Tuesday 3 October 2017

Progress of New Victorian Novella

At last, my new Victorian novella, Pride and Progress, is now published! This began life as a short story which was shortlisted in a national competition. One of my writing friends loved the heroine, Emily, so much that I decided it needed to be a longer story. However, life, procrastination, other writing and a house move got in the way of progress until I finally finished it.

Brand new (and different) cover!

Set in the 1870s, the railways play a big part in the story as I absolutely love steam trains. Although many of the British railway lines had been built by the end of the 1840s, some more remote areas had to wait until the 1860s/70s to be connected. Many people were against such progress at first and that gave me the conflict between the heroine and the Scottish station master, Arthur.

Steam train at Bo'ness

The husband and I have been on most of the steam trains in North Wales, as well as the West Highland Way and Aviemore in Scotland. Since our move, we've finally been for a journey on the one at Bo'ness which is not too far from us so we'll be going again later this month with granddaughter. My lovely father-in-law was a station master and we were delighted to find the actual ticket office from one of the stations he worked at is the one they brought to the preserved line at Bo'ness! In homage to him, I've used his first name for my hero.

So, although this is a sweet, feel-good novella and a quick read, it's one that is close to my heart and I'm just glad to see it finished at last.

Short blurb for Pride and Progress

Miss Emily Morton is content with her village life as a teacher in the north east of England in the 1870s, until the new railway arrives along with the handsome Scottish station master, Arthur Muir.
Emily detests the railways, while it is Arthur's passion.
Each is challenged by the other but will pride allow for progress?

It's now available on Amazon UK and Amazon US and worldwide

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations once again Rosemary on a great read. Just the perfect antidote to the dreich weather of late - guaranteed to make a body smile! Catriona

Rosemary Gemmell said...

Thanks so much, Catriona - just the encouragement I need, as always!

Patsy said...

Lovely Victorian looking cover.

Teresa Ashby said...

Congratulations, Rosemary. It sounds a great read - and I love the cover!

Helen Pollard said...

Sounds lovely, Rosemary ... and I love the cover!

Rosemary Gemmell said...

Thanks so much, Patsy, Teresa and Helen - you've given me a boost today as I was beginning to wonder if the cover was good enough and if it should have been a bit more 'contemporary'!

Julia Thorley said...

I agree with the others: the cover is lovely. It should attract lots of browsing potential customers.

Joanna said...

Huge congratulations, Rosemary, on your new novella! What a gorgeous cover! The story sounds lovely and I'm looking forward to reading it very much. How exciting it must have been for you when you discovered the ticket office your father in law worked in was the one brought to the preserved line! And such a nice touch that you used his first name for the hero. I love knowing about the author's personal reasons for some of the choices they have made for their novels. I think this book will definitely catch a lot of readers' eyes and be a great success for you. xxx

Rosemary Gemmell said...

Thank you, Julia!

Thank so much for that lovely comment, Joanna! My sister-in-law and her husband were quite moved to see the actual Station Master sign when they visited us in summer.

Wendy's Writing said...

Congratulations, Rosemary. I love novels that started like as short stories. Wishing you all the best with it.