Christmas Read

 Merry Christmas!

It's that wonderful time of year again and oh my, what a year it has been.  No better way to end such a year than to snuggle by a warm fire with a book and a glass of brandy. And I have the perfect holiday read for you, A Girl And Her Chateau.

A Girl And Her Chateau is the enchanting warm-hearted and romantic story of Vivienne de Lacy who has just inherited a 100 room Chateau in France. The house is in much need of restoration and Vivienne is at her wits end until Jack Perry shows up and changes everything. Sparks fly hot and cold as they attract and irritate each other. Then there is the matter of Celia Grande, a woman with too high an opinion of herself who is determined to see Vivienne's business venture a failure and steal Jack away from her.  And Vivienne isn't one to bury her head in the sand. This brave girl from London is ready for the challenge and with the Christmas season approaching she just may need a miracle. 

You can buy the book here.

Amazon

Two New Projects

 My newest book, A Girl and her Chateau is now available on Amazon. If you belong to kindle unlimited it is free for a limited time. So check it out.  https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Her-Chateau-Anna-George-ebook/dp/B08BXGMCHG/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=a+girl+and+her+chateau+anna+st+george&qid=1597975869&s=books&sr=1-1

So I am now at the beginning of writing my next project and I am always drawn to castles and old manor houses. They inspire me

Belton House

 and it will most likely be that type of setting in my next book. My current book is set in a French chateau, and the previous novels, a trilogy, were set in a castle in early Medieval England and the one before that was set in an Irish Castle but I’m not sure about the next one yet. I like experimenting with different time periods as well. My most recent book takes place in the present and I’ve written stories that are set in the 1960’s, 1950’s and Medieval times and I’ve been trying to decide on a time period for my next book. The 1920’s seems appealing as does the 1940’s. I love the exquisite flapper dresses they wore in those times and the finger wave hairstyles and I really like the old jazz bands and classical music.

As well as writing about old castles and houses I also like to write from a Christian perspective and all my books have Christian themes or might be modeled off a Biblical character such as Joseph or Hannah. The main characters have all had faith in God but my newest book, A Girl and her Chateau is somewhat of a different story. The main character is not sure where her faith lies and she is about to embark on a challenging journey. And as she states in the beginning portion of the book, it’s her parent’s faith in God but she’s not sure it’s hers. Each and every one of us must have our own relationship with God. We can't live off the faith of our parents or the church we've attended for the last ten years and Vivienne belief's are challenged as she heads to France to restore an old chateau.

And the other project I’m working on is something I’ve always wanted to do which is write and illustrate a children’s book.  It’s one of those lengthy projects that might take me ten years. No, just kidding. However, I’m sure it’s harder than writing a full length novel even though the page comparison is something like 300 pages for a novel to 30 pages for a children’s book. However the illustration takes a lot of time and some pages have to be re-done. And I’m trying something different with this book based on my love of sculpture and miniatures as well as illustration. I have always loved the artwork in children’s books and I especially love the illustrators of the golden age. One of my favourites is Beatrix Potter.  Her illustrations are absolutely magical and her stories timeless with little critters, like Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny. The names of her characters are very charming like Mrs Tiggywinkle, Jemima Puddleduck, Timmy Tiptoes and Johnny Townmouse. The tale of Benjamin Bunny is the only book of hers I have in my collection at the moment. The illustrations are so beautiful.   It was first published in 1904.

Well, back to the drawing board and writing pad.  I hope you are all enjoying your week and not too stuck with Covid 19. Take care and God bless.

 

New Cover

I have again changed the cover of my new book as I always do.  Below is a copy of it. It has also been entered in the Storyteller 2020 contest.   Oh, and it is now available on Amazon.  Yay!

The Maze

St Louis Botanical Garden's (Public Domain)

Have you ever been in a Maze? The reason I’ve brought up this topic is because there is a Maze in my newest book, A Girl and Her Chateau. The idea came from the 1953 film, the Maze which I first saw years ago staying up late as a teen. It is a gothic romance about a young woman whose fiancé inherits a Scottish title and castle with a maze and among other things a family curse. There is no family curse in my story nor is it a gothic romance but it is the whole idea of how the maze stirs up feelings of excitement for some and others, fear. And in earlier times mazes were probably only found on the grounds of castles or monasteries.




When I think of a maze I think of a towering hedge with lots of intricate pathways. It is in fact a puzzle with lots of pathways and dead ends designed to confuse the competitor from finding the exit somewhere on the other side. Mazes are something that stimulate mixed feelings. Some might feel fearful at the thought of going in a maze while others might see it as adventure. They can be made of different materials but most commonly hedges. “They are often made of yew, boxwood and yaupon holly. Corn Mazes are also very popular.” (Stafford)


Mazes originate from ancient times thousands of years ago but were originally more of a labyrinth which is a single winding path whereas Mazes have lots of dead ends. “Although both maze and labyrinth depict a complex and confusing series of pathways, the two are different. A maze is a complex, branching (multi-cursal) puzzle that includes choices of path and direction, while a labyrinth is a unicursal and has only a single non-branching path which leads to the center. (Diffen)


The Labyrinth was created thousands of years ago for spiritual reflection. The first recorded labyrinth was in Egypt in the 5th Century B.C. Plato once said, “It is a confusing path, hard to follow without a thread, but, provided [you are] not devoured at the midpoint, it leads surely, despite twists and turns, back to the beginning.”


