Vote For Murder – Available Now

Posted on September 22, 2015 by jacquib333

In the Spring of 1911, suffragist Louisa Russell finds an old diary in a box of artefacts, while attending a census evasion night at the Old Museum in Ipswich. The diary recounts the last days of Mary Emily Cage, executed for the murder of her husband six decades earlier.

When Louisa’s next door neighbour, Charles Drummond, dies under suspicious circumstances, the parallels between the two deaths become impossible to ignore. But can two deaths sixty years apart be linked? And can Louisa find the poisoner before an innocent woman is convicted?

Vote for murder is based on a real poisoning by Suffolk murderess, Mary Cage. Set in Ipswich in 1911, the novel brings together suffragism in the early 1900’s and a grisly, Victorian murder. Vote for Murder will appeal to readers of historical fiction, genealogical mysteries and Suffolk based crime books.

Available in the Amazon Kindle store now http://tinyurl.com/pbpzehr and will follow in paperback shortly.

Coming Soon…….

Posted on September 9, 2015 by jacquib333

Vote For Murder

Vote for murder is based on a real poisoning by Suffolk murderess, Mary Cage. Set in Ipswich in 1911, the novel brings together suffragism in the early 1900’s and a grisly, Victorian murder. Due for publication at the end of September, Vote for Murder will appeal to readers of historical fiction, genealogical mysteries and Suffolk based crime books.

Calorean Bestiary #5 – Nightslade Hares

Posted on July 13, 2015 by jacquib333

Nightslade hares come out at night and feast on the nyam nyam root. They are several times bigger than normal Calorean hares, have pointed fangs, red eyes and a bad attitude towards intruders.

Through almost closed eyelids he saw a rapid movement in the grass ahead and the biggest hare he had ever seen lurched suddenly through the grass.

“Are they all that big?” exclaimed Beau.

“Mostly,” said Arnold, “although the adults are bigger.”

Calorean Bestiary #4 – Mothmen

Posted on July 1, 2015 by jacquib333

Mothmen are usually found in the Nightslade forest on the edge of Snaggletown. Renowned for the excessive amount of time they spend on personal grooming, mothmen are impossibly vain, selfish to the core and have few redeeming qualities.

“It’s all right for you,” she said to Arnold. “There seems to be no limit to the amount of preening you do. Don’t you ever get bored?”

“My good looks are no accident” snapped Arnold. “I look good because I bother. It wouldn’t do you any harm to wash your hair.”

When Arnold met the rat……

Posted on June 8, 2015 by jacquib333

At the end of the conversation, the rat stood on his haunches and shook Skyle’s hand, grinning a toothy grin.

“Good to have met you” he squeaked and, looking backwards with a wink, he ran off into the night.

Arnold glared at Skyle. “What nonsense have you cooked up with that egotistical rodent?” he asked.

Calorean Bestiary #3

Posted on May 11, 2015 by jacquib333

Man Eating Ray

She took off her boots and stockings. Holding her dress high she waded in. The water was crystal clear. Silver finned fish snaked through bunches of red sea weed and a family of shepherd lobsters marched across the shingle. She watched in fascination as the largest one used its claws to round up a passing gaggle of sea snails.

“Look at this Arnold,” she laughed pointing to the lobsters.

“Most amusing,” he said, looking down the beach.

“What’s that?” he asked pointing to the shore.

“I can’t see anything, “replied Skyle continuing to watch the lobsters at work.

“Look, the beach is moving,” cried Arnold jabbing his finger towards the shore line.

“Well I can’t see……..”

Then suddenly she could see. Almost the entire expanse of the beach trembled momentarily.

“I think we should leave,” she whispered.

Without further warning, the beach shook itself spraying grey sand into the air and hurtled towards the water.

Skyle’s scream pierced the air.

“Run,” she cried tearing across the gravelled floor of the cavern, ripping the soles of her feet as she scrambled up the track.

Arnold joined her at the top of the path and they looked towards the pool. Half in and half out of the water lurked a flat, black, pulsating piscine creature the size of Skyle’s village. Two narrow eyes stared from a spiny head, its long pointed fangs visible even from a distance.

“It’s a man eating ray,” breathed Skyle.

Hacked Off

Posted on April 8, 2015 by jacquib333

My other WordPress site has just been hacked; attacked by malicious software & closed down without warning yesterday, just like that. My web site host sent a blunt and somewhat complicated email last night; then relieved me of my monthly renewal fee this morning.

I’m still smarting at the injustice of it. I use an Antivirus; I am ultra- selective when uploading files & I run regular scans so it doesn’t seem fair that some backdoor virus has sneaked its way into the guts of my website. I backed it up, of course – but apparently I am not allowed to use the backups in case the site gets re-infected.

Did I mention it’s a genealogy site? A large genealogy site – I would tell you how large only I no longer have access to the statistics. I can still look longingly at it using the Wayback machine but it’s not the same.

I haven’t uploaded any new data for about 2 years. The site was large enough then but after 2 years of constant research & some fortunate removal of brick walls, I now have 43,892 individuals on my working tree. Take away those who may be living (bad manners to publish the living online) and those with whom I have a historical but not genetic interest, and there are still probably around 40,000 individual relatives. (Does that make me a record breaker in family history terms?)

It took me forever to upload half as many records two years ago and website hosting isn’t free, so I wonder whether it is worth all the time and frustration to put it back together again? And is there any point in a world where websites are destroyed just because somebody can?

I am a writer as well as a genealogist and am currently editing my first book for adults. It is a murder mystery set in the heart of Suffolk, beginning in the 1850’s and concluding during the 1900’s when the suffragettes were active in East Anglia. It is not only based on a true story, but features some of my relatives on www.eastanglianancestors.co.uk – or who would be featured if the site still existed. I would have enjoyed bringing the two ideas together.

So I’m licking my wounds and wondering whether to go through the painful process of reviving my dead website – or let it rest in peace. I am undecided; feedback would help. If you have relatives in Norfolk or Suffolk; if the names Bird, Fairweather, Corben, Dennis or Kersey have any meaning to you, drop me a line. My fragile ego needs stroking before I decide to grit my teeth and get on with it, or consign the website to history.

Update: It has taken a few days to get over myself, but I have stopped sulking long enough to re-instate the website & although it has taken the best part of 4 days, it was nowhere near as difficult as I first thought. The original website is back. I will try to update the last 2 years worth of research in the near future.

Calorean Bestiary #2

Posted on February 18, 2015 by jacquib333

Wragliths

Hailing from the town of Spittlocke, Wragliths are practical jokers with no appreciation of boundaries. Beer is brewed with giggle juice and Dormouse surprise, a staple on the menu at Donovyn’s Inn. Don’t be tempted to try the confused honey cakes and never shake hands with a Wraglith.

“Good evening,” said Donovyn shaking Beau’s hand. “Brrr,” said Beau as an icy pain shot up his arm. He glanced down to see an ice sleeve cover his arm from fingertip to shoulder. A few seconds later it broke in half and sleeve shaped ice forms smashed to the ground. Donovyn chuckled. “The old ice trick,” he said proudly. “It never fails.”