Welcome to Eve Houston's Website
Explore the site to find find a wealth of information on Eve Houson's Prior's Ford Books as well as the denizens of Prior's Ford and the setting for Prior's Ford: the wonderful Dumfries and Galloway countryside!
Eve's Latest News & Blog Posts
November 3rd, 2011
This may be my last post on this website as I will soon move to All Things Evelyn website now that the fifth Prior’s Ford book, Mystery in Prior’s Ford, has been published.
That book, as you may already know, has been puvlished in hardback under my real name, Evelyn Hood, by a publishing house that caters mainly for libraries. I know that many of you are collecting the series, and will be disappointed at not being able to buy a copy. A paperback version is coming out around March 2012 and in the meantime you may find copies of the hardback online at Amazon UK
My apologies for this situation, which is beyond my control. Sadly, not enough people bought copies of the previous books, so the original publisher, Sphere, dropped the series. Such if life!
I am now working on the 6th book and I can assure you that the good – and not so good! – people of Prior’s Ford are still providing me with a lot of storylines.
Evelyn Hood
Happy reading,
Evelyn
Posted in: Prior's Ford by Eve on November 3rd, 2011
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October 5th, 2011
The 5th Prior’s Ford book, Mystery in Prior’s Ford, was published on Thursday last, September 29th, but I am now hearing that it has already gone out of print, and at the moment it’s not known when there will be a reprint.
My apologies about that – it is something beyond my control. If you want to order copies of the book, which bears my real name, Evelyn Hood, please order at bookshops and online. The more orders, the sooner, I hope, it will be reprinted.
Evelyn Hood
Posted in: Prior's Ford by Eve on October 5th, 2011
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September 13th, 2011
My fifth Prior’s Ford book, Mystery in Prior’s Ford, comes out at the end of this month from a new publisher, Severn House, and under my own name, Evelyn Hood. I’m really pleased to be able to reveal myself as Evelyn Hood as that’s the name that appears on
more than thirty books, mainly family sagas. I was never happy with the suggestion
that I should use a different name for the village series, but they who pay the piper
get to call the tune.
I felt that reverting to the name of Eve Houston would mean losing my Evelyn Hood
readers and having to start all over again, which indeed happened. The village series
was slow to start, but just as my original publisher gave up on me, Prior’s Ford began
to gather more readers and your emails started coming in every day. Many thanks for
those emails – writing is a lovely but lonely task and it’s so good to get feedback
from readers.
As far as I’m concerned,I want to hear the criticism as well as the praise because if
I’m doing something wrong, I need to know so that I can correct it. For instance,
Nancy, a very sharp-eyed reader, recently picked up on the fact that the McDonald
family had lost one of their children as the series progressed, something I’d only just
noticed myself. So Frankie McDonald, twin to the incorrigible Faith,is back in the
bosom of his family in the next book, as yet untitled. Thank you so much for that,
Nancy.
When I was first asked to write Prior’s Ford as a series I wondered if I would manage
to keep coming up with story-lines, but as I have said before, once characters are
created they have a habit of become as real as you and I, and when I started work on
the sixth book last month my fictitious characters had so many tales to tell me that I
probably have enough now for the 7th book as well.
I will soon be moving to a new website called AllthingsEvelyn,and I hope that you will
follow me there. I’ll remind you of that nearer the time.
In the meantime, keep in touch, I love to hear from you.
Posted in: Prior's Ford by Eve on September 13th, 2011
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July 17th, 2011
It sounds twee when a writer says that fictional characters can take control of their own lives, but it does happen, for the simple reason that the imagination is like a muscle – the more it’s used, the more active it becomes.
With practice, it seems to pick up on ideas from all over the place. For years now I’ve been aware that as I come closer to the end of the book I’m writing, ideas for the next book start tugging at me like a persistent child looking for attention. More than once I’ve typed ‘the end’ on the final page, set up a new page and immediately started on the next offering. And that’s a great feeling.
Right now, I’ve almost finished checking over the first printout of Mystery in Prior’s Ford – one of my least favourite tasks because it takes concentration to pick up on errors – and within the next few days I’ll be back to what I like doing most – having a good nosey round Prior’s Ford to find out what’s happened since I last visited.
Thanks to my ever-busy imagination, subconscious or whatever it may be called, I already know that I lot has been happening, or is about to happen. So much so, in fact, that I wonder if I can fit it all into one book. I can hardly wait to discover how the villagers work their way out of some of the situations they’re going to find themselves in!
