Williams Handbaked based in Preston, and one of our favourite bakers, told Frost of one of their stockists.

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Williams Handbaked are as busy as ever, in fact  busier as they are expanding almost weekly but still have the time to share news of other entrepreneurs with us.

Williams tell us that they wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for their wonderful stockists across the UK. ‘To launch our series of posts focusing on these stockists, we visited Honeywell’s Farm Shop in Woodplumpton, a few miles from our bakery in Preston. Honeywell’s was one of our very first stockists, and they still stock our biscuits and cakes today.’

Honeywell’s began life in 1970 as a small farm and butchery founded by brothers John and Anthony Gornall. They started their business by selling home-reared pork from their garage, quickly moving the operation to their barn for extra space. Following continued success, the Gornalls eventually built their own farm shop on Eaves Lane, Woodplumpton.

Honeywell’s have since opened butcheries in Barton Grange Garden Centre near Garstang, Preston and Bents Garden Centre near Warrington.


Williams caught  up with Sue Gornall, one of the directors and wife of Anthony, along with her daughter Liz, who works as a buyer and head of marketing and learned that Sue had been working in Honeywell’s since 1972 and Liz for as long as she could remember.

For Sue her favourite part of the job is chatting to customers, and regulars, or welcoming new people. It’s great to make everyone welcome, and that includes our staff too. It’s so important that they are happy.
 

When asked about Honeywell’s ethos Sue continued that it was always about selling meat from their own farm as well as neighbouring farms they know and trust. This ethos has translated into other lines they have sourced. Cheeses, bakery products are local, and chamioned. ‘We love promoting local artisan business and building lasting relationships with their suppliers. ‘

                                        

All this of chimes absolutely with Williams Homebaked, which our editor’s family use regularly, even though the granny of them, our editor,  really shouldn’t because she’s on a diet, or so she says.

 Williams Handbaked:   https://www.williamshandbaked.co.uk/   @williamsbaked

Honeywell’s Farm Shop, Eaves Lane, Woodplumpton, Preston. PR4 0BH.
Open 7 days a week. Tel: 01772 690271
Website: honeywellfarmshop.com
Facebook / Instagram: @honeywellfarmshop

WELSH WRITING WEDNESDAYS: HELGA JENSEN ON WALES AS A SETTING FOR COMMERCIAL FICTION

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When I was planning my debut novel, Twice in a Lifetime, there was only one place for me to set it in. Having been brought up in West Wales, I was determined that any book I wrote would focus on some of the stunning areas around us. How you could possibly put those scenes into words was a completely different challenge! However, I knew that I wanted to promote Wales and see it featured in more commercial fiction. We have many women’s fiction books set in Cornwall or Ireland, so why not Wales?

When I first queried my book and sent it to agent’s I had a mixed response. Some loved the idea of a different setting, but one agent stated that perhaps Cardiff would be acceptable for my romantic comedy, but nothing further west. I was quite surprised at this. We often see Cornwall with its beautiful beaches, so why not West Wales with its similar beauty?

Whilst I was surprised at this observation, as always, when someone tells me something might not be possible, it makes me more determined. Therefore, I persevered and, although my book is also set in New York, I finally saw success with my romantic comedy that features the beautiful township of Laugharne.

After all, Laugharne is famous for many things, including the more recent television series, ‘Finding Faith,’ which has helped put it further on the map. But, of course, the association with Dylan Thomas is probably the most famous claim to fame that Laugharne has, so as Dylan spent his time in New York too, I felt a setting for a book with Laugharne and New York were the perfect marriage for my debut novel.

Since Twice in a Lifetime was released, I have had lovely messages telling me how refreshing it is to have a romantic comedy set in Wales. Naturally, I was thrilled at this feedback, as this is precisely what I set out to achieve.

I am now working on book two, which will have a combined setting of Wales and Denmark. It remains my ultimate goal to promote Wales in the world of women’s fiction. There are so many opportunities for the glorious parts to be shown to the world that I simply can’t help promote it through my books. Just as there are many prolific Irish writers, such as Maeve Binchy, with her incredible story, ‘Circle of Friends,’ I hope there will be similar best-selling commercial love stories and adventures coming out of Wales.

Trends are certainly changing, and more and more books are getting published in the mainstream from the region, but I would still like to see Wales in more romantic comedies. We have ubiquitous books traditionally set in mining villages or used in historical fiction, so I would now like to see it featured as a setting in comedies and romance. After all, welsh men can be funny and romantic when they want to be!

So, there might be many tales of Wales in books on folklore, myth and magic and eras gone by, but here’s hoping for a future filled with books set in Wales for romantic comedies and similar commercial women’s fiction.

