Tag Archives: Bletchley Park

Marching into Spring

Good morning, everyone. It’s hard to believe it’s almost spring when I look out of my office window where rain is hurtling down and it’s still cold. But I’m lovely and toasty in my railway carriage where I write.

Bella, my elderly rescued cat, finally plucked up the courage to come and see me in the carriage and when she visits, she likes to jump onto the train seat. I’ve prepared it in advance for any wet paws by unfolding an old sheet across it. She then curls up to nap for a few hours (that’s her definition of a nap!) until I emerge needing coffee. (photo attached)

I’ve written the first draft of a new novel which I’ve just finished editing for the umpteenth time. This last edit was serious as it was the one my critique writing partner, thriller and historical fiction writer Alison Morton, meticulously went through, leaving a trail of red-penned alterations and suggestions.

My heroine, Katie, is a secretary, nursing a devastating personal secret, and lands a job in Churchill’s Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall. It’s a wonderfully claustrophobic atmosphere for a novelist to explore and perfect for secrets to be kept under wraps (though not always successfully!) and romantic liaisons to develop!

I’m thinking about the next novel after this. As an author, it’s wise to have at least one good idea ahead of your current one. This time, the setting will be on a country estate, requisitioned for more than one other purpose. Because of the war, a twist of fate will bring my new heroine and hero into contact with one another. That’s all I’m up to in my head and I have to trust myself that I can write it and my publishers will eventually transform it into an engaging historical novel.

This requires lots of research but I can’t pretend

it’s a chore. I love research. I’ve learnt so much about the women I write who did unusual jobs in the Second World War, mostly through their published memoirs, so I’m confident I’m writing straight from the heart on behalf of these marvellous women. And my goodness, the more I uncover, the more there is to learn! But if by reading my novels, a reader gains some insight into the kinds of difficult situations these women, sometimes still in their ‘teens, faced, then I consider my job worthwhile.

And lastly, if anyone lives in the Wandsworth area and would like to come to my talk on Bletchley Park to be held on 4^th April in the Avery Care Home, do get in touch.

That’s it from me. Happy reading!

Molly Green

Where has 2023 gone?

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It seems impossible that Christmas is almost upon us. Every year I say this, but this year, really, how on earth did a whole year slip away while I wasn’t looking. Next year I’m determined to hang on to it.

To update you on my books, my last Bletchley Park novel in the series: Wartime Wishes at Bletchley Park, came out at the end of November in time, I hope, for readers to curl up for some relaxation during all the mad preparations for Christmas and over the festivities.

On Saturday I gave a talk at Ringmer Village Hall (near Lewes, Sussex) about how I do my research for my historical novels. When I’d spread all my novels out on the table I could hardly believe there were twelve, especially as I was such a late starter – just turned 60!

Once again I had a super audience who were laughing along with all my experiences that I went through to exploit for authenticity in my novels. I described going on a cargo ship as one of my modern heroines, Juliet, did when she followed in her grandparents footsteps to Australia. They had emigrated in 1913 when they were only nineteen and twenty years of age and had just become engaged and were in steerage on a magnificent ship called the Orsova. I based it on my own grandparents who did exactly the same thing just before the Great War.

Another experience was piloting a Spitfire! Yes, you read it here! All right, it was a simulator but it felt absolutely real to me. I’m not keen on flying generally but felt I had to appreciate how it felt to be in control for the sake of my heroine in A Sister’s Courage where Raine joined the Air Transport Auxiliary and flew many different planes in wartime. It was a fabulous experience. The Spitfire was so sensitive to every movement and seemed to work out what I wanted it to do before I knew myself! The instructor assured me every detail was exactly the same, even to the smell of the cockpit.

And a third example was when my late husband and I went to Ditchley Park on a Churchill tour and we slept in Clemmie Churchill’s bedroom and enjoyed her huge en-suite bathroom. Apparently, her bath was bigger than Winston’s so he often used to come in from his adjoining room and use it! So, reader, Molly Green was only a watermark away from the great man’s posterior!

