I find that as a writer I have to read. The more I read the more I want to write. I read fiction in all sorts of genres especially forcing myself to read those sort of books that I would not naturally choose for relaxation. I read to be stimulated and disturbed, to be challenged and to be inspired. Reading is a way of understanding what is going on in other peoples minds and understanding how people unlike youself think.
I also read non fiction both to understadn the complexities of our modern world and also to research for my own writing.
If you want to be a writer - read.
Capcir Spring kindle novel - character profiles number 2: John
John is
- forty something years old
- a Roman Catholic priest
- A Jesuit
- who has very human failings
- is in a remote area of France to think about his vocation
- has been working at a church based counselling centre in the inner city
- is a trained and accredited counsellor
- left catholic school for seminary and has been in the church all his life
- is at a crisis point in his life
- is perceptive and open yet embarassed about his own recent history
Character portraits on Kindle novel Capcir Spring number 1: Mary
Mary
- Mary is the heroine of Capcir Spring.
- She is researching the Cathars in the French Pyranean mountains for her academic career.
- Since the end of her marriage she has devoted herself to historical research and wants to be a professor.
- She is in her 30s, blond, intelligent and many consider her stunningly attractive.
- She is very sensitive to atmospheres and has a lively imagination.
- Mary has given up on relationships after the failure of her marriage in a painful and violent way.
- She has seen the church at work from the inside and is suspicious of the motives and actions of the clergy.
- Her single minded determination to become someone known in her own right for her own achievements is deeply embedded in her psyche
- This novel describes how, whilst pursuing her academic goals, her world is turned upside down and the possibility of another future emerges.
- It is a novel containing intrigue, crime, romance, and mystery in a beautiful French setting with a credible historical background based on recent research.
You can get your copy of "Capcir Spring"by clicking HERE if you are in the USA or here if you are in the UK
Photo of the Capcir countryside
You can get your copy of "Capcir Spring"by clicking HERE if you are in the USA or here if you are in the UK
Capcir Spring - the novel - for your Kindle
Mary had her life all planned out. A summer in the French mountains researching the Cathars would be the launch pad for a prestigious academic career.
She was confident that she had rebuilt her life after the traumatic and violent end to her marriage. But in these peaceful Pyrenean mountains the bloody persecution of the Cathars by the inquisition haunts her dreams. This is made worse when her nightmares mix this violent history with flashbacks to her own painful past.
In this state she discovers a plan that would damage her recently discovered heritage site. There are a group of people who don't want her research to be made public.
John is also staying in the same mountains to escape the painful memories of of his failure and loss.
Can these two scarred people help each other and protect the archaeological remains? Who amongst the bizarre range of people that they meet can be trusted? And will they discover the happiness that they have each been seeking for a long time?
Jean de Beurre knows the Capcir plateau well and writes a tightly paced story of mystery and intrigue, tinged with the hope of love.
You can get a copy for your Amazon Kindle by clicking HERE if you are in the USA or here if you are in the UK
Book review of Capcir Spring
Thank you "Darragh" for this review of Capcir Spring that you posted on Amazon
JdB
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wholly enjoyable. Capcir Spring is simply enchanting., 11 April 2012
This review is from: Capcir Spring (Kindle Edition)
I found this book wonderful holiday reading and would wholeheartedly
recommend it. It was incredibly atmospheric, and the use of setting to
compliment and add depth to the interaction of the characters was
undoubtedly a success.This author is definitely up and coming and I am eagerly awaiting his next novel.
You can get your copy of "Capcir Spring"by clicking HERE if you are in the USA or here if you are in the UK
Review
Thank you "Anne" for your review of "Capcir Spring" on the Amazon website.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable, 30 Mar 2012
By
Anne -
Amazon Verified Purchase
This review is from: Capcir Spring (Kindle Edition)
I enjoyed this book. It has an air of mystery about it, along with a
touch of romance. Set in France, it combines the present day with
times past (Cathers).
Les Iglesiettes
Les Iglesiettes, the ruins where Mary was researching the Cathars in Jean de Beurre's novel "Capcir Spring" really exist...
This photo was taken by Adam Fowler on April 8, 2010 in Les Angles, Languedoc-Roussillon, France, using a Canon EOS 500D. It is available to share on Flickr.
Why "Capcir Spring"?
Jean de Beurre writes - "We had many holidays in the Capcir area of the Pyrenees which is very popular with French tourists but virtually unknown by British visitors. Much of the mountain countryside is like Scotland - rocky peaks and pine forests but it has a different climate. I love it there. And spring is descriptive of the time of year that the story takes place but is of course also symbolic of new beginnings..."
The village of "Les Angles" plays an important part in the novel Capcir Spring. This is the old part of the village:
The village of "Les Angles" plays an important part in the novel Capcir Spring. This is the old part of the village:
You can get your copy of "Capcir Spring"by clicking HERE if you are in the USA or here if you are in the UK
Jean de Beurre
Some interesting facts about Jean de Beurre.
Jean de Beurre:
Jean de Beurre:
- lives in central Scotland
- writes fiction
- finished Capcir Spring in 2005 and it was first published by Lulu in 2006. The kindle edition came out in 2012
- has also published a book of short stories
- is working on a new novel set in Glasgow
- is married with grown up children
- is a Christian (liberal - middle of the road)
- enjoys travel and photography
- studied both urbanism and theology at post grad level at University (at different times)
- has worked in the voluntary sector for over 20 years
- enjoys cycling
- sung in the musical "The Music Man" in 2011
- is on the board of an environmental charity
- was the editor of a fellowship journal for over 10 years
- has written numerous articles and book reviews for magazines and newspapers
- likes the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan
Special Offer
A chance to read my novel without it costing you anything!
