The Ace of Spades - by Lu Hersey

When my father died earlier this year, he left behind a lifetime of accumulated stuff to sort through. After a lot of heartache and effort, I managed to narrow this mountain down to two boxes of photos (very big boxes), two files of letters, a sword, some Spanish pottery, quite a lot of books and a bag of ashes (still at the funeral parlour right now, but I'm collecting them soon). I was quite proud of myself. 

However he'd also kept a lot of his parents' stuff (he'd filled most of the dining room with it) and I needed to reduce that mountain as much as possible too. I ended up with even more photos, postcards and letters - and a HUGE scrapbook of press cuttings about my grandfather's former business. 

Back in the 1930s, my grandfather and his brother ran a road house (a sort of country club on a road out of London), called the Ace of Spades. I always liked the goth sound of this place, which was sadly nearly defunct by the time I was born. The letter-headed paper alone was so very deco and stylish... but my grandfather died when I was very young, so apart from the odd passing mention of the business from my father, I knew very little about it. Basically, I thought it was simply a restaurant with a petrol station.

So the scrapbook felt like the most dispensable thing - very big, heavy, and about a business that no longer existed. But someone had taken a lot of trouble to compile it, so I stuck it in the boot of my car at the last minute. It stayed there for months. Finally getting round to bringing it indoors, I had a quick look through to see if there was anything interesting in it, before I put it in the recycling box. 

(Lucie was her usual helpful self during this process....)

But studying the scrapbook, a whole unexplored world of 1930s society living opened up before me. I had no idea my grandfather's business was so interesting, mostly because my father so rarely spoke of it. Perhaps my grandfather was a man who never talked about work at home?

Or more likely, my father wasn't interested. He generally disapproved of anything remotely wild or fun (he was a conservative man in almost every respect), so I'd always assumed my grandfather must have been the same. 

Turns out I was wrong. Looking through the scrapbook, I discovered The Ace of Spades had been a hotbed of celebrity gossip, nightclub entertainment, fashion shows, occasional criminal goings-on, and raucous all night pool parties. A place to be 'seen' in the 1930s, with guests including the Duke of Windsor, Douglas Bader, Baron Rothschild and Agatha Christie (and much later, Doris Day)

Unfortunately my grandfather died when I was too young to ask questions about it, and of course I can no longer ask my father. Googling my way down an Ace of Spades rabbit hole, I found a couple of Pathé news reels all about the club, filmed in the 1930s :-

And oddly, I also came across a facebook group entirely devoted to the Ace of Spades building and archives. The group has opened up a world of people who knew a lot more about the roadhouse than I did. 

And so now we've started pooling knowledge (which is how I learnt about all the celebrity guests). I've made new contacts via the page, including the administrator, who's offered to take me to the Ace of Spades site (with a bottle of champagne) when I'm in London. In this very niche corner of the world, I'm almost a celebrity.

So what's this got to do with writing? 

Basically, our options as writers are constantly narrowing. Children's publishing supports very few writers long term these days. Generally publishers prefer to take on an occasional sparkly debut, and a sea of celebrities. There's not much room left for the majority of us (unless you want to be a ghost writer for a celebrity).

The recent Raynor Winn press coverage has demonstrated how dangerous memoir writing can be, especially if you've glossed over anything dodgy in your past. Seems the 'truth' can have many different angles. Interestingly, even the journalist who uncovered the so-called 'scandal' in the Observer was once fired by the bbc for inaccurate reporting... 

So while all my unpublished children's fiction sulks in the archives of my laptop, and I start polishing up an adult novel for a change, I'm considering compiling a very niche local history book as a background project. 

There's a group of about 250 people on facebook that might even read it.

Lu Hersey

web: Lu Hersey 

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X Lu Writes

Understanding the significance of sofa ads? By Steve Way

 A few days ago, working with a student, the subject of ‘gap years’ came up. My student pointed out that he hadn’t heard of anyone having a gap year for quite a long time. I’ll explain why in a moment but that reminded me of a conversation I’d had several years ago when we discussed that fact that at the time ever second advert on the TV seemed to be for sofas. Dad suggested that that was because at the time, based on the state of the British economy, a new sofa was the most generally affordable aspirational commodity.

Mindful of the fact that in a recent blog I advanced the notion of The Last Teabag theory of human survival, I wish to bold enough to propose the Gap Year and Sofa Guage of Economic Health. Forget following the stock market or Bank of England interest rate hikes to monitor the nation’s economic condition… just watch the telly to see how often sofas are being hawked on the adverts and notice how often you hear of someone going off on a gap year! Perhaps I should have a word with the LSE!

