Maid of Oaklands Manor celebrates its one year anniversary!

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To celebrate the one year anniversary of the publication of Maid of Oaklands Manor by Terri Nixon, the Piatkus Entice competition winner for 2012, we are delighted to feature a week of some lovely contributions by this very special author.

Here, Terri Nixon takes us on her journey to publication . .  .

Getting to know “Just Lizzy.”

Lizzy Parker:  “… a heroine to fall in love with.”  (Saskia Sarginson.)

When I began writing Maid of Oaklands Manor (winner in the Historical category of the Piatkus Entice Romantic Fiction award, 2012) I had nothing more in mind than finally fictionalising some of the things my late maternal grandmother had told me about her time in domestic service. I’d never attempted any kind of historical work before, but I was looking forward to it, so I wrote copious notes, talked to my mother, got all prepared, and then settled down to write a kind of memoir on Grandma’s behalf.

Then Lizzy arrived. Out of nowhere, she landed on the page – in the first person, something I had never done before outside the short story format – and all I could do was watch with a kind of dazed bewilderment as she took complete charge. To be fair, she behaved herself quite nicely at the start; she got on with her work, learned a lot, made the usual mix of friends and ones-to-watch that any one of us makes when we start a new job, experienced a life that was alternately fulfilling and frustrating … and then she met Jack Carlisle.

Oh dear.  Jack.

Where do we start with him? Friendly?  Yes.  Intelligent? Undoubtedly.  Attractive? Lizzy certainly thought so, and she wasn’t the only one.  The subject of speculation below-stairs, and conflict above; an instant connection that crossed first social boundaries, and then legal ones;  an undercurrent of mystery. But that connection was undeniable, and it was all just a little bit thrilling, from the safe haven of Lizzy’s happy life and new, fast-emerging emotions.

Then, to Lizzy’s horror, Jack’s actions propelled her into a shocking new existence, and my grandmother’s gentle upstairs/downstairs story took a flying leap out of the window.

I couldn’t have loved it more!  The story picked up its pace, evolved into something entirely different, but when it came to editing I left the original, gentle opening chapters – a risky choice, but people seem to like it, and enjoy the  surprise all the more when things take that dark turn.

Thanks to Piatkus Entice, this story was published in July 2013, and has set my feet firmly on the road on which I intend to stay. And, despite my eye-rolling, and determination to write the story I’d originally planned, I adored getting to know Lizzy – so much so that she features in the sequel too, although it’s not part of her own post-Oaklands story. Seems she’s one of those girls who quietly creeps into your consciousness, and doesn’t make too much of a fuss – until she has to.

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Maid of Oaklands Manor  by Terri Nixon was shortlisted in the 2013 Festival of Romance awards, in the Best Historical Read category.

A Rose in Flanders Fields is due out on July 7 2014.

www.terri-nixon.co.uk