Rochelle Jones at Tintagel
Born Rochelle Candee in Los Angeles. For the latter part of her childhood she lived something of a nomadic lifestyle after her parents divorced, as her mother and step father moved frequently all over the US. Never settling long in one place while growing up gave her the spirit to travel, and in her early twenties she moved to the UK.
My Books Available
I have published five books and in the later stages of publishing a sixth, this is called Averill, a book I actually began in 2017, but from which I broke off in order to write a sixth, this is my latest book called Emma and Me, with a sub title,‘an unusual Biography’. The subject of this story was suggested to me by my son, who had always had an interest in Lord Nelson and that period in history. He noticed that Lady Hamilton’s life had something in common with a heroine from an earlier story of mine, Helen Clifton in 'Heaven and Helen'.
The idea for this book intrigued me for several reasons and I decided to start a story with Lady Hamilton and see what I could come up with. The subject of Lady Hamilton had already been brought to my attention many years earlier in my life and for different reasons. Thus, my feelings about Lady Hamilton were mixed due to the fact that my late husband had been interested in reincarnation and every time he became interested in a new woman, he decided that she must have been lady Hamilton in a previous life. This was because he was convinced that he had had been Lord Nelson in a previous life.
As a matter of fact, I had always been interested in meta physics and such subjects as theosophy and spiritualism. My husband and I originally became friends due to that fact.
However, because he always thought he was someone famous, this had put me off the subject for a while as I could not take him seriously. Once, I tried to make sense of these beliefs and asked him if I could have been Lady Hamilton. He said no, he said I must have been Lady Nelson, the much less glamorous wife of Lord Nelson. This led me to ask who might have been Lady Hamilton, he replied she was a previous girlfriend of his.
In fact, over the years he had several Lady Hamilton’s in his life. This made the whole thing sound slightly ridiculous.
I put the idea of reincarnation aside for a while. Then after remembering my husband’s beliefs about Lady Hamilton and thinking it over decided, rather than treat the subjects separately, I thought why not combine them at some point, a story about Lady Hamilton with some link with reincarnation, this seemed like a good idea to have both subjects in the story.
Because I had grown slightly tired of writing historical novels, I decided to include modern times in this story, and I began writing in the first person an autobiography, and partly as a joke I named my heroine Frances, the name of Lord Nelson’s wife. Writing as Frances I could work off some of my latent animosity for the character - developed over the years from my memories of my husbands’ beliefs. Lady Nelson must not have been a fan of Lady Hamilton either, so it was easy to make Frances begin by disliking her; then after a series of dreams in which she is Lady Hamilton, she thinks, perhaps, Lady Hamilton was not such a bad person after all. My character, Frances, has always been a judgmental type; in realising this, she begins to grow into a more tolerant person.
When I started to write about Emma, I was handicapped by a lack of knowledge about the mid to late 18th century. My son was able to fill in a lot of what I did not know.
The story that emerged was that of Frances Taylor and is set in contemporary times. It starts with her mental collapse which leads her to be receptive to a strange presence she encounters when on holiday, her mental state makes her sensitive to its influence and this manifests itself as strangely realistic dreams in which she relives the younger life of Emma Hamilton from her impoverished beginnings to her rise from obscurity in the mid eighteenth century
Frances finds that she is being drawn into an ever more real life setting in which she relives the adventures of the young Emma. There is some mystery about the early years of Emma, then called Amy Lyon, but there is enough to build a story around to create some adventures. The latter part of her life is better known, when she first becomes the mistress of an aristocrat. In my book the dreams included the earlier stages of this part of Emma's life, covering the period in which she lived in Naples. The dreams that Frances experience become so real that soon she begins to question which is the real world that she is living in.
With a lot of research about the life of Lady Hamilton I was able to create a realistic period setting for her early life. That I was first 'introduced' to lady Hamilton by me late husband's belief in reincarnation makes it is an interesting development that I should write a story about Lady Hamilton trying to reveal a hidden secret through the dreams of a mentally exhausted woman who needed to be shown a way of reengaging with the world again.
My latest book is also about a woman who leads two lives, as she tries to escape from some perceived threat.
First, we are introduced to a woman whose life becomes increasingly intolerable as she feels as if her surroundings are threatening and closing in on her – but when she tells her husband he does not help her. Eventually she feels that she is going mad as the fear of some unseen threat in her surrounding becomes oppressive and she cannot stand to remain there any longer. After having a sudden and complete meltdown she makes a bid for escape, but not before having a hysterical breakdown and wrecking her house. She flees leaving no clue where she is going.
Then the story goes in a new direction, a new character is introduced; a woman seeking to make a new beginning, she is called Nancy Lee. As the story unfolds, we learn there is a link between the two women.
Averill’s conscience eventually forces her to return to free her husband who has been jailed on suspicion of murdering her. However, in the meantime she has made a new life for herself, including falling in love. She is torn between making a life with her new love, and doing her duty to the husband she has wronged.
How will Averill resolve these dilemmas she now faces; to the confronting of her past fears – those which had caused her to abandon the life she knew, to risk losing all she has since built up, to confront the husband she had abandoned?