Actually, I notice that at the moment most adverts are for new kitchens and specialist cruises. As well as indicating that I probably watch to much TV (guilty as charged) maybe it means that most Britons now enjoy the luxury of a comfortable sofa and got around sizing up their tired kitchens and beginning to feel the need for a break that’s a break from the ordinary.

On a completely different note, with some other students, we’ve been reading about the research that was done at the wonderfully named Dream and Nightmare Lab in Montreal, Canada, where they’ve finally proved that eating cheese does give us nightmares. I couldn’t help wondering if the work in the lab is divided and so some of the staff have a dream job and the others…

Also how might the staff react when a colleague dashes late into the building and declares, “It’s a nightmare out there!” Would they assume, as the rest of us would that the traffic has been really bad this morning, or wonder if they should dash out of the building tightly clasping a clipboard and a pen?

A similarly irrelevant conundrum that occurred to me recently was when a group of us were sorting out books for a charity and someone fished out a book about Feng Shui. I wondered if it contained information about where you should keep the book itself. Also tidying through my own books, aiming to downsize, I realised that I had several ‘How to get your book published’ type books that I’d accumulated at the beginning of my ‘career’ (career! ha!). How many ‘How to get your book published’ books have actually been rejected I thought? (Is that a writer’s form of gallows humour?)

Ghostlines, written by Katya Balen, reviewed by Pippa Goodhart

 

    I have read and enjoyed Katya Balen's 'October, October', so was already keen to read the new middle grade novel by this Carnegie Medal-winning fresh-voiced author. But I admit that what confirmed my choice of this book rather than other attractive options on display was this lovely play with the page edges! -

    Told in the first person by Tilda who loves her home Scottish island of Ayrie, this is her story about her relationships with two boys, and their relationships to that island. 

    The immediate story involves the novelty of a new boy arriving on this small island. He's angry with having to be there, and Tilda is given the tricky job of trying to befriend him. That story builds slowly through many very short chapters, letting us, as well as Albie, get to know this wonderful place and community. Then comes drama involving dangers kyaking at sea, a secret island haunted by stories, a storm, an accident, an incoming tide ...

    The older boy Tilda is preoccupied with, again needing to mend and renew his relationship with the home island, is one hinted at for many chapters before the facts are revealed. Tilda's beloved big brother and soul mate has left, cutting off communication with his family, and Tilda thinks she is to blame for that.

    All resolves happily. Children of perhaps seven to eleven will love the adventure, the puffins, the wonderful dog, the ultimate safety of parents and community in this beautiful book. 

There's an owl under my seat (Anne Rooney)

This isn't about books, though it might feed into a book one day. I was going to write about AI, but it's a Sunday and I think we could do with something more cheering. So I give you owls.

My parents used to collect owl figurines. When my dad died, the second to go, my brother and I were left with about 80 owls of different sizes. It's hard to know what to do with 80 owls if you don't share the previous owner's passion regard for them. I don't have space in my house for a collection of owls, either. What to do with the owls was a tricky question. I took a couple (one is an outdoor owl and sits in my garden), and my brother took one or two. We gave most to charity shops. But some were smuggled. 

Whenever someone who had known my parents visited the house, my nephew or neice took a small owl from the stockpile and hid it somewhere in the visitor's. I found two owls unstolen into my car. One still lives in the glovebox, one in the door compartment. 

And yesterday I found a third, jammed under the seat. It's been there more than year, waiting quietly among the dropped sweet wrappers and baby socks. What a wonderful moment of discovery! A quick flash reminder, not only of my dad but of my nephew's funny, thoughtful kindness in those difficult days of sorting through two lives. 

Anne Rooney 

Out now, Weird and Wonderful Dinosaur Facts, illustrated by Ro Ledsema, Arcturus 2025

 

And for Today's 'Prompt Response'. Penny Dolan

 The heat has been weighing down on everything for too long, and I feel too lazy to write anything right now, and way to lacking in self conviction. So I was pleased when, shuffling around in my bookshelves, I rediscovered the original 'A Writer's Book of Days', published in America over two decades ago.

 

Judy Reeves, the author, labels her book with an rather enthusiastic strapline, 'A Spirited Companion & Lively Muse for the Writing Life'. A title definitely not of the 'Construct your own MegaBlockbuster' writing genre. 

