Hampshire has proved a fertile ground for many celebrated writers over the last few centuries, often drawing on the beauty of its countryside and heritage as inspiration. Hampshire is our first county to embrace two Beatons Tearooms within it: Beatons New Milton and Beatons Petersfield. As always, let your local tearooms owner know if you should appear here or e-mail bookambassador@beatonstearooms.co.uk - we'll make it happen!
Mike KlidjianMike joined the Royal Navy in April 1999 to satisfy his wanderlust. He served for a fantastic 18 years and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. His career was hugely varied and enjoyable with numerous deployments to the Mediterranean, the Gulf, the Far East, Russia, South America and the USA. Trained in Fast Rope Insertion (FRI), he served as Boarding Officer during the NATO Operation 'Active Endeavour' from where many of the details of his book 'Blue Streak' (2018) are taken. His time at sea culminated as second in command of the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless during a busy Gulf deployment.
Mike
retired from the Navy in October 2017 and now writes full time from the family
home in Hampshire. More at www.mikeklidjian.com
Graham JonesGraham Jones should be in the Guinness World Records for visiting more record shops than any other person. Following hundreds of record shop closures, he toured the UK to interview the owners and staff of 50 record shops and document their tales for his book Last Shop Standing: Whatever Happened to Record Shops? For the last five years he has been writing The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made it Happen, a guide to independent record shops in the UK that sell new vinyl. The project took longer than expected due to so many new record shops opening.
Graham has given
more than 100 talks at music and book shops and festivals, and is guaranteed to
have an audience in hysterics with his tales from the crazy world of record
retailing. He has appeared on many TV shows and BBC radio stations talking
about record shops. Graham lives in Petersfield and can be contacted at graham@lastshopstanding.co.uk
We’re delighted he’s a ‘Book of the Month’ Author (October 2018) and to to have been part of his launch activities with a highly successful evening Book Event at Beatons Petersfield.
Rachel Jane
Rachel is a
tea drinking, dog loving children’s author currently living in Basingstoke. The
former wedding co-ordinator was inspired to follow her childhood dream of
writing children’s stories whilst working with children in a family members
club in London. Her first series of books has been inspired by her family’s
campervan hire business ‘Red Hatch Campers’ based just outside of Bath. Whilst
naming the campervans, Rachel was busy giving them personalities and imagining
the adventures they would go on. Four years after her initial idea, Milo goes
to the Seaside has been released and will be followed by Lil’s cupcake delivery
& Tallulah goes to the Festival. You'll be able to find Milo Goes To The Seaside in all our tearooms.
Beatons New Milton has discovered a lovely pair of Hampshire creatives! Writer, Anthony Ridgway suffered a brain injury at birth that left him with cerebral palsy. He is author of the 'Wizzy' books.
He writes, ‘The name Wizzy came about from a friend, Leo, who used to call my chair ‘Wizzy Wheelchair’. Wizzy is a talking wheelchair with attitude. Anthony also has sight difficulties and to write he uses a special computer programme that speaks out each letter as he strikes the keyboard. He honed his writing and storytelling skills at his local college
Hampshire artist and illustrator Suzan Houching guarantees that every picture tells a story. Her wonderful paintings bring to life every page of the Wizzy books, perfectly illustrating the colour, personality and humour of the stories.You can see a video of Suzan and Anthony working together here. Their latest book 'Wizzy and the Seaside Adventure' launches on July 14th. It's an adventure that tests Wizzy, the irascible, hi-tech wheelchair, and his friends to the limit.
Meet Anthony, Suzan and Wizzy! Beatons New Milton will be hosting a FREE story-telling session during the Autumn half-term sharing the next book in the Wizzy adventures- 'Wizzy the Animal Whisperer'. Look out for more details nearer the time!
Tony Flannagan
Agata Andryszczak
Agata is a dairy-free and healthy eating lover who blames Agatha Christie for people adding an 'H' to her name since moving to the UK!
Agata loves to cook and travel the world. Her debut book, published April 2018 is a glossy paperback filled with mouth-watering photographs entitled 'Spoons of Taste'. It's focused particularly on breakfast eaters ho are passionate about great tasting food and healthy living. Agata is on a mission to show that dairy-free, nutritious food is not about deprivation!
Rob Stevens
Rob is a children's author based in New Milton when he's not flying round the world as an airline Captain for British Airways! He does most of his writing in hotel rooms and his first book 'The Mapmaker's Monsters: Beware the Buffalogre!' was shortlisted for the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2009. Since then he's gone on to write 'S.T.I.N.K.B.O.M.B.' and his last book, 'Would the Real Stanley Carrot Please Stand Up'.
Rob's newest book is entitled 'Lucky Break' (May 2018) - details of our involvement with it here.
