My Bookshelves...

The walls of my small study are lined with all sorts of books: hardbacks and paperbacks, non-fiction and fiction, biographies, thrillers, romances, and children's books old and new. I love them all. So over the coming weeks and months inbetween writerly chat and author interviews, I'd occasionally like to talk about the books I've collected over the years and to introduce you to some much loved authors.

Ruby Constance Ferguson. (1899 - 1966)

Let's start at the very top shelf by taking a look at nine children's books written between 1949 and 1962. These books are very special to me and through my 1960's childhood I read them over and over. They were my best friends. All I had to do to achieve my dream of owning a pony and living in the countryside was to open up a 'Jill book' and lose myself in her wonderful make-believe world.

These books are all first editions in their original dust jackets.

Some years later, I was delighted to discover that Ruby Ferguson had written eight mystery thrillers under her maiden name of R C Ashby. I now have most of these treasured old books on my shelf. The most prized is the signed first edition copy of The Moorland Man - the Romance of a Northern Farm published in 1926 by Hodder & Stoughton. They are the amongst the oldest books on my shelves and none have dust jackets, which is just as well, as I doubt I could have afforded to buy them if they had.


Ruby Ferguson also wrote thirteen wonderful romance novels and I have managed to collect and enjoy reading them all. From Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary in 1937 to A Woman with a Secret in 1965. She also wrote a fictionalised memoir published in 1967. Her books were published by Hodder & Stoughton London and Macmillan in the USA.

Ruby Constance Ferguson died on Jersey on 11th November 1966.

My wee West Highland terrier is called Ruby after the author Ruby Ferguson

What books are on your top shelf and have you ever named a pet after a much loved author...?

Seven things....

I am delighted to receive ‘The Stylish Blogger Award’ from the lovely and very stylish Rosemary Gemmell of Reading and Writing Blog.

The rules of acceptance are to list seven things about myself and to pass the award on: – so here goes!

1. I was ten years old when I first decided to be a writer, inspired by Ruby Ferguson, who wrote children’s pony books. Some years later I discovered Jilly Cooper, who wrote grown up pony books, and I was inspired all over again!

2. My first full length book took four years to write. It was published in 2004.

3. I’m a member of the wonderful Romantic Novelist’s Association.

4.  I met my own real life hero thirty years ago by accidentally picking him up on a CB Radio. We chatted for a whole year before we actually met and he proposed to me on our third date!

5. Mr JH and I were once 1980’s yuppys (young urban professional people) and dinkys (duel income no kids yet) and we lived in an executive home in Cheshire until we sold up everything, packed in our very stressful full-time careers, and bought a derelict country cottage in Scotland in which to live ‘the good life’.

6. I wrote about our lifestyle swop and it was published in a December issue of Prima magazine. I blogged about our cottage lifestyle for a year (here) and was shortlisted and highly recommended by Candis Magazine in their blog competition.

7. Seven wee things I love.... books, red wine, stilton cheese, sunshine, my doggies, my hens, the music of Santana.

And I’d like to pass The Stylish Blog Award on to: drumroll

http://www.victorialagnehag.com/

http://ange-aspiringnovelist.blogspot.com/

http://dstracywrites.blogspot.com/

http://debcarrs-daydreams.blogspot.com/

http://www.gillyf.blogspot.com/

http://katiecarrwriting.blogspot.com/

http://lizfenwick.blogspot.com/