 

 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/HelgaJensenF

 

 

 

 

A cool coat for dogs (may I have one too?)

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In Thirsk Market on a Saturday I found Jo Mcauley’s stall Muddy Puddles with a variety of dog accessories  but best of all were  the Ancol cool coats. What a great idea, I could have done with one myself as the sun beat down.

I persuaded Jo to give Frost Magazine readers a demonstration….

First a bucket of water, dip in the coat which is made from polyester and cotton material, and retains moisture for hours, what’s more, it’s  quickly re-activated. Useful too is that these coats are anti-bacterial and machine washable.

Make sure it is good and wet, then lift, and squeeze out some of the water, and apply (as it were).  in other words find your dog and slip on the coat, doing it up as you would most other dog coats.

               

 

One grateful dog continued on its walk thankful for Jo’es administrations. Jo is enthusiastic and excited about her new venture.  A dog owner herself she has her finger on the pulse for your ‘best friend’s’ needs. So take a look at at her stall, everything one could need in the way of accessories. Thankfully,  Jo is also happy to fulfil mail orders.

                                                                           

Go to Jo’s facebook page to learn more, and chat to Jo. Or make your way to Thirsk Market on a Saturday, which is a great placeay.  https://www.facebook.com/MuddyPuddlesThirsk

Great Crime on offer from Joffe this week and exciting news of Joy Ellis’s success.

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Rat Run by Caro Ramsay is Joffe’s Book of the Week and it’s a belter of a crime thriller for you to get stuck into right this minute.Out now at 99P What a page turning, nail biting novel. You have been warned – so no hiding behind the sofa…  In August 1992, a mother and her two young sons were brutally hacked to death in the woods behind their home. The neighbour, Andrew Gyle, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Now, twenty-three years later, a sinkhole emerges in the garden of the murdered family. In the wreckage, a grisly discovery is made. Andrew Gyle always maintained his innocence. What if he really didn’t do it?

                       

Constable goes to Market by Nichols Rhea  £1.99p/$2.99c

I have to admit, this is one of my favourites ( I like familiar characters so a delight to read this): It is Market day in Ashfordly which comes but once a week — and that’s more than enough for Constable Nick. Every Friday, traders and punters flock to the cobbled marketplace, eager to snag a bargain. Too bad the place is a magnet for pickpockets, carousers and troublemakers of every description.

Can Nick keep the peace and save a proud tradition?

The Missing Girls by Brian Battison 99p/99c Three girls go missing, two are found dead only one escapes.  Ashworth must stop the killer before anyone else suffers. This is a a complex mystery that will have you turning the pages until the stunning conclusion.

Hdden Rainbows. by Faith Martin writinga s Maxine Barry £1.99 $2.99

Persis Canfield-Hope follows in her grandmother’s footsteps crossing the Australian continent by train. and this is what drew me, as I love Western Australia with a passion, that included the whole of Australia. But back to Hidden Rainbows: It’s on board that she happens upon, and not by chance, the charming Dane Culver. He believes Persis has his family’s prize possession, the Iris Stone.   Yet Dane can’t keep his eyes off Persis, she’s unlike anyone he’s ever met. How far will Dane go to retrieve what’s rightfully his?

And while on the subject of books we should applaud the brilliant Joy Ellis _  and Marshlight – for reaching  #1 in the Bookseller’s Bookstat eBook top 10 chart!

The Bookseller writes: ‘Joy Ellis’ Marshlight (Joffe) illuminated the Bookstat number one spot for the week ending 10th July, with the fourth Detective Matt Ballard title debuting at the top.’

Joffe says: Thank you so much to everyone at the Bookseller for the great write-up. We’re so proud of our brilliant Joy – congratulations from us all!

If you’ve yet to get your hands on Marshlight, grab your copy today for only 99p / 99c.

You can discover more books published by Joffe here

The Devil’s Advocate By Steve Cavanagh Book Review

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The Devil’s Advocate is the first Steve Cavanagh book that I have read. Lucky me, I have so many books to read now. I am totally hooked on Eddie Flynn and will be working my way through the series. The Devil’s Advocate is atmospheric with a smart plot that weaves a thrilling tale. The characters are brilliant and the entire book is just waiting to be made into a movie.

This book is a rip-roaring ride which cements Steve Cavanagh not as the next John Grisham, but as John Grisham on speed. I cannot imagine anyone being able to start this book and not finish it. It is impossible to put it down.

The Devil's Advocate By Steve Cavanagh Book Review

A DEADLY PROSECUTOR

They call him the King of Death Row. Randal Korn has sent more men to their deaths than any district attorney in the history of the United States.

