BBC Radio & Books

Last Sunday - 5 February - I was invited to chat to Charlie McArdle on his BBC Radio Jersey show about my live, writing and my books. 

I had a great time talking about my four published Jersey Scene books and telling the listeners a little about A Jersey Sundae, book 5 in the series, and A Jersey Christmas, my first Christmas novel out this December.

I was also chatting about my WW1 historical romance, Broken Faces and why I write under my own name, Deborah Carr, and my pseudonym, Georgina Troy and also why I chose my pseudonym.

There was great feed back from the listeners when I mentioned that I was looking for suggestions of settings for A Jersey Sundae. I had a great time and looking forward to going back on the show again at some point.

If you want to hear me waffle on chat to Charlie, here's the link - I'm about 2hrs 18mins into the show. Happy listening!

Local History Fayre

I was delighted to be asked to give a talk as part of the programme for this year's two day Local History Fayre being held on 27/28 January at the town library here in Jersey. My talk was called, Nowhere to Hide and was about my book Broken Faces and my research behind the book, especially the character who was facially disfigured and became the 'broken face.

The talk went well and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know some of the attendees and answering the questions they put to me. I also enjoyed chatting to some of the librarians who were telling me about a couple of my Georgina Troy books being read for a book club and discussing a couple of local points in the books. It was great fun and I look forward to giving another talk again there soon.

Local History Fayre - Jersey Library

I'm taking a quick break from working on the slides for my talk this coming Friday (27 January) at the town library here in Jersey. 

There are four talks on the Friday and a further five on the Saturday. Among other speakers, there will be 93 year old Ken Trent DFC, who I heard speaking on the radio a few months ago just before our Battle of Britain display. He was fascinating to listen to and I loved hearing him reminisce about WW2 and his part in it. Ian Ronayne, a writer and historian, will also be taking part. I've attended a few of his talks about WW1 history and wish I knew a tenth of what he does about that period in our island's history.

My talk is going to be based on my book, Broken Faces and will be about my 'broken face' in the story, Freddie. It's called, Nowhere to Hide, and I was delighted to be asked to take part. 

I'll be giving my talk on the Friday at 2.30pm and will be the last speaker that day. I can't wait, although no doubt I'll be nervous on the day. 

Right, I'd better get back to preparing my slides and hope that I'm not the only one who turns up at that time. Here's a picture of the piece in the Jersey Evening Post about the History Fayre.

You can get a copy Broken Faces here. 

Broken Faces Makes Being Anne's Books of the Year List 2016

Some days you wake up to incredible news and a couple of days ago I woke to find that I was tagged in an author friend’s Facebook post and discovered that my book, Broken Faces, had been chosen, as well as hers – she’s Nell Peters and her brilliant book is Hostile Witness – to be included in Being Anne’s Books of the Year List for 2016!

Anne is a Top 500 reviewer on Amazon and I was truly honoured and delighted to be in such excellent company, being chosen with 17 others. Here are some of the books below:

In Her Wake by Amanda Jennings

This Must Be The Place by Maggie O’Farrell

The Ballroom by Anna Hope

The Last Days of Leda Grey – Essie Fox

Invisible by Barbara Copperthwaite

Life Class by Gilli Allan

Redemption Song by Laura Wilkinson


What a perfect lead up to the Christmas festivities!

(Thanks to Gary Walker at Look4books for the fabulous festive banner for Broken Faces).

Chatting at Chill with a Book

I was delighted a few weeks ago when Broken Faces was awarded a Chill with a Book Award and today I'm over at the site talking about the story and my inspiration behind my WW1 historical romance, Broken Faces.

Here's the link if you want to visit the site and read all about it.

Pseudonyms and Genres

Sometimes I wish I could stick with writing one genre, and under only one name. However, I'm passionate about the Great War and stories, both heartbreaking and uplifting, from that era, so feel compelled to write historical romances where I can lose myself in the lives of my characters - like Broken Faces, written in my own name, Deborah Carr.

That said, I also enjoy writing contemporary romances, under the pseudonym, Georgina Troy. With both, I love pitching heroes and heroines against each other, coming up with conflicts to make them work hard to eventually have the life they want for themselves, and that I hope will also appeal to the reader. 

Deciding where to set scenes either here in Jersey or in the other location that I've chosen for that particular book is always fun, too, as well as coming up with careers for my hero and heroine that are different and interesting to research for the Jersey Scene books.

Writing a contemporary romance as opposed to an historical novel is quicker for me because I need far less time to research the details I wish to include in the book. Again, though I love the research I've carried out for Broken Faces - how lives were changed dramatically for those young people caught up in the fighting and saving of those around them and the medical advances brought about by enterprising surgeons who wanted to give those with serious facial injuries a chance to move on to a future where they could mix with others without being stared at our feared. Now it's back to the Edwardian era for me as I work on the first draft for the prequel, Beautiful Faces.

Much research can be done online of course, but I also like finding old books in charity sales that I wouldn't otherwise be able to buy that might tell me more about the Edwardian times, for example, or people's thinking about various ways of life. 

I've also written a YA novel, that will probably never see publication and two psychological thrillers that I'm hoping will be published at some point soon. 

Maybe one day I'll stick to writing in only one genre, but I doubt it. After all, I love reading different genre so why not enjoy writing in them too? How about you?

Coming Soon - Beautiful Faces, a Novella

This winter I'll be putting the final touches on to my prequel to Broken Faces, Beautiful Faces.

This novella is the story of the lives leading up to the start of the Great War, it shows a brief insight into Lexi's love for Freddie, while Freddie hides his secret adoration of his best friend Charles's fiance, Lexi. You'll discover their hopes and plans for a future that is cruelly shattered by the war from which none of them will escape unscathed.

The cover is a picture of my paternal grandmother, Mary, who was born in Meerut, India where she lived while her father, one of the 17th 21st Lancers were stationed there. I based Freddie on my great-grandfather, a blonde, handsome cavalryman who went on to fight in the Great War where the lives of cavalrymen was very different to any other battles they'd experienced before. 

I hope you like the novella and hope to publish it in January 2017.