is there a period you haven’t yet visited in your novels but would like to tackle?
I would love to do a novel based on the Scottish heroine Flora MacDonald, which would take me to 18th century Scotland and also America. My MacLeod ancestors were living on the Isle of Skye when Flora was helping Bonnie Prince Charlie escape after the Jacobite Rising, so perhaps one or two of them could sneak into the novel!

In your own reading, is historical fiction your favourite genre, or are there others?
When I was a teenager, historical novels were my favourite, but I'm happy to read a whole range of different novels – contemporary, mystery, foreign novels – and I also enjoy non fiction, especially travel. I'm in two reading groups, so am often introduced to novels that I wouldn't have tried otherwise.

What real life characters have interested or inspired you?
Well I have to say Emily Davison, don't I?! I might not have her courage but she certainly inspired me to write No Greater Love. My Jarrow Trilogy is inspired by the life of Catherine Cookson – she was such a complex and interesting person who rose from her impoverished background to be a great observer and writer about the people of North East England. Another Edwardian!

I was interested to learn that you use photographs of women from your own family for your book covers, what prompted you to do this?
Because they are such interesting women! I re-branded my historical novels when they were published as ebooks and wanted strong images of real women on the covers, so I raided the family archive. My mother was an actress in her younger days and so I've used her lovely photos on more than one cover – it's just a pity she never lived to see her latter day fame.

Have the real lives of these women influenced characters or events in your books?
Not specifically, but the novel I'm researching now is set largely in India and the background is based on my grandparents experience there in the 1920s and 30s, expressed through old diaries and letters from my grandmother to her parents back in Edinburgh.

You have had incredible success with your e-books. How did the journey start – and did you have any idea in the beginning of how popular your novels would prove to be?
I've been writing for many years and published originally by a traditional publisher. But the ebooks I have done myself and it's such a thrill that my novels are being enjoyed by a whole new generation of readers all over the world. The most satisfying thing is receiving emails from readers and hearing their stories. People like to relate to the women in the novels and many have said how the stories bring the past alive for them.

How much of the publishing process for your own novels are you involved in, for example, design, formatting and marketing.
I'm very involved but do bring in professional help with graphic design, ebook conversion, copy editing and newsletter production. My husband is also a co-director of the publishing company and helps with business strategy and marketing. It's a family business – our daughter and son have honed their proof-reading and researching skills – and my daughter appears on two of the covers!

Many thanks, Janet, for taking take time out from what must be a very busy schedule to talk to me. One last question: is the surname ‘Trotter’ particularly associated with the North East, I’m thinking of Catherine Cookson’s ‘Tilly Trotter’? 
The name Trotter is a Scottish Border name – one of the wild Reiver clans who rampaged around the Scotland-England border for centuries – so it's not surprising that some Trotters  ended up in the North East and that Cookson should choose the name for her character. I was born a MacLeod (of Viking descent) and acquired a Trotter on marriage – so our children have inherited some feisty genes!

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Two days, two cities. Part 2 - Liverpool

Sunday the 9th of June, saw me back in my favourite city – Liverpool – the city where I was born, went to school, had my first job, and met my husband! Our intention was to walk straight from Lime Street Station down to the waterfront; it was the last day of the Mersey River Festival which has entertained the city’s many thousands of visitors over the last three weekends. However, passing the side entrance to St George’s Hall, we decided to drop into their coffee shop for a caffeine boost first. (Readers will notice how many of these blogs mention coffee shops!) As we’re familiar with the building due to numerous visits over the years, we didn’t intend to linger this time – but we couldn’t help ourselves. It was only 30 minutes or so after the Hall had opened and we soon realised we were the only visitors in the building – even the ground floor coffee shop was deserted. Venturing up the stone staircases to the third floor, we found, to our disappointment, no sign of the quintessential English tea room that used to be there. It was a decidedly eerie experience wandering the building without coming across any signs of life, especially when we walked into the Court Room and found the dock occupied by two life-sized models of Victorian female prisoners! Venturing along the corridor that contained the original cells, it was unnerving to hear the ghostly cries and shouts of long-dead prisoners, even though we knew they were only sound effects. Some of the cells were ‘occupied’, and the fact that we were the only two visitors in the building added to the eerie atmosphere.

As we stepped out of the side door, we were relieved to see other visitors were beginning to arrive, and as we were even more in need of caffeine we crossed over to the café in the Central Library.

(Another Liverpool ‘first’ – St George’s Hall had the first air conditioning unit in the world.)

Down at the waterfront, the scene was as buzzing as it has been over the previous weekends; happy crowds enjoying themselves in the sunshine, street theatre, sea and air displays, the Sights and Sounds of India performing on the World Music Stage; in short, something for everyone.

We couldn’t miss the opportunity of boarding the schooner Kathleen and May. Built by Ferguson and Baird at Connah’s Quay in 1900, this is the last remaining three-masted, wooden hull, topsail schooner. In 1961, The Duke of Edinburgh discovered her in a bad state of repair in Plymouth and this led him to set up the Maritime Trust in London. Kathleen and May was bought by the Trust in 1970 but when they failed to secure a £2 million National Lottery bid, she was eventually bought by businessman Steve Clarke and fully restored in 2000. As a result of his efforts in restoring the schooner, Mr Clarke was awarded the OBE in 2008. We were more than happy to give the £1 donation asked for in order to have a good look around this historic vessel.

In contrast, we walked along to Princes Dock where the Celebrity Cruises’ INFINITY liner was berthed. Some of the passengers were disembarking as we passed and I felt proud of what the city had to offer those visitors as they stepped ashore.

After a couple of hours, we found a quiet spot to enjoy our lunch – yes it is possible, if you know where to look – and after another caffeine boost (at the very attractive Bean coffee shop at Princes Dock) we made our way, footsore but with plenty to talk about, back to Lime Street Station.