My thanks to the increasing number of readers who have emailed to say how much they are enjoying the Prior’s Ford village series – it seems that books can be quite addictive! Others have told me that they’d love to live there, which is really lovely to know. To be honest, I’d not mind living there myself, and in a way, while writing the books I do live there.
The next book, Mystery in Prior’s Ford, comes out on September 29th, and this one will be published under my own name, Evelyn Hood. I’m really pleased about that.
Happy reading!
Eve/Evelyn
Posted in: Prior's Ford by Eve on July 17th, 2011
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June 7th, 2011
I knew his name as soon as my eyes opened. I knew what he looked like, and I even knew his taste in clothes and that he is a pipe-smoker. I didn’t know why he was going to appear in my next Prior’s Ford book, what he does for a living, or even if he did anything for a living, but half an hour later, halfway through eating breakfast, I suddenly knew why he was going to arrive in Prior’s Ford and what he was going to do there.
I said in my last blog that I would write about creating characters, and I just have – created one, I mean. Okay, it’s not as easy as I just made it sound, but I have years of practice behind me. In just over 40 novels I must have created hundreds if not thousands of characters and I still remember most of them. So, I’m glad to say, do many of my readers. I became a writer because as a child I loved reading Charles Dickens. Nobody could create memorable characters as well as he did, including me, but no harm in trying.
Sometimes my characters arrive in my mind complete with names, sometimes not, and often I have no idea why they’ve suddenly introduced themselves, but once they arrive they tend to stay. One Evelyn Hood novel opened with people gathering on the quayside in Greenock to watch a clipper arrive, and suddenly, as I wrote the scene, my attention was drawn to a certain man among the onlookers. I wrote him into the scene and he turned out to be one of my main characters. When writing Voices from the Sea (Evelyn Hood) although it was set in Portsoy, on the Murray Firth, the first character who came to mind, as happened this morning, was a Glaswegian named Foy – no Christian name because he refused to use it. He only appeared in the second half of the book, although he was almost reading over my shoulder every day as I typed, but many readers asked me to write a sequel because they wanted to know what Foy did next. Perhaps one day, I will. I always know what happened to my characters after the book ended. As for Foy, it was only on the final page that I found out what his Christian name was. It’s the last word in the last line.
The subconscious mind is the fiction writer’s most important tool. It’s like a muscle, in that the more it’s used, the stronger it gets. When fiction writers say that their characters dictate the book it sounds twee, but there’s truth in it – strong characters really do make their own minds up as to whether or not they’ll follow the author’s wishes.
So how do you go about creating a character? First, create a tricky situation involving one or more characters. A tour bus with a collection of passengers who don’t know each other breaks down miles from anywhere, or someone comes face to face with the last person they wanted to see – anything that involves characters having to think fast on their feet in order to escape from a tricky situation. Then say ‘get out of that’ and watch how they deal with the problem. Obviously you’re going to have to help them since you created them, but try not to use your own voice – put yourself into their situation and their heads. If they manage to work through the problem, then you’ve got the makings of a character, and with any luck, the solving of one situation will lead them into another situation.
One good exercise, you’re stuck for ideas, is to write the story of a nursery rhyme or a fair story from a different angle – the wicked step-mother justifying what she did, or one of the minor characters telling the story from a completely different angle.
Go on, try it. In the meantime, I’ve made notes on my new character, who is going to cause a real flutter in the heart of one of Prior’s Ford’s most sensible characters, and I’m finishing off a pantomime I’ve been tidying up for some people who may be interested in performing it next Christmas.
Happy reading,
Eve
Posted in: Prior's Ford by Eve on June 7th, 2011
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May 22nd, 2011
Shirl, who loved the first two Prior’s Ford books, wishes that the characters were more fully developed. Shirl, I’m delighted with your comments because they’ve given me the chance to talk about characterisation. First, to answer your questions about specific characters in the Prior’s Ford series.
Duncan, Helen’s husband, isn’t a terrible man, he’s just an old-fashioned Scottish husband who believes that housework and child-rearing is woman’s work. As said in Secrets in Prior’s Ford, he doesn’t earn much as gardener at Linn Hall, so Helen uses her computer to type papers for other people, such as students and lecturers. She also has an Agony Aunt page in the local paper and longs to make money as a fiction writer. Duncan doesn’t believe in taking his work home, so leaves the family garden to Helen.
