When I wrote the above title I couldn’t help hearing Cliff Richard singing the song from “Summer Holiday” which came out in 1963 in my head. The film filled me with a desire to go abroad, so fortunately due to my father-in-law having a win of several hundred pounds on the pools that year, John and I were able to spend a fortnight in Majorca for our honeymoon the following year. There was a popular song around then called “Majorca, the Isle of Love.”
But I digress. My big news is that my new website is up at www.junefrancis.com. Alleluia!
My son Tim has worked like a Trojan getting it done in just over a week. I played my part in typing up all the blurbs from my books, as well as various other items that I hope readers will find interesting. Also I had the task of choosing photographs for the background of the various pages.
We decided not to go for the obvious when it came to photos by having beautiful shots of the Liver building and the waterfront. Instead we chose other lovely places in Liverpool’s fair city. Such as Newsham Park lake with the Seamen’s Orphanage hidden amongst the trees. The orphanage gets a mention in Flowers on the Mersey, Tilly’s Story and Sunshine and Showers and the park features in several of my books.
There are also shots of Abercrombie Square gardens as background on the saga pages. A couple of scenes from The Pawnbroker’s Niece took place in the gardens and one of my main characters buys a house in the area. It is now part of Liverpool University and during the Thirties when the book is set there is a scene where students are collecting money for Rag Week. An event which I remember as a teenager during the Fifties. If I remember aright the money went to support local hospitals.
There were several members of the Abercrombie family that achieved some fame, including Sir Ralph Abercrombie who fought in the Napoleonic Wars.
On the About June page there is a background photo of a row of merchants houses built during a time when trade made Liverpool affluent for some and resulted in workers from here, there and everywhere flooding into Liverpool seeking their fortune that many sadly did not find, including several of my ancestors. There are also several photographs of me taken at various stages of my life, including one that appeared in the Liverpool Echo in 1949.
For my historical novels we decided on a photograph of part of the ruined Ludlow Castle in Shropshire which my husband and I visited when researching The Man Behind the Façade which was set in Tudor times.
Having finished my latest ms Many a Tear has to Fall which is with my agent, I’m hoping to get back to the ms I started writing last year about my family, ancestry and Liverpool history, as well as hopefully have some time away from my desk and enjoy the summer, weather permitting. I’m also hoping to catch up on some reading and have taken up the latest craze of colouring books for adults!
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