A little historical detail about me . . .
I was born in the seaside town of Southport in 1947. At that time, Southport was still a part of Lancashire, but since the county boundary changes of 1974 it has become a part of Merseyside. I went to school in Southport and did my three year teacher training in Liverpool (1965-68). My geology degree came a little later, an extension of my love of physical geography.
My earliest memories stem from the first years of the 1950’s when we lived in a ‘prefab’ – a prefabricated house. Life was hard for everyone in those years following the war and, young as I was, I still recall my mother with her rations book . . .
- My mother-in-law’s old ration book
. . . and the dreadful state of badly bombed cities like Liverpool, where my mother’s family still lived. My parents were married in 1944, during one of my father’s leaves from the Royal Navy. My dad was from Southport, which escaped most of the bombing, and they lived with his parents until I was born three years later. Then they were offered the prefab. Most prefabs have long since gone, but no one can deny that such temporary housing served its purpose at the time. The population grew rapidly during the peaceful years following six long years of war – and I can claim to be part of that great ‘baby boom’. Yes, I’m definitely a ‘boomer’.
Despite the hardships, I had a really happy childhood. We left the prefab behind when I was seven, and I remember crying over it. I suppose a first home, no matter how humble it is, always stays in the mind. Well, at least, mine did . . . and it really was extremely humble.
- My aunt (mum’s much younger sister), my sister Linda and me. I’m the chubby one on the left.
I owe my love of reading to my father, who could always be found with his head inside a book after a hard day’s work. And in the years following the war, the days of most ‘working-class’ men were long and hard. He never missed taking the three of us – I have a younger sister and brother – to the library every other Saturday. I seemed to spend most of my time looking forward to the next visit, especially as the three books we were allowed in those days had generally been well and truly devoured by the first Tuesday. There was something about the library that I loved. The officious librarian, who would glare at anyone who even dared to scrape back a chair on the wooden floor, and the big SILENCE sign, didn’t bother me at all. No, I liked the silence. I would sit at a table and scrutinise book after book before I finally made my choices.
- The statue of Alfred in Wantage market place
I left Southport to take up my first teaching post in a small mining village near Doncaster in Yorkshire. I had moved from red rose territory to the realms of the white! But I loved my new school and the children I taught (I was a Secondary school teacher). It was in Yorkshire that I met my husband to be. He taught chemistry at a rival school (the rivalry generally referring to all things of a sporting nature). We were married in 1970, so it’s forty four years this year. In 1971 we moved down to Wantage (in Berkshire until 1974, now in Oxfordshire). Wantage is known as ‘King Alfred’s Town’, the site of his birth, and although I can’t claim to have been intending to write books about him since that time, living there did ignite the first sparks of interest in me for the Anglo Saxon /Viking period.
The following years were far too busy bringing up six children (all ‘pink’ roses!) and then eventually going back to teaching, to even contemplate the idea of writing. But the desire was always there, lying dormant just beneath the surface of my everyday life and thoughts.
Our children are all well grown up now and I retired from teaching a few years ago. We have all lived in Nottinghamshire since 1976, and my husband and I now live in a small village on the Nottinghamshire-Lincolnshire border, midway between Lincoln and Newark. Both of these places are full of lovely old buildings, including castles.
Since retiring I’ve been putting my newfound free time to good use. I’ve recently published my first book on Amazon, and the second is presently nearing completion. The novels are part of a trilogy, ‘Sons of Kings’. Book 1 is entitled, ‘Shadow of the Raven’, and Book 2 is ‘Pit of Vipers’.
My books are historical fiction (what else would they be?) set in the Anglo Saxon/Viking era. The protagonists throughout the trilogy are Alfred, son of King Aethelwulf of Wessex and Eadwulf, son of King Beorhtwulf of Mercia. It is set primarily in the Anglo Saxon and Danish lands.
Denmark is a beautiful country, its people warm and hospitable. I can honestly say that I saw no sign of the brutal, savage Viking temperament during my visit a few years ago! Not that I expected to, of course. I’ll talk about some of the excellent sites we visited in a future blog. Memories – and the help of a few notes and photos – really helped me to focus on the settings of various scenes whilst I was writing ‘Shadow of the Raven’.
