I am very excited to be part of the blog tour of TA Williams's new novel Chasing Shadows.
Just click the link above to get your copy. Here's what it's all about:
Amy had it all – money, brains and beauty. And then the accident happened.
The Present Day: Left blind and without her family, Amy feels she needs to get away.
On a trip along the Camino, she is accompanied by the mysterious and troubled
Luke. Having been set up to help Amy by a mutual friend, Luke finds he is also
running from his past…
1314: A Templar Knight, Luc, is also running. He meets the wife of a former comrade,
now blinded in a terrifying attack: Aimee. Taking her under his wing, they must
journey together through a dangerous world.
As they travel through the stunning scenery of Northern Spain, this couple, so very
like Luke and Amy, emerge from the shadows of time carrying a treasure of
inestimable value.
I'm very lucky today because he has written a post about the experience that led him to writing the book exclusively for the blog today. Don't forget to scroll down to the bottom of the post to find out more about the book and the author. Thanks again to TA Williams for stopping by the blog today and don't forget to check out the rest of the stops on the tour in the banner above!
Ten years ago, I took early retirement from the job I had been doing for the past
thirty years, as principal of a big English language school. This was a pretty stressful
job and it was a great relief to hand over to somebody else. There were a number of
things I wanted to do, now that I was going to have more free time, and the first of
these was to cycle 2,000 kilometres.
Now, some people might think this a bit strange, crazy even, and indeed a number
of my friends did voice their concerns as to my sanity, but I knew it was something I
really wanted to do. Years ago, I got hooked on medieval history and the Pilgrims’
Way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain is one of the oldest pilgrimage routes in the
world and is a treasure chest of medieval buildings and medieval history.
Traditionally, people start from Saint-Jean- Pied-de- Port in southern France, near the
frontier with Spain, but I wanted to do it properly and that meant starting from here.
Here being my home near Exeter, in south west England.
I set off on the ferry from Plymouth to Roscoff in Brittany, accompanied by a big
group of friends for the first few days and, unfortunately for them, it rained solidly the
whole time until day 4. In fact it rained so much I began to doubt whether I would
ever dry out or have the resolve to carry on. But I did, even though this meant
crossing the road bridge over the river Loire at Saint Nazaire with a force 8, gusting
force 9 side wind, one of the most seriously scary hours of my life.
The weather gradually improved as I rode down the west coast of France, shedding
companions and being joined by new companions along the way, until we reached the
Pyrenees and found ourselves on the main Pilgrims’ Way. The 1,000 metre climb
over the mountains was hard, but not as bad as I had feared, although I managed to
break a spoke just before the top. From there, we set off through Spain and soon
discovered that Spain is a seriously mountainous country. As we rode, we got fitter,
and that was just as well as the climbs multiplied. All the way along the route we
would come across magnificent chapels, churches, basilicas and cathedrals, some set
in the tiniest of villages. The pilgrimage has been popular since before the first
millennium and millions upon millions of pilgrims have made the journey and
hundreds of thousands still undertake it each year.
Nowadays, the route is well signposted and safe. Back in the Middle Ages, pilgrims
would have had to be on the look out for bears, wolves and bandits. The worst to
happen to us were a few punctures, a few minor accidents and a really annoying
headwind for some days. This finally changed to a tailwind as we approached Burgos
and I remember being almost blown into the city. Along the way we had some great
meals, drank a lot of very good wine, enjoyed some spectacular scenery and also shed
a good few pounds.
The last few days, riding through what is called “Green Spain”, we came to realise
why it gets its name. We had to cope with some downpours of biblical proportions
and the sensation when we finally reached the square in front of the cathedral in
Santiago was one of genuinely mixed feelings. On the one hand it was great to know I
had accomplished something but, at the same time, it was almost an anticlimax to
know that it was over. This major component on my bucket list was ticked off. I felt
genuinely sorry it was over, although my legs (and my bottom) were very, very glad.
It was while I was riding through Spain that the idea came to me to write a book. I
hope you enjoy reading about what flowed from my great adventure .
And here's all the other information you need!
My name is Trevor Williams. I write under the androgynous name T A Williams
because 65% of books are read by women. In my first book, 'Dirty Minds' one of the
(female) characters suggests the imbalance is due to the fact that men spend too
much time getting drunk and watching football. I couldn't possibly comment. Ask my
wife...
My background, before taking up writing full time, was in teaching and I was
principal of a big English language school for many years. This involved me in
travelling all over the world and my love of foreign parts is easy to find in my books. I
speak a few languages and my Italian wife and I still speak Italian together.
I've written all sorts: thrillers, historical novels, short stories and now I'm enjoying
myself hugely writing humour and romance. My most recent books are
the What happens… series. What happens in Tuscany reached #1 in the Amazon.uk
Romantic Comedy chart and What Happens on the Beach, the last in the series,
came out in July. Chasing Shadows is still romance, but with the added spice of a
liberal helping of medieval history, one of my pet hobbies. I do a lot of cycling and I
rode all the way to Santiago de Compostela on a bike a few years back. This provided
both the inspiration and the background research for Chasing Shadows.
I’m originally from Exeter, and I’ve lived all over Europe, but now I live in a little
village in sleepy Devon, tucked away down here in south west England. I love the
place.
Website: http://www.tawilliamsbooks.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TAWilliamsbooks
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TrevorWilliamsBooks
Information about the Book
Title: Chasing Shadows
Author: T. A. Williams
Release Date: 16 th January 2017
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Canelo
Format: Ebook
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33401178-chasing-
shadows
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