This is Jensini, who has sent these pictures from Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. She got in touch after reading BABY AT BUSHMAN'S CREEK, and here she is with the book to prove it. Thank you, Jensini ... and some more recent books are on their way to you!
Jensini lives in Colombo, but has relatives in Kandy, and this photo of Victoria Lake is taken from behind their house. It's beautiful country up there, as you can see.
I spent five months on expedition in Cameroon in 1988/9 and loved every minute of it. I was based in the expedition headquarters in Buea, in the South West Province, where I spent a lot of time in the police station organising visas and passes to get us through road blocks, but I did have a chance to visit most of the projects.
Mundemba, on the edge of the Korup national park, was one of the bigger sites. On my first night one of the scientists showed me a web, in the middle of which was the most enormous spider I have ever seen - easily the size of my hand. Not a place for arachnaphobes!
On Mount Cameroon. My kind of driving!
Natasha Oakley and Trish Wylie went to Rome recently - imagine what a good time that must have been! It turns out that Natasha had a copy of A Whirlwind Engagement with her, so here it is by the Trevi Fountain! You can see the fountain in all its glory, minus the Jessica Hart, as well, in the photo below. Thanks, girls - I'm thrilled you found a moment to think of me!
Here's the fountain minus the Jessica Hart...and keep on scrolling down for two more recently added photos sent in by readers with a Jessica Hart book in their hands!
I was delighted to get this photo from Hungary. Zsuzsa is a teacher who works at a school right in the heart of Budapest. Here she is reading "Marriage Reunited" while she waits for the tram on the banks of the Danube, with the Hungarian Parliament in the background. Many thanks, Zsuzsa - and a book is on its way to you!
Jasmine Dienes-Stevens reading "Cinderella's Wedding Wish" in her back garden on a gorgeous March day when Spring seemed as if it might be coming after all ... Jasmine has worked in Australia and Abu Dhabi, but now lives in West Sussex. Thank you so much for the photo, Jasmine!
Chrissy Dionne has sent a couple of photos of where she lives in Oregon - another place that's very different from York! Chrissy says : "I know where I live is quite different from most people! I actually live about 10 miles outside of a town and honest to God the town doesn't even have a grocery store. And of course there aren't many people who's everyday wear is sweats, a t-shirt and barn boots!"
Well, maybe not the barn boots, Chrissy, but sweats and a T shirt makes for good writing wear too!
Meanwhile, back in the UK, here are a couple of pictures of Wales for a change. They're from Angela Jones who says Symonds Yat is one of her favourite places It is, she says "a few miles from where I live in Chepstow, not too far away from where Wordsworth wrote a few poems near Tintern Abbey. The Saracen`s Head, pictured, does great food and a fine selection of ales and red wine. Sadly, they haven`t paid me for promoting their wares!"
Angela continues: "Wales is really beautiful, but I don`t think we advertise ourselves well to the rest of the world. This I have found out from Norwegian friends and family, who have heard a lot about Scotland but nothing about Wales. They even thought Tom Jones, Richard Burton and Shirley Bassey were English!! Words cannot express the hurt."
I spent three weeks in Egypt in 1983 and loved every minute of it. What a fascinating country! We went from Cairo with its wonderful bazaar, the Khan-el-Khalili, up to Aswan and Abu Simbel, and then back to Luxor where we saw the temple at Karnak and cycled out to the Valley of the Kings, past the Colossi of Memnon. In the heat of the day, all the tour groups had gone, and we had the tombs to ourselves. I'd love to go back one day and see it all again.
Louise took a copy of Christmas Dreams (which is out in the UK now and features Kissing Santa) on holiday to Argentina with her. Here she is with it in Ushuaia, on the tip of Tierra del Fuego, which must be the furthest south any of my books have ever been (although obviously if you know of one that's been to Antarctica, I would love to hear from you!) Thank you, Louise!
Ellen lives in South Texas and has sent this picture of the bay about a mile from her house. I am really envious of her living so close to the sea. Such a contrast with where I live in the centre of York. I love the sense of history here, but sometimes I do yearn for a wide horizon!
It's often a surprise to discover how wild some of the scenery in the UK can be. This photo (and the one below) is the north coast of Cornwall. I walked the South West Coast Path from Padstow to St Ives to mark my 50th birthday and loved being by the sea.
Cornwall
I was delighted when Indonesia became the 50th country to register above because it gave me a chance to go back and look at all the photos I had from when I worked there in the 1984-5 - hard to believe it's nearly 25 years ago now! I worked as an English teacher in Jakarta, but managed to travel quite a bit when I was there. This market or 'pasar' was in Sulawesi.