Charlotte Brightwell
Charlotte’s always loved creating: from drawing and painting to up-cycling and renovating. She studied Art and Primary Education at University and combines her arts background with rhyming verse in books for the very young. Her passion is underpinned by her experience as a Primary School Teacher. The call to write short stories and poems to inspire her pupils led her to write her first book ‘Jungle Show’ which came out in Jan 2018 published by Blossom Spring. We’re right with Charlotte in believing it’s important to instill a love of words, rhyme and story in young children and look forward to showcasing more of Charlotte’s work in interactive signings and readings at Beatons Petersfield - click here to find out more about the next one!
Monica Fulford - pen name Mica Ford
Monica lived on a dairy farm on the outskirts of Sway, in the south of the New Forest. After reading English and a brief stint in London she returned home to get married. From an early age she pursued an interest in horse-riding. Her non-horsey parents resisted her continual entreaties for a pony until she was 10, when bought her a New Forest mare - and from there the family grew! With longstanding links to the Pony Club and now a grandmother, she no longer rides but still helps her daughter and grand-daughter with their horses and ponies. She has always written - mainly for her own pleasure. Monica's also had some articles and stories published in magazines, both local and national. She's a member of the New Milton Writers’ Group, and her latest book - Forest Summer is the first in a series of four, called Forest Adventures.
Lucy Clarke
Lucy grew up in the New Forest in Burley, and went to school in New Milton. Novelist, traveller and fresh air enthusiast, she has four novels under her belt and another planned for September 2018. She’s also a 'frequent traveller' and fresh air enthusiast. Despite graduating from university with a first-class degree in English Literature, it wasn't until she was on a six-month road trip across the US and Canada, that she decided she'd love to be a novelist.
Many twists and turns later, Lucy's debut novel, The Sea
Sisters was an instant best-seller, and a Richard & Judy Book Club choice. Lucy is married to a professional windsurfer,
and together with their young children live in Southbourne. They spend their winters travelling, summers at home with Lucy writing in that most charming incarnation of a writer's shed - a beach hut at Hengistbury Head.
Victoria Lambert and Jennie Miller
Victoria Lambert was born in Somerset girl and today is known as one of the UK's most respected and journalists, holding a number of awards including the Ferring International Media Award. Her first book - 'Boundaries' - co-authored by Jennie Miller (a psychotherapist and couples expert) launched at Beatons Petersfield in early 2018. It has won critical acclaim from both therapists and a hungry readership wanting to find ways to carve out a rewarding life/work balance. Victoria and Jennie both live near Petersfield and we are proud to have hosted a signing and talk for them.
Tiffany Francis
Tiffany is a writer and naturalist from Petersfield, specialising in wildlife, landscape and rural heritage. Having grown up in the chalky hills of the South Downs, she later spent five years between Bristol and London where she completed her Masters degree in English at UCL. Most of her inspiration is rooted in the South Downs landscape, where she works at Butser Ancient Farm as creative developer and goat keeper. She writes a monthly wildlife column for Hampshire Life, as well as various pieces for the Guardian, Countryfile, Woodland Trust and the Wildlife Trust among others. She has also appeared on BBC Radio 4's Tweet of the Day and Saturday Live. Her first book 'Food You Can Forage' is all about wild food and embracing the countryside, published in March 2018 by Bloomsbury.Jill Turner
Jill Turner has been a Fleet Street journalist for much of her career, before heading to Cornwall where she transformed Cornwall Today into the glossy lifestyle magazine which led to it winning Regional Magazine of the Year at the Press Gazette awards. The Petersfield based author's first novel 'The Children of Albion' - described as 'an urban 'Lord of the Flies' for our time' was published in September 2016 to critical acclaim.
Lucy Cousins Maisy, the famous mouse, “drew herself” one day, when Lucy was doodling various animals on a piece of paper, looking for inspiration, and the first Maisy book was published soon after Lucy left college. Maisy, who also stars in her own television show, has become one of the best-loved characters in children’s books, and is recognized the world over. Lucy lives in Hampshire with her husband and has four children.
Chrissie Manby
Although Chrissie Manby isn’t officially a Hampshire author, she has family living in the county and is Guest of Honour at our
private launch Soirée so we thought we’d adopt her. Not least because our customers will
love her wherever they find her! Chrissie has words flowing
through her veins and her first short story was published in 'Just Seventeen' at the age of fourteen! She wrote a few rather racy novels at the start of her career under the pen
name Stephanie Ash. Then, having attracted a literary agent she began writing
as Chris/Chrissie Manby.
Chrissie is a prolific romantic comedy novelist and has thirty-six
books to her name at the time of posting. The latest, ‘The Worst
Case Scenario Cookery Club’ is – obviously – right up our street.
Michelle Magorian
An English author of children's books, Michelle is best known for her first novel, Goodnight Mister Tom, which won the 1982 Guardian Prize for British children's books and has been adapted several times for screen or stage. She is also a celebrated actress.