In Secrets Jenny’s first husband was referred to as a dominating bully but I never saw him as being physically abusive. As an oil rig worker he was presumably physically strong, and he was possessive. I believe that a strong, dominating man with a bullying nature would often seem to a woman to be on the edge of violence.
As for Marcy, she’s a complex character. In Drama Comes to Prior’s Ford, after she has left him Sam admits to himself that she has had a troubled life. She’s also described in that book as a friendly, outgoing woman to the people who frequent the village shop.
In Chapter 22 of that book, Ingrid and Jenny discuss Marcy’s past, with Ingrid saying,
“I have a suspicion that deep down, Marcy doesn’t believe that she deserves to be loved. Think about what we’ve learned from the few words she’s said over the years; parents who didn’t show affection, then living with a husband who gambled away every penny she earned and pushed her into debt.”
“And then she came here, and found Sam and love.”
“Yes, but by then poor Marcy had become so suspicious of the world, and so used to being let down by people she thought could trust, that she couldn’t allow herself feel safe. Why do you think she and Sam were always having disagreements? It was because Marcy had to keep testing him, wanting him to prove his love for her. And that silly quarry business was the final straw for her – Sam was for it, she was against it, and he wouldn’t budge. So she left him.”
When writing a series where the same people appear often, it’s important to keep some information back. If the reader learns all about characters in the first book, there’s not much left to say in sequels. I suspect that Marcy’s complex life still holds a few surprises for me as well as my readers.
The tourists are mainly passing through, because Dumfries and Galloway is a beautiful region with beautiful villages as well as wonderful countryside. Later, the peregrine falcons nesting in the old quarry become an attraction. And it’s hoped that Linn Hall might become a tourist attraction.
And that has to be all for now. But next time, I’m going to elaborate on creating believable characters for those of you interested in writing. I leave you with one thought – most of the people in my fiction, including the Prior’s Ford series, are based on real people I have known well, in some cases, too well, as family, friends and acquaintances.
Posted in: Prior's Ford by Eve on May 22nd, 2011
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May 18th, 2011
It always takes time for a new series to catch the attention of the readers, and I’m delighted to be able to tell you that the fourth in the series, Scandal in Prior’s Ford, has done just that. Emails are coming in every day now from people wanting to know when they can get their hands on Mystery in Prior’s Ford. They’re gasping to know what’s happening to the village. And here is the answer – the latest book is coming out on September 29th, and I’m delighted to say that this one will have my own name, Evelyn Hood, on the cover.
My thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to let me know how much you are enjoying the series; it’s so good to hear from you. Please, please, recommend the books to your friends if you’re enjoying them, because the more readers I collect the more chance there is of the series continuing. And the money’s nice, too!
There’s a growing demand among you for Lewis to stop idolising Molly and start noticing poor Ginny, working so hard on the estate and longing for him to fall for her. You’re also clamouring for Clarissa and Lewis to let their feelings for each other come out into the open. I took a bit of a chance, encouraging those two to fall in love, but you readers have proved that it was a chance worth taking.
Now that Mystery in Prior’s Ford has been despatched to my editor I’m taking some time off to attend to other things but soon it will be time for me to take a walk round my imaginary village, knocking on doors and asking the residents what’s been happening to them since we last met. They are never lost for words, bless them.
In fact, they’re already opening their doors to tell me the latest before I get the chance to knock.
Watch this website – I’ll keep you informed.
Happy reading,
Eve Houston, alias Evelyn Hood
Posted in: News, Prior's Ford by admin on May 18th, 2011
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April 18th, 2011
Darn and bother – here was me, looking forward to finishing Mystery in Prior’s Ford and then enjoying two whole months without having to think about the next book – and already I find myself noting down what’s going to happen next. This imaginary village seems to have cast a spell over me and I can’t break free.
When I am asked, which happens often, how long it takes me to write a book (between the family sagas written mainly as Evelyn Hood, with three under the name of Louise James, and the Prior’s Ford series, I think I’ve published about 40 novels so far) the answer is – nine months every time, which is the time it takes to produce a baby.
And there are other similarities – the mothers among you will probably agree that as your pregnancy heads into its eighth month, you begin to feel as though you’ll just keep growing and getting more backache and never actually give birth. You begin to wonder if it’s just a big joke being played on you by Nature, and you begin to wish – well, I did! – that you hadn’t bothered in the first place. But it’s all worth while in the end, thank goodness, which is why we keep doing it.