This little village called Legonpakis is in the Ujong Kulon on the tip of Java. It took us a very long time to find it, as I remember. We were on motorbikes and kept getting lost or stuck in mud, and some of the bridges were a bit hairy to cross (see below) but it was worth it when we got there. An amazing trip!
The road to Taman Jaya
This is the Tassili N'Ajjer, on the border between Algeria and Libya, and the most extraordinary place I've ever been, I think.
How's this for a contrast to Scotland? I love deserts, and the Sahara has to be the ultimate one. This photo was taken on a wonderful trip we did back in 1989, when we drove from Tamanrasset to Djanet in southern Algeria.
The Solway Coast was the setting for one of my earliest books, The Right Kind of Man. It's not very clear, I know, but I'm holding a copy of it in this picture. I took it with me when I walked along the coast recently with my cousin Jenny. Sadly, Mungo is too old for a good long walk nowadays, but that's my mother's dog, Roxy with me instead, with Folly looking bored in the background.
In The Right Kind of Man, Kielven was my name for Kippford, which is where I stay whenever I go to Scotland. Walking to Castle Point is a kind of ritual whenever we go, and Skye and Lorimer walk out there too. I always think of them when I'm there. I invented the manse Lorimer buys, but I know exactly where I put the house.
The picture above was taken in March, with the sea and sky looking uncharacteristically blue. This view of Castle Point is more recent - just ten days ago - but it was a much more typical day. I still think it's beautiful, though. I've been walking along this coast for 40 years now and never get tired of it.
Charlotte sent this picture from Switzerland, and as soon as I saw it, I longed to go skiing again! It's ages since I've seen snow like that, and they all look like they're having such a good time...
My friend Stella was in Burkina Faso recently, and sent me this photo of dancers at the Chief of Ouagadougou's party. I love this picture! Can't you just feel the noise and the heat and the light? Wonderful.
You can't tell from the photo, I know, but it comes from Adelaide, in South Australia. This is my favourite great-aunt Dora, who at 91 is not actually my oldest reader (I heard the other day about a lady of 96 who read my books!) but who is certainly my most loyal one. Here she is with the complete Jessica Hart collection. I've sent Dora a copy of every book since the very first, A Sweeter Prejudice, and she has read and kept them all! Dora remembers my great-grandmother, who left Cornwall in 1888 to get married in South Australia, and is the reason I still fee such a strong sense of connection with Australia 180 years later.
A completely different part of the world! This is Guyana,and was sent to me by Julia. Can't you just hear the rainforest in this photo - and smell it too? Just looking at this picture makes me SO jealous! I used to be the kind of person who sat in dugout canoes nosing my way through the jungle. It's time I got back to being that person, I think.
Another picture from Guyana. This is the Kaitur Falls, the longest drop in the world. I haven't been to Guyana myself, and no one has clicked the map from there yet, but it's somewhere I've always wanted to go, and a friend once told me that he saw one of my books on sale in Georgetown, so I feel entitled to include a picture here!
This is the view from my front gate (the one badly in need of painting). The scenery isn't as spectacular as the other pix, I know, but York Minster is a pretty spectacular building, and I hope you can see that it's right at the end of my street, just behind the city walls. I walk up the street with Mungo every morning, and the sight of the Minster never fails to impress me.
'King's Square': York is a city that fairly reeks of history, and it's not big on straight lines, as you can see from this picture.
This is Goolwa, South Australia - a great place. I love this photo as it reminds me of many happy times sailing in Australia (for 'sailing' read 'making gin and tonics')...
I was thrilled to hear that Dulcie had clicked here from St Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean! Sadly, for computery reasons I don’t understand, St Helena didn’t register on the map, but I don’t think it’s cheating if I include a photo. St Helena looks spectacular, Dulcie, and I love the thought of you reading my books there.
Donna Alward sent has this photo of the Three Sisters in Canmore, Alberta, which is apparently just outside the city where she lives. It's spectacular, isn't it? What a contrast with York, where I live!
This one is from Mariana in Monterrey, Mexico, who sent me the following message:
I am a really big fan of your books. They are really good help for me with my English and I love to read them, they are super chido. If you can see the stadium with it's surrounding buildings that is the TEC university and I live 10 minute drive from there in Contry La Silla. The mountain is called La Silla because it looks like a saddle or seat (la silla = the seat). I am looking forward to your books this year, maybe you can set one in Monterrey! jajaja!
This one comes from Juanita in Bolton Point, NSW, Australia
Here to start the fun is a photo sent in by a reader in New Zealand!
Don't forget to send in your photo!