By Invitation: Lelita Baldock and her novel, 'Widow's Lace'

I am delighted to welcome fellow Woking author, Lelita Baldock and her very successful historical fiction novel, ‘Widow’s Lace’ to Writers at the Gate. 

Read on to find out more...

About the book… 

A hundred-year-old mystery, the widow left behind, a fallen soldier, an unnamed body and a young student determined to find the truth. 

In 1886 famous English poet Edward Barrington moves from Derbyshire, England to a farm on the Finniss River, in South Australia. Two years later he disappears. 

25 years later Archie Hargraves abandons his fiancée Clara and travels from England to meet with Edward’s widow, Rosalind. He plans to write a biography and make a name for himself, independent from his wealthy father. Returning to England in 1914 he abandons his work to join the war in Europe. His journal of notes from Australia is never released. 

Ellie Cannon, a young PhD candidate at Sydney University, is writing a thesis on one of Barrington’s last known poems, The Fall. It’s not going well. Struggling with her relationship with her mother and loss of her father, Ellie is on the brink of failure. 

Then a body is found by the Finniss River, 130 years after Edward’s disappearance. Could it be the famous poet? 

The discovery draws Ellie into the worlds of Edward, Archie and Clara, taking her across Australia and England in her search for the truth. 

Covering life in remote South Australia, the social pressures of 1900s Britain and the historical role of women, Widow’s Lace is an historical fiction, mystery cross-over dealing with themes of obsession, fear, love, inner secrets, and regret. But also, the hope that can come from despair.

 

·         Publisher : Independently published (25 Mar. 2020)

·         Language : English

·         Genre : Historical Fiction

·         Paperback : 242 pages

·         ISBN-13 : 979-8630704184

·         Dimensions : 15.24 x 1.55 x 22.86 cm 

 

‘Widow’s Lace’ is available on Amazon HERE

 

 

About the author… 

Lelita has a passion for stories, especially those with a dark undercurrent, or a twist to be revealed. 

She hopes to tell interesting stories that people will find themselves drawn into. Stories that are for entertainment and escape, and hopefully a little thrill of the unexpected. She enjoys the experience of writing, exploring human traits and reactions as well as the darkness that can lurk unexpectedly inside anyone. 

Born and raised in Adelaide, Australia, Lelita holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English and History from the University of Adelaide and a Bachelor of Education from The University of South Australia. During her twenties she worked as an English teacher in both Australia and the United Kingdom, working with the International Baccalaureate curriculum. 

Now Lelita and her husband run a web development business, and she makes time for writing after hours and on weekends. It can mean long days and late nights, but she doesn’t mind, stories are her passion. 

Lelita’s long term goal as a writer is to be able to publish her stories regularly and hopefully appeal to a wide range of readers. 

Lelita currently resides in the United Kingdom with her husband Ryan and beloved rescue-cat, Jasmine. 

Website: www.lelitabaldock.com

Lelita on Twitter: @BaldockLelita

Brief interview... 

What was the inspiration behind the book? 

Back in 2004 I took a trip up the Finniss River with my family. The Finniss River is a tributary of the Lower Lakes in South Australia, near to the township of Goolwa and the Coorong National Park, where the Murray River meets the sea.  

The river is quiet and winding, its banks covered in reeds. Teeming with birdlife and buzzing insects, the river feels isolated from modern life, despite its proximity to rural communities.  

The idea of someone living alone on its banks came to me and I was inspired to discover why someone would make a life there alone, cut off from the rest of the world. The seed of a story that would grow into Widow's Lace was planted. 

Over the next decade I honed the idea and my writing skills until in 2018 I was ready to begin. 

At the beginning of 2020 I completed and released my novel.  I hope you enjoy the story as much as I have enjoyed the process of writing it.
 

Can you describe your route to publication from concept to completed novel? 

Many years passed between when I first started writing Widow’s Lace and publishing the story. 

As it was my first novel, I had a lot of learning to do regarding the flow of prose and keeping a reader’s interest. I thoroughly enjoyed the learning process and am truly proud of the result.

After completing the manuscript, I approached a few literary agents and received incredibly positive feedback. They seemed to genuinely enjoy my story but wanted me to have more of a ‘presence’ before they would take me on.  

Through this process, I came to understand that authors do need to promote themselves and so I set about crafting a platform for myself on social media.

In March 2020 I decided it was time to launch Widow’s Lace to the world, and I self-published through Amazon.
 

What ideas do you have for any future books? 

Since publishing Widow’s Lace, I have completed and released a second novel, a crime fiction called The Unsound Sister. 

It was such fun to try my hand at a new style of writing and I really enjoyed the change from the more descriptive style of historical fiction. 

My third novel, tentatively titled White Cove, is a return to historical fiction following the life of a young woman growing up in a small Cornish fishing village in the mid-1800s. 

I have already planned and researched my next work which will be another historical fiction, set in France and I am super excited to start that new project. 

Then I think I will return to crime fiction and write a sequel to The Unsound Sister. It was not originally intended to be a series novel, but as I wrote it, I found I like my characters so much I wanted to tell more of their stories. I have a rough outline of my intended story. 

So, I have lots more ideas brewing in my mind and I am very much looking forward to continuing with my writing well into the future.
 

Which Publishing services would you recommend? 

So far, I have only self-published through Amazon. While Amazon is a large company, their process to self-publish is easy and fast. It’s a great option for independent authors. 

I think finding a reliable and talented editor is incredibly important. I had some missteps and was let down in the past but have now found such a wonderful and exceptional editor in Lucy Skoulding from Starlight Editing at https://www.lucyskoulding.co.uk/my-editing-business .

The manuscript for White Cove is now with Lucy and, I'm hoping to release it by July 2021.

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