The labyrinth evolved during the middle ages into what is now known as the maze. It served as a great pastime during the Victorian era and has become popular since. There are many mazes throughout Britain and Europe and they are often found at castles and monasteries and chateaus. The oldest maze is the one at Hampton Court Palace and the largest is at the Longleat Estate.

Hampton Court (Public Domain)

The Hampton Court Maze was commissioned around the year 1700 by William III. “It covers a third of an acre and is known for confusing and intriguing visitors with its many twists, turns and dead ends. On average, it takes 20 minutes to reach the centre. The Maze was designed by George London and Henry Wise and is trapezoid in shape. Originally planted using hornbeam, it was later replanted using yew. It is referred to as a multicursal or puzzle maze.” (HRP.org.uk)

Maze at Longleat (Public Domain)

The Maze at Longleat was added in 1978 and is the largest in Britain. It is made of 16,000 yew trees. (Longleat.co.uk.)


Below are some links to popular maze sites.




https://www.longleat.co.uk/main-square/hedge-maze retrieved on 25 May, 2020
https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/whats-on/the-maze/ retrieved on 25 May, 2020
https://www.diffen.com/difference/Labyrinth_vs_Maze retrieved on 25 May, 2020

Stafford, Jeff, Garden Mazes Create A Sense Of Wonder, retrieved on May 17, 2020 at https://www.hgtv.com

A Girl And Her Chateau

What would you do if you received a phone call today that you had inherited a castle or manor house? A distant relative has passed away and you are the only living heir and it’s someone you didn’t even know about. One minute you are Jane Doe and the next you are Jane of the castle who has everything. This is the theme of my latest book called, A Girl And Her Chateau.

Vivienne De Lacy is the main character and she feels quite ill prepared as she discovers that she is the next chatelaine of the Chateau Des Rosier. Vivienne is a lovely thirty year old who has been left heartbroken after the failure of a prior relationship. She has a flair for the art deco style and wears her hair in a finger wave and dresses in the fashions of the 1920s and 40’s. She has exquisite taste and soon joins a group of chatelaine’s who have left the simple life in England and bought into a piece of France’s history with the purchase of a grand chateau.

She has a background in art, fashion and decorating but this is a huge job. This isn’t just a large two story mansion. This is a 17th century French castle with a 100 rooms and it hasn’t been lived in for thirty years. Where to begin? There are hundreds of jobs to be done. The fairytale stigma soon wears off when Vivienne moves into the house with her two dogs and discovers the horrors of decades and centuries of neglect. It’s not a job for the faint-hearted.

Restoration work is not easy and Vivienne can’t wait to get the fabric and wallpaper swatches out but the underlying work must be done first. Luke the caretaker tells her, “It is a huge job and once you start pulling things apart the sins of the previous generations are revealed,” a statement pretty close to the truth. Vivienne faces renovating every room, heating and plumbing problems. Giant glass window panes need replacing and water is leaking in through the roof.

And sparks fly when Vivienne meets Jack Perry, the gorgeous young man from the chateau Blanc, but they are not just sparks of romance as the pair irritate each other at times and Jack is a bit of a joker full of unusual pranks that leave Vivienne swooning but frustrated. Enjoy this heart warming story as Vivienne restores a French Chateau and goes to glamorous house parties as in the styles of the 1920s.

New Book To Be Available Soon!

A Girl And Her Chateau

by Anna St George

For fashionable, gorgeous Vivienne De Lacy the idea of inheriting a chateau seems ridiculous at first but she soon gets caught up in the whole magic and enchantment of a 17^th Century chateau, and the idea of French couture living and masque balls. After all it’s a grand building with sixty rooms and glorious fairy tale towers on each corner and set on a hundred acres of rolling hills and prime woodland. But the fairy tale dream soon turns to a nightmare when she discovers the chateau has many challenges such as a leaky roof, dry rot and decades of neglect and what’s worse, she can’t speak a word of French.  

She soon makes friends among the local group of chateau owners and she is kindly informed by Mrs Jones that, ‘Owning a chateau is not a venture for the faint-hearted my dear. It takes courage to walk through those doors and face the reality behind the dream. It’s a horror facing dry rot, broken pipes and decades of dust and getting up some days to roofs that have collapsed during the night. And you think you’re moving into a house that has been vacant for decades but it’s anything but vacant. Mice and birds and spiders have been living in it for centuries.”   

 How will this fashionable city girl from London, used to all the mod cons, cope with a vast chateau out in the countryside and all the mounting problems that come with it? And then there is matter of Jack Perry from a local chateau who has the undeniable skill of completely irritating her, however he is extremely handsome and charming and he has a talent for pressing all the right buttons. And then there are those she would rather bury her head in the sand and forget like Celia Grande a woman with too high an opinion of herself who also has her eyes on Jack Perry and a determination to make sure that Vivienne’s business venture of opening the chateau to the public is a failure. Vivienne isn’t one to give up, however, this overwhelming challenge threatens to take her under.