Please welcome author Judy Hogan back to the blog. Her latest book, A Teen's Christmas in Wales: The Fourteenth Penny Weaver Mystery is out now in paperback with the eBook release set for November 15, 2020.
I first visited the Gower Peninsula near Swansea, Wales, in the summer of 1981. My landlady was friendly and her B&B, not very expensive. I visited Gower after that almost every time I went to Europe. My last visit was in 1996. Three of my mysteries are sited there, the first The Sands of Gower, Tormentil Hall, the eighth, and now the fourteenth.
What kept me going back? Its history, where people have lived since the Ice Age–they got though it on Gower. Some caves show that human beings were there 200,000 years ago. The most studied one is probably Paviland, which plays a key role in this mystery. A human skeleton was found there, and first called “The Red Lady,” but she turned out to be a young man. This cave is now on the coast, but once was inland.
I also visited the remains of old castles from the period of William the Conquer in 1066.
Somehow the whole peninsula made history come alive over centuries for me. For some sites there were legends, which I found in the local library. I could do well on foot, and also use the local bus to get farther down the peninsula. I had a guidebook to footpaths, only it was old, and one I landed in a field of thistles. There were also reminders of when the Vikings visited, in the names. Worm’s Head, Port Eynon, and even Swansea (Swann’s Eye) etc.
One of my readers pointed out that the characters ranged in ages from teens to elderly in their 90s, who were still active, hiking and visiting caves. My two teenagers, Seb, Penny’s grandson, and his girlfriend, Naomi, managed to get into mischief, though Penny was trying hard to keep track of them.
Then we have the British Christmas rituals, from Boxing Day to crackers with dinner on Christmas Day. Another ritual turned up of making taffy and then dripping some into cold water to form initials for the person the teen was going to marry. Since Seb had already at fourteen picked his bride, he was quite upset when Naomi didn’t recognize her initial as an S.
I used the title on purpose, thinking of a favorite poem of mine: A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas, who lived in or near Swansea. His poem reminds me of Gower. It took forever to find the copyright holder, two, in fact, one in the U.S. and one in England, but my patience won out. They each let me have four quotes from Thomas’s version. I recommend his book to you, if you have never read it. What fun. As for mine, maybe a family holiday gift?
Judy Hogan ©2020
Judy founded Carolina Wren Press (1976-91) and was co-editor of Hyperion Poetry Journal (1970-81). She has published seven volumes of poetry and three non-fiction works with independent presses. She has taught all forms of creative writing since 1974. In 1983 she helped found the North Carolina Writers’ Network and served as its first president (1984-7). In 2015 she decided to set up Hoganvillaea Books, her own publishing imprint, in order to publish more of her mysteries. The Sands of Gower: The First Penny Weaver Mystery was her first release under this new imprint. Her Penny Weaver series takes up interracial community issues. She has written 19 Penny Weaver mysteries, and will continue to publish them.
Judy,
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your new mystery novel and founding your own press!