So, this is me – or rather, a very brief synopsis of my life and a little about what I’m doing now. I’m sure further details will emerge as I continue to write my blog. I’ll try to make them interesting!
Millie Thom 
I’m so happy to have fallen into your blog! Your about me is wonderful. It is obvious you are a writer and a wonderful at that! I look forward to following you! Best wishes in the new year and always! Be well, Koko 🙂
Thank you for that amazing comment, Koko. I’ll hop over to your blog as soon as I get home. I’m away for one more day! 😀
Am a subscriber to ur blog, please send a request to friend u on facebook
Hi Karen. I’d be happy to friend you on facebook, although I’m not very active on that site. The main things that gets posted there are my blog posts, although I occasionally spend some time reading and liking interesting articles. I have no link to follow you back to fb and there are a few Karen Slaughters over there. I take it you don’t have a blog?
Millie, it’s lovely to meet you here on WP and I’ve enjoyed reading your about page – it gives a real flavour of both you and the various times and places. As a Yorkshire-girl by proxy I love the North but have also lived around the UK, now settled in North Essex! Wow! Six children…a wonderful handful I imagine and I love the photo of them all – yep, I remember the 80s hairstyles very well, and those shoulder pads! Congratulations on your first published book – a huge feat and best of luck with your next ones. 😀😃
Hello again, Anna. It’s been a pleasure to meet you, too, and thank you for liking my About post. It’s been untouched for three years now and obviously needs updating. I published Book 2 of my King Alfred/Viking trilogy ages ago and Book 3 is well overdue. Hopefully I’ll finish it in the next few months. This year has been a disaster for me as regards writing or blogging. Both seem to have ‘gone out the window’ for one reason or another. I also published a book of flash fiction pieces/very short stories last year (something I love to write). Book 1 (Shadow of the Raven) will be ‘Book of the Day’ on the Online Book Club tomorrow (Oct 4) and is also free on Amazon. I ought to do a blog post but won’t have time while we’re away. Such bad timing on my behalf!
I wish you lots of luck with your book, too. I know you’re editing it right now, so it shouldn’t be too long before you publish it.
We visit Essex quite often. My sister married a Harlow man and have lived in Old Harlow for 45 years. Much as I dislike the New Town, the old part is OK and there is some lovely countryside in a lot of Essex. 😀
It’s funny with about pages…they get written at the star and then left to linger!! 😀😀 Life does tend to get in the way sometimes but happy to read about your second book and the third one sort of ready! Essex is such a varied county – I live in the North part near Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, so it’s lovely and rural. The village is very archetypal English, with thatched cottage style pub, good village primary school, green park, little lake…very tame compared to the moors where I grew up though! 😀😀
A nice “about”. People like you or my brothers have the responsibility to transmit our post-war memories to the younger generations. 🙂 ’cause memory is fading away fast. The photograph of your parents is part of that memory. Thank you for sharing.
Hey hun, I’ve tagged you for The Handwriting Challenge at https://wp.me/p5ad78-1iL 🙂
Hope all is well with you! I came across your work today and I hope you keep sharing your words with the world! II hope your 2018 has been incredible! What made you want to share your work?
Hello Hank. Thank you for the nice comments about my work. They’re very much appreciated. As you’ve probably noticed, my blog is ‘in stasis’ at the moment, unfortunately. I’m working my socks off to get the third book of my trilogy finished off (almost there now!) and have had to abandon blogging for a while. I hope to be back very soon because I do miss talking to everyone out there.
I share my work for a number of reasons. I started off intending my blog to be a promotional site for my books but, as you can see, I soon found many other interesting things to post about. I write about history and customs/traditions mostly – and I love the flash fiction challenges.
Have you got a WP blog? I have no link to follow back to you, so all I can do is thank you again for your encouraging comment and hope your 2018 is wonderful, too. 😀
Living in an English village sounds romantic to me, what with Escape to the Country TV show. The ration book reminds of similar ones still used in Cuba.
Thank you for reading my About page. I admit, it’s looking very tired now and in need of an update! Yes, our village is very quiet and peaceful and we are surrounded by open countryside. Other than the church, we have no amenities here and have to go down to a bigger village two miles away for any shopping.
Life is hard for many people in Cuba, and I know that shopping items are limited. So I’m not surprised to hear that ration books are still used there. Thank you for telling me that.