Welcome to Family Saga Author - Mary Wood

I’m delighted to welcome Mary Wood to my blog.

Hello Mary,

It was wonderful to connect with you through the Romantic Novelists’ Association. I’ve met some great authors via the RNA – you being one of them. But before we get to hear about your latest release, The Abandoned Daughter, here are a few questions which will hopefully give your readers an insight into some of the things that matter to you.

Arabella: Are there any organisations, writing, or reader groups, you belong to? And, how do they support or help you in creating such wonderful, inspirational novels?

Mary: I belong to the Romantic Novelists Association, and within that with have our own chapters. Mine is The Sandpipers. We meet every other month for lunch and the help we receive and give to each other is invaluable and very supportive. Our meetings tend to be of the format of having a guest speaker in our field and Q&A session with him/her. An exchange of ‘what is happening in our book world’ and general chit chat, when we can sound ideas, or talk about the weather. Always feel amazingly uplifted afterwards and ready to tackle anything.

Arabella: In your latest release, The Abandoned Daughter, who is your favourite character and why?

Mary: The main character, Ella Wronski. In the first book of this four-book series (all stand alone reads, as well as being part of the series) Ella, short for Marjella, is the timid one of the three First World War nurses, who meet as they set out to take up their posts in Belgium in 1914. But we see her grow, and cope with some horrendous, heart-breaking moments in her life, and be tested to the limit, never to break, and to win through in the end with dignity and love. I would want to be like Ella. 

Arabella: Which do you prefer to wear: Slippers, stilettos, pumps, or boots?

Mary: Slippers – love slopping around in comfies – jim jams, dressing gown, any day. Would break my ankle in stilettos, but do like to admire them, and boots, well, I’m losing weight now, but as a big lady, finding some that would zip up has been a nightmare.

Arabella: When writing a novel, how do you work? Are you a plotter or pantser?

Mary: A mixture of the two. Always a pantser in the beginning, letting the story take me where it will. But now, I have to pitch to the publisher for a contract and that entails plotting out the book so that they can see that I have a viable, commercial idea and that it works – doesn’t stop me going off in all directions once I have the contract and sit down to write the book though.

Arabella: Which do you prefer to wear: beach shorts and top, a long evening skirt and blouse, pyjamas and slippers?

Mary: I think readers know this now, as my answer to different footwear indicates, but having said this, I do love to dress up for an occasion and will really go for it, for a wedding, or dinner and dance, so evening wear would come in as a very close second.

Arabella: Where do you read? Sofa or bed or ____?

Mary: I have so little time to read, and much that I do is for research or for a review, so with this limitation, once I start to read, the book goes everywhere with me – even into the toilet!!! My favourite place of all though has to be sitting on a beach bar lounger with an attentive waiter bringing me cocktails at my whim…sigh

Arabella: We all have a long list of books we keep meaning to read but never have the time for --- which book is a must read for you this summer?

Mary: Jeffrey Archers PRISON DIARIES there are three in the series. This stems from going to meet him at one of his book signings. I have always loved his books, and to meet the man was a culmination of my dreams. He is lovely, down to earth and very funny and approachable. One man asked the question of why Jeffrey doesn’t mention his time in prison. The audience hushed with embarrassment for Jeffrey, but he handled it so well. He went up very close to the gentleman and looked at him intently before saying: ‘I thought I recognised you. You were in the next cell.’ When the laughter died down we all relaxed again, and then, Jeffrey said: Seriously, if any of you want to know about that time, read my Prison Diaries. They will tell you what it was like, but I no longer want to talk about it. I always admired him, but at that moment I loved him and wanted to hug him. I really need to read those books to find out just what such a terrible experience was like for him. And my admiration for him increased, thinking how, yes he did wrong, but he paid his time, and has now picked himself up and gone on to write some even more wonderful books.

Arabella: What about your future plans? Any books or series in the making?

Mary: All four books in the series THE GIRLS WHO WENT TO WAR are now written – THE FORGOTTEN DAUGHTER – AVAILABLE IN WH SMITHS, SUPERMARKETS AND AS AN EBOOK. THE ABANDONED DAUGHTER – AVAILABLE IN SUPERMAKETS, WH SMITHS AND AS AN EBOOK and the third: THE WRONGED DAUGHTER comes out in Nov/Dec 2019 with the final one THE COURAGEOUS DAUGHTERS – about the children of the three nurses and their war, coming out in May 2020.

