What She Saw Tours the Lake District

My husband and I have just come back from a holiday in our favourite part of England... The Lake District.

It's the seventh holiday we've had there and, whatever the weather, we just love it. As you can see from the photograph below, that's just as well! (Luckily we had enough breaks in the rain to do many lovely walks).

This year's visit was a special one and those of you who have been following my writing journey will know why. Yes, in May, my psychological thriller, What She Saw, was published by Bookouture and The Lake District was its setting. 

The plan, this year, was to revisit all the wonderful places that had inspired the plot and provided key settings.

From our home in the south, it's a long drive to Cumbria (especially when you have lots of holdups on the motorway) but luckily my husband is a member of Audible and we spent the journey there listening to the audio version of my book. As Beth described her walk on the fells, just as we rounded a corner and the first peaks appeared, it was a very proud moment indeed.

We usually stay in a terrace of small miners' cottages near Chapel Stile called Lingmoor View (the inspiration for the one where Beth and her family live in my fictitious village of Church Langdon). Unfortunately, this year, it was already booked up in the week we wanted to visit, so we stayed in a different one in Grasmere, complete with a garden loved by red squirrels. We did make a visit to the cottages though so I could take a photograph with What She Saw.

Another key place in the novel is Temple Cavern, a disused slate quarry where Beth sits and draws the birds of prey she's so fascinated with. It features several times in the book and I created the place by merging Cathedral Cave at Little Langdale with Rydal Caves.

I love the majesty and mystery of the former but the entrance to Rydal Cave, with its stepping stones leading through the green water into the disused quarry, is how I envisage the entrance. 

Slaters Bridge is another place that is mentioned and is where I took the photograph at the top of my blog. We also visited, The Three Shires pub where Beth has Sunday lunch with her parents.

It's been a wonderful and momentous week in one of our favourite places and, to cap it all, I returned home to the news that What She Saw has sold just under twenty thousand copies in just over a month. I can hardly believe it. 

Maybe my husband and I are not the only ones who love this stunning part of the country!

If you'd like to read, What She Saw, you can buy it here