I have a new summer book out! Sunset over the Cherry Orchard is set in beautiful Andalusia in Spain. Cherries, flamenco and fiestas!
‘A charming and delightful slice of escapist romantic fiction’ Heat
Books about food, love, family and fun
I had a fabulous time at the Romantic Novelists’ Association annual conference in July with great pals Katie Fforde, Judy Astley, Bernadine Kennedy, Jill Mansell and Milly Johnson. Fun was had!!
Summer is drawing to an end. My teenagers are returning to school and starting college and Uni after a long, hot summer. I always find this time of year tinged with melancholy and excitement. The end of summer and yet new beginnings on the horizon. It has been a gloriously warm summer and I’ve loved spending it in my Writing Pad in West Wales. I write early, walk the dogs on the sandy beach and often have lunch in my favourite café with a little glass of rosé or watch the sun go down with a gin and tonic and good friends by the water’s edge.
August saw the release of my new book Sunset Over the Cherry Orchard, set in Andalucía in Spain. It has cherries, flamenco and fiestas and is about holding on to your dreams and making them happen. I am so delighted so many of you have enjoyed this book and have taken Beti, her dreams and flamenco to your hearts. Thank you for the lovely reviews you left on Amazon.
And if you enjoyed Sunset Over the Cherry Orchard, hopefully you’ll be happy to learn my winter warmer, A Winter Beneath the Stars is going to be published as an eBook in just four weeks’ time. Just when we’re ready to cwtch up in the evenings. It’ll be out in paperback in December if you’re looking for a last-minute Christmas present! It’s set in Swedish Lapland. It’s not a Christmas book, it’s a winter one, so you don’t have to rush to read it before the festive season is over. It’s about enjoying everything that winter brings as we follow Halley on the journey of a lifetime.
I’ve also been in Sicily and am now editing next summer’s book, set amongst the Sicilian lemon groves and researching another winter book closer to home this time.
So, enjoy September, toast the summer that has been and the adventures to come as we slip into Autumn.
Jo
xxx
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Here it is! My new short story that I wrote last summer on my romantic river cruise. Follow Ella as she journeys through beautiful Belgium and the enchanting Netherlands in search of adventure, forgotten love and of course, chocolate. You can download it for free from the Titan Travel UK website.
You can download it here
Hello all!
Well, it’s December and I hope you’re all starting to feel festive. But if you’re looking for a bit of summer sunshine, The Honey Farm on the Hill is still sitting on the shelves in Tesco’s or can be ordered from Amazon or ask your independent book shop to order it in for you. There’s more sunshine to come in my new book, Spanish sunshine this time. Sunset over the Cherry Orchard which is ready to go and I absolutely love the cover for it, as much as I love the book itself. It’s my favourite so far! That’ll be out in the summer 2018 and you can pre-order it now.
Having finished writing Sunset Over The Cherry Orchard, it was time for me to start a new book and in November I set off on my next adventure. This time I wanted to write about something wintery and so my favourite travelling companion, Katie Fforde, and me set off for snowy Lapland.
We flew to Stockholm and then on to Kiruna in the north of Sweden where we were greeted by snow, lots of snow! We had the most fantastic few days up there in a place called Reindeer Lodge. We stayed in one of five cabins in the middle of the snowy woods. There was a corral of reindeer that we helped feed, a wood fired sauna, a cabin where we ate our meals and two outside loos! Trips to the loo in the night as the snow fell like glitter, covering over any tracks we’d made earlier were an adventure all on their own and one I will remember forever!
We went out on a photography safari, built a fire and had fika (coffee and cake) by a river. We rode across the ice road, over a frozen lake, pulled on a reindeer hide covered sleigh by a snow mobile. I rode a sleigh, towed by a reindeer, at speed! And we learnt all about the Sami way of life, the traditions of the reindeer herders. We also travelled through the woods pulled by huskies and ate lunch in a lavu, a wigwam like tent, with a fire in the middle and smoke curling up and escaping through the roof. We visited the Ice Hotel and drank cold gins from ice carved glasses. In the evenings, we ate slow cooked moose, arctic char, a bit like brown trout and salted and smoked reindeer. And at the end of the day, after dinner, our lovely hosts would light the sauna for us and then leave and we would be alone, in the woods, with the reindeer, knowing that the moose were roaming in the woods round and about. And still the snow fell like glitter. It was magical. On our final day, the snow plough came and dug us out and it was with real sadness that we left reindeer lodge. I could have stayed forever!