In a strange way it’s easier to write novels when one has had plenty of life’s experiences. I’ve had a life full of adventures and almost always have something to draw on, particularly the emotions that have accompanied my travels and meetings with people from different backgrounds, sometimes foreign, and in unusual work places – all grist for a novelist.

Denise's 1st class compartment And my job is made even more fun nowadays as my fantastically-creative builders have now finished my new office in the garden – a First Class carriage with a real 30’s train door! I can’t wait to get in there each morning and start writing! This time I’m revealing a young woman’s life as a secretary in Churchill’s Cabinet War Rooms during the Second World War. I visited them decades ago but am due to go again shortly to refresh myself as to the layout and the many different departments. Conditions were terrible to work in but it’s incredibly fascinating and I urge you to make a resolution to go this coming year.

In the meantime I hope you have a Merry Christmas. See you in the New Year!

Molly Green

Spring Travels

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The US cover for Winter Wedding at Bletchley Park

These last few weeks I’m back in travelling mode. In April I kicked off with a visit to Dorchester to be with two of my writing pals, Gail Aldwin and Suzanne Goldring. Unfortunately, Carol McGrath, one of our foursome called the Vestas, couldn’t make it (she was on her own travels).

We’re all published writers covering a variety of genres and take these retreats seriously by being disciplined in progressing with our current work and stopping in the afternoons to read out our chapters and critique them. That’s probably the most valuable part of our working holiday and it didn’t disappoint as my goal was to write the very first chapter of my next novel. Result! However, it needs some strict restructuring and editing but it’s normal for this beginning stage.

Then in May my sister, Carole, and I went to Yorkshire on a steam train holiday with Inside Track. They are a small family business and pay attention to detail, besides having great characters for tour guides. My interest in trains of the 30s was sated by wandering round steam train sheds where you could watch mainly retired men at work restoring the carriages, trying out compartments in first and third class carriages at a super train museum (the third class was absolutely luxurious compared with our first class today) and speaking to all sorts of volunteers that knew everything there was to know about steam trains. Not only do I love them – and miss travelling on them as I used to when a child and teenager – but I write Second World War novels and my heroines are always boarding and alighting from trains, sometimes in highly dangerous situations.

I have a very personal interest in the details of the exterior and interior of a wartime train in that my two builder/craftsmen are building me a railway carriage in my garden. The minute they finish, two-thirds of it will become my office where I’ll be writing my next novels! The other third will be designed and fitted out like half a first-class compartment. (Note the authentic train door propped against the wall.) That’s where I’ll do my proofreading, dream up the next obstacle to throw at my heroine, and maybe even have a nap. I can’t wait. There will be updates!

Progress so far on ‘the carriage’!

My next travel on the agenda is to go with Carole to the States at the end of this month to visit her son, Adam, and his family in the South. Covid has prevented her from seeing them all during the last years so we intend to make up for lost time. They recently moved to Savannah in Georgia which has to be one of my favourite cities.

I think that’s it for now. Spring, weatherwise, has been a bit of a let-down, though the countryside looks beautiful and green. Summer is just around the corner when I’ll be back from the US ready to give you another update.

Happy reading and writing!

Molly

Dizzy Heights!

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Where has January disappeared to? One minute it was New Year’s Eve and suddenly we’re almost in February. I’ve been working non-stop – well, I’ve broken off to make teas and coffees for the builders who are yet to finish the complete refurbishment of my house and seen my sister for strolls round the delightful historic town of Lewes – but mainly I’ve been chuntering along with the third book in my series: The Bletchley Park Girls. This new one is as yet untitled, although I’m hoping the Avon HarperCollins’ team will think the one I have in mind is as perfect as I do!

Winter Wedding at Bletchley Park, published at the end of last year, made no 2 on Amazon in Military Romance, War Story Fiction and Saga, and Summer Secrets at Bletchley Park, published last spring, did actually hit the no 1 spot in the same categories! I’d like to thank all the lovely reviewers who filled in lots of stars on the Ratings and Reviews of those two books which pushed me to such dizzy heights.