A TWISTED RITUALISTIC KILLING

When a young woman, Skylar Edwards, is found murdered in Buckstown, Alabama, a corrupt sheriff arrests the last person to see her alive, Andy Dubois. It doesn’t seem to matter to anyone that Andy is innocent.

A SMALL TOWN BOILING WITH RAGE

Everyone in Buckstown believes Andy is guilty. He has no hope of a fair trial. And the local defense attorney assigned to represent him has disappeared.

A FORMER CON-ARTIST

Hot shot New York lawyer Eddie Flynn travels south to fight fire with fire. He plans to destroy the prosecutors case, find the real killer and save Andy from the electric chair.

But the murders are just beginning.

Is Eddie Flynn next?

The Devil’s Advocate By Steve Cavanagh is available here.

 

Lizi’s Low Sugar Maple & Pecan Granola – Honest, Tasty And Healthy – by Award Winning Author Dr Kathleen Thompson

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Last week the National Food Strategy reported serious concerns over the very high sugar and salt content of the UK diet. Many of us are unaware of the sometimes scary amounts of hidden sugars in pre-produced foods – even some savoury foods. As a doctor this worries me, because, not only does this risk life-changing illness such as heart disease, cancer and type II diabetes, but the steep yo-yoing in our blood sugars makes us crave even more sugar – and so it spirals down, with weight gain, fatigue, and ill health. Depressing?

The good news is we don’t have to relinquish pleasure to eat healthily. With a few surprisingly small tweaks we can enjoy tasty and honest food, which makes us feel good – not bloated and sleepy.

This is why I’m passionate about companies like Lizi’s. Mick and Lizi – a married pair of science enthusiasts, organic farmers and country bed-and-breakfast owners, decided to use their knowledge to create high quality, tasty and satisfying cereals. They now have a fabulous range of granolas and mueslis, always from natural ingredients – mainly oats, nuts and seeds, but with numerous natural flavour combinations suitable for all ages, diets and lifestyles. Their current range includes High Protein, Digestive Health and Low Sugar options.

The key feature of all Lizi’s cereals is their low Glycaemic Load (GL). I’ve explained Glycaemic Load before – basically low GL foods release sugar slowly into our blood stream, which is very important for all the reasons I’ve discussed.

Unfortunately, over many years, the food industry has accustomed us to higher and higher sugar contents. If you’ve ever stopped eating sweet things for a few weeks and then gone back to them, you’ll have noticed how unbearably over-sweet they taste. Our bodies simply become desensitised to the unnaturally high levels of sugar in so many processed foods today.

Companies like Lizi’s have proved that you don’t need excessive sugar to make something taste great, and their new Lizi’s Low Sugar Maple & Pecan Granola is a good example. A combination including wholegrain oat flakes, pecan nuts, almond pieces, walnut pieces, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, coconut, chicory fibre, and of course maple syrup – enough to make it delicious but without the over sweetness of less-healthy cereals.

For the full range, take a look at Lizi’s website, or you can buy their products at Ocado and Amazon.

By Dr K Thompson, award-winning author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q

http://faitobooks.co.uk

Note: These articles express personal views. No warranty is made as to the accuracy or completeness of information given and you should always consult a doctor if you need medical advice.

Ahead of Her Time By Judy Piatkus Book Review.

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It is hard to think about now but female entrepreneurs used to be thin on the ground. Sure we are lucky to have Jo Malone, Anya Hindmarch, Natalie Massenet, Kelly Hoppen and Karen Brady, but before all of them came Judy Piatkus. A single mother-of-three who built a publishing empire with one hand behind her back. Well, almost.

Now Judy has written a book Ahead of Her Time; How a One-Woman Startup Became a Global Publishing Brand and it is the new bible to help other entrepreneurs and people who are interested in business. The book gives a fascinating insight for those who are interested in publishing. Judy did all of this while while taking care of her three children, one of whom is disabled.

I found this book so inspiring that it has made me drag out an old business plan I had and start work on a logo for that, and a new one for Frost. Piatkus books was built at a time when women were discriminated against. We still are, but it has got better.

I implore anyone who is interested in building a business, publishing, or even just loves a story about how someone built something amazing, despite the odds against them, to read this book. It really is brilliant. I will be handing copies out to my female friends. Judy Piatkus truly was ahead of her time.

Ahead of Her Time; How a One-Woman Startup Became a Global Publishing Brand  by Judy Piatkus is an incredibly inspiring book. 

