Today I am treating you with a guest post of A Wing And A Prayer.

Synopsis

When Betty Palmer’s sister dies under suspicious circumstances whilst landing her Tiger Moth, Betty and three other women pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary in WWII England unite to discover who killed her and why.
Estranged from her family, Penny Blake wants simply to belong. American Doris Winter, running from a personal tragedy, yearns for a new start. Naturally shy Mary Whitworth-Baines struggles to fit in. Together though, they are a force to be reckoned with as they face the mystery that confronts them.

Against the backdrop of war, when ties of friendship are exceptionally strong, they strive to unravel the puzzle’s complex threads, risking their lives as they seek justice for Betty’s sister.

Guest Post

Hands up who’s heard someone say, I could write a book…only I don’t have the time. I always want to shout at them. Well, make the time!

My new book, ‘A Wing and a Prayer’ isn’t one of those. Saying this, I also have to say, it wasn’t planned. At no point in my relatively short writing life had I ever planned to write in this genre. I thought I’d be writing, or attempting to write, Women’s Fiction/Romances. Next thing I know, I’ve written a World War 2 Historical Saga –actually, as I write this, book 2 is with my publishers and book 3 is a quarter done – and received a publishing deal. Isn’t life strange?

Honestly, the last thing I expected to be doing during this mad time we’ve been going through was to sign my second writing contract. After the best part of a couple of years of quite ill health, I was getting things back together and had started to follow my author friend’s advice who’d been through the same trouble, and was picking up the ‘pen’ again – it’s not quite the same as, picking up the laptop. I’d tried to start up again where I’d left off with a couple of half-finished stories, but it was proving difficult to get some enthusiasm going for them. Then, one advised me to try something new, something that would get me in a place I hadn’t been before. I happened to be watching a television program called, The Spitfire Girls, about the women who served in the Air Transport Auxiliary and this sparked something inside me.

I’d served 16 years on the Royal Air Force, visiting many places around the world and I’d always loved history, especially what occurred on the Home Front in the Second World War. In a day, I’d put together a rough, very rough as I’m not much of a planner, outline of a story about 3 disparate lady pilots. A little to my surprise, the story evolved into a bit of a mystery. Perhaps saying it was a little surprise is to put it mildly. Before writing this book, I could count on the fingers of one hand how many mysteries I’ve read, let alone WW2 sagas, so where the mystery came from, I’ve no idea. Mind you, it’s often said that books acquire a life of their own as they’re written and that was certainly the case of this one; I’m very happy it did too!

I’m a very proud member of the Romantic Novelists Association and indeed, have had a Romantic Drama published before my illness. Since I began the work that became A Wing and a Prayer’, I’ve received nothing but support both from this wonderful organization and also various WW2 – and other era’s – saga authors. I have found another group of friends just when they were needed the most and I cannot wait for things to get back to normal so I can thank as many of them as possible in person. It’s quite an experience being a male author in what is vastly a female dominated genre, and I want all those who have willingly helped me to know how much I appreciate them all.

Which brings me to, what I’m up to now? Well, book 2 is now with my editor and book 3 is somewhere between a quarter and a third of the way into that one. Book 3 is to be a Christmas one and for someone who really didn’t have anything much to do with Christmas before he got married, this is bringing me an entirely new perspective on this time of year. Also, researching a wartime Christmas is fascinating!

Thank you very much for being a part of the blog tour for ‘A Wing and a Prayer’, it’s been a joy to be here.