It’s wonderful and slightly humbling to read how people are enjoying my books. It truly gives me the inspiration to press on with the current draft and begin planning the new story which will (hopefully) follow but is usually at this juncture only in maddeningly hazy fragments. Planning a brand-new story with new heroine and hero is a really special part of being a fiction writer. I love seeing how my heroine in particular develops as I keep in close contact with her from beginning to end, although I do pop into the head of the hero occasionally if I feel he’s burning to tell his side of the story when he’s been misunderstood!

On the 11th February, in the afternoon, I’m giving a talk on Bletchley Park and a book signing in Ringmer, the village where I moved to a few months ago. If you’re in the Lewes area on that day, I’d be delighted to see you, but you do need to book at Ringmer Library. You can email them at SaveRingmerLibrary@mail.com (note, it’s not ‘gmail’ but simply ‘mail’) And after the talk, for a mere £5 per head, you can enjoy a nostalgic afternoon tea with like-minded readers. I think it’s going to be fun and I’m looking forward to hearing anyone who has Bletchley Park connections.

Will see you in March (if not before at the talk!) and in the meantime, Happy Reading!

Molly
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Google Maps link for Ringmer Village Hall Post code for your GPS/satnav: BN8 5QH

Not all Greek to me!

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What a month! The builders are still finishing the renovations to my house, I’m pressing on with Book 3 of The Bletchley Park Girls and have recently returned from a fortnight’s holiday abroad – the first in three years.

The holiday incorporated the Mani Literary Festival in Stoupa, a beautiful village in Greece where I was invited to speak. It was a 2-day event straddling September and October. Two other writing friends, Carol McGrath, and Suzanne Goldring were also asked. We all flew out to Kalamata the day before and settled in quickly as we know the area, courtesy of Carol who has a house close by and has regularly invited us to stay.

One of the restaurants in the village offers its delightful gardens to the Lit Fest every year so the talks took place outside in perfect weather – very warm and sunny but not boiling hot. Each of us was invited to tutor a workshop and give a talk relating to our books. I decided to do the 2-hour workshop on Memoir Writing in the morning and in the afternoon spend the allotted hour discussing Bletchley Park.

I thoroughly enjoyed giving the workshop, where I had nine women and one man round the table, showing them through examples of my own two memoirs how to tackle them, and letting the attendees have time to do my set exercises and read them out. People’s lives are nothing short of fascinating, even though several of them apologised for not having done anything particularly exciting.

‘It’s like jokes,’ I told them. ‘It’s not the content – it’s the way you tell ’em.’

Suzanne Goldring and me after our talk

Then in the afternoon Suzanne interviewed me about using Bletchley Park as a setting for my series. I explained that the story wouldn’t have worked in any other location and had become a character in its own right. They were a very attentive audience of about 50 and several people asked me questions at the end, but it was surprising to learn that so few had ever visited the Park. I told them Hitler said the Enigma would be impossible to crack as you’d need 10,000 people to do it and asked them how many staff they thought ended up at Bletchley Park. They were surprised to learn it was 10,000!

‘And when you visit you’ll get a good idea of what took place as you wander through the various Huts and Blocks,’ I continued. ‘The atmosphere plunges you right into the Second World War and you get a real sense as to how it must have felt for all those who tirelessly worked there. It’s been calculated many times that Bletchley Park shaved two years off the duration of the war, besides saving hundreds of thousands of lives, so I do urge you to experience it for yourself.’

I had two copies of the first book of my series: Summer Secrets at Bletchley Park to give away. When I said: ‘The first person to put up their hand—’ a lady sitting in the front row immediately shot her hand up. I wagged my finger at her. ‘You don’t even know what you’re volunteering for.’ To much laughter, she said, ‘I’m happy to take the risk.’ So I handed her a book but she said, ‘I’ve read this one,’ and gave it back to me, saying she’d read all my books and loved every one. What a thrill to meet such a fan. She came up to me afterwards and said I’d kept her sanity! She’d been going through a rough time with her family and my books had given her an hour or two’s reprieve at night.

Margaret, if you happen to be reading this, I do hope you won’t mind my telling it, but that’s what we authors hope will happen when we write our books. They can provide not only an escape from our problems but sometimes even throw a light on how we might overcome or resolve them in real life.