So now, I’m writing my winter Swedish Lapland book and preparing for Christmas with the family. Yesterday we went on the great Thomas Family Christmas tree hunt to the local Christmas tree farm and if you want to see how we got on, pop over to my facebook author page https://www.facebook.com/JoThomasAuthor/
In the meantime, here’s a few pictures from snowy Lapland to give a little taste of what’s to come! And remember at this busy old time of year to give yourself the gift of time, time to take a break and read a really good book! I’m going to be diving into The Christmas Stocking and other stories by @KatieFforde.
Merry Christmas!
Jo
xxx
x
Hello all, well autumnal is well and truly here. This morning on my dog walk there were squirrels dashing here, there and everywhere in the branches overhanging the country lane where I live. We had a big delivery of logs at the weekend and spent Saturday morning stacking them all into the 200 year old bake house in our garden, and the wood burners in the house have now been lit and will stay in now until the warm weather arrives next year.
It’s been a busy time for me. As you might have seen on Facebook, I was invited onboard a river cruiser back in August, to be their writer in residence for the week. I had an absolute ball and river cruising has opened up a whole new way of travelling to me. It’s such a great way to see places, meet people and such fun! I wrote a short story inspired by the places I visited and the food I tasted along the way. That will be free for you to read on the Titan Travel UK website very soon, I hope!
The Honey Farm on the Hill came out in August and is still sitting on the bookshop shelves, bringing some summer sunshine to readers as the evenings draw in. I’ve finished next summer’s book, Sunset Over The Cherry Orchard; flamenco and fiestas set in amongst the cherry orchards of Southern Spain and I have to say, it’s my favourite so far!
And with the final full stop on my Spanish book in place, I’ve taken some time to visit my favourite writing retreats, Chez Castillon in South West France and my writing pad in West Wales, both glorious and reinvigorating.
But now, my suitcase is out again as I pack for my next exciting research trip with my lovely friend, author Katie Fforde as we head to Swedish Lapland. They’ll be photos and facebook lives to follow so keep an eye out.
In the meantime, light the fires, pour yourselves a glass of something lovely and curl up with a good book!
Love
Jo
x
The gorgeous cover for my new book The Honey Farm on the Hill.
Sometimes you have to go back before you can move forwards…
One magical summer Nell fell in love in the mountains of Crete and her life changed for ever.
Eighteen years later, Nell is ready for a new beginning. When she sees a honey farm in the same hilltop town has lost its bees, the opportunity is impossible to resist. Welcomed back to Greece by the warm sun and aroma of wild thyme, Nell finds memories of her past at every turn. But much has changed since she’s been away.
As Nell throws herself into restoring the honey farm, she starts to unlock the truth of what happened all those years ago. She soon learns that the course of true love – just like Cretan honey – can be wild and sweet. And well worth the wait…
Jo Thomas takes you there.
Well, as I sit here, it’s raining outside, the wind is blowing the trees, leaves are beginning to swirl and fall and it feels like summer is taking her leave. Autumn is knocking on the door and today I will be cooking roast chicken for the family as we prepare for a new school term. Whilst the summer ends there are new beginnings to be had. New school terms and new adventures to go on.
This summer I had a new book out, The Honey Farm on the Hill and I’m delighted so many of you have enjoyed it. I had a fab time filming with my friends from James Villas who ran a competition to win signed copies. But not only has Crete been on my mind. I’ve just put the final full stop on next summer’s story, Sunset Over The Cherry Orchard, set amongst the cherry orchards of Southern Spain. Katie Fforde and I had a fabulous research trip earlier this year to a beautiful James Villa house in a hilltop town in Andalusia.
I’ve also been cruising! I’m just back from a wonderful river cruise with Titan Travel UK, cruising from Amsterdam through Belgium and back again where I was writer in residence on board. As we cruised, I wrote a short story which will be available really soon and I’ll keep you posted. My favourite memory from that trip will be dancing the night away on board ship, to the backdrop of the lights of Rotterdam. Just stunning.
And of course, I’m been down at The Writing Pad where I take glorious walks across the sands and enjoy sundowners looking out to sea. But now, the summer is over. Change is in the air. The kids return to their studies and for me, a new beginning too. A new story to tell, a book to write. But this time, time for something a little different. Katie Fforde and I are packing for our next research trip….but this time it’s all about the snow and ice!
Keeping reading and writing! And enjoy the autumn when it gets here and the new beginnings she brings!
Jo
xx
This is my lovely cover for The Honey Farm on the Hill. I love it! The mountains of Crete are bursting with secrets!
The gorgeous cover for my new book The Honey Farm on the Hill.