I’ve just returned from 10 days in England, and along with the inevitable jet lag, I am filled with images and impressions still forming in my weary-but-content mind. The memories that stand out most are not the many interesting sights we saw, but the people we connected with along the way. One of my favorite days was one we (me and my travel-companion, driver, photographer, and friend, Sara) spent with a young British woman named Katie Read.
Katie is a reader who connected with me via Facebook and email. She lives in Wiltshire, in the area where my second novel, The Apothecary’s Daughter, was set. When I posted something about planning a trip to England, Katie invited us to visit her and offered to take us riding. Katie and her family own a large farm and riding stables with some 80 horses, and are active in teaching, showing horses, and competing. On the appointed day, Sara and I drove out to their farm and met Katie, who took us for a pleasant ride on two gentle horses around their property. I loved hearing about Katie’s background, and how she met her husband. I also enjoyed meeting her handsome horse, Harry.
And, we especially loved meeting her mother-in-law, Jacky, who also reads my novels. Jacky and her husband live in a 500-year-old thatched roof cottage, the deed of which was at one point signed by Henry the 8th. Together we relished tea and cake and equally sweet conversation. They told us how much they appreciated the history I’ve attempted to weave into my books—and the fact that I’d set a novel in their own backyard.
Before we left, they kindly directed us to the specific spot I’d set The Apothecary’s Daughter—a place I’d never been–less than two miles from their home.
Sara and I drove the short distance to Honey Street and the bridge where my main character, Lilly, spent so much time watching the passing narrow boats and hoping for a glimpse of her long-lost mother. I had researched canals and narrow boats, and looked at a few scant photos online, but this is a rather remote, rural place—not some tourist hot spot–so not many existed. What a thrill to walk along the canal and to the Honey Street bridge–Lilly’s bridge—and stand there as I’d so often imagined her doing, with the chalk white horse carved on the hillside in the distance. And how wonderful that several narrow boats were obligingly moored there to complete the picture—just as in my imagination!
Talking with Katie and Jacky, and visiting this spot close to my heart, made for a memorable day—one of my favorites of the trip.
I hope to share a few other memorable days in future posts. In the meantime, can you think of a time when a personal connection made an otherwise good trip great?
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What a treat, Julie. I’m guessing you came back with plenty of ideas for new books, too.
Thanks, Lynn. Yes, lots of new ideas. A great trip.
How lovely! So fun to get to connect with a reader and “relive” one of your other books! Looking forward to the new stories your trip will inspire. 🙂
Hi D! Yes, it was a very special moment to be there. Lots of new ideas, too. Thanks for stopping by, friend!
That is so cool, Julie! How wonderful to connect with your friend across the pond and to also see your story world come to life! Pretty much any trip is made so much better by a personal connection–friends or family members being there. That’s one reason I’ve tried to make myself available when readers or writers come to my area.
Thanks, Carrie. Something tells me you, dear extrovert, have always been good at meeting new people! 🙂
I’m sure you made their day extra special, too. I know how excited I was to finally meet in person with two author’s I admire and had connected with online. They were coming to BRMCWC last year and, since I live about an hour away, they agreed to meet me there. What a great time it was! Looking forward to new stories from you. I’ve never read one I didn’t like 🙂
Hi Anne. Great job taking the time to reach out to others. I’m sure they appreciated it. And glad to hear you enjoy the books.
What a thrill to visit the exact places your characters walked! And to have a local tour guide who knows your characters nearly as well as you do. Fabulous! I can’t wait to hear more details from your trip. It looks truly wonderful! 🙂
Julie, what a gift from God. I have loved the pictures you posted, but this connection you described has given me goosebumps. You were truly blessed on your trip.
So glad you enjoyed your UK trip Julie. It sounded wonderful !:) Now more than ever, I am willing the time away, to when we board the plane (2 1/2 weeks from now) bound for the UK. Yay!
Yes, I totally agree! It is always exciting to visit places, made possible by a chance meeting of someone who has made an impact on you or connected to you, (sometimes unexpectedly) via a different channel..
We have had several experiences of connecting /meeting people on our travels, and we will always look back and think of those very happy memories .One very close to our hearts, whom you will surely all know.:)
If it hadn’t been for our dear Judy, Pete and I would never have experienced the thrill of visiting the places we did and meeting some of the authors from WoP…Just the BEST holiday ever and we’ve had a few, so we are extremely blessed!
Most Aussies love to travel, almost certainly because of the remoteness of where we are and it is great to see how the rest of the world live !
As I type this, my son and his family are travelling home from the US. No doubt they will feel very jetlagged when we meet them tomorrow morning but I can imagine my two little grandsons excitement, as they return to school next week ,sharing their experiences of the wonders of Disneyland with their friends! They’ll be positively beaming.LOL
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences of your trip with us, Julie.:)
Thank you for posting, it’s so green and picturesque!
It must have been such a treat and blessing to have your reader fans plan a day just for you.
Julie,
What a lovely message – it WAS a wonderful day, spending time with Katie and Jacky (and Mistletoe, Missy and especially Harry). And what a thrill to see you experience the spot where one of your characters had “stood” and to see your vision come to life.
Thanks again for an amazing experience and for the opportunity to share in it with you. We saw so many terrific places and enjoyed beautiful scenary, but the people really was what made it all so special. God poured out such a flood of blessings on that trip, and Katie and Jacky were certainly part of His abundant grace.
Love traveling vicariously with you, Julie!
Loved vicariously journeying with you! When we were in England we spent a week with good friends of some of my cousins. What a special blessing and new lifelong friends. They took us places we never would have seen! They live near Oxford so we experienced many of your adventures. We saw the chalk horse too. My favorite day was the one we spent in Bath! Looking forward to your next book!
Katie and Jacky seem lovely! The people who live in a place are the ones that give that place its charm and character. I wish I could have gone along for the horse back ride, the visit, and (least but not last) the tea and cake!
Oh my word! How exciting and a horse farm in England? Ahhhh!!
Personal connections, let see…I write about The Long Walk of the Navajo, and Bosque Redondo, a prison camp for Navajo people in New Mexico from 1864-68. So onsite research is a bit tricky for a girl in Eastern Canada.
While reading the Books and Such blog I met Kiersti Plog.
Kiersti pointed me toward Mark Charles’ blog, then introduced us.
Mark introduced me to his father Ted.
Ted and his wife Evie invited me to New Mexico.
In November of 2013, I made my way to Albuquerque, and rendezvous’d with Ted and Evie.
The day we met up, Ted and Evie took me to Bosque Redondo.
And Bosque Redondo?
That was where Ted’s grandfather Tsi’tnaginnie (aged 6) was held prisoner, starting in 1864.
So glad you had a wonderful trip, Julie – – and especially the part you shared with us today. 🙂
If I may echo Deb Raney’s comment: I love traveling vicariously through you! I’ve never been to England (or out of the US) so
reading your post and seeing the pics are fascinating. Thank you for sharing!
Wonderful. Thanks for taking us with you. May you gain many friends/readers and build amazingly more wonderful memories on both sides of the pond.
Oh, Julie. I love seeing these pictures. They look very familiar to me because when I re-read The Apothecary’s Daughter I went online to find out what that book’s location really looked like. One of my favorite things about your novels are the little details about the countryside, city buildings, china people are using on which to eat their dinner or drink tea, etc. It was very surprising to me in an interview one time when you said those details don’t come naturally to you. You write them so well.
Here’s a 2014 interview with Adrian Lukas from P&P 1995. I think the girl doing the interviewing would make a lovely book character.
http://www.janeausten.co.uk/adrian_lukis_interview/