As writers we usually never have the chance to know the impact our stories are having when they go out into the world. It’s quite humbling, when you think about it, but it’s the most rewarding part of the whole process – that the reader loves what we do. You can’t ask for more.

Happy writing to all the new Mani memoir writers!

And until next month, happy reading!

Summer Secrets at Bletchley Park is out now.

September 1939. London is in blackout, war has been declared, but Dulcie (Dale) Treadwell can think only of American broadcaster, Glenn Reeves, who didn’t say goodbye before leaving for Berlin.

Heartbroken, Dulcie is posted to Bletchley Park, where she must concentrate instead on cracking the German Enigma codes. The hours are long and the conditions tough, with little recognition from above. Until she breaks her first code…

But when a spiteful act of jealousy leads to Dulcie’s brutal dismissal, her life is left in pieces once more. Is it too late for Dulcie to prove her innocence and keep the job she loves? And will her heart ever truly heal if she doesn’t hear from Glenn again…?

A Winter Wedding at Bletchley Park will be published on 24^th November this year.

When Rosie Frost was jilted on her wedding day, she didn’t think life could get any worse. But six years later in the throes of the Second World War, she is unceremoniously dismissed from her dream job after they discover her illegitimate child.

Thankfully, top secret war office Bletchley Park recognises Rosie’s talent and recruits her to decipher their Italian naval signals. Happy to be doing her bit for the war effort, Rosie settles into her new life.

But when she spots a familiar face at the Park, Rosie’s world threatens to come crashing down once more. Can she put her heartbreak behind her? And will wedding bells ring out across Bletchley Park before the year is out?

Moving slowly forward…

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It’s been another hectic month for me, what with viewings on my house which recently went on the market and accepting an offer within days, then a week later falling through, so more viewings and several offers, I’m hoping the estate agent (my ex-company!) has finally produced the right family who’ll stick with it until the proposed exchange and completion next month.

Getting rid of stuff that won’t fit into a smaller place is a job in itself. I’m really hopeful that I’ll soon be moving from Pembury, near Tunbridge Wells – where I’ve been perfectly happy for 30 or so years – to Ringmer, near Lewes. Now I’m on my own, I want a change. My sister moved to Lewes a year ago and loves it so I bought a place needing a full renovation just two miles away. She’s become my project manager and slowly, mostly because of so many delivery delays, it’s taking shape.

I’ve had to sell or give away stuff to friends, donate to charities, tag items for auction – mostly my late husband’s myriad collections, furniture and over a thousand books that I can’t cope with (I’ve kept around 100 of Edward’s books because he had an amazing variety of reference books on the Second World War which I mostly write about), and generally declutter. All difficult decisions.

And the third thing that’s keeping me busy is that I’ve managed to finish my second novel in The Bletchley Park Girls series. This one is called A Winter Wedding at Bletchley Park. I now have it back from the editor for me to look at her suggestions and do another full edit. I like this part of the process because every change I make will ensure a better book. But it takes a lot of thought with even small alterations as these can still ripple through the novel causing more read-throughs and checks to be made.

My current novel, the first in the series: Summer Secrets at Bletchley Park, was published at the end of April, and I’m thrilled to say that last week on Amazon it made No 1 in both paperback and kindle version in the category ‘Military Romance’. I couldn’t believe it when I read it one evening just before getting ready for bed, but here’s the proof:

At the time of writing, the e-book is on sale for just 99 pence.

As well as editing, and after three attempts to write Chapter One of the third book in the Bletchley Park series, I’ve finally settled on where I think the opening should take place. But even my lovely editor at HarperCollins doesn’t know this yet, so I’ll keep it under wraps for the time being. It will probably change again anyway when I get right into the thick of the characters and the plotting.

Well, I’d better bring this to a close and carry on with the edits of Winter Wedding as although publication day is not until 24^th November, I notice it’s already on Amazon for pre-order! That’s a good enough incentive to crack on.

Enjoy the lovely summer weather we are about to have and hope to see you next month. Happy reading!

