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#Blogblitz #Guestpost – Callie Longridge, Author Of A Time To Change @bombshellpub

Delighted to be welcoming Callie Longridge to the blog with a guest post to celebrate publication of A Tome To Change. This is a FAB book – look out for my review later today! 

 

What’s in a name?
When you start writing, your author name really isn’t at the forefront of your mind. Things like – What will the book cover look like? Who will read the audio book? Who will star in the film adaptation? – and other such naïve and grandiose thoughts occupy the time when you’re not tapping at your laptop or scribbling in your writing pad. I only started to consider my name when my book was ready to send out, looking for someone to publish it. As it turned out, my given name – which is not uncommon – was already taken by another novelist. I played around with variations but nothing seemed to fit me. And then I struck on an idea. I have drawn inspiration for my writing from my family history. I’m lucky to have a whole host of varied and interesting ancestors (one notable ancestor is was called Moses Mower, the mole catcher …). As soon as I struck on the idea, I knew whose name I wanted to take. My roots in East London go back generations. One story I unearthed in census records has always stuck with me. My great great great Grandmother Charlotte lost her husband and was left with six young children to support. In the late 19th century, children were often taken away from their parents in Charlotte’s situation as the authorities deemed them at risk of being vulnerable to turning to crime. Four of Charlotte’s children ended up in an industrial school – the equivalent of a workhouse. Charlotte had her baby and one daughter remaining at home. Her youngest son died in the school but by the time of the next census, I found that Charlotte had all of her remaining children back with her. I feel so sad for the loss of her son but so proud that she fought to reunite her family.

I picture her as a strong and determined woman and I knew right away that I wanted to be known by her surname, Langridge. As I write this I am inspired by her story again. One day it might just inspire a novel.

So what’s in a name? Quite a lot actually.        

A Time To Change was Published September 24th 2017 by Bombshell Books. 

“I would rather love passionately for an hour than benignly for a lifetime.”

In a house full of history and secrets, the past will not stay where it belongs…

Lou has always loved Hill House, the derelict manor on the abandoned land near her home. As a child, the tragic history of its owners, the Mandevilles, inspired her dream to become a history teacher. But in her late twenties, and working in a shop to pay off student debts, life is passing her by. 

That changes when a family disaster sends Lou’s life into a downward spiral and she seeks comfort in the ruined corridors of Hill House. The house transforms around her and Lou is transported back to Christmas 1913. Convinced she has been in an accident and is in a coma, Lou immerses herself in her Edwardian dream. With the Mandevilles oblivious to her true identity, Lou becomes their houseguest and befriends the eldest son, Captain Thomas Mandeville, a man she knows is destined to die in the First World War.

Lou feels more at home in the past than the present and when she realises the experience is real she sets out to do everything in her power to save her new friends. 

Lou passes between 1913 and 2013, unearthing plots of murder and blackmail, which she must stop no matter the cost.

On her quest to save the Mandevilles by saving Thomas, Lou will face the hardest decision of her life. She will learn that love cannot be separated by a century.

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