Three Lesser Known Facts About Author Kirsty Ferry

This week I’m joined by fellow Choc Lit author, Kirsty Ferry. Kirsty’s latest book is Summer’s Secret Marigold, but today she is here to share some secrets of her own …

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Fact One

I am going back to school in September.

If you know me at all, you’ll most likely be aware that I ceaselessly raim on about how I failed my art exam at school. I was too lazy and it’s a long story but if you know, you know! Anyway, during the dreaded 2020 I picked up my art stuff again and started learning a bit more about techniques and mixed media, and eventually managed to join a Watercolour Course run by our local Council. It was taught online for the first term, and was blended learning for the second, and the third term is due to start in September.

However, we are going to embark on a two-year qualification in September, which will be the equivalent of a GCSE. And, to make it even more exciting, I’m going back to my old comprehensive school to do it! I had visions of strutting back to that old art room and sitting down in my old seat – but I’ve been reliably informed by my friend’s son that that part of the school has now been demolished, and we are in a new-build. Still, I am looking forward to it immensely!

Fact Two

My worst drunk purchase was a chocolate fountain.

As drunk purchases go, that’s not bad, really. It was very disappointing, though, to unpack it sober and realise that what made the chocolate ‘foutainey’ was a mahoosive amount of cooking oil. Bleurgh! I prefer my chocolate not messed with, and the thought of adding a ridiculous amount of oil to my perfectly acceptable Dairy Milk was untenable – and probably even worse for me health wise than eating the chocolate in bar form. We tried it, just to say we had done so – and that was it. It got cleaned up, packed away and ended up at the charity shop. Just don’t do it, that’s my advice to you on chocolate fountains!

Fact Three

I have a ‘cloutie tree’ in my garden.

Well, it’s really a magnolia, but it’s now decorated with lots of colourful ribbons. I decided that once these awful lockdowns were over and I could start to welcome people back into my home, I’d ask my friends and family to tie a ribbon to the tree on their first visit back, so it would be a little reminder about how important we all are to one another.

Everybody has loved the idea and added a little bow or a flowing ribbon to it, and I love catching a glimpse of the tree and seeing the ribbons hanging there. A ‘cloutie’ is a bit of ribbon or a rag, and the Celts used to tie them to trees, especially trees near springs or sacred wells, as a little bit of a ritual and to hang a wish or a prayer on the tree. It just felt like a nice thing to do and as I say it’s awfully pretty to look at.

(Aww, how lovely! I want one too. Mx)

About Kirsty Ferry

Kirsty Ferry is from the North East of England and lives there with her husband and son. She won the English Heritage/Belsay Hall National Creative Writing competition in 2009 and has had articles and short stories published in various magazines. Her work also appears in several anthologies, incorporating such diverse themes as vampires, crime, angels and more.

Kirsty loves writing ghostly mysteries and interweaving fact and fiction. The research is almost as much fun as writing the book itself, and if she can add a wonderful setting and a dollop of history, that’s even better.

Her day job involves sharing a building with an eclectic collection of ghosts, which can often prove rather interesting.

For more information on Kirsty visit:

Twitter – www.twitter.com/kirsty_ferry

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/kirsty.ferry.author/

About Summer’s Secret Marigold

Can a summer secret from the past allow a new future to bloom?

For two people who run competing arts centres in Cornwall, Sybill Helyer and Coren Penhaligon get on rather well. So well in fact that Sybill often wishes the owner of Pencradoc Arts Centre would look up from his spreadsheets for a minute and notice her. Unfortunately, even that’s too much to ask from workaholic Coren.

However, when the pair join forces to run an exhibition on the wild and wonderful life of Elsie Pencradoc, a talented artist who lived at Coren’s estate in the early twentieth century, they’re in for a surprise. How will a secret sketchbook and an exquisite gothic dress from a long-ago midsummer costume ball lead them to the scandalous truth about Elsie – and perhaps encourage them to reveal a few long-kept secrets of their own?

Buying links

Kirsty Ferry (choc-lit.com)

Thank you for visiting my blog – Morton S. Gray – Author. I hope you enjoyed this post. You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Summer at Lucerne Lodge was published as an eBook on 20 April 2021 and now available as a paperback and audio download too – Amazon Check on my Choc Lit author page for other purchasing options here 

International Bestseller Christmas at the Little Beach Cafe published as an eBook, audio and paperback – Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, Kobo, Nook Books, Google Play and Choc Lit for other options.

Bestseller Sunny Days at the Beach is now available as an eBook, audio and paperback – Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, Kobo, Nook Books, Google Play and at Choc Lit for other options.

Christmas at Borteen Bay is available as both an eBook and audio download – Amazon Kindle, Audio, Apple iBooks, Kobo and Choc Lit for other buying options.

The Truth Lies Buried is available from all eBook platforms – Choc Lit, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Apple iBooks and also as a paperback and audiobook.

The Girl on the Beach published by Choc Lit is available as a paperback and from all eBook platforms –Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, Kobo, Barnes and Noble and Google Play.