Two other well-known works are Back Home and A Little Love Song. Michelle now lives in Petersfield, Hampshire, with her two children Tom and George.
Ursula Moray Williams
(19 April 1911 – 17 October 2006). Ursula was an English children's author of nearly 70 books for children. Her classic 'Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse', written while expecting her first child, remained in print throughout her life from its publication in 1939.
Her stories often involved brave creatures who overcame trials and cruelty in the outside world before finding a loving home. They included 'The Good Little Christmas Tree' of 1943, and 'Gobbolino and the Witch's Cat'. Williams was born in Petersfield, Hampshire. She and her twin sister Barbara Árnason were talented artists and for six years from the age of ten wrote and illustrated books for each other's birthdays and at Christmas.
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969). Wyndham was an English science fiction writer best known for his works written using the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes. Many of his works were set in post-apocalyptic landscapes. His best known works include 'The Day of the Triffids' (1951) and 'The Midwich Cuckoos' (1957), the latter filmed twice as Village of the Damned. John Wyndham was educated in Petersfield and lived there for part of his life.
Edward Thomas
(3 March 1878 – 9 April 1917) Poet Edward Thomas lived in the village of Steep, very close to Petersfield from 1913 - 1916, taking inspiration from the countryside around him.
He continues to inspire artists and poets today. Our House Poet, Liz Darcy Jones, nods to one of his most famous poems 'Addlestrop' in the first line of the Beatons Petersfield Rubai.
And during the summer of 2017 a wonderful exhibition of works of art inspired by Jane Austen, Gilbert White and Edward Thomas 'Inspired by the Word' was shown at Selborne, Gilbert White's house, link here. A collection of sculpture, part of the same exhibition, inspired by Edward Thomas's work was also exhibited at Petersfield's Physic Garden earlier in the summer.
Gilbert White
(18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) Selborne was home to the Reverend Gilbert White, whose 'The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne' (1789) still receives international recognition.
Jane Austen
(16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) Arguably Hampshire's most celebrated writer, the village of Chawton is where Jane Austen's lived and where she wrote or revised her six great novels. She was buried in Winchester where she died in 1817.
Flora Thompson
(5 December 1876 – 21 May 1947)
Flora Thompson came to Liphook in 1916 and based her classic trilogy, Lark Rise to Candleford, on her observations of local natural history and rural life.
Thomas Hardy
(2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) Many of Hardy's novels concern tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances. They are often set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex; initially based on the medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Hardy's Wessex eventually came to include the counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire and much of Berkshire, in southwest and south central England.
John Keats
(31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) John Keats stayed in Winchester in the summer and autumn of 1819, during which time he produced a series of masterpieces. Visitors can follow the 'Keats Walk' celebrating his famous ode 'To Autumn', written after a walk along the River Itchen.
Charles Dickens
(7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, the second of seven children, and his birthplace is now a museum. Hampshire provided inspiration for several of Dicken's novels, including the notorious Victorian workhouse in Andover and Dickens returned to Portsmouth in his late twenties when researching 'Nicholas Nickleby'.
Gilbert White
(18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) Selborne was home to the Reverend Gilbert White, whose 'The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne' (1789) still receives international recognition.
Arthur Conan Doyle
(22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930)
Author of Sherlock Holmes, lived in Portsmouth and is buried in Minstead churchyard in the New Forest.
(16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) Arguably Hampshire's most celebrated writer, the village of Chawton is where Jane Austen's lived and where she wrote or revised her six great novels. She was buried in Winchester where she died in 1817.
Flora Thompson
(5 December 1876 – 21 May 1947)
Flora Thompson came to Liphook in 1916 and based her classic trilogy, Lark Rise to Candleford, on her observations of local natural history and rural life.
Thomas Hardy
(2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) Many of Hardy's novels concern tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances. They are often set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex; initially based on the medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Hardy's Wessex eventually came to include the counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire and much of Berkshire, in southwest and south central England.
John Keats
(31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) John Keats stayed in Winchester in the summer and autumn of 1819, during which time he produced a series of masterpieces. Visitors can follow the 'Keats Walk' celebrating his famous ode 'To Autumn', written after a walk along the River Itchen.
Charles Dickens(7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, the second of seven children, and his birthplace is now a museum. Hampshire provided inspiration for several of Dicken's novels, including the notorious Victorian workhouse in Andover and Dickens returned to Portsmouth in his late twenties when researching 'Nicholas Nickleby'.
Gilbert White
(18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) Selborne was home to the Reverend Gilbert White, whose 'The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne' (1789) still receives international recognition.
Arthur Conan Doyle
(22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930)
Author of Sherlock Holmes, lived in Portsmouth and is buried in Minstead churchyard in the New Forest.