Tilly Bagshawe's Blog

Hi everyone, so I am writing this in LA, where I am busily gearing up for the summer while trying to finish my sixth Sidney Sheldon novel, Reckless.  As usual there never seem to be quite enough hours in the day.  Family life is chaotic to say the least.  I can’t help thinking I would be much more productive and creative if only I were a gay man – or perhaps just any sort of man – and did not spend half of the best years of my life gluing paper leaves on to pretend Native American cut-out dolls or answering questions like “Mum, how fast is the universe expanding?” from my ten year old  son before seven o’clock in the morning.  (And by the way the correct answer to that question is:  “A lot faster than my manuscript.”)

Last weekend we went camping with our three youngest near Santa Barbara. (Or ‘Santa Bra Bra’ as my three year old daughter calls it,  a source of endless hilarity to her brothers.)  This was a boy scout trip, but I’m afraid I failed to get into the dib dib dib spirit.  I am not much of a camper.  You can’t get any writing done and the sun comes up far too early.  The food is also disgusting, and when you get home the children’s socks are so dirty they have to be thrown in the bin.  I’m much more excited about our trip to Nantucket in June (lots of writing,  great food, comfortable bed) and of course about coming home to England in July and August.  I miss home, and especially the countryside, so much when I’m away.   I think in some ways my homesickness probably helps my writing.  Once Reckless is finished I will start work on the next Swell Valley book, and the excitement of that is sort of mingled in with the thrill of being back in our Cotswolds cottage, splashing in the river and eating fudge.  I am trying not to focus on the fact that, as I type, the cottage has no roof and multiple missing walls (long story).  There is an outside chance that our building works may have made us just a smidgen less popular in the village than we were last year.  Hard to tell for sure, although the firebombs are a bit of a giveaway.

Despite this it will be great to be home and to spend more time with my oldest daughter who has incredibly managed to reach the age of twenty-three and is even more incredibly employed as a Montessori teacher.  It’s a funny thing having grown up children.  They  sort of sneak up on you.  My daughters are almost exactly twenty years apart, and yet when I play hide and seek with my littlest, I feel exactly the same as I did with Sefi.  It’s as if no time has passed. 

On which note, I had better get back to the book!

Wishing you all a very happy summer.

Tilly x

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I can’t quite believe June is here already.  I am in America at the moment and schools break up for summer really early here, so the holidays are already upon us.    This weekend my husband and I are flying to the East Coast with our three youngest children for a month on Nantucket island, their favourite place on earth.  Nantucket is stuck in a 1950s time warp.  It’s all about buckets and spades and riding bikes and crab fishing, the perfect antidote to city life.  I love it there too, as it’s extremely peaceful and beautiful, and (theoretically at least) a great place to write and be inspired.   I recently finished writing a new Sidney Sheldon book, Chasing Tomorrow, which is a sequel to one of Sidney’s biggest selling classics, If Tomorrow Comes.  It’s a thriller, featuring Tracy Whitney, a female con artist who was Sidney’s favourite heroine and whom I also absolutely love.  Writing  a Tracy Whitney story is about the most fun you can have and get paid for.  But it’s also all consuming, and for the last six months I’ve been totally immersed in Tracy’s world.  So it’s exhilarating but also a little strange to return at last to The Swell Valley and start work on the second novel in my series.  It’s a total change of pace and tone, but also a sort of homecoming in a way. Sitting at my desk here in LA, or soon in Nantucket, I feel as if I am walking down those lanes in Fittlescombe and Brockhurst, or sitting in the Fox sipping Pimms and lemonade with my characters.  And I realise how much I’ve missed them.  With the first instalment of The Inheritance now out back in England, I feel drawn back into that world myself.  I’m incredibly excited to introduce my readers to it for the first time.

My youngest son’s class did a topic at school a few weeks ago about their parents’ jobs.  Some of the mums and dads came in to give a talk about what they did for a living.  My son came home telling me all about his friend Monica’s mother (a very high powered surgeon and mother of seven – yes, seven!)  and how amazing her job was.

“Do you know what my job is?” I asked my son.  I had told him, but I wasn’t sure it had sunk in.

“Oh yes,” he said confidently.  “I told the whole class about it.”

“Wow, that’s great,” I said, gratified.  “So what did you say?”

“I said: “My mum goes to the gym.””

Hmmm. Perhaps it’s time to knuckle down and spend a bit more time in front of my keyboard?  Now that they’re home for the summer, my children  might even get to see me do it.

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‘Mark Ellwood, a dear friend of mine from Cambridge days and now a brilliant journalist, TV presenter and born again New Yorker has published his first book, Bargain Fever. Like everything Mark writes it’s hilarious and a fascinating look at our culture’s obsession with deals and discounts. Better than that, it’s a book that actually saves you money. I urge you all to rush out and buy it, and GOOD LUCK MARK!’

To buy Bargain Fever now click here

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A brand new summer short story from Tilly is the perfect read for this glorious weather

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MY CHRISTMAS MORNING

Christmas morning chez Bagshawe starts early, usually around 5am, with the arrival of Father Christmas. Not for us the lazy stocking left on the end of the bed. Oh no. The great man always appears in person, sleepy children awoken by the sound of bells as he comes up the stairs in full fig and asks if they’ve been good. Once FC’s gone on his way, stockings are opened and toys played with until breakfast.  

Then it’s carols and mass in the village, followed by games and a Christmas quiz at home by the fire while the cook (me this year, God help us) gets cracking in the kitchen. Lunch is a highlight for the adults but a definite lowlight for the children, who must wait until the last pudding bowl is cleared before present opening round the tree. In America, children wake up and tear open their presents right away, which makes the rest of the day such a let-down. For me Christmas morning is all about excitement and anticipation, and it always starts with that magical sound of sleigh bells in the dark… Merry Christmas everyone!

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The late novelist and screenwriter Sidney Sheldon remains one of the world’s top bestselling authors, having sold more than 300 million copies of his books. He is the only writer to have won an Oscar®, a Tony, and an Edgar® Award. Guinness World Records cites him as the most translated author in the world.

Famous for his fast-paced plots, strong heroines and unexpected twists, Sidney Sheldon is also one of Tilly Bagshawe’s all time favorite writers, and she now takes up the mantle of this late, great author, writing in his inimitable Sheldon style. The legacy truly lives on.

For more information on Sidney Sheldon’s books, visit:

http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/sidneysheldon/books.html