Best wishes
Jean de Beurre
In this
novel of about 70,000 words, set in contemporary France, Jean de Beurre
brings together insights from psychology, history and theology in a
romantic adventure.
You can get your copy by clicking HERE if you are in the USA or here if you are in the UK
You can get your copy by clicking HERE if you are in the USA or here if you are in the UK
Please note the following important information from Amazon:
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Capcir Spring - The opening pages - Start to read here
The
small settlement, nestling in a wide clearing on the floor of the
high valley, was silent after the last activities of the day. The
stockade gates were shut and there was no movement in or around the
thatched wooden huts inside the boundary of the heavy timber fencing.
All was still except for an isolated spiral of smoke drifting up from
the glowing cinders of an outdoor earth hearth. The last daylight was
sinking above the outline of the distant mountain peaks and the sky,
which moments before had been red was turning slowly through purple
to blue black.
An
owl hooted twice and was almost immediately answered by another from
the other side of the valley. And then there was fire. Fire was
approaching the stockade from up the valley and down. At first there
were just a few torches but all the while their number expanded into
a mighty army of individual flames that together brought a flickering
orange glow to the leaves of the overhanging trees and even to the
night sky itself. From among the mass of torches flaming missiles
flew through the night air and almost immediately the roof of one and
then another of the thatched huts was alight.
A
sudden anguished cry ripped through the darkness as the sleeping
villagers were harshly shocked out of their slumbers. More screams
filled the night air as people of all ages were kicked awake and ran
at first in blind confusion but then, lemming like, together, to find
sanctuary in the chapel, the one stone building of the settlement, at
the centre of the stockade. The noise and light and fire seemed to
be coming at them from all sides. The gates had been broken down and
the fiery torches were inside. They were moving closer, advancing
slowly, setting aflame all that was in their pathway. Where was
safety now? The chapel was crammed full of frightened, trembling
bodies. The air was heavy with the smell of fire and sweat and fear.
I
too followed the crowds and headed for the chapel. It already seemed
full. I could hardly get in. As one of the last to arrive I was
standing in the doorway. I could feel the press of bodies cowering
behind me but I was facing outwards. The chapel was too small. There
were too many people and it was too late to bar the door. They were
almost upon us. In the torchlight the approaching faces were gross
and distorted. I could see that they were full of rage and hatred.
Then
I saw James. There could be no mistake. The same familiar outlines,
the gangling gait, the prominent forehead and weak chin. The
torchlight deepened the shadows under his sunken eyes giving his face
a menacing quality. He was at the front of the crowd. It was James
who was leading them on and they were chanting in unison. He was
leading the rhythmic chant. I didn't understand the words but I
sensed a pure hatred tinged with fear. His face was distorted in an
violent grimace of blood lust that I had seen once before. Their
anger bit into my flesh as physical pain. In his right hand was a
sword. Slowly, with small steps and in time with the chanting they
moved ever closer.
Angry
men with torches and swords and spears and staves were beside him and
a mass of hate filled faces were crowding behind. Their advance
inched forward step by step. The cowering mass behind me in the
chapel was now screaming. Voices of young and old united in a
crescendo of terror, prayer, supplication and fear. And then they
were at the door, a few yards from my face. One from the advancing
throng threw a flaming torch over my head and it sailed over me into
the crowded chapel. I was conscious of a strong pressure from behind
as those inside moved to avoid the fiery missile. Bodies pressed
against trembling bodies and I was being pushed inevitably towards
the enemy. I was being forced forwards. I was being forced to move
closer and closer to the raw hatred and the swords and the fire and
the certainty of death. Oh God! No! No!
*****
The
scream pierced the silence of the Pyrenean mountain valley. It was a
sultry day in early May. The sky was a cloudless blue, typical of
that region of France. John was hot. He had been walking for several
hours and though it was not long since his lunch break, he was again
looking for somewhere out of the glaring sun to rest. He was ambling
gently down a track that wound into a little wide floored clearing in
the valley with some ancient stone ruins. Then there was a scream. It
was a sound he remembered vividly. It started quite softly almost as
a low pitched, half stifled murmur but it gradually grew louder
until a high pitched whine flooded the lightly wooded valley and
echoed round the rocks and hills above...............................
In this novel of about 70,000 words, set in contemporary France, Jean de Beurre brings together insights from psychology, history and theology in a romantic adventure.
You can get your copy to continue reading by clicking HERE if you are in the USA or here if you are in the UK
In this novel of about 70,000 words, set in contemporary France, Jean de Beurre brings together insights from psychology, history and theology in a romantic adventure.
You can get your copy to continue reading by clicking HERE if you are in the USA or here if you are in the UK
Capcir Spring is now on Kindle
Mary thought she had left her past behind as she starts exploring Cathar remains in the Pyreneen mountains as part of her post doctoral research. Her nightmares not only relive the painful persecution of local people by the Inquisition but are also mixed up with flashbacks to more recent events in her life. When Mary discovers a plan to destroy the heritage site that she has discovered, she joins forces with John to protect the mountains. Unknown to her John too is trying to escape from a painful past in the quiet, out of season French ski resort. In the conservation battle they join forces with an eccentric group of new age travellers. Both Mary and John have to overcome their personal demons and so rediscover what is really important in their lives.
In this novel of about 70,000 words, set in contemporary France, Jean de Beurre brings together insights from psychology, history and theology in a romantic adventure.
You can get your copy by clicking HERE if you are in the USA or here if you are in the UK
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