Judy Piatkus did not come from a monied background and began her career as a secretary after failing to achieve a university place. By the time she founded Piatkus Books from her spare bedroom, she was married with a disabled small daughter and pregnant with her second child. Gradually she learned how to be both a publisher and a managing director and to combine that with her family life as she had become a single mother of three. A lot of mistakes were made but she also got a lot of things right. The company prospered, thanks to the risks Judy took in tackling new subjects in the marketplace and also her approach to running the company, which focused on transparency, honesty and trust and was rewarded by the loyalty of the staff, many of whom worked alongside Judy for upwards of twenty years.

In 1979, Judy Piatkus founded what would become a global publishing brand— Piatkus Books — from her spare bedroom.

A single mother, with a child with learning disabilities, at a time when being a self-made woman entrepreneur was rare, Judy defied expectations, influencing, shaping, and giving rise to a new industry of personal growth and development publishing.

 

Long before the bestseller charts were packed with mind/body/spirit, business, and relationship books, Judy created a platform for new, as yet unknown, voices and leading authorities and experts in their fields, including Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mary Berry, David Allen and Brian L. Weiss.

 

‘Ahead of her time’ goes behind-the-scenes and reveals the inner workings of book publishing. Judy details how her combination of financial risk taking, transparent approach in business, and courage to tackle new subjects in the marketplace rather than follow trends, led PiatkusBooks to become a leading global independent publisher.

 

Judy’s memoir is also a fascinating insight into building a company and brand identity and what enables a team and a business to succeed.

 

Judy details her learning experience as an entrepreneur — the triumphs and the pitfalls, what worked and what didn’t, how to reinvent through lean times, learning to be both a publisher and a managing director, and how it felt to overcame obstacles in order to build the career she wanted from the ground up, as a truly self-made woman.

 

‘Ahead of her time’ is published by Watkins Publishing, £14.99, and is available here and from all good bookstores.

 

 

 

THE QUEEN’S SPY – CLARE MARCHANT’S SUPERBLY CRAFTED DUAL TIMELINE NOVEL

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Review by Jane Cable and a word from the author…

In her acknowledgements Clare Marchant describes The Queen’s Spy as ‘the difficult second novel’ – or words to that effect. Well she didn’t make it easy for herself, with an Elizabethan main character who is deaf and dumb and a modern day protagonist who is far from instantly likeable.

One of the triumphs of this book is how well the author pulls off both characters. We experience the Elizabethan world through Tom’s eyes, nose, hands… but not his ears. And despite this, it is a rich world indeed, brought vividly to life through the wonderful descriptive language. Despite the danger, intrigue and prejudice it was a world I wanted to return to again and again, which certainly kept me turning the pages.

Like all good dual timeline stories the links between present and past mirror each other well; both protagonists are outsiders, both gifted artistically and with herbs. There are other linking factors too, but to reveal them might spoil the story and I would hate to do that, because it is a book I would definitely recommend you read.

 

So fascinated was I by Tom’s story that I just had to ask Clare about him:

Over the course of my two books the character who has been my favourite is Tom. I always plan my work in great detail so I don’t have any shocks, and yet Tom arrived one day in the still room at Saffron Hall and took me completely by surprise. I’ve loved him from the first moment he appeared. At first he had no way of communicating but slowly he came out of his shell and as he did so, became more confident.

So, it was a no-brainer that Tom would be the main protagonist in my second book, The Queen’s Spy. He’s able to use his disability in a positive way spying for Elizabeth 1st but I won’t lie, it wasn’t easy writing a book where I had to tell his story through the other senses he had; sight, smell and taste. However I think it’s interesting to experience Tudor London as he would have done. With the heightened senses he has it meant the smells (quite often unpleasant!) would have been that much more pungent. And his intensified senses of smell and taste helps him as an apothecary, able to differentiate between and identify many varieties of herbs. I enjoyed him introducing vanilla to the court (in reality it was Hugh Morgan who was Queen Elizabeth’s apothecary) but it was a long time before horticulturalists knew the plants have to be pollenated by hand in the UK.

The fact he has this disability has always left Tom feeling it’s a weakness, a disadvantage, but it takes Francis Walsingham to recognise that Tom’s lip reading can be used as a skill and as the story develops, Tom’s self-confidence grows. For the first time in his life he feels properly valued and this just makes me love him move!

 

Publisher’s blurb:
1584: Elizabeth I rules England. But a dangerous plot is brewing in court, and Mary Queen of Scots will stop at nothing to take her cousin’s throne.

There’s only one thing standing in her way: Tom, the queen’s trusted apothecary, who makes the perfect silent spy…

2021: Travelling the globe in her campervan, Mathilde has never belonged anywhere. So when she receives news of an inheritance, she is shocked to discover she has a family in England.

Just like Mathilde, the medieval hall she inherits conceals secrets, and she quickly makes a haunting discovery. Can she unravel the truth about what happened there all those years ago? And will she finally find a place to call home?