Novel success for Hornsea Writers

A Hornsea writers' group is celebrating after three of its members secured book deals.

It adds weight to Hornsea Writers' claims that it is one of the foremost writers' groups in Yorkshire.

Linda Acaster, Avril Field-Taylor and Karen Wolfe have once again made it into print in the UK and USA markets.

Award-winning Ms Acaster is set to put Hull on the literary map with her mystical thriller set in the city and on the North Yorkshire Moors.

Torc of Moonlight, the fourth novel from the author, leads the reader through modern streets into the Old Town, to the river and a forgotten Celtic and Romano-British past.

The 58-year-old, from Hornsea, said: "It takes its roots from 1962 when I was a pupil at Saltshouse High School, now Wilberforce College.

"History is so close beneath our feet, so touchable, that we should see it as part of our daily existence, but we are all leading such busy lives that we pass it unnoticed."

Avril Field-Taylor, 55, of Hornsea, has had her second novel published.

Murder at Oakwood Grange takes the reader back to Victorian London and the infamous 221b Baker Street, with Sherlock Holmes once more up against archenemy Moriarty.

The story also features historical Hull, as the detective's quest to discover the sinister truth takes him to the starch mills of Reckitt & Sons.

Opened in 1840, the factory based in Starch House Lane in east Hull was once run by Thomas Ferens who helped establish the manufacturer of household goods as one of Hull's prominent businesses.

He was also John Prescott's predecessor as MP for east Hull.

Mrs Field-Taylor said: "I chose to write my college dissertation on Holmes more than 30 yeas ago and my fascination began there.

"I've enjoyed researching the historical background to Reckitt & Sons and including Thomas Ferens in the novel whose left his legacy in Hull, with Ferensway and the Ferens Art Gallery."

Ms Wolfe, of Hornsea, has published Seer's Moon, the second installment of the tale of Granny Beamish and her adventure in trying to save Kenneth the were-wimp from a merciless bounty-hunter.

The 61-year-old has a further four Granny Beamish novels in the pipeline. She said: "I love writing about the elderly behaving badly.

"I take my inspiration from snatches of conversations on the bus and I'm sure there's a little bit of my own mother and gran in there too."

Ms Acaster said the group provides invaluable support to each other. She said: "We peer review each other's work. We don't just sit around making small talk – we can be brutally honest!

"And we are dedicated, meeting weekly, which not many other groups do."