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Readers of this blog might recall an entry about my tour of Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight in December 2009 ( I can't believe it was that long ago).  I was researching for the DI Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel number five in the series, Blood on the Sand , and it was then that I met  feature writer and travel journalist Sophie Campbell who mentioned Blood on the Sand in her article (but unfortunately omitted to give the author's name, which would have been a nice little bit of PR for me, but never mind!) Now the atmospheric photographs of Isle of Wight County Press chief photographer Jennifer Burton, taken during my tour has helped earn Daily Telegraph writer Sophie Campbell the Travel Journalist of the Year award . Congratulations to both. Part of Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight The Enjoy England award acknowledged Sophie's feature on the abbey, which brought its new tours to national attention last year. The abbey is to run the popular tour...

Well, I've made it into the Daily Telegraph - does this mean fame and fortune beckons with a best seller? The article is not a book review though, but appears in the travel section, and is about a tour of the beautiful Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight, which my husband and I undertook with the Daily Telegraph features writer, Sophie Campbell, before Christmas.  Click here to read the article in full. And in case you miss it - here's the bit about my Inspector Horton novel due out 26 February 2010. "A crime novelist from Hayling Island, who had set her last book, Blood on the Sand , on the Isle of Wight, smilingly denied that her next might be set in a Benedictine monastery." But Quarr Abbey could be in Blood on the Sand!

I've just returned from a delightful visit to  Quarr Abbey , near Ryde, on the Isle of Wight as part of a specially-organised Christmas tour led by Father Luke Bell, who has written a book about the monks' daily routine, A Deep and Subtle Joy: Life at Quarr Abbey .  Along with me and my husband were approximately thirty people including a feature writer from the Daily Telegraph, who like us had crossed from the mainland.  She'd also travelled from London that morning while we only had a short drive to the Hovercraft before traversing the calm waters of the Solent.  There was also a photographer present from the Isle of Wight County Press. Quarr Abbey plays a small part in my forthcoming marine mystery crime novel, Blood on the Sand featuring my fictional detective, Inspector Andy Horton, which will be published in the UK in February 2010 and in America in April 2010. I won't say what part because I don't want to spoil the plot!  The tour as well as...