Whilst I was recuperating I decided to reschedule some of my earlier posts to reach the wider audience that they have now. They’ve been ‘made-over’ to include the YouTube videos that are now a standard feature and the booklist has been brought up to date.

Although I’m now officially back, I still need time to organise my new ‘Fives’ as I held off sending out invites as I didn’t know when I’d be back in the fray. Consequently, I’m keeping my revisited posts as a feature until the end of the year. That gives my invitees time to respond and allows me time to get those posts up and running. I already have several up my sleeve so I can guarantee getting 2022 off to a great start!

Today I’m delighted to feature friend and author Glynis Peters, to share her secrets with us. I was lucky to meet Glynis at the Theakston’s Crime Festival in Harrogate, and delighted that we’ve kept in regular touch since.

Glynis writes historical WWII novels with a mystery/suspense/romantic twist.

Glynis is a retired NHS nurse who lives by the sea in Essex with her husband of forty-plus years, they have three adult children.

​When not writing Glynis enjoys fishing with her husband, cross-stitch, and playing with her granddaughters who live nearby. Her son lives with his family in Vancouver, Canada, hence the Canadian heroes in her books.

Over to Glynis:

Which five pieces of music/songs would you include in the soundtrack to your life and why?

Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel. I walked down the aisle as Mrs Smy, to that song. The Vicar was very trendy in the ’70’s and allowed me to have my way!

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Summertime by Gershwin is the first song my daughter mastered on the clarinet. It was hauntingly beautiful and became my favourite song. As a surprise, she walked down the aisle with her dad to the music and gave me the biggest grin. It was her parting gift to me as she entered into a new life.

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Run by Leona Lewis, this song came out when my dad could no longer understand the telephone. Alzheimer’s had tightened its grip. I lived in Cyprus and he was in a nursing home in the UK. He was so confused at times and all I had left was his voice. When he could no longer hold a conversation, we sang our song, She Wears Red Feathers. Run came on the radio the last time I ever held a conversation with him, I knew it was the last time and was heartbroken. The words of the song struck home. I felt they were from him. As I write this it is the fifth anniversary of his death but that song can have him at my side in seconds.

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String Bridge by my dear friend in Greece, Jessica Bell. Jessica is an author/songwriter/singer (Keep Shelley in Athens), and book cover designer. The song was the first time I’d heard her sing and I was hooked.

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Finally, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, it was my son and daughter-in-law’s first dance. They left the next day for a new life in Canada. They are still there and I miss them terribly but the song transports me to a very special day in my life.

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What five things (apart from family and friends) would you find it hard to live without.

My mobile ‘phone.

My laptop.

My car.

My specs.

My memory.

However, I’m not a material girl, these just keep me connected with my writing world and that’s a special place in my life!

Give five pieces of advice to your younger self?

Be bolder, braver and believe in yourself.

Regret nothing, simply learn from mistakes and move on.

Those who hurt you are not worth your tears, step away.

Go follow your dream. Nursing was your vocation and pleased your parents, writing was your dream.

Don’t wait until you are fifty to write your first novel!

Tell us five things that most people don’t know about you

I danced at the Albert Hall to Lord of the Dance.

I’m addicted to fruit flavoured sweets.

I’ve never read Alice in Wonderland and have a phobia about certain characters.

I’m a Hallowe’en baby, born on the cusp.

I adore primates.

Tell us five things you’d still like to do or achieve.

To visit Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and many other counties in the UK. Born here, travelled & lived abroad, but never visited my own country!

To have my children / grandchildren, in the same room at the same time for at least one day.

To have Christmas in Canada.

Canadian Hallowe’en is happening this year for my 60^th, so that is one off the bucket list!

To enjoy a break with my three girlfriends from school. Over fifty years of friendship deserves celebrating.

Glynis’ Books

(NB This post features Affiliate links from which I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases)

The Secret Orphan

Keep her secret.

Keep her safe.

On the 14th November 1940, Hitler’s bombs rain down on Coventry. From the rubble of a bombed-out family home, a young girl is saved…

As the Nazis’ relentless bombs fall during the Blitz of Coventry, six-year-old Rose Sherbourne finds herself orphaned and under the guardianship of a Cornish farmer’s daughter, Elenor Cardew.

Elenor knows that the only way to protect spirited Rose is to leave the city and make a new life for themselves away from harm. But soon Elenor discovers that Hitler’s firestorm is not the only thing she must fear when she learns a devastating secret about Rose…

With Rose’s life in imminent danger, Elenor turns to the only person she can trust to keep the deadly secret, heroic Canadian pilot, Jackson St John. And amidst the destruction of war, an unlikely romance blossoms as they find a way to protect the child they have both grown to love…and each other.

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The Orphan Thief

When all seems lost…

As Hitler’s bombs rain down on a battered and beleaguered Britain, Ruby Shadwell is dealt the most devastating blow – her entire family lost during the Coventry Blitz.

Hope still survives…

Alone and with the city in chaos, Ruby is determined to survive this war and rebuild her life. And a chance encounter with street urchin Tommy gives Ruby just the chance she needs. 

And love will overcome…

Because Tommy brings with him Canadian Sergeant Jean-Paul Clayton. Jean-Paul is drawn to Ruby and wants to help her, but Ruby cannot bear another loss. Can love bloom amidst the ruins? Or will the war take Ruby’s last chance at happiness too?

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The Forgotten Orphan

A moving and compelling historical novel about love, second chances and resilience in the darkest of times.

Southampton 1940

Abandoned when she was tiny, Maisie Reynolds was separated from her twin brother and forced to grow up in Holly Bush orphanage – a place where she has never known love or kindness.

But with the world at war and Hitler’s devastating bombs coming ever closer, fate has other plans for Maisie and a secret from her past changes everything.

When she meets handsome Canadian paratrooper, Cam, Maisie learns that love might not be lost to her after all – but not before her past life and D Day bring a tragic twist to her happiness.

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The Red Cross Orphans (published on 30th November)

A journey into war, but not one she’ll take alone…

Orphan Kitty Pattison is young, naïve and ready to do her bit for the war effort when she volunteers with the Red Cross and pledges to help those most in need. It’s one of the most nerve-wracking moments of her life, but then she meets fellow volunteers Joan Norfolk and Trixie Dunn, and a bond of friendship is forged in the fire of life on the wards during the Blitz.

Days are spent nursing injured soldiers back to life and nights are spent anticipating bombs falling from the sky and then trawling through the wreckage to save who she can, but the light and laughter she finds with Jo and Trix see Kitty through the darkest hours.

And when Kitty starts growing closer to handsome Canadian doctor Michael McCarthy, it’s her friends who help her to find the courage to realise that no matter what has happened or what is to come, we all deserve love…