And, I have just pitched for another contract with Pan Macmillan to write another series called THE MILL GIRLS which will follow the lives of three girls who meet while working in the mill in the early 1900’s

I have radio interviews and talks lined up, as well as a book tour this coming May. So, a very busy time ahead.

Well, readers, if you’re still with me, thank you, and I hope you have enjoyed this little insight into my work and me. I loved taking part, it’s been fun, and lovely to be here.

If you would like to know more about my work – my releases, join in competitions and receive three-monthly newsletters, then I would love to welcome you to my website: www.authormarywood.com and/or my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/HistoricalNovels

Thank you very much, Arabella, for inviting me to your lovely blog. I loved answering these questions. Much love and hugs, Mary xxx

Mary, Thank you for joining me on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat. The talks and interviews you have planned with radio stations sound wonderful. I’ll certainly have to stay tuned to your website to find out the dates and times you’ll be on air.
Good luck with The Abandoned Daughter.
Best wishes,
Arabella Sheen
arabellasheen.co.uk

MY REVIEW

The Abandoned Daughter by Mary Wood

(The second in The Girls Who Went to War series).

A heartbreaking tale of love and suffering.

     

Mary Wood offers us yet another compelling read. A page-turner in every sense. Richly depicting the emotional hardships, cruelties and devastation that war and love can inflict.

     As a voluntary nurse, working in war-torn Belgium, Ella puts her own emotional trauma to one side as she tends to the urgent needs of wounded and dying soldiers fresh from the battlefield.

     Hiding her own feelings of anguish and betrayal, Ella strives to rebuild her life. Fragile friendships develop – and although some relationships last all too briefly and some for far too long – Ella still searches for the companionship, love, and fulfilment she longs for.

     As the story unfolds and Ella’s inner strength and resourcefulness are revealed, we journey with her and hope her emotional wounds can heal and that she finds the comfort and answers she seeks.

As a taster . . . here is a fragment of conversation between Ella and her good friend, Flors - taken from The Abandoned Daughter.

    ‘And it is easy, now that emotions of the time have faded, to have recriminations. To think we should have done this or that. But the actions we took were driven by the situation we were in. We were such young women, tasked with trying to save lives in a bloodbath of hell. We all did our best. And but for you, Flors, we – Mags, you and I – would never have got out of Brussels alive. Nor would many of those French soldiers have survived. The way you took charge of that hospital, even though you weren’t a qualified nurse, and the way you led us to safety was amazing.’

    ‘We were so young, as you say, I remember when we arrived in Brussels in 1914, on that first posting, how we were all eager and ready to give our all. Then Germany invaded and reality soon hit us.’

If you love EPIC HISTORICAL SAGAS and RAW HEARTBREAKING HONESTY IN A READ this book’s for you. A well-deserved five-star review on its way.

A buy link to all of Mary’s books:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/l/B005D4UMGU?

And a big thank you to Ellis Keene at Pan Macmillan for having a review copy of The Abandoned Daughter sent to my door. 

About Mary Wood

Born the thirteenth child of fifteen to a middle-class mother and an East End barrow boy, Mary Wood’s family were poor, but rich in love. Over time, she developed a natural empathy with the less fortunate and is fascinated by social history. Mary raised four children and has numerous grandchildren, step-grandchildren and great-grandchildren. An avid reader, she first put pen to paper in 1989, and is now a full-time novelist.

Website:  www.authormarywood.com 

Facebook: HistoricalNovels

Twitter:  @authormary

The Abandoned Daughter

Mary Wood

16^th May | Paperback | £6.99

The Abandoned Daughter by Mary Wood is the gripping second book in The Girls Who Went to War trilogy.

Blurb - Abandoned Daughter

Will Ella ever find what she's looking for?

Voluntary nurse Ella is haunted by the soldiers' cries she hears on the battlefields of Dieppe. But that’s not the only thing that haunts her. When her dear friend Jim breaks her trust, Ella is left bruised and heartbroken. Over the years, her friendships have been pulled apart at the seams by the effects of war. Now, more than ever, she feels so alone.

At a military hospital in France, Ella befriends Connie and Paddy. Slowly she begins to heal, and finds comfort in the arms of a French officer called Paulo – could he be her salvation?

With the end of the war on the horizon, surely things have to get better? Ella grew up not knowing her real family but a clue leads her in their direction. What did happen to Ella’s parents, and why is she so desperate to find out?

Buy Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Abandoned-Daughter-Girls-Who-Went-ebook/dp/B07KPKKJXW/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=mary+wood&qid=1556320461&s=gateway&sr=8-3