I'm Mary Teresa Flannery, aka Máire and I was born in Limerick, Ireland. I self-publish but am also a ghost-writer. I'm an avid reader of history, both fiction and non, and biographies.
My research for writing historical fiction is often done from books that were contemporary when they were written as I can trust those to be true in speech and ways of living and inventions etc. Maria Edgeworth's books and Elizabeth Gaskell's are very descriptive and have taught me a lot. I'm currently reading Anthony Trollope. (or will be, as soon as I have finished watching 'Dr. Thorne' on Amazon Prime!)
I went through a Jane Austen phase while I was working in Health Care; a Regency drawing room was a restful place to go to in the evening. I must have seen every Austen adaptation ever made. I read all the books. The Austenesque 'My Head Upon the £10 Note – Time Travel Jane' is a light-hearted novella, a tribute to the great writer in the year that the Bank of England put her portrait on the ten-pound note.
I also love the 50's, though I remember little about them! I only arrived for the last three years, but I remember our village church bells and other small details. The 50's have a romance and glamour you can see in the old movies made then, like 'North by Northwest and 'High Society'. I'm also interested in WW2, because Daddy, who was a teen during those years, amassed vast knowledge about it and our bookcase was filled with titles like 'The Longest Day' and 'Carve Her Name With Pride.' Melody in Tea begins just after the War. I also incorporate my love of the Indian subcontinent in this book, and how I missed it after I returned after two years, especially the weather and the vibrant colour!
(Melody in Tea began as a short story, but the characters got very cross with me when I wouldn't develop them, and they kept me awake at night until I gave in).
I'm also a Ghostwriter of clean historical fiction for a UK Publisher, PureRead. I write under the pseudonym Dolly Price. I thoroughly enjoy my Dream Job - I always longed to write. Dolly writes Victorian sagas.
