I was very excited when I got to the newsagents to see that my story, Letters From the Past, is the cover story for this month's People's Friend magazine.The girl in the picture is stunning and exactly as I pictured her when I wrote it.The illustration is by the talented Andre Leonard. I love his work and have been lucky enough to have had my stories partnered with his pictures a few times now.
Now for the inspiration behind the story. I was eating a bowl of mussels in a restaurant and it stirred a memory of a holiday I had in France when I was younger (before I had children). One place we visited was the Ile de Re on the west coast near La Rochelle. We hired bikes and cycled for miles round the island and then, tired and hungry, found a little seafront restaurant where we ate mussels and drank wine.
I knew I wanted to write about this place and decided to work it into the shared memories of the young couple in my story. The scene where Mark struggles with his French and asks for a fisherman instead of a peach is something I myself did on another French holiday a few years later!
This story is written from the point of view of the young man, so please don't think that just because the magazine is aimed at female readers that they will only accept female points of view. In fact quite a few of my stories have had male protagonists.
I always say, write a story you love and, whatever the viewpoint, you have a good chance of the editors loving it too.
What a lovely surprise Wendy. I had a story in this year's annual and it was so nice to see my little boy from the story (and lamb) brought to life.
ReplyDeleteMy husband once asked for two fish in France instead of two 'pression' (draught beers). What confused the bartender even more was the bowl of little fried sardines on the bar - he offered them to us with a very strange look on his face!
That's a great story, Tracey!
DeleteCongratulations on being the cover girl!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Patsy. It's the closest I'll get to the real thing.
DeleteWow! That must feel good!
ReplyDeleteIt did rather, Fran.
DeleteHow lovely to have your story featured on the cover, Wendy - sounds great too! I'm always interested in the illustrations and had a particular favourite who used to do a lot for Woman's Weekly many years ago. I recognised his immediately and even wrote a letter to the mag to say how much I liked his work
ReplyDeleteI think we all have our favourite artists don't we Rosemary
DeleteWe'll done, Wendy! What a nice surprise.
ReplyDeleteWhen I bought it I thought 'That's a lovely cover picture'. It wasn't until I looked inside that I realised it was for my story. Yes, it was a lovely surprise, Frances.
DeleteWell done. That must have been a lovely feeling to discover the pic for for your story. Here's to many more!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was a lovely surprise, Lindsay.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on being the cover story. I always enjoy reading about how you get your ideas.
ReplyDeleteThen I shall dedicate these posts to you, Keith!
DeleteCongratulations Wendy, look forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan. It should be in the shops for another week before the next special comes out (I'm in that too!)
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