New Novel Writer
Romantic Fiction Bookshop : by John Morey
Classic storytelling from an author toned by the seasons, with the passion and freshness of a teenager.
John Morey writes:
"I based my pen name on my late father - Kenneth
William Sercombe (Morey) - partly because I have fictionalised many of the stories he told me when I was of 'tender age', also to differentiate 'me' from 'KWS' in terms of my normal 'seat of the pants' style, story origins, and the writing process."
"Blaby Chronicles is a collection of short stories based on and located in the village where I was born. Lakota Whispers in the Wind was inspired by my dad's story - apparently true - of my grandfather meeting Sitting Bull!
John Morey writing as Kenneth William Sercombe
A Lifetime of experiences
- crammed into five years of novel writing.
"Followers" of fiction writers are always asking 'how much of 'you' is in the story?
The reply is invariably that 'it's not autobiographical' - but that doesn't mean that there isn't a lot of the writer in virtually every scene. It's inevitable - but a good thing.
That's what makes the storyline - and the characters - all the more 'believable.
The Sign of the Rose is where it all starts, tracing Rosalee and Sean - a young couple with Irish Romani origins - as they flee after the Potato Famine, settling first in Tavistock in their quest for lost family.
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Adventure awaits - and threatens - in the shape of highwaymen, brigands and a French libertine as fortune eventually takes them to Leicester.
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On the way they are joined by a Hanoverian stallion who becomes both guardian and saviour until the final end, in a not-so-typical mystical fashion.
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The dramatic climax in Aylestone (then a village), with Glen Parva and Blaby as the backdrop, adds reality to the a romance story.
Embracing the historical and industrial changes of that era, the author breathes an authenticity into the otherwise fictitious characters and events.
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Along with Rose: The Missing Years and Finding Rose, it is released as an e-book and quality easy to read paperback.
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The Black Rose of Blaby starts with a rites of passage journey for four teenage boys in the rural village south of Leicester.
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They meet their 'first loves' in a derelict farm one fateful night - which proves to be fulfilling for three of them, but doubly significant for the fourth. Ending in loss.
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Overlay all this with a classic story of true love threatened by family forces and the ravages of war.
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It embraces the pre-war 1930's, the war years (but in Ireland) and on to the late 1960's where 'Rose; The Missing Years' and 'Finding Rose' take over.
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The locations are principally the village of Blaby but include Aylestone when it too was a rural village.
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Romani life is also the background for main events and characters - full of mystique and mysticism.
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Woven into the story we have the country traditions prevalent in days gone by, the practices of farm life since disappeared in an industry dominated now by machinery and automation.
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Rose: The Missing Years.
Early events in Finding Rose are mirrored here, but from Rose's perspective.
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Discover the challenges that faced Rose and the questions left unanswered for the later years during which John builds a new life in the West Country.
There he struggles to find romance and fighting the pull of his lost first love.
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We also learn the significance of Rose's relationship with fellow gypsy, Sean, against the issues and influences shaping the Romani life during a changing world in the 1960's and '70's.
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The lead up to one dramatic event takes place in Blaby itself - above is The Bull's Head (right), opposite of which is the grocer, Worthingtons, next to the village cobbler, Mr Bellamy.
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Most of this romantic story is set in the village of Blaby near Leicester, introducing historical and cultural events impacting the lives of local villagers and city life.
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As a romantic 'New Adult' novel, without dystopian overtones, there is a tinge of the mystical in this build up to the full story depicted in 'Finding Rose'.
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'Love should never be this hard' but life balances misfortune with good.
Finding Rose begins with Rose and John's meeting as teenagers in a Romani camp in a 1960's village of Blaby, just south of Leicester.
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The Ford on Mill Lane, Blaby where Rose shares her first moments with John
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Like any love story, they form a union born out of folklore and nourished by Rose's Irish cultural background.
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As their relationship develops it reaches a critical point - transported to the West Country.
The story switches between Teignmouth, Plymouth, and St Ives in Cornwall - during which we follow John's rites of passage as his career progresses.
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Circumstance cause Rose and John to take different directions.
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Then, on one chance visit to Plymouth market, John has an unexpected shock... a new encounter with the gypsy love of his life, Rose.
This classic romance take a new turn with paranormal influences.
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But what happened to Rose during the seven years they were apart?
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That remains a mystery that unfolds in Rose: The Missing Years ...and still leaves further stories to be told.
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Three years into marriage, Eric and Maggie take off to Wyoming for adventures on a dude ranch, where they encounter wild mustang, bears, wolves, eagles - and the maverick, Cary Butler - and where Wild Hearts Roam Free.
Wild Hearts Come Home features a different young couple from 'Roam Free', but still with an ambitious pioneer spirit to explore the opportunities of the 'new wild west'.
Both feature Lakota Sioux philosophies; both celebrate the 'revisionist western'.
< Revisionist westerns probably began to replace the standard Roy Rogers and Gene Autry model from the late 1960's on.
Soldier Blue and The Wild Bunch certainly kicked into touch the cozy view of the American West, alongside Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood.
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Latterly, Yellowstone, the Longmire series and Lonesome Dove carry on the new traditions of 'realism' of storyline as well as portrayal of character and location.
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The 'WILD HEARTS' series offers a softer approach celebrating
Native American tradition.
* Sometimes you need to find out who you were before you discover who you are
* Frank and Ruth reunite with a second chances; to follow their dreams, their hearts - or both?
* If we are haunted by events and people from the past, do we resist? or let them in?
Click through from each book cover to an excerpt and more details...
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Imagine Rose singing - against scenes taken from each novel - free to listen
Each song below is written and performed by Milly Cutler. Available here kind permission Copyright 2020 Emily Cutler; all rights reserved; no unauthorised use or broadcasting.
Rose is missing....who? Imagine the scene by the gypsy camp fire. Picking up her guitar, Rose starts to strum the first chords of a song she has written.
Rose is parted from John and takes her frustration out in song - from a scene in 'Rose The Missing Years'
Sean and Rose are experiencing issues in their relationship - during which Rose pours out her emotions.
