Cornwall was where my first book takes place, based on a hiking trip I took there in 2004. My Book, A Cornish Odyssey, is an autobiographical fiction, in other words, written as a fictional story, but based on real experiences. The character, like me, was an art and photography teacher, frustrated by the conflict of wanting to be an artist rather than a teacher of art. I didn’t make the same choices that Grant Decker made, but I met the same people in Cornwall and fell in love with the place like he did. Why it took almost 20 years for this story to be written, I don’t know, but I suspect I had to first live my life, learn the craft of writing and then experience the pandemic and other things that made me understand that if you wait until all conditions are perfect to do what you love, you may run out of life before you do it. The story came out of me and then, when I was brought down by Covid, I decided it was time to take initiative and publish it. It has been an amazing adventure ever since that time in May of 2022. My life has opened up in astonishing ways.
One thing I dared to do was try to reach out to find traces again of the places and people I met in Cornwall. I live near Hastings now, a long way from there, but I looked around on the Internet and found this website by Elizabeth Dale:
She is a writer who returned to Cornwall and loves writing about it and sharing wonderful places and pictures. She is also on Instagram and I highly recommend it as a place to learn about writers, poets, magical people, folklore and mythology, history and places in Cornwall.
Great books set in Cornwall:
- My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier.
- China Court by Rumer Godden.
- False Lights by KJ Whittaker.
- Ross Poldark by Winston Graham.
- Peril at End House by Agatha Christie.
- Blue by Lisa Glass.
Photography of Cornwall. People tell me they want to see pictures of Cornwall. Well here are some good ones to get an idea of the place. Elizabeth posts gorgeous ones on Instagram! There are many wonderful photographers of Cornwall and great books of their work.
https://unsplash.com/s/photos/cornwall
I hope you’ll read my book, A Cornish Odyssey, to get a feel for the magic of the place. I’ve been a few times now and it never gets old. I’m planning a book tour there in the spring of 2023. Stay tuned for more information.