In order to appeal to the USA I changed my locations from Latin America to Europe and left the sagas in exchange for mysteries. It was refreshing for me to try something different and the new direction paid off as America liked it, buying Last Voyage of The Valentina and the next one, The Gypsy Madonna, which is set in France.
While I always knew the skeleton of my novels, the mysteries took a great deal more planning. In order for surprises to take place in the second half, I had to plot the first half very carefully. When I finished the first draught I gave it to my husband to read. He came back shaking his head, telling me that I had revealed all the ten revelations in one brief conversation. I had to go back and work out exactly who would reveal what, when. It was hard for me to be disciplined as I’d always written according to where my imagination led me, not following a meticulously plotted map. However, my husband was right, the second draught had a lot more suspense!
The idea for the book was inspired by my aunt Naomi. I went to dinner at her house and we ended up looking at her old photo albums of her London life in the 1960s. She had lived on a house boat on Cheyne Walk, which was still there. It was a converted Motor Torpedo Boat that had seen action in the war. I immediately seized upon the idea for my novel, sending my captain out into the Mediterranean, off the coast of Italy, where he spends some time ashore and falls in love with a local girl. The boat ends up on Cheyne Walk in the 1960s where his daughter discovers a secret scroll and sets out on a quest to discover the truth about her dead mother.
I later used the same invented town of Incantellaria, 20 years on, in my ninth novel,: The Italian Matchmaker, although you don’t have to have read this one to enjoy the other. They both stand on their own.
Last Voyage of The Valentina is set on the Amalfi coast, in 1960s London, and in Hampshire, where I grew up. I always try to write about different places, for my enjoyment as much as for my reader. I also write about places I know. This is important in order to create a sense of place through smell, sound and feeling. I need to know what the birds sound like, what types they are, what trees and flowers grow and what the light looks like first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I don’t think I would be happy writing about somewhere I had never been.