Rochelle Jones at Tintagel
Years ago, while working as a nanny for a family in London I was told I could read some of their books if I liked. Among them was a book of all the Sherlock Holmes stories, this was my introduction to Victorian London, a subject that has fascinated me ever since.
I began reading books on the subject, and at the same time, a book about Jack the Ripper was published, and this I read avidly
It wasn't so much the murders or even the murderer that was my main interest, but the background to the murders. For the author had done his homework and had written a graphic of the poverty and struggle for existence in the East End at that time.
Over the following years, during which I married and had a family, the ambition to write a story about Victorian Whitechapel began to grow. I had been writing stories since my teens so wasn't a complete novice.
The results of my efforts 'Heaven and Helen' has gone through several revisions since it was begun in the late seventies. It became much more than a novel about Whitechapel, as Helen and her family came to life, and her children also had their own stories to tell.
I had wanted to write a novel about reincarnation for several years before actually starting it. Raising a family and other matters meant that time for writing was limited and I wanted my first novel finished to my satisfaction before giving thought to this one
As with my first novel, my main interest was the psychology of the characters, but whereas with Helen, in Heaven and Helen, it was the psychological effect of Helen's behaviour on her descendants; with Eternal Flame I took things a step further. My theme was to be: If reincarnation is true, how could events of one life affect actions, emotions and character of the next. The story does not set out to prove reincarnation, only to suggest how it might affect a person's life. Readers should - and I'm sure will - be able to read the novel as a continuing story or as two stories depending on their preferred interpretation - either can be true.
The main purpose of any novel, whatever its subject matter, should be a good read; and if it also gives the reader something on which to speculate, that is a bonus.
Rochelle Jones at Hell's Mouth, Cornwall
My third book is a book of short stories which became available in 2015.
This is a collection of short stories written in the early 2000's. Some of the shorter ones concern paranormal happenings, which have always interested me, and one of them, 'The 'Friendly' Bar' was inspired by one of my holidays in Brittany, though I set the story in England in the late fifties to early sixties, and made my leading character a man, something I had not done before. This story proved to be the easiest one I ever wrote, as it seemed to emerge already written in my mind, so I only had to write it down.
The two longest stories in my collection, 'Friends and Lovers' and 'Nightmare,' while not containing anything supernatural, are psychological studies of disturbed or disturbing characters.
The last story, 'The Tortoiseshell Cat,' is very much the shortest, and while it has comical overtones, nevertheless shows how an obsessional idea, when carried to extremes, can cloud the judgement.
When my son suggested I adapt an early manuscript from the 1970s, recently rediscovered, I decided to give it a go.
There were many things about the old story I decided not to use again, and the new story actually bears little resemblance to the old, except for the character's names.
I had reason to be thankful that I had something to engross me during this time because of a health scare that would have worried me more had I not had this story to concentrate on. Once I sat down to write, all else vanished from my mind.
It was easy to lose myself in the Victorian world; I have always felt at home there and have twice before used this period in my novels. In 'Love in Dark Places' the characters easily came to life, Particularly Susan, who as a consequence played a much more important part than in the original story.
Also Seth, who somehow contrary to my original intentions, developed into a very sinister man indeed, almost taking on a life of his own. I particularly remember one afternoon when I was alone in the house and Seth was revealing a very nasty side of his character. As I was typing some dialogue I suddenly realised what a terrible man I had created and started feeling spooked by little noises and creaks around the house, as if maybe there was a real Seth and somehow I had raised his ghost. Though I was probably being over imaginative, I was relieved when my partner returned so I was no longer alone.
Since finishing the book and having an operation, I am thankfully improved in health and working on another book. I will be glad to see 'Dark Places' Launched at last and hope it gives pleasure to readers, since it was an interesting book to write.
Set in Victorian times, this novel is now available over the internet.
"It concerns a family, whose members are each in their own way, affected by the people they love. The leading character, Enid, makes some very bad choices, which at one point threaten her sanity, if not her very life."
"How she deals with her problems, and the help she receives in doing so, is the theme of the story."
Love in Dark Places is available from Amazon
I have always loved reading, on all types of subjects such as biographies, on psychic matters, history, as for fiction, I like the classics as well as detective stories.
I have travelled a lot in the UK, especially a lot in the Scottish Highlands, which I know very well, the Finistere area of Brittany is another favourite place I like to visit. At home we have a cat called Spike, I like cats a lot and at one time I had six. Another thing I have always liked is teddy bears. Before moving to Cornwall I had a huge collection that filled much of the house. When I moved I gave most of them to a charity. Astrology is something I have always had a lot of interest for and I like to occupy myself with quizzes of all kinds; I am a member of a local quiz team. I also like to play board games such as scrabble, a group of us meet regularly for scrabble competitions.
I have lived in Cornwall for the last fifteen years, after many years in Cheshire, before which I lived in London and America.
Some of the inspirations behind her books are explained, she tells us about her books
My next novel is called "Averill", and will be set in contemporary times - it is planned for release in 2022.
Rochelle Jones discusses some insights into the writing of her books