Taking the plunge . . .

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What a wonderful few days I recently spent in Port Isaac with my writing pals, having picked the best week weather-wise. Straight after breakfast and a walk every day along the coast, we came back to the cottage and got down to work. You could almost cut the atmosphere with a knife, we were concentrating so hard, heads bent over our laptops, tapping away, all writing very different novels. Then in the afternoons we’d congregate and one by one read out our current chapters, then talk about anything that struck us – how it could be improved, throwing out ideas to fill in a pesky plot hole, any info dumps, repetitions . . . the kinds of things that creep into the very first draft of a chapter.

The combination of work, fun and laughter, mixed with sea air and excellent food and wine is heady stuff, and although none of us was ready to go home when the time came, we all had the satisfaction that we were far better equipped to finish our novels than we had been when we arrived.

Dougie, my cat, greeted me enthusiastically. He never ignores me like some of my friends’ cats do when their owners come back from holiday. But I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the house was going on the market that week and we would be moving in the summer as he looks upon the garden as his territory and regularly sniffs every inch.

Everything happened so quickly. Russets is too big for me now there’s just me, but it’s a perfect set-up for a family with parents working from home. And that’s exactly the situation of the couple who made an acceptable offer on Easter weekend. They want to move fast to make the most of the summer in the garden. It really is a joy with its rolling lawns, wild areas and pond, wrap-around terrace, and a pergola topped by a lush grapevine producing delicious bunches of sweet grapes. Enjoying lunch beneath it on a hot sunny day feels as though you’re in France or Italy – especially when the wine is flowing! I know the new family will love it.

I’m planning to move to Ringmer, near Lewes, the town where my sister moved to nearly a year ago. She’s so happy there and I want a change so our plan is only a whisker away from fruition. Talking of whiskers, I hope Dougie won’t be too shocked with the change (smaller garden but I’m sure there’ll still be plenty of creatures to terrorise). I’m looking forward to being in a completely different area, and Lewes with its river and castle, and surrounded by the South Downs, is absolutely beautiful. Can’t wait!

My book news is exciting: The first one in the new series: The Bletchley Park Girls, called Summer Secrets at Bletchley Park, is out on 28^th April. I loved following Dulcie (Dale)Treadwell’s journey as she steps through the door to the mysterious Hut 4 and uncovers some of its secrets.

Do take a look at it.

See you next month.

September 1939. London is in blackout, war has been declared, but Dulcie Treadwell can think only of American broadcaster, Glenn Reeves, who didn’t say goodbye before leaving for Berlin.

A new, inspiring wartime series set at Bletchley Park, perfect for fans of Nancy Revell and Donna Douglas.

Amazon UK Amazon US Apple Kobo Barnes & Noble (Wartime at Bletchley Park)

Looking forward to a happier 2022 and new books!

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Well, it’s the start of a brand-new year. The vaccines are successfully battling Covid, including the new Omicron variant, thank goodness. I’m a ‘glass half full’ woman and feel sure that a little further into the year we’ll be able to live a much closer-to-normal life. How I’ve missed meeting friends at the cinema and theatre. Casual nights out we took for granted. I can’t wait to attend all of them again, but without the dreaded mask.

Nothing was more depressing on New Year’s Day than to see a thousand people at the magical New Year’s Concert in Vienna’s Musikverein hall all having to wear face masks to be admitted. The musicians of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra only removed their masks they’d worn at every rehearsal for the big day itself. This is all a sensible precaution, but may the day soon come when we can see people’s faces and more importantly, their expressions.

The nights are drawing out! Pulling the curtains at four-thirty, you might think this sounds premature, but every day from now on we get an extra two minutes of daylight. By mid-February this rockets to a heady three minutes! And they add up. That’s already 24 minutes as I write this. And by the time my next book comes out in April we should at a rough guess be enjoying around four extra hours of daylight, speeded up by putting the clocks forward an hour at the end of March.

Talking about the next book, I have an exciting announcement to make for a brand-new series called: The Bletchley Park Girls. The first title is Summer Secrets at Bletchley Park, to be published by Avon HarperCollins on 28th April this year and the second title: A Winter Wedding at Bletchley Park follows in November, in good time for Christmas.

