Hello and welcome to my latest newsletter! I hope you have all had a good summer, wherever you are in the world. Here in Kent we have been very lucky with lots of unusually nice weather, much to my joy! Welcome to new subscribers. Some of you will have joined the mailing list via one of the competitions being run via KingSumo and so this newsletter would have been sent without a personal greeting, but rather with your email address at the top. If you would like this to be changed, please drop me an email with your full name and location (state, if USA, or country) and I will duly amend! Current writing project(s) As mentioned in the previous newsletter, I am currently working on three writing projects at once! The first, a post-WW1 novella, is almost finished. Once it is completed, the Kindle version will be available for pre-order, ready for release on the centenary of the Armistice (11/11/18). It will be available in both Kindle and paperback formats. The second project is the short prequel story to Hiding the Past. This is also coming on well, being around a quarter written. I hope that this will be released in November. The third project, which will be entitled Finding Henry, was almost finished… I say that it was almost finished as, in the process of finding the identity of my adopted half-aunt’s unknown biological father, I have stumbled upon another interesting and most unexpected avenue which needs to be explored! Consequently, I have stacks of paperwork, family trees, DNA matches and certificates dotted around the house and my writing cabin while I work through the issue! So, unfortunately, my plan to have this book released in the early autumn will probably not happen. The Lost Ancestor audiobook I’m very pleased to say that the audiobook version of The Lost Ancestor is now available through Amazon, Audible and iTunes, joining Hiding the Past and The Spyglass File. The Orange Lilies is currently in production. You can listen to a sample of the story online and anyone joining Audible gets their first audiobook free. It is also worth remembering that if you already have the Kindle version of the book, you get a good discount on the audiobook! |
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Upcoming Events Having attended several genealogy events this year and thoroughly enjoyed meeting many of you, I have signed up for several events next year. There are a lot of major conferences and exhibiotns coming up, so hopefully I will see some of you at the various venues. I will be selling and signing my books at all of the following and I will also be giving two talks at THE Genealogy Show in Birmingham. My first talk (11.30am-12.30pm, Friday 7th June) will be about the process of writing Genealogical Crime Mysteries and the second talk (3.30pm-4.30pm, Saturday 8th June) will be about my book (currently in progress!) Finding Henry, detailing the process and records used in finding my half-aunt’s biological father. Tickets for the show and my talks can be booked now on THE Genealogy Show website. 22nd September 2018 – The London Family History Show, Sandown Racecourse 27th February - 2nd March 2019 – Rootstech, Salt Lake City 26th April – 27th April 2019 – Family Tree Live, London 7th June – 8th June 2019 – THE Genealogy Show 29th June 2019 – Kent Family History Society Open Day 24th October – 26th October 2019 – Rootstech London Signed books If you are interested in purchasing signed copies of my books but are unable to attend any of the genealogy events, they can be easily purchased from my website and sent anywhere in the world. The books can be personalised and dedicated, making ideal Christmas presents, which I’m sure you are all thinking about in September! Click here for further information. Trips & Visits I had a very busy but enjoyable few weeks over the summer, beginning with a relaxing and hot ten-day stay in the South of France. Whilst there, I visited some local sites, including Nice, Monaco and Ile Sainte-Marguerite (where the Man in the Iron Mask was incarcerated) and had some time to write, relax, read and swim in the Mediterranean. |
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Outside the Palace in Monaco (below right) A stunning little village called Carros (bottom left) My nightly view (left)! |
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After France, I undertook a three-day research trip to Belgium, visiting several museums and war cemeteries for some final pieces of research for the post-WW1 novella, which I am writing. I had been to many of the museums before, but it was the first time that I have visited the Passchendaele Museum, which I would thoroughly recommend for anybody visiting the area, especially those with relatives lost on the Ypres Salient. The day after visiting the museum and whilst still out there, I emailed their archive facility and received an almost immediate response with precise details of where one of my relatives had been killed, which enabled me to visit the exact spot where the British trench line had run and where my relative had been killed. You might notice that I’m being a little vague about his identity! It is because his death is connected to the novella which I’m writing and I don’t want to let any spoilers slip out! Needless to say that it was a very humbling experience to be standing in a peaceful field in Belgium with no hint of those horrendous events of one hundred years ago. |
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Standing exactly on the frontline of July 1917 (top left) The Menin Gate, waiting for the Last Post (top right) Essex Farm Dressing Station (bottom left) Essex Farm Cemetery (bottom right) |
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Whilst on the subject of WW1, if you have any ancestors who were killed in the conflict, the Every Man Remembered website needs you! Set up in 2014 by the British Legion, the idea was to have each one of the 1,060,174 people killed remembered in some way. It’s very easy to do and can be as simple as a single line of remembrance. If you are fortunate enough to be in possession of photographs and personal information, then this can be included, too. I was saddened to read see that just under half the total number are yet to be remembered. Secret Lives I have not long been home from a long weekend in Leicestershire, attending the Secret Lives genealogy conference. It was a very jam-packed weekend, full of insightful and interesting talks on the subject of ‘the hidden voices of our ancestors’. Between talks, I met with so many fellow genealogists and signed copies of my books. I got to meet lots of great people, many of whom I have interacted with on social media for some time now, but had never met before. Angela Buckley, Dr Nick Barratt and historian Dr Janina Rameriz gave excellent keynote speeches to conclude each day. I don’t know when the next conference will be, but I would thoroughly recommend it! |
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The lovely Helen Tovey, Editor of Family Tree magazine (centre left) and the great historians, Dr Nick Barratt (bottom left) and Dr Janina Rameriz (bottom right) |
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I think that’s all from me, at the moment. Best wishes to you all, Nathan |
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