When it comes to the books (wow, imagine 40 births! And oops, I think my back’s beginning to twinge) I usually have the same symptoms as the final chapters approach. Wish I’d never started it, will I ever get to write ‘end’? – can’t wait for that moment – it’s going to be great, not wakening in the middle of the night, worrying about deadlines. And then no sooner have I sent the completed book off and heaved a huge sigh of relief than the next book starts tugging at my leg like an insistent toddler.
Give me some assistance here, folks. For instance, do the village books have too many characters for you to follow? I’ve been told that the lists of main characters at the front are helpful but there are times when even I get slightly confused as to who’s who. What storyline would you like to see followed up more than others?
Who are your favourite characters, and who do you dislike?
Let me know, I really enjoy hearing from you.
Posted in: Prior's Ford, Writing by Eve on April 18th, 2011
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April 4th, 2011
Apologies for the long gap between blogs this time, but I’ve been very busy completing the fourth novel in the Prior’s Ford series, Mystery in Prior’s Ford, in time for its deadline of the end of March.
This one was tough because I’ve introduced something new and it required a lot of careful handling. What I did was… but why am I telling you now, when it would be far better for you to read the entire story for yourselves? Not as long as before to wait, as I’m told that Mystery… should be published in September of this year.
Now that the book is off my hands I’m looking forward to a couple of months off, which will give me a chance to catch up with friends, read other people’s books, judge two short story competitions and (groan) get some housework done.
I’m pleased to say that the series is gathering new readers all the time, and I greatly appreciate your emails and comments. There is a lot of interest in Clariss’’s problem – will-she-won’t-she admit to having fallen in love with Alastair, some twenty years her junior? I’m delighted to say that you’re all cheering her on, but Clarissa’s quite reserved, and still not sure that she’s allowed to fall for someone young enough to be her son. It seems unfair that older men can be applauded for courting young women (life in the old boy yet, what? Ha, ha!), yet the females of the species is expected to ‘remember her age’! Perhaps it’s time for a revolution.
My friend Aileen isn’t bothered about Clarissa – she’s agonising over another love affair in the series. Every time I see her she asks the same question – ‘you’re not going to let that awful girl Molly marry Lewis, are you?’ The other week I called her bluff and offered there and then to spill the beans, if that was what she really wanted me to do. She hesitated for a full minute then said, ‘Oh, darn it – no! I’ll just have to suffer until I read about it – but you’re not going to let her, are you?’
How do I know what’s to happen to Molly and Lewis? I just write down what they say and do and I have to wait until they say it and do it.
So for the next two months the doors of Prior’s Ford will be closed, the curtains drawn and the inhabitants left in peace while I judge two short story competitions and tackle that housework. And, I hope write more blogs, so keep watching this webpage. And if you have any ideas as to what Clarissa and the rest of them should get up to next – let me know, please!
I’m dying to find out, myself.
Happy Easter,
Eve
Posted in: Prior's Ford, Writing by admin on April 4th, 2011
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January 27th, 2011
A new year has arrived, and I hope that for all of us (especially for me!) it will prove to be a good one.
It got off to a good start with the publication of the fourth title in the Priors Ford series, Scandal in Prior’s Ford. Until now the books have been written under the pseudonym of Eve Houston and sadly, the indications are that not enough people are buying them, although I’ve had very enthusiastic messages from those who have.
I have almost completed the fifth book, Mystery in Prior’s Ford, which will be published later this year by another publisher, under my own name, Evelyn Hood. The village series is a big change from the family sagas Evelyn Hood is known for, but I hope that now all has been revealed, the Hood readers, who must have been wondering why Evelyn suddenly disappeared with no explanation, will give the series a try. If you don’t like them, folks, so be it, but who knows – perhaps you will.
As for the Eve Houston readers, why not have a shot at reading an Evelyn Hood novel? Several years ago, a librarian in Paisley (my home town) told me that she had been approached by a regular borrower who said excitedly, “I’ve found a new writer called Louise James who’s just as good as Evelyn Hood!” to which the librarian replied, “That’s because Louise James’s real name’s Evelyn Hood.” The name may change on the whim of a publisher, but if you like a certain writer the chances are that you may enjoy anything he or she writes. What’s in a name? Since this blog is being written the day after Burns Day, it’s worth ending with my version of one of the great Rabbie’s lines – “A book’s a book for a’ that.”
And if you enjoy reading Evelyn Hood or Eve Houston, spread the word.
Happy New Year, everyone, and happy reading.
Eve Houston/Evelyn Hood
Posted in: News by admin on January 27th, 2011
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