The two heroines couldn’t come from more differing backgrounds and each has her own problems. But the one thing they have in common is that they are determined to do their bit for the war effort. At the start of the war in 1939, Dale Treadwell in Summer Secrets is a junior reporter on a London newspaper and Rosie Frost in Winter Wedding works in a factory in Norwich, Norfolk. Neither girl, along with practically every member of the public, has any knowledge of the secret goings-on in a certain mansion in Buckinghamshire – that is, until fate takes their hand and leads them to Bletchley Park.

I hope you’ll join these two valiant heroines as they struggle to crack the German and Italian codes as well as juggling family relationships and friends – not to mention secrets, betrayals and romantic suitors.

A Happy New Year to you all and see you next month!

Where do those ideas come from?

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1931 advertisement (Public domain)

Readers are always asking where I get my ideas. Well, I have to confess that the setting for the first trilogy would never have been my immediate thought.

This was a request by Avon HarperCollins who’d just offered me a 3-book deal! In fact, they gave me four words to write these three books: Dr Barnardo’s, Liverpool, orphans, and WW2.

After the initial euphoria I had a complete wobbly. The only recognisable request was the period. That was fine. But I knew little about Dr Barnardo, only that he was more than just an observer of society in the 19th century, and especially of children, but set up a home to take in homeless boys and give them a chance in life. Well, I guessed I could do some more research on him. But three books set in a Dr Barnado’s home – filled with children?

I don’t have any children and am rarely around them. How would I know how children felt, spoke, learnt, misbehaved, interacted – and orphans would have many more problems to deal with. Lastly, I’d never been to Liverpool, and to be honest it didn’t really appeal. I was beginning to think my dearest wish of being published by my dream publisher was doomed before it had even taken off! Anyway, they left me to think about whether I would accept the offer to write The Dr Barnardo’s Trilogy.

Fortunately, my small group of writing friends brought me to my senses and made me ring the editor immediately saying I’d be delighted. I now had to find out everything I could through books and a visit to Liverpool. To my amazement I found Liverpool a fantastic city with some of the friendliest people I’d ever come across. But since the city was the most heavily bombed after London during the war, much was destroyed. However, enough buildings remained for me to take notes of the places where my heroine grew up, and the museums were invaluable to capture the period.

Liverpool 1946 Public domain (https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EAW001918)

Back home, I watched old films to see the way children behaved and spoke, but mostly I wrote almost instinctively, imagining I was that child.

The next trilogy was entirely my own idea. I wanted to write about three sisters doing completely different jobs in the war effort. I knew them quite well as characters but had no idea what they would set out to do. Then I watched a TV programme about Mary Ellis, at 101 years of age describing her time as a pilot in the Air Transport Auxiliary, delivering aeroplanes, including Spitfires, to the fighter pilots. Perfect for independent Raine, the eldest sister!

The middle sister, Suzanne, was musical, so I knew she would join ENSA – that’s the Entertainment National Service Association – and like my heroine, Vera Lynn, would sing to the troops abroad.

The idea for the youngest sister, Ronnie, a tomboy, came late in the day. I wanted something unusual and came across an article about young girls and women carrying cargo from London to Birmingham on the Grand Union Canal in the Second World War. Apparently, the work was so backbreaking, only about 40 of them ever did this work. It would be just up Ronnie’s street.

To complete the family would be a prickly French mother who the girls called ‘Maman’.

Now I’m writing a new series. A tingle shot right through me as my editor said the words ‘Bletchley Park’. I jumped at it. I’d been to Bletchley Park three times over the last 20 years, so it wasn’t unfamiliar territory. However, I knew it would be difficult for me to get to grips with all the code-breaking, but the many books I bought and borrowed played a huge part in my research.

In between the current pandemic restrictions, I managed a day trip with a historical tutor, and this propelled my new heroine to life in that most secret of buildings. More next month about The Bletchley Park Girls!

On that note, I do hope the New Year has all good things – including plenty of fabulous books – in store for you