We were very sad receive a letter from St Paradis today, from Elizabeth, telling us that Paul has died. He actually died over a week ago but she was unable to get through to us on the telephone and her letter, when it arrived, had been held up by a railway strike in France. His funeral was on May 23rd and was very well attended. He was enormously wellknown in the Limousin, indeed it was said that "everyone between Limoges and Clermont Ferrand knows Paul". At one time, when he was a garagist, he had the only crane in the region. He also owned a bistro and commercial travellers' hotel just opposite the station used by all the farmers to send their produce to market. He was immensely kind and generous, and we were incredibly lucky that he took us under his wing immediately and inconditionally from the moment we arrived in St Paradis, looking after the house for us on a daily basis and making heroic efforts in the garden which had been overgrown and neglected for many years. We loved him and we will never forget him. Now that there is no need to protect his privacy, we can tell you his real name. He was Jules Pauly and he was 85 years old.
20th May 2000
Anne has been reprinting "A House with Spirit" by Jackie and Christine Hamlett, originally published in 1996, and has given it a new colour cover. Since the authors are both mediums the book is very ghost-orientated, although the historial research is exhaustive and conventional. The first time Anne printed it, the "spooks" had great fun sabotaging the printing machine, which Jackie and Christine said was quite normal - apparently ghosts like playing with electrical equipment. This time round, the printing went quite well until Anne tried to do a page containing photographs of two Marbury ghosts which had materialised on video. (She took the photographs herself, from the Hamletts' video played on her own TV, and can bear witness to the phenomenon). The pictures came out on the page the right way up but in negative format, and when she went back through the computer programmes to the originals, she found these "flipped" vertically and horizontally!
Anne also wonders whether there might have been some "outside" interference with Nellie's book. The proofs were perfect, but after the launch a reader rang up to say that in chapter two there are quite inexplicable extra lines inserted into the text which means that the words don't follow when the pages are turned over. It was enough to make Anne weep with frustration as she knew the original had been very carefully checked. Then, a few days later, after chatting to Jackie Hamlett, the hairs stood up on the back of her neck. The chapter concerned is called "A Ghost at Gadbrook" and it talks of the ghost of a farmer's wife who had committed suicide, often described by Nellie's mother. At the same time as the book was being printed, and completely unbeknown to Anne or Nellie, this restless spirit was making contact with Jackie and Christine Hamlett...
12th May 2000
Anne has just finished proof-reading "Two Birds and No Stones" by Geoffrey Morris, and has sent the proofs over to France for him to check before they go on to our professional proof-reader at Lee-on-Solent. Patricia Kelsall has excelled herself by painting a water-colour cover and drawing sketches for each of the book's forty-five witty short-story length chapters. They are hilarious to read in one sitting - or ideal to dip into. "Two Birds" will be launched at the Anne Loader Publications stand at the Cheshire Show. Jack has built some special display stands to take all the books, and we particularly hope to bring our locally-based ones to the attention of people who might not otherwise see them. Of course, we also hope to meet lots of Francophiles there too! As we are down to a mere handful of copies of "A House With Spirit" by Jackie and Christine Hamlett, we will reprint it yet again before we go to the show.
Anne is currently proof-reading the Cheshire-based novel "Woollyback" by Alan Fleet, which will be launched at Knights Grange, Winsford on July 2. She has read it numerous times in the course of working on it, but it still moves her to tears. "It's beautifully written and Alan evokes the raw emotions of childhood and fatherhood so vividly that the reader experiences them at first-hand," she says. Patricia has drawn the cover illustration, which has required research into the buildings of old Winsford and the type of headgear worn by salt miners.
26th April 2000
The launch for "Diesel Taff - from 'The Barracks' to Tripoli" by Austin Hughes was held last night at The Holly Bush public house at Cefn-Y-Bedd, not far from his birthplace at Hope, near Wrexham in North Wales. Like Nellie (see below), Austin was able to see many friends and relations who had come along to support him on his special day. He started writing his book more than ten years ago, and never thought he would see the day when it was in print. He had received excellent coverage in the 'Crewe Guardian', with a half-page article, and shorter mentions in other local papers. He looked very smart in a new navy blazer complete with his WW2 medals.
22nd April 2000
We were back from France with a day to spare before last night's launch of "Nellie's Story" by Elizabeth Ellen ("Nellie") Osborne at Davenham, near Northwich. The evening was a tremendous success. The room was heaving with Nellie's friends and relatives, and the queue of people waiting to have their books signed was very long. Nellie was delighted to meet people she hadn't seen for years, including two ladies who were born in her house when she was a young girl and whom she had pushed around in their pram! We had supplied the largest local bookshop with a number of books in advance of the launch and asked the book buyer to put them on the shelves this morning. Thanks to the excellent coverage in the local press, nearly all the books had gone by lunchtime and we were asked to bring more this afternoon to cope with the demand!
We had a very productive time in France, doing the terrace (moving two tons of sand, five tons of gravel and a ton and a half of brick blocks by wheelbarrow) and making the bathroom much more civilised (including putting the door on again after five years!). Anne now feels that she is "pregnant" with the third book in the St Paradis series. It is likely to be called "The Turkey Who Sang the Angelus".(Re-titled "The Bells of St. Paradis" later) The turkey in question was obtained by Mme Echelle for her large family's pre-Millennium Christmas dinner but a last-minute change of plan meant that it wasn't eaten and it lives to face another Noel. In the meantime, it has been found a mate and is celebrating its deliverance by replying very vocally to all noises in the village. It responds to people's voices, chain-saws, tractors and other loud sounds but especially likes the church bells which toll out the hours - and the Angelus - just across the road.