Month by month, in her bracingly encouraging style, Reeves suggests methods of breaking through reluctance and doubts along with lists a mixed selection of gossipy 'famous writer' facts. The main drive of the book, however, is to encourage the reader to build a daily writing practice.

To push things along, Reeves gives a list of optional Daily Prompts, leaving the reader free as to how to respond to the idea, and whatever character, voice or style they choose. She is, simply , very keen for her students to do some writing, to not put it off, and to get some words on the page asap. Also, I felt myself responding to the style of  her suggestions.

So here are seven of her random prompts, which you could use for a bit of daily writing of your own right now.

1 Write about a time you got what you wanted.

 2 The last time I saw . . . 

 3 Open the box

 4 Write about a wound.

 5 These were the reasons to stay.

 6 Write about a voice.

 7  Night is falling. You're not at home.

 

 Do any interest you, I wonder?

 If so, have fun! 

Penny Dolan 

I'm delighted to say that Judy Reeves website is there for you to find out more about her work and teaching:  https://www.judyreeveswriter.com/  The book pictured is a revised version: I wonder what has been changed?

RED by Sharon Tregenza

RED 

When I first started writing children's books, many years ago now, I was interested in the idea of using colour to create certain emotions and responses. There's a whole psychology involved and it's fascinating.

RED is an interesting one. It attracts attention and is often used to depict danger, anger or excitement so should be used sparingly unless that's the emotion you want to evoke, but conversely, this colour can be used to convey love and warmth.

Here are some examples of authors using the colour red to add energy and emotion to children's books.

Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall is a funny colourful story about being true to yourself. Here red is used emotionally and symbolically.

The classic story of Little Red Riding Hood is well known. Why does her grandmother have such big teeth? Red is used to signal danger here. This version by Mandy Ross uses funny rhythm and rhyme to engage children in this ageless fairy tale.

Dr Seuss famously uses the red and white striped hat (and red bow tie) on the mischievous cat. This isn't just for show - the red signals chaos and energy. It deliberately disrupts the calm. 

A picture book to tell children that bad feelings won't last forever. A young child wakes to find black leaves falling from her bedroom ceiling. She negotiates a world where all seems lost but when she returns to her room she finds that a tiny red seed has grown to fill her room with warm light.

Here Shaun Tan uses the colour red in a different way - to depict love.

Colours in children's books are not only decorative and in picture books can influence how young children experience a story.

www.sharontregenza.com

sharontregenza@gmail.com

Members' News

 The sun is shining and life seems to have slowed down a little, but there are a few news items.

Moira Butterfield's newest book, the Secret Life of Clouds, will be published July 31st. It's the last book in the Secret Life series, published by Quarto, and the series has sold in many languages around the world.

Another of Moira's books, Look What I Found By the River, published by Nosey Crow, has been long-listed for the prestigious Wainwright Prize for children's nature writing. 

Check out Moira's website. https://moirabutterfield.co.uk/

Special congratulations to Teresa Heapy, whose first novel for children was published by David Fickling Books on July 3rd. It's illustrated by Adam Beer and is about the special bond Will has with his dog, Whisker - who turns into a wolf.

Check out Teresa's website for the full details. https://teresaheapy.co.uk/will-wolfheart/

And just look at this gorgeous cover!

Miriam Halahmy has been busy with events. During Empathy Week, June 9th-13th, she spoke to a massive 2,700 children in KS2 and KS3. 

On June 10th, as part of Hillingdon Libraries Empathy Festival, she presented her book, Saving Hanno, to 1800 KS2 pupils and Always Here For You to 600 KS3 students over Teams, with PP slides and a brief writing exercise, which they all loved. "We created a new slide in each session, to share the writing," she said. (This is a great idea for online sessions, which are often hard to manage.)

 On Thursday June 12th, she was guest author  at Hounslow Libraries Book Prize presentation. "I had my own slot to talk about The Emergency Zoo and Saving Hanno, to 300 KS2 pupils and then I announced the winners. It was a fab week."

Blowing my own trumpet, I've been chosen as one of four bookshop ambassadors for Bookshops week in October. My sci-fi fantasy Tapper Watson and the Quest for the Nemo Machine was the independent bookshops book of the month when it came out so I'm excited at the opportunity to pay back some of that support.

Send any August news to me, Claire Fayers for the next round-up.